Animation

Pop-up Fandom ‘Creates’ New Anime

5 Comments / Animation /
Via: Geekosystem
Via: Geekosystem

Fans are known for being a bit, well, fanatical about their chosen shows but what happens when the show in question doesn’t even exist? Well, they make it up as they go along instead! A short commercial released by Kyoto Animation managed to inadvertently spark some reactions among tumblr members that could only be considered explosive:

The fandom that popped-up in a matter of hours consequently went to town fleshing out the characters and the story. As the Daily Dot reports:

 In the 2 days since the 30-second spot landed on YouTube, Tumblr has been in a frenzy of yearning for what it has dubbed “the swimming anime.”  Tumblr fans have given the nameless boys in the videos character identities and backstories, they’ve picked favorite relationship pairings, drawn fanart, made GIFs, created character roleplaying blogs, confessionals, and Texts from Last Night parodies. They’ve written fanfic.

Want more swimming anime? Here’s a Tumblr theme. Want your swimmers genderswapped? Got that too. There’s also swimming anime cosplay in the works. This parody of the “swimming anime” has over 11,000 notes, while this PowerPoint slide deck on how to ship characters of a nonexistent anime has over 22,000 and counting.

What has prevented the entire saga from being swept under the carpet has been the decision by the studio to announce an official series based on the short to be called Free.

Is This Good Or Bad?

Ultimately, there is nothing necessarily good or bad about something like this. Sure Tumblr has a reputation for juvenile stunts such as this, but its harmless for the most part and at least spurs some creativity on the part of the users rather than keeping them in the passive state.

The notion of pop-up fandoms is nothing new since the internet has attained widespread usage. PBS’ (quite excellent and highly recommended) Off Book took a look at whether fandom can change society and concluded that it could; citing numerous (including one infamous) cases where fandoms appeared out of thin air after major events and noted that they can create both good and bad results.

The case of swimming anime is fairly benign although one has to wonder why people would even devote such effort to something that doesn’t even exist?

Short Term Effects and Pitfalls

Swimming anime/Free highlights a number of issues with its rapid rise to public consciousness. Firstly is the fact that it became so widespread so quickly; 48 hours after its release and the internet had proliferated with creativity. Secondly is the fact that such a rapid rise could harm it in the long term.

Starting with its rise, social media, YouTube, frictionless sharing and so forth all contributed to getting the show as much coverage as possible. Long gone are the days when you maybe had to search out something on the internet after the fact. Tumblr’s dashboard means that you are likely to see the same thing pop up over a prolonged period of time as people you follow gradually reblog it. (The service also encourages, and has, a high percentage of daily users.)

The second issue is much more troubling. A rapid rise is great, sure, but we all know that animation is not a race. Shows take time to develop, create and distribute. Six months for a decent half hour is the norm so even if the show was begun today, we wouldn’t see any completed episodes until the leaves have fallen from the trees (see below). That in and of itself is not what’s problematic though, that lies with the very fans that made it a success in the first place.

You see, as rapidly as fans attached themselves to this show they will also attach themselves to the next one that comes along. The initial explosion of interest will naturally fade as those on the periphery fall away, but even the core will shrink until new content is available when it will increase again. The issue, and question, is how big will it expand again?

Shows with large following such as The Legend of Korra have relatively stable fandoms but still see rises and falls in their activity between seasons. Those shows though, have devoted followings that have built up over time. Swimming anime/Free is starting from scratch, and the possibility that fans who came for the fun of creating something won’t stick around forever (see below) and may never return once they leave. That’s a major pitfall and is something that studios need to anticipate and mitigate.

Shifting Development Efforts to the Fandom?

Another question this raises is whether or not studios will consider the benefits of essentially having fans develop the show for them. The benefits would certainly be there:

  • vastly reduced costs to the studio
  • content that is proven to resonate with fans
  • may be much faster than undertaking it in-house given larger numbers contributing
  • Promotes greater interaction and communication between the studio and fans

The disadvantages though, are equally obvious:

  • Copyright issues and the legal thicket large-scale creativity can create
  • Compensation-related issues (who did what) and how much they should receive
  • Rebellion of fanbase to studio-issued ideas, even if they are best
  • Loss of structure that in-house development provides

While many studios would love to shift the costs of development away from themselves, the reality is that the current business model prohibits it due to the many legal constraints surrounding creativity and artistic creations. Identifying and compensating every creator would be a nightmare and once you factor the cross-border nature of the internet, you’re in for an impossible task.

That means that as much as the fandom would like to see their ideas incorporated into Free, the reality will preclude it.

A Model To Follow?

While its certainly likely that Kyoto Animation considered the possibility that viewers would overreact, it’s interesting to note that they made an official announcement quite soon after the initial release. Five characters now have names and traits that have been disseminated throughout the fandom and the official launch date is in July; an indication that the studio has had this in the works for a while and completely negating the notion that fan efforts caused an official pickup. Given such circumstances this model isn’t really one to be followed.

Current internet rumblings consider Little Witch Academia as a prime target for similar moves given that it is already a fully-fledged 23 minute short with fully developed characters.

As desirable as it is to see that short receive a more substantial treatment, Kyoto Animation clearly sees a profitable opportunity in what it has, whether Trigger sees the same in their property is something that only the studio can decide. Simple outpouring from fans is not match for the numbers that studios will run, and you can be sure they all do, not matter what fans think of their efforts.

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A Monster in Paris Review

1 Comment / Animation, Review /
Amazon_A Monster in Paris BR cover
Via: Shout! Factory

Finally! After only more than a year did I finally get the chance to watch this film. Long did it tease me with its development, release in Europe and sneak peeks in Canada. There’s even been a guest review featured on this blog! Today though, I can finally post my own thoughts having seen the film thanks to the good people at Shout! Factory. So without further adieu, here’s the A Monster in Paris review from the Animation Anomaly.

a-monster-in-paris-2

The Animation

The quality of the animation seriously belies the film’s modest budget ($28 million). Given that we are used to being blinded by the dazzling efforts of both Disney and Pixar, one would expect that a film made for much (much) less would suffer from the smaller budget but thankfully that is no true. Early 20th century Paris is rendered as beautifully as any Pixar film and the love that has gone into making it look as good as it does ensures that stylistically, it is superior to much of what the large American studios put out.

Think about it. Pixar threw around $350 million at Toy Story 3 but did they honestly need to spend that much for a film that essentially takes place in the real world? If A Monster in Paris can replicate the glory of a past city so beautifully, why are Pixar and Dreamworks apparently so shackled visually?

The character animation is a bit jerky, but given the film’s comedic undertones, it is certainly understandable. Wackiness isn’t as outlandish as you might expect but it’s all in the classic Looney Tunes vibe of only noticeable when necessary.

a-monster-in-paris-5

The Story

A Monster in Paris tells a fairly simple story; a giant flea escapes a laboratory and supposedly terrorises Paris until a singer discovers his hidden talent. While that does not sound like much, A Monster in Paris manages to weave it into the characters so much so that thei involvement seems quite natural.

There are jokes aplenty and although it’s nice to hear lots of jokes, it’s fun to see them too. Thankfully A Monster in Paris has plenty of both.

a-monster-in-paris-1

The Characters

A Monster in Paris brims with many of the characters that you would expect the Paris of old to have. Our heroes, Emile and Raoul are truly the odd couple, differing, bickering and making up again. Their chemistry is balances by the cast of characters who they interact with. While Emile tries to woo Maude, Raoul has nothing but disdain for our heroine Lucille. These two relationships are played against the larger problem of a giant singing flea complicating their lives thanks to being wanted by the police.

a-monster-in-paris-3

Summation

Overall, A Monster in Paris is an enjoyable film. It’s distinct European flavour give the impression that it skips to a different beat than many American films and that would be correct. It eschews the pretensions of contemporary Hollywood films in favour of pure entertainment of the kind not seen much any more.

While the voice-acting (at least for the English dub) is a bit over the top, it is more than balanced by the music and original songs (written by Julian Lennon). The DVD is also a bit bare but given that the film never received the theatrical release it deserved in the States, it’s understandable that the home video release can’t be too lavish.

Delighting in its beauty, A Monster in Paris is highly recommended.

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Yogi Bear and A Lament For Social Marketing Tricks

Animation /
Via: Yowp
Via: Yowp

The Yowp blog is a favourite of this blogger because it not only does an excellent job of dissecting many, many early Hanna-Barbera cartoons, it also manages to dig up plenty of the associated marketing and promotional material related to them as well. A recent post concerned the celebrations of Yogi Bear’s ‘birthday‘:

Sure, the company began with the deals you might expect—for comic books, toys and records. And it grew from there. But a couple of promotions from the pre-Flintstone era at the studio (which is the focus of this blog, though we stray a bit) are admirable considering the coordination that was involved in pulling them off. One was Huckleberry Hound’s presidential run in 1960 (which combined comic books, cereal offers and personal appearances). The other is the Yogi Bear birthday party of 1961.

Driven By Data Not Desire

In today’s multi-media, web-enabled and YouTube-driven mediasphere, marketing has become a true science. Sure, advertising legend David Ogilvy knew as much back in the 50s, but even he always emphasised the art of marketing and advertising as being the most important element.

Google has since perfected the data-driven approach, wherein data on consumers is gathered and analysed until useful information is extracted. This information is then either used by Google itself, or sold to others for their use in advertising. Such trickery is superb at learning a consumer’s habits and also exploiting them.

The Decline of Social Marketing

The problem with data driven marketing and promotion is that it focuses much more on the individual rather than the collective. Just think about Yogi’s Birthday parties; they were designed to bring people together.

The feeling of being part of a community remains a very strong driver of viewing habits and fandom in general. The feeling that we are part of a group that shares similar tastes is far and away the biggest factor when it comes to how we determine which shows are our favourites.

Fans and fan-dominated social events (like conventions) are distinct from the kind of events that this post is talking about though. The former are geared towards existing fans whereas the latter are geared much more to potential fans.

The Future

Today, many of these potential fans congregate in the online space, either on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. Such platforms are much more efficient and, from a studio or network’s perspective, much cheaper to advertise on than a physical event.

The problem is that as we head ever further towards a future where there is a screen for each individual, there will be a tendency to ignore the physical space in preference of the virtual one. On an adult level, this may not be an insurmountable issue, but for kids especially, it could spell disaster.

That’s not mere fear mongering either. Animated features in their current form depend on the social viewing experience of the cinema. If kids grow up preferring smaller screens with content tailored to their desires, what do you think that will result in?

Finding the Solution

Viewing content will always be social on some level or another. The challenge will be how to do so when technology that permits people to watch any time any where is the norm. Will it still be possible to gather a group of people together to watch something? Large events like the Super Bowl will be fine, but what about smaller animated TV shows? How about getting kids to watch shows in groups at home, will that become a challenge too?

All these remain somewhat of a mystery at this point in time, but one thing is for sure, if we do not find a solution, it will make for some radical changes to animation.

What would you do to stimulate social viewing of animated programmes? Leave a comment below with your idea!

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From Up on Poppy Hill Review

2 Comments / Animation /
From Up On Poppy Hill
From Up On Poppy Hill

Can you really call this a review? I don’t know, because a true critic would tease out the good points from the bad, leaving the inevitable conclusion up to the reader. I cannot do that however, for the simple reason that From Up on Poppy Hill is a film that you must see, regardless of whether you think you will like it or not.

Studio Ghibli has been turning out films that in all honestly, put Pixar’s best to shame. The irony of course is that for their unashamed, un-commercial style, Ghibli’s films are phenomenally successful at the Japanese box office. It is a testament to the studio’s pool of talent that there is a distinct lack of sequels in their library; a feat that Disney maintained for many decades until it caved to the inevitable pressures of short-term growth forecasts.

From Up on Poppy Hill is the latest in that long line of films to reach Western audiences as an official release. Much respect and gratitude should be given to New York-based distributor GKIDS for having the desire to bring yet another film to our shores that many in the business would consider too far outside of what could be considered a commercially viable release.

From Up On Poppy Hill
From Up On Poppy Hill

The film comes with an attachment in the form of yet another Ghibli trademark. In this case it is the surname Miyazaki and unique for the studio, both father and son are on board. The past experiences of both men on the son’s directorial debut, Tales From Earthsea, have been mended, and From Up On Poppy Hill is the result. The elder, Hayao, wrote the screenplay based on a popular manga series by Chizuru Takahashi and Tetsur? Sayama while the younger, Gor?, undertook direction duties.

The result is a curious film insofar that it retains the usual Ghibli ‘look’ but dispatches with the customary fantasy element, relying instead on a very real and heartbreaking problem that stemmed from the Japanese involvement in World War II.

The film does much more than simply portray a series of events. Rather, it grants us privy to a series of dramatic and emotional revelations for our heroes:  Umi Matsuzaki and Shun Kazama. We see the calamity behind their first meeting and the subsequent bond they form and nurture.

It is this bond that forms the backbone of Umi and Shun’s story and while it gets a bit uncomfortable, the struggles that both characters face in coming to terms with reality make for some very emotional scenes, especially for Umi. She embodies the strong female protagonist that is common among Miyazaki films, but Gor? manages to make her vulnerable in ways that, say, Princess Mononoke is not. It must be said that the levels of emotion that the film managed to evoke from this blogger have not been equaled by any Western film from the past 15 years.

From Up On Poppy Hill
From Up On Poppy Hill

While it is easy to decry the presence of a substantial plot (about efforts to save a dilapidated clubhouse on school grounds), that is to miss the point of the film. Both Miyazaki’s have made known their nostalgia for a period in modern Japanese history when the shackles of the past were giving way to the optimism of the future. Such a transition period was fraught with many struggles. From Up On Poppy Hill conveys such struggles through its dual plots; that of Umi and Shun and their efforts to save an old, dilapidated clubhouse; the Latin Quarter. We see the characters in both plots attempt to reconcile actions from the past with an unknown but optimistic future.

From Up On Poppy Hill
From Up On Poppy Hill

Naturally the animation itself is superb. Once again, the notion that traditional 2-D, hand-drawn animation is no match for CGI is proven to be nothing but bluster and false promises. The Latin Quarter is beautifully rendered for the messy pigsty that it is and the lush colours of a Japanese summer manage to leap off the screen without obscuring our heroes.

The soundtrack adds a delightful level of joviality and comedy to proceedings too.

In the end, From Up On Poppy Hill returns to the humbler roots of such films as Kiki’s Delivery Service where the character’s experiences and reactions throughout the film are much more important than the plot itself. You won’t watch Poppy Hill to see whether the Latin Quarter is saved, you will watch because you want to see what becomes of Umi and Shun. Their innocence belies a complicated past and their reaction to, and reconciliation with it are what makes From Up On Poppy Hill such a wonderful film. Make an effort to see it when you can.

From Up On Poppy Hill
From Up On Poppy Hill

Postscript

We managed to catch a screening of the film as part of the New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) at the IFC Center. While the overall presentation of the film was superb, I simply cannot fail to pass comment on the digital projection used.

While such systems are capable of projecting the most vivid colours in a flawless manner, I found that they completely destroy the viewing experience. Why? Well animation is created as individual drawings that when shown 24 times a second appear to move and ought to be presented in that manner.

Using traditional film, that is fine; the technology relies on only displaying one frame ever 1/24th of a second and requires our brain to fill in the rest when the screen is blank between frames.

With digital projection, we lose that; it is clever enough to project each image without the gap. The end result is that I am not watching a film, I am watching a very high-definition video on a very large screen and when you project a technique like traditional animation using such technology, the result is that ever movement is so clearly defined that it doesn’t move smoothly, it shudders.

This shuddering didn’t ruin the film for me, but did leave me pining for a good ol’ strip of celluloid that would have been darker and not as sharp, but at least I wouldn’t have to be fooled into thinking I was watching individual frames projected onto the screen.

 

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The Place of March 22nd in Animation History

Animation /

Another unremarkable Friday? Ha! Not a chance. Today, the 22nd of March, actually has a fair bit of animation history to it; more than one would expect anyway. What noteworthy events happened on this day? Let’s take a look.

Birth of Milt Kahl

mostinfluentialdisneyanimators_MIlt Kahl

Yes, legendary member of the Nine Old Men, Milt Kahl was born this day in 1909. If he were alive today, Milt would be celebrating his 114th birthday. The 50 Most Influential Disney Animators blog has pretty much all you need to know about him.

Death of Walter Lantz

The creator of Woody Woodpecker died on March 22nd 1994 aged 94.

Death of Bill Hanna

Via: My usual haunt for all things H-B related, the Yowp Blog
Via: My usual haunt for all things H-B related, the Yowp Blog

One half Hanna-Barbera died on this day in 2001 aged 90.

Premiere of ChalkZone

The second series to come out of Frederator’s Oh Yeah! Cartoons was first broadcast on the 22nd of March, 2002.

Birth of Mort Drucker

He may not be an animator, but his influence on them is certain. The MAD cartoonist celebrates his 84th birthday today.

Birth of William Shatner

Yes, today is International Talk Like William Shatner Day as invented by voice-actor Maurice LaMarche to celebrate the famous actor’s birthday. Today he celebrates his 82nd!

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Checking in on the Bravest Warriors

5 Comments / Animation, Frederator /
Via: Flickr
Via: Flickr

It’s been about four months since we wrote about the innovative attempt by Frederator to bring high-quality animated content to the online masses with the Bravest Warriors. With the first season coming to an end it makes sense to pay them a visit and see how well they’ve done.

The Numbers

As with every form of media, the numbers are extremely important and Bravest Warriors is no exception. Although it is still very early to say, the numbers are nonetheless impressive for a web series. The most viewed episode was number 3, Butter Lettuce with 2.068,624 people having watched it as of writing with the current average views per episode coming in just under the 1 million mark

The Viewing Pattern

Just as important as the viewing numbers has been the viewing patterns. Just check out the graph for the first episode, Time Slime:

time slime views

Notice something interesting? Yes, it’s spectacularly linear! traditional TV broadcasts only measure spikes when each episode is broadcast, and that only occurs once a week. With the internet, viewers can watch and be measured at any time, and the chart above should be of interest to anyone in content.

The fact that it is so linear means that viewing is fairly constant. Naturally, the audience consists of new and repeat viewers, the data for which is not publicly available. However, one would expect to see a sharp slope at the beginning followed by a long plateau. That is not the case however, and suggests that people are using the freedom of the web to view whenever is convenient for them. The result is a stabler, more predictable viewing pattern.

The Totals

In total, Bravest Warriors has so far pulled in over 10.6 million views. That’s awesome! How many cable (maybe even broadcast networks?) would like those kinds of totals for their shows? The best part is that number is far from final. Since the last episode isn’t even a week old, you can be certain that it will garner close to the average for the earlier episodes which is between 800,000 and a million viewers. That would put the final figure for the series at over 12 million views.

Twelve. Million. Views.

Even just two years ago, that kind of number would have been pie in the sky for an animated web series (an original one, not a one-off or a Charlie the Unicorn-like now-and-then series.) They exemplify how far the shift to online viewing has come. Remember, YouTube is barely seven years old and it still hosts a lot of cat videos.

The Future of the Bravest Warriors

What does all this hold for the future? Well a second season is a foregone conclusion at this stage, but in the broader sense, it proves that it is possible to succeed online with an animated series. Oh sure, a lot remains to be seen and the studio is keeping tight-lipped on how the financials look, but given how well the series is promoted, how well Frederator has been at getting the merchandise out and the generally positive reviews the series has received (<2% thumbs down), it’s safe to say that Bravest Warriors has been a hit.

Would you call Bravest Warriors a hit? Could it have done better? Let us know with a comment!

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Female Characters: A Short Guide

Animation /

Here’s a short guide by Lauriellando on how female characters are all too often represented in comics, video games and even some animation:

lauriellando female characters

While it is tempting to think that such forms of entertainment are enjoyed only by those on the periphery, but the truth is different. Plenty of people enjoy them in a casual manner and plenty of them are teenagers. The problem is that they send the wrong message that can, and is, filtered and extrapolated into false truths.

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Rocko’s Modern Life & Unwitting Longevity

Animation /
Via: Shout! Factory
Via: Shout! Factory

The good people at Shout! Factory recently sent over a copy of the complete Rocko’s Modern Life on DVD and while slowly working my way through it, something struck me: it was totally unwitting in its longevity! Don’t believe me? Check out these reasons why.

It Was Created in a Time Before DVD

Yes, VHS was about, but at a time when feature films were selling for $30, the notion of putting an entire series out on home media was barely a glimmer in an executive’s eye. Animated TV shows were put out with the understanding (especially on cable networks) that their lifespan was limited. Once they ended production, there was hope for only a few years of reruns before new content took over.

Thankfully, that situation didn’t last forever, and the dominance of DVD was spurred on by consumer demand for content that previously never had a release. That trend continues today. Even with the transition to digital distribution already well under way, DVD continues to offer features not found in online streams or even torrents. Things like commentaries, shorts and the 2012 live recording with Joe Murray and crew,  give the Rocko DVD the edge it needs to make it worth your while.

Joe Murray Admits the Production Was A Roller Coaster

If you read Joe Murray’s (quite excellent) blog, there are plenty of posts where he discusses the production of Rocko’s Modern Life and how comical it was in many ways. The shoddiness of the studio building itself, the late, late nights, the arguing with the network. None of these indicated at the time that the show would be the massive success that it was. Neither did they indicate that it would surpass the quality of many subsequent productions by a country mile.

Oh sure, the animation isn’t as fluid as today’s shows, but that’s because it’s traditional animation; the awesome kind! Done without computers nothing much more than a pencil and paper. This time-tested method of animation production also gave Rocko the looseness for which it is known for.

Despite all these apparent setbacks, Rocko’s Modern Life managed to reach the pantheon of excellence simply by being a great show. As an almost-original Nicktoon, it’s immediate success was all but assured, and its long-term popularity was burnished by some fantastic plots, subtle and not-so-subtle innuendo and a fantastic cast of characters that could be universally related to.

It’s More Than 20 Years Later and We’re Still Talking About It

Why the reason for this post at all? Well contemporary culture is notoriously fickle and forgettable; a quick visit to your nearest 3 for $10 bin will provide ample evidence of that. Any show that manages to not only warrant a release on DVD after its original audience has earned the right to sign contracts is noteworthy. Such a show is particularly so if it continues to provide entertainment for legions of new fans who could well be the kids of original viewers.

This is important to note because Joe Murray and crew didn’t sit down during production and try to figure out how to make their show appeal to audiences 20 years into the future. They just didn’t in the same way that the crews at Termite Terrace didn’t for one second think that what they had to crank out on a weekly basis would still get the same laughs from audiences more than 50 years later.

Such is the power of both comedy and a commitment to quality. Thankfully Rocko’s Modern Life has plenty of both.

So what are you waiting for? Enjoy the madness for yourself with the complete, 8-disc set from Shout! Factory today!

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Obligatory Academy Awards Post

Animation /
Yours truly with an Academy Award. I was outshone by the woman who showed up wearing a full gown.
Yours truly with an Academy Award. I was outshone by the woman who showed up wearing a full gown.

So yes, tonight is the Academy Awards; Hollywood back-slapping, back-scratching, self-congratulating etc. etc yadda yadda yadda blah blah blah. Basically a media event designed and marketed to cater to the manufactured ‘glamour’ that the large studios pretend still exists more than 50 years after it actually has. The luster has long faded, at least for me, but I will watch tonight because it provides ample amusement for the evening.

Naturally, you are all wondering what my choices are. Well, in the tradition of that university professor who so graciously awarded his students two grades (the one they earned and the one they deserved), my predictions for the animated categories will be similarly split, between the real winner, the bookies winner and my personal preference; with justifications for each.

Don’t forget to check out tomorrow’s post too. Not for the results, oh no, you can find those instantly. Instead, I will discuss two ways how the Academy screws over animation. And I promise that it won’t be pretty.

The Choices

Best Animated Feature

Here you go:

The real winner: Brave – There is no way the Academy will give the award to a movie about video games. Suck it up Gen Yers. Tim Burton is too weird, and the rest lacked the marketing budget and the future potential to sway Hollywood kingmakers.
The bookies favourite: Brave (11/10 from Paddy Power) – Same as above.
Personal favourite: ParaNorman is the best of a relatively mediocre bunch. Although not perfect, it is at least honest and makes an attempt (however small) to move the game on a bit.

Best Animated Short

Here they are:

The real winner: Paperman – Disney, clinical, love; the trifecta for voters. A flawed short that had millions thrown at it and the Disney machine in full force. Too much for voters to ignore.
The bookies favourite: Paperman (2/7 from Willian Hill) – See above.
Personal favourite: I have not seen all the shorts, but Fresh Guacamole by PES is the quintessential short film. A complete story told in a few minutes with lots of ingenuity and heart.

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Your Opinions Are Needed!

19 Comments / Animation /

bart never lie to you

Hello there,

I’ve been writing this blog for almost three years now and while it give me immense pleasure, it’s sometimes hard to judge if it’s of benefit to anyone else out there.

So with that in mind, if you’re reading this, please take as little as 10 seconds of your time to tell me what you think of the blog and what you would do different or improve upon by leaving a comment below.

Feel free to ask any questions you might have too.

Thanks!

Charles

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