Unnecessary Redundancy
One of my pet hates is redundant language; I reserve the right to “really truly” for emphasis if I want to, but all that “05-hundred AM in the morning” stuff is for cock jockeys.
Here’s a little visual celebration of redundancy in action:
I'd prefer to prepay afterwards, by Andrew Sardone
Redundant Touch by JulianBleecker
Stating the Obvious by Hryck
Redundancy by mlcastle
Images via Flickr: Andrew Sardone, JulianBleecker, Hryck, mlcastle
Related resources
- Writing tips and blogging job opportunities (invisiblogger.com)
- Redundancy Explains Junk DNA, Redundancy Explains Junk DNA (sandwalk.blogspot.com)
- Tighten up your writing by removing redundant/unnecessary words (cybertext.wordpress.com)
Image of the Week: Win A Dream Holiday
My mate posted this on Facebook. I thought this was ironic due to the fact this paper came out only a couple of days after the Costa Concordia tragedy happened (on Friday 13th January, woo00ooo), and just above the photo of the sinking cruise ship they’ve got a big red headline offering to win a dream holiday. Mmm, I think not. I wonder if they got in trouble for this ?
***** 4nim4l *****
Want to Win Image of the Week?
Send me the URL to your image, or email me the file as an attachment if you must. I’m on Facebook and Twitter and my email is mi@machiavelliid.com. Give me whatever info you like about you or your image. That’s it.
[No guarantees that I'll ever publish it, or that I'll repeat what you say about it word-for-word. But if I like your image or your thinking, it's in.]
Related articles
- Image of the Week: Window disclaimer by Karen Neoh (machiavelliid.com)
- Cruise ship’s plan posted on Facebook before disaster (vancouversun.com)
WTF Happened There?
I just had one of those mad traffic spikes: not a StumbleUpon flashmob, not a run of Facebook click-throughs, but a burst of activity that comes mainly from organic search.
Look:
As it turns out, I had a lot of hits from people searching for Mike Crawley. Which isn’t surprising, because he’s an expert and because he does nudie photos.
There were a couple of hours there when it was all just busy, busy, busy – for this place, at least. I’m used to pootling along at no more than a hundred or so views a day most of the time, so this was pretty fucking unusual.
So who were those passing pervs? Will they be back? Did they find what they were looking for? What does it all mean?
Image of the Week: Window disclaimer by Karen Neoh
There are a lot of things I like about this. First of all, I’m just happy that somebody bothered to make up some nice professional looking signage rather than just writing it on a piece of paper taped to the window. That restores my faith in the quirked priorities of humanity.
I also like the fact that their offer of a puppy goes some way to ameliorate the threat to give children strong caffeine beverages. And look, if you don’t want the kids to drink espresso then don’t leave them unattended, right?
You can see more of Karen’s photos on Flickr.
Want to Win Image of the Week?
Send me the URL to your image, or email me the file as an attachment if you prefer. I’m on Facebook and Twitter and my email is mi@machiavelliid.com. Give me whatever info you like about you or your image. That’s it.
[No guarantees that I'll ever publish it, or that I'll repeat what you say about it word-for-word. But if I like your image or your thinking, it's in.]
You Asked For It (You Sick, Sick Puppies): Fetish Fan Photo Requests
OK, I keep getting asked about fetish images and bdsm in particular, so here’s a quick guide to what I’ve got for you:
- Naked ballet and other nude dance: There are still more photos from my “naked ballet in the woods” session with BD-Company.co.uk that I’ll post up sometime soon, but if you really love the nude ballet that much then I can always shoot more. I can tap dance, clog dance, pole dance, hoe-down and do jazz hands “interpretative dance” shit, too, so if you’ve got a “specialist” naked dancing fetish you’ll have to leave me a message about it and I’ll see what I can do. No Charleston though; I never got the hang of that one.
- Pregnancy fetish / various pregnant fetish subgenres like pregnant bdsm, pregnant housework, pregnant in suspenders and so on: Yes, there are lots of photos I didn’t post in the gallery when I was pregnant. I’ll put some more of them up if you like.
- Housework fetish, nude housework, and cleaning fetishes from rubber gloves and washing dishes to scrubbing floors to vacuum cleaning and feather dusters: I have loads of these photos already, and I’ll probably shoot more housework fetish pics in 2012.
- Food fetish / WAM / wearing food: OK, you obviously like this idea a lot. I haven’t posted up many foody photos yet, so I’ll plan a special food fetish photo shoot just for you. Now, what to wear?
- BDSM and other control fetishes: I’ve got quite a few bdsm sets kicking around – I’ll liberate some of the photos from storage and put them up. If you’re into sadomasochism, I’ve got a lovely Wartenberg pinwheel I’ve been meaning to use in a shoot.
- Girly sex: I’m not sure what you’re looking for when you people type this into your Bings and Googles… do you mean like 2 girls together in a faux-lesbian pose? Do you mean girly like all giggly and squeal-y and wearing a pink sweater? Nobody’s directly asked me about it, but I’ve noticed you turning up here looking for it, so if you let me know what it is you want I’ll point you in the right direction.
- What else? Well, that’s mostly up to me but it’s partly up to you, too, – let me know what kind of photos you want to see more of, and I’ll start plotting the next year’s fetish & bdsm photo shoots.
Image of the Week: The Small Hand That Kills by Skippyjon
This is just outstanding in so many ways. Enjoy.
You can see more images by skippyjon on Flickr.
Want to Win Image of the Week?
Send me the URL to your image, or email me the file as an attachment if you must. I’m on Facebook and Twitter and my email is mi@machiavelliid.com. Give me whatever info you like about you or your image. That’s it.
[No guarantees that I'll ever publish it, or that I'll repeat what you say about it word-for-word. But if I like your image or your thinking, it's in.]
Image of the Week: Butterfly Blue Rest by Shannon Kringen
I have a bit of a thing about blue butterflies, and this one is just gorgeous. It lives [lived?] in the Seattle Science Center’s butterfly house.
I particularly like the contrast between the glowing soft-edged wings, the precision of the wing vein structure [I once obsessively drew butterfly wing vein patterns for days on end to perfect a tattoo design], and the stony textures in the background; I’ve seen a few too many butterflies photographed on green leaves and flowers.
You can see more of Shannon Kringen’s images on Flickr.
Want to Win Image of the Week?
Send me the URL to your image, or email me the file as an attachment if you must. I’m on Facebook and Twitter and my email is mi@machiavelliid.com. Give me whatever info you like about you or your image. That’s it.
[No guarantees that I'll ever publish it, or that I'll repeat what you say about it word-for-word. But if I like your image or your thinking, it's in.]
Image of the Week: Untitled by Or Hiltch
This photo was taken only yesterday, which for some reason makes me like it more.
I’ve been trying to work out what I was doing at the time – the photo tags say 18 hours ago and it’s 10 a.m. here now, so it would’ve been 8 hours before midnight: 4 p.m. yesterday, then. We’d just got home from Mini-MI’s swimming lesson, so I was probably feeling knackered, eating crisps & thinking about getting back to work. Meanwhile, somewhere in the world, a golden leaf drifted on calm water…
You can see more of Or Hiltch‘s images on Flickr.
And you can see golden leaves almost anywhere in the Northern part of the globe by now. Collect some, or take your own photos, or whatever. They’re pretty and they’re free.
Want to Win Image of the Week?
Send me the URL to your image, or email me the file as an attachment if you must. I’m on Facebook and Twitter and my email is mi@machiavelliid.com. Give me whatever info you like about you or your image. That’s it.
[No guarantees that I'll ever publish it, or that I'll repeat what you say about it word-for-word. But if I like your image or your thinking, it's in.]
Image of the Week: The Sombrero Galaxy by NASA
This is an old favourite infrared image from the Spitzer Space Telescope & NASA. I love the Sombrero Galaxy (M104); it’s so floaty-looking at these enormous distances that I like to imagine the texture of it close up.
Not very close, obviously, or I’d be inside it. And there’s a black hole in there and all sorts of cool stuff.
You can see more images at the NASA website.
And you can see more of the Sombrero Galaxy in the sky: look towards Virgo through a reasonable sized telescope.
Want to Win Image of the Week?
Send me the URL to your image, or email me the file as an attachment if you must. I’m on Facebook and Twitter and my email is mi@machiavelliid.com. Give me whatever info you like about you or your image. That’s it.
[No guarantees that I'll ever publish it, or that I'll repeat what you say about it word-for-word. But if I like your image or your thinking, it's in.]
Image of the Week: A Rainbow of Fruity Flavor by Micky Zlimen
I love this because it makes Skittles look so much tastier than they really are… all rainbowy and shiny and speckled with tiny dings. Sweets are usually more appealing to me in the abstract than they are in the real world consumption. And well-composed macro shots are awesome (though I still don’t always get them right).
A Rainbow of Fruity Flavor by Micky Zlimen
On a side note, I think they should make giant Skittles, the size of those mini eggs you get in bags at Easter.
Here’s another of Micky’s photos that I liked a lot, too. She seems to have a talent for making the most of colour, and gives what might have been rather pedestrian images a lovely bright hyperreality.
Fall Sampler by Micky Zlimen
You can see more of Micky’s work here.
Want to Win Image of the Week?
Send me the URL to your image, or email me the file as an attachment if you must. I’m on Facebook and Twitter and my email is mi@machiavelliid.com. Give me whatever info you like about you or your image. That’s it.
[No guarantees that I'll ever publish it, or that I'll repeat what you say about it word-for-word. But if I like your image or your thinking, it's in.]
Image of the Week: Elsa by Altsune
This super dollfie pic is one of my favourites – the perfect glowing platinum hair, the skin texture, the way I can see into her wrist joints. And I like that she’s posed next to a mirror, too. Nice work, Ovada!
You can see more dollfies and other stuff at Altsune.com.
Want to Win Image of the Week?
Send me the URL to your image, or email me the file as an attachment if you must. I’m on Facebook and Twitter and my email is mi@machiavelliid.com. Give me whatever info you like about you or your image. That’s it.
[No guarantees that I'll ever publish it, or that I'll repeat what you say about it word-for-word. But if I like your image or your thinking, it's in.]
Image of the Week: Curtains of Rain by Polly Nance
I really like how nicely this captures the heaviness and haze of flat-out grey needles of rain. It makes me feel I can sense-imagine the day.
You can see more of Polly’s work at WatchingThePhotoReels.
Want to Win Image of the Week?
Send me the URL to your image, or email me the file as an attachment if you must. I’m on Facebook and Twitter and my email is mi@machiavelliid.com. Give me whatever info you like about you or your image. That’s it.
[No guarantees that I'll ever publish it, or that I'll repeat what you say about it word-for-word. But if I like your image or your thinking, it's in.]
Image of the Week: Infinite Sadness by miskan
A beautiful, emotive expression on a completely inanimate object. Lovely.
You can see more of miskan‘s work on Flickr.
Want to Win Image of the Week?
Send me the URL to your image, or email me the file as an attachment if you prefer. I’m on Facebook and Twitter and my email is mi@machiavelliid.com. Give me whatever info you like about you or your image. That’s it.
[No guarantees that I'll ever publish it, or that I'll repeat what you say about it word-for-word. But if I like your image or your thinking, it's in.]
7pm UTC/GMT Saturday: Supermoon
7pm UTC/GMT Saturday, the moon is its closest to earth this year – and on the night of the full moon :) one to watch…. http://ow.ly/4hDmA
Oh gods, I’m a mommyblog
It’s come to my attention that my blog now has (a) lots of mentions of Mini-MI, and (b) absolutely bugger all modelling going on because I’m too busy writing and raising a baby to get my shit together and scrub up for a shoot. Can this state of affairs continue?
Let’s be clear on this point: I’m not about to turn the site pink or start thinking I’m Dooce. And I’m a bit less kerr-azy than The Blogess, so the title of Kookiest Mum Online isn’t up for grabs either. But I like being able to share my chaotic parenting skillz (would you take a book called Chaotic Parenting down off the shelf?) and occasional outbursts of maternal pride with you. So the baby stuff is in. Feel free to go & look at Barbies instead if you prefer your girls non-reproductive.
That said, I’m buying a new camera soon. Then I can set up my own shoots, and the Animal can push the trigger for me. So far I’ve been thinking of maybe doing a set in our nice new shower, and there must be something I can do with the Kinect… oh, and I’ve still got my LoveHoney Real Top Model prizes to show off, if they fit after all this time.
Any other ideas?
Image courtesy of Gabi Menashe via FlickrMachiavelli Id and the white horse
No, I’m not talking about drugs. Nor do I mean the Uffington White Horse (much as I love it) or any other chalk horse. And OK, the horse is technically grey not white. Just shut up and look at the pretty picture, will you?
Machiavelli Id with Grace, by Bitsoft
This beautiful mythic shot was taken by Bitsoft, an amazing photographer who still works with film (yes, that shiny black stuff that comes on a reel you stick inside an old-skool camera). He’s a commercial photographer by day, but a supercool do-whatever-sounds-good artistic ’tog in his time off. This was back in August, just before I realised I was preggernaut.
The horse, Grace, lives at the Checkendon Equestrian Centre which is a huge riding centre and equine rehab facility, with gorgeous grounds that we used as our shoot location. I only wish I could have taken Grace for a quick run afterwards. She was very patient with us, didn’t tread on my vulnerable bare feet, and only reared up once during the whole shoot.
I look at photos like this, and I feel lucky to have had such an amazing time in the last year. I’ve worked some great shoots, visited nifty places, hung out with wicked cool people, and now I’m having a baby with my man Animal. Life is a bizarre sweet & sour mix of a mess that likes to brick me in the head whenever I get complacent or self-pitying. This is a good thing.
Machiavelli Id is a “Lizard Warrior”
Getting up early and driving across the country for two hours was well worth the trouble for this shoot with Draken Photography and makeup artist Sara Austin, using latex prosthetics from Awen Creations.
After about three hours in makeup, and the fun of taping myself into the tiny leatherette warrior woman costume Draken had made for the shoot, we headed out to the forest. I got overexcited because I could see the sea (we were on the Kentish coastline), and because I had a sword to wave around…
Machiavelli Id by Draken Photography
We clambered into the woods and I threw some barbarian type poses while the fangs made me drool in a highly impressive berserker-reptile fashion. I couldn’t speak because of the fangs, and the prosthetic fingertips and claws prevented me using my hands properly, so I was obliged to play charades every time I needed someone to adjust my costume or scratch my nose (or wipe away my drool!).
Draken got some great shots in what seemed like no time at all, and it was a wicked experience. Hopefully we’ll soon be collaborating on another project with a darker, more S&M feel… with pictures on here when it’s done, of course.
Machiavelli Id, by Draken Photography
Machiavelli Id does the Apocalypse Girls
A few photos from my shoot with the lovely, talented, music-loving, tweenager-hating Laura Spires of Broken Logic Photography, for Apocalypse Girls.
Machiavelli Id for ApocalypseGirls.co.uk, photo by Broken Logic Photography
AG is a website full of hot alternative girls, run by alt.model Monkey – if you’re bored & looking for eye candy, check it out.
Machiavelli Id for ApocalypseGirls.co.uk, by Broken Logic Photography
Machiavelli Id for ApocalypseGirls.co.uk, by Broken Logic Photography
Things I’ve done for the sake of a great photo…
- Lay NAKED in fallen leaves full of SPIDERS, and pretended to be dead (with a big SWORD).
- Hung upside down from a TRAPEZE by my knees.
- Climbed into a giant BIRDCAGE & fought for a piece of CHOCOLATE.
Machiavelli Id, photo by D4 Photography
- Brandished a SABRE in a mechanic’s PIT.
- Cast a MAGICK spell, SKYCLAD.
- Got repeatedly dropped into a TANK full of WATER.
- Burned my ARSE on a hot SKATE RAMP (it was a sunny day).
If you want to see all the results, keep an eye on my portfolio page.
Machiavelli Id
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