sethstanley

I could have grown a pony-tail (if I had hair). Left my wife and kids (but I love them! I'd miss them too much).

I could wait for XRP to moon and buy a lambo (but I don't like fast cars).

I DID buy a guitar (but my amp has a headphone socket so I can keep the noise down).

The fabled mid-life crisis is a curious thing, Huey Lewis and The News didn't ever say. It affects people in a number of different ways.

A wave of compulsion to re-invent myself was crashing over me. Not in a Francis Dolarhyde kind of way, you understand. No good would come of that at all.

My mid-life crisis gripped me in a very specific way. I was compelled to look for a new job.

Stale

I had been in my previous job for twelve years. I was on a great team, doing enjoyable work. I had lovely colleagues, some of whom I'm still in touch with. I had a good salary.

Then one day, shortly before my 40th birthday, a switch flipped in my head and I said to myself “Man, you gotta get out of this place.”

I loved my job, but something was prodding me to leave,and wouldn't stop until I left.

Some people referred to me as a 'lifer', someone they could never see leaving. Someone else said I was 'part of the furniture'.

Were those little droplets part of the wave?

I didn't want to be seen as having been there so long that people could predict my future? That I was considered a bit long-in-the-tooth? That I would never ever leave this place?

Maybe so.

Challenging

Did I want something from a new role that this current one wasn't providing? Almost certainly.

A new challenge. The challenge of starting it all again. Of winning new colleagues over, and turning them into friends who liked and respected me. Of being the new kid for a while and rising to the task of learning a new job.

The need for change became compelling. I practically dared myself to do it.

A year later, I am, in a job I hate for many reasons. I find the people ok, but pretty serious and generally, not warm. I find I am under-employed, given unfulfilling tasks, more suited to a much more junior member of staff. I could go on...

I wanted to learn new skills, do something kind of related to what I know, but different enough to interest me. All I am learning is how not to do things. Mediocre practice, not best.

Itchy

But I don't regret making that leap for a second. I scratched my itch. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, but you know what – on some level, part of me is enjoying that for now. Weird huh? It's just another challenge I have to rise to. One I wasn't necessarily expecting, but what the hell.

The itch is returning, the wave of compulsion coming back. Time to re-invent again.

There's some premium content below for an explanation of the article header graphic. Can't see it? Maybe you should subscribe to Coil then!

Header image credit:DAVID McKEE

The Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy set a new bar for comic-book movies. Where the Marvel Cinematic Universe films are all primary-colours and buildings falling down by the second, Nolan's Batman films stayed firmly in the shade. The tone was gritty, grim and grey and told the tale of a man determined to save a Gotham City that few considered worth saving.

In The Dark Knight, Nolan rubbed Batman up against his most famous foe, Heath Ledger's Joker. A man without morals, without mercy and without a backstory. No rhyme or reason to the carnage he created, he was just a man who wanted to watch the world burn. His motives were his own.

Ledger's performance was roundly hailed as brilliant and deserving of a post-humous Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2009 for his incredible characterisation.

Bleak

Just when you think Christopher Nolan has left nowhere to go in terms of comic-book character films grounded in the bleakest of realities, Todd Phillips gives us his Joker.

No vat of chemicals here, no licking of lips, but a real name – Arthur Fleck, and an injection of life in the form of the magnificently real Joaquin Phoenix. Such is the intensity of his performance, you almost want to go to the pharmacy and grab his prescription for him.

Arthur starts the movie as a clown, advertising for local businesses. A wannabe stand-up comedian, he aspires to land himself a slot on a late-night talk show with his hero, host Murray Franklin (the best Robert De Niro performance for many years).

It becomes apparent early on that Arthur is suffering with mental health issues. He has, according to a card he carries with him, a condition resulting from a brain injury that causes uncontrollable laughter at inappropriate times.

Over the course of the film, we see Arthur descend further and further into a downward spiral of negative behaviour fuelled by a chain of crushing events . He is beaten up by a bunch of kids, his relationship with his mother breaks down, he is fired from his job, a video is published by Murray Franklin showing Arthur's dreadful stand-up routine and critically, his medication is cancelled. All of these things conspire for Arthur to believably commit to going into full-on Joker mode.

Explosive

The film has generated some controversy already over its portrayal of mental illness and the possibility of it tipping into real-life copycat violence.

There are some shocking moments, when Arthur simply has had enough, and his attempts to connect with the world are foiled at every turn.

The violence explodes onto the screen at key times in the film and while I definitely started to feel empathy with Arthur – isolated, malnourished, utterly down on his luck – his 'look what you drove me to' explanations for his murderous actions left me feeling uncomfortable. As did some of the final scenes, where you might argue he feels justified for his actions by the perceived acceptance he experiences.

Are you talking to me?

The tone of the film felt close to Taxi Driver in part. And in some ways, Arthur Fleck and Travis Bickle are kindred spirits in their loneliness. Talking to mirrors and keeping diaries while moving around a city that doesn't understand or want them.

Though not the easiest watch, I thought the film was fantastic. It's beautifully shot, the soundtrack was perfect – the use of Jimmy Durante's Smile is wonderful – and it's an absolute master-class in method acting (and dancing) from Phoenix, who I imagine in an alternate universe to be living his life as Joker, plotting his way out of Arkham Psychiatric Hospital. Surely a Best Actor Oscar nomination will be heading in his direction come January 2020.

Serious

The film does raise some uncomfortably complex questions about copycat violence, but I am comfortable with feeling uncomfortable.

It's not the first film to court publicity on this subject, and won't be the last. It will generate more debate, and I'm sure it will be interesting to follow, but it's difficult to know what new avenues these conversations might explore.

Heath Ledger's Joker would have asked Todd Phillips, “Why so serious?” but I think the tone fits the subject really well. And it's easy to say that with a straight face. I'm definitely not smiling, but I'm happy.

If you want more movie content, check out my A-Z of Movie Deaths!

Or take my Movie Quizzes!

• Movie Quiz No.1
• Movie Quotes Quiz No.1
• Movie Villains Quiz No.1

There is premium content below for Coil subscribers, if you can't see it, sign up for a subscription now!

A whistle-stop tour/little history lesson about my home

The psychologist Carl Jung once famously described Liverpool as “the pool of life”. There is a plaque with this quote on below a bust of Jung's head outside the Flanagan's Apple bar on Mathew Street.

It's something I always say to people when they ask me where I'm from, because I like to give them a positive impression. Of me, and of my beautiful city.

It hasn't always been easy for me to hold my head up and tell people where I'm from with pride. Particularly with those from other parts of England. I was born in a suburb of the city in the late 1970's. It was not an easy time to be proud of Liverpool.

Yesterday

Growing up in the 1980's, the city was a hotspot for crime, and unemployment levels were through the roof. Poverty was extreme and evident everywhere. I won't delve into the why's and wherefore's here, but basically, the government withdrew funding and support at a critical time for the city. It was mis-managed on a national and local level.

Around the UK, Liverpool people, or 'scousers' as we're known, had reputations for petty crime and we were universally written-off as a city of thieves, cheats and liars. Our 'scouse' accent, a unique identifier as soon as we opened our mouths, raised suspicions unfairly wherever we went.

It is easy to kick someone when they're down. And the stereotypes have not been easy to shrug off. London comedian Harry Enfield (among others) saw to that, with his TV sketch-show, in which he portrayed one of three brothers in a skit called The Scousers. It was loosely based on characters from popular local soap opera Brookside.

Even today, away fans come to Anfield and Goodison Park and sing “ Sign on, sign on, with hope in your heart, but you'll never get a job” to the tune of You'll Never Walk Alone. Big sigh.

But there has always been good here too that people all too readily overlook. We are a city of wildly inventive creators.

Revolution

In the 1960's, there was a thriving local music scene, which saw the birth of the Beatles, Gerry and The Pacemakers, Billy J.Kramer and Cilla Black. More recently, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Lightning Seeds, Cast, The Coral and The Zutons all hail from these parts.

The Beatles. Toy ones, not the real Beatles

We had the marvellous poetry of folks like Brian Patten and Roger McGough, and over the years, fantastic actors like Pete Postlethwaite, Julie Walters and David Morrissey have tread the boards of our fabulous local theatres – the Everyman, Empire and Playhouse.

We are home to the beautiful Walker Art Gallery and the inspiring Tate Liverpool, based at one of the city's many landmarks, the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Royal Albert Dock.

The Royal Albert Dock

In sport, we have the biggest annual UK horse racing event, the Grand National at Aintree. Of course, when it comes to football, the city is fiercely divided between the red of Liverpool and the blue of Everton. We are fortunate to have two clubs with such rich history between them.

Getting better

Fast-forward twenty years, and Liverpool has slowly kissed goodbye to the grim days of the '80's where 300 people queued for miles because they heard one job was available somewhere, and welcomed a period of economic regeneration with open arms.

The famous Liver Buildings, guarded by the Liver Birds sat atop

Liverpool John Lennon airport welcomes visitors daily from all over Europe, and the city centre was radically overhauled in 2008 to provide a stylish new area to shop, eat, relax and hang out, called Liverpool One.

We began to use our valuable position on the banks of the River Mersey once more, and started to welcome day-trippers in mega cruise ships. Liverpool was on the up.

A cruise ship at Liverpool's waterfront

In 2008, Liverpool was granted European Capital of Culture status, and saw the first of four major public events that would help to redefine public perceptions of the city.

La Machine, a French performance art company brought their 50-foot mechanical spider La Princesse to roam the streets of the city in a three day procession.

La Princesse in 2008

In 2012, 2014 and 2018, Liverpool was visited by Royal De Luxe's Giant puppets. Millions of people came out again each time to see these walking works of art perform through the streets. They are hailed as the most successful public events the city has ever seen.

The Little Girl Giant, 2012

When Cain's Brewery closed in the city in 2013, entrepreneurs pounced to turn it into the Baltic Market – an extension to the wonderful Baltic Creative area. Nothing screams hipster here like a plaid-wearing, bearded barman serving you craft beer with halloumi fries. It's a great, unpretentious place to hang out in the city. It oozes cool without looking like it's trying too hard. It's wall-to-wall street art outside, all lending itself to the hipster ambience.

Street art, Baltic Village

Here comes the sun

In 2018, Liverpool was the third most popular UK destination in the Travellers' Choice awards from Trip Advisor, behind London and Edinburgh. It's got all the amenities of a big city, with a small-city feel. Basically, it's a lot like London, but with less chance of being trampled on by someone in a massive hurry.

Liverpool is going from strength to strength at the moment. A new cruise port is planned, Everton is moving to a new football stadium at Bramley Moore Dock, and a new creative district for digital start-ups is in the planning stages.

Liverpool is buzzin now, la.

Do you want to know a secret?

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If you can't see anything, go here to sign up now!

Hey everyone,

First of all, thank you so much for the huge positive response I got for my last post There Is A Light That Never Goes Out. I wasn't sure what kind of reaction such a personal post would provoke. I'm pleased with how it turned out and felt like it was a fitting tribute to my mum. Thank you to all who took the time to read it.

This time out, I'd like to talk about Coil from the perspective of my day job, as a User Experience Designer.

What's one of those? Well, basically, with the help of a user researcher, I understand how to improve users' digital experiences through testing and prototyping solutions.

I'd like to offer some speculative insight as to how the Coil team are probably working behind the scenes, and how that puts us, the users, front and centre in having a say in development of the platform.

Product

Most public end users (regular folk like you and me) will refer to Coil as just a website. But chances are, the Coil team will describe it as a product. Hopefully one built using a user-centred design approach.

A product with a list of prioritised features to build, known as a backlog. A product roadmap will also likely exist, with clearly-defined near-term features and more loosely-defined longer-term features that require more research into what we need and how we are using Coil.

Team

A product needs a team – led by a product manager, or owner. This person shapes the vision of the product. They're responsible for the organisation of the product backlog and leads the direction of the roadmap.

Google's vision is “to provide access to the world's information in one click”.

A noble challenge that the entire company staff, regardless of role, can rally behind and attempt to make happen. You can't really 'achieve' a vision, or say when you've got there.

In fact, a vision should be such a perfect example of where you're trying to get to, that you could never possibly get there. But you should aspire to do it regardless.

The team will be multi-disciplinary and covers a variety of roles (in no particular order):

• Scrum master (or delivery manager) – This guy plans all the agile meetings and removes any blockers in the way of the product team – it's a really important role!
• Front-end developers – are responsible for the look and feel of the website, the typefaces, layout and functionality. All the stuff that makes users go “Wow! That's neat!”
• Back-end developers – they create databases to hold all the data that we input through the front-end of a website. They handle the security and all the invisible bits and pieces that end users take for granted. They make stuff 'just' work.
• User researchers – these are inquisitive individuals who seek to understand user needs and frame their questions as problems to solve eg. “how might we improve search functionality in order for users to find what they need?”
• User experience designers – UXD's are involved in user research. They take the results of the research to prototype and test solutions to problems that research uncovers
• Content designers – CD's decide how best to communicate information. Is it copy? Is it an image? Is it a video? They test their content with their audience, and make sure everything is in plain English, and understandable.
• Marketers – these guys are responsible for promotion. They will write promotional copy for the website and social media, and try to understand how best to push Coil's messages and value proposition to potential creators. They'll be thinking about the question – How do we drive more users to take up Coil subscriptions, and they'll be pleased to know we're thinking about that too...

Agile

Depending on your line of work, you may or may not have heard the phrase 'agile' or 'agile methodology' or similar. It's a name born out of software development, but now seems to be used across a many disciplines where there is pressure to be more productive and output work faster (so all of them!).

We work in defined periods of time, called sprints, which often last for a minimum of two weeks.

During a sprint, a product team will work to a defined schedule of meetings.

• A short daily stand-up (15 minutes or so – we do literally stand up!) where the product team update each other on what they did the day before, what they're going to do today and if they have any problems that need to be dealt with by the scrum master.
• Sprint planning: Here, the product team defines the work that they're going to do during the sprint and unpicks the work down to fine detail so that the product team has a shared understanding of what they need to build.
• Sprint review/retrospective: In this meeting, the team do a show-and-tell for the product manager to see if they accept the work as DONE! Then, they talk about what went well, what went badly and how they can do things better during the next sprint.
• Then rinse/repeat. These iterative cycles help to get us from a minimum viable product (MVP), which is what we have at the moment, to a feature-rich platform that caters for a wide range of use cases.

Research

The best thing the Coil team can do at the moment, is user research. I have every confidence that they'll be incorporating this into their best practice processes.

Those sources of research will include website analytics to understand the numbers behind the platform. How many people are using it? How many subscribers are there? How many Creators? What are the most popular sections of the site?

Another valuable area to mine is user feedback – this is great for gathering bugs like “I can't write a draft on my Android phone with the native Samsung browser”, or “the search function doesn't work correctly on Chrome on Mac OS X El Capitan”. This could be captured directly from contacting the Coil team via the website, or from them monitoring social media mentions on Reddit/Twitter etc.

A big question

You can monetise any website on any platform. People don't have to use Coil. When I think about the features that would improve Coil, my mind jumps instantly to features that platforms like Wordpress already incorporate.

So, if I can monetise a website that I run from Wordpress, and get all the functionality I want from that platform, what are the features Coil needs to integrate to attract users to use it?

That's what the Coil team are paid to figure out, I guess. But by having this dialogue in spaces like Twitter and Reddit, and on the Coil Blogging Club Telegram group run by the tireless Ken Melendez, the team will carry on researching and deciphering what our user needs are to create great content, grow our audiences and attract new subscribers.

For my Coil subscribers, I've made a list of user needs I think that we have, which is by no means exhaustive.

If you would like to continue reading, but can't see anything, sign up to Coil now!

Howdy Quizzerinos!

Welcome to my first Movie Villains Quiz!

Rules:

1) Follow me on Twitter and re-tweet my pinned tweet to at least one person who might like to try the quiz!

2)Comment on the pinned tweet with your answers

3)If you're answering the subscriber questions too, slide into my DM's with the subscriber codeword at the end of the quiz! Please DON'T publicise it in a public tweet! :)

4) A chance to win 5 XRP if you answer 10 questions correctly!

5) A chance to win 10 XRP for Coil subscribers who answer 20 questions correctly!

6) Winners announced on Thursday 26 September!

Ok, here we go!

1) Wrongly-convicted Andy Dufresne escapes the clutches of the evil Warden Norton in which 1994 prison drama?

2) Who played the wonderfully pantomime Sheriff of Nottingham opposite Kevin Costner in Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves?

3) Hannibal Lecter leads Clarice Starling to find which vicious serial killer in Silence of the Lambs?

4) In Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader redeems his dastardly actions by offing his master, the Emperor. What was the Emperor's name?

5) In his last moments, Star Trek II antagonist Khan quotes “…To the last, I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart, I stab at thee; for hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee.”

Which author is he quoting?

6) Computer virus Agent Smith battles Neo in which cyberpunk sci-fi trilogy?

7) The unkillable Michael Myers stabs his way through which holiday-themed horror franchise?

8) A seemingly driver-less truck viciously pursues Dennis Weaver in which director's feature-length debut?

9) In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, what is Lord Voldemort's real name revealed to be?

10) I was invited into Corey Haim's house in The Lost Boys and partied hard when Goldie Hawn fell Overboard!

What's my real name?

There's another 10 quiz questions for Coil subscribers below!

Why not sign-up now?

It's been easy for me to resist the urge to talk at length about XRP so far on Coil. There are a number of people who are doing it already, far better than I ever could.

I don't think I'm sticking my neck out in assuming that every single person who blogs on this platform does so because it's possible to earn XRP for getting eyes on their articles.

Streaming micro-payments. Amazing isn't it? People here understand the USP of the Coil product, in a way that Wordpress afficionados didn't ever have to consider.

So if you're going to join the throng, you better be good at researching the current news, or having a hot take that you can support, because XRP is why we're all here. One might argue, if XRP is your thing, you have to work even harder than normal to get your content noticed...

I'll pick up on the double-edged sword of writing about XRP for Coil subscribers later ;) but for now, back to why I wanted to share this article in the first place.

Flashback music please...

It all started back in 2011.

My wife and I were living in a small apartment, and saving for a house after the recent birth of our daughter. We didn't have money to fling around.

Then I read an article about Bitcoin. How it was very cheap, but destined to be worth a boat-load more in the future. If I could buy some now, why.....we could be millionaires!

“Hey honey, can we buy some magic invisible internet money please?”

“No. No we can't.”

And we didn't.

Beyond that, I didn't really bring it up again. Periodically, I checked in with the price and saw it was gathering pace. But I didn't own any, I didn't much care.

Fast forward to November 2017, we were on a weekend trip with friends, one of whom was a solicitor. He was investigating crypto, particularly Ethereum, because of the ability to implement smart contracts.

He starts showcasing his Coinbase account on his phone, explaining how the price of Bitcoin has gone through the roof, and my wife goes unusually coy, shuffling uncomfortably. She turns to me and says, “Wow, we could have been rich. You were right.”

I WAS right. And we COULD have been. IF we'd have invested when I suggested. IF we'd Held On for Dear Life long enough. We make the choices we make, there a few if's and but's there. No guarantees. C'est la vie.

“We could have been rich.” She said. “We won't make the same mistake again.”

After that weekend, I dabbled with various exchanges and opened a Coinbase account. Bought some Bitcoin, Litecoin, a little XRP (or Ripple as I knew it then), some IOTA(!), some Stellar, some KIN (cue tumbleweed). All bits and pieces, not really enough of anything to make any kind of life-changing difference.

I was there in January 2018 to see XRP's all-time-high. I didn't hold enough for it to affect me.

From there on in, I've read, researched, learned, watched Youtube videos and even joined Twitter just to get the lowdown and see what the lay of the land was.

Crypto Twitter is a special place and the XRP Community are an interesting microclimate of that place. A mix of shameless self-publicists, inflammatory price speculators, technical wizards and philanthropists. All want to make money. Some for themselves, some for others. Most I've seen have a genuine interest in playing their part to grow the ecosystem.

I don't pretend to understand half of what I read. It hurts my head when people present graphs with lines seemingly scrawled at random and say intentionally ambiguous things like “Look at this! Only one way this is going....”

But what I do understand is that the use case is crystal clear. XRP seems to be the superior digital asset in every way. I worry sometimes that the XRP community is an echo chamber and we're all sat on Twitter together egging this thing on and crossing our fingers.

I do believe that the levels of utility on the way will inevitably push the price up. And if it doesn't, meh! I lose a small amount of cash, and some time I've invested entering giveaways. I'm enjoying writing on here. I love the concept of earning XRP rather than buying it. The only thing I stand to lose is my time.

But if this thing blows up big-time, and I think it will, I will be here, HODL'ing.

I won't make the same mistake again.

If you want to carry on reading, but can't see the extra content, maybe you could consider signing up to support your favourite Coil authors?

Ok guys, here we go. 10 movie quotes questions (and a further 10 below for Coil subscribers!)

Can you name all 20 films that these lines are from?

Tweet me your answers and I'll publish the correct set on my Twitter on Wed 11 September.

1. I didn't just survive a wreck; I wasn't just blown up yesterday. I have been stabbed, shot, poisoned, frozen, hung, electrocuted and burned.

2. Strange things are afoot at the Circle K....

3. You mean to tell me, you built a time machine out of a DeLorean?

4. Hello. How about that ride in? I guess that's why they call it Sin City.

5. But Bob's office is bigger than my office!

6. Have you ever seen blood in the moonlight, Will? It appears quite black.

7. You want to talk to God? Let's go see him together, I've got nothing better to do.

8. Dead or alive, you are coming with me.

9. That wasn't flying, that was falling with style!

10.How do you shoot the devil in the back? What if you miss?

Here's 10 more quote questions for my Coil followers! If you can't see these, you can sign up to Coil now!