The Vampire Diaries: The Fury Chapter Six

â€Å"She's already made her choice. You saw it yourself when you ‘interrupted' us. You've already chosen, haven't you, Elena?† Stefan said it not smugly, or as a demand, but with a kind of desperate bravado. â€Å"I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena looked up. â€Å"Stefan, I love you. But don't you understand, if I have a choice right now I have to choose for all of us to stay together. Just for now. Do you understand?† Seeing only stoniness in Stefan's face, she turned to Damon. â€Å"Do you?† â€Å"I think so.† He gave her a secret, possessive smile. â€Å"I told Stefan from the beginning that he was selfish not to share you. Brothers should share things, you know.† â€Å"That's not what I meant.† â€Å"Isn't it?† Damon smiled again. â€Å"No,† Stefan said. â€Å"I don't understand, and I don't see how you can ask me to work with him. He's evil, Elena. He kills for pleasure; he has no conscience at all. He doesn't care about Fell's Church; he said that himself. He's a monster-â€Å" â€Å"Right now he's being more cooperative than you are,† Elena said. She reached for Stefan's hand, searching for some way to get through to him. â€Å"Stefan, I need you. And we both need him. Can't you try to accept that?† When he didn't answer she added, â€Å"Stefan, do you really want to be mortal enemies with your brother forever?† â€Å"Do you really think he wants anything else?† Elena stared down at their joined hands, looking at the planes and curves and shadows. She didn't answer for a minute, and when she did it was very quietly. â€Å"He stopped me from killing you,† she said. She felt the flare of Stefan's defensive anger, then felt it slowly fade. Something like defeat crept through him, and he bowed his head. â€Å"That's true,† he said. â€Å"And, anyway, who am I to call him evil? What's he done that I haven't done myself?† We need to talk, Elena thought, hating this self-hatred of his. But this wasn't the time or place. â€Å"Then you do agree?† she said hesitantly. â€Å"Stefan, tell me what you're thinking.† â€Å"Right now I'm thinking that you always get your way. Because you always do, don't you, Elena?† Elena looked into his eyes, noticing how the pupils were dilated, so that only a ring of green iris showed around the edge. There was no longer anger there, but the tiredness and the bitterness remained. But I'm not just doing it for myself, she thought, thrusting out of her mind the sudden surge of self-doubt. I'll prove that to you, Stefan; you'll see. For once I'm not doing something for my own convenience. But I'm not just doing it for myself, she thought, thrusting out of her mind the sudden surge of self-doubt. I'll prove that to you, Stefan; you'll see. For once I'm not doing something for my own convenience. â€Å"Yes. I†¦ agree.† â€Å"And I agree,† said Damon, extending his own hand with exaggerated courtesy. He captured Elena's before she could say anything. â€Å"In fact, we all seem to be in a frenzy of pure agreement.† Don't, Elena thought, but at that moment, standing in the cool twilight of the choir loft, she felt that it was true, that they were all three connected, and in accord, and strong. Then Stefan pulled his hand away. In the silence that followed, Elena could hear the sounds outside and in the church below. There was still crying and the occasional shout, but the overall urgency was gone. Looking out the window, she saw people picking their way across the wet parking lot between the little groups that huddled over wounded victims. Dr. Feinberg was moving from island to island, apparently dispensing medical advice. The victims looked like survivors of a hurricane or earthquake. â€Å"No one is what they seem,† Elena said. â€Å"What?† â€Å"That's what Bonnie said during the memorial service. She had another one of her fits. I think it might be important.† She tried to put her thoughts in order. â€Å"I think there are people in town that we ought to look out for. Like Alaric Saltzman.† She told them, briefly, what she had overheard earlier that day in Alaric's house. â€Å"He's not what he seems, but I don't know exactly what he is. I think we should watch him. And since I obviously can't appear in public, you two are going to have to do it. But you can't let him suspect you know-† Elena broke off as Damon held up a hand swiftly. Down at the base of the stairs, a voice was calling. â€Å"Stefan? Are you up there?† And then, to someone else, â€Å"I thought I saw him go up here.† It sounded like Mr. Carson. â€Å"Go,† Elena hissed almost inaudibly to Stefan, â€Å"You have to be as normal as possible so you can stay here in Fell's Church. I'll be all right.† â€Å"But where will you go?† â€Å"To Meredith's. I'll explain later. Go on.† Stefan hesitated, and then started down the stairs, calling, â€Å"I'm coming.† Then he pulled back. â€Å"I'm not leaving you with him,† he said flatly. Elena threw her hands up in exasperation. â€Å"Then both of you go. You just agreed to work together; are you going to go back on your word now?† she added to Damon, who was looking unyielding himself. He gave another of his little shrugs. â€Å"All right. Just one thing-are you hungry?† â€Å"That's good. But later on, you will be. Remember that.† He crowded Stefan down the stairs, earning himself a searing look. But Elena heard Stefan's voice in her mind as they both disappeared. I'll come for you later. Wait for me. She wished she could answer with her own thoughts. She also noticed something. Stefan's mental voice was much weaker than it had been four days ago when he had been fighting his brother. Come to think of it, he hadn't been able to speak with his mind at all before the Founders' Day celebration. She'd been so confused when she woke up by the river that it hadn't occurred to her, but now she wondered. What had happened to make him so strong? And why was his strength fading now? Elena had time to think about it as she sat there in the deserted choir loft, while below the people left the church and outside the overcast skies slowly grew darker. She thought about Stefan, and about Damon, and she wondered if she had made the right choice. She'd vowed never to let them fight over her, but that vow was broken already. Was she crazy to try and make them live under a truce, even a temporary one? When the sky outside was uniformly black, she ventured down the stairs. The church was empty and echoing. She hadn't thought about how she would get out, but fortunately the side door was bolted only from the inside. She slipped out into the night gratefully. She hadn't realized how good it was to be outside and in the dark. Being inside buildings made her feel trapped, and daylight hurt her eyes. This was best, free and unfettered-and unseen. Her own senses rejoiced at the lush world around her. With the air so still, scents hung in the air for a long time, and she could smell a whole plethora of nocturnal creatures. A fox was scavenging in somebody's trash. Brown rats were chewing something in the bushes. Night moths were calling to one another with scent. She found it wasn't hard to get to Meredith's house undetected; people seemed to be staying inside. But once she got there, she stood looking up at the graceful farmhouse with the screened porch in dismay. She couldn't just walk up to the front door and knock. Was Meredith really expecting her? Wouldn't she be waiting outside if she were? Meredith was about to get a terrible shock if she weren't, Elena reflected, eyeing the distance to the roof of the porch. Meredith's bedroom window was above it and just around the corner. It would be a bit of a reach, but Elena thought she could make it. Getting onto the roof was easy; her fingers and bare toes found holds between the bricks and sent her sailing up. But leaning around the corner to look into Meredith's window was a strain. She blinked against the light that flooded out. Meredith was sitting on the edge of her bed, elbows on knees, staring at nothing. Every so often she ran a hand through her dark hair. A clock on the nightstand said Meredith was sitting on the edge of her bed, elbows on knees, staring at nothing. Every so often she ran a hand through her dark hair. A clock on the nightstand said Elena tapped on the window glass with her fingernails. Meredith jumped and looked the wrong way, toward the door. She stood up in a defensive crouch, clutching a throw pillow in one hand. When the door didn't open, she sidled a pace or two toward it, still in a defensive posture. â€Å"Who is it?† she said. Elena tapped on the glass again. Meredith spun to face the window, her breath coming fast. â€Å"Let me in,† said Elena. She didn't know if Meredith could hear her, so she mouthed it clearly. â€Å"Open the window.† Meredith, panting, looked around the room as if she expected someone to appear and help her. When no one did, she approached the window as if it were a dangerous animal. But she didn't open it. â€Å"Let me in,† Elena said again. Then she added impatiently, â€Å"If you didn't want me to come, why did you make an appointment with me?† She saw the change as Meredith's shoulders relaxed slightly. Slowly, with fingers that were unusually clumsy, Meredith opened the window and stood back. â€Å"Now ask me to come inside. Otherwise I can't. â€Å"Come†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Meredith's voice failed and she had to try again. â€Å"Come in,† she said. When Elena, wincing, had boosted herself over the sill and was flexing her cramped fingers, Meredith added almost dazedly, â€Å"It's got to be you. Nobody else gives orders like that.† â€Å"It's me,† Elena said. She stopped wringing out the cramps and looked into the eyes of her friend. â€Å"It really is me, Meredith,† she said. Meredith nodded and swallowed visibly. Right then what Elena would have liked most in the world would have been for the other girl to give her a hug. But Meredith wasn't much of the hugging type, and right now she was backing slowly away to sit on the bed again. â€Å"Sit down,† she said in an artificially calm voice. Elena pulled out the desk chair and unthinkingly took up the same position Meredith had been in before, elbows on knees, head down. Then she looked up. â€Å"How did you know?† â€Å"I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Meredith just stared at her for a moment, then shook herself. â€Å"Well. You- your body was never found, of course. That was strange. And then those attacks on the old man and Vickie and Tanner-and Stefan and little things I'd put together about him-but I didn't know. Not for sure. Not until now.† She ended almost in a whisper. â€Å"Well, it was a good guess,† Elena said. She was trying to behave normally, but what was normal in this situation? Meredith was acting as if she could scarcely bear to look at her. It made Elena feel more lonely, more alone, than she could ever remember being in her life. â€Å"I asked Bonnie to come over at seven o'clock, if her mother would let her. It's probably her. I'll go see.† Meredith seemed almost indecently eager to get away. â€Å"Wait. Does she know?† â€Å"No†¦ Oh, you mean I should break it to her gently.† Meredith looked around the room again uncertainly, and Elena snapped on the little reading light by the bed. â€Å"Turn the room light off. It hurts my eyes anyway,† she said quietly. When Meredith did, the bedroom was dim enough that she could conceal herself in the shadows. Waiting for Meredith to return with Bonnie, she stood in a corner, hugging her elbows with her hands. Maybe it was a bad idea trying to get Meredith and Bonnie involved. If imperturbable Meredith couldn't handle the situation, what would Bonnie do? Meredith heralded their arrival by muttering over and over, â€Å"Don't scream now; don't scream,† as she bundled Bonnie across the threshold. â€Å"What's wrong with you? What are you doing?† Bonnie was gasping in return. â€Å"Let go of me. Do you know what I had to do to get my mother to let me out of the house tonight? She wants to take me to the hospital at Roanoke.† Meredith kicked the door shut. â€Å"Okay,† she said to Bonnie. â€Å"Now, you're going to see something that will†¦ well, it's going to be a shock. But you can't scream, do you understand me? I'll let go of you if you promise.† â€Å"It's too dark to see anything, and you're scaring me. What's wrong with you, Meredith? Oh, all right, I promise, but what are you talking-â€Å" â€Å"Elena,† said Meredith. Elena took it as an invitation and stepped forward. Bonnie's reaction wasn't what she expected. She frowned and leaned forward, peering in the dim light. When she saw Elena's form, she gasped. But then, as she stared at Elena's face, she clapped her hands together with a shriek of joy. â€Å"I knew it! I knew they were wrong! So there, Meredith-and you and Stefan thought you knew so much about drowning and all that. But I knew you were wrong! Oh, Elena, I missed you! Everyone's going to be so-â€Å" â€Å"Be quiet, Bonnie! Be quiet!† Meredith said urgently. â€Å"I told you not to scream. Listen, you idiot, do you think if Elena were really all right she'd be here in the middle of the night without anybody knowing about it?† â€Å"But she is all right; look at her. She's standing there. It is you, isn't it, Elena?† Bonnie started toward her, but Meredith grabbed her again. â€Å"Yes, it's me.† Elena had the strange feeling she'd wandered into a surreal comedy, maybe one written by Kafka, only she didn't know her lines. She didn't know what to say to Bonnie, who was looking rapturous. â€Å"What are you two being so mysterious for? She's here, but she's not all right. What's that supposed to mean?† Elena didn't know whether to laugh or cry. â€Å"Look, Bonnie†¦ oh, I don't know how to say this. Bonnie, did your psychic grandmother ever talk to you about vampires?† Silence fell, heavy as an ax. The minutes ticked by. Impossibly, Bonnie's eyes widened still further; then, they slid toward Meredith. There were several more minutes of silence, and then Bonnie shifted her weight toward the door. â€Å"Uh, look, you guys,† she said softly, â€Å"this is getting really weird. I mean, really, really, really†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena cast about in her mind. â€Å"You can look at my teeth,† she said. She pulled her upper lip back, poking at a canine with her finger. She felt the reflexive lengthening and sharpening, like a cat's claw lazily extending. Meredith came forward and looked and then looked away quickly. â€Å"I get the point,† she said, but in her voice there was none of the old wry pleasure in her own wit. â€Å"Bonnie, look,† she said. All the elation, all the excitement had drained out of Bonnie. She looked as if she were going to be sick. â€Å"No. I don't want to.† â€Å"You have to. You have to believe it, or we'll never get anywhere.† Meredith grappled a stiff and resisting Bonnie forward. â€Å"Open your eyes, you little twit. You're the one who loves all this supernatural stuff.† â€Å"I've changed my mind,† Bonnie said, almost sobbing. There was genuine hysteria in her tone. â€Å"Leave me alone, Meredith; I don't want to look.† She wrenched herself away. â€Å"You don't have to,† Elena whispered, stunned. Dismay pooled inside her, and tears flooded her eyes. â€Å"This was a bad idea, Meredith. I'll go away.† â€Å"No. Oh, don't.† Bonnie turned back as quickly as she'd whirled away and precipitated herself into Elena's arms. â€Å"I'm sorry, Elena; I'm sorry. I don't care what you are; I'm just glad you're back. It's been terrible without you.† She was sobbing now in earnest. The tears that wouldn't come when Elena had been with Stefan came now. She cried, holding on to Bonnie, feeling Meredith's arms go around both of them. They were all crying-Meredith silently, Bonnie noisily, and Elena herself with passionate intensity. She felt as if she were crying for everything that had happened to her, for everything she had lost, for all the loneliness and the fear and the pain. Eventually, they all ended up sitting on the floor, knee to knee, the way they had when they were kids at a sleepover making secret plans. â€Å"You're so brave,† Bonnie said to Elena, sniffling. â€Å"I don't see how you can be so brave about it.† â€Å"Your hands aren't cold.† Meredith squeezed Elena's fingers. â€Å"Just sort of cool. I thought they'd be colder.† â€Å"Stefan's hands aren't cold either,† Elena said, and she was about to go on, but Bonnie squeaked: â€Å"Stefan?† Meredith and Elena looked at her. â€Å"Be sensible, Bonnie. You don't get to be a vampire by yourself. Somebody has to make you one.† â€Å"But you mean Stefan . . . ? You mean he's a†¦ ?† Bonnie's voice choked off. â€Å"I think,† said Meredith, â€Å"that maybe this is the time to tell us the whole story, Elena. Like all those minor details you left out the last time we asked you for the whole story.† Elena nodded. â€Å"You're right. It's hard to explain, but I'll try.† She took a deep breath. â€Å"Bonnie, do you remember the first day of school? It was the first time I ever heard you make a prophecy. You looked into my palm and said I'd meet a boy, a dark boy, a stranger. And that he wasn't tall but that he had been once. Well†-she looked at Bonnie and then at Meredith-â€Å"Stefan's not really tall now. But he was once†¦ compared to other people in the fifteenth century.† Meredith nodded, but Bonnie made a faint sound and swayed backward, looking shell-shocked. â€Å"You mean-â€Å" â€Å"I mean he lived in Renaissance Italy, and the average person was shorter then. So Stefan looked taller by comparison. And, wait, before you pass out, here's something else you should know. Damon's his brother.† Meredith nodded again. â€Å"I figured something like that. But then why has Damon been saying he's a college student?† â€Å"They don't get along very well. For a long time, Stefan didn't even know Damon was in Fell's Church.† Elena faltered. She was verging on Stefan's private history, which she'd always felt was his secret to tell. But Meredith had been right; it was time to come out with the whole story. â€Å"Listen, it was like this,† she said. â€Å"Stefan and Damon were both in love with the same girl back in Renaissance Italy. She was from Germany, and her name was Katherine. The reason Stefan was avoiding me at the beginning of school was that I reminded him of her; she had blond hair and blue eyes, too. Oh, and this was her ring.† Elena let go of Meredith's hand and showed them the intricately carved golden circlet set with a single stone of lapis lazuli. â€Å"And the thing was that Katherine was a vampire. A guy named Klaus had made her one back in her village in Germany to save her from dying of her last illness. Stefan and Damon both knew this, but they didn't care. They asked her to choose between them the one she wanted to marry.† Elena stopped and gave a lopsided smile, thinking that Mr. Tanner had been right; history did repeat itself. She only hoped her story didn't end like Katherine's. â€Å"But she chose both of them. She exchanged blood with both of them, and she said they could all three be companions through eternity.† between them the one she wanted to marry.† Elena stopped and gave a lopsided smile, thinking that Mr. Tanner had been right; history did repeat itself. She only hoped her story didn't end like Katherine's. â€Å"But she chose both of them. She exchanged blood with both of them, and she said they could all three be companions through eternity.† â€Å"Sounds dumb,† said Meredith. â€Å"You got it,† Elena told her. â€Å"Katherine was sweet but not very bright. Stefan and Damon already didn't like each other. They told her she had to choose, that they wouldn't even think of sharing her. And she ran off crying. The next day-well, they found her body, or what was left of it. See, a vampire needs a talisman like this ring to go out in the sun without being killed. And Katherine went out in the sun and took hers off. She thought if she were out of the way, Damon and Stefan would be reconciled.† â€Å"Oh, my God, how ro-â€Å" â€Å"No, it isn't,† Elena cut Bonnie off savagely. â€Å"It's not romantic at all. Stefan's been living with the guilt ever since, and I think Damon has, too, although you'd never get him to admit it. And the immediate result was that they got a couple of swords and killed each other. Yes, killed. That's why they're vampires now, and that's why they hate each other so much. And that's why I'm probably crazy trying to get them to cooperate now.†

The Arctic Monkeys album Whatever People Say I Am Thats What Im Not and the reality TV Show Popstars

The Arctic Monkeys album â€Å"Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not† and the reality TV Show Popstars: The Rivals which produced the band Girls Aloud used innovative but very different marketing techniques to sell themselves to their target audiences. How have those strategies changed from previous techniques to make music more accessible to audiences? The music industry is a worldwide business covering many genres and it is hard to define it as one single thing. Within the music industry are a large range of different markets, all targeting their products and musicians to very different audiences. There are many aspects to the music industry that need to be considered in terms of image, audience, audience size and genre. These will all affect the way a band is marketed to its audience. It is well known that â€Å"making it† in the music industry as an artist is no easy task. Over the past 40-50 years, many bands have tried and failed spectacularly. However, some have flourished and made their mark in music history, such examples include â€Å"The Beatles†, â€Å"Queen† and â€Å"The Rolling Stones†. Audiences that need to be considered by music marketers are divided into a wide range of categories such as age, gender, occupation, social grouping, region etc. In order to target specific audiences effectively, bands may need to be branded in a certain way. Branding is usually described in terms of products and is where the product is given a certain image and personality traits in order to appeal to its audience. For example, the brand Levis describes itself as â€Å"Sexy, Original and American† therefore personifying its products. In terms of bands, branding should incorporate image and music style, especially when targeting niche groups of people. Over the years, there have been clear differences in audience, shown by their different personal images e. g. Punks, Mods, Grungers, Goths etc. Marketing of bands has to adapt and be completely specific to the typical audience of that music genre and so must be presented in an appropriate style that will sell their music. People are eager to buy into the brand of a band by incorporating that certain image into their personal appearance and lifestyle. For some bands, promotional tactics must fiercely focus on image to sell the product to that particular audience who are themselves branded a certain way. This effort by record labels to promote bands by appealing and emphasizing a certain image is becoming increasingly popular. Scissor Sisters are one example of a band who's image is a central focus of who they are and what they do. Their image is evident of records companies efforts to appeal to particular audience niches. Although in the USA Scissor Sisters have had much less success than they have had in Britain (many main stores such as Wal*Mart did in fact refuse to stock the first album due to their image and portrayal) they still vigorously emphasize their happy, camp image. In their videos they have used varying techniques to play on the ideas of sexuality in our modern society, thus creating a new and varied piece which is not comparable with anything from the past. They frequently use a colourful range of backdrops which are sometimes quite cosmic or fantastical (e. g. in the videos for â€Å"I Don't Feel Like Dancin'† and â€Å"Take Your Mama†. in one of their earlier videos for the single â€Å"Filthy Gorgeous† MTV were forced to eventually stop showing much of the content of the video as it contained sexually semi-explicit scenes. This did cause some controversy as complaints were made about the content of the video, this only sought to increase popularity and radio air play of the single which eventually achieved a chart position of number 5 in January 2005 and number one in the dance chart. Scissor Sisters although new in terms of its topical coverage of sexuality also dates back to the era of glam rock, their influences are also seen to be varying e. the Bee Gees, Duran Duran, Queen, David Bowie etc. Therefore they may appeal to some of the older generations as well as to members of the gay scene, for whom they have become a major symbol in British society. They have also broadened to reach a younger audience through their success in the UK Charts and frequent air play on radio stations aimed at the 11-25/30 age group such as Radio 1. This in itself shows how the branding and image of a band is adamantly important if people are going to want to relate and buy into the music and values of that band and why i t is such a major focus for record companies. A major tool for music marketers in recent years has been the Internet. From vinyl to cassettes to CD's to downloading files, music has developed with technology over the past 40 years. The increasing accessibility for people to music was brought about originally by the increasing numbers of record stores and increasing interest in different music. In the early 1970's, for example, Richard Branson originally ran a mail order service for buying records, this then developed into â€Å"Virgin Megastore†, a high street chain that made music readily available to a larger audience. The development of access to music continued steadily throughout this period with the introduction of more music extravaganzas such as festivals and in the 1980's, the launch of MTV, the first television channel to be entirely music orientated. The development in technology allowed widespread access to different audiences, as nearly every media division began to cover aspects of music e. g. TV, Radio, genre specific magazines etc. It fast became difficult to avoid exposure to music and its marketing. The rise in popularity of the internet as a promotional medium today demonstrates this idea. In recent years, the Internet has become far more accessible to more people. This has led to increases in Internet marketing as a new way of letting everyone know about an artist. It is reasonably cost effective and the audience is a mass one, spanning the entire world (the number of people using the internet worldwide (as of November 27th 2006) was estimated at 1,076,203,987) A recent positive example of Internet marketing can be seen in the rise of the band â€Å"The Arctic Monkeys† to fame. The bands marketing strategy has been clear-cut in showing the importance of fans to a bands success. This began in 2003, after several gigs, the Arctic Monkeys decided to burn their tracks onto CD's to give away for free to fans. Due to limited copies, many of the fans ripped the music onto their computers in order to share the files with others through mediums such as instant messaging, e-mails and forums. The band did not object to the increased sharing of files, although this was technically illegal, as it led to increased popularity of the band, as they became better known. This can be identified through an article and chart written by Heather Hopkins (Director Of Research for Hitwise UK website), November 11th 2005, shown in Figure 1 in the appendix and supported by the following quotation: â€Å"The first chart below shows that in April, when the band was virtually unknown, visits to www. arcticmonkeys. com came from chat rooms and blogs. Search engines became a more important source of visits in June as the band's name recognition grew. † This clearly demonstrates the importance of viral marketing to the success of the band. Many mainstream music brands are slightly wary of viral marketing, despite its benefits it can prove quite negative and can also lead to illegal sharing and music being leaked onto the Internet prior to its official release, for example in 2002, Eminem's album Encore was leaked on to the internet and the promoters were forced to bring the date of official release forward. As much as bands can gain high acclaim and popularity through forum and chat room discussion, there is also the risk they could gain a lot of negative criticism, which would discourage people from buying their music and merchandise. Another example of effective Internet marketing, also used by The Arctic Monkeys and many other bands, are sites such as My Space and Yahoo music. My Space offers bands own personal pages where people can easily leave their own comments on the songs and the bands performance at recent gigs as well as listening to the songs free of charge or accessing previews of up and coming releases. Many bands also publish their tour dates on My Space. My Space has generally appealed to a mass, younger audience from around 13-30 of both sexes, this is typically as a lot of the music promoted by My Space is new and there are fewer My Spaces for some of the older bands and therefore there is little to interest older audiences. It is also widely believed that todays young people are of the â€Å"technological revoloution† and the general acceptance is that computers are of more interest to them than some other older audience members. The popularity of My Space is now leading to other websites such as Bebo and Xanga being formed which offer similar services. This again broadens the scope by which music promoters can publicise their musicians to different audiences. Rupert Murdoch, the owner of BskyB, The Times, News Of The World and The Sun recently purchased (through his international company News Corp. ) the company Intermix Media Inc which own My Space among other themed social networking websites for $580 million. Murdoch is often seen as a dominant figure in British Media, and rightly so as he owns two of the leading newspapers. He is thought to be partially responsible for swinging to the side of the Labour party in 1997 and there by causing the election of PM Tony Blair, who soon became a close ally of Murdoch's, much like Thatcher before him. Many British citizens feel threatened by Murdoch's media power, yet still many of them buy into the My Space idea and the revenue continues building as more and more diverse and newly established bands start using My Space as the beginning of their steps to promote music. Increased hits on the site means more powerful companies advertising in association with My Space, therefore leading to higher annual revenue for Murdoch. This shows evidence of the importance of internet advertising to modern business. Yahoo Music is another excellent promotional tool, which has a wide variety of music videos available free for public viewing. It also runs special features on certain bands as well as exclusive interviews and performances. This has proved extremely popular with bands and promoters alike, as it is a cheap form of marketing which is also highly effective. It requires little advertising as most fans of the bands are already aware of the bands website and they are usually linked to their My Space etc. Viral marketing acts as the main promotional form behind the internet promotion phenomenon. Viral marketing refers to marketing techniques that use existing social networks to increase brand awareness, they may include many internet based mediums such as blogs (many bands use blogs to create on tour diaries e. g. Watford based band Mohair. ) chat rooms and instant messaging are also forms of Viral marketing. Throughout the 20th century, technology has experienced many developments and decades of technological advance, in particular in more media orientated areas. For example, the 50's became the era of the television. More and more families owned television sets in the UK and this was clear when 20 million tuned in on the 2nd of June 1953 to watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. This showed just how popular television was becoming as a medium for broadcasting what was going on in the world. This technological revolution continues today as we go through what has become widely known as â€Å"The digital revolution†. Television has expanded further to include more and more channels, which can appeal to smaller, niche audiences. This has been of great value to musicians and their promoters; they can now target their audience more specifically. For example, a band like the Arctic Monkeys who have become more of a â€Å"mainstream† rock act may be promoted through general chart music channels such as TMF and The Hits who appeal to those interested in that area of music. On the other hand, acts like Marilyn Manson and Iron Maiden may be promoted on Kerrang! As they are aimed at a more niche audience and are not so much part of the chart music industry. Kerrang! Is already an established brand in itself, the magazine from which it originates was first published in 1981 and originally covered a lot of new wave British metal. If people have certain expectations of a television channel, they can make the decision as to whether it interests them or not and if it does the niche audience for that genre can be targeted effectively by the music promoters. The increase in channels has led to a wider variety in television broadcasting. As a result, to keep the publics interest, terrestrial channel corporations such as the BBC and ITV have realised they need to develop newer more innovative programmes to keep up their audience figures. This is particularly important for Channels 4, 5 and ITV, Who unlike the BBC receive no public funding and gain all their income from advertisers. In order to increase viewing figures and boost profits, the channels have tried many different tactics and one of these has been the increasing development of Reality TV. Reality television is a genre of programming in itself, which usually presents unscripted pieces and may document actual events or people. The use of real people instead of actors has led to a real explosion in the use of reality TV since around 2000 when Big Brother began in the UK. Comparatively to 10 years ago it is now much easier to become a celebrity, and in a society that is becoming more and more celebrity obsessed, this has increased the popularity of reality shows where normal every day people are documented. The audience almost craves the â€Å"fly on the wall† type documentary where they are able to perceive and form their own judgements of others through surveillance. Simon Fullers â€Å"Pop Idol† originally kicked off the music and talent based reality television we know today. Simon Fuller was well know already in the music industry for being the manager of the Spice Girls during their highly successful mid-1990's period. He was also responsible for the band S Club 7 who were formed to appear in the children's television series LA 7 and Miami 7. The idea for â€Å"Pop Idol† proved exceedingly popular in the UK as hopeful singers entertained the nation with notorious displays of â€Å"talent† on our television screens. Fuller went on to develop this idea in other countries such as America. The first series of American Idol was highly successful and was responsible for the discovery of Kelly Clarkson, now a hugely popular international pop star. The basic format of the programme has led to various spin offs including more recently X Factor and in September 2002 â€Å"Popstars: The Rivals†, which resulted in the band Girls Aloud. The show aimed to whittle down the thousands of contenders that auditioned to just two 5 piece groups of boys and girls, One True Voice and Girls Aloud. The current success of Girls Aloud has proved that even manufactured bands can succeed in the record industry if they are promoted and marketed in the right way. A manufactured band is a group of people put together by a record company, or in this case a television show in order to make a profit and give publicity to the medium through which they are published. Manufactured bands are often selected because of looks rather than actual talent in an attempt to appeal to a modern society where beauty and appearance is clearly adamantly important. In relation to Reception Analysis however, not everyone reacts in the same way to the presentation of these manufactured bands, although younger audiences may seem them as figures they can aspire to be, critics often think of manufactured bands as being damaging to the music industry and synthetically artificial. In the 1960's, the first manufactured band â€Å"The Monkees† were brought together as the central focus for a television show of the same name in LA, California. However, the real era of the generic manufactured â€Å"girl/boy bands† began in the nineties. In an attempt to focus on a younger audience, record companies compiled different individuals with certain images in order to appeal to different segments of that audience. Bands such as The Spice Girls, Atomic Kitten, Take That, N*Sync and Backstreet Boys all enjoyed chart success in the nineties and many critics have now built a formula of these bands that is easily recognisable. The media critics and the public have developed a definite dislike for these manufactured artists. Therefore it is questionable as to why Girls Aloud have been so successful. Girls Aloud have been innovatively marketed right from the start of their careers in 2002. They began as contestants on a television show and viewers watched their progress all the way to the final. The Uses and Gratifications theory suggests that for a television show to captivate its audience, it should incorporate certain methods that allow the viewers to interact, relate and enjoy watching the characters in the programme. In the case of Girls Aloud, following their progress allowed viewers to develop personal relationships with the girls as they were regularly featured on an almost daily basis between September and December of 2002. An added benefit to the band was that their first single â€Å"Sound Of The Underground† was put up against their rivals One True Voice for Christmas Number one that year, this in itself generated considerable publicity for the band. In Chart history, the Christmas number one shows a true landmark for an artist and to reach is considered a yearly achievement. Girls Aloud succeeded in gaining the Christmas number one position for that year pushing their opponents to one side. Again, the idea of â€Å"Girl Power†, originally an element of the Spice Girls in the nineties was some what revived which may have given the band further appeal, especially to a younger audience. The beginnings of Girls Aloud and the Popstars: The Rivals show generated a lot of media interest especially from the tabloid newspapers. Particularly, the scandal involving potential band mates being disqualified from the show, or in the case of Nicola Ward, refusing to sign the contract. This proved to be good for the group and initiated promotion of the bands image, even before the television series ended. When Girls Aloud then officially began their career as a band they had effectively been given a boost already by the television shows and so they already had an established fan base, giving them much advantage over bands starting from scratch. This was a similar tactic to that used by â€Å"The Monkees† 40 years previously, however developments in technology and increased television ownership and availability of channels made this all the more effective for Girls Aloud. From these origins, Girls Aloud have been marketed using many different media forms. The girls themselves are seen as the typical models of female perfection that are such role models to young girls. They are regularly featured in such gossip magazines as Heat, Closer and OK! And so they are a central focus in today's modern celebrity obsessed society. Girls Aloud have been described as remaining â€Å"constant tabloid fodder†. Suggesting their marketing strategy is to gain as much press attention as possible in order to increase their music and merchandise sales. In June 2006, the band successfully generated a large amount of press coverage through a variety of stories and scandals in the tabloids and celebrity magazines. One such example was the press coverage of Cheryl Tweedy's relationship with Ashley Cole and her holidaying with the â€Å"WAGS† at the World Cup. This was a frequent feature throughout the summer months in all the gossip magazines and red top tabloids. Although not planned as such, this also acted as a promotional tool for the band as Cheryl, as their representative, was showing a more glamorous, rich image. Her association with well known celebrities e. g. Victoria Beckham also meant that she was receiving more media attention for the band from a larger audience which could potentially increase their international scope of fans and record sales. This increase of public interest may have also been part of the plan to further promote the bands other promotional tactics, for example their â€Å"Fly-On-The-Wall† Documentary â€Å"Girls Aloud: Off the Record†. Image is of course a central focus of the Girls Aloud current marketing strategy, they have a large male fan base and so their portrayal must be one that emanates both beauty and sex appeal as it is common media knowledge that â€Å"Sex Sells†. A recent criticism of bands like Girls Aloud and other popular female media figures is that they are projecting a bad image as role models to younger females. Society has quickly become celebrity obsessed, especially as it is now more easy to become a celebrity than ever and the â€Å"perfect body image† has never been more important in the media than it is now. Eating disorders in young females are increasingly being blamed on the media as people strive for â€Å"perfection†. This problem has been largely illustrated recently by the decision by Milan Fashion Week to not include the so called â€Å"Stick thin women† and also Spanish fashion Week â€Å"Ban on skinny models†. However, anorexia is still proving a continuing problem in this country. Another flaw in the bands representation was in January 2003 when Cheryl Cole became involved in an altercation in a nightclub with a toilet attendant, Cole was subsequently charged with racially aggravated assault (She apparently called the toilet attendant a â€Å"black bitch† among other racial insults) and later convicted to a i500 fine and 120 hours community service. This story was a major one in 2003 for all the tabloids and gossip magazines and did little to enhance the girls image as a whole. Four years on from this incident, the girls have been constantly striving to move away from this negative press to gain a more positive image, but one that still exudes beauty and sex appeal. Through promotion of the band Girls Aloud, the image focus means that they are always expected to have a certain glamorous look, if this is not achieved they are likely to receive criticism. However, music promoters must be careful in how they deal with the sensitive issue of eating disorders in relation to their band members in order to keep the press happy and in order to keep fans satisfied. Certain expectations are put on major female media icons appearances, and as suggested by the hypodermic needle theory, if the audience see these icons, they may connote certain beliefs about their image. The hypodermic needle theory suggests that the audience are passively fed these values and ideas and as today's society's obsession with personal image becomes stronger, it is clear the issue needs to be tackled delicately by celebrities and bands such as Girls Aloud. Berger suggested that â€Å"Men act women appear† and this is true to some extent in the case of Girls Aloud, despite their appeal to a younger audience, they often flaunt their sexuality to gain media attention and attention from fans. However they are in some control as they conduct the publicity and their ultimate aim is to entertain fans and make a profit. Figure 3 (See Appendix) is from the magazine â€Å"Arena† published by company EMAP. The magazine is promoted as a more male adult read than â€Å"Lad Mags† such as FHM and Maxim and may focus on more of a B, C1, C2 audience category. It runs a variety of articles on food, films, technology, sex, fitness, music etc and this cover is taken from the March 2005 issue. This front cover features two members of Girls Aloud; Sarah Harding and Cheryl Tweedy. Many connotations are immediately apparent from this cover, connotations which demonstrate the ideas behind their image focussed promotional strategy. The stance of the two girls and their clothing immediately gives suggestion of sexual innuendo, the girls are selling the magazine on this image as it is likely to be the first thing someone will see when they pick it up. The colour of their outfits, black again fits in with the idea of sexual connotations and the fact that Sarah seems to be holding on and in control of Cheryl acts as another sexual suggestion. The image has been taken at a low angle and is lit quite dimly, the lower angle may seek to show their features as well as portraying them as quite domineering and women of sexual prowess, the dim lighting adds enigma to the scene which fits with the subheading â€Å"Warning: contains scenes of an adult nature! and encourages the reader to buy the magazine to see what's inside. Although not typical of all Girls Aloud promotional tactics in written media, this front cover focuses on one segment of their target audience effectively. A more recently developed promotional technique for many celebrities are so called â€Å"Fly on the Wall† documentaries, popularised by programmes like â€Å"The Osbournes† and â€Å"Newly Weds†. Girls Aloud were quick to follow in the footsteps of these programmes when in April 2006 they launched the six-part series â€Å"Girls Aloud: Off the Record† on E4. This promotional tactic was a little different to conventional tactics used by bands for many years, such as posing for magazine covers. It aimed to show the realities of life within the band and in contrast to their image based promotion, it showed the regular ups and downs of the band. This insight into the band could have varying affects on audience members, the idea that they are â€Å"plucked from obscurity to become Britain's most successful girl group ever† could induce personal identity with the band members. There is a realisation here that they were just ordinary people before they formed the group, therefore the audience may better understand their hectic lives and can relate to that as members themselves of our fast paced modern society. The idea behind this promotional tactic would have been to increase awareness of the band and to also encourage people to re-form personal relationships with the band members as they may have done during Popstars: The Rivals. Again, showing the realities of life in the band, like Viral marketing, may have a negative impact on the audience, but it still generates publicity. The opening sequence of Episode One â€Å"Girls Aloud: Off The Record† demonstrates and connotes some of the ideas and values at the base of the bands formation. The opening shot shows the girls being introduced on a stage type setting, with curtains slowly drawing back to reveal them all dancing, this is then quickly followed by some fast edited shots of some of their promotion e. g. press taking pictures, performing, photo shoots etc. The colour and clothing codes used here are very glamorous and colourful and are likely to appeal to the younger trendy female audience that are often seen as one of the bands targeted fan bases. The image of glamour and of the girls having a good time is then balanced out by some more negative portrayals which show Girls Aloud in a contrasting light e. g. showing them swearing, some of the tabloid headlines are shown about them, arguments etc. This juxta-pose of two images acts as a teaser as to what is to come in the programme and even for those unfamiliar with the band, they may still be drawn in to watching the show. Syd Fields theory, although more generally applied to film, can still be applied here and demonstrates the importance of the first 5 minutes of a programme being essential for captivating an audience. In order for marketers to successfully gain fans of the band, the captive audience must be able to gain both surveillance and personal relationships to keep them interested. In this case, the use of voiceovers, talking head shots and the non diagetic sound of one of there popular singles in the background seeks to intensify the audiences curiosity. The interviews and shots seem a very random selection of clips and are enigmatic enough to encourage viewers to keep watching. Although the band is shown in two different lights here, it is clear the glamour could still potentially appeal to audience members and encourage them to relate and therefore like the band. In the past, other bands have also generated publicity through television appearances, on shows such as Top of the Pops, Later With Jools Holland and Friday Night With Jonathan Ross. These are seen as more covert promotional tactics used by PR not to necessarily directly advertise the band to the audience, but to target those who do not necessarily normally take an interest in celebrities and the music industry and who can be reintroduced into that idea through general television viewing. Some of the less conventional techniques used by bands have succeeded in generating the most publicity. One such example is the well renowned incident of punk rock band The Sex Pistols appearing on the early evening broadcast of the â€Å"Today† programme on the 1st of December 1976. Having taken full advantage of facilities backstage and following copious amounts of alcohol, the band caused outrage amongst viewers by openly swearing and being offensive to the equally drunk host Bill Grundy, whose career ended abruptly as a consequence. This â€Å"Filth and Fury† prompted increased public interest in the UK punk scene that was developing at the time and although it led to hostile press and local authorities cancelling gigs, it generated much publicity and for the band and reinforced the rebellious punk image. The bands continued antics built them a reputation which increased their popularity amongst teenage audiences, who were eager to rebel against societies codes and conventions of that time. This proves that even risqui promotional tactics such as that of the Sex Pistols can prove hugely successful and they are still a world renowned band to this day. Music promotional techniques have expanded in recent years with the development of new technology and trends and continue to be highly innovative. The â€Å"Digital revolution† has played a major part in this with new areas for advertising such as the Internet and more Television channels aimed at different market segments. The strategies have developed from some earlier successful music promotion tactics to effectively portray musician image and to also target more specific, niche audiences. The internet is likely to remain core to this developing range of promotion and with increasing numbers of people downloading songs online, and it may well dominate all future marketing techniques.

What Is Strategic Spatial Planning Environmental Sciences Essay

IntroductionStrategic spacial planning is arguably an attack which rails against the discourse of the scientific rational comprehensive theoretical accounts of be aftering which has and still does keep a big influence in current manners of planning. This short essay will hopefully explicate to contrivers why a strategic spacial planning attack is more contributing in the current context which we find ourselves in. This will be done through replying a set of inquiries which will clear up the attack, its intent and methods, how it differs from rational comprehensive attacks of maestro planning and land usage planning, why contrivers should utilize it, what can be expected from it, and its utility.What is Strategic Spatial Planning?Strategic spacial planning is a method to assist work out complex spatial jobs through making strategic visions and new spacial individualities. Harmonizing to Kaufman and Jacobs ( in Albrechts, 2001 ) strategic systems originated in the US around the 1950 â €˜s due to the demand for quickly altering and turning corporations to be after efficaciously and pull off their hereafters at a clip when the hereafter seemed ill-defined. In Europe, strategic spacial planning dated back to the 1920s and 30s, and was used to direct the activities of others ( Mastop in Albrechts, 2001 ) . From Albrechts ( 2006 ) it can be understood that the word ‘spatial ‘ brings into focal point the ‘where ‘ of things, the creative activity and direction of particular ‘places ‘ and sites every bit good as the interrelatednesss between different activities in an country, and important intersections and nodes within an country. This spacial focal point allows for a more effectual manner of incorporating different dockets – such as, economic, societal, and cultural – and their spacial impacts ( Albrechts, 2006 ) . The word ‘strategy ‘ has its roots within a military context ; in ancient conflict ground forcess would work out a scheme prior to the conflict on how best to get the better of the enemy. It is understood that this type of scheme had four basic elements – an accurate apprehension of the existent state of affairs, realistic ends, focused resources in countries where they would be most effectual, and continuity of the action until the coveted result is achieved ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . These elements are strongly rooted in systems of strategic spacial planning. In its entireness, strategic spacial planning is a procedure which is directed at a limited figure of strategic cardinal issue countries. It determines an countries strengths and failings in the context of its chances and menaces ; it scans external tendencies, and the resources that are available. It gathers major public and private stakeholders and allows for a wide and diverse procedure of engagement. It develops a realistic long-run vision along with schemes in order to pull off and act upon spacial alteration. Importantly it is orientated towards determinations, actions, consequences, and execution, in the short, average and long-run ( Albrechts, 2001 ) . â€Å" It is so impossible to understand material topographic points and societal nodes such as ‘the metropolis ‘ , ‘the city-region ‘ and ‘the part ‘ in footings of a unidimensional hierarchy of graduated tables † ( Albrechts, 2010:6 ) . This definition illustrates that strategic spacial planning is non a individual construct or process, but it is a set of constructs, processs and tools that are tailored carefully to whatever state of affairs is presented ( Albrecht, 2001 ) . Furthermore it is a development-led attack and a transformative and integrative, public sector-led, and socio-spatial procedure through which a vision, consistent actions and agencies for execution are produced ; these are so able to determine and border what a topographic point is and its potency of what it may go ( Albrechts, 2006 )How does it differ from MASTER PLANNING and LAND USE PLANNING?In order to understand the difference one needs to understand the principle of land usage planning and maestro planning. Land usage planning is a procedure of be aftering which is concerned with the location, strength, signifier, sum, and harmonisation of land development required for a assortment of spacial utilizations ; such as lodging, industry, diversion, conveyance, instruction, and agribusiness. A land usage program in this case fundamentally embodies a proposal as to how land should be used within a set of considered policy as enlargement and restructuring advancement in the hereafter ( Albrechts, 2004 ) . Traditional land usage planning is a more inactive planning attack aimed at commanding land usage through a zoning system and through ordinances. This harmonizing to Albrechts ( 2006 ) seems unfit for bridging the spread between plan-making, political decision-making and execution. This was one of the grounds why the demand arose for a different type of be aftering – a move off from regulative policy and instruments to a development-led attack which aims to step in more straight, coherently and selectively in societal world and development – strategic spacial planning ( Albrechts, 2006 ) . For Albrechts ( 2001 ) strategic spacial planning is to a certain extent rendered towards an integrated socio-economic class of action that supersedes the mere focal point on land usage planning. For Master Planning on the other manus, Friedman ( 2007 ) found that it is about a universally recognized signifier of planning pattern. His study found that in state after state, metropoliss through their authoritiess are mandated to bring forth maestro programs. Basically within these maestro programs states specify future land utilizations and location determinations. Maestro planning is a wholly inactive pattern and harmonizing to Friedman ( 2007 ) it needs to be rethought as it is out of line with the dynamic flows of globalization. Friedman ( 2007 ) defines master be aftering as being typically municipal programs instead than regional programs, and as being entirely concerned with land usage instead than with the entire spectrum of urban policy issues. They are drawn up by a specialised subdivision of municipal authorities instead than through a wider procedure of collaborative deliberation, and the procedure used to pull up maestro programs and acquiring them approved takes old ages therefore rendering them out-dated by the clip they can be implemented. Besides they are top-down, with comparatively minimal citizen engagement, and in conclusion when it comes to big scale undertakings ; maestro programs are frequently set aside to let for necessary alterations in land usage and circulation forms ( Friedman, 2007 ) . Opposing this, spacial planning is derived non from an functionary, compulsory character like maestro planning but from a function that coordinates instruments closely intertwined with urban policy formation and the design and execution of large-scale undertakings. Spatial be aftering involves a scope of histrions that include communities, authorities functionaries and private stakeholders. The chief intent of spacial planning is non to mandate peculiar land uses – as is in the case of maestro be aftering – but to let for a better coordination of urban policies and large-scale undertaking developments across infinite, to prove alternate policies and designs through revising their societal deductions, and to let for an informed public discourse about them ( Friedman, 2007 ) . In metropoliss such as the new downtown peninsula of Vancouver, maestro planning has been abandoned for systems of spacial planning in which be aftering returns by manner of affecting public hearings, bargaining, and dialogues. The consequences of this passage over a period of 25 old ages are testimony to the viability non merely of the Vancouver theoretical account but besides of the more abstract spacial planning theoretical account ( Friedman, 2007 ) .What are its chief PURPOSES and METHODS?Strategic spacial planning as mentioned earlier is used for complex jobs where governments at different degrees and different sectors and private histrions are reciprocally dependent ( Albrecht, 2001 ) . The theoretical account designs plan-making constructions and develops content, images and determination models which can act upon and pull off spacial alteration. It is about building new thoughts and processes that can transport these constructions through, therefore bring forthing ways of ap prehension, ways of consensus, and ways of organizing and mobilising for the intent of exercising influence in different spheres ( Albrecht, 2006 ) . Both is the short and long term, strategic spacial planning focal points on bordering determinations, actions, undertakings, consequences and execution, and incorporates monitoring, feedback, accommodation and alteration of the result. Its intent therefore is non a new political orientation prophesying a new universe order but as a method for making and maneuvering a better hereafter for a topographic point based on shared values ( Albrechts, 2006 ) . Albrechts ( 2006 ) goes farther on to explicate that the seven chief purposes of a strategic undertaking are – to develop an incorporate advanced attack for the assorted undertaking types ; to develop a to the full operational model based on sustainability ; to develop tools for quality direction ; to broaden the multi-actor/multi-level policy scenes and to measure current scenes ; to circulate the attack ; to develop an educational theoretical account ; and to set up a web of cognition between research workers, professionals, and authoritiess ( Albrechts, 2006 ) . The capacity for these undertakings to present the coveted result is dependent foremost on the system itself and on the conditions underlying it – such as structural restraints, and political, cultural, and professional attitudes towards spacial planning. The planning procedure is non intended to flux swimmingly from one stage to the following. It is a dynamic and originative procedure wherein new positions and facts that arise today may change the determinations made yesterday ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . This illustrates that it is ne'er a fixed procedure but is in a uninterrupted start of alteration from get downing to stop. The visions and frames which guide this procedure are ne'er ‘a given ‘ , instead they are to be constructed. The procedure of picturing is the procedure by which groups develop visions of future provinces for themselves, their administrations, metropolis, or their part that are clear, powerful and realistic. Basically this means that the visions are to be constructed within a specific context and scale sing issues that are of involvement within that infinite and within a peculiar combination of histrions. This is to be done within a method that to the full recognises the conditions of power, inequality, and diverseness. â€Å" The vision describes a metropolis or part as it may look like in the hereafter, and it must appeal to the long-run involvements of histrions who have a interest in the metropolis or part † ( Albrechts, 2010:8 ) .Why do this sort of planning?Strategic spacial planning undertakings conduct an in-depth survey of the country, therefore giving pen chant to the location being affected over anything else. With this these undertakings study external tendencies and the resources available hence leting for a wide and diverse procedure. Besides, by doing usage of this type of planning, contrivers are able to aim a assortment of countries ; including urban, rural, and economic countries ( Albrechts, 2006 ) . In the case of urban countries, strategic urban undertakings are utile as they aim to consolidate, transform, restructure or recycle the urban countries for new and emerging demands from public and private histrions. With respects to rural countries, strategic undertakings are utile as they aim to transform rural and suburban kineticss into a more sustainable and qualitative signifier of development while non burying to heighten the cultural significance of these infinites. Last, economic countries are seen as an of import portion of the attempt to maintain up international economic fight. Strategic undertakings seek to turn away from the old construct of concern Parkss spacial construct and direction to a focal point on the demands of houses that are to be translated into specifically designed employment locations ( Albrechts, 2006 ) .And what can we anticipate from it?This inquiry can be divided into two parts ; ‘we ‘ as contrivers and ‘we ‘ as the populace and private histrions. First, the essay will mean to the reference the latter portion. Strategic spacial planning undertakings are strategic to accomplish visions, ends, and aims from a assortment of policy sectors, and are to incorporate the community being affected. Visions is arguably one of the most of import factors of strategic undertakings as they are expected to be placed within the specific context, topographic point, clip and degree, and are to see specific issues that are of involvement to the different histrions ( Albrechts, 2006 ) . Basically what can be expected from strategic spacial planning undertakings is a critical analysis of the chief procedures and structural restraints which form infinites, which adds into a realistic, dynamic, integrated, and declarative long-run vision. It will supply a program for short-run and long-run actions, a budget, and a flexible scheme for execution ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . In footings of the undertakings eventual execution, it will supply believable committednesss to action battle and a clear and expressed nexus to the budget therefore leting for citizens, private-sector, different degrees of administration, and contrivers to come in a consensus ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . ‘We ‘ as contrivers will anticipate a different set of tools, tools which will steer the contriver on what to anticipate when moving as a strategic spacial contriver. For Albrechts ( 2010 ) , he finds it unthinkable that the contriver should move simply as a impersonal perceiver and chorus from playing a function in the building of visions and images. Alternatively, Albrechts suggests that contrivers should be needfully involved, and instrumental in confirming, explicating and implementing images and visions. This is a logical position, as if contrivers simply observe, there expertness in certain state of affairss are non shared, and their utility would be greatly undermined. Strategic spacial contrivers are to alternatively, challenge their ain ‘mental discourse ‘ which limit their creativeness, and get down afresh therefore leting for their creativeness and resourcefulness to flux and to be used in formulating, designing, and constructing new constructs and discourses ( Albrechts, 2010 ) .How utile is it?Strategic spacial planning is a flexible procedure that trades with complex jobs and is able to repair to a broad scope of jobs, but besides trades with each job unambiguously. This characteristic makes the attack really utile as it applies to a scope of different issues. For illustration ; the metropolis of Barcelona started utilizing a strategic planning attack in 1988 in order to heighten the cooperation between the public and private sector with the hope that the sweeten ing will beef up the place of the metropolis as a campaigner for the Olympic Games ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . The metropolis of Turin which was inspired by Barcelona besides undertook a strategic attack in the mid 1990 ‘s, for Turin this formed the footing for rethinking the potency of a former monopolistic town that had been extremely affected by the rise of the car industry. The purpose for Strategic spacial planning here was to transform Turin into a European city – â€Å" a metropolis of activities and know-how † ( Albrechts, 2010:5 ) . For the metropolis of Bilbao, the vision was to transport the metropolis into the economic, fiscal, and cultural capital of the Atlantic Arc. Last, for Prague, strategic spacial planning focused on incorporating the metropolis into European constructions ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . From this it is clear that strategic spacial planning is applicable to a diverse scope of issues and can accommodate easy to what is required in the context for which it is visualizing, therefore rendering it a utile attack to planning.DecisionFrom the information discussed in this essay the attack of strategic spacial planning has been explained. Through utilizing such an attack to be aftering it can be deduced that infinites can be become more active and synergistic both on a local graduated table – and the sectors within that scale – and on an international graduated table. â€Å" In short, episodes of strategic spacial planning informed by â€Å" relational complexness † constructs which accumulate sufficient power to â€Å" go † efficaciously and have digesting stuff and mental effects should be judged in the long-run in footings of their capacity to enrich the inventive resources, originative energies and administration civilizations through which quality of life and experience of diverse citizens and stakeholders in peculiar topographic points are likely to be enhanced. † ( Healey, 2006:19 )

Is Internet Better Than Teacher?

Is internet better than teacher? Today we are living in a modern world where science and technology are being used in every aspect of our daily life, which makes our life safe and comfortable. Internet is one of the key elements of our modern life. We use internet for communication, banking, entertainment, buying-selling, trading, tickets booking and for many other countless reasons. Most of all youngsters often use internet as a source of information for their educational purpose. Now a question arises if internet is better than teacher or not.Obviously internet is a great medium of learning or magnificent resources of teaching, but yet it no way equals to a living teacher. If we take internet as a medium of education, it can be called an ocean of information. Whatever we need in our school work or any assignment, all we need is a few strokes in the keyboard and in a second millions pages appear. Notes, lectures, video learning, audio assistance, dictionary and almost everything are available in the internet, is fairly sufficient to appease any inquisitive mind.In comparison to human teacher, internet is absolutely free, there is no time bound and different views for the same topic that provides us with more choices and give us an opportunity for broader analysis. Nowadays, it is possible to take exam or test on the internet, and with a digital checking system we can know our score almost immediately. This allows people to have college or even university degree from home. Some people claim the internet as to be a virtual teacher for many students.Although internet has been proved as an important factor in education system, but it can not be the alternate to a human teacher. It can be called merely a virtual teacher but not the real living teacher. Internet is like one way learning system, it is totally depends on the learner what or how he or she would learn. Unlike a human teacher there is no check and balance. So the possibility of exploitation is much great er.It is like a teacher who has no ears nor any emotion, that is to say internet is not interactive for dynamic and real teaching system. It can check a paper's spelling and grammar, but they cannot teach someone style or help clarify an idea. A real teacher interacts with students with their individual level of intelligence and their respective ability of learning. Some students are keen to learn whereas some are slow in progress, some are inattentive or some may have a tendency to despise the importance of education.Only a real human teacher can addresses these variations among the students by judging their attitude and he can take appropriate measures accordingly. Internet can enhance our knowledge, but it can not play the role of a teacher. During the schooling we not only learn the theories of science, mathematics or history but also learn discipline, morality, behavior and exchanging our views by improvising ideas, which is impossible in the virtual world of internet. Therefor e for the complete education, a teacher can not be replaced by internet

Toy Watch Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Toy Watch - Essay Example As the discussion declares Toy Watch is basically a wrist watch company based in Italy. Its innovation lies in its plastic watchbands in bracelet style which gave stiff competition to luxury statement provided by Swatch watches. The company was founded in the year 2005 but in less than 2 years, it has reported mammoth profits because of its new product idea and a well-organized distribution and promotion policy intact with low prices that are affordable by any consumer group. Its heart throb features are its light weight, oversized dials and Italian designing marvel by Marco Mavilla, a Milan-based designer. The popularity and success of Toy Watch is also supplemented by its endorsements with celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, First Lady Michelle Obama, Katie Holmes and so on. This paper stresses that the strategies of a company are examined in terms of four features of namely the product, price, place and promotion. Also termed as four P’s model, the marketing mix determines how the strategy should be pursued in different markets with varying customer preferences, saturation and competition levels. Talking of Toy Watch product, its tactical features are its stylish designing and use of polycarbonate material which blends well with any kind of traditional watch material like steel, ceramic, plastic or crystal and gives the same Italian finish with light weight and unimaginable designs. Its color choices also reveal its product planning and development genius because wrist watches top the priority list of fashion accessories and every day a new design kicks off the older one. As such, with a plethora of color ranges, Toy Watch has targeted the teenage group very effectively when they go for individual dress matching with every single accessory. In te rms of pricing, this is again the competitive edge of Toy Watch whereby it uses penetration pricing to capture the new markets created and gained by this class of plastic band watches. Because of low pricing tactics, Toy Watch was able to garner more market share owing to the affordability its products offered to the various teenager and other groups. The luxury concept of Toy Watch products is applied in its distribution strategies too (Soller 2006). With endorsements from top notch celebs and presenting the watches in jewellery shops and exclusive retailers like Fifth Avenue, Selfridges and Harrods (Italia n.d). This keeps its quality and luxury image intact despite its low pricing. Promotion wise, Toy Watch makes use of not only charity shows but also female sizzling personalities and revolutionary technologies in advertising the distinctive factor of their products. For instance, it partnered with Keep A Child Alive Charity whereby half of the revenues coming from sale of its se lected watches would go towards this charity initiative. Such efforts link the social responsibility and ethical consciousness of the company with the customers and favor the brand image. With Miyota Quartz Movement (Howard n.d) and presentation of Toy watch products on Oprah Winfrey show (Green n.d), it has captured all segments of consumers ranging from most sought after personalities to common men. Factors adding to the customer value Theoretically, customer value propositions which aim to provide them the maximum returns on their investments and utilities of time, place

Victimless Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Victimless - Essay Example The new skills required for this method includes working with local residents as partners in working out problems, making presentations to community groups, and involving other public and nonprofit organizations in community development efforts. Rohe, Adams and Arcury (1) stated that Community Oriented Policing â€Å"promises lower crime rates, reduced fear of crime, better coordination with other city and county agencies, and improved police/community relations.† As such, this method of organizational policing can also be applied for victimless crimes. Hess and Wrobleski, the authors of â€Å"Police Operations†, maintained that the role of the law should be limited particularly in dealing with victimless crimes since the category of the said crimes is a misnomer. This paper aims to identify and discuss the notion of victimless crimes and evaluate the behavior in terms of wrongfulness and the proper role for the law related to Community Oriented Policing. The reasons behind the creation of Community Oriented Policing were the rising crime rate and the ineptitude of conservative police methods during the late 1960’s such as concerns about racial conflicts, riots, civil right demonstrations and other crimes. According to Mirsky (1), â€Å"The design of community policing is to entail a more open relationship between the police and the public which gives the police a more proactive role in the community.† This new policing approach allows the neighborhoods to strengthen its capacity in helping by sharing the accountability for crime prevention and crime trepidation with the police. Meier and Geis (42) also maintain that building the competence of social institutions is essential in order to empower citizens to engage in and guard their own communities. Hence, community justice deduces that all communities have a liability to exercise social control to its residents. Among

Contract Law in UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Contract Law in UK - Essay Example Once a certain matter has been decided by a higher court applying the rules and law laid down through the ordinance affecting that particular issue, then for lower courts it will become a precedent to be followed, save in some conditions when the facts of two cases can be distinguished by the lower court. There is two-fold relationship between the two. Once a law has been drafted and implemented in the form of ordinance then it is for the courts to decide cases in the light of the existing law. But sometimes when there are certain loop holes in the law or some kind of ambiguity is there then the court can adjudicate over that matter and it becomes a precedent decision to be followed by the lower courts and executive too. An ordinance once drafted and notified by the govt. becomes a law and if it concerns commercial law then it automatically becomes a source as from then on the business activities has to conducted according to the new or amended rules laid down by that particular ordi nance. Similarly, when a higher court for e.g. the supreme court gives a decision on a commercial dispute and in the process gives a new interpretation to the law applicable to it and gives a new meaning to it then from thereon it becomes a precedent for the lower courts and the executive to follow and can be considered as a source of commercial law for that matter. 2) The Central London Properties v. High Trees House case is based on the English Contract Law and is based on the doctrine of Promissory Estoppels. The brief facts of the case are Central London Property Trust (CLPT) owned a block of flats which it leased -- for 2250 pa -- to High Trees Ltd (HT), Due to the resultant war the occupancy was low and HT negotiated with CLPT to reduce the cost of the lease to 1250 pa for the period 1940-1945. It was done. But after the war was finished the demand increased again and there was hundred percent occupancy. CLPT sued HT for the full cost of the lease, as per the original agreement. However, the Court dismissed the petition on the rule of Promissory Estoppel, which means that one party to a Contract indicates in certain terms to the second party that he (the first party) will not insist on his full rights under the contract, and based upon that promise the second party does or abstains from doing a certain act. The Second Party after making a certain promise can not go back and claim its full rights. The Court applied the above principle in this case and said that the agreement to reduce the rent was a promise between both parties and subsequent to that HT has acted on that promise, now at this stage CLPT can not be allowed to claim all its rights according to the original agreement as HT has already acted on the promise given by CLPT and it will be subject to Promissory Estoppel. 3) In this case there was a contract between Claudine who operates an import /export company in Tsuen Wan and a transport services company KCR through its manager for a load of a client's furnishing supplies to be sent by train to Guang Zhou. Though nothing was mentioned on the written contract about when the journey will be made but according the principles of contract law where, by the contract, a promisor is to perform his promise without application by the promise, and no time for performance is specified, the engagement must be performed within a reasonable time. In