Rotherham is really, really bad.  Run down, small, old fashioned dirty, smelly and covered with grime.  And that's just the people.  I'm from the nearby big city, Sheffield, which is a fairly affluent and cosmopolitan place.  Rotherham is poor, backward and insular.  People are small minded and content to stay as they are, hate change, hate outsiders and are jealous of anyone with more than they have, yet won't do anything to better themselves.

I don't live in Rotherham proper now; we recently moved out to a nearby township called Wath Upon Dearne, which is really nice.  Although it belongs in an administrative sense to Rotherham it's a place in its own right with a local identity and a completely different atmosphere from Rotherham.

The place we have now is first rate; a newly built 3 bedroom house with loads of room for the kids.  After spending 2 and a half years in a one bedroom apartment, this feels like a mansion. 

Quote - To the tune of "Yesterday" by The Beatles... 

Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be

Bits and pieces falling off of me

I caught a dose of leprosy. 

You are, indeed, a song writer with undeniable pith. :D

England is such a wonderful place. Where else could you find a name like Wath Upon Dearne, that inspires visions of timelessness and decorum? So, Rotherham is where you keep your rednecks? We sort of spread them out evenly, with some larger pockets, on this side of the pond.

As far as rich in the past, or poor now, I'll stick with now, too. I've often said I'd like to go back to the 1970's, until I really think about it. No LCD TV? No PC? Nice looking, but clunky cars? No On Star? No CCTV to watch out for us? No debit cards? No Advil? And... GASP! no internet??!!

I can't take credit for the song.  A Brit comedian did it, years ago.  My own songs are somewhat more serious.  Hard to believe, seeing as how I'm rarely serious here but there you go.  :)

As for Rednecks, the North of England is our analogue of the South USA.  Most of the small Northern towns have our Redneck equivalents.  Wath Upon Dearne is a really nice place, compared to many.  It's not particularly affluent but people here seem better behaved in general than their Rotherham counterparts.

Like all places, there are some rough areas but then, our rough areas are seldom like the USA bad places.  Unless you count Pitsmoor and Burngreave in Sheffield. Fortunately, Sheffield is big enough to isolate them so it's possible to live your whole life in the city and never go to Pitsmoor or Burngreave.  And believe me, you wouldn't want to.  I lived there as a kid; it was rough then but it's a truly frightening part of town now.  I'd think twice about going there and nothing much scares me.

CCTV is a contentious issue over here.  We're the most CCTV-ed (if that's a word) country in the West and many people believe it's a cheap and nasty way of hiring less police.  In any event, most of us dislike them.  They don't really solve anything, they just move the problems elsewhere.  

Addendum:  I've always been happiest in the here and now.  Certain times in my life are nice to remember but I've never really been touched by nostalgia.  If anything, I look forward to seeing what's around the corner.  My life went through a lot of changes in the past 15 years and, eventually, brought me more happiness than I ever thought possible.  Claire and my children are my constant joy and delight.  

So, to bring it back to topic, there's real, genuine reality.  No Katy Perry but you can't have everything.  :) 

 As has been said-that describes parts of the US! The accent is different-but the "mindset" is the same. Over here it might be "yew ain't frum around here-is yew?"

Glad you moved then! I love the name "Wath Upon Dearne" Dearne being a river?

BTW: after reading about some of the situations you've been in over the years-I'm glad you've retained your sense of humor (or humour).

Quote - Rotherham is really, really bad.  Run down, small, old fashioned dirty, smelly and covered with grime.  And that's just the people.  I'm from the nearby big city, Sheffield, which is a fairly affluent and cosmopolitan place.  Rotherham is poor, backward and insular.  People are small minded and content to stay as they are, hate change, hate outsiders and are jealous of anyone with more than they have, yet won't do anything to better themselves.

I don't live in Rotherham proper now; we recently moved out to a nearby township called Wath Upon Dearne, which is really nice.  Although it belongs in an administrative sense to Rotherham it's a place in its own right with a local identity and a completely different atmosphere from Rotherham.

The place we have now is first rate; a newly built 3 bedroom house with loads of room for the kids.  After spending 2 and a half years in a one bedroom apartment, this feels like a mansion. 

Attached Link: Wikipedia entry for Wath

Yup, it's a river.

Sense of humour?  It's the only thing kept me going at times. 

 

Quote - Yup, it's a river.

Sense of humour?  It's the only thing kept me going at times. 

 

 

and All-Bran.

Heh.

Quote - Addendum:  I've always been happiest in the here and now.  Certain times in my life are nice to remember but I've never really been touched by nostalgia.  If anything, I look forward to seeing what's around the corner.  My life went through a lot of changes in the past 15 years and, eventually, brought me more happiness than I ever thought possible.  Claire and my children are my constant joy and delight.  

So, to bring it back to topic, there's real, genuine reality.  No Katy Perry but you can't have everything.  :) 

That is the sweetest thing I've read in a very long time. It makes you feel good to know that someone perservered, and is now enjoying rewards that truly matter. And I'll bet you're just the best Dad ever!

I try my best.  

I have a two year old son who thinks eating diaper rash cream is great and a baby daughter who enjoys emulating a Face Hugger, if that's any indication as to my prowess as a parent.

Then again they both have good taste in movies (Cars, Rango, How To Tame Your Dragon, Toy Story 1 2 and 3, Nemo).  Sam knows a fair bit about Doctor Who and he can recognize a Dalek from a mile off.  No big surprise in this house, though.  :) 

I'm at the age where most people are grandparents but I'm glad; I think the extra years gave me more patience and perspective. 

Recognizing Daleks and emulating face huggers could both come in handy. ;) The diaper rash cream eating... maybe not so much. At least Sam has a parent who didn't freak out when he did it, though. (You didn't freak out, right?)

Nah.  I thought it was funny.  

Quote - I can't take credit for the song.  A Brit comedian did it, years ago.  My own songs are somewhat more serious.  Hard to believe, seeing as how I'm rarely serious here but there you go.  :)

As for Rednecks, the North of England is our analogue of the South USA.  Most of the small Northern towns have our Redneck equivalents.  Wath Upon Dearne is a really nice place, compared to many.  It's not particularly affluent but people here seem better behaved in general than their Rotherham counterparts.

Like all places, there are some rough areas but then, our rough areas are seldom like the USA bad places.  Unless you count Pitsmoor and Burngreave in Sheffield. Fortunately, Sheffield is big enough to isolate them so it's possible to live your whole life in the city and never go to Pitsmoor or Burngreave.  And believe me, you wouldn't want to.  I lived there as a kid; it was rough then but it's a truly frightening part of town now.  I'd think twice about going there and nothing much scares me.

CCTV is a contentious issue over here.  We're the most CCTV-ed (if that's a word) country in the West and many people believe it's a cheap and nasty way of hiring less police.  In any event, most of us dislike them.  They don't really solve anything, they just move the problems elsewhere.  

 

Being in the "south USA" I find that statement insulting. Have you ever been to the USA?

Quote - Postworked Katy Perry is fake, but it's also hyper real. What do you think of this kind of super realism in magazine cover art/photo postwork?

Do you aim for this kind of  'realism' in your Poser work?

 

It's not hyper-real, unfortunately.  It's just a flash photo of someone, wearing a lot of foundation, pasted on a white background. 

Quote - > Quote - I can't take credit for the song.  A Brit comedian did it, years ago.  My own songs are somewhat more serious.  Hard to believe, seeing as how I'm rarely serious here but there you go.  :)

As for Rednecks, the North of England is our analogue of the South USA.  Most of the small Northern towns have our Redneck equivalents.  Wath Upon Dearne is a really nice place, compared to many.  It's not particularly affluent but people here seem better behaved in general than their Rotherham counterparts.

Like all places, there are some rough areas but then, our rough areas are seldom like the USA bad places.  Unless you count Pitsmoor and Burngreave in Sheffield. Fortunately, Sheffield is big enough to isolate them so it's possible to live your whole life in the city and never go to Pitsmoor or Burngreave.  And believe me, you wouldn't want to.  I lived there as a kid; it was rough then but it's a truly frightening part of town now.  I'd think twice about going there and nothing much scares me.

CCTV is a contentious issue over here.  We're the most CCTV-ed (if that's a word) country in the West and many people believe it's a cheap and nasty way of hiring less police.  In any event, most of us dislike them.  They don't really solve anything, they just move the problems elsewhere.  

 

Being in the "south USA" I find that statement insulting. Have you ever been to the USA?

Yes.  And my observation comes not from myself but from many of my friends there, also mainly living in the South.  Feel free to continue finding it insulting because I ain't apologizing or withdrawing the remark. 

Well Good for you.

What the hell is your problem?

I can't for the life of me find anything insulting in this remark:

"As for Rednecks, the North of England is our analogue of the South USA. Most of the small Northern towns have our Redneck equivalents. Wath Upon Dearne is a really nice place, compared to many. It's not particularly affluent but people here seem better behaved in general than their Rotherham counterparts."

Please show me exactly where I insulted you, or called you a redneck.  Show me exactly where I insulted anyone anywhere by comparing the North of England with the South of the USA.  For that matter, please explain to me what exactly I meant by the remark, since you seem to have read something I wasn't aware I'd written.

My only conclusion is you're looking for an excuse to pick a fight with someone.  Either that or you're too thin skinned to be on an internet forum, which given the date you joined here comes as a great surprise.

Oy vey! I will fess up to the fact that I have/still do think everyone in England dresses either like Braveheart or Mary Poppins, all French have such discerning taste in food none of them are fat, all Italians are very friendly and drive fast cars, all Scandanavians are stoic, and Russians have fun doing everything.

Of course all that goes right out the window when you actually go to those places, darn it.

If there is anyone to blame for the American Southeastern states' having a skewed reputation, it's from American films and TV shows. The Beverly Hillbillies, The Dukes of Hazard, Swamp People, and a growing list of shows that I refuse to watch. You can't blame people for buying into what Hollywood has been churning out for as long as film has existed. And the music industry doesn't help offset that, either.

As I said, scan, these observations are mainly from Stateside friends.  Admittedly, some live in the Northern States but many don't.  Besides which, I don't remember mentioning, or comparing anyone to, The Beverley Hillbillies, Dukes of Hazzard or Swamp People.

Quote - > Quote - > Quote - I can't take credit for the song.  A Brit comedian did it, years ago.  My own songs are somewhat more serious.  Hard to believe, seeing as how I'm rarely serious here but there you go.  :)

As for Rednecks, the North of England is our analogue of the South USA.  Most of the small Northern towns have our Redneck equivalents.  Wath Upon Dearne is a really nice place, compared to many.  It's not particularly affluent but people here seem better behaved in general than their Rotherham counterparts.

Like all places, there are some rough areas but then, our rough areas are seldom like the USA bad places.  Unless you count Pitsmoor and Burngreave in Sheffield. Fortunately, Sheffield is big enough to isolate them so it's possible to live your whole life in the city and never go to Pitsmoor or Burngreave.  And believe me, you wouldn't want to.  I lived there as a kid; it was rough then but it's a truly frightening part of town now.  I'd think twice about going there and nothing much scares me.

CCTV is a contentious issue over here.  We're the most CCTV-ed (if that's a word) country in the West and many people believe it's a cheap and nasty way of hiring less police.  In any event, most of us dislike them.  They don't really solve anything, they just move the problems elsewhere.  

 

Being in the "south USA" I find that statement insulting. Have you ever been to the USA?

Yes.  And my observation comes not from myself but from many of my friends there, also mainly living in the South.  Feel free to continue finding it insulting because I ain't apologizing or withdrawing the remark. 

I don't see anything insulting in your post either, Sam*.*

For the record, I lived in both the North of England and the South of the USA for several years. I can't contradict any of your observations, though mostly because it's been a very long time since I left the UK. My experience isn't very current.

I do have to listen to my spouse disparage my Northern kinsmen on a daily basis ("Of course you haven't written the rent cheque, love. I forgot that you Northerners haven't developed a written version of the grunts you use to communicate with one another yet.") Of course, he's from some awful west London burrough (the name of which I can never recall).

Well, at least we're back to the Poser Forum version of reality.

Thanks, both of you, and scanmead.  I was beginning to despair.  :)  I thought everyone had a sense of humour bypass today.

You know, this brings up a point between American and British senses of humor. Brits still have one. :P Seriously, sometimes I think we Americans are so afraid of not being politically correct, we can't laugh anymore.

And that's why my favorite comedy was Keeping Up Appearances, followed closesly by Absolutely Fabulous. They were full of stereotypes, and made me laugh so hard I literally cried. I still quote both shows regularly.

With that: I want to be a nun!

Oh, I dunno.  Some of the best all time comedy shows came from the US.  I think both countries have produced some real gems.  We have a lot of dross here, too.  For every Fawlty Towers, there's a dozen predictable middle class sitcoms.  Unfortunately, the best over here now IMO are ones that really wouldn't go over well in the US because they are so English.  If they were changed for a US audience, they'd lose most of what made 'em funny in the first place.

That said, I rarely (read: never) have time to watch tv now.  Whatever happens to be on when I get a few moments is what I watch.  It's usually some VOD for the kids.  They're going through a Rango/Tame Your Dragon/Ice Age phase lately. 

I can't stand Are You Being Served.  But there is an audience demographic for it here in San Diego.  Was the show really that popular back in the day on BBC?

Quote - I can't stand Are You Being Served.  But there is an audience demographic for it here in San Diego.  Was the show really that popular back in the day on BBC?

There you have it; a perfect example of the dross I mentioned.  Yep, it was popular and ran for years and years.  There was also Allo Allo, another completely horrible, unfunny war-time "comedy" set in France.

Oh yeah, we have turned out some real trash.  And still do. 

 

"Yes, Minister", however, was a real gem.

I do get a kick out of Keeping Up Appearances.  Even though it is the same story every episode.  Sheridan is my favorite character.  :)

Well I prefer Photo-Realism when it comes down to working with CGI themes, for instance Final Fantasy Advent Children, Final Fantasy Spirits Within all used Photo realism and it was well done. I like the idea of that aspect when I'm working on a serious project that will actually give people a reason to feel the emotion of what they are seeing. Photo-realism can be done in a variety of different ways. I'm not too concerned as to what the magazines do since I don't read them anyway. Celebrities already have that "perfect look" but that's thanks to professional hairstylist, makeup artists, etc. Try watching this show called "Face-Off" you will see that you don't need Photo manipulation to make something appear "real" if you're a very good artist you can easily craft something in the real world to appear real when it really isn't real at all. Its like the artists that did the makeup for Arnold, the side of his face really looked like it was part machine and part flesh. My style has always been to achieve Photo-realism. I don't think or feel that its been done as much as it should in digital art because more artists tend to focus on non-realism than realism but its always good to switch things up rather than being limited to one over the other. Just take a look at the image I posted of a photo-realistic image. When I first seen that, I was really amazed at the level of detail especially on the hair. I would like to be that good one day.

I try for realism most of the time in my renders.  Her fingers gave it away in this one.

Both good examples posted above.  I really like the lighting on your pic, Shawn.

Photorealism, when you hit it, is very impressive. Depending on the project, it can be mandatory. Personally, I've seen too many arch-viz renders, and witnessed too many snit fits over minute details to have much patience with the whole process. I sort of miss the old Bryce days when it was more about what the image said than about the technical side. What catches my eye now is when both come together, and that doesn't happen often.

 "Is that Mr. Ackbar? Mrs. Slocombe here, your next-door neighbor. I wonder, would you do me a favour? Would you go to my front door, bend down, and look through the letter-box? And if you can see my pussy, would you drop a sardine on the mat?"

I loved AYBS. 

Mr. Ackbar's english isn't very good, but he means well.  If Mrs. Slocombe read this thread then by the time she finished her pussy would be in an uproar.

 

"I do get a kick out of Keeping Up Appearances.  Even though it is the same story every episode. "

Could someone create a 3D model home that had a mercedes in the garage, a sauna and room for a pony?