#Tim in maroon goes sO hard. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kaplanwrites · 3 years

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02.7.Other Side.

sound: The other side by UNKLE, Tom Smith

***

Kon knows when he fucked up this relationship (started to fuck it up more and more).

He supposes, he also knows why he did this - as an unconscious protest to the unfairness of life, of the circumstances. To Tim’s decisions.

Mostly out of his own frustration to being unable to protest the pound of a replacement Tim made all for himself, but who somehow became an anchor for the both of them(the sum of them).

(Somehow on the shitty end of his mulish egoism, as always, Tim ended up being. )

Jeez, is he an asshole.

It’s no wonder that as he earnestly tries to make this pretend-family real, more than simply real: strong, lasting. Romantic. (oh God he’s so fucked. Everything he fucked, in the end, is just himself over). Tim is being difficult.

The kid is in the heart of it, but it is not about him, right now it’s about Tim and making Tim understand how he is making Kon feel.

Frustrated. Angry. Miserable.

Fucked.

Tired and sorry, and stuck in front of the wall that Tim’s self-loathing is. (“Self”, though? Tim was never the one to doubt himself, he's the most driven and sure person Kon knows. So is it just, “loathing”? Is it “Kon-loathing”?)

(But then again, Tim was confident. He also was cheeky, and an ass, and Kon’s best friend and confidant, and now he’s… kinda pushed a stop button on all of those things).

It’s like they coexist simultaneously in the same and parallel place together, it’s like Tim can hear him only if making a conscious effort (which he is not always trying to make. Or, to be fair, has time to).

See, Kon understands that things should be unfucked, and then they start to fuck. It also happens unconsciously (for him at least, but, he thought that they started to fuck to make it all better, but all they achieved - is fucking it up better). For all that he wants Tim to open up, he doesn’t really want to know why he did it. His peaceful rest lays on trusting Tim not to have a malicious cause for it.

For the first month, Kon thinks this arrangement to be blissfully awesome, then entertaining and convenient. As he starts to stay in Tim’s bedroom for nights, he starts to see cracks in Tim’s facade.

(He knows, that when he’s not contemplating Tim’s disassembly drilling metaphorical (and wanting to blast very real ones so badly) holes in the ceiling, he is being watched. He also knows it’s the only time Tim looks at him directly now (after they started to fuck(this up)).

He wants to feel loved again like he was - for years now, he realizes, and isn’t it an asshole thing to wish? The worth in the want, isn’t it?

This whole cohabitation started off as weird, but now they push to unhealthy. Then again, he suspects, maybe “fuckbuddy relationships with your best friend who nursed your child to life while you were dead” have very shaky foundations for “normal”.

Also, he’d never was able to do fuck all to shift Tim from his path, but together, oh, they’ve always been synergetic. Hence, fuck-up of cosmic proportions. Fast. Brutal.

He dreams of his cheeky snobby overthinking Robin.

He lies in bed and thinks about tearing the gorgeous sharp man lying next to him apart and finding his old chum wonderboy inside. Cradling him to the chest and reassuring that everything will be back to normal. Eventually. Sometime later.

(sometimes he resorts to pushing his forehead into Tim’s jaw, putting a tentative hand on his shoulder) (sometimes Tim doesn’t pull back)

Sometimes he thinks that if they’ve started to fuck back in Metropolis, it wouldn’t be that much of an issue right now. At all. This whole…

Then again, Kon doesn’t think Tim is that shallow of a person to think that Kon will chase the first convenient skirt when Kon will get bored with him.

Then again, Kon didn’t think that he will be that shallow of a person to treat this whole… this. As friends with benefits.

(With the benefit of doubt size of Manhattan.)

He tries to speak, but every time he opens his mouth, he finds words… lacking.

(‘Hey man. Back a couple of months ago, when we fought about your fuckbuddy who wasn’t me? Remember that? So I’ve figured it wasn’t that I was just horny, I was really jealous of this dude. Weird, huh?)

Sometimes (when they’re angry) it’s for the best.

The Kid awful lots of time was more about words than deeds, now Kon mostly resorts just giving everything Tim needs.

If that needs to be spreading out on top of still hot bike, balanced only by Tim’s hand in his hair and spared scraps of TTK, well, it’s worth it.

(For all it looks like Tim punishes him for being careless, his second hand strokes Kon’s outstretched thigh, soothingly, and Kon lets go. Lets them both feel it).

---

Kon keeps his stretched and primed canvases on the wall next to the windows in his room; white and greyish rectangles hanging on nails in odd angles form unsettling ghost gallery around the window frame.

Tim usually doesn’t spare much thought to them, but faint acrylic smell wafts from the open window, and it catches his attention.

There are no new paintings in the room. The easel stands empty, all pots seem to be shut.

Tim smells paint as he looks for a new brush on shelves; smells it as he turns to leave after he finds one that will tech cleaning job done. Stops.

He stares at empty queen-sized mattress negligently pushed towards the wall, to make more space in the centre of the room. It stands right in front of the door uncovered - Kon was gathering laundry a couple of days ago. It makes the bed look barren and unnecessary. There’s an empty shopper bag with receipts for paints and condoms on it, the latest lie now in his nightstand. Tim chews on his lips.

The smell itself is nothing of a notice: it could be any of the rags thrown around the room, but something tugs on Tim’s mind, brings him to the windowsill.

There’s that one canvas peculiarly hanged near ceiling facing away from the room, obviously darker than others. It would be a hard job to put it this way if you don’t have a TTK, Tim guesses.

He contemplates how exactly hard it could be to get it down and back up again.

He wants to think that he didn’t mean to climb the windowsill.

He takes first look on the painting as he grabs it from the hook, and almost flops down to the sill from his precarious position hanging from the window frame.

Tim is fascinated by the vividness of the painting: maroon backdrop seamlessly merges with shadows around the sole figure on painting creating vertigo of strokes and dots, almost like the bird-eye view of a night city.

Startled, Tim recognizes himself on painting, bare-chested and barefaced, but very unmistakably Red Robin.

Man on painting poised over the viewer reaching over the upper right side of the canvas, eyes either hooded in bliss or slit in anger, with multicoloured strokes proclaiming sweat over his chest.

He remembers a red streak of blood on his cheek, remembers the anger and anguish of the night Kon was knocked out on a team-up with JL Dark. Remembers vindictive way he fucked into pliant body splayed on his bike, barely into the garage after a long night. The way Kon’s dazed eyes never left his.

The way he later tugged both comforter and Tim over the spread of bed, murmuring ‘Cold’ into the back of Tim’s head. The way he felt (not normal. human. cool) on Tim’s back.

Tim figures that the voodoo sucked the sunlight charge out of Kon, and kicks him out of the bed first thing in the morning to park with Eli. He looks wrought and miserable leaving, but when hours later he returns, perked up and with two more kids in tow, Tim is relieved to learn that he was right.

He’s not particularly clingy that day, but he touches Tim more. A handclap on the shoulder. A brush of fingers as he passes Tim’s laptop charger. He goes to fly some more, leaving kids to distract Tim from work and destroy the living room.

During the dinner he pushes his bare feet under Tim’s, twine them together. Looks at Tim.

(he’s running a fever again, and Tim’s feet are cold. It is convenient (it is a relief)).

Smiles.

---

As Tim turns the light off in his office, he realizes that the cityscape outside his window looks almost like the background of that painting.

He’s already too late but really wants to take this photo now.

He finds the drone in the lowest drawer of Yves’ worktable, contemplates flying it through the labs to the roof. Nobody will bat an eye about it (it says something about his department, but he’s not sure what exactly). Thinks about the half-dead battery in the drone.

When it’s finally outside, paired with his cellphone and poised at the right side of the roof, Tim activates it; lowers it down to the right floor, makes a couple of sweeps to and fro until he sees himself through the drone's cam.

He toggles with controls a bit and pushes drone back and forth until he catches frame right and sees the reflection of city lights clearly behind the drone - in front of Tim.

Momentarily distracted by this dichotomy, simultaneously seeing this landscape both in the window and mirrored on his cell’s screen.

He gets rid of the tie and opens the collar, puts his right palm to the glass just over his right shoulder.

It's not right.

It’s too crystal, too precise, and although he likes that in his photographies, it’s not like that painting at all. He can see the drone in reflection, for one, and his face - tense and annoyed, for another.

Warning of low battery, peacefully blinking in the upper right corner turns angry red and the drone begins it's slow descend to fickle safety of the solid ground.

Tim pushes forward, tries to catch a couple of shots more. Transfers everything drone shot to the cloud.

Pages security to retrieve the drone sometime during the night.

He swipes through photos in the elevator, and luckily finds what he looks for. There's one accidental shot where he's slightly off-centre, with tightly pinched eyebrow looking down to descending drone. His palm cut in half by the border of the frame, and the cityscape is a blur of lights, highlighting his face with a soft glow.

It’s perfect, but he still tweaks a bit with colours. Deepening shadows, pulling contrasts. Making sloppy seem intentional.

His phone buzzes with an inquiry from Kon if he should tuck the kid in.

He sets home, sending a photo instead of an answer from the car.

***

Years later both painting and printed-out photo hangs in Kon’s studio in the new house.

flies drone

takes dozens of pictures

they’re pretty but not it

than battery dies and the drone takes last shot before descending down to its sure death

and the picture has blurred lights in the reflection, and Tim’s brow pinched in concern as he looks at descending drone

and it’s perfect

#other side #timkon #full #02

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secretradiobrooklyn · 3 years

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Get In Moses Edition | 2.13.21

Secret Radio | 2.13.21 | Hear it here.

art by Paige, liner notes mostly by Evan, *means Paige

1. Chantal Goya - “Tu m’as trop menti”

From the movie “Masculin feminin,” a DVD we borrowed from Tim. This is the film where Godard was whispering the lines into a headset of the actor, so they were learning their lines literally as they were saying them. This is the opening song. Not particularly Valentine’s Day, in that it’s about lying too much… but still there’s a dissatisfaction that is undeniably a part of French romance.

2. Human League - “(Keep Feeling) Fascination”

Such a square song! But the keys hook is so immortally beautiful, with its crucial warble. The rest of the song is sweetly and innocently ‘80s. It reminds me of being in art class in high school, fully participating in the aesthetic crimes of the era.

3. Marijata - “Break Through” - “Afro-Beat Airways”

Analog Africa is just now releasing a repress of this long sold-out collection. I’d listened to it before, but I guess that was before I knew about Marijata (thanks again, Jeffrey!) because it was a shock to discover a track by one of our very favorite Ghanaian discoveries. So far as I knew, Marijata only released one album of four songs — which is fantastic — and then eventually started backing a guy named Pat Thomas. Those records, unfortunately, are nowhere near as vital and fascinating as their own record. So finding this song was a welcome revelation! I should also say that, no surprise, the whole collection is a banger from front to back, and will definitely show up again on the show.

4. Philippe Katerine (avec Gérard Depardieu) - “Blond”

This strange guy is a kind of joker songwriter in French pop, as far as I can tell. This song is all about what one can get away with if one is blond. He’s a really fascinating character, a tiny bit like Beck maybe, in the sense that he seems to have made a successful career of taking unexpected directions. He’s also an actor, working with Claire Denis (!), Jonathan Demme and Gille Lellouche among many others. He was also in “Gainsbourg - A Heroic Life,” which is an excellent movie that we highly recommend. (We had no idea who he was when we saw it at the St. Louis Film Festival.) Also, he appears to be married to Gérard Depardieu’s daughter, which would seem to explain this particular guest star.

- The Texas Room - “Cielito Lindo”

Several years ago, a producer in St. Louis put together the amazing album known as “The Texas Room,” which brought together immigrants from all over the world who currently lived in St. Louis. That meant Bosnians, Cameroonians, Mexicans, and native-born Americans… including Andy Garces, a fellow Paige went to high school with — His mom was Paige’s voice teacher as a matter of fact — who recorded this strange and excellent version of “Cielito Lindo.” The release party for the album was one of the greatest nights we spent in that or any city, dancing our faces off to all kinds of music. At one point the Bosnians got so excited they took over the room, shouting along and hoisting up their guy in the air. Basil Kincaid did the art for the album, and I think that’s the night we finally met. We have one of his collages on our studio wall right now — right over there!

5. The Modern Lovers - “I’m Straight” *

When we got the current SK van (circa 2015) we were super excited because we could finally bring out other musicians on the road and we could also have folks from other bands that we were out with jump in the van with us for a stretch. That February we were on tour with Jamaican Queens, and our friend Andy Kahn came out with us to play guitar. Not only is Andy a rad musician and great guy to be around, but he was an excellent road DJ. Somehow I made it to 30 without getting into The Modern Lovers (I know, crazy!) Andy has great taste and had a well appointed iPod so he was the official van DJ pretty much right away. He put on this record one day and I just lost it. The thing is, after that I was like “Play ‘Roadrunner’ again!” all the time. When I hear this record I still think of that tour. Andy in the back seat DJing, Ben and Erik jumping in the van to come with to Baltimore, graduating to “truck” in the Holland Tunnel queue, so much snow, host Bentley, “Go cats?”, Aaaaaahhhhh!

6. Frances Carroll & the Coquettes - “Coquette / When I Swing My Stick / Jitterbug Stomp”

I think we learned about this band last year, when Coquettes drummer Viola Smith died at 107 years old (in Costa Mesa, not Silverlake, Paige would like you to know — her bad). The video link below is highly recommended — the whole band swings hard, and the interaction between them and Frances Carroll is well worth the watch. They were considered a curiosity at the time, being an all-female band, and man they could play. Viola Smith in particular had an insanely long career, playing from the 1920s straight through into 2019! She played with Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb, and in the original Broadway production of “Cabaret.” Her particular innovation was having two toms at shoulder height, on either side of her head, which she would roll and ricochet shots off. Very cool style, never copied.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFDD_NxtKZ4

7. Pierre Sandwidi - “Boy Cuisinier”

Born Bad Records is one of the world’s coolest record labels, with a huge array of vintage discoveries as well as African albums as well as contemporary pop and noise bands. “Boy Cuisinier” is off Pierre Sandwidi’s album with them. It bears some definite relation to Francis Bebey but takes its own turns just as often. Sandwidi hails from Burkina Faso, known as the Upper Volta when he was growing up. We’re just now learning about him and his scene — I confess I didn’t even know Upper Volta was African; I thought it was Slavic — so I wouldn’t be surprised if some more Voltaic music shows up here soon.

8. Evan Sult avec Tracy Brubeck - “The Cats Won’t Stay In”

Paige’s mom Tracy called while we were in the middle of the show, and they paused to have a conversation about, you know, whatever — the snowstorms, the neighbors, the news. She was on speakerphone so that we could all talk, and eventually I just started taking notes as fast as I could. This is the result. I find it fascinating. That’s Paige singing lead on the Marty Robbins tune.

9. Kil Monnower Alimunna, Grup Hindustanbul - “Tadap Tadap”

Years ago I saw the movie “Monsoon Wedding” by the director Mira Nair. It really stuck with me, particularly the gorgeous opening credits in maroon and orange and sky blue. I was trying to tell Paige about that sequence, so just in case we could catch a glimpse of those colors, we watched the trailer. This song is the soundtrack to the trailer. It’s really an amazing track — so Indian, of course, but with definite Western points of contact, like when it goes to the major chords unexpectedly in the post-chorus, which sounds practically American. And the final outro minute or so is full of delayed, reverbed vocals in a psychedelic style, til it reaches the strange and intoxicating sound that he makes with his voice as the song fades into the distance.

- Martial Solal “New York Herald Tribune” - “A bout de souffle” soundtrack

10. Gillian Hills - “Tut Tut Tut Tut”

Gillian Hills, probably more famous for “Zou Bisou Bisou.” This track is great, listen for those syrupy slides and harmonies. I just learned that she is English, and the music video for this song is definitely shot in Angleterre. Full of famous red phone booths (now famous little free libraries.) When we were doing this week’s show I asked Evan “Is this song too obvious?” He said no, it wasn’t too obvious. If you know why I’m asking, then you know. So is it?

11. Jacques Dutronc “La Compapade”

We’ve been into Jacques Dutronc for many years now, because he’s a brilliant French songwriter and composer. But this one track has been a baffler for many years now. It shows up out of nowhere and sounds like… what? What the hell IS that? Is it African? It sounds African, but — is it? Is it just some strange lark on his part? Paige was apprehensive about playing it on the show, even though we both really enjoy it, because we couldn’t tell if it was somehow demeaning to someone. But eventually I argued that we don’t know what the hell most of the singers are saying in the songs we play, or which cultural taboos they’re transgressing, and the same is true in this case. If it is somehow offensive to anyone, I hope it’s clear that wasn’t our intention. But… I don’t know. I don’t think it is. I think it just comes from a cultural heritage and context that is French in a way Americans cannot understand or appreciate. In any case, it’s an amazing performance and recording!

12. K. Frimpong & His Cubanos Fiestas - Me Da A Ɔnnda”

Research into African rock and styles eventually brought us to K. Frimpong and His Cubanos Fiestas, which has turned out to be a satisfying step into the Ghanaian highlife/Cuban scene. I love the keyboard hooks in this one and the way the patterns just roll on and on with each other like a river, in no hurry but pulled forward by their own currents. He was also a visual artist — his art appeared on the cover of last episode’s Nyame Bekyere album. This was also the first time I’ve encountered the character “Ɔ” in the wild. I have zero idea how it is pronounced.

13. They Might Be Giants - “Birdhouse In Your Soul”

“Not to put too fine a point on it / Say I’m the only bee on your bonnet / Make a little birdhouse in your soul.” I remember when I first realized that was a feeling I was feeling — hoping to build a birdhouse in the soul of another, to be inside one another in a little protected place. The rest of the song is a nerd-rock dream palace I love as much as any other nerd, but the chorus is where I discovered an emotion I hadn’t suspected was there when I first heard and fell for this song and this band in high school (thanks, Jeremy Peterson!).

Paige adds: This song is blowing my mind. I don’t like writing lyrics, my ratio of melodies and harmonies to lyrics way out of whack. Evan brought this song back into our lives this week when Sleepy Kitty was asked what our favorite love songs are on a real radio show. We’ve been listening to it a bunch since Thursday and damn, these lyrics are good. It’s really reminding me that you can write about ANY.THING. Blue Canary in the freakin’ outlet by the light switch. Looking at the lighthouse picture. It’s a clinic. I learned something, and I can go home.

On the original topic, I love thinking of this as a love song. If you hear a love song, it’s a love song. It’s a love song.

14. Sleepy Kitty - “Tu veux ou tu veux pas” *

I took two years of French in high school and missed out junior and senior year because of a scheduling lulu that made 3rd and 4th year French conflict with advanced painting which was the primary reason I was taking French in the first place. I’m still not over it. Years later, I’m at Electropolis (in my memory) and I hear this Brigitte Bardot song on Tim’s excellent sound system and I can understand…most?…some…of it! I fell in love with this song and with French again and started stumbling, scrabbling at it again. We started working up this cover. Thank you Suzie Gilb for helping with the pronunciation. We did a 7” of this song and it’s a rare SK track with me playing trombone on it.

15. The Velvet Underground - “I Love You” *

I don’t really have much to say about this track except that it reminds me of flying to Germany because I got the 5 Disc set with all the extras on it a few days before leaving for a high school foreign exchange program. I was so happy to have those discs to absorb on the long flight, and come to think of it, it really inflected the whole trip.

16. Secret Song - “African Scream Contest”

The genesis of our love for African rock/funk/whatever (if for a moment we don’t count the profoundly influential “Graceland”) is the immortal collection “Legends of Benin,” put out by Analog Africa. As soon as we dug further for our favorites from that collection, we found “African Scream Contest” vols 1 and 2. I was drawn to the second one because it had a killer track by our hero Antoine Dougbé, but eventually spent as much time with the first volume. Both are absolutely fantastic. Part of what I love so much about them is learning how much of an impact James Brown and his band had on African music, which is super apparent throughout these collections and especially this track. The drums and the grunts and the hard stops and the horn blasts — it’s all there.

One of the finest elements of these records is the hidden track at the end, tucked five or so minutes back from the last song. These are often some of the hottest tracks on the album, well worth the wait, and this mystery song is no exception. Unfortunately, though, that means we don’t know who made this track or what it’s called. Oh well — that only makes it cooler!

- Adrian from Brooklyn

17. The Beatles - “Dizzy Miss Lizzy”

We watched “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week” recently (totally worth a watch), and we were struck all over again by how insane their lives must have been at that time. Yes fame, yes sudden fortune, yes global supremacy, yes yes yes — the thing that I can’t get over is the shrieking, and how it wasn’t just present at their shows, it was EVERYWHERE THEY WENT, AT ALL TIMES ON ALL DAYS, EVERY SECOND THEY WERE OUTSIDE. How completely unsettling that must have been, to be the center of that howl, day after day, year after year.

18. The Fall - “Sing! Harpy”

Dedicated to Adrian from Brooklyn and all those young women and men losing their minds over the Beatles so completely that all they could do was shriek, even at shows where the crowd’s sound completely obliterated the sound of the band they so desperately loved and came to hear.

(This is also some of my favorite violin playing in any rock music, right up there with “Boys Keep Swinging” and The Ex’s “State of Shock.” I would LOVE to work with a violinist in this mode.)

19. T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - “Gnon a Gnon Wa”

So intense! That constant chord strike throughout the song is a kind of high-note drone that we find ourselves drawn to. It kind of reminds me of the sound of a casino, where you walk in and all of the machines are chiming the same note, promising to just take your mind away and keep it safe until you need it again.

- Tommy Guerrero - “El Camino Negro” - “Road to Nowhere”

20. Black Dragons de Porto Novo - “Se Djro” What a slinky number! I love how spare the instrumentation is, but how much power is contained in that one guitar part. This is side A of a 7” put out on Albarika Store, the label that T.P. Orchestre called home for many albums.

21. Helen Nkume and Her Young Timers - “Time” This is (so far) the closest we’ve gotten to reggae on WBFF. I know nothing about the band or the music other than their fantastic name and sound — oh, and the fact that she is known elsewhere as Prophetess Helen Nkume. She appears to be Nigerian, or anyway her record label is. I love the guitar hook on this song, it just sneaks in and steals the show.

22. Anne Sylvestre - “Les Gens Qui Doutent”

23. Parvati Khan - “Jimmi Jimmi Jimmi Aaja Aaja Aaja Re Mere” A lucky find! Someone in one of my Facebook groups posted a video from this album, so I took note and returned later to check it out. This is from an Indian movie called “I’m a Disco Dancer” that looks like a real kooky thrill. The actors appear to have only the vaguest sense of what “disco” might be — or what a guitar might be, for that matter. It kind of looks like someone saw a single photo of a disco night and extrapolated a whole movie from it. Nonetheless, Parvati Khan is entrancing in the song and in the video, and we HAVE to see this movie, with or without subtitles. The smoldering look alone really requires investigation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUdJQSUcK_Y

24. Nancy Sit - “Love Potion #9” * One thing I’ve always known about Evan is that he doesn’t like the song “Love Potion #9.” When we stumbled across this, I thought it was awesome but I didn’t want to make Evan listen to a song he doesn’t like on Valentine’s Day! Evan says this song has little to do with “Love Potion #9” which makes me wonder, Evan, what’s the part you don’t like about “Love Potion #9”?

Evan adds: I honestly can’t remember what my issue with this song was. I swear, it was like… it was around the time of “Melt With You,” which I also found inexplicably irritating (and still do). I suspect now that there was an inept cover version that first steered me wrong… but luckily there’s a strange Chinese version to steer me right again! Oh life.

- Michel Legrand - “Solange’s Song (Instrumental)” - “The Young Ladies of Rocheforte”

25. The Velvet Underground - “I’ll Be Your Mirror” * This is the song that I said was the best love song of the western world on the real radio. I think it’s so beautiful and so adult. I don’t even know if I would have thought of this as love song a few years ago. When first got into the V.U. I thought it was a pretty song – a neat song, but I didn’t really know what it meant, what it could mean. What’s funny is when I think of this song, I have a Lou Reed version in my head – his voice, the harmonies. When I revisited the Max’s Kansas City live version (which as far as I know is the only one besides other more recent live versions and surely what I’m thinking of?) I realized that the version in my head is essentially that one but cleaned up, remastered, different EQ, and as far as I know entirely imagined.

Evan adds: (Paige has been playing this song recently around the apartment. I don’t even have to tell you how lovely it is.)

*p.s. If you want to hear the piece about musicians talking about favorite love songs on KWMU it’s here: https://news.stlpublicradio.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2021-02-11/listen-love-songs-to-keep-you-warm-on-cold-winter-nights

Super fun getting to talk about this stuff and in such good company!

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violetsystems · 4 years

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#personal

I keep reading a lot about how video chat is exhausting. There’s a strange psychology to it. The synthesia that comes from people being “in real time” and yet not. My connection at home operates on a ten to eleven millisecond latency. I spent the last month tightening the requirements I had for operating my office at home. I’m IT person so I feel like I need to lead the charge on that front. I’m also not typically someone who communicates through video. I quit facebook over a year ago along with twitter. I post things to instagram with no captions. I write three paragraphs online every week here. This is about as personal as it gets for me. And yet I socialize with people just the same in this post Covid-19 world. In fact, I keep hearing how we’re all in this together. How the importance of neighbors and families become more apparent. And nobody really interacts with me beyond that professional veil that separates in real life me from deep thought me. If anyone really wanted to get into my head I leave it here for them to process. There are people on here that have said more to me in a like than a series of sentences. Years ago people would think that’s insane. And yet here we are locked in our bedrooms speaking awkwardly through delay. Desperately trying to connect through video glitches to brick walls on occasion. People hiding their clutter through filters and masks. People drowned out of group chat stuttering in and out. False starts and runaway monologues. My job has a lot to do with managing groups of people in this atmosphere and improving communication. I ran a zoom happy hour recently for an employee’s departure. I don’t drink anymore. I’m not particularly bothered by it. But it was an enlightening experience of voyeurism to watch. I guess people who go to bars now just hang out on video drunk. I’m the one who has to reel in the commentary if it gets too out of control. But it’s always out of sequence in terms of the rhythm of conversation. Worse so when it’s not work related. In a world where people worry out loud about taking the train to work. I’m still paying my Ventra benefit. I’m proud of my city in that way. I went to the bank over lunch to get quarters. Shopped at a smaller grocery store in the neighborhood. Everybody was so lively and conversational. People thanked me for wearing a mask. For bagging my groceries correctly. In real time. A mask was the only thing between us really. Not an entire quantum grid of time distorted projections. And then there’s the people who lean on that even more. We’re all neighbors. We all need each other. Society is almost as exhausting as telepresence. In some ways we’re seeing it’s just as good. Kind of like quarantine ushered in a new kind of Videodrome. Long live the new flesh. Same as the old flesh really. It’s the quality of the people that breathe life in the world. Or suck the air out of the room. You wish they’d suck out all the Covid droplets too.

I’m not too engaged by people these days. Not on an intimate level. But I am a genuinely open person. I live in the moment. I’m easy to read. Some people have faulted me for that. Claiming I’m not a good poker player when it comes to the game of life. You don’t know how badly people have eaten those words. It’s why they always have their foot in their mouth when they try to talk to me. It sounds worse over the cold empty space of internet packets traveling through the screen. The frightening thing about America is that it’s so easy to connect to everyone but yourself. And none of that is ever satisfying when nobody respects you and your search for connection. I have travelled the world. I travelled it alone. The largest amount of time I’ve spent in a foreign country was Korea. I made a lot of friends in Seoul over a short period of time. The lifecycle of which varies just as wildly as back home. But I connected with people being myself. Did people value those connections? I don’t know. When I think about traveling now it’s mostly to New York. But the same goes for New York. I travelled there alone. I knew nobody. I went there on my birthday twice alone. Followed around by god knows who or what. I’ve been through all of this for five or six years now. And people still question my connection to myself. How I communicate. How I feel about the world. What desires I keep to myself. Who I’m inspired by. Nobody ever asks. I sit on video everyday looking out with tired eyes listening. Constantly listening to people’s words. My own are processed but it’s not about me. I’m sure I could explain how I felt on video to someone I was close to. But the truth is nobody is that close to me at all. It’s an empty space. I’d rather fill that space beside me. Have somebody in my life I share the deeper side with. When I sit and pretend on camera I feel consulted but never connected. I hear about people’s worries and concerns. But nobody knows how I feel or how I am thinking. I feel worthless. I feel ignored. I feel like a fucking joke. Like a punchline people use to show when people aren’t paying attention. Like I’m a ghost or a hologram. I do connect but it passes right through me. Like I’m there but not really there. An avatar to process an in real life transaction. To be put away in cold storage after interaction. Where does a person like myself go from here? I have felt trapped. I’ve felt buried. And now I just feel like I’m in a revolutionary cave. Weathering a shit storm. Like Khan on Ceti Alpha Five. Buried alive.

Khan definitely didn’t have fed ex. Neither did he have the Dover Street Market E-shop. Khan did not have a level 103 warlock in World of Warcraft. Khan did have a crew. He eventually got off that planet by putting worms in people’s ears. I’m not a big fan of fake folk remedies. I do like Star Trek. I watch a lot of tv these days. A lot more than I did. I’ve set up my deliveries to sync up with my needs. My cat food and litter is always delivered on time. My cat now sleeps on my bed. She crawls onto my chest inexplicably at times. Getting me prepped for a ventilator I guess. I still have a job. A job that I will soon go back to in some context. A job that I’ve been working every day since lockdown. How people judge me from there is a constant reality. People still out there trying to breach the six foot barrier of me not giving a fuck. People still have something to say with or without a zoom meeting password. And I’m still the same old Tim. A little wiser. A little more fed up with basic shit in America. And still with my ear pressed firmly to the ground. Everything is a complete shit show. It’s been that way for years. I’ve just gotten less sensitive to it. And the more I walk through life ignoring things that waste my time, the more I see it for what it really is. There’s a luxury in pausing to map the terrain. To keep your distance. To not always get led away by your passion and your emotions. My passion does feel dead inside. That’s a little harsh. It feels like it’s hibernating. It’s been hibernating. I have very little emotion to show in terms of real intimacy. I save it inside and that’s my business. I do desire. I do care. And I’m sure my friends on here know exactly in what context and how hard that is to bear at times. I’m expected to read so deeply into everyone and no one bothers to skim what I’m trying to say. It’s life. It’s the same exact feeling staring out on your video cam and watching someone who isn’t really there. Like you’ve tuned into someone’s play or tv show. And you are the laugh track. That’s all you are to people. A fucking ambient laugh track. Distorted so much by selfishness that whatever you say has no bearing on anyone at all. Marooned on your own dead planet with a fat pipe to the internet. Talking to max headroom with a thirty second delay. How was your day? Oh let me tell you about mine. Time stretched howl into the matrix. I’d rather hear the soft rhythm of your breath next to mine. That would say more than anything I could ever say. Until then I’ll stick to writing love letters into the void. That and shopping at home online. I love clothes. You know I love you too. I’d say it on video but you deserve zero latency. <3 Tim

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supeson · 5 years

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we’re #1

🖤❤🧡💛💚💙💜NO ONE IS WRITING PRIDE FICS WHATS WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU ITS PRIDE AND IM GAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL YOUR FAVES ARE GAY!!!!!!!!🖤❤🧡💛💚💙💜

Bruce opens the door to his bedroom to find you tugging on a tank top, no doubt to keep cool while out today, a rare sunny day in Gotham. You turn around and face him, beaming. His eyebrows draw in as he sees your cheek, three lines of baby blue, pink, and white drawn in a thick rectangle. "Who did that?"

"Dick. He's painting everyone's faces! Even Damian's, which honestly, surprised me too. I thought he would rather chew his own arm off than go out with us today." You pause, and he sees another flag on the other cheek. "Does it look bad?"

"Of course not. I was just surprised. I didn't know we were going decorated."

You snort. "Bullshit. You knew. That's why your pocket square is the bi flag. You just didn't want Dick coming near you with the face paints."

"You're right, he's a menace. Let's go downstairs before he tries to convince Alfred he'd look better with some color."

The foyer is a mess, with everyone pulling on shoes or doing hair or conversing loudly. Alfred flits from one group to the next, making sure everyone is ready for their day out. Dick beams at the two of you as he looks up from Damian's face, the bi flag standing out beaitifully with his tanned skin. "Finally! I thought we were gonna have to leave without you guys."

"Focus on the task at hand, Grayson. I won't go out with sloppy lines." Damian fixes him with a glare, arms crossed.

Dick rolls his eyes. "Alright alright. Geez, why don't you have bigger cheeks? The gay flag has so many colors."

"Ha! Like I would miss today for anything. Where's Stephanie? I thought she was coming with us?"

"Had to take care of something. She will be with us later," Cass says, looking between two jackets. She finally picks a leather maroon one to match the lesbian flags on her cheeks and slips it on. She goes over to Tim, who is on his phone, a small trans flag on one cheek, a gay flag on the other, and takes it away. "We are leaving. No more phone until tonight."

"And Duke? The whole Wayne family has to show out for Gotham Pride!" You say, checking to make sure you have everything.

"Looking for this?" Alfred asks, holding up a tube of lip balm. "Also Master Duke is downstairs. He will be attending the parade with his girlfriend."

"Damn, okay. Thank you, Alfred. Are you sure you don't wanna come with us?"

"No thank you, Master Dick has already tried to paint my face. That's enough pride for me."

Bruce claps his hands, and everyone looks at him. "Alright everyone, let's go. If we stay here any longer they'll hold the parade for us. I don't want that happening again."

Everyone grumbles, but make their way to the door. Once everyone is outside and squabbling about who gets to sit where in the SUV, you turn to Bruce, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure you're okay with this? Coming out so publicly?"

He brings a hand to rest on your upper arm. "The press has been after my sexuality for years. Maybe if I finally give it to them they'll leave me alone."

"Oh you know they won't, babe. But I'm very proud of you for deciding to this with me. With the kids." You kiss him hard, holding his face. You pull away and smile. "Even if you are gonna be absolutely roasting in that ridiculous suit."

#dc #batman #batman x reader #batman/reader #bruce wayne #bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne/reader #dc imagines #i dont rly know cass or duke so pls tell me if i got em right #damian wayne #dick grayson #cassandra cain #tim drake #alfred pennyworth

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musicgoon · 5 years

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Recommended Reading

Providing A Freshly Curated, Weekly Link List on Christianity & Culture.

Find my weekly recommended reading with the RR tag. Dedicated link posts with personal commentary can be found through the link tag. Real-time news and article sharing happens on Twitter and my Facebook page.

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Christianity

5 Myths about Womanhood

How Can I See the Beauty of God?

The power of sports: Why it’s significant that the Super Bowl is the last major event in American society in which everyone watches

8 Real-Life Questions about Children and Discipline

How Do You Define Heresy?

What Kind of Heart Does Christ Deserve? The Call of Christian Hedonism

The Importance of What We Do in Secret

Sports Show Our Best Life Is Later

Practical Experiences to Help Young Worship Leaders Grow

Is Street Evangelism Better Than Building Relationships?

The Reproductive Health Act of Horror: The Lies Behind Abortion Without Limits

Cancer and God’s Sovereignty

5 Relationships to Cultivate As You Foster or Adopt (Part 4)

Are There Distinctions of Sin in Hell?

Why Marie Kondo and Minimalism Are So Popular

Theological Development among African-American Slaves

Why Imagination Is Necessary for Christian Faith

Am I Judged for My Productivity in Sharing the Gospel?

How the KJV Is Partially Responsible for the NIV

Let God Blow Away Your Anxiety: Three Big Promises for the Fight

Prayer: A Discourse with God

The Irony of Holding a Grudge

Foster Care and Spiritual Formation

The Four Most Important Decisions in Your Day

The Bible Belongs to Every Age

The Common Calling of All Women

Three Ways to Train (and Retain) Volunteers in Kids Ministry

How Nostalgia Points to Heaven

The Christian Social Internet and (Sorta) Learning to Shut My Virtual Mouth

The Key To Making the Most Out of Congregational Singing

Beg to Be Rebuked: Six Habits for Better Accountability

Seven Questions to Ask Your Daughter’s Boyfriend

Can We Trust the Gospels? Yes, We Can.

Leaders Rarely Listen Well! Here’s How to Fix That

Japanese minimalism goes mainstream: Understanding the worldview dimensions behind the Marie Kondo phenomenon

The Perils of Social Media

An Open Letter to the Parent of a Strong-Willed Child

Acts 4:23–30: Sufferers Need a Sovereign God

10 Tips for Answering Hard Questions in the Classroom

Culture

Meet the organist that plays the mighty organ at The El Capitan Theatre

Why Adam Levine’s Super Bowl shirt looks like furniture

Billionaires are storing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of art on superyachts

Sesame Street Announces Year-Long 50th Anniversary Celebration

Spotify Is in Talks to Buy Gimlet

Spotify is in “advanced talks” to buy Gimlet, at a price the podcast industry has never seen before

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Gossip was a powerful tool for the powerless in Ancient Greece

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How SoundCloud Rap Took Everything

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Green Day’s Explosive ‘Dookie,’ 25 Years Later

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Cool Stuff: ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ Score Vinyl Soundtrack is Coming

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How SoundCloud Rap Took Over Everything

The metal chair that’s in every restaurant

2018 Was a Breakthrough Year for Asians in Hollywood—but Not at the Oscars

The Art of Evidence-Based Medicine

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Saturday Night Live’s Long History With Cue Cards

A Brilliant Animated Video Celebrating 41 Years of the Iconic Electric Light Orchestra Song ‘Mr. Blue Sky’

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‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile’ Review: Carries One Note Well

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Overcast 5.1 with Instant Search

#rr #link #christianity #culture #news

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polyamorousparson · 7 years

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@abominableobriens tagged me for an author self-rec ask meme (so many good ships, damn)

Since this is my check please blog, I’m only gonna do my check please fic here. I’d include blue neighborhood ‘verse, but since it’s not all posted yet, I’m going to leave it off the five for now.

“Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you’ve written, then pass on to at least five other writers (◠‿◠✿)”

1) midnight whisperings. (AO3, rebloggable on tumblr), Bitty/Jack/Kent (Bitty/Jack and Jack/Kent polyamorous V)

Jack feels places in his bones. He always has, before he had a camera in his hands to crystallize moments, to try to capture some small measure of what a place means on film. He doesn’t know how else to process places than to remember them as layers of feelings and sensations built up over time.

But making sense of how Kent Parson feels is a complicated process.

For me, this was one of those kind of wring yourself dry fics that came out of nowhere. I really, really am very fond of it, though. It’s a pretty introspective fic, focused a lot on dealing with complex feelings and with the way time changes things, but I’m proud of the way the words flow together.

2) when the full moon turns white (that's when i'll come home). (AO3, tumblr), Dex/Nursey

Nursey hasn’t been a werewolf for all that long, and while he knows he can keep most things under wraps, he doesn’t even always trust himself.

That’s what the rope is for, more than anything. For his own peace of mind.

Every fandom needs a Teen Wolf-style werewolf AU with full moon bondage adventures, right? I’m pretty sure that’s definitely a thing. Anyway, I really like the opening to this fic, and I think I achieved the vibe I was going for.

3) down by the water. (AO3, tumblr), Holster/Ransom

“It doesn’t even make sense,” Holster had protested on the drive over. It was an empty protest, and he didn’t pursue it. After all, the Niagara Falls trip is sacred. Sure, they may both be living in an apartment in Boston together, now, but it’s Canada’s turn.

Ransom conceded a Tim Horton’s trip and agreed to an IHOP one in exchange for the longer drive, because he’s a good boyfriend.

This was just some nice fluffy Holsom going on their annual Niagra Falls date. If I ever wrote sequels I’d write the proposal that’s inevitably gonna happen there in the future, but I am terrible and rarely write follow-up fics.

4) i don't know you (but i want you so bad). (AO3, tumblr) Bitty/Kent

Bitty knows better than to think that everyone is what they seem. Bitty’s used to taking people with a grain of salt. He’s from the South, where there isn’t a soul without a passive-aggressive bone in their body. Everyone keeps their skeletons in the closet, and family business stays family business unless someone goes and runs their mouth. Or until the neighbors come snooping, which they always do.

Bitty isn’t naive enough to think that Kent Parson is all quiet smiles and shiny sharpie signatures.

This fic is what happens when you listen to Songs About Jane (specifically, Secret) by Maroon 5 too many times in a row. This fic is important to me because Bitty wrestles with something that I think a lot of fic doesn’t have the space to capture. He’s a semi-closeted southern boy who was bullied back in Georgia for being small and not traditionally masculine-coded, aka probably largely for being a Suspected Gay. He’s probably never felt wanted in his entire life, not in a way that is blatant and open and something he can process. And that’s a very overwhelming thing. Feeling wanted for the first time. Especially by someone he finds objectively attractive. Especially by someone he has very mixed and muddled impressions of. It’s hard to sort through.

5) naked sunday. (AO3, tumblr) Lardo/Shitty

“You’re gonna get naked aren’t you,” Lardo said. Her eyes weren’t so sharp as they usually were after smoking a joint down to the roach, but she’d heard the rumors about Shitty’s penchant for nudity. Probably from Jack, honestly.

“Ch’yeah,” Shitty said. “Once I can feel my fingers enough to deal with buttons.”

Trans man Shitty and Lardo getting a soft naked morning together is important to me.

I’m tagging @yoursummerfrost , @queerlyalex , @rushingsnowy , @dexsnursey , @mighty-alphalpha, and whoever else wants to do it.

#tag meme?#kat writes #3 #4 #5 #long post #recreational drug use mention #I got a lil bit rambly in there but oh well

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multifandom-damnation · 7 years

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Falling Grayson

He was falling. From a trapeze in the sky, a mistake. A show-off. An act. He thought he could make it. The offer was too important to refuse.

“If you make the leap, you can catch them. They will live. Just make the leap, as you have every other time before this.” And he watched as they plummeted from the top of the tower to the dirty, hard pavement below. Falling like a stone.

He had watched them sink in the viscous air too thick to be clean but too thin to be dirty. Somewhere in the middle. They fell in a flurry of reds and greens and yellows. Of blacks and blues and whites. He could see them splattering on the cracked pavement far, far below.

He had leapt. A simple leap, one he had done many times before. Off of buildings, out of the way of bullets and blades. From a trapeze wire at the circus into the awaiting arms of his parents. He has always performed this very trick.

He should not have “performed”. He was just told to “leap”. Not “perform this leap” to save them. He shouldn’t have performed. He did the leap he always did, the performance he put on for the circus goes, who wanted a show and had come to watch the Flying Graysons “perform”.

He was so used to performing that leap. That he was all about the performance. And when he performed that leap when he was young, he always showed off. That's what he did. He showed off. And missed.

He missed. And they fell. They fell screaming like a bird whose wings had been clipped. But that’s what they were, weren’t they? Birds that were born and bred to be broken. Pieces on a chess board waiting to be taken by the other team. In this case, the other team was death.

Were they the black pieces or the white ones?

They screamed for him. “Help us!” “Dick please, catch us!” “Help us please!” ”We love you, Dick!” And when he had missed, the begging to be saved had turned into begging for him to die. “How could you?” “You promised you would always be there to catch us when we fell!” “What kind of big brother are you?” “I hate you, Grayson!”

He didn’t know which he hated more.

He couldn’t watch his family die because he had failed to catch them. He couldn’t watch the great expanse of red on the ground as it spread into a sea of maroon, into a dark puddle of failure and guilt. Couldn’t bear to hear the squelch and the crunch of bones and body hitting, crumbling, bursting, breaking. So he made his decision.

He leapt.

The trapeze had gone, blown away by the wind. He never wanted to see another one again. He doubts he ever would. He flipped, he twirled, he dived. He turned and watched the grey sky slowly fade behind the clouds.

It was going to rain.

He watched as he saw the tops and bodies of smaller buildings came into view the longer he fell. He heard the squelch and the crunch of a heap of bodies landed on the hard pavement. He watched for the final time as the bat-signal came on, brightness in the black sky. His last thought before he hit the ground was the only one that really mattered to him.

“I’m sorry”

And he closed his eyes and waited for the impact and his bones to break and body to land in a crumpled heap next to those of his family. The Robins, the Bats, the Reds, the Support. Bruce, Jason, Tim. Babs, Cass, Kate. Steph, Dami, Alfred. All gone. Because of him.

He closed his eyes and waited for the death he deserved.

But it never came.

Dick woke up in a cold sweat, breathing hard. He looked out his window, it was still snowing. The first snow they had gotten in ages. It was why Jason and Tim had been forced to stay the night. Bruce wouldn’t let either of them go. Tim didn’t need much convincing, he gets sick easily since his spleen was removed, but the only way to get Jason to stay was a phone call from Roy and Kori.

He checked the clock resting on his bedside table. 2:27 AM Tuesday 14/3/17

Dick suddenly had an urge that could not be ignored. He wanted to see his family. He stood up and pulled on a jumper, his tracksuit bottoms not enough to brave the cool air. He didn’t, bother with shoes, just got up and left the room. Alfred would be very annoyed with him if he found out.

Everyone was asleep in their old rooms. Some of them hadn’t been lived in for years. The manor had plenty of bedrooms, so Bruce’s many kids always had somewhere to sleep. When he got out onto the landing, he found that he actually had no idea what he was doing. Where was he going? He closed his eyes and sighed, but the images of bodies falling into empty space shone behind his closed eyelids like shadow puppets. Suddenly he felt himself moving, floorboards cool on his bare feet.

He had made his way to Jason’s room and had pushed open the door before he could lose his wits. The light from the street light outside the window illuminated the scene before him. Jason’s guns littered all along the far wall like rag dolls he hadn’t bothered to put away, clothes flung haphazardly across the floor, his helmet on its side on his desk as though it had fallen over in the night, uniform dumped unceremoniously on the end of the bed, a packet of cigarettes under the pillow, window slightly ajar to make the room less stuffy. He made his way over to Jason’s bed, careful not to stand on the floorboards that moaned and creaked. He looked over Jasons sleeping face once he had reached the bed, his face slightly scrunched up, as though he was also having a nightmare. Or he just didn’t want to be here. Dick did not want to wake him, so instead of soothing his hair or caressing his cheek, he took the box of cigarettes from under the pillow and put them in his pocket, and left the room.

Next was Tim, whose door was slightly open anyway, which was good because that meant that Dick didn’t have to worry about the handle that squealed when it turned. He had left his desk lamp on, which shone on papers and uncapped pens. Always working. Tim was asleep spread-eagled above the covers, his face buried into his pillow. It was and amazement that Tim had fallen asleep at all. Dick went across to turn off his light and cap his pens, then went back on his adventure.

Dick hesitated then, outside of Damian's door. Would he wake up, tell Dick to get out? He had been the one to say “I hate you”. What would happen when he went into that room. When he opened the door he could not see a thing. No lights were on, and the black-out blinds were drawn over the window. Dick wouldn’t even have known that Damian was asleep if he hadn’t heard the soft snores coming from the other side of the bed. As he made to leave, Dicks' foot kicked the handle of a katana blade that Dami had left on the floor. Damian stirred at hearing the familiar clink of the blades. Dick quietly bent down to pick them up and place them back on their stand by the door.

Next was the girls. That wouldn’t be too hard. Steph had arranged the girls all sleep in the large bedroom on the second floor and have a “sleepover”. The only person who had happily agreed was Cass, but Kate and Babs went along with it anyway. Dick made his way up to the top floor landing and quietly opened one of the huge double doors. They were all lying on top of one another on the bed, a mass of limbs and bodies. Not the dead sort. Breathing could be heard from them, and loud storing from Steph signalled that at least, she, was alive. Dick stayed there for a little while longer before he made his way out. Before he could he heard a soft voice call out to him.

“Dick?” Cass mumbled as she rolled over to face him “What are you doing here?”

“Nothing,” he whispered back, hushed and urgent, “just making sure everyone was alright. I thought Steph might have bored you to death. Go back to sleep, Cassie.”

With a small chuckle, Cass road back over and the small breathing could be heard again.

Duke, Alfred and Luke were not in the manor. Luke and Duke couldn’t make it to the Manor before the storm hit and Alfred was out visiting a sick friend in the hospital, hoping the family could look after themselves for 24 hours. He settled for sending them a text.

Everything ok? Just wanted to make sure.

Not expecting a reply he put his phone away, only to have it buzz again and he had to pull it out. It was a text from Alfred. He wasn’t sure that Alfred even did texts.

What has happened Master Richard? I am quite alright, but has something happened back at the Manor?

No Alf, just wanted to make sure everything was ok, what with the snow storm and all. Goodnight

Goodnight Master Richard.

He waited a few more seconds in case anyone else replied, but they didn’t, so he made his way over to Bruce’s room. That was easy enough. He just made his way up the stairs and to the tall, oak double doors. He pushed them open slowly, as he had done many years before, and he looked. He saw Bruce lying on his side, facing the window that was wide open. The room was freezing, so Dick went over to close the window, trying to make as little sound as he could, but the window was old. The glass shook and the boards rubbed against each other. Dick turned around to look into Bruce’s face, taut with worry lines and tiredness. He was breathing deeply and grunted every now and again from the pain from the rib he broke 2 weeks prior.

But still very much…alive.

They all were His family is safe. They are alive. They are here, with him in the manor. It was all ok.

Dick went back to his room, images of death still behind his eyes, but he felt much better knowing everyone was alright.

If Dick had looked behind him before he had closed the doors to Bruces room, he would have seen Bruce look up and a small “Dick…?” escape his lips, before he put it down to his imagination and went back to sleep.

This is just a small “welcome back for 2 days” for the lovely, amazing, beautiful and talented @whore4batfam . I hope this makes you proud and that you like it xx

#dc #batfam #bruce wayne #dick grayson #jason todd #tim drake #damian wayne #barbra gordon #stephane brown #cassandra cain #kate kane #duke thomas #luke fox #alfred pennyworth #my writing

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ts-nightingaleislands · 4 years

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Episode #1- “I AM ONE OF THE TWO OLD LADIES OF THIS SEASON AND I’M ONLY 29!!”- Gwen

Here is what I wanna say before the game even starts: I want to be the villain of this season. I wanna piss people off, stab people in the back, and do whatever I can to ruin other people's games. In all honesty, I don't really care about winning or not, as long as I have fun while doing it. The goal is to be like Russel Hantz or Tyson. I picked Tommy as my icon for the irony, because everyone else will associate me with his kindness before I stab them in the back.

I'm looking forward to this game! So glad it's with a bunch of newbies, I was worried it'd end up being a half and half deal and that's the format I've been completely fucked over by in the past, so fingers crossed without jinxing myself I can thrive here! I'll do a proper cast assessment of my tribe in the morning when I've spoken to more people and gotten a better feel for them, but I already love Gwen and she's definitely somebody I can see myself working with. I need to rewatch the introductions as well since there's so many videos.. obviously missed the memo about that myself oops!

feeling really good on day one so far. the tribe seem great and im already keeping my eye out for a few i wanna work with . we wil just see what happens after the immunity challenge .

I don’t even know yet. Kinda hard to judge who is friends with who. i’m supposed to ge your tawni for my idol thing but that’s not gonna happen bc she’s the only one i KNOW

Sweet fishsticks on ice, what a night! I talked to everyone on the tribe and they are awesome! My goal is to use today to try and get to know everyone more and make them comfortable. I'd say ai definitely do vibe with a few people, namely Gwen, AnnMarie, Rizo, and Liam but I like to keep my options like the oceans- open

Something funny took place! I talked to Gwen who said she wanted to work with essentially me, Rizo, AnnMarie, Sara, and Liam. No more than 2-3 minutes after, Rizo messages me with more sorta the same proposal. Dont get me wrong I am for this, but I will say it was pretty telling to me of the ones I may have to keep my eyes on!

Marooning Night: Everything’s looking solid so far. Tribe seems to be shaping up nicely and I’m making some good connections with people. Hopefully we can be competitive in challenges. I’ve connected with AnnMarie through band, Sara through zwooper, Rizo through sports, and Tim right off the bat through not mowing what we were doing :) I haven’t gotten the chance to talk to Kyle yet, but from his video I gleaned that we are both big husker fans and that we were both at the Nebraska Iowa game, so there should be a good connection there. There is one thing that makes me a little nervous though. I looked through the cast reveal and I am the youngest person on the cast. I know that’s doomed the game of some survivor players, and I’m not sure how much that will affect this game. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Well I love everyone. So friendly! I have a lot in common with everyone and it's so exciting. I enjoyed meeting everyone, but the game part of the game came quickly behind. It seems that a group is developing with me, rizo, liam, chris, and gwen. I'm glad that Ive already been pulled into a group, it makes me feel comfortable. But I have to be careful. It is only the first round. I'm worried about my inactivity and that affecting challenges. I gotta wakeup at 5 am for school, so going to bed at midnight may not be the best. Hopefully no one notices.

Morning Day 1: What the hell. You’ve got to be kidding me. This sucks. Why does this have to be the twist in my first season. We have to get THREE players voted out of the game before we can get an idol, and then if we keep playing them right we can get up to three straight. We got our target list, and of course, I got AnnMarie, Tim and Sara. Three of the people I’ve connected with the most and wanted to work with. And now, in order to have a chance at the first idol(s), all three of them have to be voted out. I don’t think I’m going to try for that idol very hard, at least not until we get new target lists, cause I want to work with those people.

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Right now I could see three possibilities for first boot. Cheatham and Zach haven't been that active, and then Will just makes me feel so uncomfortable that I sort of want to vote him out right now. But not in a "hey lets throw the challenge to vote him out" way bc he won't be playing so it might be unfair based solely on that. Austin is cool but a little inactive so far, he seems decidedly average. Tawny hasn't spoken to me yet :( but still she spoke a lot in our call so if I were to target her based off that it could only end poorly. Noah is cool, I get the feeling he is going to overplay tremendously, so maybe I'd like to have him as my number one. Amy and Dylan are great as well, and I would also love to work with them if I can. Ideal alliance so far would be me, Amy, Austin, Dylan, Noah so far. But only if I'm not the guy who organizes it singlehandedly

What’s on my right now is that I am very comfortable with where I am in the game, I have already made connections with a few people and I am very confident I will be staying in this game for a while. To talk about this twist let me quote Debbie and say “AND IM PISSED” I can’t even do this twist because I’m working with somebody on my list and I don’t want them gone.

What’s on my mind is that The Cock Destroyer alliance will hopefully run the tribe, my main objective is to not get the weak people gone first since I wanna drag them alone like a sack of meet so one of my main targets for now is Dylan because I’m gonna be honest I don’t trust the guy and he gotta go, PERIOD!

Noah/Amy/Dylan/Zach/me alliance sounds fun lets do it Will/Austin/Tawni all have decent connections just not with me Cheatham is looking like a first boot candidate rn bc no one's mentioning him as someone they like, so hopefully I'll be ok for at least one tribal if we lose the challenge

Holy guacamole, I went from feeling like we were Hopeless in Seattle to being D2 the Mighty Ducks. Being able to find the right door first is a huge relief but I have to gio my hat off to my entire tribe because we make a great team and Gwen rocked this!

So it's been less than 24 hours and I've spoken to everyone. Right now, I just want to get everyone to like me because that will make them want to work with me. My targets are Will, Dylan and Cheatham. Right now, I just want to isolate them, or form a majority alliance without them, because that will make my game much easier.

Uh oh. Since I have high school I wasn't able to be active all day for this (kinda confusing) challenge. I'm really hoping that this isn't going to put too big of a target on my back. My target right now is Dylan. He's one of my targets, and I'm pretty sure I'm one of his, judging by the fact that he never responded to me when I said I wanted to work with him.

Alliance time! I just made an alliance with everyone except the 3 on my target list. This is exactly how I planned. I think I redeemed myself after not really doing much in the challenge, and I'm already playing harder than the others. The fact that I created the alliance will make the people in it feel good too because now they will think I really trust them. Anyway, if all goes to plan we can eliminate one of my three targets (Cheatham, Will, Dylan) and slowly get each of them out until I get my idol.

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So the alliance is me, Will, Vincent, Amy, Austin and Tawni. I got Amy to give one of the other three as a name so I didn't have to seem too vocal, and she said Cheatham which makes me home that he is gone first. But unless plans change, I'll have 1/3 targets gone, leaving Will and Dylan as my next 2 to go. I'm sorry, but this is just lining up way too easily for me.

I am so happy we won! Man talk about comeback! I think this is going to help push stuff in the right directions for sure! Rizo and I may have a pair going on but we're talking about creating a 4some (me, him, Gwen, and Sara) and maybe that can lead to a majority chat with the others. I do know I want to keep my options open without forgetting the opportunities that will soon be closed

I’m a little pissed off, so my plan was to get rid of Dylan but my so called alliance memebers are like DONT VOTEEEE DYLANNNWNWNWN, because Zach decided to think he was being clever by trying to make an alliance which excluded me but little does his tiny brain know that his ass is grass and he’s going to be waddling out of tribal. Noah said why do I wanna make big moves round 1 and simply I just wanted Dylan out because I have a big feeling he’s untrustworthy PERIOD.

I feel like as it’s the first round I’ll do a little mini tribe assessment. cheatham - only one I know coming into this so obviously gonna stick with him. Noah - he’s more cracked than the love child of JJ and Keaton Dylan - seems like cool people. I enjoy a fellow Texan Vincent - who? Amy - sweet gal Will - I enjoy the accent Austin - I also enjoy the accent. I feel at home. Hate the name. It’s my ex’s name. Both of them Back to Noah - also hate the name. Name of a fuck boy from earlier this year. Zach - WHO!? Apparently cause I was like who am I forgetting. Apparently Zach. Ok but wtf is up with the “Solid Six” tf??? Making an alliance out of panic maybe? Also....cheatham thinking calling Noah sane makes it true or something??? Like honestly wtf is even going on. Like what is this fucking twist? What what that challenge and WHY THE FUCK IS EVERYONE MAKING THINGS DIFFICULT ON THE FIRST VOTE JUST GET THE PERSON WHO DIDNT CONTRIBUTE TO THE CHALLENGE (so I’ve been told. Let’s be real here I still don’t understand it and I just consented my life and first born away) AND MOVE THE FUCK ON AND WIN THE NEXT ONE PLEASE BECAUSE THEY ARE A BUNCH OF PARANOID FREAKS! Hi I’m tawni and welcome to stonerverse. I’m sorry I wrote that but I’m keeping it in here.

ok so we lost despite my best efforts >:( (i like writing cfs bc skype won't turn my emojis ugly here, the fact that I can read them more easily post-season is merely a bonus) The consensus is to vote out Zach, because he is easily the least active. He was the last person to really show up, still barely talked to anyone (aside from me apparently), and didn't contribute to the challenge at all. Now, I firmly believe that out of everyone in the game, Zach trusts me the most. So in a way, it would be beneficial to keep him. However, doing that would unfortunately sever my ties with other potential allies who are more likely to be useful to me, such as Noah or Austin. I did briefly try to campaign for Will leaving, and I am very sure that I could pull off a 5-4 blindside with Zach, Dylan, Noah, and maybe Amy, but that would be quite messy. Austin and Cheatham are set on the Zach train, and I have 0 relationship with Tawni, so going for those votes is unrealistic. And to be honest, the whole thing doesn't necessarily paint me in the best light, and it puts me in the spotlight I want to avoid right now. Amy - she's a good ally so far and i like talking to her, and it doesn't even seem like she's that active which doesn't make her as dangerous as some of the other players on this tribe. definitely someone worth raising hell to save. Austin - he's cool, we're together, he's active, but he's impossible to read. i cant tell if hes going to be a major flop or a major threat, this guy is going to be fun to play with, and i am 95% sure that if i'm voted out, he'll have had something to do with it. Cheatham - he's certainly an interesting character. he is quite active, which will serve him well, but i'm not feeling as if he's going to be a top contender. Dylan - he's one of my favourite people to talk to, but i've heard several people mentioning him as someone they like, so I'll need to make sure that I don't under-estimate him. Noah - I said a few hours in (in my thread) that Noah would be an amazing ally, and so far it's looking like he's my number one. I haven't lied to him at all (even by omission), and I hope we can keep this up right until I take him out at the final 5 >:) (lmao i'm not merging why should i be planning my endgame) Tawni - declaring right now she is the most dangerous player on my tribe. would be a great vote if will/zach weren't on my tribe and if she wasn't so well-connected otherwise. Will - he isn't talking to me anymore, out of everyone in the tribe he would help my game the least. also, we'd had a bit of a weird conversation earlier which I really didn't like so idk if I'd be ok working with him. Zach - voted out, no one can have an idol so i won't be 1-0'd

um, my tribe is really cool. I like everyone, hopefully we win more

Who knew these ORGs could be so fun? Probably everyone reading this. But seriously, I am having a blast so far. Ok, so a few things before I get to my thoughts on my tribemates: 1. Before reading on, be aware that anything I say should be taken with a grain of salt. I apologize for my dry sense of humor and my ego in advance. 2. I AM ONE OF THE TWO OLD LADIES OF THIS SEASON AND I’M ONLY 29!! 3. You should know that I am very competitive. And I like to be in control. It is going to be really hard for me to take my foot off the gas pedal sometimes! I cannot tell you how difficult it was to leave my tribe for an hour and a half this morning for a meeting for work and have them continue the immunity challenge without me. I put together a spreadsheet and updated it as we took our turns. I was also the one to dictate our moves most of the time. The hosts were very particular about the format of our moves, down to the spaces and punctuation. I did not want anyone to send an incorrect response without me checking it first. But when I had to go into a work meeting, I had to let it go. They were successful without me (after my extensive and thorough coaching of course). They appear to be capable human beings (insert laughing emoji here). 4. One thing that I am not telling the rest of the castaways is the exact nature of my job. Luckily, my official job title is “Case Manager,” so I can get away with seeming way less awesome than I actually am. They know that I work with kids with autism. But what I am leaving out is that I supervise ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) programs. I am planning to sit for my board certification exam next year. (Fingers crossed!!) I develop and monitor behavior intervention programs, as well as train staff and caregivers in how to implement the principles of ABA. Yes, my job involves analyzing and modifying the behavior of kids with autism, but behavior is behavior regardless of about whom you are talking. The basic principles of behavior still apply…defining, predicting, and ultimately modifying the behavior of others through manipulation of environmental variables that either reinforce or punish specific behaviors. I could go into more, but I won’t now. Maybe in some future confessional I will give some specific examples. Look at me applying my work to my “personal life” 5. I am in one “official” alliance, meaning we have a separate group chat – it is called the Sunt Pack. It consists of Rizo, Sara, and me. We are all Sam Hunt fans, hence the “Sunt Pack.” The following points are about my fellow tribemates. I’m glad I waited until today to share my opinions, because they have definitely changed since we competed in the immunity challenge! 6. AnnMarie – Very sweet high school girl. I am in an unofficial alliance with her and Sara that Sara doesn’t know about yet called “CP” – Clarinet Pride. (EDIT – she knows about it now because I just made a group chat) AnnMarie currently plays clarinet in her school band and Sara and I played clarinet when we were in school. My only concern about AnnMarie is that she can’t have her phone on her during the school day. We were able to work around it in the challenge today, but I don’t know how this will affect future challenges; however, it might be beneficial later on when the game is individual. For now, I am trying to be a “mother” type figure to her…giving her advice about after graduating high school. I feel that we have bonded over this. 7. Chris – Awesome guy! He is in the unofficial majority alliance (that I hope is the only majority alliance haha) with AnnMarie, Liam, Sara, and Rizo. We’ve had some cool chats. I think we would get along well in real life. 8. Liam – The Dom to my Colin. Very cool chap. Wicked conversation – had a very riveting discussion about how accounting and philosophy majors are so similar. Clearly. But seriously. In the unofficial majority alliance. 9. Sara – my fellow OLD LADY. We have a lot in common because we are about the same age, and we graduated high school the same year. We also both like country music. Seemed kind of quiet when we did a group audio/video chat. SARA IS ON MY LIST OF PEOPLE TO GET OUT. As much as I love a fellow Grandma, I will figure out how to get her out of the game, if not by my hands directly. In the unofficial majority alliance. 10. Kyle – He was the last person that I talked to. I definitely had the wrong impression of him before our audio/video chat during the challenge. Seems like a pretty chill dude. Plus he has lots of adorable pets. But, HE IS ALSO ON MY LIST OF PEOPLE TO GET OUT! He seems pretty savy, so might not be the worst move near the end of the pre-merge. 11. Steven – Not much to say – haven’t talked to him very much in individual chat. Seems nice enough. I need to get to know him better, but HE IS ALSO ON MY LIST. So, whatevs. (In all seriousness though, I’m sure he is lovely and I would love to get to know him!!!!) 12. Rizo – My brother from another mother! Puns puns puns across the board! Dad jokes FTW. Need I say more? I need to make this gentleman my ride or die. And then slay him in the finals. Then be BFFs after. In the unofficial majority alliance. 13. Tim – He was another one that I think I was wrong about. I make one incorrect Harry Potter reference, trying to be all smart…BUT I think we bonded over the challenge. In the audio/video chat, we nerded out over our Survivor fandom and strategy for the challenge. So I may have been wrong about him. 14. Okay, this is long. Is that normal? I have no idea. I’m new to this. I am SO THANKFUL to now be a part of this community. I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to be able to make a reference to a past season and have other people actually know what I am talking about. That’s all for now!

Coming into this game I honestly expected to know a few people..or have at least seen them around but I didn't (with the exception of Tawni but I don't know her well). I love that. When you start fresh, nobody can judge you based off previous experience. Observing and picking up things about strangers is literally one of the most fun aspects of games to me. I got the best vibes at the very beginning from Rizo/Gwen/Liam and also Tim...but could tell right from the get go that Gwen is a THREAT! Women's intuition. The comp just confirmed it further. I pray to the Survivor gods that others aren't blinded and realize this! I could tell before any alliance was even made that she was close with Chris too and probably closer with Rizo then I am. Being in 3 different alliances with her is inch resting. She's playing hard and to win! But anywayyyyys..had we lost, I figured Steven might be an easy first boot because he was just rather quiet and kept to himself...but then he SHOWED UP at the end of that comp and finally started initiating Convo with me and not the other way around. So when we lose..whos an easy vote? Idk. Pretty sure the answer is nobody! And then there's Kyle.... I didn't really give him a second thought until we went on group call and then played in the comp. He's just so chill and laid back and those are the people I like working with. I don't like pushy players and I don't like sheep and he's neither of those so I'm hoping that we can stick together for a long while. He's also fun to hassle so. Yeah um...this confessional is getting really long so I'll stop ranting for a while...though I have plenty to say. *Giggle*

so zach thinks he has a solid six alliance but....that's not gonna happen sweetie. he is such a easy target and one of the three on my list so ya gotta go. :)

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Zach LITERally went to everyone in the house day 1 and asked to work with them after 2 words to eachother. Since i wasn’t buying it, we made an alliance called Solid Six 😳🤢 and he wants me out. Newsflash bitch, i made and alliance and everyone wants HIM out. The Sanes Ones about to win the season. I knew Tawni before this. Noah is a little crackhead-y but I think he is loyal to me. Dylan is such a sweetheart and i love him. And Amy... well... she plays pokemon?ANYWAYS, can’t wait for my first survivor tribal EVER

Going into tribal tonight I have no worries at all, I’m sitting comfortable in The Cock Destroyers alliance and we will be running the game until a tribe swap or until we merge. To the elimination tonight I don’t really want Zach to go since in my eyes he’s Gypsy Rose aka helpless in this game. Something else I’ve noticed there is a lot of gay guys on this tribe and I have one thing to say Only One Faggot Will Win and that me 😘

We are about to head in to tribal and honestly, there hasn't been much gameplay going on. I am voting for Cheatham because he is one of my three targets, and he hasn't spoken a single word to me about working with me. Of course there is a chance that I am just oblivious to everyone else and that I am going home, but I really hope that's not the case.

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8 votes Zach, 1 vote Cheatham.

#announcement

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midnightsslut · 3 years

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Taylor Swift Tours Masterpost

Hey everyone! For absolutely no reason at all, I’ve decided to compile a masterpost of all the regular setlists, surprise songs, covers, and guests on Taylor’s tours with links to YouTube videos when available (I’m only including videos that weren’t featured in official tour movies). I’ve noticed that, although there are posts like this for specific tours, like Red or reputation, some of this information is pretty hard to find, and it might be useful to some to have it all in one place. Also, I’m something of a Taylor Swift live performance ~connoisseur (💀), so I thought I might share. :) Here we go

Note: This is only part one. I don’t know when the posts for Red, 1989, and reputation will be up.

Part One: Fearless & Speak Now

Fearless Tour (April 23, 2009-July 10, 2010)

This tour did not feature a ‘surprise song slot,’ but she did sometimes change the setlist up a bit. She also brought out a couple of surprise guests (most notably John Mayer and Katy Perry), but not nearly as many as she did on her later tours.

Regular setlist: Fearless Tour

1. ‘You Belong with Me’

2. ‘Our Song’

3. ‘Tell Me Why’

4. ‘Teardrops on My Guitar’

5. ‘Fearless’

6. ‘Forever & Always’

7. ‘Hey Stephen’

8. ‘Fifteen’

9. ‘Tim McGraw’

10. ‘White Horse’ (x)

11. ‘Love Story’

12. ‘The Way I Loved You’ (x)

13. ‘You’re Not Sorry’ / ‘What Goes Around… Comes Around’ (x)

14. ‘Picture to Burn’

15. ‘Change’ (x)

16. ‘I’m Only Me When I’m with You’ (2009) (x) OR ‘Today Was a Fairytale’ (2010)

17. ‘Should’ve Said No’ (extended version)

Footnotes:

*Starting from the show in Uncasville, Connecticut on August 28, 2009, ‘Change’ was removed from the setlist. It was added back in Greensville, South Carolina on September 4, 2009. Starting from the show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 1, 2009, it was removed again.

*European shows on the 2009 leg often removed ‘I’m Only Me When I’m with You’ as well as ‘Change.’

*Starting from the show in Brisbane, Australia on February 4, 2010, ‘Today Was a Fairytale’ replaced ‘I’m Only Me When I’m with You’ in the encore.

Surprise songs:

1. ‘The Best Day’ - Evansville, Indiana (April 23, 2009) Note: This was actually the first show of the tour. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a video of this performance.

2. ‘Two Is Better Than One’ - Brisbane, Australia (February 4, 2010) (x)

3. ‘The Best Day’ - Moline, Illinois (May 8, 2010) (x)

4. ‘Jump Then Fall’ - Foxborough, Massachusetts (June 5, 2010) (x)

Surprise guest performances:

1. ‘Your Body is a Wonderland’ and ‘White Horse’ (already part of the regular acoustic set but performed as a duet here) with John Mayer - Los Angeles, CA (May 22, 2009) (x)

2. ‘The Way You Love Me’ with Faith Hill - Nashville, TN (September 12, 2009) (x)

3. ‘Hot N Cold’ with Katy Perry - Los Angeles, CA (April 15, 2010)

Speak Now World Tour (February 9, 2011-March 18, 2012)

Regular setlists:

Eurasia (February 9, 2011-March 30, 2011)

Note: All of the performances linked below are from the Eurasian leg. Therefore, their quality is questionable. I’m only including these because this leg had a slightly different wardrobe than the North American leg which was recorded for the tour movie. I’m not including videos from performances where the costume is the same.

1. ‘Sparks Fly’

2. ‘Mine’

3. ‘The Story of Us’

4. ‘Back to December’ / ‘Apologize’ / ‘You’re Not Sorry’ (x)

5. ‘Better Than Revenge’ (x)

6. ‘Speak Now’

7. ‘Fearless’ / ‘I’m Yours’ / ‘Hey, Soul Sister’

8. ‘Fifteen’ (x)

9. ‘You Belong with Me’

10. ‘Dear John’ (x) - I’m only including this video because she wore her hair loose lol

11. ‘Enchanted’ (x)

12. ‘Long Live’ (x)

13. ‘Love Story’ (x)

North America & Oceania (May 21, 2011-March 18, 2012)

This is based solely on the first North American show

1. ‘Sparks Fly’

2. ‘Mine’

3. ‘The Story of Us’

4. ‘Our Song’

5. ‘Mean’

6. ‘Back to December’ / ‘Apologize’ / ‘You’re Not Sorry’

7. ‘Better Than Revenge’

8. ‘Speak Now’

9. ‘Fearless’ / ‘I’m Yours’ / ‘Hey, Soul Sister’

10. ‘Last Kiss’

11. ‘You Belong with Me’

12. ‘Dear John’

13. ‘Enchanted’

14. ‘Haunted’

15. ‘Long Live’

16. ‘Fifteen’

17. ‘Love Story’

Notes:

Starting from the show in Toronto, Canada on July 15, 2011, Taylor started playing acoustic covers right after her performance of ‘Last Kiss.’

Starting from the show in Denver, CO, on September 27, 2011, ‘Ours’ was added to the encore, right before the performance of ‘Fifteen’. This marked the live debut of the song. If Taylor had a surprise guest, this was the song she would usually cut from the setlist.

Starting from the show in Perth, Australia on March 2, 2012, ‘Safe & Sound’ (x) was added to the encore. ‘Ours’ (x) was shifted to the acoustic set and was played right before ‘Last Kiss.’ It was only skipped at the show in Auckland on March 17. I’m including a video because, although the performance from the encore was featured in the tour movie, this version takes place on the B-stage and has a different costume (the purple Susan Hilferty dress she wore for half the show lol).

At the shows in Melbourne, Australia on March 12, 2012 and Auckland, New Zealand on March 16, 2012, ‘Fearless’ was skipped.

Surprise covers:

1. ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ by Bon Jovi - Newark, NJ (July 19, 2011) (x)

2. ‘Dancing in the Dark’ by Bruce Springsteen / ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ by Bon Jovi - Newark, NJ (July 20 & 24, 2011) (x), (x)

3. ‘Cowboy Take Me Away’ by the Dixie Chicks - Newark, NJ (July 23, 2011) (x)

4. ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem and ‘Smile’ by Uncle Kracker’ - Grand Rapids, MI (July 28, 2011) (x)

5. ‘Jack & Diane’ by John Mallencamp and ‘I Want You Back’ by the Jackson 5 - Indianapolis, IN (July 29, 2011) (x), (x)

Note: ‘I Want You Back’ was featured on the Speak Now World Tour Live CD. The second link will direct you to the audio.

6. ‘I Try’ by Macy Gray and ‘My Wish’ by the Rascal Flatts - Cleveland, OH (July 30, 2011) (x)

7. ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’ by Gladys Knight & the Pips and ‘Ghetto Superstar’ by Mya - Washington, DC (August 2, 2011) (x)

8. ‘Stay (I Missed You)’ by Lisa Loeb and ‘A Sorta Fairytale’ by Tori Amos - Washington, DC (August 3, 2011) (x)

9. ‘Who Knew’ by P!nk and ‘Unpretty’ by TLC - Philadelphia, PA (August 6, 2011) (x)

10. ‘Sugar, We’re Goin Down’ by Fall Out Boy - Rosemont, IL (August 9-10, 2011) (x)

11. ‘Just a Dream’ by Nelly - St Louis, MO (August 13-14, 2011) (x)

12. ‘God Only Knows’ by The Beach Boys and ‘Sweet Escape’ by Gwen Stefani - Los Angeles, CA (August 23-24, 2011) (x), (x)

Note: ‘Sweet Escape’ was featured as a bonus track on the Target deluxe version of the Speak Now World Tour Live CD. The second link will direct you to the audio.

13. ‘This Love’ by Maroon 5 and Bette Davis Eyes’ by Jackie DeShannon - Los Angeles, CA (August 27, 2011) (x), (x)

Note: ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ was featured on the Speak Now World Tour Live CD. The second link will direct you to the audio.

14. ‘Realize’ by Colbie Caillat’ - Los Angeles, CA (August 28, 2011) (x)

15. ‘Drops of Jupiter’ by Train - San Jose, CA (September 1, 2011) (x)

Note: ‘Drops of Jupiter’ was included in the Speak Now World Tour concert movie. An audio was also featured on the standard CD.

16. ‘Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)’ by Green Day - San Jose, CA (September 2, 2011) (x)

17. ‘Untouchable’ by Luna Halo - Sacramento, CA (September 3, 2011) (x)

18. ‘Closer to Love’ by Matt Kearney - Portland, OR (September 6, 2011) (x)

19. ‘You & Me’ by Dave Matthews Band - Tacoma, WA (September 7, 2011) (x)

20. ‘Nashville’ by David Mead - Nashville, TN (September 16-17, 2011) (x), (x)

Note: ‘Nashville’ was featured as a bonus track on the Target deluxe version of the Speak Now World Tour Live CD. The second link will direct you to the audio. PS: This is one of my favorite covers she’s ever done.

21. ‘Lucky’ by Britney Spears - Bossier City, LA (September 20, 2011) (x)

22. ‘Swing, Swing’ by The All-American Rejects - Tulsa, OK (September 21, 2011) (x)

23. ‘How to Save a Life’ by The Fray - Denver, CO (September 27, 2011) (x)

24. ‘Animal’ by The Neon Trees - Salt Lake City, UT (September 28, 2011) (x)

25. ‘Baby Girl’ by Sugarland - Atlanta, GA (October 1-2, 2011) (x)

26. ‘Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You’ by Brooks & Dunn - North Little Rock, AR (October 4, 2011) (x)

27. ‘Breathless’ by Better Than Ezra - New Orleans, LA (October 5, 2011) (x)

28. ‘Boys of Summer’ by Don Henley - Dallas, TX (October 8, 2011) (x)

29. ‘The Back of Your Hand’ by Dwight Yoakam - Louisville, KY (October 11, 2011) (x)

30. ‘Wide Open Spaces’ by The Dixie Chicks - Lubbock, TX (October 14, 2011) (x)

31. ‘What Hurts the Most’ by Jeffrey Steele - Oklahoma City, OK (October 15, 2011) (x)

32. ‘Dare You to Move’ by Switchfoot - San Diego, CA (October 20, 2011) (x)

33. ‘No Parade’ by Jordin Sparks - Glendale, AZ (October 21, 2011) (x)

34. ‘You Learn’ by Alanis Morissette, ‘Baby’ by Justin Bieber, and ‘She’s So High by Tal Bachman (all played in succession along with ‘You Belong with Me’) - Toronto, Canada (July 15, 2011) (x)

35. ‘Complicated’ by Avril Lavigne, ‘Baby’ by Justin Bieber, and ‘I’m Like a Bird’ by Nelly Furtado - Toronto, Canada (July 16, 2011) (x), (x), (x)

Note: She only played excerpts from each song. A full video isn’t available.

36. ‘Complicated’ by Carolyn Dawn Johnson - Edmonton, Canada (August 18, 2011) (x)

37. ‘Summer of 69’ by Bryan Adams - Vancouver, Canada (September 10, 2011) (x)

38. ‘Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)’ by Alan Jackson - Vancouver, Canada (September 11, 2011) (x)

39. ‘All You Wanted’ by Michelle Branch - Glendale AZ, (October 22, 2011) & San Antonio, TX (October 25, 2011) (x)

40. ‘Run’ by George Strait - San Antonio, TX (October 26, 2011) (x)

41. ‘Hold On’ by Jack Ingram - Memphis, TN (October 30, 2011) (x) (skip to 21:46; this video includes all the Speak Now Tour covers)

42. ‘Cry Me a River’ by Justin Timberlake - New York, NY (November 21, 2011) (x)

Surprise guests:

1. ‘Baby’ with Justin Bieber - Los Angeles, CA (August 23, 2011) (x)

2. ‘I’m Yours’ with Jason Mraz - Los Angeles, CA (August 24, 2011) (x)

3. ‘Tonight, Tonight’ with Hot Chelle Rae - Los Angeles, CA (August 27, 2011), (x)

4. ‘Super Bass’ with Nicki Minaj - Los Angeles, CA (August 28, 2011) (x)

5. ‘That’s What You Get’ with Hayley Williams - Nashville, TN (September 16, 2011) (x)

6. ‘Bleed Red’ with Ronnie Dunn - Nashville, TN (September 16, 2011) (x)

7. ‘Big Star’ with Kenny Chesney - Nashville, TN (September 17, 2011) (x)

8. ‘Keep Your Head Up’ with Andy Grammer - Nashville, TN (September 17, 2011) (x)

9. ‘Just to See You Smile’ with Tim McGraw - Nashville, TN (September 17, 2011) (x)

10. ‘Yeah!’ with Usher - Atlanta, GA (October 1, 2011) (x)

11. ‘Live Your Life’ with T.I. - Atlanta, GA (October 2, 2011) (x)

12. ‘Meant to Live’ with Jon Foreman - Glendale, AZ (October 21, 2011) (x)

13. ‘She’s So High’ with Tal Bachman - Vancouver, Canada (September 10, 2011) (x)

14. ‘The Middle’ with Jim Adkins - Glendale, AZ (October 22, 2011) (x)

15. ‘Just a Dream’ with Nelly - Houston, TX (November 5, 2011) (x)

16. ‘Right Round’ with Flo Rida - Miami, FL (November 13, 2011) (x)

17. ‘Alright’ with Darius Rucker - Columbia, SC (November 18, 2011) (x)

18. ‘Who Says’ with Selena Gomez - New York, NY (November 22, 2011) (x)

19. ‘Fire and Rain’ and ‘Fifteen’ (part of the regular setlist but performed as a duet here) with James Taylor - New York, NY (November 22, 2011) (x)

Surprise songs.

1. ‘Superman’ - Kansas City, MO (September 24, 2011) (x)

Note: This is the only live performance of ‘Superman’ to date. The video begins with an excerpt of her ‘Last Kiss’ performance, so you’ll have to skip to circa 1:30, but unlike other recordings, it’s complete. This is six minutes of pure joy.

2. ‘Never Grow Up’ - Lexington, KY (October 29, 2011), Houston, TX (November 5, 2011), Raleigh, NC (November 17, 2011) (x)

3. ‘Eyes Open’ - Auckland, New Zealand (March 17, 2012) (x)

Note: This marked the live debut of the song, as it had not even been released at the time of the performance.

#live #speak now #speak now tour #masterpost #fearless tour #audio #video #speak now world tour #fearless #Taylor Swift #covers #surprise songs #Taylor Swift live

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cbholganza · 4 years

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Once again, cage fanatics were treated to loads and loads of sizzling action this week. From the exciting new line-ups in the NBA, to the mad rush among PBA teams to join the last bus to the playoffs, to the thrill-a-minute battles that characterized the finals in both the NCAA and UAAP collegiate wars, and finally, to the preparations to defend the cage crown in the incoming Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), Pinoy basketball diehards have had frenetic non-stop action at its best. Being a bonafide hardcourt fan and a couch potato myself, I could hardly leave my seat to get my fill of popcorn and pizza, as the boobtube action presented highlight after glorious highlight of fun and energy.

Hmmm…. It’s the Los Angeles Lakers against …hmmm… is that the Ateneo Blue Eagles? (courtesy of imgaracade.com)

A world away, spanking new line-ups and alliances in the NBA are battling it out in what are enticing appetizers to determine who will step forward for the epic battles come the playoffs next April.

After 5 months of jostling and jawing for top stars and dominant rookies, the NBA season got underway in spectacular fashion. It’s a wide open race for the crown this time; and each week, we have been regaled with match-ups made in Hoop Heaven. Not a week goes by without dynamic duos such as the Lakers’ King Lebron and Anthony Davis, or the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, or the Rockets’ James Harden and Russell Westbrook, or the Sixers’ Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons or the Celtics’ Kemba Walker and the Jayson-Jaylen twins locking horns, matching wits against each other. And it certainly looks like it will be an exciting race for the playoff.

In the Eastern Conference, the top seeds Milwaukee Bucks (12-3) and Philadelphia 76ers (9-5) are being challenged strongly by the surprising Boston Celtics (11-3), the under-the-radar Miami Heat (10-3), and reigning but Kawhi-less Toronto Raptors (10-4). The Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo will not give up his regular season MVP crown without a fight. After a strong start, Embiid and Simmons have been in and out of sick bay, hence the Sixers low flight in the past weeks. The Celtics, despite losing Kyrie Irving and Al Horford, are showing that good teamwork will always trump individual talent. Boston’s diminutive Kemba Walker is showing far better leadership than the stylish Kyrie, squeezing more juice from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, sustaining the Celtic charge despite the injury sidelining Gordon Hayward. The Raptors, starring budding star Paskal Siakam, are using last year’s playoff experience to push themselves despite Kawhi’s flight and the absence of Kyle Lowry due to injury.

In the Western Conference, the LA’s Lakers (12-2) and Clippers (10-5) are revving an inter-town rivalry. But they too are challenged, as the Denver Nuggets (10-3), the Houston Rockets (11-4), the Dallas Mevericks (9-5) and the Utah Jazz (9-5) are flexing their muscles for all to see. After a forgettable first game against the Clippers, King Lebron’s Lakers are finally showing steady progress. The Clippers, on the other hand, have shown glimpses of greatness, with Paul George reporting for court duty. But the load management program that has Kawhi missing some important match-ups is not sitting well with some fans. In Houston, the fragile Harden-Westbrook alliance seems to be holding. We’ll see how it goes when the going gets tough in the playoffs. In Dallas, Rookie of the Year Luka Doncic is taking it a step higher with his sizzling MVP numbers.

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Giannis and Embiid duke it out in the East. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

The James – Russell partnership seems to be holding. (Odds Shark)

Kawhi beat Lebron in their 1st encounter (Silver Screen and Roll)

Luka, with fellow Euros Nikola and Juan (Mavs Moneyball)

AD and Kawhi square off at the Staples (NBC at Los Angeles)

Luka takes on Lebron. (Mavs Moneyball)

The Lebron-AD combo starting to purr. (Silver Screen and Roll)

Jayson Tatum showing he’s got what it takes. (For the Win)

George shows off Clipper potential in the game against Boston. (Boston Globe)

In the Southeast Asian scene, the Philippines’ newest version of the Gilas squad is getting ready for the SEA Games. It is the last international bastion of glory that cage-crazy Pinoys are holding on to, but the Thais and the Indons have slowly been inching closer with their new breed of players. With a mix crew of oldies and newbies, resurrected national coach Tim Cone hopes that he doesn’t end up with the ignominy of being the coach that gave it all away.

Veterans June Mar Fajardo, LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar and Roger Pogoy will lead the campaign. Notable absentees are the wily court leader Jayson Castro, Ginebra’s behemoth Greg Slaughter and crowd favorite Terrence Romeo. The tourney will kick-off on December 4 here in Manila.

Coach Tim Cone in practice session with the Gilas team. (ESPN)

In the PBA scene, the elimination round is over, and the 8 qualifiers for the next round step forward. The NLEX Warriors, Meralco Bolts and the TNT Katropa finished with similar 8-3 slots as the wild regular round-robin ended. The three were joined by crowd favorite Ginebra Kings to gain top honors and twice-to-beat advantage in the playoffs. The powerhouse San Miguel Beermen have their dreams of a rare sweep in jeopardy as they landed 5th in the elimination round. The PBA will take a break as the SEA Games take center stage this early December.

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Christian Standhardinger will make the Northpoint more dangerous. (PBA.ph)

Japeth Aguilar will be pitted against the talents of San Miguel. (PBA)

Bemedalled vet June Mar Fajardo tries to lead SanMig to the promised land. (NBA)

Vic Manuel’s heady play allowed him to take a slot in the Gilas team to the SEA Games. (PBA)

In the NCAA, the storied rivalry between the Letran Knights and the San Beda Red Lions hit the roof, with the Knights nipping the Lions 81-79 in Game 3 of a heart-stopping best-of-3 Finals series. In 2015, the Knights had spoiled the Red Lions’ bid for a glorious 6-peat, carving out a hard-earned overtime win in another Game 3 series. Once again, the Knights have stopped the Lions’ 3-peat bid on its road to another championship. Before a sellout crowd of over 19,000 at the MOA Arena, the Knights’ Jerrick Balanza – making a heroic comeback this year after a risky brain surgery – unleashed 27 points to break the hearts of the Lions’ fans.

And over in the UAAP, the Ateneo Blue Eagles completed a rare tournament sweep, with 16 straight wins covering the eliminations up to the final round. But the dream feat was by no means easy, as the UST Growling Tigers kept pounding till the end. UST had almost capped a cinderella season, coming from behind countless times to take the second Finals slot away from erstwhile tourney favorite, UP Fighting Maroons.

But the Eagles simply would not be denied. Thirdy Ravena, for the longest time playing under the shadow of his multi-awarded big-bro Kiefer, became the first and only 3-time MVP in UAAP’s Men’s Basketball Finals, with a Finals average of 29.5 points, 8 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.5 blocks per game. And cerebral Coach Tab Baldwin deflected the praises ever so coolly, opting to pour love and extreme compliments on his wards. Indeed, the Eagles have soared so much higher for anyone to catch.

There you have it, folks. The week that was. Will El-Ay’s Lakers and the Clippers duke it out for the Western Conference crown in the NBA? Or will the Rockets spoil the Laker-Clipper thriller? Will the Celtics be able to slip past the gauntlet set by the Bucks and the Sixers in the east? Will the Philippines keep its last international basketball crown in the international arena? Will the San Miguel Beermen be able to achieve that rare sweep of the year’s 3 PBA tourneys? Stay glued.

Last week’s offerings have been good for sports fanatics like me. Tune in for more next week.

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Before an overflow crowd at the MOA…(Inquirer.net)

Frenzied action pitting the Knights and the Lions… (Business World)

The fiery Jerrick Balanza squeezes through. (Inquirer.net)

A double teaming defense… (Slam Online)

Knights rejoice after the buzzer. (Inquirer.net)

Letran celebrates after defeating San Beda in the NCAA Season 95 Finals Game 3 at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, November 19, 2019 (Rio Deluvio)

Thirdy Ravena leads the Eagle attack. (CNN Phil)

Thirdy’s heady play leads to his third Finals MVP.

UST’s Chabi Yo gets triple teamed under the basket. (Rappler)

The Blue Eagles take their 3rd consecutive UAAP crown. (ABS-CBN)

Thirdy Ravena is King of the UAAP wars for the third time. (Tiebreaker Times)

UST’s glorious push runs short. (Phil Star)

A Wild, Wicked Week for Cage Addicts Once again, cage fanatics were treated to loads and loads of sizzling action this week. From the exciting new line-ups in the NBA, to the mad rush among PBA teams to join the last bus to the playoffs, to the thrill-a-minute battles that characterized the finals in both the NCAA and UAAP collegiate wars, and finally, to the preparations to defend the cage crown in the incoming Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), Pinoy basketball diehards have had frenetic non-stop action at its best.

#NBA #NCAA #PBA #Philippine Basketball #UAAP Basketball

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biofunmy · 5 years

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The Playlist: Lana Del Rey’s Pointed Protest, and 8 More New Songs

Written on Monday, teased with a snippet on Instagram that same day, and then released in full on Friday, Lana Del Rey’s “Looking for America” is a rapid-response protest song — following a slew of mass shootings — from an artist whose tortured relationship to an idealized America has always been central to her persona. “Pulled over to watch the children in the park/We used to only worry for them after dark,” she sings, lightly vibrating with anger. What makes this protest so striking is that Del Rey sings about the country’s fall from grace (“I’m still looking for my own version of America/One without the gun, where the flag can freely fly”) with a convincing wistfulness, the sort that jingoists think is all their own. JON CARAMANICA

Alessia Cara, ‘Rooting for You’

More of Alessia Cara’s voice unimpeded, please. “Rooting for You” is lilting and pleasant, a light vamp with some Huey Lewis-era digitized saxophone jammed in the middle. Cara has an exemplary voice, and she doesn’t have to push hard to extract meaning. “Now I see you’re having so much fun/with everyone/you had so much fun making fun of,” she sings almost tenderly, as the sarcasm drips off like grease. CARAMANICA

Megan Thee Stallion featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla Sign, ‘Hot Girl Summer’

Meme first, song second is perhaps the wrong order. The pressure to make “Hot Girl Summer” — the new track from Megan Thee Stallion, following her coining and popularizing the titular phrase — a special event may have been too strong. Certainly she didn’t need Ty Dolla Sign (not by any metric a hot girl) singing about his own pleasure to begin the song. And while the team-up with Nicki Minaj is inspired — Megan is assertive and plain-spoken, Minaj is jubilant — the production is bizarrely downcast. It’s a missed opportunity, lacking the exuberance of the phrase, the sentiment, the meme and, ultimately, the summer. CARAMANICA

PJ Morton, ‘Kid Again’

“You don’t need to give up, that’s the beginning of the end,” PJ Morton sings, a chorus of falsetto harmonies flickering around him. “You just need to believe like a kid again.” Morton is a New Orleans-born virtuoso who plays in Maroon 5, and in his own work he runs the influences of Allen Toussaint and Stevie Wonder through a bevy of ideas from R&B’s more recent decades. All the while he’s leaning hard on his buttery, heartfelt singing voice and masterful studio chops. On “Kid Again,” with a repetitive chord progression wrapping its arms around him, he insists on idealism and innocence, things that feel like precious commodities today: “You don’t need to grow up/You just need to believe like a kid again.” GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO

Chastity Belt, ‘Elena’

Lydia Lund and Julia Shapiro’s vocals wind around each other, buffer each other, underscore each other as they sing about a boyfriend who was hardly worth the trouble: “His only intrigue was the lack of him/Fill in the blanks with what you see fit.” The Seattle band’s new self-titled album is due in September. CARYN GANZ

Bas featuring Ari Lennox and Kiddominant, ‘Amnesia’

An unexpectedly seamless blend of euphoric Afrobeats, spacey R&B, melancholy post-Drake pop and straight-talk rapping. CARAMANICA

Stephen Mallinder, ‘Working (You Are)’

Stephen Mallinder of the English post-punk provocateurs Cabaret Voltaire will release his first solo album in 35 years, “Um Dada,” in October. Its leadoff track, the groovy curio “Working (You Are)” is a delightful companion to Marie Davidson’s pointier “Work It” from last year, introducing and then quickly retracting a series of ear-pleasing, familiar dance-music flourishes. In a statement announcing his return, Mallinder wrote of a “false nostalgia about the analogue past,” and concluded: “Let the machines talk to each other, let them dance … they lead, we follow.” GANZ

Grade 2, ‘Graveyard Island’

The English punks in Grade 2 come through with a super-catchy blast of rebellion rock with “Graveyard Island” from their Hellcat debut, produced by Rancid’s Tim Armstrong: “We see it now/it’s smoke and mirrors/our broken future couldn’t be any clearer.” GANZ

Mike Holober Gotham Jazz Orchestra, ‘Jumble’

At the outset of this 14-minute track, which opens the Gotham Jazz Orchestra’s fine new album, “Hiding Out,” a quietly suspenseful melodic theme is passed around between flutes and muted brass and cooled-down saxophones. A bass line creeps upward, starting to bring a Brazilian maracatu rhythm to life below. Mike Holober’s woven composition unfolds across various movements, kicking up dust as it goes along; toward the end, after a snaky, scorching guitar solo from Jesse Lewis, the whole band piles in together, and the rambunctious energy of a street parade — or just a lively city block, on any day of the year — spills forth. RUSSONELLO

Sahred From Source link Arts

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itsworn · 5 years

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$2.2 Million Shelby Super Snake Makes Headlines at 2019 Mecum Kissimmee Auction

The first weekend in January might seem early to begin the 2019 event season in the muscle car hobby, but it seems to suit Mecum’s auction schedule quite well. The Silver Spur arena in Florida’s Osceola Heritage Park bridged the first two weekends of January with 10 days of sales. Hundreds of muscle cars were offered at this event, ranging from survivor-status machines and pristine restorations to drivers that were bought right. As always, this event helps provide a solid barometer for what is going on with market demand and values as we open the current year. Prices noted will include buyer’s premiums.

Snake Bit

A heated bidding war between two potential buyers drove up the price of the one-of-one Shelby Super Snake to a final selling price of $2.2 million.

By far the most exciting sales moment of the event was Friday’s offering of the legendary one-off 1967 Shelby Super Snake Mustang. The fastback had been constructed using a GT40-derived 427ci racing engine for Goodyear to use in research tire testing. It had eventually been sold for $5,000 to the public through a Shelby franchise dealer after the tire job was completed and the company had returned the special pony back to Shelby American for refreshing. Well preserved, this Ford has been lightly restored to its as-released-to-Goodyear condition, and the one-of-one supercar had previously established the top price for any Mustang, selling for $1 million at a Mecum event several years ago. With changes in the market during the ensuing time, could the Super Snake strike again? Oh, yeah.

Shelbys are proving to hold their value well, particularly models made before Ford took over production in 1968. This 1967 G.T. 500, documented as a dealer demonstrator and the personal car of Shelby regional rep Ed Casey, sold for $330,000.

Bidding climbed rapidly to $800,000, then $900,000, and the reserve came off as the $1-million threshold was crossed. Two bidders then went hard after it at $100,000 a pop, finally settling at hammer time to a monster $2.2 million.

Indeed, Shelbys were strong at the event, with a 1965-to-1966 G.T. 350 carryover model bringing home $440,000, and a documented 1967 G.T. 500 dealer demonstrator going to its next home thanks to $330,000. In all three cases, provenance and singular-example conditioning was key, factors that tend drive the top of every established field of collecting. It was remarked to me by one Shelby-experienced onlooker that Shelbys are unique among American builders, with an international appeal thanks to Carroll Shelby’s racing prowess, AC relationship, and personality. Literally all competition Shelby cars have pushed up in value over the years, and cars produced by Shelby American before Ford’s takeover of the franchise seem to hold a special appeal regardless, though the 1968-1970 models remain in solid demand as well.

COPOs and Hemis: Reality is Selling Cars

The fifth-highest sales price of the entire sale was the $495,000 paid for this ZL1 Camaro, 15th of the 69 built and a former Dick Harrell team drag car.

There is an adage about the skittishness of the stock market: When people sense it is unstable, it pushes up prices in other fields, including collectible cars. While the stock market has seen rapid gyrations during the past year, many still feel the fundamentals are solid, so money has remained there to an extent. For people who purchased top-dollar cars during the previous uncertainty, the current environment might, frankly, not be conducive to doubling your money like the past owner of the Super Snake did, and that fact is a result of market forces outside of the hobby.

Hemi E-body hardtops were all bidding up to somewhere under the $300,000 mark, and COPO Camaros were likewise. Selling prices were in the $160,000-$220,000 range here, with several nice cars changing hands and several others going home with their owners. The big exception was a beautiful ZL1 Camaro in silver, number 15 of the 69 built and once raced out of the Dick Harrell team stables by Jim Leatherman. It crossed the block late on Saturday to sell with a $495,000 final price. The top two Yenko sales were a Daytona Yellow 1969 Camaro automatic (one of 30 built) and a well-restored 1966 Yenko Stinger with a Phase III-style race engine, both at $220,000, the later at far over its estimate. Several other 1969 9561 COPOs were no-sales at $200,000-plus, with a 1969 SS/RS in Hugger Orange with houndstooth being our favorite.

A convertible LS6 is rare; one with Berger provenance is rarer still. This one was bid to $375,000 but did not sell.

Hemi B-bodies have also settled down, with a one-of-one loaded 1971 Hemi Charger in strong at $209,000 leading the pack. Engine expert Larry Shepard brought in his 4,200-mile, one-family 1971 Hemi Road Runner to see a $176,000 final sale, and a beautiful 1970 Hemi Coronet Super Bee, bronze four-speed with matched bronze bench-seat interior, brought $159,500, giving the market a real world price on these models when coupled to the $137,000 1970 R/T sale last year. And speaking of big Hemi cars, one of MCR’s mechanical alumni, the former Roy Badie Hemi GTX featured in the magazine’s very first supercar shootout during the 1980s, showed up here and hammered sold for $110,000. A number of other Hemi cars were under the $100,000 threshold, and some went into Mecum’s The Bid Goes On when block prices did not meet the expectation of sellers.

While these cars are considered blue chip models, we would say there does appear to be some softening in this area from the highs of previous years. While a quarter-million is never “pocket change,” for those who are well-heeled to play at this level, it is possible to buy some very good cars, keeping in mind that issues of provenance and condition are always the best indicators of future strength.

Fresh Air

This 1969 Z/28 was one of the last 427 Camaro conversions done by Baldwin-Motion. It was drag raced by its first owner until he brought it to Baldwin-Motion for conversion in 1974. It subsequently passed through several hands before being bought by Mike Guarise in 2001, who had it restored to its Motion glory. It sold for $93,500.

While big-block Corvette roadsters led the pack among the big dollar post-1960 sales, there were a number of valuable convertibles among the 816 droptop examples here in Florida. Top bid for any muscle version was $375,000 for a remarkable Berger-sold 1970 Chevelle LS6, which was turned down by the seller. That put a 1970 ’Cuda, U-code 440-4BBL with factory A/C and elastomeric bumpers, in as the top muscle-era sale at $165,000. Of the 36 droptops whose price topped $100,000 and sold, four were GTOs, two were Mopars, one an LS6 Chevrolet, and one more a Shelby; the rest were not muscle cars, though a number of Bid Goes On cars hit the $170,000 mark or over.

There were also some excellent deals if you have been in the market for “fresh air” in the cockpit. Top deal in our opinion was a scarce yet solid 1970 Olds Cutlass Supreme Indy 500 pace car edition, believed to be a small-block, that sold for $27,500. A number of other 4-4-2s, Chevelles, and performance Mopar 440ci converts were sold for less than $75,000. Topping $100,000 were two of the aforementioned GTOs, both from the special BMF Collection that ran on Friday, one a black 1969 Ram Air IV at $132,000 and the other a green 1971 455 HO at $110,000.

Formerly in the Tim Wellborn collection, this 1971 Hemi Charger R/T is believed to be the only one painted Plum Crazy and with a white top and interior. It sold for $209,000.

This is a marketplace that is perhaps a little more mercurial at the moment, and if you have been wanting one, shopping could prove productive. There are deals out there. One noticeable car that did not sell was a real 1967 SS427 Impala, maroon with matched red interior and a rare L72/four-speed/console combination, which climbed to an even $100,000 before rolling away unsold. In this case, we can understand why that owner might have wanted to wait. A very nice piece.

Competition – Hesitation Kills

Tim Wellborn later joked his phone was ringing within moments after buying a 1971 Road Runner for $44,000. It was a Wedge-powered version in Petty Blue. With 43s on the doors and Richard Petty on the hammer in the announcing stand as it crossed the block, this display car from the Petty Garage was one of several vehicles from King Richard’s stables, which ranged from 1950s GMs to late-model machines, that sold at no reserve. If you want to buy a vintage race car, this is the season for it, as prices on factory specials and vintage racers alike are off of their highs of a decade ago. Top charger here was a documented 1964 Ford T-bolt that thundered to $247,500 on Saturday, while the top seller not considered among the “factory drag” models was the Chrisman Bros. legendary land speed car from 1954, which had raced up to a big $484,000 final total an hour later.

A relative steal: This King Cobra is one of what is believed to be three prototypes Ford built to compete with Chrysler’s aero warriors in NASCAR before the winged cars were banned and the Ford project was stillborn. The only one built with a Boss 429 and four-speed, it sold for $192,500 against a pre-sale estimate of $350,000 to $400,000.

GM’s Other Guys and AMC

Buick sales were led off by a classic from the 1950s at over $250,000, with a GSX from the BMF collection hammering home to a $126,500 finale. A 1970 Stage 1 was hammered “Sold!” for $39,600 on Friday, while several others did not meet reserves. In the Olds category, the top seller in muscle was lot S240, which garnered $99,000 for a 1970 4-4-2 convertible. A 1969 H/O hit $90,200; and the top 10 in the Olds category overall were mainly convertibles, led again by a big 1950s-era model at close to a quarter-million. A 1967 4-4-2 on Wednesday was well-bought at $17,600, and several nice 350ci converts under $30,000 were sold as well.

Pontiac, on the other hand, led with muscle, with an unrestored Ram Air III 1969 Trans Am at $165,000, followed by 10 other Ponchos at more than $95,000. A bid of $140,250 moved a 1-of-14 four-speed, A/C-equipped 1970 Judge convertible to a new home, while $101,750 was paid for a 1971 455 HO hardtop. A number of buyers did hold their reserves, but $18,700 was the magic number for a rebuilt 1970 GTO during the first day of the event. We also felt $34,100 for a truly beautiful 1967 428ci Gran Prix convertible in red and white was money well spent. Pontiac remains one of the better marques to have solid interest over multiple years between 1960 and 1980; top of the 1970s TAs was a 1976 50th Anniversary model with excellent originality and provenance that sold on Thursday for $110,000.

Longtime readers will no doubt remember the 1984 “Supercar Shootout” that pitted a Hemi GTX against a Stage 1 Buick for dragstrip supremacy and bragging rights that have lasted for decades. This is the very GTX that represented the Mopar faithful. It went to a new owner for $110,000.

Of the 3,500-plus cars here, just 15 were AMCs, with the top three sellers being a 1970 Rebel Machine at $67,100 and two 1969 SC/Ramblers that sold back-to-back on Friday for $44,000 apiece. This is one area where it appears demand is not driving pricing at present.

Mopes and Mercs

Of course, among the many muscle cars here were cars from Ford and Chrysler as well. Of 120 Dodges with results, 77 sold and probably one of the event’s best buys was a final Sunday morning no-reserve 1964 Polara 500 convertible, a solid mild custom with a poly-type 318, that hammered sold for $7,700. Two 2018 Demons and a rare 1962 Max Wedge joined Dodge Hemi cars in the $100,000 Sold! Club before the weekend ended. For Plymouth fans, with 55 sold of 83 results showing, it was a tie between a 1965 426 Fury and a lightly-modified 1967 Barracuda tying at $15,950 that we thought were well-bought muscle. With the exception of the blue ’Cuda convertible already mentioned, only multi-carb models were over $100,000 in the Mayflower tribe, with six 426 Hemi cars joined by one M-code 1969 6BBL ’Runner and a 1961 Fury convertible with long-rams.

If FoMoCo blue is in your veins, there were more than 600 to choose from here. Muscle came on strong starting with the T-bolt, followed by a prototype 1970 Boss 429 King Cobra NASCAR special at $192,500. If we had been shopping bargains, it was a 427-powered 1967 Ranchero at $11,000 on the first day that would have been our pick. Of the Mercs, the 428 Cougar we featured on a Facebook post ended at $110,000, then a big drop to $40,700 for a modified 1964 K-code Cyclone hardtop. A second 289 model, a 1964 convertible, was our buy of the week at $12,100. Rare pre-1960 Mercury models were stronger than muscle-era stuff this year, and Ford street rods built right were also in the top 10 from Dearborn.

A three-ring binder of documentation came with this Thunderbolt, one of the real-deal T-bolts made by Ford subcontractor Dearborn Steel Tubing for drag racing. A high bid of $247,500 sold it.

Conclusion

The year is young, and if any thing is certain for 2019, it is that nothing is set in stone. So long as the overall U.S. economy remains strong, Mecum and the other auction houses will continue to find new homes for cars of owners who want to sell. Moreover, there is no lack of buyers for either the rarest or the reasonably-priced vehicles. This modest level of adjustment is healthy for the hobby, and it will be interesting to see where things pan out as the year goes on.

Not just another Mustang, this is a rare (one of an estimated 340) German export T-5 convertible from the Wayne Davis collection. Ford couldn’t call its ponycars Mustang in Germany as the name was already copyrighted by a truck manufacturer. The subject of a concours restoration, the Nightmist Blue drop-top sold for $93,500.

The first owner of this Canadian-spec In-Violet ’Cuda was a drag racer who took its Hemi to replace the blown motor in his Super Bee. Years later the original engine was found, and it came with the car when it sold for $214,500.

The highest price paid for a Yenko car at Kissimmee was the $220,000 bid for this Daytona Yellow Camaro, a double COPO that received a body-off restoration in 2004.

Longtime road racer Don Yenko was turning Corvairs into hot Stinger models before his crew ever turned a wrench on a Camaro. At a selling price of $220,000, this example, the 74th of the first 100 built in 1966 and a nearly perfect MCACN Concours Gold winner, doubled its pre-auction estimate.

This flight of 1971 models had mixed results on the block. The Trans Am in the foreground, with its matching-numbers 455 HO and PHS docs, sold for $58,300. The ’Cuda in the background, its billboard announcing its 340 V-8, sold for $73,700. But $75,000 wasn’t enough to sell the unrestored, 15,000-mile Boss 351 Mustang in the middle.

Among the GTO convertibles on offer at Kissimmee was this one-of-45 1969 RAIV/four-speed from the BMF collection. Concours restored and carrying PHS documentation, it sold for $132,000.

There were 411 Chargers built in 1968 with a Hemi and a four-speed. This one retains its matching-numbers engine and unrestored interior, and is believed to have gone just 36,000 miles. The final $148,500 bid found it a new home.

Mecum called this the “Holy Grail of Cougar muscle cars,” a one-of-one (per the Marti Report) equipped with a 428 Super Cobra Jet, four-speed manual, and Drag Pack option with 4.30 gears and Traction-Lok. A high bid of $110,000 bought the cat.

Some 96 Twister Special Mustangs were made in 1970 as a promotion for Kansas City-area dealers. Half had 351 Cleveland engines, the other half, like this example, received 428 Super Cobra Jets. The $130,000 high bid did not sell the ’Stang.

Late of the Gast Classic Motorcars Museum in Pennsylvania, this unrestored 1969 Trans Am showed just under 31,000 miles and retained its original 400ci V-8/four-speed drivetrain. It changed hands for $165,000.

Hemi expert Larry Shepard has had this 1971 Hemi Road Runner in his family since new. His father drag raced the car after replacing the factory motor with a race Hemi and stripping out the interior. It then spent years in storage before Larry reinstalled the original Elephant and interior and resprayed the sheetmetal in its factory Tor Red. Larry parted with the car for $176,000.

This pair of ponycars landed in Mecum’s The Bid Goes On after crossing the block. The Camaro, a double-COPO car and one of 58 made with the Rally Sport option, failed to sell at a high bid of $200,000. Next to it is a Paxton-supercharged 1968 Shelby G.T. 350 that was a no-sale at $75,000.

One of the best deals at the auction was the $27,500 paid for this 1970 Olds Cutlass pace car.

Speaking of bargains, $29,700 was all it took to buy this 440-powered 1973 Dodge Charger, which had to be far less than the cost of the car’s rotisserie restoration.

Listed as having its matching-numbers engine and “extensive documentation,” this drop-top 1966 4-4-2 changed hands for $52,800.

Don’tcha just love the long intake runners on this 1961 Fury convertible’s Sonoramic 383 V-8? Part of the Wayne Davis collection, the Fury had been treated to an “extensive” restoration and sold for $121,000.

“Patina of authenticity” is how Mecum described the paint condition on this unrestored 1967 Coronet R/T. It’s one of 121 built with a Hemi and A833 four-speed. An $82,500 high bid sold it.

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