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johannesviii · 4 years

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Top 15 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2002

13 to 14 years old. Most of the year was pretty good. Summer was great. But in September I arrived in 2nd (local equivalent of 10th grade), so I was 14 in a class of mostly 15/16 years old students, and I looked so out of place that inevitably, bad shit started to happen very quickly.

Thankfully, it was a damn good year for hits. They say music never sounds better than when you are a teenager, as if that was a bad thing - but maybe they’re right? So yeah, nostalgia is in full force there. This year was so good for music, in fact, that this is a top 15 instead of 10. It was already super difficult to keep only 10 songs before I even looked at the French year-end list, and then I just gave up.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

This list originally had SIX horribly painful cuts so I decided to do some damage control and make it a top 15. There’s still a whole bunch of honorable mentions, though.

Heaven remix (DJ Sammy) - [Insert here rant about Johannes liking overproduced dance garbage full of colors and lights]

Move b█tch (Ludacris) - Just a ton of fun to sing along that chorus.

Whenever Wherever (Shakira) - I claim overplay, but that is still legendary.

How You Remind Me (Nickelback) - Nobody’s gonna disagree if I say they’re a terrible band, but you gotta admit, their first hit was pretty great.

The Middle (Jimmy Eat World) - In a year full of fantastic earworms, some had to stay out of the list.

Can’t Fight the Moonlight (LeAnn Rimes) - Just re-read the previous statement.

Get the Party Started (Pink) - More on that later.

Inch’Allah (MC Solaar) - Not his best song by a mile (obviously; I mean, the guy who wrote a song about making Satan explode into antimatter can’t really top that because nobody can) but still very nice.

Cleanin’ Out My Closet (Eminem) - Yeah, the rethread of The Real Slim Shady is on the list and not this. What can I say, I told you I had bad taste.

Just Like a Pill (Pink) - The last cut from the list. I just really, really liked Pink, can you tell?

This is when I started to listen to the radio A LOT in my room, because my access to the family computer was restricted and radio was basically the only media I still had 100% access to and full control of. Which might explain why I suddenly liked a ton of pop music. Or maybe that year was simply really good. I guess it’s a mix of both.

Also, I still didn’t have a key to the appartment, but I was a lot less supervised when I was outside, and I would sometimes sneak out to go the library or to the disc store.

So... here’s some of the first singles I ever bought, for the record, and also because I think it’s fun to see all of them together.

They’re all on this list, just to clarify.

15 - I’m Gonna Getcha Good (Shania Twain)

US: Not on the list / FR: #67

Well, that was quick. So yeah, I loved this song. The accent meant I couldn’t understand half of the lyrics, but it was still a ton of fun and a delight every time it was on the radio.

14 - Wherever You Will Go (The Calling)

US: #5 / FR: #53

I didn’t love this song that much at the time and only put it on one tape, but it really grew on my over the years. Yeah, it’s your standard 2000s pop-rock song, objectively, but I don’t know. It didn’t have to go that hard with its metaphors. I mean the guy is ready to follow that person into hell and turn back time if necessary. I really don’t know. It shouldn’t work so well but it does for me. Maybe it’s because I’m very literal-minded.

13 - Le Chemin (Kyo ft. Sita)

US: Not on the list / FR: #55

Basically: A Ma Place by Axel Bauer & Zazie from the previous honorable mentions of 2001, except with half the amount of Hetero Drama(tm) and a pop-rock flavour to make it more palatable.

The first hit of a band it would very quickly be super cool to hate in my country (and I do mean very quickly, like a year or so) because everyone (including me, mind you) thought their lyrics were a bit too cringy even for pop-rock songs.

Doesn’t mean I didn’t buy the album and listened the shit out of it for like two years, though. The saddest part is that my favorite single from it by far, Je Cours (”I Run”), isn’t elligible for any list. Dammit.

12 - Murder On The Dancefloor (Sophie Ellis-Bextor)

US: Not on the list / FR: #26

This was a huge hit in Europe and somehow I thought it had reached the US, but apparently it didn’t. That’s a shame.

Also, overplay didn’t manage to kill it for me and that’s impressive.

11 - Complicated (Avril Lavigne)

US: #11 / FR: #83

Loved it, bought the single, loved it even more, and then one of my uncles sent me the album for christmas, and all was nice and good in the world.

For the record, I thought Sk8er Boi was one of the worst songs on the album (my favorite was My World), and I still dislike this particular song to this day, so this is why it’s nowhere to be found here.

10 - Don’t Let Me Get Me (Pink)

US: #36 / FR: Not on the list

You already know that because of the honorable mentions, but yeah, I loved Pink. This was the second album I decided I had to save money for months to acquire instead of just a single and which my parents would probably find acceptable. And this song is the best and it kicks some serious ass, on top of being full of self-loathing and extremely relatable at the time ("everyday I fight a war against the mirror, can't take the person staring back at me"? "I wanna be somebody else"?? Big, big dysphoria mood right there).

No regrets, baby.

9 - Hands Clean (Alanis Morissette)

US: #95 / FR: Not on the list

In just about every list I’ve made so far, there’s one song which makes me think “if I had better taste, this would be much higher”. This is one of these songs. Still love it, still put it on a tape and burned it on a cd. I found the cd in question again yesterday while making this list and it contains, in that exact order: Visage, Evanescence, Kyo, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Talk Talk, Scatman John, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Shania Twain, INXS, Freur, Alizée, Linkin Park and this exact song by Alanis Morissette. It’s a great little time-capsule of my debatable tastes.

8 - Die Another Day (Madonna)

US: Not on the list / FR: #86

This has the same kind of weird, disjointed beat as Music, but it sounds much more aggressive and sinister. This dropped right when I started to have real problems at school, so it’s a bit difficult for me to listen to it nowadays without having unpleasant flashbacks at the same time, which is why it’s so low on the list even though I listened to it on a loop back in the day. It might be a subpar James Bond theme, and might have dumb lyrics (god the Sigmund Freud line sdfghjhgfdfg), but on its own? It’s great.

Also I loved the music video. My mother, obviously, hated it, which only made me like it more, because, I mean, obviously it did. That’s how it works when you’re 14.

Speaking of which.

7 - Without Me (Eminem)

US: #21 / FR: #11

By that point, it was becoming pretty clear that I would never be able to buy the music I wanted if my parents disapproved of it, so I had to be sneaky and buy every, uh “debatable” single with a second more acceptable single to hide the first one. The one I bought alongside this one was a cover of Désenchantée, sung by Kate Ryan.

Success.

It is, in fact, less good than The Real Slim Shady, and I could only understand about one third of the lyrics, but still. I listened to it a loooooot. Because I actually had that single and not the other one which it was basically referencing to the point of self-parody. And just like the other one, I obviously don’t endorse all the lyrics, and the beat is great.

6 - All the Things She Said (Tatu)

US: Not on the list / FR: #12

Just like Die Another Day this one is a bit difficult to listen to nowadays for me but it’s a monster of a hit nonetheless. Have to say, though: I listened to Not Gonna Get Us even more, which means THAT one is even more linked to bad memories, to the point of basically being unlistenable because it triggers a literal fight-or-flight response with me. Not kidding in the slightest. Still love it though.

5 - J’ai Demandé à la Lune (Indochine)

US: Not on the list / FR: #4

This is one of my least favorite hit songs from Indochine. It’s still #5 on a list where I had to keep 15 entries instead of 10. This is because almost no other song I really really like from them will ever be elligible for these lists and if I can’t put a single Indochine song somewhere, especially from the Paradize album, I will have to punch a wall, dammit.

So here. Have the one in which the guy asks the moon if his significant other still loves him and where the moon answers “dude it’s not my problem”.

I love them and Paradize is an absolute monster of an album which rightfully made them relevant again, from new wave sensations of the 80s to favorite mainstream band for every young French punk/goth kid ever in the 2000s. This is not a diss, by the way, considering I was very clearly in that core demographic. Especially if you look at the top three I made for that year (and for the next one but let’s not get ahead of ourselves).

4 - A Thousand Miles (Vanessa Carlton)

US: #6 / FR: #51

Yeah yeah, you knew this was coming when you saw that pic of the first singles I bought, and you can start laughing now. I know it’s basically a meme now (and a good one, mind you), but sometimes, songs are remembered for more than one reason, and you have to admit that one is still great on its own. I listened to it SO. MUCH. Especially before everything started to go wrong for me that year, so basically this is the sound of “how things should have been”, and it’s so pleasant and nice to listen to it even today. It’s no longer on my mp3 player, but, no joke, I think it stayed on it from the day I bought my first mp3 player to something like 2017. Is it an indicator of quality or yet another indicator of my debatable taste? Probably both.

In any other year, there would be a clear #1 either towering above the other songs or just slightly ahead of the rest. 2002 was so good I can’t, for the life of me, decide which of these next three songs is the best one, even subjectively, in a “hey I like this one a little bit more” kind of way.

So I’m ranking the top 3 according to the lengths I went to to listen to each of these songs at the time.

Let’s go.

3 - C’est Une Belle Journée (Mylène Farmer)

US: Not on the list / FR: #46

This is what I’d call the Last Great Mylène Farmer Song. Oh she was still making music, pretty great music, in fact, after that. She’s still making decent stuff nowadays, from time to time. But in my opinion, it’s all downhill from there.

Still. This kickstarted my obsession with her at the time, because someone (I still have no idea who that was) was foolish enough to buy me the cd for Christmas. This is also why it’s #3 and not higher; I didn’t have to work at all to listen to it.

So... This is a song about killing yourself, disguised as a bouncy energetic pop tune. And it works horribly well. It’s very vaguely sinister but if you don’t listen to it very closely, it’s nearly impossible to notice what it’s actually about (translation here), and it charted super high and for a super long time without any controversy in its wake.

As I said: all downhill from there, because... how do you even top this?

2 - Lose Yourself (Eminem)

US: #63 / FR: Not on the list

You probably guessed this was coming. I’m not sure what the consensus for the “best Eminem hit song” is nowadays, but that one has to be pretty high on the list. And it’s also kind of a meme because of the spaghetti line, I know, but still, quality, man. The most important thing about it in the context of this list is that it was juuuuust slow enough to allow me to understand most of the important parts with my still-limited English, and I loved the little story it told. I remember trying to put it on a tape for days and waiting for it to pop up on the radio and instantly pressing Record after the first note.

And of course I wanted to see 8 Mile and I couldn’t, but a few months later, the local book/dvd/music store, which had screens broadcasting scenes from new stuff they were selling, had a screen with a few battle rap scenes from 8 Mile on it, and once I noticed I stood in front of the screen for a long time in silent admiration. What can I say, I was an angry little thing, and seeing angry people fighting each other in ways where no-one gets hurt was very satisfying and cathartic.

1 - In the End (Linkin Park)

US: #7 / FR: Not on the list

The music video had hilariously bad cgi even at the time, just to clarify. But yeah, that sound right there had the perfect balance of color, energy, sadness and anger to be the hit of the year for me back then. And I could understand nearly all the lyrics! I. Loved it. The local library had Hybrid Theory and I listened to it so. MUCH (my favorite song on it was actually One Step Closer (singing CAUSE I’M ONE-STEP-CLOSER-TO-THE-EDGE, ANDI’MABOUTTOBREAK felt great) and I thought Crawling was a bit embarrassing). Thank god that library didn’t have fines if you returned your stuff after the due date because I had to wait until I was able to make a copy of it first. The “parents-proof” “”cryptic”” label I wrote on said copy wasn’t particularly cryptic, though, and I’m gonna share it with you right now because that’s kind of funny.

So what do you do when you’re 14, pretty sure you understood the whole song, are finally able to listen to the whole album, burn it on a cd, and listen to it way too often? You write down the lyrics, painstakingly, with a fountain pen, in a small notebook where you try to write down the lyrics of every single song you love & can understand entirely. That’s what you do. Of course.

When I stopped doing that in 2007, there were two notebooks like that. I lost one of them, apparently, but the one I was able to find already had 63 songs in it. I finally had my own internet access later that year and I could find all the lyrics I wanted whenever I wanted, and I stopped doing that once and for all.

But it helped me get a lot better with English, so in the end, it doesn’t even matter.

So yeah, In the End?

Loved it and loved that band. I still do.

Next up: wow, “all edge no point”, uh?

#Johannes’ bad not good pretty terrible music lists #music #long post #eye contact tw #suicide ideation tw

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dxsole · 5 years

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New Muse? You Decide!

//Hey guys! So I’ve been toying around with the idea of a new muse and I have some ideas to bounce around with y’all! Below the cut are some short muse bios & faceclaims; if you can, please just reply in the comments who you would like to see!!

* Yang is going to be added regardless of the votes but she is added below so ya’ll can know a little more about her!

Viola “Yang” Yates - 43 - Female - FC: Ally Sheedy

(Based on the Yin/Yang killer(s) from Psych)

Secretly born to an esteemed English professor and one of his students, Viola was groomed from a young age to accompany her father in his many murders, the first being the young woman who unfortunately gave birth to Yang. Yang was meant to be his protege, his heir. Years of isolation and her father’s strict upbringing, Yang held onto whatever happiness she could, mainly the few moments of praise her father gave her-- and the eventual set up and murder of her own father, claiming self defense as well as confessing to police all she knew. Due to the fact there was generally little evidence left at her father’s crime scenes as well as no evidence that she actually helped him of her own free will, she was never convicted.

Detective Lochlan Tracey- 37 - Male - FC: Timothy Omundson

(Based on Detective Carlton Lassiter from Psych)

Upholder of the US Constitution and bad guy bashing enthusiast, Detective Tracey is one hard boiled justice keeper and all around American. Some call him stuffy. Some say he’s too strict about the rules. Some say he likes to throw the book at people a little too often-- and they’d all be right! He will pull his gun out if a squirrel approaches him in a slightly shifty manner! He will give your son a parking ticket for leaving their bike outside a store! He will arrest his date if she makes a weed joke! That’s just Tracey for you.

Leslie Hoggarth - 32 - Male - FC: Jimmi Simpson

(Loosely inspired by Mary Lightly III from Pysch)

Leslie is your all around loser. Bullied in high school, had braces, took his cousin to prom, etc. But he was smart-- or maybe he just peaked a little later than everyone else. Whatever it was, he managed to get his PhD in criminal psychology but instead of working with people, which was near impossible due to his general demeanor which most call “creepy and unsettling”, he threw himself into the hyperfixation he had as a kid-- trying to figure out cold cases. He has managed to help solve most of them through the phone or via email due to his extensive, almost obsessive knowledge of each case. He likes to solve puzzles, watch obscure movies and only leave his apartment for snack food and the occasion superhero convention.

Nash Hicox - 25 - Male - FC: Tim Roth

(Inspired by English Pete Hicox from The Hateful Eight and Freddy Newandyke/Mr. Orange from reservoir Dogs)

He’s an asshole. Just a punk kid with no aspirations, no goals, only motivated by a good ass kicking or a few twenties slipped his way. He does anything for cash and always has his nose in one of those get-rich-quick scams or attempting to get other gullible to get into them with him. He lies, cheats, steals and has already managed to piss off everyone in his hometown while also owing them all money. He’s reckless, wild, and currently drifting across America with forty bucks, a bag of kush he paid too much for and a gun he picked up in a bar fight. Hopefully he finds whatever it is he’s looking for.

Seung Han - 43 - Male - FC: Byung-hun Lee

(Based on Han Cho Bai from Red 2)

Contract killer. That’s really all anyone really needs to know about him. What he was as a child means nothing. Who his parents were means nothing. Where he came from, why he does what he does, who taught it to him; you’ll never know the answers to these questions. Han has gone through extreme measures to make sure those answers will never be found and nothing but the list of marks is all anyone can ever tie to him. All he wants people to know is that he’s expensive, that he gets the job done and it would be in your best interest not to try and find him.

Harrison Coen - 54 - Male - FC: John Turturro

Harrison Coen. There’s not much to say about him, truthfully. He’s a high school guidance counselor, sweet, considerate, remembers the names of all the lunch ladies and color codes his files. He’s divorced, currently single and not entirely sure if he’s ready to get back into the dating pool-- Not that there were many takers anyway, Harrison’s what must people would call...dull. Plain. Average-- Most people don’t know that he also is a master thespian and participates in the local Renaissance festival every year! See? He’s so very cool!

#ooc #new muse #pls vote!#these won't be their entire bios either it's just a way for me to get a feel for them ya know?#fun fact! they're all losers #except han he's cool n hot lbr #also i'll be reblogging for like....all this week! i won't be deciding definitely today bc...ya...most likely at least dgbkjd

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racingtoaredlight · 5 years

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Leo Fender, Les Paul and the Birth of the Solid-Body Electric Guitar Industry

Interesting timing on a number of fronts...chiefly being that a book about this very subject is being released shortly.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve really dove into all the various design details that Leo Fender engineered in the 1950′s, and my favorite parts have been talking about the designs in a historical context. Design features like the foam mute on the P-Bass “ashtray” that helped combat issues with primitive amplification.

And while I’ve alluded to things like “there not being third party parts manufacturers at the time,” I never really touched on the industry in general. Given that some of what I’ve written the past few weeks might be fresh in the memory, it’s a good time to look at the two titans of the guitar world, and how things came to be.

***

The top picture is the two most famous electric guitar models ever made. On the left, a reissue 1957 Gibson Les Paul “Goldtop.” On the right, a reissue 1957 Fender Stratocaster. The bottom picture is the third most famous electric guitar model, an original 1952 Fender Telecaster.

Fun exercise time...I’m going to take every guitar player I mentioned in my Greatest Guitarist Series, and mark if they primarily played one of these three models. I’m going to strike any classical musicians, (non-fusion) jazz musicians, acoustic-primary guitarists and guitarists who made their impact before the Korean War.

Jimi Hendrix STRAT Eddie Van Halen *MODIFIED STRAT SRV STRAT Andres Segovia John McLaughlin Jimmy Page LES PAUL Eric Clapton STRAT (also played Les Pauls) David Gilmour STRAT (has played all 3) Steve Vai Danny Gatton TELE (has played all 3) Julian Bream Chet Atkins Pat Metheny Duane Allman LES PAUL Les Paul LES PAUL Ry Cooder STRAT (has played all 3) Yngwie Malmsteen STRAT Keith Richards TELE (has played all 3) Wes Montgomery Tony Iommi BB King Charlie Christian John Petrucci Prince TELE James Hetfield John Jorgenson TELE Chuck Berry (has played Les Pauls and Teles...famous for ES-335) Robert Johnson Steve Howe (has played Les Pauls and Teles...famous for ES-175) Joe Pass Al DiMeola LES PAUL Django Reinhardt James Burton TELE Brian May Jerry Garcia (has played Strats and Les Pauls) Paco de Lucia Paul Gilbert Eric Johnson STRAT (has played all 3) Brent Mason TELE Shawn Lane Muddy Waters TELE Buckethead Billy Gibbons LES PAUL (also plays Teles) Slash LES PAUL Larry Carlton (has played all 3, but his nickname was Mr. 335) Frank Zappa STRAT (has also played Les Pauls) Christopher Parkening Marty Friedman Robben Ford TELE (has played all 3) Jeff Beck STRAT (has played all 3) Buddy Guy STRAT Lowell George STRAT Mark Knopfler STRAT (has played all 3) Ritchie Blackmore STRAT Elmore James LES PAUL John Lee Hooker Joe Satriani Woody Guthrie Hank Marvin STRAT Kirk Hammett Dimebag Darrell Jerry Reed TELE

That is a decent representative list of great guitar players, and those three models...the Fender Telecaster, Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul...account for the easy majority. And even if a guitarist wasn’t known for one, they likely recorded with one at some point in their careers.

It’s easy to know where to attribute Fender’s success...Leo Fender was an engineering genius. Gibson, however, had an established reputation long before they ventured into the solid-body world...but they wouldn’t have made that transition if not for Les Paul.

***

The State of Things Today

Before we get into the feud, it’s probably a good idea to get to know where each of these two companies are today. The companies we’re going to talk about in 1952 bear little resemblance to each in the modern era, having both been passed from numerous ownership groups.

I’ve talked a lot about Leo Fender’s ouster at the hands of CBS...which led to the company’s darkest period which took more than a decade to dig out of. CBS themselves were ousted by a group of Fender employees in 1985, and the company they started (they couldn’t use the original facilities) now boasts annual revenues well over $500 million.

It’s reflected by the company’s offerings. Never attempting to be high-end our boutique, Fender’s brilliant branding allowed them to manufacture the same instruments that Leo designed, keeping costs low and making it easy to freshen up long-standing iconic models.

Gibson on the other hand, filed for bankruptcy last year. Long derided for resting on the laurels of their name, Gibson is another victim of predatory private equity...being used merely as a conduit to acquire more debt. Bad news intensifies...they’re also responsible for having strict international regulation regarding the types of wood used. Gibson got in deep doo doo for using illegally farmed woods, and varieties of woods that had been prohibited from foresting due to excessive use (Brazilian rosewood).

Their offerings were staid and stale. Any new innovations were seen by the guitar market as clumsy and hideous. And, making things worse, the nature of their guitars’ construction is much more expensive and labor-intensive than Fender’s ever could be.

Fender will live to see the next 50 years. Gibson likely will not...certainly not under this ownership group.

***

This is Les Paul holding his prototype solid-bodied electric guitar, nicknamed “The Log.” Yes, it looks ridiculous. No, another solid-bodied electric guitar did not exist at the time.

Les Paul had a longstanding relationship with Gibson. Gibson was good to him. Being a jazz guitarist, the whole Gibson lineup was perfect for Les, and they gave him ample ear to chew with all his (at the time) crazy ideas. It was a great partnership.

Me being a Fender fanboy and my comments regarding their business should by no means suggest that I’m not a fan of Gibson guitars. I absolutely love them, especially the Les Paul model. They feel like the guitar version of driving a Cadillac...smooth, comfortable, refined, classy.

But, like I said above, Gibson was a long established company even in the late 1940′s. They didn’t make gimmicks. They made works of art out of the finest woods that produced these beautiful, natural, organic tones. Even their electric hollow-body models replicated an acoustic tone as close as possible. Philosophically, it was going to take something major to get Gibson to budge.

"If you don't do something, Fender is going to rule the world."

-Les Paul

***

When Les Paul received Leo Fender’s prototype in 1951, he knew what it meant.

Sure, it was a gift in the sense that Leo Fender wanted him to have that instrument, but it wasn’t just an instrument, it was an overture. Gibson was a guitar behemoth that dominated an industry that was teetering on the edge of being revolutionized. Fender was that metaphorical disruptor. Both were already well aware of each other.

Fender wanted Les Paul on board, plain and simple. They were hardly even a real company at that point, and getting someone of Les Paul’s status on their roster would be a coup of epic proportions. From a marketing and branding perspective, Les Paul was a guitarist that could’ve established their brand before they even released a product catalog.

But that wasn’t it.

Les Paul’s reputation for having prototype solid-bodied guitars had created waves. He was a recording maven, had a giant audience, and whether Gibson wanted him to or not, exposed people to the sounds possible with a solid-bodied guitar. Leo Fender wasn’t a musician, but he was making the same type of noise within in the industry.

Fender sent out one of his right-hand men who reported back to him on the gift-giving. That dude thought Les Paul was kind of an egotistical dude and didn’t think much of it. Les Paul himself actually did like the instrument a lot...a huge amount given what he said to Gibson execs...and as the two guys who were leading the solid-bodied guitar revolution, there was equal parts kinship and rivalry.

*Les Paul with Leo Fender’s gift...a 1951 “Nocaster”...called that because Fender hadn’t come up with the name Telecaster yet, and there was no model under the Fender logo.

I don’t think it needs to be said that Les Paul ended up staying at Gibson.

***

In 1952, Gibson released their first solid-bodied model that had Les Paul’s name on it. It would define their company. Also in 1952, Leo Fender released the Telecaster (and Precision Bass), the genesis of the company that would grow into the largest guitar manufacturer in the world.

The sheer amount of music that’s been recorded using Les Pauls and Telecasters (as well as the Strat) is simply mind-boggling. It’s almost impossible to quantify.

While the electric guitar industry might be well past the point of peaking, they’re still a major part of American culture. Something that’s come to define us internationally as much as baseball or apple pie. And it’s these three models from Fender and Gibson that so many people are able to instantly identify, that have recorded so much iconic music, that will live on well into the future like a Stradivarius violin or Steinway piano.

And for a brief period in the early 1950′s, it almost came to be that the two most prominent figures in the modern electric guitar world joined forces. Almost. It’s a shame they didn’t...might have been a good thing, given that each was given full creative control without the other’s presence...but the modern musical world was largely impacted by these two guys tinkering around in their basements.

It’s a cool story and easy to let your imagination run wild about what they could have done together.

#music #fender #gibson #leo fender #les paul #telecaster #stratocaster

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captainkirkmccoy · 6 years

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Two friends from childhood vow to always be friends, but they grow apart when one of them moves away. Fast forward couple decades where one is successful and the other has fallen on harsh times and is homeless. The successful one takes in their old best friend and falls in love, but doesn't act on it because it would be taking advantage of them. The homeless friend gets back onto their feet, moves out and after getting a job and places of their own, asks out their friend on a date.

"Always and forever, you promised." Jimmy Kirk whispered from his sleeping bag just feet away from Leo's. They were sleeping in a pop-up tent behind the farmhouse, close enough that they could run inside if something spooked them and far enough away that they couldn't quite see Leo's mom and dad peeking at them from the wide kitchen windows. "Yeah, but only if you let me go to sleep, brat." Leo grumbled, rolling over so that he can get a glimpse of the lively fire that was still blazing from their s'mores attempt earlier. They ended up eating more marshmallows and chocolate than an actual put together s'more but the fire was still comfortable and he knew his parents would make sure it was out completely before they went to bed. Jim sat up, face lit up by the fire and freckles standing out against an otherwise pale face. He got so white in the winter that Leo's mama fed him extra servings of everything. "You can't promise something in exchange for something else. That won't count."Leo sighed. Jim was four-years-younger and his best friend regardless. They had shuffled together out of boredom and desperation--Leo's mama volunteering to babysit Jim when Winona first came to Madison, Georgia, with nothing to her name except a five-year-old shadow named Sam and a wailing baby. The town gossip said that Winona's husband had died on the day baby James was born and that she had fled Iowa as fast and as far as she could go."I meant it, okay? You'll be my best friend always and forever, no matter what."That seemed to appeal Jim, who snuggled back into his sleeping bag and fell asleep minutes later. Leo tried not to think what always and forever looked like and if that was a promise he would keep--even if he already knew he would do everything and anything to try. ***Leo was starting to hate the townhouse he had bought the year of his big promotion to head of surgery at Atlanta General. It was draftier than it seemed, too big and took too long to make it look presentable for when his mother came over. She had a penchant for announcing a visit a day before she would arrive, about to drop a bomb that would upset his fragile staus quo for months after she went back to Madison, leaving him untethered in Atlanta. Two years ago, it was that she was selling the farmhouse and relocating to the new over 50 community (more luxury than comfort). Last year it was that she was remarrying--fifteen years after David McCoy had passed away and twelve after she started vehemently protesting (and unfriending) anyone who tried to set her up. Her new beau, as she called him, was named Christopher Pike and he had moved to Georgia from San Francisco, where he spent years before retirement teaching at some prepatory for rich service brats. Two days ago, she had called and annouced that her and Chris were coming for the weekend--she was desperate to see her son before their Christmas vacation to England and Scotland and had decided to stage a Christmas brunch, lunch and dinner into the three days she would be invading his home. It wasn't as if he didn't have any room, it was just that he had finally gotten used to the quiet that three oversized stories afforded and had enjoyed being a confirmed bachelor, no matter his mother's protestations that he find someone after the divorce. But five-years post-marriage had made him comfortable with living alone, no one to balk at his long nights at the hospital, no one to nag him about not spending enough time being together. ***He was prepared for his mother and Christopher Pike. He was not prepared for Jimmy Kirk. "Hey," Jim said, a tad sheepishly, ducking his head as Leo stared, open-mouthed at the new arrival at his front door. "Leo, you remember, Jim, right?" Eleanora McCoy unwrapped her rather long multicolored scarf and set it on a hook provided by a sturdy wooden hall tree. Chris Pike still kept every stitch of winter clothing on, as if he was ready to bolt the first moment of trouble. Leo, still lost for words, nodded.

"Well, he's been staying with us for a bit and we couldn't leave him alone for Agnes Carlton and her harpies to devour him. And we knew you wouldn't mind--what with all the space you have! It'll be wonderful to catch up again, I'm sure."

Leo hadn't seen Jim in almost twenty-years. If his mama hadn't said something he wouldn't have believed that the scruffy, skinny guy in front of him was Jim Kirk--the same shit-stirring little brat that had been his best friend during childhood. Whenever he pictured Jim Kirk grown up, he pictured him somewhere cold--chopping wood in layers of flannel with a gorgeous wife and brood of equally adorable and raucous children. What he saw instead. despite the obvious gap in years and fact that he had indeed grew up, was an emaciated, rough looking kid. Unable to stop himself he shuffled forward and hugged him. The other man smelled of fresh air, salt and the lingering cologne that he knew Chris Pike wore, telling him that this jacket was a hand-me-down from the other man's closet. "Sorry," Jim whispered in his ear as they broke the hug but Leo was unsure of whatever the man could be sorry about. ***

"Before you start--" his mama said in the kitchen as she started unpacking vegetables from her trusty old farmer's market bag that must have been as old as Leo himself. "What were you thinking, mama? And did you hunt him down just to torture me?" He's sorting through the rest of her groceries with a purpose, desperate to let his hands do something as his mind races."He's homeless, Leo."The wrapped baguette that he was holding nearly drops to his hardwood floor. Before he can say anything else, Eleanora rushes on. "He contacted Chris," at Leo's confused look his mother said, "Old friend of the family, if you believe it or not. So he contacted Chris a few weeks ago about work. He came back to Georgia with nothing, Leo. And we haven't been able to find out what happened. God only knows where Winona is. bless her heart."

"And your solution is to leave him with me?"

"Well, I know you were close and you would still have been if --"If that bastard didn't insist on taking the Kirks away, left unsaid. The bastard being Winona's new husband, a brute of a man who everyone in town called "Gaston." He and Winona met at the factory that she worked at and he insisted on whisking the family away to greener pastures. Jim (like Leo) had been devastated. Madison was the only town he knew. The McCoys had even volunteered to keep Jim for a bit, to finish out the end of the year of seventh grade but Gaston had charmed Winona into packing up the clapboard house they lived in and moving to California, where he insisted they could become something more. Last he heard, Gaston had been forced out of the house after leaving the Kirks in shambles. Sam had run away, Jim had done a brief stint in a juvenile detention center and Winona had buried herself in work (she was the best engineer Madison had ever seen and apparently that went for Mountain View too)."Jimmy just needs to get on his feet, Leo. Chris is going to get him a job at the community college as soon as we get back and see about signing him up for some classes. He's apparently a genius, did you know?" Eleanora's eyes twinkled with pride. ***

It took four days of awkward side-stepping for Jim and Leo to get to know each other again. Once they did, they fell into the same banter and inside-jokes that had dominated most of their adolescent and pre-teen conversations. It took two weeks for Leo, now dubbed Bones as soon as Jim learned he was an old sawbones like his dad, to fall in love with his best friend. Once it happened, it felt inevitable. He couldn't imagine a time when he wasn't in love with Jim.But damn if the timing wasn't right. Jim's face still held that gaunt look that months of living in homeless shelters and on the streets did to a guy. He eventually got out the story from Jim: he had a good job at startup in Palo Alto. But when he walked in on his boss "harassing" one of their young interns, Jim got into an "altercation" and was fired (Jim was as vague as possible, probably in part for having told the story too many times and the rest because the vague terms made it easier to deal with). Because it was a startup, Jim had been living in the co-op that most of the engineers had shared and with that he had nothing but his car and the few belongings a sympathetic co-worker got for him. He stayed around the area in the hopes that he could get the rest of his things and maybe someone else would report the asshole to the cops so that Jim could at least get a reference and move on. In the end, he sold his car and bought a one-way plane ticket to the last place he felt home: Madison. "I'll make this up to you," Jim said, one night, pinks flush with the whisky they had shared from the highball glasses Leo inherited from his father. "Nah. That's what best friends do, kid. Always and forever, remember?"

***

A week later, Jim was gone. His bed was tidy and a note lay on a pillow, ripped out from the pad of DR. DAVID MCCOY that Leo realized the brat must have had after all these years. Thanks. It read. For Everything. His mother called him. "We're back. Is Jim ready to come to Madison? We can pick him up tomorrow."

Leo took a deep breath. "Jim's not here, Ma."

"What?" Her voice took on a shrill quality that she usually used when the dogs had accidents on her rugs. "What do you mean?" Her voice was far away and muffled as she said, "Chris! Leo says Jim's not there."

“He left.”

His mother let out a string of swear words that would have made Jim proud. “I’ll call you back, Leo. Chris is going to go looking.”

***

Months passed with Leo, Chris and Eleanora dividing their time between Atlanta, it’s suburbs, and Madison. They combed through every homeless shelter in the tri-state area, prowled the streets and alleys for Jim.

With every passing dead end brought Leo back to those few years after Jim left the first time and his father getting sick. He felt the deep pull of despair and melancholy as winter gave way to spring and spring gave way to a fucking horribly warm Summer.

He spent most of his weekends at the soup kitchen with his mother’s husband, who he realized he liked more for the way he never gave up on Jim, calling in favors, flying back to San Francisco, exhausting lead after lead until Leo wasn’t sure who was more miserable: him or Chris.

A year passed by the only way it could in this instance, slow and without much of anything to look forward to. Leo found himself talking to a real estate agent about selling the townhouse which was feeling less big and more like a prison without Jim in it.

***

“Ma, I just want a quiet Christmas.” He insisted on the phone, as he shoved some garland and lights into the closet. His mother had shipped them over in the hopes that it would inspire some holiday spirit but Leo wanted nothing to do with anything holiday or cheer.

He took the phone away from his ear to protect from her shrill response. His mother and her husband were staying home this Christmas and were insisting that he come back to Madison. He could think of nothing he’d rather do less.

“Ma, Jesus Ma, hold on.” He set the phone between his shoulder and cheek, hoping that the Chinese delivery was early and it wasn’t some carolers or something equally unpleasant.

He swung the door open and dropped his phone.

Jim Kirk, completely transformed from the last time he saw him, was standing at his front door. Jim Kirk who he had imagined showing up hundreds of times before, except real.

“Hey Bones,” The completely transformed Jim Kirk said, a smirk lighting up his face with mischief and purpose.

“Hey Jim.” Leo managed to get out, taking in his perfectly trimmed hair, the dark jacket that framed broad muscled shoulders, the healthy bright glean to his face.

“I’m sorry about...well, everything.”

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Jim nodded, swallowing hard. “I am.”

“Good, though my mama and Chris might demand some explanations.”

Jim looked away, the same sheepish expression that he’d seen just a year ago playing on his face. “Yeah. Definitely.”

“Do you want to come in?”

Jim shook his head. “No, Bones.”

Leo couldn’t help but let his shoulders sink at that. He could hear his mother’s high voice from the floor, demanding to know if Leo was still there.

“I want you to come out with me.”

“What?”

“You. Me. Like a date?”

Leo blinked.

“I’m here to cash in on my promise, Bones.”

“Promise?” Leo’s voice was a rasp as his mouth got drier and drier by the second.

“You know,” Jim’s grin widened. “Always and forever.”

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wineanddinosaur · 3 years

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VinePair Podcast: American Wine Has Boundless Potential

American wine has never been in a better place. Wine is now being made in all 50 states, and the map of exceptional wine regions has expanded well beyond California. From Virginia to Michigan, New Mexico to New York, Texas to Idaho, American grape growers and winemakers are finding exciting new sites for viticulture and, in many cases, unfamiliar varieties that are greatly expanding the boundaries and potential for domestic wine.

On this week’s VinePair Podcast, Adam Teeter and Zach Geballe are joined by VinePair tastings director Keith Beavers to give an overview of the current landscape of the American wine industry in conjunction with VinePair’s American Wine Month. They discuss the emerging wine regions in Paso Robles, the Columbia Gorge, and the Great Lakes, and ponder what America’s love of wine tourism will mean for these regions and others moving forward.

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Adam: From the Ritz Cracker display at Publix, I’m Adam Teeter. You don’t get it? But no, really from Brooklyn, New York, I’m Adam Teeter

Keith: From Brick City, I’m Keith Beavers

Zach: And in Seattle, Washington, very confused, I’m Zach Geballe.

A: And this is the VinePair Podcast. Zach, how are you confused? They had a press conference last weekend where Rudy Giuliani came live from the Four Seasons Total Landscaping instead of the Four Seasons Hotel.

Z: I guess…

A: So I’m coming live from the Ritz Cracker display instead of the Ritz Carlton.

Z: I got you. I feel like we’re like a week and a half late on this joke, though.

A: No, I think it’s good. I still think it’s hilarious. We’ll have to wait to see what it sounds like to the listeners, but anyways guys, so this podcast is all about American Wine Month. The month at VinePair, we’re devoting to all things U.S- made wine. I really want to thank our sponsors Virginia Wine, CakeBread Cellars, Domaine Carneros, and 3 Girls.

And I’m excited to talk to both of you about wine. Keith is our guest host, VinePair’s tasting director, for this week. But before we jump into that, we’ve been doing a pretty fun segment at the top of the show every week now about what everyone’s been drinking recently. I’m assuming you guys have been drinking some dope shit as of what happened last week. So Keith, what about you first?

K: Well, some dope shit is correct, Adam. Well, you know, American Wine Month at VinePair, I’ve been deep, deep, deep into American wine. And I’m really excited. I love Virginia wine, and I’ve been tasting some seriously great Virginia wine, and a lot has been sent to us. And it was kind of great. On Saturday, after the big announcement, I sat and drank a bottle of Jefferson Cabernet Franc from the area in which Thomas Jefferson allocated vineyard space, south of Monticello, to actually try to make America a wine-growing nation. And somebody came and they bought the property and they’re doing great things, and it’s just an amazing, beautiful Cabernet Franc so it kind of made sense. And I listened to the Jimmy Hendrix “Star-Spangled Banner” while I was drinking it.

A: Sweet. Zach, what about you, man?

Z: Well, I’ve also been on the American wine train, as I often am. And I think for me this past week, it was a lot of Willamette Valley Chardonnay. So Pinot Noir in the Willamette gets a lot of press, obviously. It’s by far what’s most widely grown and made there, but I’ve been really excited about Chardonnay from the Willamette and in particular a bottle from a producer called Cooper Mountain. Their old-vines Chardonnay, which I think date back to the late ’70s, some of the oldest Chardonnay plantings in the Willamette that are still in use and it was f****** delicious. So, I didn’t pair it with any music, Keith, I’m sorry. Well, pretty much all that gets played in my house these days are the songs my 2-year-old is obsessed with. So unless you really want to know how well Willamette Valley Chardonnay pairs with songs about bucket trucks and skid-steers, that’s another podcast.

A: Please, tell us more. So for me, that Saturday was a day I busted out the top stuff. And I’d had this bottle of Champagne in my house for a while and we just said, f*** it. So I opened a bottle of 2006 Pierre Jouët Belle Epoque Blanc de Blanc and it was awesome. ‘Cause I went out into the park in Fort Greene. Spike Lee was DJing, which was amazing. There was like a crazy amount of energy. And we just sat in the park myself, my wife Naomi, and Josh, who co-founded VinePair with me.

And we just drank the wine and it was really fun to watch everyone. And then people were sharing, you know, glasses and passing stuff back and forth. We had other things, too, but that was like the bottle that we popped first. You know, and it was just, you know, really memorable. And we actually, like, we brought coupes out with us.

It’s like whatever, let’s go full agro here. Just bring the glassware. And it was awesome. I mean, it was just a lot of fun, so that was, that was the most memorable thing I drank last week. Although I will say there was one other amazing experience I had, which was earlier in the day, actually that morning before everything got called, and this is why I was with Josh because I live in Brooklyn and Josh lives in Manhattan, so we don’t normally just find ourselves together when a random event like this occurs and everyone just decides to run out to somewhere and start drinking. But we had a meeting in the morning with Brian, this amazing entrepreneur who founded the sake distillery in Brooklyn called Brooklyn Kura, which now has pretty quickly over the past few years become known as the best Sake distillery outside of Japan. Sorry, sake brewery, and I’d never been to a sake brewery before, actually.

And first of all, the sakes were really delicious, but again, what do I know? I think they were very delicious. I enjoyed them, but I very easily admit that I don’t know a lot about sake, but these pleased my palate. And it was really cool to watch the process until I go back in the back with him and sort of understand how they’re actually making sake. Have either of you ever been to a sake brewery before?

K: No.

Z: I have, yeah, there’s one down in Oregon that I’ve been to.

A: It’s so interesting to watch what they’re doing. I didn’t realize how many people now are making more artisanal styles. Like, growing more artisanal-style rices in certain parts of the country. There’s a lot of really cool rice coming out of Arkansas, which I never would have thought of, and it was cool to watch. They don’t have the machine there that actually refines the rice. They’re actually able to still take advantage of the fact that there’s a lot of commercial sake distilleries in California. He was explaining all this stuff that we’re used to as Americans that sort of turned us off of sake, like the really warm sake bomb-type stuff.

None of that’s made in Japan. That’s all being made by Japanese companies, but in California, which I also didn’t know. But they have all these facilities where they can refine the rice. So they sell them to other people. But then there’s this one guy who he said is a little nuts, out of Chicago or maybe Indiana who’s started to set up his own sake place as well. And he went and bought his own refining machine. So he’ll take some of the more artisanal stuff and then sell them back to people like Brooklyn Kura.

K: This is insane.

A: It’s crazy. But then they soak the rice forever in water which I didn’t realize. And then the thing I didn’t realize is then they cook the rice and then they let a mold grow on it, and it’s actually the mold that creates the sugars that allows the fermentation.

Z: It’s really cool, too, because it’s like this weird kind of simultaneous fermentation. Well, not really two fermentations, but the Koji is producing the sugar out of the starch of the rice at the same time as yeasts are fermenting the sugar. So as you maybe saw some in-process as I have, it absolutely does not look like something you would want to ingest. It’s horrifying.

A: No, it doesn’t. Yeah. It’s literally like they’re just letting mold grow on rice and then when they go to brew it, it then comes out the way that it is, but he also had us taste some wild stuff. So first of all, another thing I didn’t realize was that sake doesn’t really age. He said that it can, but not in a way that you would think about with wine or things like that. Once it’s basically a cold temperature, it is what it is. He said there’s some funk, there’s some people doing some stuff in Japan where they are letting it sit for years and years. And it just changes. It just may not be the thing that everyone wants to drink. I kind of think it becomes a thing where like at the same time now people have a taste for Brett and stuff. It’s like, you get a taste for that kind of like weird funk that develops after the sake gets old. There’s definitely like a small population of sake drinkers that like that, but not a huge group. But that was super interesting to understand. And then they actually dry-hopped sake. And he poured it for us. And I literally thought that I was drinking liquid grapefruit juice. It was the craziest thing I’d ever tasted. And it was pink because it pulls out the colors from the hops, which is weird because hops are green, but for whatever reason, it ends up a pinkish-orange color, and they almost sell it as a rosé. And then of course they’re doing other stuff too. Like they’re making like a Pét-Nat sake. I was like, here we go.

Z: You really were in Brooklyn.

A: Yeah. I was in Brooklyn. I was in Industry City. But yeah, just shout out to them ‘cause they’re doing really cool stuff, and I thought it was delicious.

K: What was the alcohol on the dry-hopped?

A: It was like 12 percent or something like that. 12, 14. So, I mean it’ll hit you, but not in the way that other things will, it was very tasty.

I was very impressed and they’re of course trying to make sakes that they’re not encouraging you to then use as a spirits substitute for cocktails and stuff. Their whole goal is to have you drink the sake as it is. And also their big push, too, is to take it out of the American idea that you’re supposed to have it in those little short sake glasses. They obviously serve theirs in wine glasses and in smaller ones, more like what you would think of a white wine or something at a wedding. That’s kind of the way I think of what glass size they use. But he explained to me, too, where the small sake glass comes from, and it has nothing to do with aromas or anything like that. It’s that in Japanese culture, the more you’re serving the guests, the more pleasure it gives you. And so if it’s a smaller vessel, you have to serve your guests more often. And so that’s the only reason the sake glass is small, because we would constantly be refilling your person’s glass. And so that’s you showing yourself as being a very good host. But of course, Americans, as Brian joked, we see that glass and we’re like, “Sweet! It’s a shot.” We just throw it back. But yeah.

Z: This has been super interesting and I look forward to next year’s American sake month.

A: I know. Totally. But yeah, thanks Zach. You didn’t get the Ritz Cracker joke, now you’re just hating on my sake stuff.

Z: No, no I’m just saying let’s transition.

A: Well, yeah, let’s talk about American Wine Month. So I mean, all of us, we’re from different parts of the country. I mean I lived in the South for awhile. Then went to school in the South and moved up here. Zach you’re from the Northwest and then obviously went to school in New York. Keith’s from all over. Maryland, New York. So we’ve all sort of traveled a lot. And I think what’s really interesting about the United States is that first of all, as we know, there’s bonded wineries in all 50 States. As we noted, Zach, before we started the podcast, just being a bonded winery doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re making wine from vinifera, but they are making some sort of wine. But there’s really cool stuff happening all over the country. And I think what’s so exciting about it, is that it shows it’s not just about three or four of the regions that probably everyone knows. And there’s really amazing stuff coming from everywhere. And I guess my question to both of you guys to just start this is: Is there such a thing as American wine? What do you think American wine is? If someone said to you American wine, what would you immediately think of?

K: For me, I believe American wine is wine made from grapes that are not from here, by people that are not from here. We all came from somewhere else to be here, unless you’re an indigenous culture. And I think that American wine for me is defined by the ability to grow vines that are meant for the soils in which they’re grown in. And the wine is made in such a skillful way that it represents that area, whether it’s a Viognier, whether it’s Petit Manseng, whether it’s Cab Franc, whether it’s Grüner Veltliner, it doesn’t matter. In Texas they’re doing Tempranillo, and people dig it, but they’re also making fruit wine, you know? So I see American wine as this sort of Wild West mentality, but now finally with more information about science and technology, focusing more on the soil, more on where we grow grapes, why it’s good to grow them there. And then, making good wine. So that’s how I see it. And we’re not done yet. The Petaluma Gap in Sonoma was awarded in 2017. In Washington State, I just found out two weeks ago, two more AVAs were awarded in the Columbia Valley. So we’re still working on it, but I think that’s kind of what defines it to me.

Z: Yeah. And I think Keith you capture a really important piece here, which is what I often think about as well, which is this idea of — whether you want to use the Wild West metaphor — or to me, it’s just this idea that there was no existing wine culture in this country in terms of growing or consuming until quite recently. And some of what did exist was wiped out by Prohibition and it was slow to recover. And what’s been really exciting for me about American wine is that we are now at a place with the industry where it’s so much more developed and mature than it was 10, 15, 20 years ago. So that not everyone has to feel like they have to make a wine that refers to Europe. I mean, yes, the varieties, the cultivars, the clones, and of course the species itself is European in nature, but we are not necessarily seeing wine regions in the United States feel too confined by established European styles by saying, “Oh, well in Bordeaux, they plant these X number of varieties, and so those are the only things we can plant here.” Obviously you still see a lot of that. I don’t mean that those wines have disappeared. Of course they’re still very popular and rightfully so, but you do see experimentation with all kinds of different varieties and people saying, “Well, why can’t I grow a Spanish variety and a French variety and an Austrian variety and a Croatian variety all in my vineyard? I think they’ll work here. I want to make wines that are of these various styles or from these varieties. And I can do that.” And that’s a freedom that just does not exist in most other places. Few other places in the new world have similar spirits, but here in the U.S. we have this almost endless amount of land that could be potentially converted to viticulture, should someone want to do it.

A: Yeah, I think that’s true. I think the other thing that makes American wine so interesting is that this country is just so big. Every state is almost its own country. So, what works in the Finger Lakes may not necessarily work in Texas. But that’s OK because there’s other things that can work. And I think the thing that started to define American wine for me, which I really like, is that over the last decade, two decades even, there’s become less of a focus by a lot of the really top producers — and then everyone else has followed — of having to make a wine in America that tastes like a wine from the Old World. It’s like no, the Cabernet from Napa tastes like Cabernet from Napa. There’s less of that now. I remember even early on in my wine journey, I would go to the North Fork and the winemaker would say like, yeah, we’re really going for a Right Bank Bordeaux. And now you don’t hear that as much here. Why aren’t we saying no, this is a North Fork wine, right? This is what it is. And becoming more confident that, yes, we can take the grapes from Europe and the wines don’t have to be copies of the wines from Europe to be considered high quality and to be considered best in class and all of those things. They can be their own thing.

K: And what’s cool about that is the fact that what we did was, in trying to emulate European wine, we created our own styles. Which is really kind of cool. I mean, I know the meritage thing never really took where, you know, in California there was this word called meritage. And if you had a meritage if you used all the Bordeaux varieties and stuff, but we ended up making our own stuff and created our own style, which is really awesome.

A: Totally.

Z: Yeah. And I think actually to the point that you were making, Adam, as well, I think even more excitingly now, not only do you not hear wineries, and wine producers, wine regions say, “Oh yes, our wines are comparable to the wines of ‘pick your French region of choice.'” But even something like Napa, which is obviously an American wine region, I don’t even hear as many wineries, say, “Oh, we’re making a Cabernet like a Napa Cab.” There is a real understanding that what makes a lot of these parts of the country that are growing grapes and making wine so exciting is that they are their own thing. And yes, there��s going to always be some similarities. I mean, to some extent the character of each of these varieties or blends is going to show through, but it’s cool that whether you’re in Virginia, or Washington, or Oregon, or Texas, or Arizona, or any other place, I think the more that producers in those places can be comfortable saying, “We think we’re making a wine that’s really representative of this place and of these varieties of this place, of this vintage.” Those are the wines that I think all of us get excited about. And the wines that are harder to get excited about are someone who’s trying to make a replica of something that already exists. I mean, yeah. If you can make a wine that tastes like Château Margaux and it’s way cheaper, I guess that’s cool. But really the most exciting thing for me is to make a wine that is clearly and interestingly of the place it’s from. And this country has a lot of interesting, cool places. As you mentioned, Adam, it’s this incredibly vast country with incredibly different geology, climates. All these things that make for incredibly remarkable wine regions. And we’re just still scratching the surface. I mean, Keith, you mentioned how there’s new AVAs being awarded all over. And I mean, I was excited to see that Hawaii has now petitioned for its first AVA. The only wine I’ve ever tried from Hawaii is a pineapple wine, which was actually kind of good. But this is vinifera to be clear. But I think that’s super exciting and like, we don’t know. There’s all kinds of possibilities still out there. And the cool thing about wine is that it rewards exploration and experimentation and taking a chance. Of course, not all of them will work out, but there’s always that possibility.

A: My question to you guys is, over the last decade, we’ve seen new regions in Europe that have always existed, but have popped really big in the U.S. and more money has flooded in. So I’m thinking about, for example, like the Jura right? All of a sudden, a bunch of somms are talking about it and it was everywhere. Sicily, specifically Etna. And then all of a sudden, now you have Burgundy producers buying land there. You have Barbaresco and Barolo producers buying land there. What do you guys think? If there was a region that you think was going to pop next in the U.S. and you think, “Oh my God, this is the region that’s going to pop. And every single person is going to realize how great it is, and there’s gonna be money flooding in there.” Is there one or could you think of one?

K: Yeah. I mean, what’s cool about Washington State is it seems to be a really big — what is it, the second largest wine-producing region in the country? And there’s been some very significant investments there starting from back in the day. And I think we’re already seeing investment in Virginia. So to think of a brand new space —

A: No. I’m not saying brand new because you look and Etna existed forever, right? It just, all of a sudden, who knows what it was? It was someone saying like, “Oh my gosh, these are like Burgundy. And all of a sudden, everyone just started dumping money. Right? And it became the thing people were talking about. I’m just wondering, what are a few regions in the U.S. we think that there could be or, maybe there isn’t yet. Maybe there is, I agree with you that the thing I think is most ripe for it is Washington. And that’s honestly just because for whatever reason, Zach might think I’m kissing his a** right now. But for whatever reason, like that stage has flown under the radar for a really long time for no explainable reason.

Z: Allow me to explain why.

A: Please, because the explanation I’ve always heard is that Oregon just got there first or whatever, and people start talking about the Pinot Noirs, and people just forgot that Washington was there, but I’m sure there’s a better explanation than that.

Z: Well, I think that the biggest thing that’s changed about the wine industry in my time in it, and the way that consumers tend to think, is one of the things that worked against Washington for a long time was that it had no clear cut variety or style of wine that was the signature. And there’s certainly plenty of famous and highly priced Washington Cabernets and Cabernet-based blends. Pre-“Sideways,” there was a lot of emphasis on Merlot and I think Washington Merlot is actually really an exciting wine, for sure. But the strength of Washington is almost like the strength of the U.S. in a microcosm. It’s the diversity and it’s all the different things that can be made. And we’ve only, I think just in the last few years reached a place where in the American wine market, there’s actual interest in a lot of different kinds of wines, a lot of different varieties, a lot of different styles.

And so there are still the diehard “I only drink Pinot Noir. I only drink Cabernet. I only drink Chardonnay” folks, but most wine people that I meet these days or talk to, they’re interested in trying something new. And that’s where I think Washington has an incredible possibility, which is to say, “Hey, we are growing over a hundred different varieties.” There are people focusing on all kinds of different things in this state. There are wineries that focus exclusively on Spanish varieties. There are wineries that focus exclusively on white wines from the Rhône Valley and south of France. There are wineries that do just about everything in their own way in various different sizes. And the thing, to come to your question about a region, Adam, I actually think that one of the most exciting places in the country and a place that I think the same kind of people who got excited about the Jura are, or will be excited about, is the Columbia Gorge. And the biggest reason for that is that it is such an incredibly unusual appellation and growing region for Washington. So it’s on the border between Washington and Oregon. And unlike the vast majority of Washington, it’s actually relatively cool and a little bit more wet. So it isn’t as much of a sort of high desert environment like much of Eastern Washington. It’s much more like the Loire Valley in France in terms of its climate, but with a very different geology and a lot more elevation. And so you’re seeing people make amazing whites from both well-known varieties like Chardonnay, but also Grüner Veltliner. People are doing interesting things with Tocai Friulano and then you’re also seeing a lot of interesting cool- climate style reds, which has not been a big thing in Washington State for sure. But there’s interesting Pinot Noir there. There’s amazing Gamay, you’re seeing people do fun things with Cabernet Franc. And, and as you move to the eastern edge of the Columbia Gorge, you do get a little bit more of what we associate with the rest of Washington. So a little bit hotter, but you still have that real river influence. So it is its own area. And what’s cool is you have all the other things that I think draws people to places like the Jura is the producers are all pretty small. There’s no big wineries. So the wines are niche there, and they’re small production. And unfortunately it makes it hard to find some of those wines around the country, for sure. But for people who are interested in exploring, it’s an area where there’s a lot of interesting small- to medium-sized wineries who are doing fun things. And that’s definitely one area, again, because of my proximity is part, that I think is ripe for more discovery around the country.

K: Well, I think based on your question, Adam, this is I mean what it sounds like to me is the United States, we’re still working on it. You know, we have a lot of work to do because in 1980, the first AVA was awarded to Augusta, Mo. And then eight months later in 1981, the first AVA in California was awarded to Napa Valley. And since then, we’ve had 224 AVAs across the country. And for a long time, like I said earlier, people were forcing vines into soils that didn’t really work so much. But I think it’s not really about what the next exciting region is. I think it’s more about how we, as an American wine drinking culture, approach the places that exist. Maybe for example, Temecula has awesome wine. No one knows Temecula. Paso Robles.

A: I was waiting for it.

K: There it is. I am in love with that AVA. I think it’s an absolute phenomenon that it kind of flies under the radar because there’s a few brand names that are jiving on the American market that you can find in supermarkets in wine shops. But there’s also stuff that you can’t really get outside of Paso. Just like there’s things you can’t get out of Temecula, and things you can’t get out of Columbia Gorge. So I think that one of the things — and again, we’re in a pandemic and it’s different, but that’s not gonna last forever.

I guess what I’m saying is, we get to go to these places and see what these skilled winemakers are making. And I think the next thing with American drinking culture is to explore the diversity of the wines in the area. Let’s get people into Long Island Grüner Veltliner. And the thing is if you can’t get it, well the DTC, the direct-to-customer thing, is getting a little bit better. I think that celebrating what’s fun, and that in doing so we can actually educate the American wine consumer on more varieties, different kinds of cultivars and stuff. Like what’s Grüner Veltliner? Well, it’s this Austrian variety and it’s really awesome in Long Island, you know? So I think that’s where we should go next.

A: Yeah, I think, what’s difficult for people and I would say, you know, the best advice I could give about American wine is, don’t be scared to take a risk. And don’t turn your nose up just because you hear of a state and you’ve never heard that it makes wine before. Because I guarantee you there’s someone in that state making really great wine. Like when I’ve heard people be like, “Oh, Connecticut, they make wine? That can’t be good. Or New Jersey, New Jersey makes wine?” I mean I literally have not, which is a shame, ’cause I’m so close to New Jersey, there’s apparently a lot of amazing wineries in South Jersey. Yeah. You’re in New Jersey in Brick City, or Pennsylvania in Lancaster County, where my wife is from. She’s from Lancaster the city, but in the county, there’s an Amish guy that ripped up his farm and planted vineyards. And honestly, he makes a Merlot that’s amazing.

Z: I think the other area to think about and I’m super excited about, Adam — I think you and I like jokingly mentioned this way back in one of our very first podcasts – but it was like a lot of the states around the Great Lakes area where I think there’s really interesting potential, whether it’s in Michigan or potentially even in Wisconsin. As things start to change climatically, and as places get a little bit warmer potentially and drier during the summer, I think one thing that America doesn’t have a lot of are classic wine regions that are near large bodies of water that are not oceans. And when you compare that to Europe, the Finger Lakes are the one exception and we think the Finger Lakes are super exciting in part because of the possibility that that kind of viticulture provides. And I think you could see some really interesting wine coming out of those States in the next 10 to 20 years. I know one of the challenges for a lot of those areas is that traditionally they get so cold over the winter that there’s only a few varieties you can really plant that are cold-hardy. But, I think you’ve seen more and more development in understanding rootstocks and, and ways to shelter vines. That’s an area that I have my eye on. I think I’ve tried a couple of Rieslings from Michigan. That’s the extent of what I’ve tried from the Great Lakes, but, I’m really excited to see if there’s more investment and interest in putting some time into those.

K: Left Foot Charley and his no-residual, no-RS, no-residual-sugar Riesling from just North of Traverse city is just incredible. And what’s awesome is his winery is located in an old asylum. They took this asylum up in Michigan and then it closed down and they were repurposing it. It’s really intense.

A: Yeah. I mean, I think there’s a lot of opportunities, right? I mean, we’ve talked about Virginia a bunch. Obviously they sponsored American wine month, but we’ve been hot on Virginia for a long time. I think there’s a potential for it to be one of the great wine regions of the country. And especially on the East Coast, there’s a lot of stuff happening there that’s really exciting. And especially as the vintners are getting more up into the mountains, into the actual Shenandoah Mountains, they’re finding the cooler temperatures. They just have to deal with more stuff, and that’s the thing that’s going to be difficult, right? As some of these wine regions expand, how much are we going to be willing to also be OK with some of the things they need to do to be able to make good wine?

So, you know, in Virginia, they have to deal with a lot. And there’s a lot of humidity and stuff like that. And so being 100 percent organic is almost impossible, whereas it’s very easy in Napa. So is “sustainable” going to be enough? Right? Are we gonna be OK if they spray once or twice a year? ‘Cause they have to. I don’t know what it’s like in Texas. I just know Texas is super hot, but maybe it’s a dry heat. I don’t remember where it becomes a dry heat. So there’s gonna be things they have to do. There’s gonna be things that they have to do if we want to be able to have some of these different wine regions succeed. I think it’s crazy that we haven’t seen more. You look at certain regions like New Mexico, right? And the success of Gruet, and how amazing those sparkling wines are. And the fact that we haven’t had others yet, or I’m sure there are, but just other people haven’t followed in a really dramatic way. It surprises me to be honest. And that’s why I asked my original question, which was, you know, where do you guys think the money is going to come from, or what region do you see your money flooding into? And I wonder if it has a lot more to do with bias, right? Because there’s this amazing sparkling wine being made in New Mexico. And yet all the brands aren’t flooding in to be like, “We should be doing that, too. Look at what they’re doing.” This is a quality of wine that we can’t believe they’re being able to produce. And at this price point. Whereas when someone says, you know, Italy and Etna and everyone is like, “Oh yeah, of course Italy! Yeah. Dump the money in.” Or all of a sudden it’s like that bias of well, of course, it’s the Old World. And so they’ve always been making wine. So yeah, we all forgot about this region, but it’s always been there and is it easier for some people to accept for whatever reason when honestly, if you can produce great wine in a region, like why does it matter how long that region has been producing wine? Especially because if you look at the Sicilian history of producing wine, for a very long time, it was very, very bad. So how did that change? And the only thing that I can think of is the bias, that European bias.

Z: And I think the other piece of this is one thing we haven’t talked about and I don’t mean to get into a long conversation about, but a part of the American wine experience also has to do with tourism and visiting wineries. And I do think that one of the reasons you’ve seen a bias towards certain parts of the country is because those are places that are convenient for tourists, that are otherwise accessible, that are beautiful. And it may be the case that the beauty of the high desert in New Mexico, I think is actually very striking, but it’s not as much of an obvious tourist destination as Napa Valley. It also doesn’t have the density of other stuff to do. So I’m not saying there’s some reason, there’s a bad reason for that. And I think sometimes it’s hard to disentangle in the U.S. the difference between regions that are great wine destinations and great wine-producing regions. And those two things can be synonymous, but they’re not always, and some of the places that I’m excited about as regions that could produce great wine may never be places that are high on anyone’s travel list.

And that is also true in Europe, to be fair. I mean, I love the wines from Emilia-Romagna and I love the food from Emilia-Romagna in Italy, but it is not a pretty place. It’s basically flat and full of pig s***. And so, not every winery, and not every wine region is going to be beautiful or easy to access. But I think what we should be asking of these regions, whether they’re new or old, is that they be focused on quality and on producing the best wine they can. And it’s our job as journalists, as drinkers, to find those wines, to talk about them when they do merit discussion and to mention if it’s a great tourist destination or not, but you know, we’re all finding obviously in this year without tourism that there are other things that matter.

K: Well, the thing is the Finger Lakes is not easy to get to. And the Niagara Escarpment is not the easiest thing. It’s seven hours from New York driving, but it has become one of the national focuses of one grape: Riesling. But I think we can do it. It’s just a matter of, like Adam said, the bias. We need people to focus on it. And that’s the thing. In Europe, Sicily was mostly known for bulk wine, but there was always a small producer making awesome shit in Sicily. There’s always somebody down in Victoria making great wine and then one day is like, “Oh my gosh, I actually have people seeing me now.” It just takes a long time. And Gruet, it is unfortunate, but that was a very special thing where this guy from Champagne, the family comes over and sees potential there. And I wonder if they found the best spot for those, but nobody wants to compete with the amount of amazing wine they make there. Or Arizona, I mean, I had an amazing Malvasia from Arizona, and the AVAs in Arizona are not too far away from the large cities. So I think it just takes time, and we are a young nation. We’re only 240-something years old. We had 10 years of Prohibition. We weren’t really getting back into dry red wine and even white wine at all until the late 1960s. We’re still kind of figuring it out.

And I think that it makes sense that we would attach ourselves to “OK, well, Pinot Noir that’s Willamette. OK, I’m gonna do that.” “Cab that’s Napa. I’m gonna do that.” “Riesling, that’s Washington — well, now it’s New York. OK.” And we needed that. That’s kind of how the point system came across as these are things that America needed at a time when we were just trying to re-understand what we lost for 10 years. And I think that it’s just a matter of time before we really get a sense of this, but there’s an excitement that has to happen to make it happen when Virginia has been making wine for a long time. Jim Law has been there since like what, 1978? And Adam, you and I got to know Jim Law, like what, six years ago?

A: Eight years ago. I mean, before I started VinePair. Yeah I mean like eight or nine years ago, I think you’re the one who introduced me to him or somehow we found him together. And he’s highly respected, but then again he doesn’t care about being known outside of Virginia.

K: Right, but he mentored a bunch of people who do care. And you know, of course Barboursville helped, too. That’s I guess one of those investments where Barboursville was like, “OK. We see there was a family. We see what’s going on. We see we want to invest in that area.” I just think it’s going to take some time, but what’s cool about it is it’s very exciting. It’s very exciting. I think that in the future, we’re going to have more wine coming from the United States that is going to be more diverse and more fun to explore. I mean like, I’m going to go back to Paso real quick, Adam, if you’re cool with that.

A: No, please go back to Paso.

K: Paso is in this little plain area, and it used to be a place where the whole story is, outlaws could go into Paso and not be bothered ’cause it’s in this little patch of nothing. And actually, it was founded by two dudes and Jesse James’ uncle, actually. And it is this place that has always been sort of disconnected from everybody else. And when it became known to the rest of the United States, it was known mostly for Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. But when I went to Paso, I drank, there’s a grape called Clairette that is a blending varietal from France. I drank a Clairette that was 15 months on the lees, like a Muscadet. And it was absolutely delicious. I had a Picpoul de Pinet, which is another native grape from the southern part of France. I had a Falanghina that was absolutely stunning. And it was made in skin fermenting as an orange wine. My mind was blown. So I had to go there to actually enjoy it. And I’m hoping that at some point we can actually figure out, like you said, Zach, figure out this tourism thing. That’s who we are as a country. Tourism is what we do. And I hope we can figure it out because there’s so much to be had in these small little pockets of America and these little AVAs. I mean, I know Paso is huge, but I’m telling you like other places that might have stunning, amazing wine, like Malvasia from Arizona, but it’s just not on the market.

A: No, I think Zach’s point about tourism is really important, ‘cause I do think that’s what’s helped a lot of the regions, and I think that that’s what then causes your mind to be blown because you show up there and you have a great meal and every wine region needs one good restaurant, you know what I mean? Just something to tie it together, because I remember when I first went to Paso, driving down the coast, and like no winery really had a place to tell us to go to for lunch. This was eight or nine years ago. And there just wasn’t really an answer. So we wound up going to what was an OK cafe and, I was like, “Oh man, there’s such potential here.” Once they get that high-end restaurant, or once they get that place where it all goes together, because that is what Napa and Sonoma have going for them. That is what other regions have going for them, is just this ability to give you that one 360-degree experience.

K: And now Paso finally has it.

A: Exactly. And so, I think that matters, as annoying as that is. It does. But there’s just so much stuff, I mean, just talking we could talk for another 45 minutes about it, so much stuff about American wine is really exciting right now. And the best thing is to just get out there and try to drink it. And if you can’t get out there now because of the pandemic, totally understandable. So get online and just read as you were saying, Keith. Yeah. And hit up DTC, read our reviews. We try to write about a lot of different wine regions. If you’re an American wine region that we don’t write about, get in touch with us. We want to taste your wine, send it to us. Send it to Zach too, ’cause you know, he’s in Seattle. But yeah, I mean, we want to taste your wine. I mean, I think we have no bias here, and I think that’s the thing that’s most important for anyone thinking about getting into these other regions is, don’t go in with bias, because I’m promising you, there’s someone in these regions who is producing really, really great juice.

K: I’m getting a Müller-Thurgau from Oregon coming in tomorrow.

Z: There you go.

A: Crazy. Well, guys, this has been an awesome conversation. Keith, thanks for being our guest co-host this week. Zach, I’ll see you right back here next week.

Thanks so much for listening to the VinePair podcast. If you enjoy listening to us every week, please leave us a review or rating on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever it is that you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show. Now for the credits, VinePair produced by myself and Zach. It is also mixed and edited by him. Yeah, Zach, we know you do a lot. I’d also like to thank the entire VinePair team, including my co-founder, Josh and our associate editor, Cat. Thanks so much for listening. See you next week.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article VinePair Podcast: American Wine Has Boundless Potential appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/american-wine-podcast/

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johnboothus · 3 years

Text

VinePair Podcast: American Wine Has Boundless Potential

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Or Check Out the Conversation Here

Adam: From the Ritz Cracker display at Publix, I’m Adam Teeter. You don’t get it? But no, really from Brooklyn, New York, I’m Adam Teeter

Keith: From Brick City, I’m Keith Beavers

Zach: And in Seattle, Washington, very confused, I’m Zach Geballe.

Z: I guess…

A: So I’m coming live from the Ritz Cracker display instead of the Ritz Carlton.

Z: I got you. I feel like we’re like a week and a half late on this joke, though.

A: Sweet. Zach, what about you, man?

K: No.

Z: I have, yeah, there’s one down in Oregon that I’ve been to.

K: This is insane.

Z: You really were in Brooklyn.

A: Yeah. I was in Brooklyn. I was in Industry City. But yeah, just shout out to them ‘cause they’re doing really cool stuff, and I thought it was delicious.

K: What was the alcohol on the dry-hopped?

A: It was like 12 percent or something like that. 12, 14. So, I mean it’ll hit you, but not in the way that other things will, it was very tasty.

Z: This has been super interesting and I look forward to next year’s American sake month.

A: I know. Totally. But yeah, thanks Zach. You didn’t get the Ritz Cracker joke, now you’re just hating on my sake stuff.

Z: No, no I’m just saying let’s transition.

A: Totally.

Z: Yeah. And I think actually to the point that you were making, Adam, as well, I think even more excitingly now, not only do you not hear wineries, and wine producers, wine regions say, “Oh yes, our wines are comparable to the wines of ‘pick your French region of choice.'” But even something like Napa, which is obviously an American wine region, I don’t even hear as many wineries, say, “Oh, we’re making a Cabernet like a Napa Cab.” There is a real understanding that what makes a lot of these parts of the country that are growing grapes and making wine so exciting is that they are their own thing. And yes, there’s going to always be some similarities. I mean, to some extent the character of each of these varieties or blends is going to show through, but it’s cool that whether you’re in Virginia, or Washington, or Oregon, or Texas, or Arizona, or any other place, I think the more that producers in those places can be comfortable saying, “We think we’re making a wine that’s really representative of this place and of these varieties of this place, of this vintage.” Those are the wines that I think all of us get excited about. And the wines that are harder to get excited about are someone who’s trying to make a replica of something that already exists. I mean, yeah. If you can make a wine that tastes like Château Margaux and it’s way cheaper, I guess that’s cool. But really the most exciting thing for me is to make a wine that is clearly and interestingly of the place it’s from. And this country has a lot of interesting, cool places. As you mentioned, Adam, it’s this incredibly vast country with incredibly different geology, climates. All these things that make for incredibly remarkable wine regions. And we’re just still scratching the surface. I mean, Keith, you mentioned how there’s new AVAs being awarded all over. And I mean, I was excited to see that Hawaii has now petitioned for its first AVA. The only wine I’ve ever tried from Hawaii is a pineapple wine, which was actually kind of good. But this is vinifera to be clear. But I think that’s super exciting and like, we don’t know. There’s all kinds of possibilities still out there. And the cool thing about wine is that it rewards exploration and experimentation and taking a chance. Of course, not all of them will work out, but there’s always that possibility.

Z: Allow me to explain why.

A: I was waiting for it.

A: No, please go back to Paso.

K: And now Paso finally has it.

K: I’m getting a Müller-Thurgau from Oregon coming in tomorrow.

Z: There you go.

A: Crazy. Well, guys, this has been an awesome conversation. Keith, thanks for being our guest co-host this week. Zach, I’ll see you right back here next week.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article VinePair Podcast: American Wine Has Boundless Potential appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/american-wine-podcast/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/vinepair-podcast-american-wine-has-boundless-potential

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panticwritten · 6 years

Text

Breaking Furnace Book 1: Lockdown

Chapter 3: Down The Rabbit Hole, Alice

Here is chapter 3!

I’ve had to change quite a bit of formatting to post on tumblr because I am a fiend when it comes to using different fonts and tools and junk in my writing. If you want to read this chapter with its original formatting, you can do so here.

Table of contents!

All of my writing!

Remember that this is a daydream taking place in the Escape From Furnace universe, so keep that in mind if you haven’t read EFF.

Word count: 4485

Triggers for this chapter:

Being misgendered

Sexual harassment

As always, let me know if you need anything tagged.

Chapter four will be up on Friday, January 12th, at 7pm.

If you like what I do here, maybe consider buying me a Ko-fi or checking out my Patreon! I love being able to put so much out for free, but this would be a great way to show support and also see cool new content!

~-S-~

The process is a blur. Decontamination, new clothes, and waiting for the elevator. The suits stay in good spirits, though I try to be stern when they talk to me like a friend. I’m here as a prisoner, and they know it.

This isn’t going to help me stay safe in the prison. Already, each time one of the guards addresses me like an equal, Monty fixes me with an openly hostile glare. I doubt he’ll keep quiet about how close I am to the guards once we’re inside.

The awkward, one-sided conversation the blacksuits have been putting me through ceases when the elevator arrives. I rush in and ignore the whirring of the machine gun that comes to life on the roof of the car. The suits bid us—me, specifically—farewell, but I ignore them and glare at the floor.

The suits just laugh and begin to walk away as the doors shudder. The moment they close, I steel myself. We’re going down.

Underground.

I take a deep breath and try to put it from my mind. I’ve been here before, I can handle it now. Setting my shoulders, I wave a hand to freeze the camera pointed at us.

I gaze at the two new boys, polar opposites from each other, and try to figure them out. I don’t know how much sentience they have, or whether they’ll help or hinder the escape. I guess there’s only one way to find out.

“Camera’s off, we have the whole ride to talk.”

Jimmy, the tall, skinny one, immediately starts listing off questions. Some of them are things I want to explain to Alex and Zee, anyway, so it really doesn’t help me assess him. Are these his questions? Or mine?

“What did you mean when you said we’ll all get out of here? Didn’t you work for Furnace? How did you stop the camera? Stop time?” I raise a hand to stop him before he wastes the whole ride. I need to know.

“I meant that I’m blowing the lid off of this place. Again. There’s a reason I worked here, and it’s not because I’m a sadist. I—”

“You’re crazy,” Monty mutters. “No one’s getting out, you’re just a lunatic. Why do you think they sent you here instead of Max? Don’t listen to her, Jimmy.” He turns to Alex and Zee. “You two shouldn’t be buying into this, either.”

I look at him. I’m not sure how much of that was him and how much of it was me, but it hit home. Just a little bit, that hurt.

But that’s nothing new.

“This won’t be the first time I've had this place torn apart.” He scoffs, and I narrow my eyes. “We’ve beaten Furnace before. I mean, Zee even assaulted his warden a couple times.”

“Don’t drag me into this,” Zee mutters.

“Are you saying you aren’t scared of him?” Monty challenges. I start to laugh, maybe a little nervously. Christ, that’s not what I’m getting at at all.“And if you beat Furnace, what's the prison still doing here?”

“I-”

“And how are you freezing things?” Jimmy asks. I look back at him, surprised. That’s easy, something everyone in the Cube knows by now, so I think he’s mostly cognizant. I should probably be real with him, then.

“None of this is real, kiddo. It’s an elaborate daydream of mine, and you got caught in it.”

“What?”

“It’s a game, Jimmy,” I say with a dramatic sigh. “A fabricated world. You guys were supposed to be part of the scenery. I made a mistake, as cold as that sounds.” I shrug, itching at the skin on my arm concealing the key. It feels weird. “Anyone who dies wakes up somewhere safe. That includes you now, I think.”

The look on Monty’s face tells me he has something else to say, but the elevator begins to grind to a halt. I still don’t know about Monty, but that'll have to wait.

“Wait! I have to put the cameras back, we can talk about this later.” I wave the camera back on just as the doors begin to open.

At the front of the crowd in genpop, four familiar faces approach. The rest of the Skulls follow close behind them. I note that Donovan, Dominic, and Connor wear the black Skull bandannas along with the usual crowd. Kevin must have let them join the gang this time. Protection in exchange for another chance at getting out.

The idea of Donovan in the Skulls is so absurd that it takes me a second to remind myself of the eyes on me.

“Look what we have here. What’re you in for, girlie?” Kevin croons, stopping right at my feet.

I respond with what I hope is an easy smile.

“How nosy. Am I supposed to be scared, Chicken Pox?” I breathe. I lean forward and whisper in his ear. “Make it believable.”

I don’t get a chance to pull away before his fist sinks into my gut.

I double over, and he laughs, pushing me back. I sink to the floor, winded, and glare up at him. I guess I asked for that.

“Yeah, little girl, you should be scared,” he says with a smirk. The siren sounds before he can take it any further. He leaves without another word and joins the throng of inmates gathering in a yellow circle painted on the floor of the yard.

Alex and Zee help me up, and I take a moment to catch my breath. Jimmy hangs back, and Monty glances at me.

“You know him?” the short boy asks.

I wave him away, though I do bob my head in a nod. “ Kevin. He’s gonna keep us alive 'til the game really starts.”

The doors at the far side of the yard open with another siren blast. My stomach squirms at the reminder of where we are. I tell the others to stay sharp in a low voice, though Alex and Zee certainly don’t need telling.

Three blacksuits, the guards of Furnace Penitentiary, step out first with shotguns slung over their shoulders. Their grins, half-moons wider than should be possible, almost identify them more than the crisp black suits they wear.

Then come the wheezers. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I clench my fists. Withered soldiers, their gas masks hide the truth. Ancient tinkerers working on flesh and bone to create beings that are more than human. The cost, however…

Catastrophe.

Finally, the real monster emerges. Two of his giant, skinless dogs pant at his heels. His skin looks off, but it’s hard to tell exactly what it is at a glance. Leathery, dry, a mummy disguised as a businessman. The pits of his eyes are nearly impossible to look into.

I don’t need to see them, though, to know the truth. I see past his welcoming grin at the villain beneath. For an instant, I manage to catch his eye and it’s nearly too much. I feel the world peel away, my thoughts twisting. All of the nectar in the room, the prison, in this world almost brings me back. It almost turns me right here.

Instead, the prison snaps back into place and I glare defiantly at the warden of Furnace Penitentiary.

My adoptive brother, if I were to listen to Connor.

He begins his obviously rehearsed speech, promising us an easy stay if we follow the rules. I ignore him, having heard this many times before. It doesn’t take long for him to get down to business.

“Jessica Furnace. Prisoner number 201239. Cell A10, ground floor.” I breathe a sigh of relief. At least he gave me my own cell. I stride into the ring among shocked mutters that quickly morph into catcalls and jeers. I ignore them as the others are divvied out.

Alex goes with Donovan, Zee finds a boy named Carlton Jones, Monty grudgingly joins Kevin, who shoves him to the side. Pointedly ignoring Cross’s words, I don’t think to listen for Jimmy’s cellmate’s name, and I don’t recognize the boy he finds in the crowd.

We stand separated by the crowd and wait through the rest of Cross’s address. I don’t pay attention, scuffing my toe against the dusty ground. Paper shoes, a must have fashion item in this prison, already make me want to to cut my feet off. A siren sounds, and my brother smiles.

“Beneath Heaven is Hell. Beneath Hell is Furnace. Enjoy your stay.”

He moves to turn away, and I bring my hands together in a ringing clap. The clamour of the other inmates freezes. The warden’s dogs stop growling. The man himself is frozen in time. I watch him steadily for any sign that he isn’t affected.

After Monty and Jimmy, I certainly wouldn’t be surprised.

When he doesn’t move, I jog out of the crowd.

“Jess, hey—hey, Jess!” Dominic calls from the circle. I haven’t talked to him in a couple months, and I’m not quite ready to break that streak. Instead, I survey the blacksuit numbers.

It takes a while to walk through the prison and check all of the rooms, and in the end I only find fifteen of them. Fifteen guards watching over hundreds of inmates.

This isn’t up to regulation. I mean, I’m happy that they’re dropping shift numbers. I’m overjoyed about it. It just makes me feel like he isn’t taking me seriously.

How rude.

Now, the cameras. I skirt the edges of the yard, work areas, and above to find the small lenses. There are only two new ones. Neither of them close the blind-spots protecting our escape route. He’s still not taking me seriously.

Maybe he agrees that what happens here is secondary to the events after we leave genpop. Maybe he wants the excuse to tear us apart. Maybe he has plans for us when we reach the underbelly of the prison.

It doesn’t matter. I smile anyway, more to boost my confidence than anything, and stride to Cross himself. The boys’ quiet discussion makes me long to join them. I have one more thing to do, though.

“Hang on. What the hell are you doing?” Donovan shouts from behind me as I search through the warden’s pockets.

I keep my eyes resolutely away from his face, though I know he’s frozen where he stands. While my history with him means I can meet his eyes easier than most, I would really rather not.

Eventually, I find what I’m looking for in his jacket’s inside pocket. I press my free hand against the skin of my upper arm and the key rests in my hand when I pull it away. With a click, I convert it into a pen. When I touch it to my brother’s notepad, the words flow smoothly.

Still playing nice? Unexpected, coming from you. Maybe we’ll be able to speak face to face soon. Not too soon, though, I hope.

Perry.

I then replace the notepad and hide my key again. Alright, time to join the others.

It looks like Zee is explaining everything to the new kids. Just as well, now I won’t have to do it.

“Listen up!” I call. The words I mean to say dry up in my throat when my eyes land on Monty. I address him. “Now that you’re here, we need to step up our schedule.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he demands. The original crew shifts uncomfortably, but I merely blink at his immediate anger.

“Since you’re one of us, we need to get out of general population before they take you away. I wanted to save you this time, anyway, so I set up a warning ahead of time.”

“‘This time?’ ‘Take me away?’ What does that even mean?”

I glance at Zee, and he shrugs. He obviously didn’t mention our previous runs. I’m on my own here.

“Down below, Cross is experimenting on prisoners. Without intervention, he’ll take you and turn you into one of his soldiers.” I nod at a frozen blacksuit in Cross’s procession, if only to avoid Monty’s darkening glare. “Just like the rest.”

“So I was right,” he accuses, and I look back at him to find the same accusation I point at myself. I force myself not to look away. “You don’t actually care about us, do you?”

I stare blankly at him, trying to find the energy to respond to that. He doesn’t back down, but then, I didn’t exactly expect him to. I still don’t know if he’s one of us, or if his words come from myself. After a minute or so of silence, I avert my eyes and let out a breath.

“Listen, Monty. I’ve watched you get turned into a blacksuit more times than I can count. I decided that I can’t stand to see it again. You may be right, maybe I am a monster, but I would rather die than see another one of my friends be torn apart and sewn back together in this place.”

He doesn’t respond, so I turn to the others. Only Connor will meet my eyes. The others’ faces are twisted in semblances of grief. I set myself and begin again. I don’t want to think about this.

“I’ve shifted a few things in the prison’s schedule in the short time I had on the surface. When Gary gets here, we’ll have a week to prepare. We need him to get out of here.” I pause and consider what else I need to tell them upfront. “After we blow out, we probably won’t be able to talk in secret like this.”

“How'd it go last time? You know, if it’s so different now?”

I consider Jimmy and his question, trying to decide how much to tell him. The silence doesn’t last long enough to become awkward before I break it.

“I couldn’t save Monty. He was turned into a monster down below. I’d wormed myself into the Skulls in time to keep the gang from getting taken over by Gary.” My fingers remember the tacky blood, and I clench my fist to chase the feeling away as I speak. “We lost Kevin and I took control of the gang to keep things on track.”

“Hey.” Connor’s voice brings me back and I shake my head slightly. I turn to see him eying me with concern. I flash him a grimace before looking back at the now queasy-looking Jimmy.

“Gary picked a fight with me soon after and he was sent down to the infirmary early,” I continue briskly. “We almost didn’t get out of the prison because of that. It’s too dangerous to risk it again.”

“And that’s the only reason you wanted to save me?”

I turn my eyes back on Monty, not wanting to answer. He seems to take my silence to mean the worst, but I’m honestly just too exhausted to get into this with him.

“We already have some gas stored away,” Dominic blurts.

I give him a nod, grateful for the subject change, and return his smile. He doesn’t expand on his outburst, so I look to the others for confirmation.

Connor rolls his eyes and steps forward. “Not that much. It’ll probably shave off a couple days of gathering, though.”

I grin and finally relax. I can’t help myself, rounding the group to catch the old crowd in hugs. Kevin grumbles, Donovan laughs, Dominic smiles sheepishly, and Alex and Zee both hug me just as tightly. I save Connor for last, holding him longer and tighter than the others. When I pull back, I breathe a sigh of relief at how good he looks.

Healthy. Unhurt. Alive.

I wonder, again, how long he’s been here.

“God, I missed all of you so much,” I say, my hand still lingering on Connor’s arm. “Have you counted how many you have? Carried them to the crack?” I list out more questions that I don’t really expect answers to as Donovan leads the way to the chipping rooms.

Connor leans closer to whisper to me as we enter the wide room. I stop, and he pauses beside me, almost looking like he might turn into one of the two open rooms. “A lot longer than you, if you really want to know.”

“How long?” I press, my lips barely moving.

He doesn’t answer, striding ahead of me with an infuriating smile. He takes an offered helmet from Zee, turns its light on, and ducks into Room Two, the only entryway boarded up out of the three. I huff and cross the room to take a helmet of my own from the floor and join the others in the darkness of the blocked room.

Peering into the pitch black, it hits me again that we’re underground. There’s a mile or more of rock above my head, and I screw my eyes shut to try and push the thought away again. I’m fine.

I’m fine.

I’m always fine.

A hand closes around mine, and I open my eyes. Connor, his eyes shining in the light filtering in from the main chipping room, watches me steadily. I grip his hand tight, and he squeezes mine in return.

“Hey. You’ll start time again if you aren’t careful,” he says. The words sound like an admonishment, but his voice is gentle. I ground myself on those words and nod. He pats the top of my helmet, grinning.

He doesn’t let go of my hand, and I’m grateful.

I inspect the floor beneath the slats of the boards designating Room Two as off-limits. There aren’t any gloves here, so I shake off the last of my worry and continue into the room.

Lights dance further ahead, the others rushing on. We walk in relative silence, trying to ignore the eery echoing of voices up ahead. We pick our way over and around fallen rocks, evidence of the cave-in. I stop, once or twice, to take a breath and remind myself that this is fine.

Even if it would be all kinds of embarrassing to die in a cave-in when I’m planning on picking a fight with the closest thing to the devil I can imagine.

The gentle sound of the distant river quickly picks up, and I remember how Alex thought it was one of Cross’s dogs when he first discovered this place. It’s certainly loud enough, and the river is so much more dangerous than the dogs.

At least with the dogs, running sometimes works.

“You’re fifteen here, yeah?”

I look up to Connor. The beam of my light misses him, and his face stays in eerie darkness under his helmet. His eyes glint in the ambient light, bringing the silver eyes of Cross’s suits and rats to mind.

At the thought, his light jerks away and points straight ahead once more. I follow suit, keeping my eyes on the path ahead of us.

“Yeah. Sixteen next month,” I answer solemnly.

“Right, right,” he mutters, distracted. “Then it would be three years. A little more than that, maybe.”

I stop. Looking back up at Connor, my light hits his chest and lights up his face. He doesn’t seem bothered, but that’s so long.

Three years?

In the low light, I can’t tell if his expression is a smile or a grimace. He tugs on my hand and I trail behind him, shaking my head. If he really doesn’t mind, I shouldn’t worry about it.

We don’t talk for the rest of the journey, though it isn’t very far. We come to the gathering of our small group, the roar of the river beyond the rock wall overpowering almost everything else. The chill in the air soothes my frayed nerves, and I let go of Connor’s hand to join the others.

Donovan makes a wisecrack about the two of us taking so long, and I knock into his shoulder as I pass. Most of us laugh, but I catch Monty and Jimmy conversing near the edge of the group. I’ll leave them alone for now.

Instead, I focus on the long crack in the floor, maybe six inches wide, cutting through a few yards of the red rock. I trail my gaze along the break in the otherwise solid rock until my light falls on the collection of gloves poking out of the crack near the wall.

I immediately turn around and focus a feigned glare on Connor. .

“What?” He shrugs, not even trying to hide his snicker, and the sound broadens my grin.

“Only a few? Ass.” I can’t hold back my own gale of laughter when I run forward to count the yellow gloves.

We have a headstart of 30 gloves. We need about 150 if we want to break through the rock without death chasing us. Timing won’t be a problem at all now.

As we all leave the closed chipping room, I warn Kevin about my plans for the day.

He seems dubious, at best, but I’m not sure if that’s because of the plan or him thinking I’m wrong on principle. He doesn’t argue much though, which I take as an agreement.

I duck out of Room Two, last again, and make my way back to the yellow ring. I check to make sure that everyone’s back where they belong. Still, to be sure, I call out a warning before lifting my hands.

With a sharp clap, I return the flow of time to normal. I watch the warden, my gaze steady. He’s been dealing with the Cube long enough that he should be able to—

He pauses before leaving, straightening his jacket and scowling. I flash him a grin before turning away.

He knows, for better or for worse.

I meet with Alex, Jimmy, Monty, and Zee in front of my cell.

“So, normal life. We can hide the gloves in my empty bunk. Make sure you keep your heads down, the last thing we need is for the the other inmates to get wind of what’s going on.”

“Rubber gloves full of gas; do you really think I’m stupid enough to think that’ll work?” Monty scoffs.

This is getting more than a little exhausting. I’m almost 90% sure he’s not sentient, that he’s just me hitting myself over the head with a branch. I deserve it, probably.

“Think what you want. We all have more important shit to do than convince you that we’re right.”

~-S-~

I lounge in my cell, waiting for lunch. Sometimes, someone will notice me watching and make towards my cell. They always find themselves distracted by something or other, though. It takes several rounds of this for me to make the connection.

Skulls. Every time, a Skull distracts, deflects, or picks fights with anyone getting too close. Kevin must be behind that, the piece of garbage.

When the first few inmates begin drifting toward the mess hall, I stand and head that way as well. I might as well try to get some food for myself before I start a fight. Somehow, I make it there without any distractions.

How convenient.

Maybe I should check my settings, kick the difficulty up a notch. I allow myself a laugh at that, attracting a couple glances. I don’t know how I would even go about a change like that, but I can still hope.

The trough room itself is about the size of a high school gymnasium, rows of rusting tables fit with matching benches. I skirt around the edges, eyes on the counter surrounded by inmates clamouring for food, trying to ignore the open glares from those already seated.

They have every right to hate me, of course. I worked for Furnace, and most of these kids already know that. The ones that don’t will be filled in by the end of the day, I’m sure.

Approaching the counter, I lift a metal tray and follow the example of those ahead of me, holding it out in expectation of slop. It doesn’t look good, not in any sense, but it’s still food.

None comes, and I narrow my eyes at the boy behind the counter.

“We’re out,” he says in a deadpan as the kid next to him drops a spoonful of the gunk on another’s tray.

I tighten my grip on the tray, struggling to push the irritation down. I can’t start a fight, not yet. I force a smile and pull the tray back out of his reach.

“Of course,” I murmur. His answering grin is gloating. I drop the tray, watching his smile slip with the clatter of the metal on the counter. I turn and push back through the crowd to lean against the wall near the door.

I guess I’ll just wait.

Moments later, Kevin and a few Skulls, including Connor, filter into the trough room. Connor pauses when he sees me, but only barely. He recovers quickly and stays with the group.

They obviously have no trouble getting their food, as big, bad gang members. I scowl, watching them take a seat not far away.

I stare at them, frowning. Connor meets my gaze and leans over to whisper to Kevin. He doesn’t show any sign that he sees me and leisurely finishes his slop. I bite my tongue to quell my impatience.

Kevin drops his spoon.

I step forward. I watch with mild interest as a few of the gang members tense up, as if to stop me. None of them do it, though. In fact, they move aside as I approach. I stop across the table from Kevin.

“What d‘you want, Furnace?” he drawls.

“I have a proposal for you,” I say, all trace of my anxiety from the real world gone. “A game.”

“This ain’t the place for games, sweetheart,” Kevin answers.

Prick.

“A wager, then?” I concede. “Would you be interested in that? You certainly look the type.”

“Maybe we could work something out. Whatchu got in mind?”

“Well...” I tilt my head with a sly smile. “How about a fight?”

The Skulls laugh, but Kevin’s icy glare shuts them up fast. His apparent boredom only shifts marginally when he looks back to me.

“Who’s gonna fight?”

“Me,” I reach forward to tap his nose. “and you.”

He catches my hand when I’m pulling it back and refuses to let go. He gives me an intimidating glare, and I return his gaze with feigned innocence. He lets go and leans back.

“Whatchu want if you win?”

I drop the smile. “I want you to let my friends and I into your little gang here.”

His eyebrows shoot up, and he chuckles. “And if I win?”

I slide onto the table’s bench, finally letting go of the innocent air I’d been trying to maintain.

“I can do anything that you want, sweetheart, anything at all.” He sucks in a breath. I laugh and hold a hand out. “Deal?”

He eyes me for only a moment longer, then catches my hand in his.

“Deal.”

#writing #my writing #bf #sawyer perry #connor sawyer #tw: graphic violence #dominic #if you think this chapter is bad #you should have seen it before i edited it #bf writing #the collective

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fashournalist · 4 years

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Regular Segment: Favorite stories [July]

I have not done this for a long time since I was not able to work from home right away when the pandemic began. [See previous segment here]. For sure, there were several interesting stories that I missed in the past four months, but I’m glad I now have access to these real-life tales.

From a 105yo gym buff, to a new compere crush, to a public marriage proposal, to a 95yo optimistic coronavirus patient, to inspiring reports on world changers, and hilarious programs, here are my favorite news items/comperes/programs/interviews/callers this month!

The Project, Three

This is a 30-min evening TV program in New Zealand with the tagline ‘News Delivered Differently’. In as much as I find monitoring TV programs difficult--and any New Zealand content harder than usual--I am amazed that the fusion of these two would turn out to be my favorite! As their tagline suggests, this show is not the usual info-overload TV bulletin. They have fun regular segments including Daily Dose, where they feature three funny random videos from the internet, Scenes of New Zealand, where they showcase interesting photos of the country, and Whip Around where they send three comperes in different attractions across NZ. Their comperes (Kanoa Lloyd, Jesse Mulligan, Jeremy Corbett and Josh Thomson) are fun and bubbly. Plus, they have rotating guest panelists, who are usually comedians. It’s just a breath of fresh air. This program has a counterpart in Australia, shown on Channel Ten. They interview many interesting people, not just politicians. Which leads me to my next item.

Interview with Shaun Robinson, CEO, Mental Health Foundation.

You can read more about this in the article entitled “Mental Health Foundation chief executive Shaun Robinson explains why bipolar disorder can be hard to see”

Before the interview, there was a report on Kanye West being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. West broke down when he spoke about abortion during his campaign, and it was not his first public meltdown. His wife Kim Kardashian said West is a genuine person but he might say things that can get misinterpreted. Selena Gomez, Russell Brand and Mariah Carey also spoke about experiencing the same disorder. And Jimi Hendrix even wrote a song about it. Mulligan said Robinson is diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, and Robinson shared his story on how he reached out to people. Robinson said BPD is experienced differently by everyone who has it. He said for him, it was mainly depression and anxiety dispersed with occasional highs, while for others, it is more on the mania. I find it inspiring that he turned his struggles into something that can help other people. I salute all people who break the stigma on mental illnesses. He found success, he is now a CEO, and not just of any company, but of an entity that raises awareness on mental health.

Favorite host: Jesse Mulligan

He is my compere crush this month! Yes, from The Project. For sure you are not surprised. I mean, look at him, would you believe he is already 44!? In the past segment, the compere I featured was Jules Schiller of ABC Radio Adelaide because of our shared love for books and the Carpenters. Now, I’m featuring Mulligan. I don’t have much reason regarding our similarities, though, it’s just that I find him so handsome and he has an amazing personality haha. And obviously, I am just one of his several fans. Here’s a tribute written by one his stans.

Interview with Whangarei couple Lisa Grey and KJ Stowers.

This interview from The Project is about Stowers’ wedding proposal to Grey in the middle of Auckland traffic. He asked the question from a billboard!

But aside from I’m a hopeless romantic, the reason why I included this in my favorites Grey says she had a near-death experience two years ago and she thanks Jesus for saving her back then so she can reach this day. I’m amazed with how the Lord orchestrates events in our lives, as He prepares us to meet the people we have not met yet, be it future friends, future community we will help, or future partner in life. We just never know what God exactly has in store for us, all we know is that all those things to come are surely for our good. We just need to keep the faith and rely on Him, and live at the center of His will. So, uhm, Lord I am still believing for my Christ-centered marriage a decade from now (haha ehem) I used to say I will meet Mr 2024, but 2024 is too soon so let’s make it another decade haha. Anyway I might not stop talking about lovelife so let’s move on to the next item.

Interview with Gary Martin, Chief Executive, Australian Institute of Management WA.

This one is from 6PR. Its compere, Oliver Peterson, said ABC Chair Ita Buttrose has remarked that Millennials lack resilience and need hugs for reassurance. Martin said making a comment like that is not helpful and even insensitive, since people are experiencing a pandemic right now. What struck me the most was when he said “Millennials are more open to talk about their mental health problems and people confuse that with lack of resilience.” That’s very true. Isn’t it our strength that we can speak up about things that used to be hidden decades ago? There is still stigma on mental health today, but it was much worse back then. People could not speak up and had to keep it all to themselves. Just because we are open about it now does not make us lack resilience. In fact, it just shows how resilient we are because we bounce back despite all these struggles. Also, it’s just never good to generalize. There are people who lack resilience both in our and their generations. It depends on the person, not on their birth year. Anyhow, I find it interesting that the ABC has no article about this. Ha! Afraid to go against their Chair, perhaps.

News: Those with mental illness or disability are being supported by assistance dogs amid the pandemic, helping to save lives. Miracle Assistance Dogs is the only charity of its kind in NSW, but they can't keep up with demand due to the lack of resources. MAD is now calling on the Federal Government to offer a lifeline.

Interview with Josh Nanai, Jawsh685.

This is from The Project as well. Nanai, a Manaroa High student, collaborated with Jason Derulo and their song under Columbia Records was a number one hit in the UK. Derulo discovered the tune of Savage Love from Nanai's Jawsh 685 TikTok account. Nanai said he was surprised people liked the beat and people like Jennifer Lopez and Jimmy Fallon even danced to it! I was just smiling as I was monitoring this. My favorite part was when he said he has 16 friends who are proud of him, but he wants them to pursue their dreams as well. That’s a healthy friendship when you push each other up and inspire one another to make dreams happen. :)

Report on Trikes NZ

This one’s from The Project as well. Gosh! I must really love that program haha. I am touched with how Trikes NZ Manager Brian Gilbert is helping thousands of people embrace their freedom by giving mobility to those who could not walk. He has been designing custom trikes for people living with disabilities around the world. Luke Larnder, who is diagnosed with cerebral palsy, received a custom trike with the help of the Master Foundation. Dell has given Gilbert an XPS laptop for the change he is making.

Caller Russell and his dad, Vic Cornell

Last week, I monitored an emotional caller on ABC Radio Melbourne named Russell who said his father called him to say goodbye. His dad has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and is already 95yo. Russell ordered his dad to beat it. Rafael Epstein, the compere, interviewed Vic Cornell days after. Cornell urges fellow patients to fight the coronavirus. He also said he is a Carlton fan and he watched games at Princes Park. Days later, Carlton coach David Teague who gave a shout-out to Cornell! I mean it’s just touching to hear stories like this, of positivity in the midst of crisis. Vic was really ecstatic to hear the coach of his favorite team talking to him. I am really rooting for Vic to beat the disease. It is really different when you know the stories of each person, you’re reminded they are not just numbers. They are real people, someone’s loved one. I hope every case right now recovers.

105yo caller from Melrose

She said her secret is she just takes each day as it comes. It’s that simple but it hit me.

Last but not least, the 105yo gym buff!

Betty Kerr still works out each day until now. I feel embarrassed I am not working out when I am just a quarter of her age haha. As you can see, I am fond of stories involving centenarians, mostly because that is my dream for my Dad as well, that he lives for over 100 years (Amen In Jesus’ Name!)

So there, these are my favorites for July! Which one is your favorite?

Stay safe and God bless always :)

PS I sourced the photos from the articles, which are all linked here.

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firethatgrewsolow · 7 years

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Hey guys! Here’s part one of a more than fantastic little tale from my dear, dear friend @whisper-to-thunder. Please enjoy - I know I did! <333 Thank you, doll! LOVE IT.

A gift for the lovely @firethatgrewsolow. Part one is written from the Golden God’s POV. NSFW.

April 1995

Philadelphia Ritz-Carlton

There she was again, flitting around his dressing room doing God-knows-what. Probably completing some goddamned checklist he’s given her. Jimmy, ever the perfectionist. Everything had to be just fucking so, God forbid someone disturbed his pre-show rituals. Although I do have to admit, she’s been able to keep him on a fairly short leash as far as the shows are concerned. He’s on time for rehearsals and doesn’t start on the booze until after we’re finished. Suppose that’s all I can ask at this point.

There was something vaguely familiar about her–something that’s been on the very precipice of my mind since Jimmy introduced me to Janine, his ‘personal assistant.’ No, Robert, she’s not available to help with other duties. I’m paying her directly to handle all of my personal matters during the tour, which assuredly keeps her quite occupied.

Personal assistant my bloody arse, I thought. There’s no way that he’s not fucking her.

I had intended to visit some local clubs after tonight’s show, but I ended up having quite the number of drinks with Jimmy in the hotel bar. Not surprisingly, I was chatting with some of the roadies when I noticed Janine basically hauling Jimmy back up to his suite upstairs. No cock for you tonight, Janine, your ‘employer’ is past fifty and assuredly has a thorough case of whiskey dick.

Before heading back to my own room, I noticed Janine standing on the outdoor deck of the bar, smoking a cigarette and looking most…unsatisfied. Perhaps I should investigate this matter further. I ordered two drinks and made my way over to her.

“Oi, Janine,” I remarked. “Lovely night, innit? Care for a drink?”

She turned ‘round, and I felt an odd sense of deja vu. Where have I seen you before….

“Oh, Robert,” she replied. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were still here. And yes, I’d absolutely love a fucking drink right now.” She took the drink from my hand and much to my surprise, quickly downed it. Ah, so I was correct after all.

“Rough night?” I inquired. Rough night as in your boyfriend’s cock is broken.

“In a way, yes,” she affirmed. “Jimmy had a lot of…errands…that I needed to attend to tonight, and I’m just now finished.”

You’re full of shit, Janine. Perhaps I’ll make my move now…

“Ah, so you’re no longer obligated to the Dark Lord for the night?”

Janine laughed, taking a long drag from her cigarette. “One could say that.”

“Ah, quite good. So, since you have no other obligations tonight, perhaps you could come upstairs and keep an old man some company?” Almost there, Robert. She’ll be riding me in no time at all.

“What? Oh hell no,” she exclaimed. “Certainly not.”

WOT?

“Oh luv, wot do you mean? Come on, it’s nothing serious. Just a quick stress relief, well perhaps not quick…unless that’s wot you prefer. I just noticed that you seem a little tense, and I just so happen to have just the remedy right here…”

She sighed, exhaling the smoke from her cigarette into the night air. “Robert. Really? This ended poorly last time, and I have no desire to deal with poor treatment.”

“Last time? Wot do you mean?” I exclaimed. Ok, so I have met her before.

“Don’t you remember? Chicago, the last night, on the ‘77 tour. I’d gone backstage with Jimmy before the show, but he apparently had…indulged…in too much, and in the melee I ended up wandering around, completely confused. You…you found me, and we ended up back in your room…”

Finally, I could put two and two together. Ahhh yes, now I remember. That night back in ‘77, New York. Christ, Jim, he was worse for wear during the whole tour. It’s a wonder…a wonder that he’s still here after all of that. Food poisoning…Christ almighty, does anyone actually believe that?

Yes, yes, I remember Janine now.

April 10, 1977

I saw her there, a pretty little thing with slightly puffy blue eyes. Long dark blonde hair, perky little tits barely covered with a beaded crop top, and arse that a man can really grab on to.

I was worried about Jimmy, but Peter assured me that they had Badgley sorting him out and that he’d be fine in a few hours. Christ, what the fuck did he take? That bloody wanker ruined our show tonight. Perhaps I could use a pleasant distraction. Let’s see wot has this lovely thing in such a state.

“Hello there, love,” I greeted, placing my hand on her waist. “Everything alright?”

She jerked; I must have startled her. “Umm…sorry, I just…I’m not exactly sure what’s going on…I was supposed to wait back here for Jimmy, and…”

Damage control, Robert, that’s what Peter would do if he wasn’t all tied up with the disheveled dark lord right now. “Ah, love, say no more. Our Jimmy ended up eating a bad batch of ribs this afternoon, and well you know wot comes of that. Don’t you worry that pretty little head of yours, we have a doctor with him right now. He’ll be fine in the morning.”

“Oh,” she responded, the sadness evident in her tone.

Now wot kind of man would I be if I let this pretty little bird end her night on a sad note? Sir Robert, defender of forlorn beauties left high and dry by less than considerate junkies.

“There, there, luv,” I consoled. “Why don’t you come with me? No sense in ruining your night, after all, and I would much like the company…”

The spark lit up in her eyes in an instant. Within twenty minutes’ time, she was back in my suite at the Ritz-Carlton, naked in my bed and begging for my cock. Oh, she was quite something. It didn’t take much to seduce her, in fact, as soon as I’d locked the door behind us, her lips were against my throat while her hand was down me trousers. Yes, yes little girl, stroke it just like that. Ahh ahh ahh, no more touching until I can see those great tits of yours. Take it all off and get on that bed, luv. Yes, spread nice and wide for me…what a beautiful wet pussy. Is that all for me? Oh yes, ‘course it is, innit?

And so responsive too…I’d barely licked that hard tiny clit of hers before she was coming all around my fingers. What a delight you’ve missed here, Jim. Too bad, your loss. I took her the first time with her on top, as I often do, just to let her know wot exactly she’s working with for the night. Let her control the pace, let me see how much she can take. Little Janine was so hungry for me, that much was obvious. We ended up fucking three, maybe four times, until the morning. It didn’t take too much pot for me to convince her to let me take her from the back. Christ, I had her screaming my name over and over while I pounded my prick into that marvelous tight quim of hers. To top it all off, she sucked me off the next morning while I enjoyed room service breakfast and the morning paper. Bloody fucking hell, I had no more cum left in me balls after that night.

I’d intended to bring her along with me, at least for a little while, but then Audrey rang and was apparently on her way from Dallas. Alas, little Janine, you’ll have to be on your way. I told Cole to tell her some bullshit story about Peter wanting no distractions on the tour due to Jimmy’s condition, and gave him a few hundred dollars to put her up in a nice hotel room overnight, buy her a nice dinner, and get her on the next first class flight back home to Cincinnati the next morning. Yes, I felt a little bad for her, but I did give her quite the ride and more than four orgasms.

“Wot do you mean things ended up poorly?” I asked, confused. “I thought you had a good time, well, you know, at least four orgasms’ worth of a good time.”

The look on her face told me that she was completely furious. Wot did I do?

“You asshole. You take me back to your room for a romp and then have your road manager kick me out, leaving me at the Greyhound stop with a fucking overnight bus ticket, a fucking pack of Twinkies, and a goddamn can of Coke? Do you treat all groupies like cheap whores? I was stuck at that fucking disgusting bus station for nine hours, Robert,” she angrily spat.

Richard Cole, you fucking bloody cunt.

She stormed off before I quickly caught up to her, grabbing her by the arm and turning her around, holding her in place. “Janine, wait. Let me explain.”

To be continued…

#Robert Plant fanfic #submission

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