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doomedandstoned · 4 years

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Meet Judd Madden: Melbourne’s Most Prolific One-Man Band

~Interview by Shawn Gibson~

Art by Jeff Smith

How are you doing?

Pretty good! As good as we can in these strange times.

When you are not doing music you are doing web design. How busy does that keep you?

There's not much work on at the moment honestly, so personal projects have filled the void. And video games.

You live in Melbourne Australia right? Tell me a little about Melbourne and where you live.

Melbourne is home to 5 million people. It's a wonderful city with vibrant live music, restaurants, parks – anything you're into, you can find. I've lived here for 16 years and I absolutely love it.

How have the wildfires affected you?

We had smoke here in Melbourne for weeks, though Sydney was much worse. The bushfires (as we call them) were hell on earth for those nearby.

How are you holding up with the Corona virus affecting everything?

My wife is working from home now, with me, so that's nice. My friends and family are healthy and safe, but I miss seeing them in person – video chats and phone calls are just not the same.

I miss live music and being in a crowd, the physical space and sharing in the moment. Australia is doing well comparatively, we're a spacious country with a low population, and we're good at following rules like "stay home."

What places do you go to in Melbourne to see heavy music?

The Tote, The Bendigo, Max Watts (HiFi), The Forum. I can't fucking wait to get to a gig when all this is over.

What are some Australian bands you love and we should check out?

In the doom/metal scene there are so many. Droid, Dr Colossus, Pod People, Thaw, Holy Serpent, Lucifungus are some I've enjoyed live recently.

Glacial by Judd Madden

My first introduction to Judd Madden was Glacial. I loved it and checked the other albums on your Bandcamp page.

Oh, cool! That album featured my one and only music video; Mountain Slayer, which received great exposure.

Is there an album that was removed from your Bandcamp page? There was a song on an album that almost had a hardcore tempo, great bass line! I want to say something like against set. I wish I remembered!

Before Waterfall (the first album) was released I made dozens of rough songs, to see if I could do it all by myself, and to experiment. Most of them were bad. "Against Set" and some of the less bad songs are on the Old Doom & Demos album. Listening now, it's not that fast -- maybe you're thinking of something else? There are not a lot of fast songs in my catalogue, perhaps "Mouth" from Waterfall or Waterfall II?

Please tell me about 528hz (DNA repair). I have heard many frequencies in that range, higher and lower but never in a doom song!

It's from "Everything In Waves" which is about reality, energy, perception, matter, cosmos. In my research about wave-forms of all types, I stumbled across the "healing tones" genre, with its wild claims about specific frequencies.

The song is mostly tongue-in-cheek, but leaves the question open. Can listening to certain tones have healing/meditative benefits? Well, we don't know everything, right?

Feel No Pain by Dead End Thoughts

What prompted Dead End Thoughts?

The desire to create even heavier music, with vocals. It's a separate project, as my main catalogue doesn't have vocals – Dead End Thoughts is a different beast. I wanted a space to explore complex ideas, the edges of my mind and darkness. The songs are thematically and musically extremely heavy.

It doesn't come from a place of depression or anger, as some people have suggested, but a need to explore and create something original. If it's original I'm happy. Musically the songs are totally organic, it's a stream of consciousness in the jam, with vocals and instrument layers added after.

Dead End Thoughts recently released 'Feel No Pain' (2020). Please tell me about the spark that started the fire for this album.

Feel No Pain is created directly from live jams between myself on guitar and Dan on drums. It's an evolution from the first album, which I created recording guitar first and drums second (which was difficult).

When you jam with one melodic instrument and one rhythmic instrument, both are free (within reason) to do what they like. Adding a second melodic instrument like a bass usually requires more planning and results in more structured songs.

We enjoy seeing where things go. These five tracks were chosen from around 20 that we recorded throughout the year. I realised mid-year that this could be the next album; the riffs were of similar tone, and I wouldn't have to drum over them!

Once I added a second/third guitar, bass, and vocals, they no longer sounded like jams and became real songs -- but you can still feel the live energy. It's also not perfect, which I think makes it more interesting.

We surprise ourselves when we're jamming, there is no staleness from playing a rehearsed song over and over. Most of the riffs on the album were new to us as we played them. It's so much fun.

On 'Feel No Pain,' Dan Jolly plays drums and did the album artwork. Please tell me about him and his role in Dead End Thoughts.

Dan has been one of my best mates for many years. We've played a lot together, he's a fantastic drummer who's even more into doom metal than I am! He played on half of these tracks unaware that they would become an album, sorry Dan. (laughs)

Our drumming styles are actually pretty similar, but he's younger and more energetic. I asked him to do the album art, as I was doing all the production and extra instruments, so he could share ownership of the project. It's an awesome painting, we had it before the lyrics so I was able to connect with "By Burning Heat."

Colour High by Colour High

Tell me about Colour High and how that is different from the music you make most of the time.

Colour High is an electronic doom project, similar to the music in Stranger Things. It was made over two months very late at night, in headphones when I couldn't make noise.

I've always dabbled in electronic music, once I even 'played live' in 1999 with my brick of a computer and CRT monitor. I just sat behind it and pretended to be doing things -- I wasn't.

Colour High is all about exploring sounds, compositions, just having fun and enjoying a different process. Having the entire score and all instruments available when composing is very different to the track-by-track approach required for solo instrumental music.

What makes Judd Madden laugh?

Most things. My friends, my wife, my cat. I love TV shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Always Sunny, South Park, The Office. Love stand-up comedy -- hard to name just a few, but Dave Chappelle, Brian Regan, Bill Burr, Iliza Shlesinger, Joey Diaz, Dylan Moran and all the greats like Carlin, Seinfeld, Prior, etcetera!

Which bands have influenced you and the music you make?

My parents like Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Beatles, Metallica. 90's bands like Tool, RATM, Chili Peppers, Prodigy. Then I started getting into Kyuss, Sleep, Yob, and the amazing stoner rock/doom metal scene. It resonated strongly with me and I immediately wanted to make music in that genre.

Now I listen to anything good: jazz, classical, electro, darksynth, math, weird stuff like Scott Walker or doom bands like Conan, Bongripper, Aleph Null. Completely obsessed with an electronic artist called 2814, the album Birth of a New Day is a real trip.

Name some good books that you have read.

The Gap Cycle, Stephen Donaldson. The Nights Dawn Trilogy, Peter Hamilton. Enders Game Series, Orson Scott Card.I like big space operas, currently getting through The Culture series, but honestly I've fallen out of the habit of reading – I usually listen to music in headphones in bed.

How is the weed in Australia? Good?

It's illegal mate. But good, yes. I never touched it until I was 30 – now it's fun occasionally. I find it can help creativity, particularly with music. It can lower your ego, allow a more natural flow.

Is there anything you want to plug or promote?

Aside from the new album and the other projects we've discussed, my wife and I made Duel 52, a card game that you can play with a standard deck of cards. It's free and fun, if you're bored in lockdown check it out!

What is in the future for Judd Madden and Dead End Thoughts?

Once Dan and I can jam again we'll keep making music, and another heavy album. For my main project I have the beginnings of a lighter album similar to Float, spacey and guitar-heavy. Calm, meditative music to balance all this darkness.

Judd, thank you very much for your time! Stay safe and sane through these tough times!

Cheers, thank you for your support!

Waterfall II by Judd Madden

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#D&S Interviews #Judd Madden #Melbourne #Australia #Doom #Sludge #Metal #Doom Metal #one man band #Dead End Thoughts #Colour High #Doomed & Stoned

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losingmymindtonight · 6 years

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(inspired by a conversation with @parkrstark, who I adore and who is always willing to scream about irondad with me)

“Mister Stark?”

Tony’s head snaps up at the voice. The voice that belongs to a boy who was supposed to be asleep.

“Peter? What are you doing up?”

“I, uh...”

The first thing Tony notices is that the kid’s entire body is trembling. His hair is sticking up awkwardly and the billionaire can see where tear tracks have stained his cheeks. He’s off of the piano bench in an instant, moving to comb his fingers through Peter’s curls and tug at his shirt until it sits properly on his shoulders again.

He drops his voice into the soothing tone that never fails with the kid as he cups the side of his neck, tracing a thumb over the underside of his chin. “What’s wrong, buddy?”

Peter’s words are barely a mumble. There is shame there, and Tony wants nothing more than to snuff it out. “Nightmare.”

Oh, Peter.

The kid hadn’t been sleeping, well, at all, since Thanos. Tony knew that it would be sort of hypocritical to blame him. After all, every time he closed his eyes, Peter’s death danced in front of him like some kind of sick puppetshow. He couldn’t outrun it. He couldn’t repress it. It was as if even the deepest, darkest corners of his psyche kept vomiting the memories back up.

And Peter remembered. He remembered how it felt to have his body crumble into ash. He remembered how his spider senses had clawed at his lungs and how his accelerated healing had tried futilely to piece him back together. He remembered the after, too. The all-consuming darkness. The silence. The absence of anything at all.

These were the things he’d told Tony in between the nightmares. These were the things he couldn’t talk about when the sun was up.

Tony and May had been working vigorously on different methods to coax Peter into a much-needed full night of sleep. They’d learned that the teenager could usually get some rest if one of them stayed up with him, so they were trading the kid back and forth so both of them (mainly May, since Tony didn’t really sleep anyway) could get some rest in between their “Peter shifts.”

(“It’s co-parenting,” May had said, a tint of a laugh on her lips, “next thing you know, we’ll be going to PTA meetings together. I hope you’ve got an outfit picked out for his graduation, Stark.”

He did, by the way. Complete with a custom tie in Midtown colors.)

Tonight, Tony had slipped out of Peter’s room a couple of hours after the kid had finally passed out. He’d really hoped that the poor teenager might actually get a dreamless, uninterrupted sleep for once.

Evidently not.

“I-I was there, again. And-and you were trying to hold me together but you couldn’t and I just-”

The kid chokes off on a sob, wiping his nose on the sleeve of one of Tony’s SI sweatshirts that he’s taken to stealing. The older man shushes him gently and rubs the pads of his fingers against the nape of his neck.

“It’s over. I put you back together, remember? You’re okay.” Peter gives a half-hearted nod, eyes still stormy with the imprint of the memories, and Tony makes a split-second decision. “C’mere, kiddo. I wanna show you something.”

Curiosity lights up like lightning amidst the clouds in Peter’s eyes as his mentor leads him towards the piano. “What is it?”

Tony sits at the bench and tugs the teenager down beside him. “This was my mom’s.”

Peter starts. Tony doesn’t talk much about his parents, so it’s always momentous when he does. “Oh.”

The billionaire runs his fingers over the keys reverently. They feel right under his touch. If he really listens, he can almost hear his mother’s quiet hum. “She taught me how to play.”

“She did?”

“Yep.” He grips Peter’s shoulder and guides him down until he’s sprawled across the bench with his head pillowed in his mentor’s lap. “She used to play for me when I was sad or sick.”

Peter shifts so he can gaze up at Tony with a lazy smile. “Are you gonna play for me?”

“I am.” He brushes his fingertips over the kid’s forehead before moving both hands into the proper position on the keys. “And this is a special, secret performance just for you. So don’t tell anyone I can play, alright?”

The kid muffles a yawn against Tony’s stomach, and the older man can’t stop the fond expression that falls over his face. “Sure.”

“Good.” He starts off with a few scales to warm up before melting into one of the lullabies his mother used to play for him during really bad thunderstorms. He hums along gently, half focusing on the song and half focusing on the head resting against his thighs.

His plan was working. It only takes five minutes for Peter’s eyes to droop and the tension to melt away from his muscles. He’s gazing up at Tony, pupils shifting drowsily between his mentor’s face and hands.

The first song finishes, and the kid blinks slowly. “Mmm. Liked that one.”

Tony reaches down to retrieve Peter’s arm, which had slipped off the bench and was hanging with the knuckles scraping the floor, and drape it carefully over his stomach. “Yeah? Want another?”

The kid’s eyes slip shut. “Please.”

Tony lets his fingers play the next tune that’s in his muscle memory. Peter’s lips part and his head lolls slightly as he finally drifts off. The billionaire’s stomach swoops with pure affection as the kid unconsciously tangles his fingers into the hem of his t-shirt and nuzzles into his jeans.

I’m dedicating every day to you...

The lyric pops into his head unbidden. Before Thanos, Peter had been beyond obsessed with Hamilton, and Tony had ended up learning most of the songs simply through exposure. The only one he’d ever listened to by choice was Dear Theodosia.

Because, well, it reminded him of a certain Spider-kid.

That admission would have been impossible to acknowledge, even internally, before. But after having nearly lost Peter forever, Tony found it a lot easier to accept his love for the kid as a fact rather than push it away.

He’d printed off the sheet music and taught himself the song while Peter was… gone. He could still remember the way his hands fumbled on every other note as silent sobs tore through his chest.

His fingers found the keys again easily, and he took a brief second to be thankful for his eidetic memory as the lyrics and sheet music settled comfortable at the forefront of his mind.

He sang along softly, hoping that his voice might help soothe Peter into a peaceful, Thanos-free sleep.

Please, he thought, please just let him sleep.

“When you smile, you knock me out, I fall apart,” he’s a little surprised to find his voice thick with emotion as he murmurs the lyrics, “and I thought I was so smart.”

He glances down at Peter. He suddenly hates the fact that the song requires both his hands, because something inside him itches to tuck that errant curl back behind the kid’s ear.

“We’ll bleed and fight for you, we’ll make it right for you.”

I bled for him. I fought for him. I made it right again. I made it all right again.

“Oh Peter, when you smile I am undone, my son.” He swallows hard as the kid’s mouth twitches at the sound of his name. His next words come out so choked that it can barely even count as singing. “Look at my son…”

My kid. My son.

Peter.

He stops for a second, hands poised over the keys and eyes trained Peter’s peaceful face. He looks at the kid. Really, really looks at him. It’s a kind of scrutiny that would make the teenager blush and squirm if he were awake, but Tony can’t help it. His eyelashes are dark against his cheeks and there is something so overwhelmingly youthful about the kid that it steals his breath straight out of his lungs.

He would kill for this kid. He has killed for this kid. And he would do it over and over and over again without even a single ounce of regret.

When he starts the song again, his hands shake slightly with the vastness of it all. The emotions are swelling up in his stomach, a tangle of feeling that he cannot pull apart. Love, protectiveness, attachment, fear. They collide and crash and fill his body with so much weight that he wonders if he will be crushed by it. Can someone truly feel this much without being swept away?

“Pride is not the word I’m looking for… there is so much more inside me now.” The melody falters as he clenches his hands into fists before plowing forward. “Peter, you outshine the morning sun… my son.”

He wonders, suddenly, if Peter knows. Has Tony ever told him that he loved him? He doesn’t think so. Even when he’d come back from the literal dead, the billionaire hadn’t actually given voice to why he had torn apart the universe just for him.

I should tell him, he thinks, when he wakes up, I need to tell him.

“My father wasn’t around,” he thinks of Howard. He thinks of the whiskey on his breath and the reprimands on his tongue. He thinks of the whistle of a belt and the shattering of glass. He thinks about that fact that Peter will never know these things, “I swear that I’ll be around for you.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes.” I tore the universare apart to bring you home, and I’d do it again if that’s what it took. ““I’ll make a million mistakes.” I let you die. I let you die and I didn’t even comfort you. I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. “I’ll make the world safe and sound for you.”

I promise, Peter. I’ll leave something better for you. I would take this shitty world and turn it into gold if I could.

Hell, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

“And you’ll blow us all away, someday, someday,” Tony watches the kid’s eyelids flutter and feels a tender warmth swell up from his chest and fuzz through his hands, “yeah, you’ll blow us all away.”

Tony takes a deep breath as the notes fade into oblivion. One hand settles in Peter’s soft curls while the other checks his pulse, which is thudding strong with life but slow with sleep. The kid’s fidgeting has stilled, which usually means that he’s well and truly out.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.?” His voice is barely a whisper. “How’s he looking?”

His AI matches his volume. In fact, her answer is spoken so softly that he has to strain to hear it. “Mister Parker’s vitals are all normal. His brain waves indicate that he is in Stage 4 sleep. If you plan to move him to a more comfortable location, I suggest you do so in the next ten minutes before he reaches REM sleep.”

Tony wipes a bit of drool from Peter’s open mouth with the hem of his shirt. The kid sleeps soundly.

He knows that this is just one of many sleepless nights ahead. He knows that what Peter went through, what they all went through, cannot be healed by a Hamilton song and his mom’s old piano.

But, hell, it’s a start.

And, for now, that’s all they need.

#this is what happens when you let Shannon and I talk to eachother #we wrote this headcanon the other day and it's been HAUNTING me #so here it is #and it's all Shannon's fault #irondad #spiderson #tony & peter #tony stark #peter parker #iw spoilers #spoilers #infinity war spoilers #losingmymindtonight writes

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ninasfireescape · 5 years

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HADESTOWN

So yesterday (21st December) I saw hadestown at the National with @only-a-little-bit-dead, @ya-sudan and my mum. I’ve been a fan for a little over a year, having got into it through great comet (I would die for Amber Gray) so not only was it incredible getting to see it live but also to see her live and now I’ll give my thoughts/casual review of the production.

There are three theatre spaces at the National and it’s in the Olivier which is the biggest and is the one with the spinning stage which fits perfectly.

Also I completely underestimated how close to the front I would be. I booked for this side balcony bit but it’s actually right in front of the stage so I was only five feet from the actors and Amber and Eva made eye contact with me multiple times.

The set is this cute summer cafe but if you “look a little closer” you see it’s covered in mould. There’s also a bunch of posters up and one is for a jazz concert.

All of the cast enter at the beginning and Eurydice is rocking her look by French tucking her shirt (Tan would be proud). Hades and Persephone spend the first few songs just chilling up on the balcony and it makes it all the more ominous when he finally comes down in Way Down Hadestown. Persephone is fanning herself the whole way through.

I should mention this production is really diverse. Like not just racially but they’ve got dancers of all different sizes and body types and one dancer is an amputee as well.

When Hermes calls the Fates “three old women all dressed the same” they all glare at him and it’s really funny.

Eva is an amazing singer and she’s so beautiful and really small and Orpheus gives her lots of piggy backs

Persephone gives her her lil flower in Livin’ It Up On Top

I know lots of people were wondering about a sex scene in the show. I’d hardly call it a sex scene. It was Eurydice artfully straddling Orpheus for 0.2 seconds while fully clothed then rolling off him to sing All I’ve Ever Known

For no reason, Hermes whips out an umbrella and honestly? Iconic. (Also Hermes you know it’s bad luck to open an umbrella inside you’ve caused bad luck for Orpheus and Eurydice)

Like I said, Hades is on stage all the way up until Way Down Hadestown but we never hear him say anything until then so I expect for people who hadn’t heard the soundtrack before his voice must have been such a shock and the build up worth it. It’s actually surreal hearing a voice that deep live and my friends and I were all saying we wished our voices were that low

He and Persephone stand in the centre of the stage and then it just sinks below the floor. This trap door works a lot through the show but the first time is when they first go to Hadestown and it’s a big surprise at this point. Steam comes out and they just disappear.

The Fates act as the wind and tear off Eurydice’s coat so she’s just left with her half French-tucked shirt and it really opens the question of whether she actually died of exposure.

Meanwhile, Orpheus is just chilling writing his song at the side of the stage. I bet if we looked at that sheet of paper, it would just be pictures of his gf in hearts

Orpheus is really adorable ok.

And then he turns around and “oh my gf’s gone and I didn’t notice.”

Wait for me is really really really amazing. First of all, they’ve added some nice overlapping memories but there’s swinging lights overhead, smoke everywhere, and the workers have torches on their heads. It genuinely feels scary as the Fates follow him around going “Who are you?” so you feel he actually is facing dangers while walking to Hadestown.

Act 2 begins and Persephone is hiding flasks in amongst her basket of flowers. All the workers are really in love with her and one of them looks like he is about to faint when she puts her arm around him. Mood.

When she says “it’s right here waiting in my pay-per-view” she points at her forehead so I think Persephone’s speakeasy is ultimately just her sharing stories about being up on top and that’s how desperate the workers are to be out - that they’ll settle for stories about it.

Flowers is so beautiful, this is where you hear Eva’s voice the best.

Orpheus runs through the audience to her.

There’s this amazing dance sequence where Hades commands the workers to fight Orpheus

Hades has taken off his jacket and has a tattoo of a brick wall on one arm and another tattoo on the other but I can’t tell what it is.

If it’s true, also a gorgeous song, why did they cut this from the cast album?

All the workers end up banding behind Orpheus after this.

Now this is where a bit of bitterness comes in, they changed ALL the lyrics to Persephone’s verse in Chant II. I don’t mind most of the changes they made but this is bad, and they’ve also shoehorned in a verse sung by Orpheus which just doesn’t fit the tune but oh well.

“I CONDUCT THE ELECTRIC CITY!!!!” Patric’s voice is so powerful that there’s a burst of electricity and then a full blackout.

Epic III, Hades is crying, Persphone is crying, you’re crying, I’m crying, there’s a link between the two couples and Orpheus ends up starting a riot and the trap door bit in the middle rises up with him on top of it.

His Kiss The Riot is incredible to hear live as well with all the background music. The Fates all have instruments and are playing around him as well as the band. This is one of my favourite songs in the musical.

So Orpheus and Eurydice head back up and this section is really scary. The stage is spinning madly, Eurydice disappears off and you can barely see a thing, just smoke and shadows. Everything is really distorted as the set comes back together, shaking everything. There’s a new verse where you really see inside Orpheus’ head and though we all know he’s a dumb bitch, we understand why he would turn around because he thinks Hades is playing a trick on him.

Indeed, when Eurydice does reappear onstage to sing, she almost looks too happy, you can imagine her being some kind of vision sent to taunt him.

Light filters through this metal grate on the floor to show they’ve almost reached the surface and Orpheus is literally on the top step when he turns around. Eurydice slowly sinks back through the floor.

The play starts again at the beginning with Eurydice and Orpheus meeting again. I don’t quite know what it’s meant to be showing but I think it’s about how we tell the story again and again even though we know how it ends.

The bows take place. Here I was internally thinking “WHY WOULD THEY CUT PERSEPHONE’S FINAL SONG?”

However it comes after the bows. Hermes basically tells everyone to stop clapping and sit down without saying a word and Persephone sings I Raise My Cup.

Meeting the cast

I managed to meet everyone except for one of the fates

The cast all probably hate me because the pen I brought doesn’t work very well and Andre De Shields borrowed a gold sharpie from someone else and then wrote his name out with it in my programme in huge letters. He’s so fancy and I love it.

Apparently they were told English audiences are really cynical and were shocked by how lively we are. Then again, he does have a point. I’ve been to Hamilton London and the audience don’t even clap for “My name is Alexander Hamilton.”

My friends and I were pretty sure Reeve Carney was smashed when he came outside but he was really nice and had a long conversation with us. I know the discourse about him and honestly so unnecessary. I agree that the guy on the workshop has a better singing voice but Reeve is a great singer too and he can actually act. He is not to the detriment of the musical in any way.

The Fates seemed surprised I wanted a picture with them but they were really nice. I talked a lot to Gloria Onitiri and we joked about an actor’s salary when she asked if I was coming to Broadway and how I said “I’m a student so no”

I waited a loooooong time for Amber to come outside because I painted her a picture of her as Helene and Persephone. There was only one other person outside so I was just about to ask the doormen if I could leave my picture when she came out. She was soooo lovely and she really liked my painting. She said she’d take it to Broadway with her. She said no pictures which I was sad about but fair enough and I GOT TO MEET HER!

#hadestown #west end #hadestown london #alexia talks #alexia reviews

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laurelfishbear · 4 years

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youtube

His Yoke Is Easy from The Messiah by George Friderich Handel, The Academy of St. Martin In the Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner: I've posted before about one of my most influential choral conductors, who once told me that, "Handel was a German who wrote Italian operas for the English."

He meant far more than English audiences.

It is beyond curious that a race of people so determined to avoid awkwardness that they make every moment more awkward, should interpret this portion of The Messiah with such unfettered joy, and defiance.

Speaking of awkward, the interwebs wil tell you that the lyric here reads, "His burthen is light". But, what is a "burthen"? Is it some kind of burqa for childbearing women? For newborn babies? Or, is it simply some rotten ingredient in the word salad of some semi-literate gatekeeper?

Who knows? Maybe the English was baroque-en.

The truth is, if you want any sense of what these lyrics mean, you have to go to the source -- Jesus Himself, as quoted in Matthew 11:28-30.

Now that you get it, click the link, and crank it up. For your sweater-knitting auntie, for your bullet-journaling frenemy, for every "25 Things ..." blog post, for the Nazis past and present, play this one loud.

Merry Christmas, Baby, Otis Redding: In a season that's so often about temporary glitz and empty promises, it's good to remember that it's not Christmas unless it's got soul.

Redding doesn't bother to hide his anguish here. He's clearly thinking of other Christmases that weren't so merry, wondering if this one, too, will evaporate before his eyes. For someone like this, you shouldn't say it if you don't mean it.

What Child Is This, Paul Horn: With a choir of soprano, alto, and bass flutes, and a primitive octave splitter called a Multivider, jazz titan, Paul Horn (Chico Hamilton Quintet), created one of the least-known but most enduring holiday albums ever recorded.

The big reverb and parallel fifths would put this right at home on any Game of Thrones soundtrack, while the Scotch snaps in the bass give it a sort of traditional Christmas feel. But, his articulation -- so liquid he could almost be scatting -- puts the stamp of a jazzer all over this piece. The whole album is like this -- a heady brew of musical influences.

Christmas In Hollis, Run-D.M.C.: I'm hardly a connoisseur of this genre. What I do remember is this: While the media threatened us with nightmare images of wilding teens, and super predators, super-strengthened by crack, or angel dust, or ... whatever, Run-D.M.C. presented an almost-suburban story of naughty elves, a Christmas miracle, and as much traditional, Southern food as you could eat.

What followed years later was the discrediting of some doctoral candidate's super-predator theory, the acquittal of the so-called Central Park five, and the international exposure of Donald Trump, whose newspaper fanned the flames, as a liar, a bigot, and full-time attention-seeker.

Meanwhile, Run-D.M.C. are probably home for Christmas, rejoicing because they know exactly what's on the menu.

Drosselmeyer's Gifts from The Nutcracker, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet: Let's, once and for all, abandon the notion that The Nutcracker is merely bland, holiday fare for the kiddies. Russian culture -- about which Russia's president seems entirely clueless -- won't let you have that. And it shouldn't.

See, sometimes, we expect more than we should from mere human effort. Sometimes, gifts offer us more fear and frustration than uncomplicated joy.

These are probably good things to remember for those who celebrate the birth of someone who promised, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Christmastime Is Here, Vince Guaraldi Trio (above): Maybe it's that the melody starts on a note that begs to be resolved. Maybe it's the fact that they never quite hit the high notes on the head. In other words, maybe there was a method to Vince Guaraldi's madness.

None of that satisfactorily explains how a genius of cool jazz got a group of kids to deliver a performance suffused with melancholy.

Way back in 1965, The Vince Guaraldi Trio, and a handful of kids figured out how to say, in the language of music, exactly what Christmas means to some of us. I see you, Linus, and this performance gives me chills every time I hear it.

Gaudete, Steeleye Span: Ah, the 70s!

There's a corner of Twitter where people whose gravest concern was having zits for the Homecoming dance, tell themselves scary stories of How Bad It Was back then, assuming that all who read these dystopian fantasies not only Know What Is Meant, but agree wholeheartedly, with an accompanying shiver down their spines.

Personally, I liked it just fine when kids didn't kill other kids for shutting them out of the in crowd, and English folk rockers could sing a carol about Jesus's birth, a capella, in Latin, taking it to Number 1 on the charts, albeit in their home country.

Do They Know It's Christmas, Band Aid: When this single was released, I was deeply moved, as were many.

Older, ostensibly wiser friends strove to burst my bubble. They counseled that Band Aid's efforts were useless, that food sat rotting on the docks because the organizers hadn't the brains to do it right. Work harder, they said. Make money and spend it. There is nothing else. Your heroes are hopelessly filthy.

No.

See, we have no right to expect humans and human effort to be perfect. Purity culture was as ugly then as it is now.

There's more to life than getting and spending, and Band Aid proves it. The initial effort served as the springboard for major charitable projects by Bob Geldof, Midge Ure, and Bono -- efforts that continue to this day.

"We let in light, and we banish shade", the song goes. It's not just talking about flipping a switch.

Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem, Dailey and Vincent: Number One with a bullet -- or, maybe, it's a Bible. And why?

Because too many conservatives are dreading any kind of overtly-religious end to this countdown, even as they exploit the religious right in a last-ditch effort to grab more money, more power.

Forget about it.

See, physics may be the reason for the season, but Jesus is the reason Christians call it Christmas. All the ideological squeamishness (read: hypocrisy) on conservatives' part won't change that.

So, Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays -- take your pick. May the coming year give you enough courage to use the holiday greetings your conscience dictates, no matter who else is listening.

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jakejames09 · 5 years

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No Rostam, no problem? Vampire Weekend in the post-Rostam era

A group of high school kids starting a rock band is a great American past time. Especially for those kids cut from the baseball team, THE great American past time. The type of practice and commitment to collaboration it takes to become a good band or a good ball player is what makes both past times so appealing to the rest of us. It was the love of the songwriting process first. It was the smell of the fresh cut infield grass that got the particular individual in a single minded mission in trying to turn the past time he chose into art. Famous songwriters and performers loved and obsessed over the music they were recording long before the record deal came the same way pro athletes dedicate their lives to training years before draft day. That in itself, becoming successful at your chosen past time, turning it into art, and making a career out of it makes you all the more appealing to your inevitably growing fan base. Aside from giving their specific audiences an emotional release, the love also comes from the acknowledgement that none of what you had was inherited, it was earned from tireless hours seeking perfection way before any dollars rolled in. Sadly, most high school bands that scrape together money for studio time and college athletes who put it all on the line don’t ever come close to getting the recognition for their hard work. They certainly don’t get the money. This is not to say either activity is a waste of time. Almost everyone comes out the other end of a band or sports team a better person. Forming a band and being part of a team can build future team skills that can positively affect the participant in numerous aspects of life...but the money and fame escape him.

Fortunately for some already privileged Ivy League Scholars from New York the band casually started at a Columbia party turned into more than anyone could imagine on that alcohol fueled evening. Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson, and Chris Baio formed Vampire Weekend. (Excuse my oxford comma). From the very beginning it was clear that Vampire Weekend wasn’t just another band. Within 18 months of their inception, Vampire Weekend made a name for themselves on the indie scene. While some critics spent time whining about how much the band sounded like Paul Simon’s Graceland, most heard it as I did. An indie record at heart with accessible pop ideas that weren’t carried by synths and predictable filler but rather tribal African drum rhythms, live instrumentation, and brilliant, witty, self deprecating wordplay. This was highlighted on A-Punk, a self-referenial gem about New York City that ironically catapulted them to international stardom. The two members of the band benefitting the most from the increased acclaim and exposure was Ezra Koenig, lead singer and lyricist and Rostam Batmanglij, who was the multi-instrumentalist often credited with being the brainchild behind the bands entire sound.

“Rostam and I are the two main songwriters” Ezra said in an interview early in the bands career. With Contra, the 2010 follow up to their self titled debut that mythology continued to grow. The two of them became masters at employing subtle differences in their recording styles. Instead of using familiar echo sounds and various chamber effects that previously yielded glorious and simplistic pop harmonies, Rostam opted for a more digital sound. Contra did this while also staying true to the bands organic DIY style. From a critics standpoint this time around, it was more of a Talking Heads 80s experiment than a Paul Simon one. While Ezra remained a capable songwriter, he felt the liberty to have more fun with his vocal palette. On Contra, the band expanded the vocal possibilities. There was gibberish wailing on the standout track ‘White Sky’ and even distorted speed rap on the song ‘California English’; both came off as successful sonic endeavors. Rostam mixed Ezra’s vocals beautifully, knowing exactly when to let his feral tendencies run wild and when to harness them into gorgeous vocal textures. The winning team was making their pastime a thing of true art. A tandem now responsible for writing two of the most significant indie records of the new era. It seemed like a partnership that would yield classic tunes for years on end.

It initially seemed this way on the bands third LP Modern Vampires of the City. A level of maturation some detractors never thought the band could reach was on full display on MVOC. Rostam’s production (this time assisted by pop guru and future collaborator Ariel Rechtshaid) was darker and more experimental without losing a shred of accessibility. Ezra’s lyrics were far more introspective, dealing with themes of faith, mortality, and Dying Young. ‘Ya Hey’ is still the most ambitious undertaking of the bands career. Coming off as an eerie baroque pop anthem marching its way through a catchy uneven time signature with huge heart and a singalong melody made the song a special moment in the storied bands catalog. ‘Unbelievers’ is another one. One the surface the song seems like your average guitar pop bop but Ezra’s lyrics about mortality and the seriousness behind it add an appropriate darkness that gives an upbeat song a human feel. A feeling amplified and perfected on Hannah Hunt and Step. The two best tracks in the bands discography. The band hit full stride. Headlined major festivals. Won a Grammy. All while remaining true to their sound they were able to solidify themselves as serious artists with a singular vision. No longer prep school boys who create decent music by taking the best pieces of their influences and mashing them together, this was the sound of a band in total control of their past time.

It went unsaid, but it was understood, and well deserved, that Vampire Weekend would be enjoying a hiatus after the success and laborious touring schedule surrounding Modern Vampires. Even so, after the Grammy, the critical acclaim, the incredible sales numbers, something between the two main songwriters wasn’t right. So even though the latest release solidified the bands immediate legacy Rostam decided to leave the band indefinitely.

“My identity as a songwriter + producer needs to stand on its own.” Read Rostam’s public statement. The news instantly polarized fans. Many, like myself, criticized Rostam for leaving a good thing, while coming off extremely pretentious and ungrateful. The man is lucky enough to be cooped up in the most successful songwriting duo in modern day rock music, why would he feel unfulfilled achieving greatness in the setting of a great band? Why must his work stand outside the efforts of collaboration? Who does he think he is?

It was known that Rostam, the multi instrumental production guru was always responsible for the sound of Vampire Weekend, while Ezra supplied the lyrics. The parting seemed amicable, but all in all it left the future of the band in a precarious situation. What was Vampire Weekend without Rostam? That very question went years unanswered.

But in the years since Rostam left Vampire Weekend, he has had limited success in finding any traction as a solo artist. His best effort thus far has been a collaborative record with Hamilton Leithauser of the Walkmen. A brilliant record full of the same elegant strings, organic drum sections, and blissful pianos that were similar to the ones that came to define the sound of Vampire Weekend. Even so, it was still a behind the scenes production victory to add to his resume. As a front man, Rostam hasn’t achieved the same success. His debut album Half-Light, released in 2017 came and went without much of a peep from anyone. Indie circles overlooked it, it didn’t have a repeatable single, the vocals were shaky at best, and it passed before the world knew it existed. I think even I only gave it one listen. Since then, Rostam has not been able to find his voice. Whether or not he can be an important voice in pop music remains to be seen, the talent behind the boards is there but it’s time for him to realize what he can and cannot do. It takes a necessary self awareness to know ones limitations in any job, in any past time. A contact hitter who plays his role by getting on base doesn’t swing for the fences. I believe Rostam’s ego and infatuation with being the front man took him away from his true self a bit.

As Rostam struggled to find footing without the band, and as the years went on it seemed like Ezra was in the same boat. Years went on without a whisper of any new music and people started to wonder that same question: What is Vampire Weekend without Ezra? and more pressingly: Can Ezra write a Vampire Weekend album without him? The answer is both yes and no.

Enlisting in pop guru and Max Martin collaborator, Ezra and co. brought back Ariel Rechtshaid to give the band help in the production department. Ezra also used his smarts to understand the best way to go about marketing the new album. A record far more freewheeling than previous releases, Ezra became more eclectic than ever, and shared a plethora of wide-ranging singles way before the album was scheduled to drop.

The 18 track record is noted for its fusion of nonchalant broad-ranging grooves and witty pop songs about love, summer days, locking hate at the gate, and a few morbid things as well. Ariel creates a template of sunshine for Ezra to shine under, and the results are often satisfying. While this new album won’t go down in history as an instant classic like its predecessor, it’s still hard to consider Father of the Bride to be anything but a monumental success. Quality songs exist all through this thing that contain some of Ezra’s best wordplay. An arena tour on the way, good new songs to play, and first week sales eclipsing 140k. Say what you want about sales in today’s musical landscape, it’s impressive when a group of guys who still play guitars can sell 140k first week. It’s special. You would have a hard time listing bands that released their debut record after 2000 than can sell over 100k first week and sell out Madison Square Garden. What Vampire Weekend has is special.

Father of the Bride is the soundtrack to many good summer nights. I’ve already heard cuts out on the streets of Asbury Park NJ, backyard cookouts, and New York City bars alike. Can jam, car rides with the windows down, and poolside convos, Father of the Bride is a jubilant summer record that also has a thing or two you can learn from.

It’s a wonder to me, knowing what he knows now, if Rostam would make the same decision all over again. Joining a band is an American past time. Playing in a band that influences the masses on a grand stage is special and should be cherished and appreciated as such. Leaving such a beautiful situation seems hard to believe. Ezra has proved himself to be just fine without him. Rostam has time to blossom. He is still young and has shown shades of greatness (the production on Frank Ocean’s Ivy is otherworldly) but that once again, is a highlight in music production. Rostam, if you have a voice worth hearing, now is the time.

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nilesdaughter · 7 years

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I decided to post this separately, because it turned out about twice as long as my prompt responses usually are. Whoops.

Anyway, thank you @superfluouskeys for the prompt! Here’s another scene from my mobster Cullavellan AU for @dadrunkwriting.

More Hamilton lyric prompts can be found here and here.

Enansal felt her chest tighten a little when she saw Cullen pulling up to the boardwalk. Part of her, the emotional part ruled by her heart, prayed that this whole situation was a big misunderstanding. But part of her, the part that relied on evidence, the part that had been working on the mob case for nearly a year at that point...That part of her knew that it wasn’t a misunderstanding.

She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. She still wasn’t sure why she hadn’t just issued an arrest warrant for Cullen. Instead, she had only said that she wanted to talk to him. And, like the idiot she was, she requested that they meet at the boardwalk. While it was good that it was a public place, it was also one of their favorite dating spots. The boardwalk was loaded with too many emotions.

“Gods…” she groaned, rubbing her brow.

She hated herself for it, but...she was desperately hoping there could be some way for the two of them to fix this.

She swallowed, and tried to refocus her attention on the task at hand.

Cullen approached her, hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket. While his brow was slightly furrowed - he had picked up on how serious she was on the phone, after all - he was smiling, looking excited to see her.

Enansal swallowed again. She knew that no matter what happened, this would end poorly, one way or another.

Her expression probably failed to hide her anguish, because the small smile fell from Cullen’s face the closer he got.

“Nan…?” he asked, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder.

She sidestepped him before she could stop herself.

Their eyes met whilst Cullen’s outstretched hand remained suspended in the air. She watched as his expression shifted from hurt to confusion to realization. He straightened his shoulders and returned his hand to his pocket, his face now smoothed into a blank mask.

“How did you figure it out?” he asked, his voice surprisingly even. His tone was cool, with the barest traces of curiosity.

It nearly broke her heart.

“Well, you know how many groups I’ve managed to take down this year. I had no choice but to start investigating the larger ones, like the Inquisition. And I figured I’d utilize what research and notes I’ve already completed…” Enansal paused to allow her voice to settle a little bit since, at least to her own ears, it seemed that she was on the verge of tears.

“The hotel where we met...I went there to request a list of business sponsors,” she continued after a lengthy pause.

“I remember.”

She nodded, recalling that he had been meeting with the hotel manager before she’d arrived. It was probably because of him that she’d gotten what information she had.

“Well, I’ve been doing that with any other businesses rumored to have mob sponsorship. And...well...you sometimes use your middle name as an alias, don’t you?”

Cullen let out a single, bitter laugh. “I see.”

Her shoulders slumped. That was all the confirmation she needed. “I see,” she echoed.

He watched her for a long while, neither of them saying a word. “I knew you’d figure it out one day,” he eventually murmured.

“Oh?”

“You’re far more clever than you give yourself credit for, Enansal. I had my doubts at first, but if there was anyone that might finally do something about the mob families in this city…” he trailed off, sighing heavily.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.

He looked at her in surprise, and then he offered her a very tired smile. “For this very reason,” he said, gesturing between them.

“Then why did you start dating me?”

“At first, it was so that I could keep an eye on you. I didn’t want to risk exposure, but I also wanted to be able to help you in the process. All of those anonymous tips you’ve gotten during your investigation.”

“You were pointing me towards your enemies.”

“Yes.”

“So, what? Our entire relationship was just so you had a cop on the inside of the force? It was all a lie?”

“What? No! Why would you think it was a lie?”

She scoffed, irritation slowly beginning to overtake her sadness and trepidation. “You just said-”

“I said, ‘at first.’ After our first dinner together…” He stopped abruptly with a sigh.

After a pause, he swallowed and pressed on. “Enansal, you have to understand that when I turned in my own badge to the KPD, I was not the same person I had been when I had entered the force. I was traumatized and incredibly angry. When I joined the Inquisition, built it up...At that point in my life, I had given up on the thought of having a life outside of my work. While I did date occasionally, I never once imagined I would ever have a relationship.

“I don’t know what it was about that dinner, Nan, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I wanted to take you to dinner again. And again. I wanted to spend all of my free time with you. When I was with you, you made me forget about my role in the Underworld. The feelings I developed for you...The love that I have for you...Maker, help me, I’ve never felt like that before.

“I regret many things in my life. I can never hope to atone for them. But...Maker...Enansal, you made my life worthwhile again. If you can please trust me on one thing, let it be that my feelings are genuine,” he pleaded.

“...I felt the same,” she whispered, returning to the same hollow sadness she’d felt while waiting for him.

“Then…?” he started hopefully.

“Gods, I can’t do this, Cullen,” she admitted. “I love you. Truly, I do. But this...I can’t see you behind bars.”

“You don’t have to-”

“I can’t. I’m going to tell the Chief I can’t be on this case anymore, and pray she doesn’t ask too many questions. I can’t promise that the KPD won’t come after the Inquisition, but I will at least try to divert their attention without being too suspicious.”

“...Thank you.”

She nodded silently.

“I...sense that isn’t all you have to say…” Cullen said hesitantly.

“Venhendis, I love you. So much. But I can’t...I mean...I understand that your feelings are sincere. I believe you on that front. That still doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth.”

“Enansal…”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Cullen. I...I don’t think we can continue to see each other.”

His eyes widened. “Wh-what?”

“Not while I’m still on the force. And especially not if I leave the case. Cullen, I love you. Believe me, I do. But we can’t keep doing this when...Well…”

There was pain and regret writ across Cullen’s face, but he nodded. “Yes...Of course...You’re right. I...I shouldn’t have allowed this to continue for so long…”

“Then I suppose this is goodbye.”

“I suppose it is.”

Enansal nodded a little, and then turned to hurry down the pier towards her car, all the while trying to ignore the hot tears streaming down her face.

#superfluouskeys #da drunk writing circle #dragon age inquisition #cullavellan #mobster au #cullen rutherford #enansal lavellan #inquisitor lavellan #dragon age #dadwc #Tia writes

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dream-gardener · 7 years

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What In Tarnation V4: The Movie

Tagged by this cutie -> lifecanbeineffable

Rules: Answer all the questions, add one question of your own at the end, and then tag people.

Coke or Pepsi? Coke

Disney or Dreamworks? Disney

Coffee or tea? Tea

Books or movies? It depends, but probably books

Windows or Mac? Windows, you fiend

DC or Marvel? ...Deadpool

XBox or Playstation? My laptop

Dragon Age or Mass Effect? I haven’t played either so Dragon Age because dragons

Night owl or early riser? Night owl

Cards or chess? Cards because of all the possibilities

Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate

Vans or Converse? Converse

Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash? ...Deadpool

Paragon or Renegade? d e a d p o o l

Star Wars or Star Trek? Star Wars

One episode per week or binge watch? Binge

Gandalf or Obi Wan? BATTLE TO THE DEATH THE WINNER TAKES THE TITLE OF THE BEST

Heroes or villains? A Villain who thinks they’re the hero

John Williams or Hans Zimmer? John

Disneyland/world or Six flags? Disney

Forest or sea? Both???

Flying or reading minds? Reading minds. I’ll finally be able to confirm that everyone hates me.

Twin Peaks or Northern Exposure? I have only heard of Twin Peaks the restaurant and I don’t like them so Northern Exposure I guess

Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings? Harry Potter

You’re banished to a deserted island, which Benedict Cumberbatch character would you choose to take with you? Doctor Strange because it’s the only thing I’ve seen him in.

Train or cruise ship? I’ve never been on a train, but they sound cool, so trains.

Brian Cox or Neil DeGrasse Tyson? Bill Nye

Art museum or science museum? Both

Irish pub or night club? Sitting at home, watching old movies, nursing a bottle of wine

Aang or Korra? Aang

Swimming in a pool or lake? Pool

Classical music or classical literature? Literature

Oxford comma or no Oxford comma? Oxford Comma

Digital or paper books? Paper.

Rainy days or sunny days? Rainy

Fantasy or science fiction? It depends on the book

Poetry or prose? Poetry because the definition of “prose” is weird

Music or lyrics? Music with lyrics

Kissing or cuddling? Both?????

Dancing or movies for date night? Movies

Sea or space? Both??

MBTI or zodiac? Zodiac because I see Zodiac stuff more often

Netflix or YouTube? Netflix

Plushies or pets? Both, but if I had to choose, pets

Pizza or nachos? Pizza

If you could speak to one person from history and tell them everything you know about the modern day, who would it be? I’d tell Alexander Hamilton what we did to him, Susan B. Anthony what we haven’t done, and my Dad what he missed out on.

Have everyone in your family read your blog or have them read your internet history? ..No

To meme, or not to meme? TO MEME

I tag @akasunanoalicia and @voltageisasin because I love them

#tag thing

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blschaos3000-blog · 4 years

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Its 9:00 pm warm/humid

Welcome to “8 Questions With……”

So I watched and reviewed the terrific “To The New Girl” I was lucky enough to interview the playwright who wrote it,Sam Macher. I found myself really wanting to interview the actress whose segment that moved me the most as well. That actress is our guest for today,Samantha Carro,who not only played the ill-fated Elissa in the film but also originated the part in the stage play as well. Samantha’s performance is the most heartbreaking tale of the film and it is the one that spoke to me in that Elissa is losing her soulmate and feels completely devastated. It was her compelling performance that had me reach and ask Samantha if we could talk and she agreed to our request. I truly hope that Samantha’s breakout role in “To The New Girl” will lead to more work on the small and big screen because she definitely worth watching,while live theater is rewarding to the artist,it doesn’t provide the exposure that film does. But for now,you really need to see “To The New Girl” which is playing on Amazon Prime. Before you do,stay and read Samantha’s answers as I ask her 8 Questions…..

Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit of your background.

My name is Samantha Carro. I am a born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. As a child I did pageants, and commercials. In college, I studied dance, and theater. I also love to karaoke! I recently married my best friend and now we have a beautiful little girl.

How are you handling the pandemic and what are you doing to stay creative?

We’ve been on lockdown. It kind of feels like we’re living in a petri dish. It’s a scary time. But I am enjoying having the family together. Its bittersweet though because you have all this time together and you cannot go anywhere. We do have a lot of fun at home. I have a toddler and its helped me to stay creative. I have to come up with new ways to challenge her and keep her entertained. Other than playtime, I enjoy writing, painting, and playing my ukulele.

When did you decide you wanted to become a performer?

Actually, as a child I did pageants and a couple commercials. I was a little shy but when it was time to perform, I lit up. I knew I loved to perform but at the time I did not love the business side of it. I was 7 and I wanted to play with my friends, not go on auditions. Coincidentally, my manager at the time suggested I take some time off to get my teeth fixed. That seemed like perfect timing to me. A few years later, I went to see my sister perform in a high school dance production. I remember watching her in awe, and thinking I really want to do that. So, I found a dance class and began training. Dancing was really my passion and it got me back on stage. I decided I wanted to get back into the business, so I began taking the steps to build my resume.

How did you land the part of “Elissa” for “To The New Girl”? Had you ever done spoken word or poetry before landing the role? How hard was it to get the spoken word part down? You performed the role onstage every night,did you ever have trouble leaving Elissa after you performed?

I originated the role on stage in L.A. in its very first production. I was a member of SkyPilot Theater Co., Samantha Macher was a resident playwright for the company. I auditioned and got the role. It is my understanding that Elissa’s segment was not to be in the film. Once filming began, they changed their minds and at the last minute decided to add the Elissa segment. Samantha Macher told the team that she knew an actress that knew the role. Me! She called me and asked if I was available to do it and I was beyond flattered. I know this play has been produced many times, in many states, by many actresses. So, to have Sam ask me, meant a lot to me. Prior to performing this piece, I had never done spoken word or poetry. I have written poetry, but I’ve never read any on stage. Surprisingly, it was not that difficult to memorize. I feel like I was just telling a love story. That is how I learn any script. I feel like if you know the story, (the beginning, middle, and end) you just have to learn the words to tell it. I’m not sure if that makes sense to anyone but me. Lol. I think of it like a song. I know what the song is about, and then I learn the lyrics. That is how I memorize most scripts. I never took Elissa home with me. (So to speak) She died on stage every night. I was always so pumped up after every show. We had so much fun every night. To date it was one of the greatest experiences of my career. Not to say that there are not moments when I think of her.

What was it like working with such a talented cast and what was the audience reactions like?

Oddly, there was no interaction with the cast. Each segment was filmed with only one actor. So, I never really got to work with my cast mates. The crew was amazing though. And now having seen the film, I am honored to be in the company of such talented women. It is my understanding that originally, Elissa’s segment was supposed to be taking place after her death. It was the piece she was supposed to perform that night. She killed herself before she got to perform it for an audience. The audience reactions from the stage show were very emotional. Elissa and Harriet, I feel, are the two tear jerkers. They are also the last two segments in the show, so the audience was often in tears at the end of the show.

How would you address your own “new girl” if you were placed into that situation?

I would like to think I’d wish her well. Of course, initially I would be upset and would want to respond to the situation. I would think of all the things I would like to say and then I would realize that nothing I say would accomplish anything. Then I would end up saying nothing. With time, I would get over it and wish them well. I believe time really does heal all wounds. Elissa didn’t see a reason to take that time for herself.

Which do you like better,performing live or being in front of a camera?

I think I would have to say live. I just think the whole process of putting something on stage is so fun. Performances are more organic because you don’t have to deal with all the technical stuff that happens on set. The possibility of something going wrong creates a sort of tension/excitement in your body. It’s hard to describe but it’s a good feeling and I think it enhances the performance. Rehearsals and staging, costumes and set design. You’re part of all of it. The audience reactions fuel the performance and there is a buzz in the air, it’s exciting! When the run is over, you have built these relationships, and you feel a real sense of accomplishment.

How do you define comedy?

I think the most basic definition of comedy is, whatever makes you laugh. Comedy is subjective though. Personally, I like dark humor or those awkward, uncomfortable moments. I find that stuff to be hilarious. But I know people who can’t stand to watch that stuff. Particularly nowadays, it’s hard to define comedy. You have to be incredibly careful. What you may find funny, others might find completely offensive.

How important is music to you and who do you enjoy listening to?

Music is EVERYTHING! I grew up in a house filled with music. I used to do dance therapy. Meaning if I was feeling stressed or down, I would put on my music and dance the blues away. Music is so powerful. It can make you feel. I love that. Lately, I’m listening to old school R&B and a new band called “Say Real”. They kind of have a Reggae/Sade thing going on and I love it. 10. Do you think with the demise of film theaters,will live theater fill the void or will streaming end them both? Well I must admit that I enjoyed watching Hamilton at home. I also feel like the director can tell the story exactly as he/she sees it when filming a stage show. That being said, I do not think streaming will influence live theater. Going to the theater is an event. It’s fun! You dress up, you can feel the energy in the room, you’re part of it. As I explained earlier, the audience fuels the performance. It’s an experience. Same goes for movie theaters. People will still want to go for the experience. Now they have those upscale movie theaters that really make it a fun experience. Recliners, food, and drink service… It’s a fun night out! I think streaming is definitely the preferred medium, but people want to go out. I don’t think that will change.

Which three actors/directors would you like to perform with?

I have had the pleasure of working with Robert Redford and that was a surreal experience which I would definitely do again. I’m also a huge fan of Robert Downey Jr., I would absolutely love to work with him. I also love Melissa McCarthy, Elizabeth Banks, Kevin Hart and The Rock together, Chris Pratt, Henry Cavill (for obvious reasons lol). I love comedians. I realize that’s more than three.

The cheetah and I are flying over to watch you shoot your latest film but we are a day early and now you are stuck playing tour guide,what are we doing?

We would probably meet for morning smoothies at Jamba. Then we could hike up to the waterfall at Eaton Canyon. After, we could go to my house and hang by the pool and have lunch, swim, listen to music and just hang out til dinner which would be at my favorite Italian restaurant, Casa Bianca. After Dinner, we could go to my see my favorite KJ (karaoke jockey) and dear friend Steve. Depending on the evening, it would be some dive bar in the San Gabriel Valley, and we would karaoke and dance the night away.

I like to thank Samantha (and Christa) for agreeing to do this interview. We wish Samantha the very best and hope that Elissa will open many doors for her in the very near future!! She is one talented lady to put it mildly.

You can follow Samantha via a few different platforms

You can see what is next for Samantha by going to herIMDb page You can follow her on Twitter as well.. And of course she has a InstaGram.

Please feel free to drop a comment below!!! Thank you for your continued support.

8 Questions with……..actress Samantha Carro Its 9:00 pm warm/humid Welcome to "8 Questions With......" So I watched and reviewed the terrific "

#8 Questions With #acting #actress #family #interview #marriage #Music #performer #Sam Macher #singer #singing #SkyPilot Theater Co.#To The New Girl

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michael-radi-the-glamorous-life · 5 years

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"Get Your Education, Don't Forget From Whence You Came"

Lin-Manuel Miranda has often spoken about origins: His own, his family’s, his musicals’, Alexander Hamilton’s, etc. He has written about them in lyrics, including the one above from “Alexander Hamilton” and his well-noted “we were that kid” rap in the 2013 Tony Awards opening number: “Bigger.” It’s a common theme of his interviews, whether he is the interviewee or the interviewer. Clearly Mr. Miranda seems to think our origins are important.

And I agree.

Particularly when it comes to the arts and educating young people. I firmly believe that our experiences and exposures as children have an incredible and lasting impact on how we interact with art for the remainder of our lives. And this includes formal and informal educations, extracurricular activities, time experiencing art with family and friends, exposure to all forms of entertainment, financial abilities, general access, community practices, and much much more. Every experience in life involves art in some way, and every exposure is another puzzle piece in a child’s education.

So how do we best serve young people? What kind of education do they need or should they have? What if some want to pursue the arts and others just want to enjoy them? What about those who have fewer resources available or greatly reduced ability to access art? Where does it all begin?

Once Upon A Time…

Most artists that I know or that I have heard interviewed (and I listen to many a podcast!) have a certain experience in their lives they can point to as the moment where they realized they could be or wanted to be an artist. An “Aha!” moment, if you will. And for many this is true.

However, I find that when I am asked this question, I cannot put my finger on one moment. For me it was more a collection of experiences.

I grew up in Central NY in a time and an area where arts education was not just not a focus, it was relatively lacking. And I only know now how lacking it was because of living in other places and seeing what kind of access children had, and have, in other areas of the state and country. Yet here I am.

How did that happen?

I had a decent music program in school and was given the ability to study music outside of school through a Yamaha early childhood program, but that was the majority of my music education. We did not have a robust theatre program, though one did exist and I did take part. Our area placed little emphasis on visual art, though I was privileged to grow up with a professional artist and art teacher as a grandfather. Boys in my area were not encouraged to do much more than play an instrument, and I was often made fun of for singing well and enjoying anything else artistic. And boys certainly did not dance (unless you count avoiding a tackle on the football field, that is).

So if I didn’t grow up with the opportunities that many grew up with, how did I end up an artist? How do people with far fewer opportunities than I had end up as artists? Where did these educations come from?

From what I have gathered as an artist and an educator, it comes down to 2 main things:

It’s All Relative

It is no secret that family plays an incredibly important role in the development of children, and where the arts are concerned it is no different. The opinions and attitudes of our families toward the arts are very powerful and influential - not just in a general sense, but also in terms of what we are ultimately exposed to and how our tastes develop.

If you have parents who love movies and take you to them often, chances are that you will have a particular affinity toward movies. If you have siblings who tease you or anyone else who does theatre, you may stray away from stage performance. These are, of course, very general statements and patterns, but they should sound relatively familiar (familial?).

But now I’d like to broaden the definition of family past blood relation to also include anyone a child trusts, feels comfortable with, respects, spends large amounts of time with, and feels love for.

How does this broader definition begin to redefine our education and exposure? Does this increase a child’s chance of experiencing more? I believe so.

The people we spend the most time around have the greatest influence on us. And those people may come in and out of our lives as we grow and develop, but they are a huge piece of our educations as people. And if those people have opinions about art, they will influence our opinions about art.

As children we may not have much control over the types of people we spend the most time with - generally the adults in charge of a child’s care have that control - but as we grow older we can begin to make those decisions for ourselves. And by seeking out people, opinions, and experiences that are different than our own, we can increase our exposures and give ourselves a better education.

People say that you can choose your family, and in the arts this tend to be true. We often call our artistic families our “people” or our “tribe.” We all enjoy spending time with people who share our beliefs and our passions, and these people remain a tremendous influence on us long after they are gone from our lives.

Formative Experience

As an arts educator, I continually marvel at how young people talk about their most formative experiences. And the reason I marvel? Most of them began as casual, everyday experiences which suddenly sparked something new within them. A movie. A play. A song in chorus. A Youtube video. A random TV show they scrolled onto. A painting. A building. A particularly excellent day. It could really be anything at any time.

And this is what makes this category tough, especially from a parental point of view.

You never know what is going to be a life-changing experience for a child, and you cannot possibly give every child every experience. Variety is the key.

The more that we are able to give to children, especially experiences that will be brand new to them, the more they learn and grow. How can they possibly know the depths of what they will and will not enjoy if they haven’t seen or heard or felt them yet?

And of course this is where our education and economic systems in this country fail our children. Where you grew up and where you live have an astounding impact on what you are able to experience. If we could fix this (no small feat), a variety of exposure would be available to everyone and our entire society could be more educated and well-rounded. As it stands now, we can only do what we are able for the young people in our lives.

Wait, But What About You?

I began by saying that I did not have one ultimate experience that brought me to this path, but many. So how have Family and Experience shaped me into who I am? In too many ways to write down, but here is a little taste:

Family

My grandfather was a Visual Artist and an Art Teacher

Multiple family members Sang and Played Piano, and often

My family was heavily involved in the artistic-based sport of competitive Baton Twirling - my sisters were champions and my mother taught and judged competitions (and still does!)

We all loved to watch Musical Movies - they are some of our most played VHS tapes

My father often sang Musical Theatre references - something I wouldn’t understand until I was much older - which came down to him from family members singing often in his childhood

Musical ability was genetically passed down from both sides of the family

My mother was always with me at my Yamaha classes and for my at home practices

I found my first Theatre Family in middle school and it was life-changing

Etc.

And there is so much more! My biggest takeaways here are that, yes, I was surrounded by artistic influences in my family, but I was also incredibly well-supported. I am quite lucky.

Experiences

In first grade, seeing the High School put on a production of one of my favorite musical movies: Annie

My third grade field trip to the 1 nearby professional theater, the Cider Mill Playhouse, to see Little Shop of Horrors

Watching every musical Disney movie in theaters (from Beauty and the Beast onward)

Playing piano in general, but particularly Christmas carols with my mother and then later realizing I could play musical theatre songs on piano as well

My fourth grade chorus teacher encouraging me to audition for the American Boy Choir (I got in but did not attend) and to write my own piece of music (my very first!)

Getting my first solo in a choir concert in fourth grade

My first time onstage as the Wizard in The Wizard Of Oz

My first lead role as Ebenezer Scrooge in the 7th grade musical

My first ever Broadway show at 6 years old: Beauty and the Beast

And SO many more

“We Were That Kid”

It’s true. Everyone who is professionally in the arts was once a kid who lived for as many artistic experiences as we could possibly get our hands on. We found something that sparked life and joy and energy and desire into us, and we asked for me. And luckily, we got it.

Every child should be so lucky.

As an arts educator I try to do 3 things:

Encourage young people to find what excites them.

Encourage parents to encourage their children and their children’s passions.

Provide as much variety in their education as I am able.

Even if only a handful of my students go on to do this professionally, they have all received experiences that told them “yes I like this” or “no, I’d like to pursue something else,” and that’s worth every moment they spend learning with us.

Let’s find more ways to provide all young people with as much experience as we possibly can. After all, they are our future.

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amorremanet · 7 years

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in which still no one asked for this, but it made me feel a little better about how i have a shitty day ahead of me, and pete got to go second because i have blatant authorial favoritism for him but at least i admit it?

their blog url: itwasafineaffair

Pete would tell you how many different pretentious, increasingly ridiculous theatre kid URLs he considered before finally, “going back to basics” and settling on lyrics from Cabaret’s, “Mein Herr,” but then he’d probably have to kill you because it’s a very large, embarrassing number.

That said, he still has the URL ghostsonatas saved in case he ever gets bored of Sally Bowles and decides to break out the August Strindberg.

Also, here’s the Liza Minelli version of, “Mein Herr.” Don’t ask Pete who his favorite Sally Bowles is unless you’re willing to clear your schedule for the entire afternoon because he has a lot of Opinions about that question.

their blog title: “yes, princess, i am immensely happy. thank you.”

which really only makes sense when you see Sebastian’s blog title.

Pete’s blog title used to make sense, because it kept the “Mein Herr” theme: “i’ve always said that i was a rover.” At one point, it was, “du sollst mich nicht mehr sehen, mein herr” because he’d just gotten dumped and was being emotional about it all over his blog title to restrain himself from actually being a shit to his ex.

But then his Princess finally got on tumblr, so Pete matched his blog title to Seb’s.

He would probably try to insist on matching icons, too, but Seb doesn’t see the point and he only got a non-default icon when he left Pete alone with his laptop for a few minutes and Pete picked a selfie for him to use.

For his own part, Pete’s icon changes every couple months, and when the novel starts, Pete’s icon is bearded Chris Evans holding a puppy.

the original posts they make: puns. shitposts. snarky liveblogs of whatever happens to be on TV at the moment. complaining about his coworkers. sub-post complaining about Todd (who usually doesn’t get it). all but outright saying that he is complaining about Todd (who still usually doesn’t get it). “random brief observations or whatever happens to be on Pete’s mind right now.” pictures of Seb’s dogs and/or their sponsor’s cat. pictures of Seb and Margot (give or take a few others, but seriously, Pete isn’t that close to very many people, and he usually only features Todd’s face when he can’t get out of it).

the kind of posts they reblog: Pete’s sidebar will tell you, “this is a personal blog, which means that i post whatever the hell i want and you can react however you want, but i’ll still keep posting whatever i want because it is my personal blog.” But to get a better idea:

cute pictures from blogs with themes like, “butches cuddling kittens” and, “bears cuddling puppies” and so on.

theatre, generally, and especially musical theatre. there’s a lot of general appreciation and theatre kid blogging — I mean, he’s right there and ready to reblog those photos from the one production of Midsummer’s Night’s Dream where Puck and Oberon are really, really close, or photos from when Ben Whishaw played Dionysus in Bakkhai — but Pete also reblogs more serious criticism, theatre history, commentary on the social and political significance of theatre, and so on.

Sometimes, he gets in a Mood and will lecture you on the significance of musical theatre specifically, and if he’s especially Moody, he’ll break out his copy of DH Miller’s Place For Us: An Essay on the Broadway Musical and flap loudly at you about why musical theatre is really and truly a dyed in the wool LGBTQ art form and stop trying to heterosexualize musical theatre already, it’s gross.

(On any given day, there is like a 95% chance that he will be in this Mood because Todd said something ignorant about musical theatre being, “stereotypical” and didn’t really listen when Pete went, “No, stop talking, here is why you’re wrong, you dumb-ass hipster white boy fuck” at him, and Pete just has a lot of residual feelings to express.)

Seriously, in the novel’s timeline, the critical pushback of historians, cultural critics, et al. going, “Um, actually? There are some aspects of this that are troubling for these reasons and we should really be having a Discussion about this” at Lin Manuel Miranda and Hamilton hasn’t started to happen yet…… but when it does? Pete will be all over it. He will be so. excited.

He won’t even be anti-Hamilton as such (like, he enjoyed the bootleg he watched since he won’t be seeing it live because jesus shit, tickets are expensive, but he also wouldn’t actually ask Seb to please use his parents’ connections to somehow find them Hamilton tickets or anything, because ehhhh, that sounds like a lot of work for a payoff that wouldn’t be worth it). Pete just loves it when people take musical theatre seriously as an art form and talk about it like that. It makes him so happy, he could just start crying.

politics or current events, sometimes. there aren’t really very many discernible trends in what he reblogs or doesn’t, on that front, beyond, “well, gay things and LGBTQ stuff more generally make pretty regular appearances” and, “Pete has tags specifically for, ‘disgruntled filipinx blogging’ and, ‘disgruntled biracial blogging.’”

fashion photography and fashion stuff generally, though:

1. it’s mostly for reference in his theatre things. Like, he does sort of enjoy the fashion stuff itself, and he has definitely reblogged some fashion things because he didn’t care about the clothes or the photography but thought the male models were gorgeous…… but even though he doesn’t usually work in costume design, Pete finds fashion stuff productively inspiring;

and 2. this happens a loooot less after February 2014, because that was when he got back from rehab (which his Mama insisted on because it was what Sebastian and Todd both did, even though Pete had already done his homework about outpatient options that didn’t involve going to Middle Of Nowhere, Minnesota, and he liked those ideas a lot better…… but he needed his Mama’s help to pay for any option, and she went, “inpatient rehab first, it’s definitely going to be better for you” and she genuinely believed that, so Pete cooperated)

Which was a big deal wrt Pete’s periodic fashion-blogging because one of the most important things that Pete got out of rehab was the one-on-one session where one of his the therapists said, “Peter, has anyone ever suggested that you might have an eating disorder?”

—which started as a, “face-crack of the century, wait what, what in the shit even are you talking about, of course they haven’t because I don’t have one…… right?” moment and eventually shifted his whole view of everything around and made him go, “holy shit, this explains so much” — and a lot of his initial resistance came out of how he’d never crashed and burned quite so obviously as people tend to think of when they hear the phrase, “eating disorder,” but still. that made so much sense out of so many things for him.

It also made him look more closely at his periodic fashion-blogging and go, “Oh. Some of this is definitely an exercise in self-abuse for me. I should maybe do that less and, like. Keep a better eye on that. And…… okay, wow, what the fuck even is my life, I really, really wish Mama had let me do the outpatient thing instead because holy shit, if they’d suggested that, I could go cling at Bastian right now instead of having to process this on my own with a bunch of nosy other patients sticking their faces into my business, like shit I appreciate the concern from most of them but I want to be with my best friend right now.”

(Pete got his clinging later, when he got back. And he unwittingly made Seb kick one of his slips off the wagon, because he’d spent almost a week coasting by on his ability to fake sobriety while telling himself things like, “okay, if I just moderately abuse my substances of choice, everything will totally work out fine”… but then Pete came home with the, “So, the shrinks in rehab said I have an eating disorder, and it makes sense and all, and I’m fucking terrified” news and Seb went, “okay no, that’s not going to work, Pete needs me to be there for him more than I want to be intoxicated”)

music. there isn’t a lot of rhyme or reason to what he’ll reblog, when, or why, because Pete will listen to almost anything.

One anecdote is that he hadn’t really had much exposure to Nicki Minaj, outside of, “Super Bass” and her verse in, “Monster,” until he deliberately went looking for Nicki stuff on tumblr because Todd, in his perpetually obnoxious hipster-ness, was trying to avoid her entirely because she was, “undeniably talented, but too mainstream.”

So, Pete wanted to annoy Todd and give him a huge middle finger for that shit because on one hand, yeah, uh huh. Way to say that about a black woman artist while actually paying (Bastian’s parents’) money to buy the Glee soundtrack legally, as if that is somehow LESS mainstream than Nicki Minaj, are you SERIOUS.

Also, Todd? YOU OWN MULTIPLE ALBUMS BY MAROON 5. STOP TALKING ABOUT HOW “ANTI-MAINSTREAM” YOU THINK YOU ARE BECAUSE YOU WEAR FLANNEL AND BUDDY HOLLY GLASSES AND YOUR ALLEGED “FILMS” MAKE NO SENSE.

And on the other, oh my god, shut up, you obnoxious fucking hipster, everybody already fucking gets it: you want to be original and edgy and insightful and cool, and you overcompensate because, on some level, you KNOW that you are none of these things, and you are an insecure little white boy who can’t deal with how ~*mainstream*~ more than a handful of his interests actually are, now shut up shut up shut up shut upppppppp.

Clearly, the best way to make this point to Todd was to loudly, insistently support Nicki Minaj and put her on Todd’s dash whenever possible.

That didn’t exactly work out as well as Pete wanted it to because Todd singularly failed to get the point (or maybe he did but just committed himself to acting like he didn’t, Pete’s not sure).

But on the other hand, Pete actually listened to more of Nicki’s music than, “Super Bass” and her verse in, “Monster” while doing this, and that’s the story of how Pete came to fanboy Nicki Minaj.

Chris Evans. A lot of Chris Evans. Not quite, “more Chris Evans than your body has room for,” but say, like…… two steps down from a lethal dose of Chris Evans.

Not that Pete neglects the rest of the MCU, exactly, but he’s like 80% there for Chris Evans, 10% there for Anthony Mackie, 5% there for Sebastian Stan, 3% there for Mark Ruffalo, and 2% there for literally everything else. And it shows. Because he really blatantly favors Chris Evans.

These numbers will change somewhat when CACW actually happens in-character, because Chadwick Boseman. But Pete’s number one will still be Chris Evans.

Tangentially: Please do not ask Pete if he prefers CEvans shaven or bearded. Just don’t.

Don’t do it because his answer will be, “I prefer Chris Evans right here, right now, with his tongue in my mouth and his hand on my ass” and he will think this is clever every. single. fucking. time.

Don’t talk to him about Tom Hiddleston, either. But……… you should avoid doing this for very different reasons.

Like, without any external influence, Pete’s opinion of Tom Hiddleston would just be, “meh *shrugs* whatever, like I haven’t seen a million sad puppy-eyed weird-but-pretty edgelord white bad boys before. Like I don’t have a cute but troubled pretty white boy with big sad Bambi eyes for a best friend. Okay, he’s talented, but ugggggggh, I’m BORED”

—but see, Todd kind of has a Thing for Tom Hiddleston. Todd kind of loves Tom Hiddleston.

Which makes Pete determined to really not love Tom Hiddleston, literally just to annoy and spite Todd for, “having terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, boring as shit taste — my Princess excluded.”

So, uh. Don’t do that. (Trying to talk to him about RDJ isn’t advised against, but only because Pete will just ignore it and pretend he has no idea who that is.)

Oh, also, don’t expect Pete to care that the MCU and the XMCU are separate entities, or care that the canon of the XMCU can be a complete cluster-fuck, or give a fuck that all of the different Spiderman movies are not necessarily related to each other.

Don’t expect him to give a fuck about any of this because he thinks it’s way more entertaining to try and shove all of them into the same universe, just like you’d do with the actual comics.

Also, he has learned that he can get his cousin Emerson, Emerson’s weird nerd-bro friends, and Todd wound up really easily and make them do stupid things by feigning like he has no idea that Chris Evans and James McAvoy will not ever cross paths in a Marvel movie because of dumb copyright reasons, wondering why Hugh Jackman’s name isn’t on the cast list for Age of Ultron

and saying things like, “You know what would be the best possible thing for Thor: Ragnarok? At the midpoint, Sir Ian McKellan makes a grand entrance from behind some random curtains that weren’t there five minutes ago, purple cape billowing behind him, and Magneto punches Loki in the face. Boom, Ragnarok averted. They fill the rest of the movie’s runtime with Chris Evans taking me to dinner and a movie within a movie, it’d be totally meta, right? :D”

Yeah, Pete is also that person who would go to ComicCon in a “totally brilliant cosplay” as, “the World’s #1 S*tucky Shipper,” get super-method about his real-time LARPing as The World’s #1 S*tucky Shipper (but like, using actual method-acting, not, “Jared Leto sends giant health hazards to, harasses, and is otherwise horrible to his costars because lawl method” method-acting), and use it to satirize and take the piss out of both really OTT shippers and the people who act like shippers are Ruining Every Forever because they want to ship.

He’d also tell a nerd-bro that his favorite Gandalf quote is, “Do or do not, there is no try” but his second favorite Gandalf quote is, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one,” and point to a picture of Michael Gambon’s Dumbledore and identify him as Gandalf while identifying a picture of the Fourth Doctor as Dumbledore, all just to annoy the nerd-bro, then yawn and saunter away while the nerd-bro has an angry meltdown.

Someday, Pete is going to troll the wrong person (again) and it will get him into really deep shit (again) that he won’t be able to wriggle out of by being charming and witty (like he usually does when he gets himself into these situations), but his take on this is, “Hey, as long as I don’t unwittingly troll a super-villain, it’s not actually that bad. What is the worst thing that could possibly happen.”

(Seb would point of that that’s exactly what he said before getting shocked into three major heart attacks by another mutant, which in turn triggered his first transformation into a nine-foot-tall wolf-man? And that he has said it in many, many other situations that immediately went from Bad to Worse to Shitty to Excremental to “the motherfucking shit-pits that trailed down from the hill of Golgotha” because saying things like, “what’s the worst that could happen” and, “what could possibly go wrong” is seriously tempting fate to kick your ass — but he will also admit that Pete has better luck on this front than he does, and that Pete has better coping skills, and that Peter Paolo Matthew Arden just has his shit more together than Seb does in general, so he’s somewhat less likely to end up in Golgotha levels of shit from this.)

(But, please, Pete? He would really, really, really like it if you could please act like you care whether or not you get into a mountain of shit from tempting fate by trolling people so liberally, like. Please. Pretty please. He loves you so much and knows that he can’t protect you from the ups and downs of life itself, but you’ve already had so much bad shit happen to you that Seb wants to keep you safe from as much unnecessary bad shit as possible, and…… please? (⊙︿⊙) )

cat pictures. dog pictures. wolf pictures. guinea pig pictures. iguana pictures. giraffe pictures. if there is a cute animal out there, being cute, it has a place on Pete’s blog. especially if he can find an excuse to tag Seb in them and go, “it you” (which he mostly limits to cats and, after Seb trips and falls into mutant werewolf superpowers, wolves — but he’s also gone, “it you” on pictures of lizards, sharks, lions [specifically, the “do lions blep” post], giraffes sticking out their weird blue tongues, tapirs, and pugs wearing sunglasses shaped like flowers).

Pete watched a bit of Community because Seb seemed really into it, and he thought it was okay, not enough to really reblog it that much but okay — but he definitely reblogged a gifset of Troy going, “awww, I wanna lick it” over a puppy from “Cooperative Calligraphy,” specifically so he could tag Seb and go, “awww, Princess, it you.”

In fairness, Seb deserves that and totally agrees that he deserves it because sometimes, he needs a chaperone when he goes to the local ASPCA shelter, or he might well try to adopt all of the dogs. Which Pete finds adorable in theory, and really endearing from his Princess…… but also, Seb? You have six babies already. You would have seven if you hadn’t lost Chewie at the end of April, assuming that you still adopted Cat without losing Chewie. Cool it. Chill. You do not need more dogs right now.

Pete has also been known to go, “awww, Princess, it us” on photosets of cats and dogs cuddling with each other, and “it me” on pictures of pugs embracing wine mom culture

(the latter of which, in retrospect, he kind of regrets doing. Like, he more or less stands by it, but it made Seb get Worried about him and go, “Are you okay? Do you need to talk? Because you were just getting on my ass about not making self-deprecating jokes about sobriety because it worries you, but now it kinda looks like you’re doing the exact same thing, and I’m just?? Should I be concerned, Pete? Do you want to talk about something? Are you okay??? I love you, you’re important to me, I can talk if you want to” which was not what Pete intended at all.

Like, on one hand, he hates making his best friend worry about him because if you ask Pete, it’s only natural for them to worry about each other, but both of them also need to work on worrying about themselves a bit more effectively. Because precedent says that both of them sort of suck at it, probably especially when they think that they’re doing okay with it.

On the other, he hates making Seb worry because Pete is still working on getting used to the feeling of someone caring about you. Like, even with Seb, who’s done things for him like blow off an entire weekend of shit to get down to Yonkers from Poughkeepsie and come out to Pete’s undergrad after he’d had a really messy breakup that caused a wave of drama in his entire friend-group, because Pete went to a small liberal arts school full of theatre kids (even among people who weren’t in the theatre program), and the gossip mill was ridiculous, and everything was a fucking disaster…

…so, Seb lied to his prep school teachers about a vaguely defined, “family emergency,” lied to his grandparents about not having any classes on Friday for some contrived reason to get them to give him a ride to the Metro-North station in Poughkeepsie, booked it down to Yonkers, and spent a three-day weekend with Pete.

Eventually, his grandparents found out what was going on, because Seb called his Mom that afternoon to go, “Hey, jsyk, I’m in Bronxville with Pete earlier than we’d planned this weekend, I’m probably going to use the credit card in the City tonight, we’ll be safe and stuff, but his ex-boyfriend’s a jerk and it’s screwing things up with all his friends too and he’s really upset and he needed somebody to be there with him who’s not involved in any of it” — but by that point, he and Pete had already had their three-day weekend, so it was just kinda whatever.

But, yeah. Like, Seb’s done stuff like that for Pete since they first really started getting to know each other, but unfortunately, Pete’s father and older brother are people who exist. And some of Pete’s dickbag ex-boyfriends are also people who exist. And between all of them, Pete’s wound up having a hard time with the concept of people genuinely caring about him, and even with Seb, he can bristle and go, “No, stop, this doesn’t make sense, why are you doing this, ‘caring about me as a person thing’”

And on the dorsal fin, Pete doesn’t like making Seb worry about him too much because when he’s at his best, Sebastian is a loving, generous, selfless person who is an amazing friend and cares about people for their own benefit even if he isn’t their friend…

but this is not an ideal world, and under all of that, Seb also has a problem where he over-relies on other people for a sense of stability and a sense of who the Hell he even is (the TL;DR of why is, “untreated clinical depression and some of the longterm side-effects thereof”)

and when things go wrong for the people Seb loves, things can start going wrong for Seb himself in short order, because he worries about them, feels their pain a bit too intensely (but not outside the human average enough to make it mutant-level empathy), and generally turns the volume on his human disaster-ness up to eleven.

Like, in the past year-and-a-half, Seb’s had ten separate stumbles off the wagon, and four of them started in close proximity to Something Bad happening to someone he loves — e.g., his Dad had a routine arthroscopic surgery, which went well enough on its own, but Abe had a bad post-op reaction to the anesthesia, and Marceline told her other three kids to basically tell Seb enough to keep him in the loop, but don’t get specific because he’ll worry. Unfortunately, this left Seb with a lot of questions, which made him worry, which made him feel helpless and miserable and scared…

……and then he dropped off the radar for thirty-six hours and when Todd went to his place to check on him, he found Seb coming down from being strung out on Percocet. And, like, okay, on the plus? Seb hadn’t taken all of what he’d gotten his hands on and had flushed the rest before Todd had even gotten there…… but he’d still been really strung out, and he was less than entirely enjoyable to be around while coming down (like, Todd called Nick, Seb’s sponsor, for him, and Seb spent most of their call groaning when Todd said something that was true but that Seb didn’t like him saying)

……and Pete got to see this when Todd called him, going, “Hey, it’s cool if you can’t, since I know you, like, just got back from your Mom-mandated rehab visit a couple weeks ago, but…… uh. Seb hasn’t eaten lately because he got strung out and forgot about it, and I’m not allowed to use his kitchen because he likes it un-exploded, and I don’t want him to be alone, so, like? Can you maybe come over here and cook something? Or take his credit card and get take-out? Or if not, just say so and I’ll try calling Margot again, but…… pleeeeease?”

So, yeah, uh. Pete would really like to not be the cause for that sort of thing, because he doesn’t want to do that to his Princess — especially since you can sometimes get Seb to not totally lose his head about things, and in fairness, he is slowly getting better, but he’s also a stubborn jackass about calming down [which Pete can’t actually judge him for, since Pete is arguably even worse on the, “stubborn jackass” front sometimes, but still] — and also because it would really fuck Pete’s mental health up for Seb to go off the rails. Partly because Seb would be off the rails, and partly because Pete would feel guilty about it.

So, yeah. Long story short, Pete has a lot of feelings about why he regrets going, “it me” on the picture of the pug embracing wine mom culture.)

Golden Girls anything. He’s only even seen a few episodes of it, but he loves it anyway. He has often gone, “Princess, it us” on posts that featured both Blanche and Dorothy, but no one’s really sure if he’s Dorothy and Seb is Blanche, or if it’s the other way around. Pete isn’t even sure, but he’d probably tell you that it depends on the post.

In his defense, both he and Seb have responded to, “better late than [blank]” with the answer, “pregnant!” before, and generally, they both have decent claim to either role.

Seb personally feels like he’s probably more like Rose, but Pete refuses to let him be Rose. Todd is Rose. Todd has to be Rose because as much as Pete likes Betty White, he’s not actually that fond of Rose, and views her in much the same way that he views Todd: they’re kiiiiind of cute sometimes when they aren’t trying too hard and they bring something to the group that Pete would miss if it went away…… but they can also be really fucking nerve-grating, whoops.

Also, Seb isn’t allowed to be Blanche for her, “I looooove a tight man! A tight man with cast-iron pecs… thighs that could choke a bear… butt you could eat breakfast off of… hnnnnnnnnnngh” line

For one thing, Seb isn’t allowed to be Blanche for that line because he’s not discriminatory or anything with body type, but his favorite exes have all been at least a little bit chubby, so like… the exact opposite of a tight man.

For another thing, he can’t say the line right. He doesn’t suck at it or anything, but it’s just missing something. Probably conviction. Because Seb’s preference is not actually for a tight man and he’s putting less effort into the characterization than Pete is.

With anyone else, Seb would hold that he’s putting less effort into the characterization because it’s just supposed to be fun, but…… This is fun for Pete, so whatever. Do your Dramatic™ thing, Pete. Enjoy it.

the first person they followed: the lgbtlaughs blog

what kind of theme they’d have: light background, dark text, straightforward with easy navigation and space for a sidebar pic and links. Not too fancy, but clean and nice-looking.

what kind of text posts they make at 2am: “oh my god it is motherfucking tech week why are these idiots still calling LINE”

#that story with the mutants that i should find a working title for fml #pete arden: dramatic disaster #mine: writing #mine: shitposting #memes for ts #ocs tag #oc questions #tumblrisms #pete x seb #pete & todd #drugs ref// mental health issues ref// eating disorders ref// abuse ref// addiction ref//#brief passing mentions of pet death & medical/surgery things

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laurelfishbear · 4 years

Text

A Christmas Playlist

He meant far more than English audiences.

The truth is, if you want any sense of what these lyrics mean, you have to go to the source -- Jesus Himself, as quoted in Matthew 11:28-30.

Merry Christmas, Baby, Otis Redding: In a season that's so often about temporary glitz and empty promises, it's good to remember that it's not Christmas unless it's got soul.

Meanwhile, Run-D.M.C. are probably home for Christmas, rejoicing because they know exactly what's on the menu.

See, sometimes, we expect more than we should from mere human effort. Sometimes, gifts offer us more fear and frustration than uncomplicated joy.

These are probably good things to remember for those who celebrate the birth of someone who promised, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Christmastime Is Here, Vince Guaraldi Trio: Maybe it's that the melody starts on a note that begs to be resolved. Maybe it's the fact that they never quite hit the high notes on the head. In other words, maybe there was a method to Vince Guaraldi's madness.

None of that satisfactorily explains how a genius of cool jazz got a group of kids to deliver a performance so suffused with melancholy.

What I do know is, way back in 1965, The Vince Guaraldi Trio, and a handful of kids figured out how to say, in the language of music, exactly what Christmas means to some of us.

I see you, Linus, and this performance gives me chills every time I hear it.

Gaudete, Steeleye Span: Ah, the 70s!

Do They Know It's Christmas, Band Aid: When this single was released, I was deeply moved, as were many.

No.

See, we have no right to expect humans and human effort to be perfect. Purity culture was as ugly then as it is now.

"We let in light, and we banish shade", the song goes.

It's not just talking about flipping a switch.

Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem, Dailey and Vincent: Number One with a bullet -- or, maybe, a Bible. And why? Because too many conservatives are dreading any kind of overtly-religious end to this playlist, even as they exploit the religious right in a last-ditch effort to grab more money, more power.

Forget it.

See, physics may be the reason for the season, but Jesus is the reason Christians call it Christmas. All the ideological squeamishness (read: hypocrisy) on conservatives' part won't change that.

So, Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays -- take your pick. May the coming year give you enough courage to use the holiday greetings your conscience dictates, no matter who else is listening.

#bluegrass #classic rock #stax volt #classical music

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