#demonstrating the banjo

[sleepingangelmusic]

Vangoa FULL SIZE Maple Open Back 5 String Banjo/Unboxing/Placing Bridge/...

#youtube #vangoa #banjo #5 string banjo #banjo unboxing #musical examples #demonstrating the banjo #placing the bridge #tuning the banjo

[huiiiooo]

Hi, I already made a post about this but I decided to make a more elaborate post on the subject

as we know after failing to steal One For All from Banjo and En, All for one realized that he would need a greater will than the user and his predecessors to steal the OFA, as he could not, he proceeded to find a Suitable Successor/Receptacle with enough will to steal the One for all

Due to the Connection with All Might, the Shimura family was the main sieve of All for one, but it was not the only one, as we know Garaki had several Orphanages and All for one probably Evaluated and tested possible Vessels there, including Number Six

This shows that even though he was working at Tenko, he was never the Only Possibility, because that doesn't suit someone who is always planning all the variables.

but he didn't limit it to Garaki or Shimuras, as shown with his experiment with Touya Todoroki

as All for one was coincidentally already at the mountain that day, it is possible that he used "Forced Activation" to cause the Fire, These three Shigaraki, Dabi and Number Six all have their hatred shaped based on some kind of heroic obsession.

What if this was also the case for Izuku Midoriya, but perhaps this would be a slightly more complex Experiment because of this because of this he was secondary, it would be an even more ambitious Vessel, since All for one would play a little with the Quirk Singularity, and your own genetics by having a child with someone from the fourth generation, the first generation that demonstrated the concrete Signs

the goal was not only to create an All for one with the ability to Hold the complex Quirks of the future, but also combined with Inko's Quirk it would be able to Steal Quirks without the need for direct touch, as it is already difficult to copy the All for one in a perfect and functional way, it is impossible to create something even more powerful in the laboratory

to avoid attracting attention All for one blocked his son's Quirk at birth, just as he removed the Tenko factor

Just as he encouraged heroic desires in Number Six and Shigaraki, the same would be done with Izuku, being from birth imbued with heroism and All Might, all so that when he saw himself Quirkless, society and reality would crush that dream, transformed into hatred and resentment, creating the will necessary to Steal One For All, he knew Izuku would be bullied (Maybe he even encouraged this behavior)

In order for the child to be monitored more closely and by a specialist, All for one asked The Tsubasa Family (Garaki's pseudonym) to move close to where he placed the Midoriyas

interestingly Koga (AFO Construction Site) Musutafu and Jakku Hospital then connected in a triangle close to each other, for easy accessibility to AFO and Garaki

and both families knew each other, little Tsubasa played with Izuku and Katsuki, and Izuku's mother knew Tsubasa's mother, probably that's why they went to Garaki since the families were already friends

Tsubasa was eventually transformed into Nomu for reasons currently unknown.

However, the Bullying did not have the expected effect and did not generate in Izuku the hatred and resentment that AFO wanted and neededIzuku was too good, he didn't create a grudge, he didn't get that hatred for society that Tomura got, which made Shigaraki Tomura the suitable Vessel for All for one, which made all for one leave this family adventure aside and focus on Tomura, leaving an automatic network sending money under the banner of a "Hisashi working overseas"

Maybe the reason AFO categorizes Izuku as Useless, and criticizes Yoichi for trusting him with the OFA is because he didn't become a Suitable Vessel and didn't live up to expectations, almost a parallel to Dabi, right?

Maybe he left it to use Izuku's Quirk when it was really necessary in the future

#bnha all for one #afo #bnha dad for one #all for one #dad for one #dfo #all for one is hisashi

[sometipsygnostalgic]

Legend of Zelda’s impact on other games

It’s a difficult question to figure out which Zelda games were most influential. 

I can tell you the LEAST influential. Despite having the most hands-on storytelling, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword left very little impact on the genre, and while Wind Waker has aged much better and is the most beautiful game on the gamecube, back in 2003 it was impactful only in how people decided to make their games not look like it. Also, Zelda 2 plays like trash. Don’t touch it.  

However when you get to the heavy hitters, the original Zelda on the NES was the first known console videogame to ever implement Save Files. Can you imagine videogames without save files now? 

A Link to the PAst is an excellent demonstration of the capabilities of the SNES, and though I think Super Mario World is a lot more impactful, all future games were inspired by the dungeon layout and worldbuilding in Awakening.

Then there’s Ocarina of Time’s impact which cannot be understated because it is one of the first 3d adventure videogames. Considering the Nintendo 64 was vastly underpowered compared to the PS1 and to PC units, it’s funny how well Ocarina has aged, and how future Zelda titles struggled so hard to grab the hype of this game. 

Majora’s Mask, while not as memorable and without nearly as much development time, is an interesting example of a “timed” game, and I honestly think an entire genre has come out of it. A very niche genre, but still. I think, like Wind Waker, it’s grown on the audience over time.   

After the semi-duds of Windwaker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword, as well as countless portable releases of mixed success, Breath of the Wild comes out. What makes Breath of the Wild unique is that it is a new spin on the open world genre, which Zelda initially popularised all those years ago and which Assassins Creed had blown into the modern era. After the market had been saturated by Ubisoft’s open world trash, it was a “breath” of fresh air.  

How impactful has it been? Well, honestly, I think Breath of the Wild marked a CRASH in open world videogames. Since that came out, very few developers are daring to tread on that territory anymore. Everyone realised they were sick and tired of open world games. If it’s not as good as Breath of the Wild, nobody wants to touch it. 

Now, Tears of the Kingdom? Hmm. I think, it will be remembered as one of the best games on the Switch, and mechanically it’s airtight, and it sells BUCKETS, but I think it’s actually a victim of its predecessor’s success. Because when Breath of the Wild put a bullet in the head of the open world genre, it makes Tears of the Kingdom feel very tiring to complete. What doesn’t help is the lack of discovery, we have already seen this map before. 

I wonder if future games will try to do the vehicle building mechanic here? It makes me think of Banjo and Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, except the game is universally loved instead of being seen as a trash derailment of the series. 

#loz #the legend of zelda #legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom

[fractiflos]

Headcanons on the relationship between Kohai En and Banjo senpai

Yes! I love thinking about this so much.

There's this mentor program thing with the first few heroes as they allowed adults to sign up without any hero schooling (since those didn't exist yet) but they did need to be trained. I headcanon Banjo as spotlight and En as underground, but honestly, I also headcanon that in those days there were so few heroes they were interchangeable with each other. But some did make more of an effort to stay away from cameras than others. Banjo offers to take En on as his Kohai and he's so surprised he agrees without thinking.

It's awkward at first due to differing personalities. En isn't sure how to react and Banjo is so reminded of Hikage, he sometimes gets a bit too caught up in memories. Then, one wonderful winter day, as they head back on patrol, En sees an ice cream shop. He stops and stares and Banjo asks if he wants to go in. He freezes for a moment, wondering if Banjo was going to make fun of him for liking ice cream in winter, when Banjo says he likes eating cold stuff in the winter because his body overheats a lot. That gives En the courage to say he does want ice cream because the coat is really hot and they bond a little bit that day.

They were more friends than the mentor/parent thing Nana and All Might had. They had nicknames for each other (though En had like 3 while Banjo was constantly making up new ones. He did have a few he stuck by) and would make fun of each other (in a friendly way). There were a few times when miscommunication led to an argument but they always resolved them.

They generally hung out a lot. Whenever they went somewhere out of town, they made it their mission to try the ice cream there. And when Banjo got invited to something, he would try to get En there too since he worried he wasn't getting enough socialization.

Banjo does not have a lot of storage space and relies on En because of all the pockets his coat has. Not just in their hero costumes, even the regular outfits Banjo chooses don't have a lot of pockets while En carries around a messenger bag for stuff that won't fit in regular jacket pockets. Banjo called it a purse once and never again because En told him he would have to carry everything himself for the rest of that trip.

En wasn't "told" about OFA more so, figured it out. After seeing his senpai performing demonstrations, he realized he was a lot stronger than most and the "Well, I do work out a lot" wasn't enough. His first thought was that Banjo had accepted a quirk from the mysterious villain AFO and he was horrified at the thought because he didn't want to think Banjo was a traitor, but how else could he be so strong? After a very tense confrontation, Banjo decides to tell him the truth and that's how he found out about it. It also led to them becoming closer than before and to En eventually getting OFA.

I just like to think about the two doing regular fun stuff, like riding rollercoasters and laughing at horror movies. They deserve to have some fun before they die.

#daigoro banjo #en tayutai #middle may ask game

[cuprohastes]

Tell me Hu-Man, what is this thing you call "Cou-gar"?

Garfield "Garf" Blooms and her pocket Husbeast, Un-Named Male paused while savagely mauling a 12mm Penta-bolt that had managed to prevent her from accessing the cooling lines she was supposedly checking.

"Hey Dave," the Atrix female said to the female Tsin who was working a diagnostic wand into one of 38 inspection ports.

"'Sup. my Graak?" said Dave The Human.

"Well you're officially a human male, so I have a Human question for you." Garf stated, as she tucked Un-named into her pouch using a finger on his snout, pulled her apron shield up and adopted an unladylike stance to put her considerable weight into either shearing the bolt off or demonstrating the superiority of purple kangaroo dinosaurs. "I heard, Grak! Someone being referred to as a Coo-gah. GRAAK! But when I asked what that was, Nnnng MOVE DAMN YOU! GRAK ON YOU AND YOUR ANCESTORS! Oh there we go. Uh yeah so I was told it was a human-male thing. So...?"

Dave The Human, rubbed her chin. "Ah right right... Not a Grak, mate." she said. "I mean officially of course I know, proper Human stuff, that. But unofficially, no Idea."

Un-Named said "Grak?! Grak!" from Garf's pouch. She gave Dave a rippling blue look, and said "Now look. You taught him a dirty word".

Dave adopted a pose of wounded innocence. "Who do you think taught ME?" she said.

So Garf, (Licenced Life Support Specialist, Interspecies nutritionist, and three time Station Yo-Yo champion), Dave the Human (Tsin female and Human male, Class Five structural Analysis specialist, Doctorate in Human studies from Eilwohm Academic) and Un-Named Male (Small, cute) finished making sure that nobody was going to get broiled on one side and flash frozen on the other, put a Self Sealing Stem Bolt into the hole the Pentabolt came out of, had a short but very moving funeral for the Pentabolt before they consigned it gravely to the recycling system.

After that they went to find some Humans to interrogate.

Of course that meant Dave the Human. Banjo and Cowboy were both at the table, And the EVA specialist who called his suit Oscar and docked at port 43.

And because EVA 43 was there, so was Atrix and Atrix. Those three were virtually in each other's pouches, Garf noted.

"Allright dudes?" said Dave the Human and shuffled up the cafeteria bench so Dave The Human could get in and drape her short tail over the back.

Garf and Atrix did the Atrix Stare and flickered a whole bunch of stuff at each other, then got opposing benches and dumped their little guys out onto the table to socialise.

Atrix never sit side by side if they can help it. They like to keep an eye on each other's faces.

Garf tried to recall the EVA 43's name. She was always started when she saw them because that's good old 43 right there, seen them around for years, had a huge face-off at the last Yo-Yo tournament, but if anyone asked for a description, they just never seemed to come to mind.

She was momentarily distracted by Atrix who was running a side-channel of literal colour commentary.

"You picked a name out?" Garf asked casually. Atrix rattled her claw tips on the table, replying, "I was going with Vulva, but apparently it's inauspicious. Dave are you OK? You seem to be choking on your water?"

Dave confirmed that he was in fact OK. Banjo, a dark skinned man with great taste in makeup said he was just checking to see if he'd evolved gills.

"So!" said Garf, "I heard there's a human term: Coo-Gah?"

Cowboy snickered. "Did you ask Dave?" she asked, and Dave The Human nodded. "Yup. Told her it was a Human thing." she said.

Dave the Human and Banjo seemed delighted. "Ah hum, human Cultural Studies!" said Banjo, and Dave the Human added, "This is gonna be a riot."

All five humans clustered up to discuss it.

"It's got to be Stars." Cowboy said and the Daves pulled their communicators out. Dave got through first.

"Stars?" said Garf and looked out the window. Un-Named male said "Grak." and she said "Oh... Stars Like Seeds In The Field?"

"Yeah" said Cowboy "Hang on..."

Dave unfolded his tablet and propped it up at the end of the table so it could see everyone. The Dave Squad chivvied EVA 43 around to sit at the end.

Sars looked out at everyone, did the Atrix Stare at Garf and Atrix. "OK... what's the gig?" she asked.

Banjo was grinning delightedly and put his hands flat on the table. "The brief is that EVA 43..." EVA 43 made a noise of protest but apparently, Banjo couldn't recall their name either. "... is under thirty, single and at a bar." Someone slid EVA 43 a drinking tumbler and they shifted for more of a lean, getting into character.

"Uhuh, Oh got it! OK this will be fun" said Star.

Her voice dropped, getting a little husky, raspy. Garf didn't know how she'd managed that but it was impressive.

"Well hello there sweetie, what's a nice boy doing in a dive like this?"

Garf's eyes bulged and Dave The Human looked stupefied.

"Jsut havening drink... ma'am" 43 stated and swirled his tumbler of water.

Star shot back, "Oh well, Mmm, Mama likes what she sees... maybe you can buy me a drink."

Garf thought she was starting to get it, and shot a look at EVA 43, and was surprised to see his face had changed colour.

Humans, it should be noted, are fascinating to Atrix, partly because they're not a nice dusty purple colour and they always seem to be saying only one thing with the colour of their face. And then they put on cosmetics and sometimes it's just colour, and sometimes it's like a hilarious mis-translated slogan and some poor human is walking around with their face stating nonsense concepts. Atrix face colours are not words, they're more fuzzy, and conceptual. Right now EVA 43 is giving all the Atrix at the table the impression they would like a juicy fruit.

For the next couple of minutes, Stars flirted with EVA 43 in a way that had Dave, Banjo and Cowboy sobbing with laughter, and Dave The Human very bemused. Stars was laying it on thick, and several statements didn't really parse.

"It's innuendo," whispered Dave The human "And double entendres"

EVA 43 tried gamely to keep up but soon was blushing and stuttering. "OK OK, enough! Dammit Stars Like Seeds In the Field, now I have to get an Atrix pin up for my locker."

Stars was very amused. They poped back up their regular speaking voice "Oh any time, that was hilarious. Y'all OK? Someone check on Cowboy, I think she stopped breathing."

"Thanks Stars!" Cowboy said as Dave mimed CPR on her. "We owe you a drink!".

EVA 43 fanned themself. "That woman was writing a check her biology cannot cash." they said and downed the tumbler of water.

Cowboy nodded. "One of the best voice actors in the business, but her first love is stellar cartography." she said proud of her colleague, "Also she did the samples for the station computer system." she added with a cheeky grin. Everyone considered this. The Station's Human Language voice was notably male.

"Wow." EVA 43 said, "That is impressive range."

"Damn' straight." Stars stated and reached to end the call. "See you around, Space Cowboy!"

#humans are fun #humans are space bards #humans being weird little guys #humans are space orcs #atrix #Station Stories #Garf #Dave The human #Dave the human

[thislovintime]

A closer look at the making of Stranger Things Have Happened:

“That’s another reason that we were friends for life, because I saw him shine when, you know, there were no Monkees, the Monkees idea wasn’t even on the horizon. And he was a wonderful performer and a wonderful musician, and I saw him like that. And I think the fact that he got that from me, that kind of respect all through that period, probably helped the bond as well. And I remember that, after The Monkees’ resurgence, I think it was about, it might have been ’90, ’91 or something, and I said, ‘Peter, why haven’t you made a record? All these guys have made solo records, and you haven’t.’ And he was so humble, he just said, ‘Well, you know, no one has asked me.’ And I said, ‘Jesus, Peter, I have a studio, I have a record label, I have distribution.’ I said, ‘Why don’t we, at some point, make you a solo record, and we’ll shop it, you know. And the worst case scenario, if literally nobody likes it but us, we can put it out on my label, which is distributed by Capitol. So we can’t lose, you know.’ And, you know, I just, I just said, ‘Let’s just do that.’ And I, I must admit that my vision of the first album, because I had seen him perform this organic acoustic music, I wanted to present him doing those, those banjo things. I wanted to make, essentially, an acoustic record, so that I could demonstrate that there was no… no phony stuff behind him, that he was the guy doing this stuff. I wanted to present that so it would shift peoples’ conception of him. Yes, he’s a Monkee, and he was famous and he was a teen idol. He was also always this musician, he played the acoustic guitar — he really played the guitar, he really played the banjo, he really played the piano. And I wanted to do that. But he said, ‘James, you know, I’m not that guy anymore. I want to do a rock ’n’ roll — I’m a rocker, I want to do a rock ’n’ roll record. And I wanna do, I like all these synths and stuff.’ So I said, ‘Okay, well, I mean, let us… let me see what I can do to help further your vision.’ One of the things I’ve always done as a producer is try to figure out what the vision of the artist was, and then serve that. And I learned that from reading about George Martin, who never discouraged The Beatles. He never said, ‘That’s a stupid idea, we can’t do that.’ He always tried to help bring to life whatever the vision was that the artist had. So that’s what I tried to do with Stranger Things Have Happened. Tried to just assist him in realizing that vision. […] [With the 7A re-release] I went back and revisited the record, and I’ll tell you the truth, I liked it a lot. I was, I was genuinely surprised by how much I liked it. I mean, it was Peter’s thing, not mine, and it sounded like a Peter record. It didn’t sound like one of my records; if you listen to my stuff, it’s much different than that. But I liked it, you know. I thought it was very inventive and very varied. […] [As a songwriter, Peter] was always trying to do something which you hadn’t heard. Which is pretty rare, because many of the hit songs that you hear are derivative, they sound like some other hit song. Peter always wanted to write something that you hadn’t heard before. […] I mean, his writing was interesting, you know, and fun to play. Always surprising.“ - James Lee Stanley, The Monkees Pad Show

#Peter Tork #Tork quotes #James Lee Stanley #Tork songs #Stranger Things Have Happened #<3 #90s Tork #60s Tork #can you queue it

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: Béla Fleck - “Unidentified Piece for Banjo”

The Library of Congress found it and Béla Fleck got the first crack at George Gershwin’s “Unidentified Piece for Banjo.”

A solo piece, it finds Fleck demonstrating his peerless playing style - three distinct parts are audible from this one guy - while allow the composer’s personality and environment to shine through the decades-old music.

It’s out to announce Fleck’s Rhapsody in Blue, which arrives Feb. 12, 2024, the 100th anniversary of the title piece premiering in New York City. It contains three versions, “Rhapsody in Blue(grass),” recorded with My Bluegrass Heart; “Rhapsody in Blue(s)” with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and Victor Wooten; and a traditional performance with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Fleck handling the piano parts on banjo.

“I had never heard anything like it – it was love at first listen,” Fleck says of his first exposure to “Rhapsody.”

Fans might feel the same way about “Unidentified Piece for Banjo,” which rounds out the LP alongside “Rialto Ripples.”

Grade card: Béla Fleck - “Unidentified Piece for Banjo” - A

12/15/23

#Youtube #béla fleck #george gershwin #unidentified piece for banjo #rhapsody in blue #my bluegrass heart #sam bush #jerry douglas #alison krauss and union station #victor wooten

[thatbanjobusiness]

Would you say that a banjo's sound can be accurately described as a "twang"?

I would say it depends on the style of banjo being played! I have zero issue calling picking styles twangy and do so myself. But when people less familiar with the music use it as an automatic designator, I feel it demonstrates incomplete assumptions of what a banjo is (alongside regional assumptions - as if pairing it aurally with a spoken Southern "drawl").

The prototypical banjo sound today is Scruggs style picking. The picking hand places three picks on your first three fingers. This provides a sharp, snappy sound. The fretting hand creates ornamentation that slides about the string, hitting blue notes, gliding in and out of dissonance and consonance; the result feels like the twaaaang of an arrow going off a bow, or the sliding diphthongs of Southern American Englishes. This is twangy and it's yummy.

If someone watches a clawhammer banjo picker and goes, "Oh! I love the twang!" I suspect they're judging by the visual of a banjo and its stereotypical associations, not judging what they're hearing. Clawhammer banjo utilizes strums, alternating your thumb striking a note and your fingers brushing down the strings. There are no picks. You are often playing banjos with different construction (open back versus resonator). The resulting tone is mellower. Maybe you still think it sounds twangy, and that's fine, but there's no denying it's a very different sound than the three-finger picking styles like Scruggs style.

There are many, many, many more banjo styles. I'm simplifying for the sake of simplifying. But Rhiannon Giddens, for instance, does not play with a twang to my ears.

Second, I feel like "twang" suggests "down home bluegrass." Like there's connotations of (stereotypical Southern) region, (rural) class, and "non-properness" there (contrasting, say, how classical music has a genteel connotation). But banjo can be heard in everything from 1920s jazz to ragtime to Celtic. And even bluegrass has high variability, with different eras and bands sounding like the rock side of the 1960s Folk Revival, modern rock, country, old-time, classical, jazz, or whatever the heck they want to throw in there.

That "twang" suggests "down home bluegrass" could be my own associations clouding judgment with the word twang, though. There's no denying something like Vess Ossman's plectrum style in ragtime has snappy twang to it. So I could be overassuming what other connotations people associate with the word "twang."

There's a third aspect at play here -- I find banjo's tonal variations huge. I'm sure many folks think, "Yep, that banjo sounds like a banjo," and that's the start and end to it. For me, the banjo's colors are highly variable between instruments and players.

I prefer using detailed descriptors to explain what I hear between different banjos and pickers. Ralph Stanley's tone is bright and narrow, sharp and thin and brittle like fingernails, but ancient. Earl Scruggs's tone sounds earthy. It's deep browns and the power of dirt, thrown into a man whose fingers are so precise they're a machine gun shower of notes. Kenny Ingram is pure machine gun - much sharper, weaponistic in its attacks. Béla Fleck's tone sounds silvery. It's pristine, light, delicate, gliding off the top, sonic embroidery suited for marble halls. They sound nowhere near the same even when playing the same notes because their tones are that different. Why would I call Béla twangy when his tone's so glitterily elegant?

Banjo is an instrument with an unusual amount of tonal customization possible. And I do mean there's lots here about what affects tone, how much you as an owner can alter it, and how variable the final product's sound is. Banjo is juicily customizable. Banjoists turn into mad scientists taking apart their instruments to modify them according to their sonic preferences. It would be a whole other post to discuss what gives the banjo its tone and how that can be modified - and frankly I've only learned the surface.

I'm mostly being picky (ba dumpt tssh get the pun?) when I say, "not all banjos, banjo pickers, and banjo styles twang." I feel off when someone calls certain old-time styles twangy, but I groove when people call a good Scruggs style twangy. In the end, language is flavor, and I may use my flavors of description differently than the next guy.

In general, though, yeah, I'd say "twang" is a fine description.

#haddock to myself the other day: I'm going to make my posts shorter on this blog to be more accessible #haddock right now: writes three thousand hundred words :P #^.^ fun topic tho #peachdoxie #thatbanjobusiness #General Banjo Business #ask #ask me #that banjo business

[justforbooks]

When Ry Cooder famously made his debut appearance at Glastonbury, playing on the Pyramid stage on a damp day in June 1990, he chose not to be backed by a band but by a second guitarist who came on sporting bright red trousers, and hair and sideburns that were very long, even by rock music standards. The duo perched on stools, surrounded by a dozen guitars, mandolins or bouzoukis, and proceeded to prove that they were both virtuoso players who could sound as thrilling as any amplified band as they switched from the atmospheric Paris, Texas to songs made famous by Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly or Jerry Lee Lewis.

Cooder’s companion, David Lindley, who has died aged 78, was a musicians’ musician. He may never have been as well known as those he played with, but he was one of the most sought-after session players in the US. Best known for his collaborations with Cooder and Jackson Browne, he also recorded with an astonishing list of musicians that included Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Iggy Pop, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, John Prine, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Ben Harper, Rickie Lee Jones and Bruce Springsteen. They wanted to work with Lindley not just because he was a great musician who could play almost any stringed instrument, from guitar and fiddle to slide guitar and mandolin through to oud and bouzouki, but because he knew how to interpret the mood of a song, adding texture and emotion without ever dominating.

His own musical taste was far more varied than the rock or singer-songwriter styles of the stars for whom he acted as sideman. When leading his own band, El Rayo-X, he was able to branch out and demonstrate his sense of humour as he explored blues, funk and reggae. Like Cooder, he was fascinated by musical styles from around the world, and some of his most original recordings were with musicians from Madagascar, Hawaii, Norway and Jordan.

Born in San Marino, Los Angeles, he was the son of Margaret (nee Wells) and Jack Lindley, a lawyer and music fan. He grew up listening to his father’s eclectic record collection, which included music from the Middle East and Asia, and he learned to play his father’s ukulele, then the banjo. While at La Salle high school in Pasadena he formed a bluegrass band, the Mad Mountain Ramblers, and then the Dry City Scat Band, which played around the Los Angeles folk clubs and at Disneyland. He was still a teenager when he first won the annual Topanga Canyon banjo and fiddle contest, but was asked to stop competing after he had won it five times.

Lindley’s reputation was growing fast, and in 1967 he landed his first major session, playing on Cohen’s debut, Songs of Leonard Cohen. By then he had formed his first electric band, Kaleidoscope, along with Chris Darrow, with whom he had played in the Scat Band. They released their first, wildly experimental album, Side Trips, in 1967, mixing Middle Eastern music with rock, cajun, country and bluegrass, but, though they were praised by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, their unique brand of “psychedelic folk” didn’t sell records. They broke up in 1970, after recording four albums, and Lindley moved to England to work with the singer-guitarist Terry Reid, who had famously turned down Led Zeppelin.

Moving back to the US, Lindley teamed up with Browne, with whom he spent the rest of the 1970s, touring and recording as a key member of his band, playing acoustic and electric guitar, slide guitar and fiddle. He perfectly complemented many of Browne’s best-loved songs, playing lap steel on Running on Empty and fiddle on Before the Deluge. Browne called him “my hero”, and other musicians asked him to play on their records when Browne did not require his services. His recordings during that period included three albums for Ronstadt, including her first No 1 album, the exquisite Heart Like a Wheel (1974), two with Rod Stewart, including his bestselling Atlantic Crossing (1975), along with albums with Crosby & Nash, Taylor, Warren Zevon and Parton.

He first recorded with Cooder on Jazz (1978) and Bop Till You Drop (1979), after which the duo began performing live together, touring in Australia and Japan. A 1979 live radio recording from Osaka was released on CD in 2021. On their tour in 1995 they were joined onstage by Cooder’s son, Joachim, and Lindley’s folksinger daughter, Rosanne, and released the album Cooder/Lindley Family Live at the Vienna Opera House.

After leaving Browne’s band in 1980, Lindley moved from sideman to band leader with El Rayo-X, which he called “more or less a party band”, and in which he matched his own songs along with a bravely varied assortment of old favourites. The band’s self-titled debut set in 1981 included a glorious, furious treatment of KC Douglas’s Mercury Blues, while Win This Record, released the following year, included the Toots and the Maytals song Premature. Mr Dave (1985) included his own reggae composition Alien Invasion, and the band’s final album Very Greasy (1988) continued to demonstrate his fascination with the Caribbean. Produced by Ronstadt, it included Ronstadt adding harmony vocals on Lord Kitchener’s calypso classic Gimme da Ting (on which Lindley played guitar and kora) and a reggae reworking of Zevon’s Werewolves of London.

While running the band, he still managed time to visit London to play alongside Richard Thompson and Rory Gallagher, and revive his love of flamenco with Juan Martin, at a Guitarists Night concert in March 1984. And he continued his session work, including albums for Browne, and for Emmylou Harris, Ronstadt and Parton on Trio (1987). In 1990 he worked with Dylan on Under the Red Sky.

Still keen to expand his musical range, he travelled to Madagascar with the guitarist Henry Kaiser to record the musicians and unique instruments of the vast island off the east coast of Africa. The aim was to present local stars to an international audience, but Lindley and Kaiser joined in several of the sessions. The resulting albums, A World Out of Time, Vols 1 and 2 (1992-93), included Lindley playing slide guitar with the traditional band Tarika Sammy and joining guitarist Rossy on a reworking of I Fought the Law, the Crickets song popularised by the Clash.

Moving on to Hawaii, this time in the company of Cooder, he recorded with the Pahinui Bros (1992) on a set that included a Hawaiian reggae treatment of John Lennon’s Jealous Guy. Further musical travels included recordings in Norway with Kaiser for The Sweet Sunny North (1994). In 1994-95 he also recorded with the Jordanian oud player Hani Naser, and between 2000 and 2004 with the reggae percussionist Wally Ingram. Their third album together, Twango Bango III (2003) included When a Guy Gets Boobs, a comment on the American diet. “I have always liked songwriters like Warren Zevon who could write something goofy and also really serious,” he explained.

In 2006 he was reunited with Browne for a short Spanish tour on which they were backed by a flamenco percussionist. Love Is Strange, a live album recorded on that tour, was released in 2010, when Browne and Lindley toured Europe and the US, and played at Glastonbury, with a set that included Running On Empty and Mercury Blues. In the same year Lindley also worked with Bruce Springsteen on The Promise. His own final solo album, Big Twang, was released in 2007.

Lindley had a wild stage image, thanks to his colourful clothes and long hair, but he never favoured a rock’n’roll lifestyle, and would often retreat to his hotel room to rehearse after a show. He hated being disturbed in the morning by hotel workers, and would imitate a dog, scratching at the door and barking, to keep them away.

He lived in Claremont, California, in a house filled with musical instruments, and was married to Joan Darrow, the sister of his Kaleidoscope colleague Chris Darrow. He is survived by Joan and Rosanne.

🔔 David Lindley, musician, born 21 March 1944; died 3 March 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

#JUST FOR BOOKS #David Lindley #in memoriam

[penginlord]

Here's a list of all my D&D characters that I have, but haven't used in a while and need too before I go mad. I need to talk about them before I go insane.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Felis Brokenblade (real name: Ilana Tanner. She's forgotten it by now)

Human battlemaster fighter with a focus on duel-wielding chain whips

"I didn't do it I didn't do it I didn't do it I didn't do it"

-insane. Crazy even.

-assested and jailed for the violent murder of several people. Is completely innocent and was framed.

-was in the dungeons of a Fortress For like. . .10-15 years

-the messiest longest red hair

-got out of the dungeons of a Fortress by an "act of god" (by some means the fortress was struck by a great disaster. Everyone else died or evacuated, leaving her to have to escape or die).

-uses the shackles on her wrists with chains still attached as whips in combat.

-Keen mind. Remembers everything.

-Kinda stole her new name from one of the guards who was vaguely nice to her (Knight Avery Felis Lancer)

Fethnat Bramblewood.

Satyr Juggernaut barbarian.

"I can do it! I'm strong and capable ok!"

-satyr daughter to adoptive halfling parents. They practically run an orphanage for abandoned kids, and are very loving. But also protective.

-She's not the smartest. But she's very sincere.

-not taken seriously by anyone. Desperately wants to be taken seriously.

-honestly tries to hide her fuckups because she wants to be taken seriously.

-shes a big strong lady who wants to be a respected member of law enforcement.

-absolutely doing her best.

-hides her insecurities deep down because she needs to put on a strong face.

Ivan O'Dargen

Human college of spirits bard

"The world is meant to be explored and understood. But know this, not all of it can be tamed"

-late 19th century explorer archetype. Artic explorers spesifically.

-glorious muttonchops (important to his character)

-captain of the Northwest Expedition Team, based out of Neverwinter.

-is the sole survivor of every past iteration of his team.

-heavy survivors guilt only offset by his belief that he must keep living to keep the memories of those lost alive.

-will do his darn best to help anyone else he sees struggling with the same guilt he has, or even just PTSD or other mental stresses.

-every spirits tale he tells is of an expedition Team member.

-big leadership man. But in a support way.

-believes in diplomacy first. Will still punch you in the face if diplomacy doesn't work.

-plays the bagpipes (important to his character)

Katya Stautale

Warforged clockwork soul sorcerer

"I never knew there was so much beauty out in the world."

-very pretty???

-designed too look very human. With porcelain skin to be more "like a doll"

-delicate penmanship.

-she was told that she was built to be a demonstration of skill, and as something which can help humans

-She accepted this, and definitely wanted to do it well. But felt something strange about herself.

-considers her team of creators her parents. Loves them very much.

-Actually built with insane destructive magic abilities and as a secret weapon for the kind, although most of that's still in development.

-oops she accidentally discovered some of this power after a freak magic accident.

-oops she snuck out of her workshop and ran away with the first group of heros she met to use this fledgling power to help people

-she has no idea how dangerous she is

-shes just out there, happy as can be

-frolicking even

-so innocent, yet so determined to help.

-she will eventually accidentally blow up a town or something. Probably.

-she seems so well adjusted and mentally stable. Don't let her fool you. She's already fooled herself.

Valory Mason (my beloved)

Human Glamor bard and fathomless warlock

"Don't worry about it darling, not everyone can get what they want"

-plays the banjo

-"ex" prostitute (self employed)

-horny, but with some standards.

-yeah if she finds out you're married when you try and hire her as a prostitute she will refuse your.

-If she finds out you were married after you use her services as a prostitute, she will find your wife and tell her.

-ex con woman (definitely)

-primarily an adventurer trying to help people rn to better herself as a person

-has a daughter. (divorced + lost custody)

-ok she was a prostitute first, but also a con woman because life is a struggle and she needed to really make ends meet.

-then she fell in love with someone and tried to change her life for the better.

-he learned of her past, but not from her, and left. He still loves her? Maybe? It would've actually gone well if she hadn't been afraid to tell him in the first place

-honestly she still loves him too. And loves her daughter as well. She just has no idea how to be a mother and is scared of messing it all up

-of being a shitty role model for her daughter

-so she wants to better herself before trying to go back.

-at the least she just wants to see her daughter once more and know she's being raised well.

-absolutely would pay child support if that existed. (Probably still will on she has income. Becoming an adventurer was more for the self improvement, not the money)

-Never love an Anchor by the Crane Wives

-oh yeah she got cursed by The Void too.

-whiks being an adventurer.

-it was a whole thing.

Lady Luella Ivy Grimm

Tiefling necromancer.

"Evil and good is not darkness and light. It's how such concepts are applied which makes them evil, or good"

-peak goth

-has an undead raven familiar named Edgar

-comes from a Noble house with a long, dark and fucked up past. Demons and dark magic stuff, the usual.

-the current generation is trying to undo some of that evil

-tiefling born to human parents, they still love her. Let her learn necromancy from the court magician

-responsible necromancy. Like, asking souls for permission and giving them a second chance in the world of the living, even if short lived.

-thinks bones are neat.

-genuinely believes that everything has a good too it. That everyone has good inside them.

-this has caused her problems.

-she understands that one's evil can outweigh their good, but always initially assumes for the good.

-finds beauty in death and nature's cycles involving it.

-very respectful noble woman. Treated everyone kindly.

-uses a shovel as her main weapon if enemies get to close

-it doubles to help her dig up graves

-my most emotionally healthy and stable character.

Gwendolyn

Tiefling Chronomancer

-she ran away from her negligent parents at a young age. (Before running off she spent a lot of time reading books in libraries and temples)

-abandoned her old name, instead choosing her current one because she thought it was pretty.

-she went up to the first wizard tower she could find and basically demanded to learn magic

-the first wizard she encountered was a little gnome who was absolutely delighted to be approached by someone wanting to learn magic

-incredibly well-read. Love's reading, learning, and developing her skill with magic and helping her new village with her skills

-has a cat. Nathaniel is his name, and he's the fluffiest mother fucker you've ever seen.

-she has a really cool staff with a clock on it.

-very smart and caring. Truly the most mentally stable character I have.

Chien Jia

Human samurai fighter

-comes from the very distant lands too the east of the Sword Coast, Kara Tur.

-trained from a young age to be a warrior for her village. Expessially trained with the use of a crossbow, too the point she can basically rapid-fire one.

-very well trained in the arts along with the doctrines of war. Had hopes and ideas towards potentially becoming a general, or even a military advisor too the Emperor. Lofty ambitions.

-one night started receiving rather intense dreams about some abyssal apocalypse happening to some strange land too the west

-experienced these for a while, and quite concerned about them. Has discovered mad scrawlings on some of her weapons and gear after the dreams, all in abyssal. (Some of which she understands?)

-she approached mystics and her mentor about these dreams, and was told she was go west to resolve them. The gods must be sending her a warning, or message.

-has begun her journey to a strange land of unknown customs. Has not found any details regarding her strange visions as of yet.

Poetry Irebras

Tiefling Transmutation Wizard

-one of the first generations of tieflings (at least for the campaign I'm planning on using her in)

-Relatively young.

-When she was born her parents considered her a bad omen, and she was "abandoned" by them.

-abandoned meaning they dumped her on her grandfather, an old wizard who doesn't care much about "Demonic appearances" or "Bad Omens". Honestly being raised by him was probably one of the best things to happen in her early childhood

-He even started teaching her magic! Overall he's the most chill of old men and wizards. Although due to his advanced age, he's not the best spellcaster.

-At one point the nearby village heard rumors about "a devil learning magic", which lead too the pitchforks and torches were pulled out and she was forced to leave.

-She's still in contact with her grandfather, but she doesn't live with him anymore, for his safety. Now she lives on the outskirts of civilization, surviving the best she can.

#Felis Brokenblade #Fethnat Bramblewood #Ivan O'Dargen #Katya Stautale #valory mason #Lady Luella Ivy Grimm #Luella Ivy Grimm #dungeons and dragons #dnd #d&d #d&d character #oc #ocs #backstory #trauma #bard #fighter #warlock #sorcerer #wizard #necromancer #insane #19th century explorer #goth noblewoman necromancer #warforged #satyr #please i need to talk about them so bad theyre in my head #Gwendolyn #Chien Jia #Poetry Irebras

[two-crabs]

pt. 1

“You know how, if you go to like a Chinese restaurant, or like, any restaurant I guess—you know how if you walk into a place, even for like takeout or whatever, and you see a kid doing homework in the back, you know that place is gonna be good?” 

“…mhm?”

“Do you think when people walk and see me back here, they think the same thing?” 

“No.” 

“Why not? I’m cute as hell.”

“Mai.” Rhys appeared suddenly from around the corner, and glared at them through the beaded curtain. “Could you…water something, at least?” 

“Yeah, yeah, one sec.” Mai turned the tuning knob on their banjo a bit more, and plucked a few strings before they stood from the little tufted stool in the reading room and stretched. Sighing, they left their instrument in the corner and parted the beads. 

Mid-morning sun was filtering into the little shop through bowls of crystals and giant monstera leaves, spilling dimly onto the floor. Stained glass lanterns and pillar candles lit the corners of the room, casting long shadows over tables of dried herbs, and tarot cards, and stacks of astrology books. Rhys rearranged the displays of hand-carved bone dice and locally-grown teas that crowded the counter, then flicked on the ‘open’ sign. Purple neon light glowed through the moon cycle posters and stained glass eyes that hung in the window, turning the orange Los Angeles morning into a perpetual twilight. 

Mai went digging around in the storage closet—the best-lit and least magical part of the store—and emerged with a handful of watering cans and bottles. 

“Is it a spritzing day?” They asked, but Rhys held up a finger as he counted cash under his breath, and slid it into the register.

“What?” And he raised a single gold-laden eyebrow. 

Mai lifted a delicate copper-and-glass plant mister. They’d seen Rhys use it to spray the air plants that dotted the store, seemingly growing up out of corners and crevices of their own volition. “Do the prickly boys need a dousing?” 

Rhys tiled his head slightly. “Well. It’s Monday,” he said, and then Mai watched his eyes narrow. They stared back at him, unblinking. They were immune to Rhys’s prying gaze by now. It was the same one that carved his client’s truths out of them, and the one that tried to convince Mai that any given mess in the apartment was somehow their fault. 

After a breath, Mai rested their elbow on their hip. “You want I should spritz or n—?”

“Yes, Mai, please, a thorough misting”—He disappeared back beneath the counter—“The humidity is supposed to drop this week and they’re already looking a little crispy—and watch the fucking malachite, it’ll get pocked if it gets wet.”

“Ugh, girl, same,” Mai sighed as they made their rounds

“So if it—wait, what?” 

Mai snickered. “Oh, nothing.” 

“No, I heard you, but what would that even mean?”

“I dunno, it was a knee-jerk reaction—”

“Like was it ‘wet’ or ‘pocked’ that made you think, ‘Oh, this is vaguely sexu—’”

“—Honestly didn’t even think about it—” 

“Are your neurons so fried that—” And then the shop phone rang. Rhys picked it up and tucked it in the crook of his shoulder. Mai stifled a laugh. “This is The Hole in The Wall, how can I h—” Suddenly he straightened. “It’s—well, shit, fine, okay…yeah, yes, no, I’ll—fine, yes, I’m on my way. Okay. Great. Goodbye.” He hung the phone up, aggressively. “Well bugger me, I guess..” 

Mai had turned back to the air plants, picking each one up individually and gently misting all sides before nestling them back amidst the books and crystals. As a strategy this not only took up time, but demonstrated to Rhys a dedication to the work (that he did not believe), and freed them from having to remember what malachite looked like. “Who was that…?” they asked, absentmindedly. 

When they turned, Rhys had his sun glasses on and was pulling on his coat. “Fucking delivery truck.” 

“We get things delivered in…trucks?” They’d never say it, but the entire shop could’ve fit in the trunk of a Subaru Outback. 

“There’s a semi-truck…three blocks away—” he kicked off his boots and pulled on a pair of battered running shoes—“with one box of my stained glass lampshades…buried under fifteen tons of fuckin’…Wayfair shite—” He opened the door to the shop, and the bell jingled above him, then he turned on his heel a pointed at Mai. “Don’t—” 

Mai stood there, plant in hand, blinking.

“Just…Don’t.” And Rhys was gone down the block.

Mai went back to misting, then grabbed their banjo from the back, and perched themself on the stool behind the register, noodling along with the ambient, Celtic-inspired, lo-fi droning that Rhys piped in. The shop was always slow during the week, but when Mai wasn’t out busking, he kept them both busy with rearranging displays and vetting the boxes of “mystical literature” that he collected from the local thrift shops. Towards the end of each day he brewed tea and lit incense, and unfurled the gauzy curtains in front of the windows, and hung the brand-new “Appointments Only” sign that Mai had painted for him on the door. Five minutes before his first client, Mai would be dismissed and they’d go upstairs to make dinner. There was a rhythm to it that they had fallen into quickly and smoothly, and—

The bell jingled again. Mai didn’t even look up.

“Welcome to The Hole in The Wall, while the hole is away, I shall play”—and they strummed their banjo lightly—“What can we—”

When they finally lifted their eyes, it wasn’t Rhys standing in the doorway, but another young man, looking more sheepish than anyone with his physique had any right to. 

“Hi…” he said. “Did you say the owner isn’t here? I can come ba—”

“No no!” Mai stood up and stepped around to greet him. “I can help you! What, uh, how can I help you?” 

The guy was tall, with curly dark hair and a smooth face, with the kind of muscle that doesn’t draw attention to itself (unless it’s wrapped in a black t-shirt that’s two sizes too small, which it was). His joggers and shoes were black too, and he stood out like a man-shaped void in the middle of the shop’s sea of color. His eyes were so blue they were almost purple, and his face was tensed into a look of wary anxiety, like he was going to contract something by just being there. 

In his hand, he held a single stick of incense. 

“Yes, um, thank you, I…” he cleared his throat. “Do you know what this is?” He held out the stick and looked down at Mai. 

They paused for a moment, staring at it. “That’s incense, you light it on fi—”

“No, no, thank you, I know, but.” He took a deep breath. “Sorry, I’ve only been in here a couple time. It’s…cool.” Mai nodded as the guy collected himself. “Do you know what, um, flavor? This is?” 

Without hesitation, Mai plucked the incense from his hand, held it to their nose, and inhaled deeply. The guy stepped back, startled, but already Mai was coughing, their eyes watering. 

“Oof, yeah,” they sniffed hard trying to clear their nose. “Myrrh. We have that. It’s not the most popular scent. A little uh…clerical, for my taste. But whatever floats your boat.” 

Mai showed him to the little wooden cabinet of incense sticks, before retreating back to the register. They busied themself with flipping through a vintage book on nebulously “pagan” rituals, and pretended not to watch the guy. After a minute or so of carefully studying the incense on offer, as well as a few of the nearby crystals, Mai’s jaw dropped as they watched him pick up one of the little wax paper bags, and fill it with every single myrrh stick they had in stock. 

The guy politely continued to mill around the store, opening and closing some books, and sniffing a handful of candles, before approaching the counter and setting the the bag down. This time, Mai got a whiff of the guy’s cologne too, and went dizzy for a second just imagining the combination of Catholic haze and Ralph Lauren musk. 

They rang him up and bagged his purchase. “And usually we make people spend fifty bucks for this, but the boss is out and I’m in charge, so—” and Mai dropped a handful of holographic stickers and a single, clear pink resin die into the bag. 

“Oh, thank you. Um.” The guy took his bag in one hand and receipt in the other, and stood there. “Do you, or, the owner, I guess, um. Does he do, uh—gosh, I don’t even know what you call it.”

Mai clenched their jaw, and tried not to react to the man’s seemingly entirely sincere use of “gosh.”

“Mr. Doubleday offers tarot readings, palm reading, tea leaf analysis, custom star chart wor—”

“That one!” The man’s face brightened, and he smiled like a toothpaste commercial. 

“Star chart?” Again Mai had to school their face into stillness. 

“Yes, please.” 

Mai nodded and retrieved Rhys’s giant datebook from under the counter. It thudded when they dropped it on the counter, like a proper tome, and the leather spine creaked a little when they opened it. “Okay. When are you available?” 

“Oh, um. Whenever. I’m not, um…I don’t do much.” 

Mai squinted at him just slightly, but he was unreadable. No jewelry, no tattoos; the only thing his clothing said was ‘I work out,’ and even then they only whispered it. Mai considered themself a fairly non-judgemental person, but that was easier to be when there was something to judge in the first place. They shook their head and dragged their finger across the page. “How’s Thursday at eight?” 

“Perfect, thank you.” 

“Can I have your name?” 

“Uh, Kieran Glancy. Spelled…like it sounds.” 

Mai penciled him, added his phone number and email, and copied the appointment time on the back of one of the shop’s business cards. 

“There you go Mr. Glancy. We’ll see you on Thursday. Remember to bring the exact time of your birth, so maybe shoot your mom a text.” Mai chuckled lightly at this. Kieran didn’t.

Kieran took the card from them, and put it in his back pocket, before nodding and seeing himself out. Mai hardly had enough time to put the tome away when the door flew open again, and Rhys burst in, an enormous box in his arms. He did everything short of dropping it in front of the register, and Mai could hear the sound of glass tapping against itself. Rhys took a few deep breaths, steadied himself, then leaned on the counter. His breathing was fast, and he glistened, almost artfully, with sweat. 

“What did he buy?”

“Wha—”

“Choir boy…” Rhys peeled off his jacket and dropped it on the floor, panting. “Tall, dark, repressed. What did he buy?” 

“Uh…forty dollars worth of vile incense. And a chart reading on Thursday.”

Rhys stretched out his back and looked over at the incense. “I knew it.” 

Mai rolled their eyes, and started opening the box on the floor. “Then why did you as—” 

“He did the same thing a week ago. No one goes through this shit that fast.” 

“Mhm.” 

“And now he’s got an appointment, but nothing too personal. Just a chart reading, no palms…” 

Mai unwrapped the shipping paper. “Hey, uh, Rhys?” 

 “Relax we have more myrrh upstairs.” Rhys disappeared into the storage closet again, changing his shoes and hanging up his coat. “Did he ask to see me when he came in?” 

“Yes, but I wouldn’t—” 

“Of course he did.” From around the corner Mai could see him fixing his hair in the the reflexion of the mirrored scrying bowl he stored with the cleaning products. Still red-cheeked and dewy, but with a self-satisfied grin spreading across his face, Rhys reemerged and leaned, bead-draped in the doorway. “He wants me.” 

“Cool,” Mai said, and plucked a delicate glass hummingbird from the box, holding it up for Rhys to see. At least fifty more rattled together as it shifted. “Are you running after that truck or do you want me to do it?” 

“Fuck.” 

#mai #rhys #i miss them

[sleepingangelmusic]

banjotravel banjo

#youtube #travel banjo #unboxing banjo #mini banjo #c tuned banjo #playing the banjo #setting up banjo #tuning banjo #banjo demonstration #vango banjo

[jules-has-notes]

Miley Cyrus (1-Minute Musical) — VoicePlay music video

This song is VoicePlay in one of their sweet spots, combining silliness with sincerity. They've got costumes, character voices, and a compelling story to tell. The subject matter might get a little raunchier than usual, but it's all meant in good fun.

Details:

title: 1-Minute Musicals — Miley Cyrus

original performers: VoicePlay

written & arranged by: Geoff Castellucci

release date: 29 April 2016

My favorite bits:

the other guys jumping back when "Merle" snaps at them

a lovely slow intro with pleasant harmonies

Earl demonstrating the ♫ "scratchy voice like a dude" ♫

Geoff using his shovel handle as an air-bass

the ♫ "Yeehaaaw" ♫ key change

Eli taking off his glasses when Tony and Layne doff their hats

that smooth harmonized scoop on ♫ "doooo neeext" ♫

Layne giggling in the outro

Trivia:

"Miley" is indeed a stage name. Her birth name is Destiny Hope Cyrus. And yes, Dolly Parton is her actual godmother.

The line about Miley "strumming her banjo" was a euphemistic reference to her surprisingly lewd performance with Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.

According to Eli, they managed to get through the full song without laughing in relatively few takes. I suppose they got most of their giggles out during the recording and rehearsal process.

The bandages on Earl's arm are covering his Superman shield logo tattoo for copyright reasons. (Superman is a DC Comics property, but Maker Studios was owned by Disney, which also owns Marvel.)

The guys had previously done a very sincere cover of Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball" with guest vocalist Sarah Vela from Vocal Rush as part of their post-Sing-Off collaboration series.

They later did a short mashup of Miley's "Flowers" and Bruno Mars's "Your Man" with guest Anthony Gargiula.

All of the 1-Minute Musical videos were filmed at the REBL HQ studio at nearby Full Sail University.

#VoicePlay #music video #a cappella #original music #music #video #series: 1-Minute Musicals #Maker Studios SPARK

[daintyduck99]

“I’m never doing that again.” for Alex/anyone because I can hear him say it

Either Alex’s friends have no idea how kissing works, or it’s exactly as gross as they made it sound. He furiously wipes Luke’s spit off of his face, ignoring the way he squawks in offense. 

“Okay, I’m never doing that again. Why do adults like it so much?” 

Reggie rolls over, crowding half on top of Alex because there’s nowhere else to go. Luke’s bed is barely big enough for the three of them, anymore. His arm drapes over Alex’s chest as he grins, flashing his braces, and his mouth’s still all red and raw from Luke’s sloppy demonstration. He’d made this noise like he hadn’t minded, had enjoyed it, even, which was the only reason Alex had let Luke anywhere near his lips, after. 

Alex hadn’t liked how wet it was, how messy, but—he likes the mess it made of Reggie’s mouth. 

Ugh, it doesn’t make any sense. Still—he can’t stop looking at Reggie’s lips as he speaks. 

“I dunno, I mostly figured it would hurt, with the metal and all. It wasn’t that bad, though—”

Luke makes another offended noise, burying his face in Alex’s shoulder. 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys. Rock stars are supposed to be good at this stuff!” 

“‘S’alright, Lu.” Reggie rubs Luke’s back. “Even rock stars have to start somewhere. I’m sure if we keep trying we can reach rock star levels! We couldn’t play well right away, either.” 

“You basically could,” Luke whines, which is true. 

Reggie picked up bass guitar fast, then banjo from his grandpa, and he’s been fiddling with Luke’s acoustic, lately. He’s sort of insanely talented like that. He blushes at Luke’s words. 

“Okay, maybe, but I wasn’t perfect right away. And I don’t have your—intensity. You played under your fingers bled and basically put your soul into that guitar! You put it into everything.”

Luke lifts his head with a grin. “Really?” 

“Yeah,” Reggie squeaks. He clears his throat. “I mean—I could tell you really wanted to kiss me. And you’re always really warm. So—some of it was nice. I’d let you kiss me again.” 

Luke smirks, but at least he doesn’t wiggle his eyebrows.

“You haven’t kissed Alex yet, though.” 

Wait a frickin’ second. He feels his own cheeks flood with heat. 

“Didn’t I just say—” 

“Come on Alex, it was my first kiss,” Luke says exasperatedly. “Kisses, whatever. In theory it’s super easy! Just—try a few more times before you decide that you don’t like it. Maybe we’ll get the hang of it, and then you will! Plus, Reggie’s lips are really soft.”

Reggie squeaks again, a cute little eep, and his gaze skitters away as he rolls his lip between his teeth, as if he needs to test Luke’s claim for himself. 

Alex has to admit that it’s tempting. If Reggie wasn’t laying on his arm, he’d touch his face. 

“Okay. We can kiss if you want to, Reggie.” 

His eyes snap back to Alex’s, round with disbelief and something like joy. His face is still pink, though his lips aren’t quite so red this time when he smiles. 

“Of course I want to kiss you, Lexi.” 

Alex is the one to brush their lips together to hide the way he melts, but it doesn’t really work. 

This—is better. Luke was right—Reggie’s lips are soft, and he’s still smiling. Alex tries not to press too hard on account of Reggie’s braces, because—you’re supposed to do something with your mouth, right? But this light amount of pressure, the sweet skim of his mouth on Reggie’s—it’s sort of nice. He’d dare to call it good, even. 

It’s safe to say that Reggie picks up kissing first too, even with the handicap of his braces. Alex never lets Luke live it down—someone needs to keep him humble amidst all the fame.

#polyphantoms #luke x alex x reggie #post kiss prompts #ficlets with ash #julie and the phantoms

[dustedmagazine]

Various Artists — Measure, Pour & Mixtape: Music for Cooking (Spinster)

It’s somewhat surprising that an organization that describes itself as a “feminist record label” should make its second mixtape compilation about food and cooking, among the most stereotypical and traditional of female activities. However, as the tape demonstrates, different women have different attitudes about the domestic arts — some warm and comfortable and full of love, others rebelling against the forced servitude that is so often entailed. I myself had a brief period in my mid-20s when I refused to cook out of some sort of inchoate resentment of the patriarchy. I came around when I realized that eating would be a lot more enjoyable, not to mention cheaper, if I learned some of the basics.

In any case, this diverse and lovely collection reclaims the kitchen for artists and thinkers, and significantly, not all of them are women (Avey Tare and Michael Hurley contribute cuts, as well as the mixed gender Magic Tuber String Band). They come primarily from the more adventurous end of folk music that Spinster focuses on, but not entirely. There are Inuit throat singers of PIQSIQ and the improvisatory percussionist Jess Tsang (who incorporates an electric mixer into her track) to break up the picking.

The tracks are so lovely and so much each its own world that it’s to choose favorites, nonetheless Sally Anne Morgan’s luminous “Grain Song,” imbues country fiddle and plucked strings with otherworldly resonance, while Lou Turner’s “Ride the Melting” is characteristically smart, surprising and beautiful. Magic Tuber String Band’s minor key hoedown “Bill Henseley’s Hoppin’ John” is as satisfying as the grain-based sustenance it celebrates, while Little Mazarn’s “Thankgiving,” limns happy memories with melancholy in banjo, bowed saw and plaintive voice.  

The prompt for all the tracks, apparently, was “If you made music the way you cook, what would it sound like?” and poet Crystal Good’s “Food Poem” answers that question with silence. Good doesn’t cook, and her track makes it plain why not, in the blighted relationship between her mother and step-father, where nothing was ever good enough, and the happier pairing of her dad and step-mother, where food defined the woman of the house to the exclusion of everything else. The track is a bit of an outlier in a compilation that generally celebrates cooking and food and family, but a bracing one. Like the handful of bitter greens that makes the soup so good, her anger makes the rest sound all the more inviting. Women and food. It’s complicated.

Jennifer Kelly

#Measure #Pour & Mixtape #spinster #jennifer kelly #albumreview #dusted magazine #sally anne morgan #lou turner #magic tuber string band #cooking #food #compilation

[athgalla-arts]

Ford and Fiddleford's Dynamic - Pt. 2

Alright, it’s the 80s and Ford is struggling with completing the portal. Fiddleford was the first person that Ford thought to contact to help him, and Fiddleford, in turn, seemed quite happy to hear from Ford and enthusiastic about the whole offer. I don’t have a source (so if someone does, I’d love to have it), but I swear I recall Alex saying somewhere that Ford did give Fiddleford a similar spiel to the one he gave Dipper about being special and all, but I believe Ford genuinely means those things earnestly and is not trying to be manipulative in the slightest.

Now, some folks like to read Fiddleford’s ready acceptance to all but dump his life and leave his wife and child in California to go live in the woods with Ford for a (probably unspecified) period of time as a hint toward at least Fiddleford’s feelings being romantic. While I like to view it this way for fun and believe that it’s entirely possible, I think it’s still pretty far from actual proof and can be read pretty reasonably in a platonic or other context, too. Consider that they already have a strong, years-long friendship at this point, and ultimately Ford is offering Fiddleford the following:

The opportunity to work on something new and interesting to challenge his skills

The opportunity to contribute to a possibly enormous breakthrough in our very understanding of reality.

The potential financial security that could come from this – something that would directly benefit him by allowing him to better support Emma-May and Tate.

(not to mention, Fiddleford’s own desire for approval and attention from those he cares about…which this would also help with. But, I digress…)

Risky? Sure! But Fiddleford trusts Ford at this stage, and country boy he is, I bet he wasn’t complaining about the chance to get out of Silicon Valley for a bit and be with his best friend, doing something (hopefully) incredible. For all of Fiddleford’s potential to be unstable and utterly feral (especially when under extreme stress) at times, is also quite level-headed and reasonable. Even if the portal itself failed at first, I would bet he could see the potential and value in simply trying, even if Ford was hell-bent on succeeding come Hell or high water.

Backtracking slightly, but I believe Ford’s snarky comment about Fiddleford “wasting his time building computers…” could be rad a few different ways. Is he miffed to this day that Fiddleford ‘left’ him to settle in California and have a family with Emma-May rather than pursue something with him (romantic or otherwise)? Is it just that he doesn’t have faith that computers would prove that long-lived or important (prepare for your wakeup call, bud…)? Who’s to say? I’d be interested to know, though.

I mentioned Ford’s reaction to Fiddleford’s arrival earlier – It’s so sweet, it utterly melts my heart! Sure, being largely alone for so long is bound to add to the excitement, but regardless, I love that Ford went out of his way to find microchips and banjo strings to welcome Fiddleford. I love that Fiddleford put in the time and effort to build an entire custom laptop for Ford. I truly hope that Ford was appropriately grateful for that, and I think he was, even if he didn’t quite understand the point of it.

Time and again, we see Ford speaking highly of Fiddleford or in a relaxed, jovial, humorous way. He demonstrates admiration for Fiddleford’s intelligence and his inventions, fascinations with the qualities they differ on and differences in their upbringing, and just overall treats him with this sense of awe while showing nothing short of absolute domesticity with him (“No banjo after 8 PM”, “This morning over ham sandwiches…”, messing with his Cubic’s Cube, the leg warmer debacle, the molasses debate, and so on). Those first two lines I mentioned convey a particular sense of quiet intimacy and comfort between them that I just adore, and that I think outlines who they are and this trust and acceptance of each other they share at this point.

So, things are good in Oregon for them both! For now…

As I get into the grittier events that shattered that trust and tested that love between them, I want to make a quick observation: One characteristic that I think Fiddleford notably demonstrates, especially in Journal 3, is being observant – and I believe this ties right back into him truly knowing and understanding Ford. This, and his demonstration of fierce dedication to Ford even as events destroyed them both, further fit the overall theme of the series just beautifully and demonstrates the line where love can become a fault, and the damage that dishonesty and hubris can do.

So, let’s dig in and discuss some notable observations Fiddleford makes along the way.

Early on in their time together in Oregon and during the legwarmer conversation, Fiddleford asks Ford if anyone else was helping with the project. I do think this was just a frank matter to verify if they had collaborators, but I think it went further and that Fiddleford was already noticing something peculiar about Ford’s behavior. I don’t think that Fiddleford underestimates Ford in the slightest, but having known him a long time, having probably discussed the nature of Ford’s earlier research in the area, having been in school with Ford, I think he had a pretty realistic picture of Ford’s intellectual strengths and weaknesses, the skills he had and those he lacked, and so on. Here, we have the first instance of dishonesty between them. Ford debates telling Fiddleford about Bill, but decides not to given Fiddleford’s superstitious nature and fears that it would frighten him off. Instead of properly addressing the question, he vaguely alludes that it’s all his own work and distracts Fiddleford with work to check.

There’s our first crack in their pretty little picture. I think that Fiddleford absolutely caught on to Ford’s dodginess, here – even just a little bit, and maybe tried to rationalize it to himself.

Ford then doubles down further and decides to begin writing in code. I am unsure if this implies that he would let Fiddleford look through the journals in a trusting way, or if he is becoming untrusting and is worrying that Fiddleford will snoop. I think the later is particularly heartbreaking if they had previously been pretty open with each other about most things. Inevitably, Ford will have to hand the Journals over to Fiddleford at times for his reference, unless he makes copies of any relevant diagrams and has to avoid the need (and come to think of it, I’m inclined to believe this).

Pt. 1

#Gravity Falls #Stanford Pines #Fiddleford McGucket #no time to proofread y'all ride with me here