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burritowitch · 9 months

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Lonnie's 'in case of my death' note from shadow of the bat #41 which according to @lesbiananitafite reads a hell of a lot like a suicide note because he is Not Normal, written out below because it is so hard to read as is:

It looks like tonight must have been that night. I know I've caused you a lot of pain and grief over the past couple of years, and I'm sorry for that. You thought you were bringing me up to be the All-American boy, playing ball on the weekends, studying hard to be a doctor or lawyer. Instead you got a criminal. My memory is tainted, my good intentions derided. And, probably, I'm dead.

How to begin to explain how I feel? The world is like an alien planet to me, the brittle laughter and hollow fun of a theme park overlaying the nightmares of war and discrimination and brutality. The people society respects-- the great and the good-- are, in most part, the small and the evil to me. It's as if I see with laser eyes, burning away the surface illusions that hide the fact that we're zombies-- puppets controlled by somebody else. Again I'm sorry, because I know you're upset. You're good people-- nearly everybody is good people-- and that's what the elite take advantage of. But society is changing. The information revolution allows every man to see the great and good are no better than him. The old power structures and their fascist ways cannot compete with the anarchy of tomorrow's technology. The time of the common man is coming. No longer will he have to march to battle as fodder for bankers and arms makers. No longer will he live in a fog of deceit stoked up by politicians' lies. The future is freedom... and all I ever wanted was to hasten its birth.

I think it all began with Xuasus. I was eleven when he became my penpal... Every month I wrote to tell him the wonders of America-- Every month he wrote back with tales of hovels and soldiers and the brutal repression that made up his life. After a year, his letters suddenly stopped. Mine were returned "Not Known." Another year passed before I found out why he Xuasus wrote once more, a single sheet scribbled in some seedy back alley. His father had been arrested and not heard from since. His mother took ill. His sister died of malnourishment. At the age of 11, Xuasus was fending for himself on the streets. Remember I asked you to help me find him, Dad? You said it was another country, the rules were different there. We could do nothing. But I couldn't just forget a friend like that. I started to haunt the library. I found out Xuasus' country was a dictatorship, at war with Marxist guerillas, with ordinary people caught in the crossfire. I found out the guns came from Europe, and Russia... and here. A few men made big profits, while half a world away, poor people suffered. I read about war and the history of war, and the psychology of war, and the horrors of war. You never knew it but--

That's when I went through those months of nightmares. Remember? Anyway, I soon realized something-- almost all wars were caused by only one man, or one small group of men. And every time the elites ordered 'Fight!' it was the ordinary men who became canon fodder-- and ordinary families followed him into oblivion.

I learned that the state is more important than the individual. I learned that politics is soaked in blood. But I couldn't accept that it had to be that way. Remember how crazy I was about books, Dad? I used to make you take me to the bookstore every Saturday. Flying saucers, cults, conspiracy theory, religion, the occult... I drank it up, tried in vain to make sense of it all. Then I discovered Scudder Klyce's "Universe" and the jigsaw finally fell into place.

Scudder Klyce worked out the secret of humanity. Vox populi, Vox Del. The voice of the people is the voice of God. The elites are parasites, vampires sucking on the life-blood of man, turning everything good and decent into foul corruption! That's when Anarky was born. I couldn't help Xuasus-- but I could give the people of Gotham a voice, no matter how small, against the forces that oppress them.

--If I am dead, please don't think ill of me. I only wanted to bring a little sanity into an insane world for a little while, I was something no one else had ever been... the voice of the people. One day-- and it won't be long-- the tyrants will die away, scorned and mocked by their former victims. One day you'll see that I'm right; maybe then you'll be proud to say "My son did that."

All my love, Anarky (alias Lonnie Machin)

#lonnie machin #save me i suffered doing ths

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fahrni · 2 months

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Saturday Morning Coffee

Good morning from Charlottesville, Virginia! ☕️

Well, I’ve managed to put some time into Stream for Mac this week. I’d really messed it up trying to force the codebase into something I wanted, so I started over. Yeah, that sucks, but I think in the end it will have been the right choice.

Taylor — my movie going buddy and youngest daughter — and I saw Dune Part Two last night and we both really enjoyed it. I won’t give away any spoilers here but I wonder if it gave us some insight not given in the book. The problem is I can’t remember the book that well because it’s been 20-plus years since I read it. I enjoyed the ending but it most certainly leaves the door open for Dune: Messiah and Children of Dune. I hope they happen.

I’ve finished today’s post and I’m getting ready to publish. I’ve also come downstairs to my computer so I can work on Stream for Mac today. I’m not exactly sure what I’ll work on yet but I have Import and Export of OPML working as well as Refresh. In my little app that covers a huge swath of functionality because Stream is so darned simple. I’ll spend a whole lot of time on the UI to make it look as good as I’m capable of doing. I still have two important bits of UI to get in; Settings and Adding Feeds. Those will be brand new bits and I’ll get some exposure to more AppKit APIs while I’m at it, which is a big goal for me.

Something I’ve been considering is a triple-pane UI, which is the opposite of what Stream was written to be. I’m still thinking about that move while I work through the basics. The more I think about it the more I both like and hate the idea. In the meantime I have plenty of polish work to do on the app itself. Keyboard shortcuts and right mouse clicks will play an important role in the Mac version.

Anywho, I hope you enjoy the links.

Diana Dasrath • NBC News

Richard Lewis, revered comic and ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ star, dies at 76

RIP 🪦

The White House

Today, the White House Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) released a report calling on the technical community to proactively reduce the attack surface in cyberspace. ONCD makes the case that technology manufacturers can prevent entire classes of vulnerabilities from entering the digital ecosystem by adopting memory safe programming languages

I instantly think of Rust when I read memory safe programming languages, but Swift falls into that category as well.

The biggest problem, if you want to call it that, is our entire infrastructure lives on top of systems built in C and C++ years, and years, and years ago.

Who will be the first to rewrite a major OS in Rust or Swift? Microsoft has done some work in Windows to rewrite a tiny portion in Rust but what about an entire OS?

Heck, even some very modern efforts, like Google’s Fuscia, are in C++.

Will we see an effort to replace OS Kernels with Rust? Or perhaps the API layers on top of OSes because they provide a bigger attack surface? No matter, I’d be interested in watching something so daunting.

Roberto Baldwin • Ars Technica

The Electrify America flagship station is what charging should have been all along. It’s also what companies like the seven-automaker joint venture now called IONNA are promising. We should expect to see more of this sort of facility as EVs increase in market share; many new owners don’t want to compromise when it comes to keeping their vehicles on the road.

This gives me hope for a good electric vehicle future.

You know what would be even better? Better mass transportation systems powered by electricity.

Whizy Kim • Vox

Older Americans are working longer. Some want to; others have to.

Well, this will most certainly be me. I did a horrible job planning for retirement so the best I can hope for is to slow down a bit and do part time work (if I can!)

I figure I’ll be forced out of the tech space by an aging brain and the inability to keep up with the youngins coming into the workforce.

Maybe a part time gig at a place like Starbucks will work for me? Someday I suppose we’ll find out.

Joe Taraborrelli • Sony Interactive

We envision reducing our headcount by about 900 people, or about 8% of our current workforce

Ugh. More layoffs. This time it’s hitting the video games sector.

I hope everyone who lost their job was taken care of.

We had a layoff at WillowTree a couple weeks back that took out a whole bunch of VPs and Partners and another realignment of the company. It’s been a really weird year since the acquisition.

Neil Long • mobilegamer.biz

Inside Apple Arcade: axed games, declining payouts, disillusioned studios – and an uncertain future

I wonder if this will affect my friends at The Iconfactory? They have a really fun game called Frenzic: Overtime in Apple Arcade.

I hope not. ❤️

Nick Barclay • The Verge

Apple has halted its long-rumored “Project Titan” work on developing an electric car, according to Bloomberg. The company reportedly announced the news internally on Tuesday and said many people in the 2,000-person team behind the car will shift to generative AI efforts instead.

This always felt like a weird project to me. Why a car? Maybe the answer is: because. That’s a valid reason in my book.

Say, has anyone integrated CarPlay to the extent Apple demo’d at WWDC? You know, the one where the entire dashboard is a giant CarPlay screen?

Sameer Ajmani

In this article, I’ll talk about how we aligned Go with Google Cloud while preserving the core values that make Go great for everyone.

I’ve always seen Go as C for the internet. I’m not sure how many folks realize what an impact C had. 20 years ago almost everything was written in C, C++, or Objective-C. If you wanted speed and portability it was your only choice.

I spent 20+ years writing C/C++ code and I still love the language.

I wonder if Go has that kind of following? The web seems to be largely built on Java, Python, Ruby, and JavaScript, of course I could be 100% wrong about that. 😃

Samantha Cole • 404 Media

Tumblr and Wordpress are preparing to sell user data to Midjourney and OpenAI, according to a source with internal knowledge about the deals and internal documentation referring to the deals.

This doesn’t sound like something Matt Mullenweg would be into.

But, he’s been on sabbatical lately and made enemies with the Trans community. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Stacey Leasca • Food & Wine

Wendy’s Is Introducing Uber-Style ‘Surge Pricing’

How in the world do they think this is going to actually work?

It’s lunch time, the lobby of a Wendy’s is full. The menu updates, doubling prices.

The lobby empties out. 😁

Martin Fowler

Improvements in communications technology have led an increasing number of teams that work in a Remote-First style, a trend that was boosted by the forced isolation of Covid-19 pandemic. But a team that operates remotely still benefits from face-to-face gatherings, and should do them every few months.

I’m down with this idea. We tried having on sites for our remote group but it became cost prohibitive. We managed to have two before they were canceled as an activity.

As an aside, I’ve had COVID once. I got it at our first offsite. 😷

Hartley Charlton • MacRumors

Microsoft Begged Apple to Adopt Bing as Safari’s Default Search Engine

Apparently they didn’t beg hard enough. They must not have tried begging with a bag of cash much, much, larger than what Google paid.

Show me the money!💰

Stephen M. Curry • InfoWorld

The Java Ring is an extremely secure Java-powered electronic token with a continuously running, unalterable realtime clock and rugged packaging, suitable for many applications. The jewel of the Java Ring is the Java iButton – a one-million transistor, single-chip trusted microcomputer with a powerful Java virtual machine (JVM) housed in a rugged and secure stainless-steel case.

This is a pretty cool piece of hardware and I want one. I could see having a ring like this for unlocking doors and controlling various simple devices in some fashion.

If it doubled as a signet so I could press it into wax that would be even cooler. 😃

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thebibliomancer · 2 years

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Essential Avengers: Avengers #270: WILD in the Streets!

August, 1986

Its probably fantasy racism but look at that partially obscured sign behind Namor’s rock hard calf that says Go Fish

Somebody recognized that their hatred for sub-mariners dovetailed nicely with their love for puns.

Anyway.

Last times in Avengers: well there was a lot of Kang stuff. A three issue arc. Who does he think he is?

But relevantly, Captain America decided to propose a depressed Namor for Avengers’ membership to help him get over his kingdom asking him to kindly gtfo. As an Avenger, Namor hasn’t flooded New York again but there’s been friction. Mostly between him and Hercules.

But right before the Avengers got swept up in Kang Drama, the public at large learned that Namor was an Avenger and now there’s protests. And counter-protests.

Because Namor is both that guy who punched a lot of Nazis in World War II but also flooded New York and tried to take over the world a couple times. He inspires divisive feelings.

I mean, just look at these divided feelings!

So far the people with opposing feelings about Namor have mostly just yelled at each other, thanks to the brave work of some horses in keeping the crowds apart.

But with a title like WILD in the Streets, who knows how long before things get something in the sheets.

Wait, could Namor seduce the crowd?

He has abs for days and some portion of the crowd is bound to be into that.

Anyway, the reporter dressed like a fireman gets some vox pops about Namor. A representative of Veterans of Foreign Wars says that Namor was one of the United States’ greatest allies during World War II.

Another guy yells that the Russians were one of America’s allies during the war and hey fuck ‘em! Also, Namor declared war on the whole human race once!

The reporter exposits for the good of the angry crowd and also reading audience that the State Department had granted a blanket amnesty to Namor in the Sub-Mariner limited series as part of a move to have Atlantis admitted to the UN.

Hmm. I wonder if that ever went through. Be funny to have a scene set in the UN and there’s just some guy with a bowl of water on his head zoning out.

There’s a scene change to a group of men watching the news. A guy named Farrington announces “we finally have a change to get that fish-man, once and for all! I say we take it!”

This guy is originally from the Strange Tales book back in the 60s but he doesn’t seem to appear in any more Avengers books after this.

He’s pissed off at Namor for some reason, they apparently have history. But I don’t really know his deal.

All of the dudes with Farrington in the scene announce that they’re WITH Farrington in an alliance to take down Namor!

Wuh oh, Prince of Abslantis, better watch out for... these dudes!

Anyway.

Inside Avengers Mansion, Jarvis also glumly watches the news coverage which has started asking why the Avengers haven’t made an official statement about Namor’s membership.

Jarvis: You’d have had your statement 24 hours ago, young lady... If half the Avengers hadn’t been spirited away. And now, the others are gone as well -- vanished to who knows where... or when!

Due to Immortus just flinging them back home as soon as they started asking too many questions, where is a couple rooms away from Jarvis and when is right at the moment he finished his thought.

The Avengers are, for the record, pretty annoyed with Immortus giving them the brush off. Cap wishes they had a better assurance that they wouldn’t have to deal with a three-part Kang story again then Immortus just telling them ‘its fine, its fiiiiine.’

Hercules: “I know now why Thor said he found dealing with Immortus a trial. The Limbo-master treats men and gods alike as mere pawns!”

Captain America: “We don’t like it any more than you, Herc!”

Hah.

While the rest of the Avengers wander off to find what today’s plot is rather than continue rehashing last month’s, Captain Marvel asks Black Knight for a favor.

She’s annoyed that her weakness to Darkforce energy has come up for a second time and she’s willing to turn to SCIENCE to make it stop happening.

She says that he recently helped Wasp get better with her powers. Although to be more accurate, Wasp’s powers got better on their own and Black Knight just pointed it out.

Either way, Black Knight agrees to do some SCIENCE tests on her powers.

Ahh, I remember back when Iron Man used to do science tests on Captain Marvel. I miss that dude every other week.

Anyway.

The Avengers find Jarvis and he catches them up to how bonkers things have gotten with the Namor protests.

Hercules: “Ungrateful wretches! Who are they to tell us who we may or may not make an Avenger! I shall thrash them all soundly!”

Wasp: “Hercules! Don’t you dare!”

Cap points out that because AMERICA, people have the FREEDOM to protest even if they’re saying dumb things that are wrong.

Hercules accepts this but fumes that they should respect Namor’s valor. And also fumes (in his thoughts) “leader or not, the Wasp would do well not to address the son of Zeus in that tone of voice!”

Yeah, this is going to be a problem sooner or later.

Hercules voted for Wasp to be chairwoman of the Avengers because he was intrigued at how assertively she was at requesting the position. But to him the novelty has worn off and he’s just annoyed that a lady woman is bossing him - a big buff he-man muscle god - around.

Not a good look on him.

Black Knight is impressed that as much as Hercules and Namor squabble (and it has been a significant amount), Hercules still leaps to defend his teammate.

While Namor just solemnly watches the him-protest.

The news broadcast brings up the time that Namor invaded New York just a few years ago, because of course he did.

Namor: So, it begins at last. Every bit of my misbegotten past will be brought back for all the world to see... all those deeds done in the name of a throne I no longer possess. How can I now defend such actions? Is it any wonder that... so many hate me?

Speaking of, the news interviews a widow in the anti-Namor crowd who says her longshoreman husband was killed when Namor destroyed the wharf he was working on.

Widow: “A-a-and now that m-murderer is an Avenger?!”

Exceppppt

FBI Agent Derek Freeman - you remember him, right? He was in that issue that set up X-Factor with the Jean Grey pod? - he’s flying around in a helicopter looking for Karla Sofen/Moonstone who escaped custody. And he gets a report that the crying widow on the TV news is actually Moonstone.

Even though Derek lampshades that she’d have to be crazy to head right to Avengers Mansion and stir up trouble after escaping custody, yup, that’s her.

She went right to Avengers Mansion because chaos draws her in, I guess.

Oh and she’s doing a good job stoking the chaos.

The protest and counter-protest go wild, taking on a red tint probably meaning that the rage is upon them.

Just when it’s looking like there’s going to be a riot and a police officer complains that they’re out here policing right in front of Avengers Mansion instead of the Avengers coming and helping, the Avengers come and help.

Captain Marvel appears in a giant flash of light that confuses the mob enough that they just stop and stare.

Then she uses her words and tells people to calm the fuck down so the Avengers can try to address their concerns.

Meanwhile, Moonstone decides to sneak out the back of the mob. Probably thinking ‘shit shit shit SHIT who would have thought an Avenger would have showed up here, in front of Avengers Mansion??’

One of the faces in the crowd asks Captain Marvel if Namor is really an Avenger and Marvel confirms, yup, proposed by Captain America himself.

At this point Cap casually walks up.

Another face in the crowd: “But, Cap, that murderin’ -- !”

Captain America: “Just a minute, son! The Sub-Mariner’s made a lot of mistakes, but the man I know is no murderer!”

Oooof. You may want to take a look at Namor’s first appearance, Cap.

He drowns a man. Granted, he’d never met a human at that point so was kind of confused about the whole thing but... wait, are you saying he didn’t kill anyone during the entirety of World War II?

I guess that doesn’t count as murder though.

We’re talking a specific, legal definition thing here.

Anyway, yet a third person in the crowd protests that the widow lady said differently but the widow lady has snuck away so Captain Marvel just doesn’t know what the guy is talking about.

Then Wasp shows up and tells the two Caps that the FBI called to let her know that Moonstone is in the are.

Now, Moonstone could make a clean escape here.

It’s going to take the Avengers a minute or so to put together that Moonstone was the widow and start looking for her.

But Moonstone came here to cause trouble on purpose and DAMMIT she gonna do that!

Moonstone: “I don’t know what’s going on back there, but things are quieting down far too much for my tastes! I could use a bit more confusion to help cover my trail.”

So she blows up a fire hydrant.

And sure, the argument is that the confusion will help her escape.

Except, a hydrant exploding and gushing water just draws everyone’s attention and Moonstone is then stuck in a position where she can’t slip away without a major diversion.

WHICH IS WHAT BLOWING UP THE HYDRANT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE!

Instead, Captain Marvel (who can move at light speed) light speeds over to melt the hydrant closed to stop water from blasting everywhere and is fully aware that Moonstone is probably nearby.

Moonstone is supposed to be smart and really manipulative. Maybe that happens later.

Instead, she blasts a helicopter, causing it to start spiraling to the ground.

Namor flies out of the mansion to the rescue.

Wasp asked him to lay low due to the anti-him protests but dangit, he’s not going to let innocent people die while he sits on his thumb!

Namor has some trouble though. He has enough strength to lift a helicopter easily but its spinning out of control and drags him to the ground along with it.

He manages to steer the crash away from the crowds but it still crashes. Right before it does, Captain Marvel nyooms over in her light form and gets caught in the explosion.

Moonstone congratulates herself for the great distraction she did.

Moonstone: “Hah! That’s two Avengers out of my hair... permanently, I hope! With Captain Marvel out of the picture, slipping away will be easy!”

I really doubt that a helicopter explosion is enough to do in Namor, who can stand toe-to-toe with the Hulk. And something like a helicopter explosion isn’t going to destroy light.

You’re being far too optimistic, Moonstone.

And you’re being far too optimistic instead of running away.

Remember how the fire hydrant and helicopter explosions were meant to be distractions so she could get away instead of enjoying the chaos?

Well, while Moonstone enjoys the helicopter explosion, Wasp spots her and fires a few warning shots.

Moonstone immediately intangibles through the ground making me wonder why she didn’t lead with that. Why worry about drawing attention if you can just literally disappear into the crowd?

Moonstone, you dumb.

Wasp isn’t going to give up the chase that easily, not after all the trouble Moonstone has been causing.

So Wasp blows a hole in the pavement and flies into a utility tunnel to pursue.

In the utility tunnel, Moonstone has ditched the widow weeds and changed into her supervillain outfit in time to spot Wasp fly by.

Moonstone notes that Wasp has better control of her shrinking powers than the last time Moonstone fought the Avengers but decides she can still kick Wasp’s ass.

She sneak attack blinds Wasp with an energy blast and tries to get her while Wasp blindly tries to DOOOOODGE.

Meanwhile, back at street level, Black Knight and Hercules come running out of the mansion.

Black Knight: “Cap, we just got new orders from the Wasp!”

Hercules thoughts: Orders... from the Wasp... BAH!

Get over it, guy.

This is what you signed on for.

Wasp’s new orders that she sent to Black Knight specifically (is he her second in command now or what?) is for Hercules to go dig Namor out of the helicopter crash. The rest of the Avengers should join her in the utility tunnels to help capture Moonstone.

All of Moonstone’s blasting willy-nilly in the tunnels below, cause part of the street to collapse.

Hercules saves a guy from a police van that was about to tip over on top of him and Black Knight heads into the tunnel.

None of the other Avengers do. Which in this case means Captain America doesn’t. He helps Hercules clear the streets.

Black Knight finds Moonstone recovering from the dust and smoke kicked up in the explosion she caused. And when she sees Black Knight, she immediately tries to blast him.

But Black Knight’s Extremely Cursed But Pretty OP Ebony Blade absorbs Moonstone’s attack.

And when the villain claims that she killed Wasp, Black Knight unleashes the absorbed energy like some kind of sword beam and knocks Moonstone on her ass.

Then Wasp shows up and reveals she’s perfectly fine.

When Moonstone blew up the gas main while trying to blow up Wasp, it knocked Moonstone for a loop but Wasp just shrunk down to insect-size so she could ride out the shockwave.

Tiny mass is its own superpower.

Anyway, when Black Knight arrived and getsuga tensho’d Moonstone, Wasp was busy shutting off the gas main to prevent further explosions.

Back up at street level, Namor and Captain Marvel show up, unscathed from the helicopter explosion and having rescued the people that were in the helicopter.

The crowd remains divided on Namor, Contentious Sexyman.

The people that like Namor point at this example of Namor being a cool hero who saves lives.

(The couple that are students or perhaps parents for the Sub-Mariner seem detailed enough that they’re likely a cameo or reference to someone the creative team knew.)

People that don’t like Namor suggests that this was a staged rescue to make Namor look good.

Agent Freeman, a guy who was in or near a helicopter explosion, just gets annoyed that anyone would think the FBI would deliberately crash a helicopter in the middle of New York.

Captain Marvel: “People believe what they want, Mr. Freeman.”

Now, I wouldn’t go far as to say an intelligence service would never do that but its not cost effective to do that for a superstrong fishman when the Avengers have to do a heroism at least once a month.

Save a helicopter, just wait for an alien invasion.

What really changes the crowds’ mind is when the Avengers haul Moonstone out of the sewer and reveal that she’s the “widow” that made the accusation against Namor.

Also:

You’re just really leaning into this annoyed at woman thing, aren’t you, Herc?

The Avengers put Moonstone in a power-harness and bundle her into a police van with the help of some police wearing face obscuring helmets.

HMMM.

Anyway, some guy shows up and asks if Namor is Namor and when Namor answers in an annoyed affirmative, the guy serves Namor a summons.

He’s being sued!

Meanwhile, the police van with the police wearing face obscuring helmets.

The police decide to mock Moonstone.

It’s not like she doesn’t give a lot of material to riff on.

Not-suspicious police 1: “For a gal who’s supposed to be edjicated, you sure pulled a bone-headed stunt back there! You oughta know better than to mess with the Avengers on your own!”

Moonstone: “Nobody asked you!”

Not-suspicious police 2: “Ohhh! A tough one!”

Except it turns out that these not-suspicious police aren’t actually police!

Shocking, I know.

Not cop 1 is Absorbing Man and not cop 2 is Titania and they’re here to present an exciting new opportunity to Moonstone, or else.

First they present their bona fides by talking about the superheroes they’ve beaten up. Thor for Absorbing Man and She-Hulk for Titania.

I’m pretty sure they’re here to recruit Moonstone for the Masters of Evil which means That storyline is getting close which means I’m excited.

Also, it makes this scene like a Nick Fury recruitment scene decades before that was a twinkle in Kevin Feige’s eye.

Also also, makes this like the stinger that a subset of fans desperately wish would start appearing in MCU movies.

Anyway, that’s a taste. Now back to the Namor getting sued plot.

Why is Namor being sued?

He’s being sued by insurance investors (led by Leslie Farrington, that one guy from old Namor comics I mentioned!) for two billion dollars of property damage to property that their insurance covered.

Now, I thought that Namor had been granted amnesty but the comic has that covered as the Avengers’ lawyer, apparently, Mr. Costello informs, the amnesty only clears him of criminal charges. He can still be sued in civil court.

Hm. Weird for there to be a superhero adjacent lawyer that’s not Jen Walters or Matt Murdock. Although I don’t think Jen has her license yet to practice in New York at this point.

Anyway. Mr. Costello advises that Namor can probably beat the suit but it would be a major court battle and A LOT of bad publicity.

He suggests an out-of-court settlement but NAMOR WILL NOT HEAR OF A THING! HE WILL FACE HIS ACCUSERS IN COURT! THE JUDGEMENT WILL BE ON THE RECORD! AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!

Mr. Costello, looking like he’s regretting taking this case, says he can push for an early trial if Namor really wants that but that Namor will have to work very closely with him and it won’t be easy.

It sure would be bad timing if a new plot wrinkle dragged Namor away from all this, wouldn’t it?

Anyway, Namor’s dickhead cousin Byrrah shows up and tells Namor that Attuma has taken over Atlantis and is laying a trap with Namor’s friend and almost-wife Marrina as the bait.

Black Knight suggests that all the Avengers come together as a team and kick Attuma’s ass but Namor insists no This Is Something He Has To Do Himself!

... It feels like it’s been a while since one of those. Was it... the West Coast Avengers first volume and Wonder Man’s beef with the Blank?

I don’t remember but I didn’t miss it.

Black Knight tries to change Namor’s mind but Hercules has Namor’s back and tells him to go off and have fun beating up his nemesis for honor.

So Black Knight gives up because he has no chance to get Namor to stay without Hercules. Which indicates to me that his plan was to point Hercules at Namor and say ‘get ‘im!’ if he couldn’t convince him with words.

And off Namor goes! Out of the Avengers and into Alpha Flight!

... I hope he comes back. He was barely on the team.

Hercules: “No need to worry, Dane... Namor will make fast work of this Attuma!”

Black Knight: “I hope you’re right, Herc. And I hope he gets back here soon! ‘Cause with that lawsuit pending, if he’s gone too long... this whole mess could blow up in our faces!”

Oh damn, he’s totally going to miss his court date.

DAMMIT HERCULES!

Follow @essential-avengers because of reasons. Good reasons. Reasons that are just so very persuasive. Like and reblog, it makes me feel appreciated.

#essential avengers #avengers #Moonstone #the Wasp #Namor McKenzie #Hercules #Captain America #Black Knight #Captain Marvel #Monica Rambeau #an angry mob #another angry mob angry at the first mob #widow fraud #a supervillain who isn't as smart as she's supposed to be #Namor is very divisive #essential marvel liveblogging

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letterboxd · 3 years

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Love Thy Neighbor.

With her nineteenth-century American romance, The World to Come—starring Katherine Waterston and Vanessa Kirby—screening now, director Mona Fastvold talks to Ella Kemp about the need to create images, striving for ASMR storytelling, and just how much we owe Terrence Malick.

“We’ve seen a lot of movies during this time period in America about what the husbands were out doing… but they had wives who are at home, living their completely separate lives. What were they up to?” —Mona Fastvold

In the American Northeast in the nineteenth century, life for farmers’ wives is physical, lonely, subject to both the extremes of weather and their husbands’ moods. When Abigail (Katherine Waterston) and Tallie (Vanessa Kirby) become neighbors in The World To Come, their lives become infinitely more bearable.

What unfolds is a careful study of the ways affection and understanding can bloom in the most unlikely places. Based on Jim Shepard’s short story of the same name, Mona Fastvold’s desperately romantic film starts where Abigail’s diary also begins: with a new year, and new neighbors. Through lyrical voice-over and closely drawn scenes, Abigail tells of how, in the wake of unimaginable loss, her life is cracked wide open by the arrival of effervescent, free-spirited Tallie. She speaks of grief and exhaustion, but also of astonishment and joy.

Katherine Waterston as Abigail and Vanessa Kirby as Tallie in ‘The World to Come’. / Photo by Vlad Cioplea

It’s a story felt through whispers as much as kisses, framed by the blustery winds of the East-Coast frontier—and by the spectre of their husbands (Casey Affleck as the downcast Dyer, Christopher Abbott as the jealous, disturbing Finney) finding out about their new love. Fastvold gives each character just enough attention to let the relationships that matter most rise up all on their own. She does so with words, poetry that somehow feels alive, and with music—specifically, a stunningly passionate clarinet soundtrack.

The World to Come won the Queer Lion at Venice last August (where it miraculously had an in-person premiere), and won many more hearts at Sundance in January. It’s Fastvold’s second film as director, after 2014’s The Sleepwalker, which also starred Christopher Abbott, and was co-written by Fastvold’s partner (and Vox Lux director) Brady Corbet.

What did you feel when reading Jim’s story for the first time? Mona Fastvold: It was a home I wanted to move into. It was this feeling of thinking, ‘This belongs in my universe, and I belong in this universe.’ And I all of a sudden had a few images that I felt a very strong need to create. The first thing that I felt really compelled to do was creating this physical expression of joy after the first kiss. I had this image of Katherine in this wide shot, completely open and just exposed. And I was really compelled to shoot her in the snow by the grave as well.

I also wanted to frame her being tied to the house with a rope, working her way through the snowstorm. There was a lot of amazing text and maybe fewer images in the script, because it’s written by these two really wonderful writers and authors of novels, not so much screenplays. So it’s not a very technical screenplay, and there were a lot of things left to me to work out, which I enjoyed. But the foundation was this really good text.

Mona Fastvold on the set of ‘The World to Come’. / Photo by Toni Salabasev

The text is so striking, in the way it’s so verbose but never feels stiff. How did you keep the words intact while bringing these emotions to life? I cast some really good actors, so that helps! Then when you’re working with this kind of text, it’s not really a text that you can improvise or play around as much, you really just need to honor it. For me it’s really about finding the movement that will support the beats of the text. I like the edit to be motivated by a gesture, something that says, “I want you to look at this”. I’m trying to make the rhythm more exciting. Ping-ponging back and forth is less exciting to me.

When rehearsing, we’d create movement either physically, or find changes through long pauses already in the text, and then upon finding those organic beats I’d figure out with my DP how we can stay in one take for as long as possible, until we find that moment which motivates a change. I never like there to be a camera movement just for there to be something cool visually. And there’s all this subtext in the text, all these messages Abigail and Tallie are trying to send to each other. When are you being direct? When are you being understood? When are you not?

Particularly in recent years, we’ve been fortunate to have a number of films that reframe period pieces about forbidden lesbian romances. Why do you think we keep coming back to this kind of story? A lot of people feel compelled to say these stories have always been there, and to claim that part of history. It’s not modern, it’s not a new thing, but it’s just that these stories have not been told much. Especially a love story that takes place among farmers. We know a little bit about upper-class stories from some literature, but not that much from that time period. So part of the appeal for me was to say: this is a part of history. Even though it’s not a story about Napoleon, this story about these two quiet, introverted women is still worth exploring. And we’ve seen a lot of movies during this time period in America about what the husbands were out doing. I’ve grown up watching these movies, but they had wives who are at home, living their completely separate lives. What were they up to?

Finney (Christopher Abbott) reads Tallie’s mail. / Photo by Vlad Cioplea

You mention the husbands—I felt watching this film that it was set in a very different world to the likes of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which a lot of people loved precisely because of how few men were in the film. But here the husbands play a really important part within the story about these two women, helping to convey their frustration and limitations, without taking over. All characters in a story deserve equal counts of love and attention from the writers, directors and actors. It was incredibly important to portray the men with as much nuance as Abigail and Tallie. It makes for a more interesting story for them, that their relationships with their partners are complex—they’re not just these male archetypes who are terrible and awful. Dyer was an interesting character, in that he’s striving to understand even though he doesn’t quite. And he had different ambitions as well, but this is the situation he’s in, and he’s chosen a practical partner who he respects, and I guess loves and cares for. But they’re running a farm together, they’re business partners as well and depend on each other for survival. When he says “I’ll die without you” it’s quite literal, in a way. I wanted to break these characters open and make them more difficult to deal with, for themselves and for the women as well.

Your picture includes a beautiful, and really unexpected score by Daniel Blumberg—particularly in the use of the clarinet, which feels like its own kind of narrative. Can you talk me through the process of weaving that into the story? I brought in Daniel even when I was developing the script and working on casting early on. I kept listening to ‘Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet’ by Igor Stravinsky, and somehow the instrument felt really connected to Katherine’s voice-over. It was important that the voice-over was not slammed on top at the end. It’s there, I hope, to have a bit of an ASMR effect where you feel it draws you really close to Abigail in a hypnotic way. That you feel like you get this intimate experience of that character by having access to her life even if it doesn’t explain things too much.

So we wanted to have the score speaking to the voice-over, which we recorded long before we started shooting as well. We would play it on set and Daniel would come in and play music there. So constantly being in dialogue between the text being read and the music being played was an important part of the process.

It’s time for some Life in Film questions. What is your favorite ‘forbidden love’ story? A film I really love, which inspired The World to Come, is Olivia. It’s from 1951 and it’s directed by Jacqueline Audry, and it was one of the first lesbian on-screen kisses ever captured. It’s a great movie directed by a female director when that wasn’t so much of a thing. It was an important trailblazer for this film.

Marie-Claire Olivia and Simone Simon in Jacqueline Audry’s ‘Olivia’ (1951).

What’s your favourite “Dear Diary” movie, the one that best uses a confessional voice-over? Terrence Malick pretty much cornered that market with some beautiful, beautiful attempts at that. We definitely have to pay our respects! Particularly Days of Heaven is pretty amazing. The voice-over work there is extraordinary.

What is your go-to comfort movie? It’s funny because I was asked that a while ago and normally I would just be like, “Anything Nancy Meyers makes is just so lovely”. She makes these films that are just like candy. But during the pandemic, it’s just too hard to watch these cozy movies, because it just makes you feel depressed. So right now, the film I’ve watched the most in my lifetime is Eyes Wide Shut. I also find it to be a Christmas movie… If it’s on anywhere, I’ll always leave it on, or just watch a little piece of it.

What should Letterboxd members watch after The World to Come? First of all they should watch Olivia if they haven’t seen it, and then the other day I watched Martin Eden—it’s an incredible movie. So beautifully made.

What is the one film that first made you want to be a filmmaker? I grew up watching a lot of movies. My family are cinephiles and I’ve always loved films. I grew up on a steady diet of Ingmar Bergman’s films during my teenage years, and Tarkovsky too. Seeing those films made a really big impression me. But what really inspired me in many ways was seeing Claire Denis’ films. The way she approaches storytelling is so intuitive. It’s so exciting. That resonated with me, and later on I recognized some of that in Lucrecia Martel as well. I just love how she handles time and logic and character.

Related content

120 Lesbian Films to Watch Before Saying All Lesbian Cinema is the Same

Pride: A Chronological History of Queer Interest and LGBTQ+ Cinema

Films Directed by Women

Follow Bleecker Street on Letterboxd

Follow Ella on Letterboxd

‘The World to Come’ is currently in select US theaters, and will be available on demand from March 2, via Bleecker Street.

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x--daughters-of-darkness--x · 3 years

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Evanescence: “Guitarists need to be honest. Use your voice. We don’t need fake – we need humanity and real people”

Jen Majura and Troy McLawhorn wax lyrical on the high-octane gear, influences and themes behind the band's upcoming fifth album, The Bitter Truth

The Bitter Truth, the fifth full-length from Evanescence set for release in March 2021, will be their first album of new material in a decade. The American arena group led by singer/keyboardist Amy Lee had already released three singles, though the record’s completion was stalled by the virus pandemic that dominated headlines for much of the year.

The first sessions took place at the beginning of 2020 with rock super producer Nick Raskulinecz [Foo Fighters, Rush, Alice In Chains] in his Nashville studio, spawning the tracks we’ve heard so far – Wasted On You, The Game Is Over and Use My Voice. Then, of course, came Covid, putting an end to safe travel and forcing virtually all plans to change.

For the members in America, it was incredibly problematic. For German guitarist Jen Majura, who joined in 2015, it was an absolute nightmare. Nevertheless, the group kept chiseling away and fleshing out their parts for album number five.

When Guitar World tracks down Majura and co-guitarist Troy McLawhorn towards the end of 2020, things are still very much in the process of being finalized...

Looking back now, that session in Nashville must feel like a very long time ago!

Majura: “Definitely! What hit me so hard was that we’d recorded that first chunk of songs and waved goodbye at the airport, thinking we’d be back in a couple of weeks. And then suddenly this pandemic hit, airports were all shut!

“I had never felt more apart from my friends in the States than since this all started. It’s so unnatural for me not to be there! I’m very old-school – I like my tube amp and 4x12 cabinet. I like to sit in the studio with the humans I’m working with and creating in the moment.

“Being away from Amy and the boys while working on material has felt so unnatural to me, but that’s the we have to do it and we have to make the best out of it. The time we spent with Nick in Nashville was the happiest ever.

“It felt amazing to see these songs coming to life – you have this idea but when you are all in a room creating, things change and become better, you end up trying out different ways. It’s such a vibrant and beautiful way of working. But I get it, there’s this thing called corona, so you know…”

This will be your first album working together on new material. How do you go about splitting guitar parts?

McLawhorn: “Whenever we’re jamming, if someone comes up with up something cool, they play it. There’s no set thing. So far I’ve probably played the majority of the lead guitar – if Jen comes up with something she is always welcome to play whatever it is. It’s a good working relationship. The first batch of songs, the first three that came out, were done in one session before the coronavirus hit. We were all together for those ones.

“But then Jen flew home back to Germany and we were supposed to tour in Europe, but it all got cancelled. Everything we’ve done since then has been without Jen with us, we’ve been kinda flying sessions back and forth. I probably played a lot of the guitar on the album, but she’s been coming up with cool ideas and putting her stamp on it too.”

The Game Is Over definitely feels like the heavier side of Evanescence…

McLawhorn: “There’s a lot of good stuff like that on this one, stuff that people will be surprised by maybe. There’s a fair amount of that aggressive type of music, but it’s a good mixture. So far everyone’s heard the lighter side of the album, like Use My Voice and Wasted On You… but then there’s The Game Is Over. It was a lot of fun to play and there’s more heavy stuff on there too!”

Majura: “That bridge is so heavy, I love it! It’s going back to the real rock roots and having lots of fun. When you have a low-tuned guitar you have to be a bit careful – you can’t just smash your strings but they will warp a bit.

“I remember forcing myself, especially during the bridge, to play gentle even though it had this badass attitude. It took me a couple of takes… the first ones were completely out of tune [laughs]!”

Jen, it must have been a rollercoaster five years for you. How did you end up getting the gig?

Majura: “What happened was that I was playing bass in another band, not really being happy as I’m a guitar player. We happened to play two festivals, one in Germany and one in the Czech Republic. And it turns out Testament were playing the same days as us.

“I’m a huge Alex Skolnick fan, so we ended up talking and keeping in touch. A couple of days later, I got this very mysterious email from him saying, ‘Jen! Some friends of mine are going to contact you and I can’t reveal too much but I think it’s something you should say yes to!’ I was wondering what the hell he was talking about…

“And then a day later, I got this email from Evanescence’s management asking if I would be interested in… and I didn’t even finish reading the email. I just immediately replied ‘Yes!’ and sent it. That was a total no-brainer.

“So this was around July 2015 and the next evening I was on the phone with Amy talking. She invited me to come visit her in New York and hang out. I thought, ‘Okay… cool!’ and three days later I was on a plane flying to fuckin’ New York wondering if this was really happening. It was insane.”

Did you bring your guitar?

Majura: “I didn’t! I asked her if I needed to bring one and she said, ‘Nah, I know you can play, I’ve seen plenty of videos – let’s just hang out!’ And that’s exactly what we did for the next three days. Hanging out, long walks and talks, going out for dinner or to a concert. Becoming friends and getting to know each other on a more human relationship kind of base.

“I realize now that’s the biggest deal when you have to replace a member. A band is a family. I’d like to quote Rob Zombie on that, because he said it in the movie Hired Gun!

“Finding a good player is the easy part – the world is full of virtuosos. You also need someone who can commit to touring, being on the road and that whole lifestyle. The third and last thing, also the toughest, is that you need people you can stand hanging out with 24/7.

“Concerts are only 90 minutes – what about all the other hours in the day? You need to all fit together. Within those first few days with Amy, I realized we both had a strong work ethic and know exactly what we want, which is beautiful.

“She’s a very strong character. I appreciate her musicality and personality too, she quickly became one of my best friends because we laughed about the same things and then figured out we both love Sex and the City [laugh]! I am so grateful and thankful to have experienced everything I have with her and the boys.”

Troy, you’ve been a member of Seether and filled in for Sevendust on some tours, but you’ve been an on/off member of Evanescence for over a decade now…

McLawhorn: “Yeah, to be honest, I never really left Evanescence. We have big breaks between albums. When I did my first tour with the band, Amy told me she was taking a long break, probably around four or five years. I just went out to find something to do in the meantime and ended up playing in Seether for a few years…

“When it was time for me to leave, it coincided with Amy being ready to do another album. And it was a huge coincidence. I ended up in New York and went to Amy’s house. I was having trouble in Seether and wasn’t happy there, and she said she’d love me to come work on the new album. That’s how it all went down.

“There seems to be some pretty long breaks in between albums with this band but I think that’s part of Amy’s creative process. She likes to take her time when she’s writing the lyrics. The final product always turns out really nice that way, so why mess with it?”

What can you tell us about the gear responsible for the guitar sounds on this album?

Majura: “I signed up with Synergy Amps in November last year. When I joined, I think Steve Vai was the only big name working with them, but I figured if it’s Steve Vai it’s gotta be fucking great. So I went over to check their amp out and I was very skeptical. It looks like a tube amp but with all these holes and parts missing!

“But I plugged in, hit one chord and realized it was actually phenomenal. They’ve sent all the different modules to me, like the Diezel, and the perfect solution for me was the Friedman HBE. It has the perfect rock and roll sound for my solos but it also has the mighty depth of high-gain stuff too – which are all frequencies you need for Evanescence.

“I was originally expecting I’d go with the Diezel one, but the Friedman felt more right for me. I’m very open-minded when it comes to technology. You have two modules, each with two channels, so you get a four-channel amp made out of your favorites.

“For example, I could combine a Vox AC30 Brian May sound with a Diezel VH4. It’s phenomenal what they’ve managed to open up for us musicians in terms of sound options. It’s been my tour rig and studio rig ever since.”

McLawhorn: “I used a combination of different things on this album. On The Game Is Over, it was basically my live setup which is an Orange Rockerverb 100, with an analog pedalboard.

“A big part of the tone I get from the amp comes down to a 10-band EQ I use to boost the mids on the lead channel. That’s about it – I don’t really use overdrive pedals or anything like that and probably use less gain than most modern guitarists. I almost use EQ to find a modern sound, instead of more gain.

“I also have a Fractal Axe-Fx III, which I’ve used here and there on the album, especially for clean parts – it’s really good for that. I’ve done some overdubs with the II as well, stuff that has a lot of effects or sounds really wet – Axe-Fx is great for that, too. I also have a 1969 Marshall Superbass 100 which we split with a Bogner Ecstasy or Uberschall, and used for the rhythm tracks on a couple of songs.”

And how about for guitars?

Majura: “I’ve been with Ibanez for many years now and I’m very happy. They deliver the most perfect instruments. You pick up an instrument and either like it or not. Some of them seem to instantly merge with your system – you become one – and that is true of most Ibanez guitars, at least for me.

“Of course I’ve played Les Pauls and other things, but they’re really not my style. I have so many Ibanez guitars now. I think the AZ series was such a smart move – the family is even bigger and better now… Look at players like Tim Henson, who is just amazing. He makes me feel so old. He’ll be nailing it and I’m at home just playing along to AC/DC or something!

“For pedals, I stick with the Line 6 Helix pedalboard because I remember at my first rehearsal in 2015, they would tell me certain parts would need a chorus or flanger or this or that. At the end of the rehearsal I had a battery of pedals in front of me and realized I couldn’t do it. I’ve never been a pedal dancer. I went to Line 6 asking for a solution and they were just about to come out with the Helix… it was perfect.”

McLawhorn: “I was using a baritone PRS SE. I changed the pickups out, but that’s it – I love the guitar and how it plays. I tried a few different sets, most by Seymour Duncan. One of my seven-strings has a Seymour that my tech put in on the road and I don’t know which one it is! He just found it in my guitar coffin and asked if we should throw it in. It stayed for the rest of the tour – it was probably a JB, who knows!

“But the one on the record is the Distortion (SH-6). I really like how they sound. At first, they were a little hot for what I like – I tend to prefer somewhere in between modern metal and classic rock. It felt like really high gain, way too much, especially when switching from my other guitars. But he really lowered the pickup down and that fixed everything, making everything super-tight and adding some nice mids.”

Use My Voice has a really powerful message behind it…

Majura: “Yes! Another thing that connects me and Amy very strongly is that we both went through moments in our careers where males would tell us, ‘You’re just a girl – what do you know?’ It’s time for strong women – in rock or wherever – to stand up and say being good at a craft has nothing to do with gender. It’s been happening for way too long.

“That feeling of our voices being suppressed needs to change, because every voice matters. We’re all the same. It does not matter if you are male or female or transgender… humans are humans. I think we should spend more time understanding why we’re the same. Use My Voice is an important message for women to stand up and be heard.”

Where do you think your influences differ as guitar players?

Majura: “The first guitar hero I had at around 10 or 11 was Steve Vai. He was so revolutionary in terms of what he’s done for the guitar world, both sound-wise and crafts-wise. Electric guitar wouldn’t be what it is today without Steve Vai.

“I respect him so much for how he feels and talks through his instrument. He’s influenced my thinking about a lot of things. He’s an amazing person, not just an amazing musician.

“Then I got into Nuno Bettencourt, who plays for the sake of the song instead of showing off. Which is what I tried to do on my first solo album, Inzenity, everyone expected a shred album and it wasn’t. I played for the song. If it didn’t require a guitar solo then fine, I’d just leave it. I didn’t need to prove to the world how good I was.

“Nuno also has the percussive style of playing, which brings this tone that I really like. And finally, Angus Young. I’ve been playing in an AC/DC tribute band for four years and I love his playing.”

McLawhorn: “A lot of them for me were the classic players while I was growing up. So Ace Frehley for sure… KISS were like Slipknot for us who grew up in the '70s [laughs]! Then there’s Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. Tony Iommi as well, he was a massive influence on me as a kid.

“Eddie Van Halen was a huge influence on me, too – it was very sad that we lost him so early and so young. When Van Halen came out, I started taking guitar very seriously. The bluesy side of his playing always appealed to me but he also had all that technical prowess, too. A very inspiring guitar player for so many people.”

What advice can you offer anyone out there hoping to become a good session player?

McLawhorn: “You need to know how to communicate with people. I’ve done sessions with some Nashville guys that have this shorthand way of writing music. Reading music and knowing theory is always important… I wish I knew more myself.

“It puts you at ease walking into a session knowing you read and play anything back. I can’t really do that – I just really really listen and learn things by memory. I can read some music but that’s going back to trumpet at high school [laughs]. So I rely on communication always!”

Majura: “I think guitar players need to be honest. Use your voice. Be real. Be pure. We don’t need fake, we need humanity and real people. What I love about people like Mattias IA Eklundh is he’s just himself. He’s pure and innovative in a really interesting way.

“I’ve gotten to know guys like him, Guthrie Govan, Richie Kotzen and Jeff Waters – they’re all awesome and very honest players. I think one should never think one has seen it all and learned it all.

“We need to keep in mind we’re all on a journey in search of becoming better. In terms of advice, I always have to say being open to different styles is so important. There’s something to learn every day. You should never stop trying to improve to make the world a better place. You should never stop learning… that’s what makes you human.”

#Jen Majura #troy mclawhorn #Evanescence #2021 interviews

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doomedandstoned · 3 years

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Spelljammer Reveal Trippy New Vid, Talk ‘Abyssal Trip’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

Interview by Billy Goate

Cover Art by Aaron Cahill

Our week of big interviews continues as we meet up with the ethereal doom outfit from Stockholm SPELLJAMMER and premiere a new music video, from their just released second LP, dropped only weeks ago on RidingEasy Records and now the number one album on the Doom Charts.

'Abyssal Trip' (2021) is an enthralling listen from edge to center, with lavish textures, deep thematic content, and unforgettably emotive atmosphere that will stick with you for life. Enjoy it as you read the revealing conversation with Niklas Olsson (guitar, vox) and Robert Sörling (guitar) that follows as we unpack their steller new spin, talk nerdy gear shit, and contemplate humanity's fate.

And now, Doomed & Stoned is pleased to bring you the world premiere of the brand new video for that epic third track, "Among The Holy."

Give ear...

Spelljammer - Among The Holy (music video)

You guys have been a band now for damn near 15 years, maybe longer. Most bands don't make it past two years! What is the "key" to the band staying together for so long and continuing to find inspiration for creating new music?

Rob: I don’t think it’s been 15 years just yet but we are getting there, haha. None the less - that’s a really interesting question! Nik and I started the band much because we share the same taste in music, film and, well, art in general. I think that's the core keeping it all together. Also, there have been a few constellations of band members over the years, all with their own dynamic. I think these kinds of changes, and the new directions of the music because of that, is part of the inspiration. Maybe another reason is that we all live in different cities and because of that sometimes a lot of time passes between rehearsals, writing sessions and such, making us always craving for new Spelljammer jams and songs.

Nik: The craving yes. And another reason I think is the fact that we’ve never really been in a rush to get anywhere. Anything Spelljammer, the music included, takes time. If we had been set on making it, this thing probably would have fallen apart a long time ago.

Abyssal Trip by Spelljammer

How did the theme for Abyssal Trip originate?

Nik: I have always been more drawn to the feelings or emotions you get from a riff or piece of music than to any theme of a lyric. But I would say that any themes came in at the lyrics state, which is at the end of the process. But the themes aren’t that specific to any of the albums. I think I cast a pretty wide net in the beginning and stuck to it. For the next album perhaps we will venture more into unchartered waters. We’ll see.

What fascinates you about the Great Abyss of the ocean?

Nik: I totally get that the word abyss conjures up images of ocean trenches and, yes, the ocean is a fascinating and to a large extent undiscovered place. However, when I wrote that I wasn’t necessarily thinking of the ocean but more the abyss of our own minds. But I think it’s a word that evokes many things, like despair and doom, and it is of course totally open to interpretation.

Is mankind doomed or do we have time to correct our course?

Nik: I’m not as pessimistic of a person as the lyrics may suggest. I think we will be here on earth for a long time. Mankind is clever (perhaps too clever for her own good) even if there are a lot of people hell-bent on trying to screw up everything for everybody else.

Rob: Yes, and considering how ignorant and careless (some) people are acting during this pandemic, at least over here, makes you wonder if there’s any hope at all.

Nik: People are the worst. Ultimately, though, none of it matters because we’re all doomed.

Have you guys seen any good movies/documentaries or read any good books lately that inspired you or otherwise challenged your thinking about life, the present, or the future?

Rob: I can’t say that I’ve seen or read anything recently that challenged me significantly, I guess I’m getting too old to be that overwhelmed haha. The film A Ghost Story though was kind of cool though because it was different, slow and weird (in a good way), and for me it’s always inspiring to read/see/hear something that makes you think, "Man, I wish I had come up with that idea”.

Nik: Absolutely! Punch Drunk Love, Moon, and Office Space are definitely movies like that. I have watched so many movies and series through this pandemic and I can’t remember any of them right now. But I did just notice that there is a season 3 of Loudermilk on HBO! If you haven’t already, see it! I’m currently reading "Homeward Bound, The Life of Paul Simon” by Peter Ames Carlin. It’s a good read about one of my favorite musicians.

For recording this album, what kind of gear did you use and what production/engineering considerations did you have to take into account?

Rob: Since we did a remote recording in the countryside we had to use whatever stuff that we could fit into a couple of cars. I have a couple of old audio interfaces that I linked for a total of 16 channels. I also have a small collection of mics (nothing fancy) and we used them all and the rest was borrowed. We set up the drums in the living room and put the guitar and bass rigs as far away as we could (the adjacent rooms) to avoid bleed and just focused on getting the rhythm tracks done. The goal was to get us all in the same room and to catch the vibe from a relaxed rehearsal kind of situation. The bass rig used was a Orange Terror Bass and an Ampeg SVT 810 and the guitar was tracked through a Reval Mark I and/or Orange TH-100 and a Orange PPC 412. Of course there’s always some unforeseen problem lurking and this time it was the electricity in the old country house.

Nik: I don’t use many effects, just a fuzz. For this one I used a Supercollider from Earthbound Audio. It is exactly what the name suggests. That’s all you need really.

The album cover is amazing! It reminds me, in some strange way, of the creature in the old B-movie Robot Monster (1953). What's the story behind the artwork?

Nik: It definitely has a B-movie vibe that I really like. I’m afraid I can’t really tell you much about it other than the artist name is Aaron Cahill and you can find his stuff on Instagram under the name nghbrs.

I filmed your first US appearance at Psycho Las Vegas in 2016. Fans want to know: do you have ambitions of returning to North America once the world sorts out this pandemic?

Rob: Yes, that’s our first and only US appearance so far and we wouldn’t mind at all returning to Vegas or any other part of the US. For now it’s really hard making any plans at all. In fact, you would think that this kind of isolation would enhance creativity, and maybe for some it does, but for us it’s actually been the most unproductive period so far for Spelljammer. So I’m hoping that by the time this thing blows over we get the inspiration back both for writing/recording new music, and in time hopefully revisiting the US!

Nik: I agree, playing at Psycho Las Vegas was a blast. I hope we get another opportunity to come back some day.

Spelljammer at Psycho Las Vegas/a>

Some Buzz

“The vastness of everything is something that I think about a lot,” says Spelljammer bassist/vocalist Niklas Olsson. And it certainly shows in both the expansive, sludgy sounds and contemplative lyrics of the Stockholm, Sweden based trio. Following a 5-year break between their previous album, Ancient of Days — perhaps fittingly spent pondering said vastness — Spelljammer is back with an album that perfectly bridges the band’s earlier desert rock leanings and their later massive, slow-burning riffs.

'Abyssal Trip' (note: carefully reread that album title) takes its moniker from the perpetually dark, cold, oxygen-free zone at the bottom of the ocean. The 6-song, 44-minute album fittingly embodies that bleak realm with rumbling, oozing guitars intercut with dramatic melodic interludes. The songs take their time to unfurl, making them even more hypnotic. Likewise, the lyrics take a poetic approach to establishing the sonic scenery.

“The lyrical themes we address, like the ultimate doom of man, and the search and longing for new and better worlds, are still there,” Olsson says. “The concept of something undiscovered out there in vast emptiness is pretty much always present.”

The recording process for Abyssal Trip differs from previous releases in that the band — guitarist Robert Sörling, drummer Jonatan Rimsbo and Olsson — opted to capture the performances while holed up in the mental bathysphere of a house in the countryside near Stockholm. “The songs benefitted from the relaxed environment of being away from everything,” Olsson explains. Indeed, the album sounds confident and meticulously arranged, afforded by the band’s isolation. Sörling mixed the album and it was mastered by Monolord drummer Esben Willems at Berserk Audio.

Album opener “Bellwether” begins dramatically with a very slow, nearly minute-long fade in of rumbling distortion setting the stage for heavily distorted bass and guitar plucking out the lugubrious riff for another minute and a half before the drums begin, and likewise equally as long before vocals gurgle to the surface. “Lake” abruptly shifts gears, opening with an unusually fast gallop before rupturing into thundering doom that soon drops into a clean-tone Middle Eastern melodic breakdown.

The title track serves as the album centerpiece, opening with ominous film dialogue about blood sacrifice that launches into pummeling, detuned guitars rumbling over gut-punching drums and howling vocals hearkening to the proto-sludge of Pink Floyd’s “The Nile Song.” The dynamic relents briefly for a slow building clean guitar melody before all instruments lock into a jerking riff topped off by a trilling Iommi style lead. Throughout, Abyssal Trip is, just like its title suggests, an epic tour through desolate zones which yields much to discover.

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#D&S Debuts #D&S Interviews #Spelljammer #Stockholm #Sweden #doom #metal #doom metal #music video #HeavyBest2021 #RidingEasy Records #Doomed and Stoned

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gamergirluprising · 4 years

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Alastor’s Possible Backstory, Emotional, And Mental State.

Okay, so, I find Alastor from Hazbin Hotel one of the few characters that interest me due to his sheer mysterious aura. He has a lot of secrets and I’d like to dissect this man down to his mannerisms, his beliefs, his (low-key/high-key?) pessimistic view of life, and his use of voodoo. I personally am not a fan of the said show since it’s pretty vulgar and hasn’t caught my attention due to the possible problems I see in the show (Why the heck did the God in this universe allow a hierarchy to take place AND give people superpowers by turning them into magical animals and such? Why did he even make a Hell?)

But anyway, I’m not here to discuss my likes and dislikes about the show, I'm here to discuss the Radio Demon and what could have possibly happened in his life as a child to start this craziness and explain his complex personality, mental state, and emotional state. Alrighty with that being said, LET’S DISSECT!

ＭＥＮＴＡ L~𝓔𝓜𝓞𝓣𝓘𝓞𝓝𝓐𝓛 ~BEGINNING

Dude’s got a mental problem fam, and I'm not saying this just cause this man’s teeth are as yellow as Bill Cipher’s entire existence. No, no, no this man is crazy for not just his unhinged need to see other’s fail and to have utter and complete control(Will tackle later) he’s crazy for his huge narcissistic behavior. Dude, Honestly thinks he’s better than everyone and ONLY allows those he thinks are worthy into his “friend” circle. I quote friend because I’m not too sure how exactly and deeply he feels about Rosie aside from their relationship being like Jack and Mary from Mary Poppins Returns, as stated by Vivzie on twitter. He finds those who don’t always smile as people who are WEAK and LAUGHABLE and regardless of how they are, he still finds them to be weak, which BY GOD is such a flawed way of thinking GEEZ. Now after reading about Alastor and becoming more intrigued, I decided to do research on his behavior and when and how it starts.

𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐦 has 9 defining traits. I’ll go over a few that I’ve noticed.

1. He really thinks he’s more important than anyone else and has shown this through his mannerisms, the way he speaks, his vibe and just his general character scream “I’m better than you!”

2. HE LOVES SHOWING OFF! Dude can’t seem to get enough of the spotlight, thus why he LOVES to broadcast his carnage on the radio! Why else would he do so!? He finds constant admiration and respect when he does his “little” display of power!

3. Now, we ALL know he has done some pretty...gruesome things to claim strength and be seen as the strongest, even when there are others who are stronger he displays himself as if he is more dominating and wouldn’t waste his time with, how you say, vermin. This is evident by his response to Vox

You can find where I found this here at Faustisse’s cleanup and Inking vid of the upcoming Alastor Comic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_15UYpcWJ_Q

In case it is too hard to read due to the bad quality, Alastor is saying “Show off all that and no cattle.” which is pretty much “all hat, no cattle” (or, alternately, “big hat, no cattle”) which refers to someone who is all talk with no action, power, or substance behind his/her words. I’d applaud this power move, and still kinda do, if it weren’t for this dudes BIG HEAD lol.

BUT, you get the point, the dude is an egomaniac! “We already knew this, I mean DUH!” you say to me pinching the bridge of your nose. “Why do you point out the obvious?!”

Well, notice how severe and prevalent these traits are. Don’t you find it odd how this dude has SEVERE megalomania? Well, I did research and found out that Narcissism has a very sad connection most of the time and affects males more than females.

at https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/causes-of-npd here’s what I found

Notice the parental factors during early childhood are all abuse-related. This could very well be one, if not the main reason, why Al is the way he is: He was abused as a child! And to make matters worse, as I was looking deeper into this, I noticed that sexual abuse is ANOTHER factor, which would explain why Alastor doesn’t like being touched without consent or by surprise but will GLADLY invade other’s personal space to feel in control (He's a hypocrite like that). Sexual assault victims ALSO don’t like being touched without consent so this just adds more proof to my claim! And serial killers tend to have a rough family life and have been molested, taken advantage of, neglected, or all of the above!

It’s also come to my attention that Alastor enjoys talking with women more than men for 2 reasons. 1) Alastor finds it easier and more enjoyable to talk with women. 2) He finds men to be dumb brutes at least in hell.

I give COMPLETE CREDIT to @dollymoon

Thank you for the awesome amount of facts you’ve provided! RESPECT! https://www.tumblr/dollymoon

Alastor most likely has a very harsh grudge against the world due to his treatment as a young child. His abuse, and possible loss of his mother growing up, lead to him finding joy in seeing those suffer and fail EVERY SINGLE TIME! Notice the way he talks creepily to Charlie about watching sinners “Repeatedly trip and tumble down to the fiery pits of F A I L U R E.” Look at this man’s face as he’s saying this! The man looks turned on with the VERY fact of people suffering, that’s his kink, y’all, he a damn sadist! (No, being asexual doesn’t mean you can’t have kinks, I’ve checked, lol. Got you fam.) Ima kink shame the hell out of this man (Pun-unintended)

Ahem, anyway, this dude has got a hate boner for the world and finds relief when exacting pain on others because he feels wronged and feels the world is to blame. He does seem to acknowledge and accept that where he’s at is the end of the road for those who want to change, their chance was when they were alive, and has accepted that this is the natural order of things and they can’t fix that. I had this vibe that he must have gone to church as a kid due to his mom being religious and he loved his mom so he obeyed, Has been stated by Faustisse that he’s a mama’s boy, BUT remember, Vivzie said anything that comes out of HER mouth is what’s canon. Unless she has already stated it as fact any other info can’t be trusted. (Even though this info is PAINSTAKINGLY clear just by him mentioning his mother’s cooking and it just makes too much sense, lol.)

So he must have grown up to be low-key violent but with manners like he practiced being slick and suave in order to trick people into trusting him so that he may kill them without getting caught, which would work perfectly with him not chasing people due to his moral code. He practiced and practiced and seeing as how he was well-off in his later years, I’d assume he started doing his radio schtick when he was in his early 20s or at the age of 18. So he began when the roaring 20s was just starting, a new beginning for him!

Alastor's name means "he who does not forget", "avenger", "persecutor", "tormenter", "one who suffers from divine vengeance".

(This also makes me think his real name is Alexander/Alexandre since it's the exact opposite of his Hell-Name and more interestingly, in terms of name-giving traditions, between the latter half of the Spanish period (1790-1803) and the beginning of Jim Crow Segregation (1893-1964), gallicized names of classical Greek and Roman origins dominated in Loiusiana. This may be due, in whole, or in part, to the fact that New Orleans had North America’s (excluding Central America and the Caribbean) first Opera Houses and Theatres, owned, frequented and operated by Creoles from Louisiana, Cuba and Saint-Domingue/Haiti. Adonis is my second choice since It literally means "handsome man" and that would totally fit him for his handsomeness to the fact I feel that his mom would def name him this outside of Alexander/Alexandre.) http://www.mylhcv.com/common-creole-names-for-males/

This is a HEAVY hint to what happened in his life and why he’s so drawn to seeing people fail and helps hold my theory together quite a bit, if not a lot. Of all the names to give this dude, he was given a name that legit is on par with the word “Vengeance” and “Avenger”. Vengeance for what? Avenge who? He was wronged. He possibly is angered also by the death of his mother, who was most likely his ONLY ray of light. He is a broken man who most likely has insecurities, based on the info of narcissism which tells us that narcissistic people are the most insecure sorts of people. Alastor is aware of this and sees it as a weakness, something to be culled and hidden from the world never seeing the light of day. His only way of making himself feel stronger and more in control was through voodoo and cannibalism. Many Cannibals believe to be the bees-knees since they go a step FURTHER into crime by devouring their victims and placing themselves into a rank different and more feared by the rest. They see that no one else would even have the balls to attempt to reach that spot, which again leads back to the way Alastor thinks. He just adds oil to the fire when doing voodoo and doing BLOOD RITUALS which you can see him doing when attacking Sir Pentious! https://twitter.com/hntrgurl13/status/1197918059836690433?s=20

Dude has so much baggage that he hides behind a smile he thinks ALONE brings strength like niBBa are you serious? I’d like to see this man try and say that to the faces of strong people like Superman, Goku, Midoriya, Naruto, Broly, Wonder Woman, GOD. Yo even GOD shows emotions. Wanna know why these beings are strong? It ain’t just cause they smile, Nah, it’s cause they’re determined or the very literal embodiment of determination. they have a damn balance and that strength helps them smile through the pain, they don’t need to exhibit a smile to be strong cause them being themselves and having the strong mentality is what gives them strength, not a damn smile. Watch Charlie hit him with the good old reality check when the man attempts to freaking take over her joint (Both hotel and hell) and she proves strength ain’t just gained through smiling or dominating others. He high-key sounds weak for even having that mindset, only weaklings think like this. He has a very weak view of life which brought forth a monster, or should I say DEMON.

Here’s the info of him not liking being touched.

I’d also like you guys to keep in mind that Vivzie has stated that none of the characters have split personalities, proving Al knows EXACTLY what he's doing.

It’s all them but some have a DUALITY to them. As hinted at by the word "dual" within it, duality refers to having two parts, often(but not always) with opposite meanings, like the duality of good and evil. If there are two sides to a coin, metaphorically speaking, there's a duality. Notice how Alastor also has a duality in him. What kind tho? Remember those shadows that follow him everywhere? Yeah I'm pretty sure those shadows represents his duality in some way, shape, or form.

I also forgot to add that Masochism and Sadism both ALSO stem from the same things Narcissism does or similar things like being sexually abused as a kid. Remember not all cases are the same, I just wanted to put that out there (Not sure If Al is still a Masochist since that’s old info from him being just a deer and liked it when people tried to kill him.)

So in conclusion:

-Dude was possibly abused as a child by his Father

-he hates society/the world due to his terrible child life

-He possibly feels shame for what he has done and thus has accepted his fate

-He loves his mama and MOST LIKELY hates his father who probs is the one who did him a terrible service for just being his father growing up, this would explain his view on men as well

-He also feels shame for being so weak to even allow his father or any male figure to do what they did to him

-Man gets turned on when seeing people like sinners suffer.

KEEP. IN. MIND. None of this excuses his terrible behavior and excuses for being so power-hungry, He’s an interesting character and I love his quirks but he is by no means a victim without faults. He is a product of society and that’s sad but he needs to pay for his horrible actions. Cannibalism is going to far, using you and your victim’s blood for voodoo isn’t excusable, and just killing someone for the sake of vengeance won’t make the pain go away, so nothing he does that involves harming people is cute or a way to suppress his anger, which he’ll have to learn the hard way in this story, I bet. Hopefully, it’s done well cause he’s still very much a bad guy regardless of the fact that he is aiding charlie.

WHEW, that was a long post, one of my longest ones! I really wanted to write out my thoughts on this character cause I’m ALWAYS intrigued by the mystery characters like him withhold. They tend to have hints to their behavior and it was really fun traveling through the possibilities of his nature. I’m probably 100% wrong about all of what I said since I am still not sure about everything and I researched as much as I could. I wouldn’t have had such an easy time if it wasn’t for @dollymoon and their amazing efforts to inform the community, y’all crazy but y’all dedicated so respect. I am not part of the community so I wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint all the info and more. So this is my piece on Alastor the Radio Demon, a.k.a dude who looks like he’s taken ecstasy.

P.S

-Why is this man wearing a torn up and ragged jacket when he can easily make himself a better freaking jacket? The man wore a one that was fresh as hell during his reprise, so what gives?! and why in God’s name is his damn teeth yellow? How you gonna say “You're never fully dressed without a smile” but got on one of the dirtiest smiles I’ve ever freaking seen? I'd rather not smile and be strong than to wear my clothes at its dirtiest(his smile I mean). Ain’t no way in the fresh hell would I invite an edgy radioman, who I know does voodoo, into my damn house, I am too black/Haitian for that bull.

-Y’all finna tell me why y’all falling for a man who canonically has stank breathe...?

At least clean his damn teeth and give him a mint first, D A M N people!

again, thank you very much @dollymoon

but yeah, that’s my theory y’all, hope you enjoy and sorry for the constant repetition in here! DISSECTION OVER. . .

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel thoughts #hazbin hotel theory #hazbin hotel character #hh theory #alastor radio demon #radio demon alastor #hazbin alastor #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor #hazbin alastor theory #Alastor is freaking crazy ya'll #cartoon theory

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blackkudos · 4 years

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Philip Bailey

Philip James Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter and percussionist best known as an early member, and one of the two lead singers (along with group founder Maurice White) of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. Noted for his four-octave vocal range and distinctive falsetto register, Bailey has won seven Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire. Bailey was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame for his work with the band.

Bailey has released several solo albums. Chinese Wall from 1984, which received a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male, included the international hit, "Easy Lover", a duet with Phil Collins. "Easy Lover" won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Overall Performance in a Video in 1985 and was Grammy nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals.

In May 2008, Bailey was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music at Berklee's Commencement Ceremony where he was the commencement speaker.

Life and career

Early days

Bailey was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, United States. He attended East High School in Denver and graduated in 1969. He was also in a local R&B band called Friends & Love. Some of Bailey's early influences included jazz musicians such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Max Roach, the Motown sound, in particular the music of Stevie Wonder and he was also largely influenced by female singers such as Sarah Vaughan and Dionne Warwick.

Earth, Wind & Fire

In 1972, while attending college, Bailey was invited to join the band Earth, Wind & Fire by EWF-founder and bandleader Maurice White. Bailey was the featured lead vocalist on popular Earth, Wind & Fire songs as "Devotion", "Keep Your Head to the Sky", "Reasons", "Fantasy", "I'll Write A Song For You", "Imagination", "I've Had Enough", and "Guiding Lights". He also shared lead vocals with Maurice White on such EWF hits as "Shining Star", "Getaway", "September", "Sing A Song", "Serpentine Fire", "Saturday Night", and sang lead with both White and the girl group The Emotions on their classic disco collaboration "Boogie Wonderland".

With Maurice White's retirement and then death, Bailey became the on-stage leader of Earth, Wind & Fire, along with bassist Verdine White, vocalist/percussionist Ralph Johnson and vocalist/percussionist B. David Whitworth.

In live duet performances, Bailey will sing his falsetto part, then switch to the vocal part originally sung by White, showing off his vocal prowess and versatility.

Solo albums

In 1983, Bailey issued his debut studio album, titled Continuation, on Columbia Records. The album reached No. 19 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. An album cut titled "I Know" rose to No. 10 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

During 1984, Bailey released his second solo album, titled Chinese Wall, also on Columbia Records. The album reached No. 22 on the Billboard 200 chart and No. 10 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA. Off the album, a duet with Collins titled "Easy Lover", rose to Nos. 1 & 2 on the UK Singles and Billboard Hot 100 charts, respectively.

Bailey went on to issue his third studio album, titled Inside Out, in 1986 on Columbia. The album reached No. 30 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. A single from the album titled "State Of The Heart" reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

During 1994, Bailey issued his self titled fourth studio album on Zoo Entertainment. Artists including Brian McKnight, Chuckii Booker and PM Dawn guested on the LP. The album cut "Here With Me" rose to No. 33 on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart.

Bailey went on to release his first jazz album, titled Dreams in 1999 on Heads Up International records. The album featured artistes such as Gerald Albright, Grover Washington, Jr. and Pat Metheny. It reached No. 43 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. During 2002 he released Soul on Jazz, his sophomore jazz album once again on Heads Up. The album rose to No. 45 upon the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.

Gospel

Bailey featured on Andraé Crouch's 1979 album I'll Be Thinking of You. He and Maurice White then collaborated with The Hawkins Family on their 1981 live album, The Hawkins Family Live.

In 1980, Bailey joined with friends, Deniece Williams, Billy Davis and Marilyn McCoo to present a gospel show at a popular Los Angeles club named The Roxy. The show was called "Jesus At the Roxy". Williams later reported that "God did something miraculous. Over three hundred people were saved." After that, both Bailey and Williams decided to pursue careers in Christian music.

During 1984, Bailey issued his first gospel album titled The Wonders of His Love on Myrrh Records. The album reached No. 13 on the Billboard Christian Albums chart and No. 17 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart. The Wonders of His Love was also Grammy nominated in the category of Best Inspirational Performance.

His second gospel album Triumph was released in 1986 on Horizon Records. The LP reached No. 18 on the Top Christian Albums chart and No. 33 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart. Triumph also won a Grammy for Best Gospel Performance, Male.

During 1989 he released his third gospel album titled Family Affair on Myrrh Records. The album reached No. 37 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart.

Bailey later played percussion and sang on the King Baptist Church Mass Choir's 1990 album Holding on to Jesus' Hand.

Work with other artists

Bailey sang on Jazz guitarist Alphonso Johnson 1976's LP Yesterday's Dreams. He later played percussion alongside Verdine White on bass upon the track "Tahiti Hut" composed by both Maurice White and Eumir Deodato from Deodato's 1978 album Love Island. He also sang on Ronnie Laws' 1978 album Flame.

Bailey went on to produce R&B Band Kinsman Dazz's 1978 debut LP Kinsman Dazz and work as an arranger and guest artist on their sophomore 1979 album Dazz. As a band, Kinsman Dazz later became known as the Dazz Band. Bailey also collaborated as a vocalist with tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine on his 1981 album Tender Togetherness.

As well he guested on Stevie Wonder's 1985 "In Square Circle" album, Kenny Loggins' 1985 LP Vox Humana, Ray Parker Jr.'s 1987 album After Dark and Anita Pointer's 1987 LP Love for What It Is. Bailey also collaborated with Julio Iglesias on his 1988 album Non Stop, Little Richard on the soundtrack of the 1988 feature film Twins and Deniece Williams on her 1988 album As Good As It Gets.

He later featured on Nancy Wilson's 1989 LP A Lady with a Song, Dianne Reeves' 1990 album Never Too Far and George Duke and Stanley Clarke's 1990 LP 3. Bailey also guested on jazz group Fourplay's 1991 self-titled debut album, Ronnie Laws' 1992 LP Deep Soul, George Duke's 1992 LP Snapshot and Fourplay's 1993 sophomore album Between the Sheets.

Bailey then featured on Chante Moore's 1994 album A Love Supreme, Keiko Matsui's 1994 LP Doll, George Duke's 2000 album Cool, Boney James's 2006 LP Shine, Deniece Williams' 2007 album Love Niecy Style and Gerald Albright's 2008 LP Sax for Stax.

Bailey sung uncredited vocals on Travis Scott's "STOP TRYING TO BE GOD" from his 2018 album Astroworld. The song also features fellow musicians Stevie Wonder and Kid Cudi.

On screen

Bailey appeared in an episode of the TV show Matlock in the role of Pvt. Bobby Thomas. He also played a soldier in the 1987 feature film Full Metal Jacket.

On October 27, 2007, Bailey sang "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch in Game 3 of the 2007 World Series held at Coors Field, Denver, Colorado. This was the first World Series game that was ever played in his hometown of Denver. He also threw out the ceremonial first pitch on June 30, 2012 in an MLB game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Detroit Tigers held at Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida.

Personal life

Bailey is currently married to singer/ songwriter, Valerie Bailey (née Davis), who has worked with Whitney Houston and Celine Dion.Bailey is the father of seven children, one of whom is Pili Bailey, the daughter of Jeanette Hutchinson of the R&B hit group The Emotions. His son, Philip Doron Bailey, is also a member of Earth Wind & Fire.

Accolades

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Bailey has received one award out of four solo nominations.

#05/08

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yakkety-yak-art · 5 years

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Why Bioshock Infinite Wasn’t Working (for me)

As someone who loves the first and second games (the first largely for the story, the second largely for the gameplay and characters), I have really felt out of place in the fandom for just....not liking Infinite. Ever since it was released, people have been touting it around on a pedestal like it’s the best thing since sliced bread, but I just have never seen the appeal. Sure, it looks pretty, and there are some interesting parts, but it just never worked for me. And I figured out why. (Note: this is opinionated, so if you disagree and feel the need to respond, do so politely. I will be keeping this as fair as I can and there’s no need to be rude just because you disagree. If you like this game, that’s totally fine, and I can respect your opinion even though it doesn’t match up with mine! This is just my thoughts on the matter, and I am not the end all be all on the topic. You are free to feel however you wish about the game, and if you are more sensitive to criticism about things you like, feel free to just ignore this post!)

This game is a run-of-the-mill FPS with repetitive fights that traipses around in a facade of deep thoughts and hard-hitting hot takes. So many of the people praising this game praise it because the story is deep and riveting. to which I must eloquently say, “Nah.” The story is the equivalent of someone standing on a soapbox, gathering a crowd with the promise of a new concept no one has ever thought of before; something life-changing, something thought of only by a deep thinker; and this someone faces a crowd of Americans, waiting with bated breath to hear something they haven’t been aware of literally their whole lives, only to tell them in an extremely pretentious manner that, “America’s past was no fun :(.”

No shit, Sherlock.

The original Bioshocks dealt with things that will really always be topical: the implications and consequences of extreme capitalism and objectivism, and, conversely, extreme communism and mob mentality/hive mind-esque organizations; the importance of choice and the realization of people as individuals coming together being stronger and more unified than an echo-chamber group (yes, there’s a difference); the implications of moral decisions on the future for oneself and the entire world, and extremely beautiful and sometimes heartbreaking portrayals of the importance of platonic relations, found family, and positive bonds between parent and child (particularly fathers, which is refreshing and interesting, since a lot of dads don’t get a very good rep in media); the consequences of classism; finally, breaking free from the roles laid out and expected, and thinking freely (truly freely, not wrongfully convinced of free thinking when in reality the government is in control, seen with Atlas, Ryan, Lamb, etc. The games also give you extremely interesting moral decisions and topics; do you serve yourself, or sacrifice to save the children? Are you really any better than the splicers who were taken advantage of and left to rot, and while you must kill them to survive, are they still people? As you splice, do you become exactly what you are trying to save yourself and the few innocents of Rapture from?

These are all interesting and topical ideas to bring up. So what does Infinite have to share?

Racism is bad (an important topic, but handled poorly). Religion is also bad. Schrodinger’s cat, maybe? Infinite universes mean infinite possibilities!!! Except, no, not really. For a game that puts emphasis on infinite possibilities, it only really explores the same one.

Firstly, “racism is bad/America is bad/religion is bad” is hardly a hot take, and they are portrayed in the most basic forms that they possibly could be. All the bad guys are racist to the extreme, the entire city is a haven of white supremacy, and basically all because of religion. The main villain only becomes the villain because he gets baptized. It’s extremely on the nose, with public humiliations/lynchings, and public worship of the dude who assassinated Lincoln. Not only does it seem, well, preachy, due to how on the nose it is, it’s not even interesting. Don’t get me wrong, it’s extremely important to discuss racism and xenophobia, especially as it occurred in the past, but because of the world they have set Infinite in, it comes across as implausible. Like, ok, fantasy world, but that’s just it: this is a fantasy. There could have been an amazing discussion on, not blanket “hurr durr institutionalized racism is bad”, but the society that Vigors, a majority working class of non-whites/immigrants, a search for utopia, and the extremes of religion AND science, paired with the idea of facades, would create. Why not have more of the public use Vigors? Like the Vox, in an attempt to gain more control and power? As Columbia had to travel from continent to continent, have the racism be always present but constantly hidden. Rather than public carnival games with racist caricatures, have a society that seems so perfect on the outside that it cannot possibly be. Everyone who is not white or is Jewish or Irish is always creepily smiling and re-asserting that they love their jobs, and their city. Perhaps one is seen speaking out, and they are quickly taken out. Uncovering an extremely unnerving facade like this proves the underlying corruption, power, and horror of the city a lot more than the extremely blatant examples in Infinite do. It’s like the difference between your teacher telling you people were racist in the past, and then reading something about how beautiful the world is and how nice the town they live in is in--only to then find a photo of the writer in a creepy black and white photo, smiling at the camera as they lynch someone--or even, being the subject in the photo who was lynched. It’s so creepy and obviously a lie, but unless you take the time to dig deeper, to find out why the writing had seemed so, well, strange or unrealistic, you could remain blissfully ignorant despite knowing something is wrong. That’s an interesting moral dilemma faced in everyday life. In Infinite, you can just kill them. Problem solved. In fact, it’s so easily solvable, apparently, that it makes you wonder why everyone else hasn’t done that already. It’s also extremely lazy to make all of your villains racist and all of the good guys totally not racist™ and just shoot everyone. I mean, really? they don’t even try to have a conflict of morality, like with Tenenbaum or Sinclair. It’s unrealistically black and white (ha), and because of this, predictable, lazy, and boring. Again, discussions of racism is not a bad thing--but it’s handled so poorly here that it’s almost like the story just stops to remind you that racism is bad, before continuing.

The parts of the story that don’t deal with social issues are not any better. You can tell me all you want that the ending and the story are just sophisticated, and that I just didn’t get it, but to that I respond: maybe writing a story that has so many possible implications, endings, and theories that could all exist or not exist or sometimes maybe happen unless we were wrong about this one thing, in which case maybe not isn’t sophisticated, and is instead pretentious, lazy, and a lot fucking worse than you giving me a whole story with a jumping off point for my own ideas and conclusions about it’s implications. No, Infinite doesn’t do that. It’s so hackneyed, so convoluted, with it’s “infinite” lighthouses and “infinite” outcomes when in reality, no matter what, there’s just this one racist evil religious dude who is always religious and racist and evil. It could end, not in a “maybe it’s a Schrodinger’s cat?” cop out, but in one of those alternate outcomes (like, clearly alternate, not hinted at alternate), leaving the player with questions about the importance of decisions if there is always another place where the decision either was or wasn’t made, or whether or not the world should even be respected to the extent that it is when, with Elizabeth (and, in theory, her ability to create others with her powers), it is possible to just find a new world. Those are interesting, and also leave the player with some moral questions and debate topics, whereas the actual ending just sort of looks and sounds deep, but in reality is just a writer’s inability to live up to his own setup of the multiverse.

there are some other reasons, like how elizabeth’s powers seem really pointless as they are underutilized, how the game could have worked better if you played as her, how the game literally could’ve been standalone, seeing as it has nothing to do with Bioshock’s story except for Levine’s lazy attempt at “connecting” the two canons, but those are the big ones. All in all, I can’t like it because it has potential that was so ultimately wasted--it’s lazy in it’s story, in it’s tackling of social issues, and in it’s basic requirement at having anything to do with Bioshock, when it could have so easily been an amazing game, not only at the surface, but truly, as you dig deeper into the story. But I really, truly wish that I could love this game. It could’ve been great.

#bioshock #bioshock infinite #racism mention #critique #bioshock infinite rant #unpopular opinion #not trying to be rude #if you like infinite just ignore this #you can enjoy it all you want but this is why i cant #wasted potential #criticism #game criticism #crichwine talks #long post #tw: racism #ask to tag #be polite

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newstfionline · 4 years

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Headlines

Hillary Clinton won’t rule out presidential campaign (Washington Post) Hillary Clinton on Tuesday declined to rule out launching a future presidential campaign after her two failed bids, saying “many, many, many people” were pressuring her to enter the race. “I, as I say, never, never, never say never,” the former secretary of State said on BBC Radio 5 Live. “I will certainly tell you, I’m under enormous pressure from many, many, many people to think about it.”

Court rules against warrantless searches of phones, laptops (AP) A federal court in Boston has ruled that warrantless U.S. government searches of the phones and laptops of international travelers at airports and other U.S. ports of entry violate the Fourth Amendment. Tuesday’s ruling in U.S. District Court came in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The ACLU describes the searches as “fishing expeditions.” They say border officers must now demonstrate individualized suspicion of contraband before they can search a traveler’s electronic device.

Despite ‘wonderful’ meeting, Trump and Erdogan fail to resolve conflicts (Reuters) U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday pushed Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to walk away from the purchase of a Russian missile defense system, calling it a “very serious challenge” to bilateral ties, even though he described a meeting between the two leaders as “wonderful.” But both leaders fell short of explaining in concrete terms how they would overcome the mounting differences they have on numerous issues, from Erdogan’s incursion in Syria against America’s Kurdish allies to Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system.

Spanish king visits Cuba (Foreign Policy) King Felipe became the first Spanish monarch to make a state visit to Cuba when he and his wife Letizia arrived in Havana on Tuesday. The trip coincides with the capital’s 500th anniversary and it comes as Europe continues to normalize relations with Cuba’s one-party regime--though some Cuban dissidents and Spanish politicians have criticized the visit.

Bolivia’s declared interim president faces challenges (AP) Bolivia’s newly declared interim president, until now a second-tier lawmaker, faces the challenge of winning recognition, stabilizing the nation and quickly organizing national elections at a time of bloody political disputes that pushed the nation’s first indigenous leader to fly into self-exile in Mexico after 14 years in power. A sense of normalcy returned to the capital on Wednesday, a day after Jeanine Añez claimed the presidency after higher-ranking successors to the post resigned. Most roadblocks set up by ousted president Evo Morales’ foes were removed and public transportation resumed in La Paz, which has been rocked by weeks of protests.

Spain’s election aftermath (Foreign Policy) After the second general election of the year, the ruling Socialist Party quickly reached a preliminary coalition deal with the left-wing Podemos party--despite months of disagreements between the two parties after the April election. The two parties won 155 seats combined--slightly fewer than in April--and they are still short of the 176 seats needed for a parliamentary majority, meaning they will need to partner with smaller parties or rely on the abstention of rivals when they seek a vote on a new government. Meanwhile, the far-right Vox party more than doubled its April showing, taking 52 seats in parliament.

Afghan Official Says Presidential Poll Results Delayed Again (AP) An Afghan official says the results of the country’s presidential election held nearly two months ago are being delayed once again.

Schools Closed in New Delhi as Air Quality Dips Further (AP) Schools in India’s capital are shut after air quality plunged to a severe category for the third consecutive day, enveloping New Delhi in a thick gray haze of noxious air.

China Launches New Crackdown on Chemical Safety (Reuters) China’s cabinet will begin a nationwide safety crackdown on its massive chemical industry after an official investigation into a deadly plant blast that killed 78 people and injured dozens more in March.

Chinese, other students flee Hong Kong as violence worsens (AP) University students from mainland China and Taiwan are fleeing Hong Kong, while those from three Scandinavian countries have been moved or urged to leave as college campuses become the latest battleground in the city’s 5-month-long anti-government unrest. Marine police used a boat Wednesday to help a group of mainland students leave the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which remained barricaded by demonstrators after violent clashes with police on Tuesday. Authorities announced that primary and secondary school classes would be suspended Thursday as clashes turn increasingly violent.

Japanese Emperor to Spend Night With Goddess in Last Major Accession Rite (Reuters) Japanese Emperor Naruhito will be ushered into a dark wooden hall on Thursday night to celebrate his last major accession rite after becoming emperor this spring: spending the night with a goddess.

Protests flare again in Lebanon, with one killed (Foreign Policy) After Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun called for anti-government demonstrators to stay out of the streets or risk catastrophe, protests flared again on Tuesday. At least one protester was killed by security forces in the first such shooting since the protests began nearly four weeks ago. The incident is likely to further inflame tensions, as activists seek to bring the country to a standstill and push out Lebanon’s political elite. Meanwhile, the union representing Lebanon’s bank staff has called for a general strike to continue today over concerns for employee safety as fears of a run on the banks rise.

Israel, Islamic Jihad Cease Fire After Heavy Gaza Fighting (AP) Israel and the militant Islamic Jihad group in Gaza reached a cease-fire on Thursday to end the heaviest Gaza fighting in months that killed at least 34 Palestinians, including three women and eight children, and paralyzed parts of Israel.

#headlines #news

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lastsonlost · 5 years

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Aziz? redemption ?

AZIZ DIDN’T FUCKING DO ANY GOD DAMN THING WRONG!!!!!!

God, I love being white,” said Louis C.K.

“Here’s how great it is to be white,” the comedian went on: “I could get in a time machine, and go to any time, and it would be fucking awesome when I get there. That is exclusively a white privilege.”

The bit, part of his 2008 special Chewed Up, was emblematic of C.K.’s approach: poking fun at the inequalities of American society, while simultaneously acknowledging the ways they benefited him.

Contrast that with a set he performed in December 2018, a little over a year after he admitted to masturbating in front of women without their consent. During the December appearance, apparently at a comedy club on Long Island, C.K. joked that Asian men are “all women” and poked fun at school shooting survivors and gender-nonconforming teenagers, according to BuzzFeed News.

“They tell you what to call them,” he complained of teens who use the pronouns they/them. “Oh, OK. You should address me as ‘there’ because I identify as a location. And the location is your mother’s cunt.”

Imagine thinking the best way to resurrect your career after admitting to sexual misconduct is to mock trans people and Parkland gun violence survivors.

2018, during which his standup special and the wide release of his film I Love You, Daddy were canceled, seems to have wrought a change in C.K. Where once his comedy offered a fresh look at established power structures, he now seems set on ranting about kids today and their pronoun choices.

Fellow comedian Aziz Ansari has followed a similar trajectory. He once decried sexual harassment in his act — and addressed the issue in a nuanced way on his show Master of None. But in 2017, a woman told the website Babe.net that he had pressured her for sex — Ansari said he had believed everything that happened between them was “completely consensual,” and that he was “surprised and concerned” by her account.

After the incident, his comedy took on a different tone: In a fall 2018 appearance, he made fun of online debates about cultural appropriation and complained that nowadays, “everyone weighs in on everything,” according to the New Yorker.

The bigotry in C.K.’s set is disturbing, especially coming from someone who seemed at one time to have a relatively clear understanding of how power works in America. But what is also striking about C.K. and Ansari’s post-#MeToo material is its banality. Before they were publicly accused, these men wrestled with thorny questions of identity and power in ways that, while not always satisfying, were usually thought-provoking. After the allegations, they began parroting tired complaints about political correctness.

Of the many people accused of sexual misconduct as part of the #MeToo movement, C.K. and Ansari seemed like they might be uniquely equipped to reckon with the allegations against them, perhaps even adding something to the public conversation around #MeToo. Instead, they have retreated into boring and offensive stereotypes, perhaps playing to those who never thought they did anything wrong.

We’re all worse off for their decision, missing out on the art C.K. and Ansari might have created if they’d been willing to really face their accusations, and robbed of the opportunity to see two intelligent and thoughtful men really wrestle with the implications of #MeToo. In a time when more and more of the accused mull their comebacks, it’s natural to wonder what real redemption — complete with an acknowledgment of harm and a commitment to atonement — might look like. Apparently, Louis C.K. and Aziz Ansari will not be the ones to show us.

Louis C.K. used to talk about violence against women. Now he makes fun of genderqueer teens.

Before #MeToo, Louis C.K. was beloved by many for his often self-lacerating comedy. In his standup and on the autobiographical FX show Louie, he portrayed himself as a sad-sack weirdo disturbed by his own sexual urges — he once called himself a “prisoner” of “sexual perversion.”

C.K.’s work could be offensive, as when he complained that he missed being able to use a homophobic slur (and claimed, unconvincingly, that the way he used it had nothing to do with homophobia). But some hailed his comedy as feminist, and he showed a remarkable ability to mine humor from the dangers and biases women face — a difficult feat for a male comic.

“How do women still go out with guys when you consider that there is no greater threat to women than men?” he asked in a 2013 special. “We’re the number one threat to women! Globally and historically, we’re the number one cause of injury and mayhem to women.”

But C.K. was also the subject of long-simmering sexual misconduct rumors — and in November 2017, four women told the New York Times that he had masturbated in front of them or asked them to watch him masturbate (a fifth said that he masturbated while on a phone call with her).

In a move that remains unusual among men accused as part of #MeToo, C.K. admitted to the allegations against him. “These stories are true,” he said in a statement to the New York Times.

“I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want,” he added. “I will now step back and take a long time to listen.”

But as many have pointed out, the listening didn’t last very long. C.K. was back onstage in September 2018, less than a year after his pledge to step back. In an October appearance at the West Side Comedy Club in New York, he addressed the fallout from his sexual misconduct revelations, saying he’d been to “hell and back” and that he’d “lost $35 million in an hour.”

While many were critical of C.K.’s comeback attempt, West Side Comedy Club host AMarie Castillo told the comedy website LaughSpin that the comic “was so genuine and reflected on how weird his year was” in his October appearance. “Sounds to me he is owning up, acknowledging, and trying to figure it out,” she said.

But in a December set, he didn’t sound much like someone trying to figure anything out. In audio posted on YouTube, apparently from an appearance at the Governor’s Comedy Club on Long Island on December 16, C.K. poked fun at gender-nonconforming youth, Parkland school shooting survivors, and Asian men, among other groups. (The club was unable to confirm to BuzzFeed that C.K. was there that night, though multiple people posted on Instagram that they had seen him perform there.)

“You know why Asian guys have small dicks,” he said at one point, according to Patrick Smith and Amber Jamieson of BuzzFeed. “’Cause they’re women. They’re not dudes. They’re all women. All Asians are women.”

C.K. also said he thought it was ridiculous that the term “retarded” was now viewed as inappropriate, Smith and Jamieson reported. When some listeners appeared shocked, he responded, “Fuck it, what are you going to take away, my birthday? My life is over, I don’t give a shit.”

C.K. has not responded to a request for comment from Vox.

Aziz Ansari once included a sexual harassment storyline on his show. Now he’s complaining about Twitter outrage.

Ansari’s comedy has always been more lighthearted than C.K.’s, but he hasn’t shied away from difficult topics. In a 2015 Netflix special filmed at New York’s Madison Square Garden, he asked women in the audience to raise their hands if they’d ever been followed by a “creepy dude,” according to Eren Orbey at the New Yorker.

“Yeah, that’s way too many people,” he said when hands went up. “That should not be happening.”

The second season of his Netflix show, Master of None, also included a storyline about sexual misconduct. Ansari’s character, Dev, teams up with celebrity chef Jeff Pastore (Bobby Cannavale) for a show called Best Food Friends. But Dev is forced to make a choice when a female crew member reveals that Chef Jeff repeatedly harassed her. The episode, which aired before #MeToo gained steam in fall 2017, felt true to life, as Isha Aran pointed out at Splinter, “from the fears victims face in going public to the misogynist skepticism they’re met with when they share their stories.”

But in January 2018, a woman going by the name Grace told the website Babe.net that Ansari had repeatedly pressured her for sex while the two were on a date. She called it “by far the worst experience with a man I’ve ever had.”

“We went out to dinner, and afterwards we ended up engaging in sexual activity, which by all indications was completely consensual,” Ansari said in a statement on the allegations last January. “The next day, I got a text from her saying that although ‘it may have seemed okay,’ upon further reflection, she felt uncomfortable. It was true that everything did seem okay to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned.”

“I continue to support the movement that is happening in our culture,” Ansari concluded, presumably referring to #MeToo. “It is necessary and long overdue.”

By fall 2018, however, his tone sounded different. In a Connecticut stop on his “Working Out New Material” comeback tour, he complained about Twitter users debating whether a teenager’s prom dress constituted cultural appropriation, according to Orbey.

“Everyone weighs in on everything,” he said. “They don’t know anything. People don’t wanna just say, ‘I don’t know.’”

He also decried “the destructive performativity of Internet activism and the fickle, ever-changing standards of political correctness,” according to Orbey. He compared left-wing Twitter users to Trump supporters (“at least with the Trump people,” he said, “I kinda know where they stand”) and accused them of competing with one another in a game of “Progressive Candy Crush.”

“One might have hoped that, nearly a year later, [Ansari] could find a way to reckon with one of the movement’s messiest lessons: that even men who wish to serve as allies of women can, intentionally or not, hurt them in private,” Orbey wrote. “Instead, like other men who have reëmerged in recent months, he seems to have channelled his experience into a diffuse bitterness.”

Ansari has not responded to Vox’s request for comment.

If C.K. and Ansari can’t reckon with the allegations against them, can anyone?

Allegations of sexual misconduct against C.K. and Ansari hit fans hard in part because of the thoughtful nature of their comedy — these were supposed to be the good guys.

The accusations prompted fans and critics to reevaluate both men’s work. At Splinter, Aran notes that despite its sexual harassment storyline, Master of None’s second season displays some underlying misogyny. Dev’s relationship with love interest Francesca, in particular, sends the message “that a woman’s initial reluctance can be chipped away at, that indifference is a wall to be torn down.”

C.K., meanwhile, had been telling masturbation jokes for years. As Melena Ryzik, Cara Buckley, and Jodi Kantor reported at the New York Times, “he rose to fame in part by appearing to be candid about his flaws and sexual hang-ups, discussing and miming masturbation extensively in his act — an exaggerated riff that some of the women feel may have served as a cover for real misconduct.” His film I Love You, Daddy, which was initially scheduled for release in November 2017, dealt with a relationship between a famous filmmaker and a 17-year-old girl.

And C.K.’s December set does recall some of his earlier work — the man who complained about teens today and their pronouns is clearly the same one, for instance, who expressed nostalgia for a time when he could use homophobic slurs without being criticized.

Still, C.K. and Ansari were somewhat unusual as male entertainers willing to delve into issues of power and privilege and talk about the ways men hurt women.

That’s what makes their current material so surprising. Ansari and C.K. aren’t just avoiding the subject of #MeToo — they’re going in the opposite direction, complaining about political correctness and outrage culture when their comedy once sent the message that women were absolutely right to be outraged.

Their new work is reactionary — crude jokes about Asian men wouldn’t be out of place at a Trump rally — and it’s dated. C.K.’s complaints about they/them pronouns aren’t just offensive; they’re also tired, well-worn platitudes parroted by everyone from psychologist Jordan Peterson to TV host Piers Morgan. C.K. may think his new material is edgy, but his rant about young people today sounds like it could come from Grandpa Simpson.

Some have speculated that C.K. is consciously courting a more right-leaning audience with his new material after losing the trust of his previous fans, and it’s certainly possible that he and Ansari are pivoting to please the people who were eager to explain away the allegations against them — those who think sexual misconduct only matters if it rises to the level of the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, or who believe that men who are accused deserve swift and unconditional forgiveness.

Whatever the case, the trajectories of C.K. and Ansari are doubly disappointing — first, because men whose work had a feminist bent were accused of hurting women, and second, because they let those accusations destroy the nuanced social awareness their earlier work displayed. Apparently, C.K. and Ansari were only interested in challenging the status quo when they remained unchallenged — once women spoke out against them, they performed the comedic equivalent of packing up their toys and going home.

That’s sad for all of us. We don’t get to see the comedy these men could have created if they’d wanted to face, rather than flee from, our current moment in history. And we don’t get to see two thoughtful entertainers bring their talents to bear on a project that matters to all of us — figuring out what it should look like for men accused as part of #MeToo to apologize, atone, and move forward.

Ever since the #MeToo movement gained mainstream attention in 2017, there’s been a lot of talk about what accused men can do to redeem themselves. Now, more than a year in, it’s certainly possible to imagine some of the accused truly reckoning with their pasts — Dan Harmon’s apology for sexually harassing a writer on his show offers a view of what that might look like. But it’s hard to hold out much hope for such a reckoning on a large scale when two men who seemed like they, of all people, might be able to look deeply at their own behavior have instead chosen to pander to those who would excuse them.

______________________

AZIZ DIDN’T FUCKING DO ANY GOD DAMN THING WRONG!!!!!!

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stevecanmakeanythingnerdy · 5 years

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Battle #13

Survivor : Premonition (Side 1)

Vs.

The Cars: Panorama (Side One)

Survivor : Premonition (Side 1)

Survivor is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1978 by guitarist/songwriter Jim Peterik. The band achieved its greatest success in the 1980s, producing many charting singles, especially in the United States. The band is best known for its double platinum-certified 1982 hit "Eye of the Tiger", the theme song for the motion picture Rocky III. The band seemingly reached success overnight with that single, and simultaneously reached their peak. Since then the band has been plagued with revolving members. Original members quit and rejoin more frequently than even the local Walmart’s turnover. I had the good fortune of seeing Survivor in the middle 90’s during one of their shift changes. It was my first bar show, as I had just turned 21. I guess that proves I have always been an old soul. Never trying to sneak in to bars and seeing a band “past their prime”. Anyhow, I thought it was a pretty good show. Of course we just wanted to hear them sing THE song...I don’t even think I ordered a drink. Literally my friend and I just wanted to hear them sing “eye of the tiger”. Anyhow, I digress. This 1981’s Premonition, so the album right before the big breakthrough. It had some encouraging success as Sylvester Stallone got ahold of it and asked the band personally to write a song for his movie, so the rest is history. “Chevy Nights” starts it off. Hmm, a CAR song to kick it off, eh Survivor?? (#iseewhatyoudidthere). It’s a good mid-tempo radio rocker. I have to admit this is kind of an underrated 80’s band. They have the muscle and the music. “Summer Nights” follows sharply. They seem to be fond of the hours between dusk and dawn. We find ourselves smack in the middle of a ballad. A bold move to so quickly invoke the power ballad. I feel like this tune may have been radio fodder. This album gave the band its first Top 40 single, "Poor Man's Son". This is the very tune Sly Stallone cited specifically as his decision to call out to Survivor. It is another very decent rocker and certainly we get a clear understanding of Dave Bickler’s amazing pipe range! The man can sing! Really, pretty decent solo efforts on everyone’s part. I can totally see what Stallone must have seen too. The mid tempo love ballad resurfaces for the finale in “Runway Lights”. So, the band is very well crafted at their carved niche, but overall I must admit, there is not a lot of diversity in this Survivor portfolio. They need more polarization in their progressions. Great harmonies and catchiness is present, but it just ends up sounding like a lost Journey record. I suppose that’s not entirely terrible considering the era we are talking about. For real, this is Perry level shit! Right in line with The Styx, too. Very 80’s stadium rock, but very short for a production of that stature.

The Cars: Panorama (Side One)

The Cars were an American rock band that emerged from the new wave scene in the late 1970s. The band originates in Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1976. The primary lineup throughout their career is singer, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter Ric Ocasek; singer, songwriter and bassist Benjamin Orr; lead guitarist Elliot Easton; keyboardist Greg Hawkes; and drummer David Robinson (not the San Antonio Spurs superstar) (#seewhatididthere ). That makes them somewhat unique as they had no lineup changes, up To and including their reunion in 2011 - only missing Orr who had died in 2000 from pancreatic cancer. The Cars were at the forefront in merging 1970s guitar-oriented rock with the new synthesizer-oriented pop that was then becoming popular and which flourished in the early 1980s. They combine elements of power-Pop with punk and even some rockabilly, all with a beautiful keyboard heavy soundtrack thanks to the innovative Greg Hawkes. They were inductees into the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 2018. Following the success of Candy-O, the band's third studio album, Panorama, was released in 1980. The album, considered more experimental than its predecessors, featured only one Top 40 hit with "Touch and Go". Although the album peaked at No. 5 in America, it did not receive the critical praise of The Cars and Candy-O. This album is hardly considered by most fans, but it really does hold its own. “Panorama” starts it all. Hawkes keys take hold immediately and prove he is one of the greatest. He totally understands the hook. The Sfx king! It has an almost creepy and primitive vibe. Robo vox add a nice touch. It’s very loooong though, it just keeps going around and around...like a Panorama (#iseewhattheydidthere). The big hit “Touch and Go” is next. As previously mentioned it’s the only song to chart in the top 40 off the album, so by comparison to the rest of their catalog, this album performed poorly. I think differently though. To me, this is a big hit for them, a very recognizable Cars song, and one most individuals know...and it’s not even in their top 10 biggest hits. Does that make sense? Even their “b sides” as it were are amazing! It all centers around another cool, but creep-a-leepy riff. Did they record this album near Halloween?! I also appreciate it’s off time signature. Keeps it different and from stagnation, one of the many skills this band had a natural knack for. “Gimmie Some Slack” is a deep cut through and through, but you won’t care. It’s still a keeper and more on the rock level. No creepy riffs on this one, as I am sure you were wondering. “Don’t Tell Me No” does, however, come back strong with the creeps. This time in the form of a creeper tinged theme. Hawkes again takes lead with the key brilliance. A decent near hit with the tempo slowed to maximize the rock. Let it simmer in successful stereotypes. Like all good things, the album must end though. “Getting Through” sees the experimental ambiance continue. I think they were going for a new wave Country genre. Whaaaaaat?!!?! No, really! It has some twang! Still good though, better than I make it sound. It may be the shortest tune on here, or it could just feel that way due to Robinson and his double time drums. Yes, The Cars really know how to do it correctly. They are one of about 12 bands that I frequently fantasize about being in. Orr and Ocasek make such an amazing songwriter team, it’s almost criminal. Weirdly, their voices sound somewhat interchangeable too. Sometimes adding to confusion on who sang what song. For years I thought it was Ric that sang on my favorite Cars tune, “Bye, Bye Love”

So today it was Survivor with their premonitions and support of Rambo and Rocky, versus the automotive awesomeness of The Cars and their panoramic album of amazingness. Survivor played 4 songs over 15 minutes and burned 102 calories along the way. That is 25.50 calories burned per song and 6.80 calories burned per minute. Survivor earned 8 out of 12 possible stars. The Cars took 21 minutes to burn 159 calories over 5 songs. They burned 31.80 calories per song and 7.57 calories per minute. They also earned 11 out of 15 possible stars. Looks like TheCars managed to burn more than fuel today! They burned more calories per minute and win today’s battle!

The Cars: “Don’t Tell Me No”

https://youtu.be/2fz-siSu-gg

#Randomrecordworkoutseasonsix

#Randomrecordworkout

#randomrecordworkout #records #80s #vinyl #80's music #80s music #survivor #the cars #ric ocasek #randomrecordworkoutseason6 #synthwave #synthesizer #rock and roll

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beinglibertarian · 6 years

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The Case For The Second Amendment

1. Gun ownership, support of the Second Amendment, or “gun culture” do not lead to higher murder rates

There are three major things to compare when addressing a correlation between guns and loss of life: statistics across US states, statistics across countries and statistics over time, and I intend to address all three. First, let’s agree to use the homicide rate, not the gun death rate, for two reasons: gun death rate includes suicides, which, while equally tragic, aren’t related to the topic of guns and domestic violence, seeing that suicide has existed since the beginning of time and it doesn’t include murders by non-firearms. If a city banned guns outright and gun murders went down by 1000 but knife murders went up by 2000, why would we consider that gun control law a success even if the firearm related death rate went down?

First, let’s start by comparing time periods. From 1993-2013 the gun homicide rate has plummeted by 49%, while the number of privately owned firearms went up by 56%. The two problematic issues I find with these numbers is it doesn’t adjust for population change and it only counts gun murders, not homicides as a whole. When counting for population change, homicide rate plummeted by a staggering 52.63% while guns per capita increased by 28.22%, so after improving the data, the notion that more guns equates to less crime still isn’t less true.

Unfortunately, not every country has been as lucky as America in this regard. In 1997, the United Kingdom implemented a handgun ban throughout the county, and from 1996 to 2002 alone, when crime in the US and most countries was plummeting, the homicide rate skyrocketed 51.4%. Sadly, the Washington Post article I referenced to cite the UK handgun ban failed to mention that minor detail involving a historic hike in crime, and when the author mentioned the Cumbria rampage in 2010 when 13 people were killed in Britain, it didn’t blame the laws of the land, it just said it could’ve been worse if the gun laws didn’t exist.

If we were to look nationally, there really isn’t firm evidence either way. States like Wyoming, North Dakota and Idaho have some of the highest gun ownership rates in the country and all have a murder rate lower than 2 according to the CDC, while Delaware has the lowest gun ownership rate in the country at around 5.2% and a homicide rate of 7, higher than the national average. Gun control advocates can cherry pick too and point to states like Arkansas and Louisiana as violent gun environments or to New Hampshire as a gun free utopia.

Internationally, there seems to be a much more obvious conclusion: well-armed civilian populations generally have low crime, and vice versa. Look at the numbers and you’ll find that Russia and nearby states, Sub-Saharan Africa and most of Latin-America are evidence of gun-free countries with uncontrollable crime, while Central Europe, the Gulf states and North America represent gun-loving countries with limited domestic crime. However, the best representation of 178 countries can be seen in the image I provided with facts from the UN.

2. Gun rights are a women’s rights issue

The trend of the past few decades is a spike in female gun ownership and a decline in male gun ownership. In 1980, the gender gap calculated by male gun ownership minus female gun ownership was 40.2%, which has fallen to a mere 23.4% in 2014. In 1990, that number was 42.8%, which is also the first year I can find statistics for the forcible rape rate, which was 41.2 until falling to 26.6 in 2014. (This is per 100,000 people) There’s no questioning the correlation here: a 41.8% drop in the gender gun ownership gap matches a 37.9% drop in the forcible rape rate. Correlation doesn’t mean causation, but there are a few indicators that would encourage us to assume causation.

First, are female purchases of firearms for personal protection? Women certainly think so, as female gun owners are over three times more likely than male owners to say protection is the only reason they have a gun. The same source finds that 58% of female owners never go hunting compared to 35% of men. There are many instances of this, including the case of Catherine Latta, who was raped and assaulted by her ex-boyfriend in 1990. She illegally purchased a handgun after being informed a permit would take a week to obtain, and she fatally shot her ex-boyfriend that day when he attacker her outside her home. Amanda Collins was raped when she was a senior in college, and while she had a concealed carry permit, it is illegal to carry a firearm on campus in most states across America.

If one were to stipulate leftist and feminist talking points that a rape culture persists in America, what would the solution be to combat this? Getting liberal sexual predators like Harvey Weinstein, Louis C.K., John Conyers, Kevin Spacey and Al Franken out of power, fired or exposed brings justice. However, is this the best form of deterrence and does it prevent the vast majority of sex offenders that aren’t sitting senators or Hollywood actors from committing horrible acts? My immediate answer is no.

As much as I think it would be wonderful to snap my fingers and change the behavior of every sexual predator along with every murderer and thief, it’s unrealistic to think we can dramatically change this centuries-old phenomenon overnight. The police response time isn’t nearly quick enough to prevent most rapes and much of the far-left distrusts the police anyways. If altering the behavior of the perpetrators is unrealistic and using a third party (law enforcement) to help with prevention is just as idealistic, the objectively best solution is to help the possible victims, which is usually women. Biologically, men on average have 40% more pounds of upper body mass than women, meaning they are at a disadvantage for defending themselves with handheld melee weapons, leaving the great equalizer to be guns, not safety pins, to help prevent rape.

3. Rifles aren’t normally used in murders

I would express confusion and bewilderment to the Democratic Party’s calls for bans on assault rifles or rifles in general if I wasn’t fully aware that liberals and left-wingers from Vox to Piers Morgan were excellent at cherry-picking or just blatantly ignoring data. In 2016, over 11 million firearms were produced in the United States, 48.5% were pistols or revolvers (“handguns”), 36.87% were rifles, 7.38% were shotguns, 7.25% were miscellaneous firearms. Because I don’t like to fabricate numbers, I subtracted the weapons exported and added those imported so we only count in weapons sold domestically, changing the numbers to 55.67%, 31.47%, 9.6% and 3.26% respectively. These numbers have been fairly consistent across the years and reflect the national amount.

Now, out of all the gun murders in 2016, how many were because of those awful children-killing rifles like the AR-15 that the left hates? After rounding up, 3.4%, compared to 64.57% for handguns and 2.38% for shotguns. So why are liberal politicians and organizations like “March for our lives” spreading false propaganda about rifles? I do not know. All I can tell you is that this misbelief can be added to the long list of lies from the gun control activists.

4. The Australia buyback program wasn’t successful

First off, the notion that the Australian buy-back program was respectful of any freedom that gun owners should have is ridiculous. The gun owners didn’t consent to have their 640,000 firearms taken away from them and didn’t have a role in the money given to them as compensation. In addition, to pay for this, the Australian government levied a 0.2% hike in the Medicare tax to pay for this, raising an expected $500M. (If you count for the Australian inflation rate, this would cost $833.4M today, or $1302 per firearm) Keep in mind, this only took away one third of all firearms in the country. If this were tried in the United States where there are 1.01 firearms per person based on the 2009 numbers, and a 2017 population of 324 million, and then adjusting for the US CPI of 249.62 compared to 112.1 for Australia, would cost just shy of $318B, roughly equal to the GDP of Colombia ($322B). Obviously, I don’t expect the left to care about the fiscal repercussions, but the reality is it would be a strain on the economy if that was ever adopted here.

Australia also hasn’t had a remarkably low homicide rate because there aren’t many guns. In a 2007 study taken after major buy backs, the nation ranked 42nd in the world out of 187 countries for guns per capita. Not only that, but it really didn’t prevent homicides, even though there were few homicides in Australia to begin with. In 1996 when the buyback program began, there were only 354 homicides in the country total. There would be 364 in 1997, 334 in 1998 and 385 in 1999. Did I miss the part where homicides plummeted?

5. Do these specific gun control proposals even work?

One of the biggest reductions in crime nationally in the United States occurred in the 1990s, and the authors of Freakonomics (Stephen Dubner and Steve Levitt) concluded that the data doesn’t support the claim that tougher gun laws had anything to do with it. The Brady Bill and Federal Assault Weapons Ban were the two major pieces of gun control laws from the Clinton era.

Let’s paint a picture of a country with remarkably similar gun control laws as the ones that many of these “March for our lives” protestors are calling for. This country has no right in their constitution that guarantees private firearm ownership, citizens are required to have licenses that come with automatic background checks, they are prohibited from having automatic weapons, homemade firearms, armor-piercing ammunition and long guns with shortened barrels. Owners are limited to only purchase five firearms, open carry is illegal, the country has seized at least 2000 firearms every year since 2012 and it only has 6.2 guns per 100,000 people, which is 14 times less than the United States. The country I’m thinking of? Honduras, the country with the highest homicide rate in the world at a whopping 91.6, according to the United Nations. To put that in perspective, if the US had that homicide rate in 2011 when that number was taken, an additional 270,167 people would’ve been killed that year.

6. Most perpetrators of gun crimes aren’t committed by the legal owner

This is not a controversial fact. The University of Pittsburgh found that in the 893 firearms uncovered from crime scenes, only 18% were used by the lawful owner. In a University of Chicago study, less than 2.9% of inmates that possessed a firearm purchased the weapon at a gun store, you know, the place where peaceful gun owners go to buy their firearms. Why are all of these gun control activists focusing on the marginal cases of homicide and trying to pry away guns form the owners that are disproportionately less likely to commit crimes with it?

David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez have all the passion in the world to march across the country and call for ludicrous gun control measures, yet none of the facts. Emma went on a podium to say “They say tougher guns laws do not decrease gun violence. We call BS.” Every bone in my body hopes she reads this article or really anything for that matter, and I genuinely hope she references something resembling a statistic, fact or academic journal in her future rants. I would print something from 17 year old David Hogg, but I don’t want to publish a poorly articulated collection of word vomit littered with profanity, but I’ll post the link to the data-free eye sore here. The problem is that the facts don’t support the claims or any policy proposal I’ve heard thus far. I didn’t make a natural rights argument and I don’t believe the Constitution or Bill of Rights are impeccable or sacred documents, otherwise the 7th Amendment wouldn’t have ignored the concept of inflation and the issue of slavery would’ve been dealt with. I look at the facts as objectively as I can, and I print it. I challenge David and Emma to a debate on the issue as long as it’s civil, and I warn everyone a final time: rights aside, most of these gun control measures will cause more destruction than prosperity.

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loadcali890 · 3 years

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Ventura Guitar Serial Number Lookup

Beautiful old vintage Ventura Bruno V14 guitar. Looking at other similar models on e-bay, I GEUSS it to be 60's-70's but I do not know. Serial number is 74725, could be made in Japan but I do not know! This guitar includes chipboard case, has warm aged tone, the vibe of old guitar. Ventura was a brand of stringed instruments imported from Japan by C. Bruno and Company during the 1960s and 1970s. Bruno was bought by Kaman in the early 1980s, after which the brand disappeared. Some of the Ventura guitars were knock-offs of the Martin line, such as the Ventura V-35 appearing similar to the Martin D-35, and the Ventura V. Good luck and happy Ventura hunting! Re: Ventura Guitar 14:51 on Saturday, June 5, 2004. (David Woodson) Posted by Archived posts. I have a 'Bruno' Ventura Classic gut string that I bought from C&S Music in Fort Worth,Texas in 1965-66. It has a nice classic tone but that is all I know about it.

GENERAL VINTAGE GUITAR RESOURCES:

Vintage Guitar Magazine - this is Vintage Guitar 101 and all neophytes are advised to start here. Of course, my favorite part is Michael Wright's 'Different Strummer' column, which covers the history of all those wild, wacky off-brand instruments in elaborate detail. VG has also published several of my own articles over the years, some of which can be found on this site.

The Blue Book - if you're serious about buying and selling used guitars, the Blue Book provides the most detailed pricing, dating and identification info. Much of it is available online for free.

GuitarHQ - a nice all-around mainstream vintage guitar site. All the standard Gibson and Fender type stuff, plus some other interesting odds and ends.

ProjectGuitar.com- where the Internet goes to work on guitars! All about guitar maintenance and repair.

MIMF - the Musical Instrument Makers Forum is a goldmine of information about materials, construction and repair techniques, including a gallery of unique custom built guitars that range from inept to incredible. If you need professional advice about repairing your old guitar, this is the place to ask.

Stewart-McDonald - a good source for replacement guitar parts and repair tools to keep your junker running. Also check out WD and Allparts. I'm not sponsored by or affiliated with these or any other manufacturer or retailer, but I'm often asked to recommend good parts sources.Well, here you go.

Ampage - a nice info source for amp schematics and other guitar electronics.

GuitarElectronics.com - lots of wiring diagrams.

Dr. Duck's Dating Service - an excellent resource, lots of serial numbers for many brands of guitars.

OTHER 'JUNK GUITAR' SITES:

Cheesy Guitars - a true kindred spirit, Meatex Z has created a wonderful site dedicated to all those unplayable Russian and Eastern European guitars. He was also nice enough to give me credit for naming his site and helping him out with information initially. We were originally going to do this project together, but decided that two sites are better than one. Go visit Meatex and tell him Big Beat says 'hi'.

SovietGuitars.com - this cool Russian language page for fans of Soviet era instruments is rapidly becoming an important resource.

Vintaxe.com - an excellent site about some of the lesser known vintage guitars produced in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Lots of pictures and vintage catalog scans, including some of mine that I have shared with them.

My Rare Guitars - a nice collection of cheesy offbeat axes by a very hip collector and dealer. Vintage Normas, Ekos and Dominos galore, plus some great modern reissues.

Fetish Guitars - a fabulous site about Eko, Wandre, Galanti and other Italian guitars of the 60's. Both visually stunning and very informative, it is an absolute marvel.

Lordbizarre's Electric Guitar & Amp Museum - The name says it all. This collector from Belgium has put some seriously weird axes on display for your viewing pleasure.

Cheap Trashy Weird Old Guitars - cool name, and certainly the right spirit! A small but impressive collection of Egmonds, Wilsons, Musimas and even something called a Horugel.

21 Frets - I just love it when somebody takes totally trashed Hagstroms and Melody Makers and restores them from trash to flash. This site chronicles some really cool restoration projects.

Gudok - a Russian site that showcases 'the weapons of the proletariat', old Soviet guitars such as the Tonika, the Formanta and the Solo-II.

Hendrix Room - a Japanese site with a neat collection of totally off-the-wall 60's guitars with names like Youngtone and Melodier.

Animal Charme - dedicated to all those pointy headstock axes of the 80's, this is the home of the shred and heavy metal guitar!

Pointy Guitars - more 80's pointy guitar madness!

Guitare Collection - A wacky French site that showcases some totally bizarre Euro junk guitars, even including a couple from Russia.

Rockin' Hollowbody Guitars - a great forum for people of the thinline and archtop persuasion. If it's got F-holes, you'll find all about it right here.

Vintage Guitars - this Swedish dealer has a photo gallery with lots of Goyas, Hagstroms, Levins and other oddball Scandinavian beauties.

Vermona - here's a German page about those amps and synths, so familiar to professional Russian musicians of the 70's and 80's. Never mind Fender, Vox and Marshall, everyone behind the Iron curtain knew that the best amps were made by Vermona. This factory also produced the famous Weltmeister accordions and the Ionika electric organ. To many older Russians, 'Ionika' is still synonymous with 'keyboard'. See the old Vermona amps HERE and the original Ionika HERE.

VINTAGE GUITAR INFO BY BRAND:

Ampeg - Vintage Ampeg Scroll Basses Aria - Guitar Gallery Burns - Burns Guitar Museum Carvin - Carvin Museum Danelectro - Danoguitars Egmond - Egmond Guitars Eko - Fetish Guitars, My Rare Guitars Framus - Vintage Framus Futurama - Futurama Story Grazioso - Palka.com Galanti - Fetish Guitars Goya - Goya Guitars Hagstrom - Hagstrom USA, Hagstrom Canada, Hagstrom UK Official Hagstrom Site Harmony - Broadway Music Co., Unofficial Harmony Page, Harmony Thumbs, Hillman Guitars Heartfield - Heartfield Central Hofner - Guitar HQ, Hofner Club Guitars, Vintage Hofner, Hofner Hounds Hopf - Hopf Guitars Hoyer - Hoyer Guitars Ibanez - Ibanez Vintage Page, Vintage Ibanez Museum, Ibanez Vintage, Ibanez Collector's World Jolana - Jolana Info, My Jolana Kramer - Kramer Krazy, Kramermaniaxe, Vintage Kramer Music Man - Unofficial Music Man Guitar Page Ovation - Ovation Fan Club, Ovation Tribute Page Shergold - Shergold Guitars Silvertone - Vintage Silvertone Starfield - Unofficial Starfield Guitar Site Teisco - Teisco Twangers Tel-Ray - Unofficial Tel-Ray Page Tokai - Tokai Registry Univox - Univox Page Vantage - Guitar Gallery Ventura - Unofficial Ventura Guitar Page Vermona - Vermona Vox - Vox Showroom Watkins - Watkins Guitars Westbury - Westbury Guitars Westone - Westone Guitars

Ventura Guitar Serial Number Lookup Serial

MISCELLANEOUS OTHER LINKS:

Guitars.RU - Russia's top guitar community. The place to go for information about Tonikas, Aelitas and other Eastern Bloc guitars. If you speak Russian, you can also hang out on their popular forum and socialize with other Russian guitarists. Even if you don't, many of the regulars do speak English.

Russian Rock Club of America - not really vintage guitar oriented, but these folks are my friends and associates. We keep the flame of the classic Russian rock tradition alive in our new homeland, promote independent Russian rock bands in America, stage concerts, music festivals and other cultural events. If you're a Russian rock musician or fan living in America, you're not alone!

: I bought this Ventura in 1980 at H & H music in Houston and I was just wondering what it is worth. It has a classical body style, not the dreadnought. The action is low and has an adjustable truss rod. The serial number is 60505 and the model # is V-200B. Does anyone out there have an accurate answer? Thank you for your time and effort in responding to this e-mail inquiry.

Have a great day.I ALSO HAVE A MATCHING PAIR OF V-11 BRUNO & V-15 12 STRING FROM MEMORIAL MUSIC JUST PRIOR TO H & H. THEY TOURED WITH BUFFETT IN 74-78 THROUGH CARIB/PROVO SOUTH & NORTH FLORIDA. NO ONE WILL VALUE THEM @ MORE THAN PURCHASE PRICE. : I bought this Ventura in 1980 at H & H music in Houston and I was just wondering what it is worth.

It has a classical body style, not the dreadnought. The action is low and has an adjustable truss rod. The serial number is 60505 and the model # is V-200B. Does anyone out there have an accurate answer? Thank you for your time and effort in responding to this e-mail inquiry.

Have a great day.I have a Ventura Bruno V-12 I paid $110 for in 1972 at Hauschild's music in Victoria, TX. Don't know if they are still around as the owner was up in years then. I have heard they were made in Japan but I dont know this for sure.

Guitar ID and AppraisalThere are many reasons for determining the precise age of your used guitar. The most important one is probably pricing the instrument appropriately when you’re looking to sell it. Prices for certain vintage models vary by thousands of dollars depending on whether it’s a 1963, for example, or a 1964.

You’ll also need to know exactly what your guitar is worth for insurance purposes.One of the most valuable and often overlooked resources to help you identify and appraise guitars is your local used instrument dealer. It’s so important to establish a working relationship with these folks. While it may be tempting to call every store in the area in order to save a few dollars when you’re shopping for something, developing a loyalty to one or two shops pays off when you need service that goes beyond a simple purchase.

While most shops charge a fee for an official appraisal, it may take an experienced retailer only a second to realize that your old Epiphone is actually a Nova 390, produced from 1976 to 1980 in the company’s short-lived Japanese factory. The shop employee may be glad to look up the approximate value of your ax in a book and give you an opinion about what it’s worth. But if you randomly drop by a store that you’ve never been to before and ask for this kind of help, they might not take the time to look carefully at what you’ve got.LEARNING THE HISTORYIf you want to educate yourself to identify guitars, the first step is to become familiar with the histories of some of the larger companies.

In recent years, more and more books providing information on the major guitar manufacturers have become available, and they’re a great place to start. There are some basic questions to ask.

When did the company start building guitars? Where were the guitars manufactured? Did the company move in the course of its existence, and did it move its production overseas? Did the model in question change drastically during the years of production?

For example, Gibson’s J-200 started out with rosewood back and sides and fairly standard X-bracing in the late 1930s. It was changed to maple back and sides (except for a few rosewood examples) and a double-X bracing pattern in the ’50s. Yet another double-X bracing pattern was used during the ’70s, and then a more Martin-like scalloped X-bracing was adopted when the model was reintroduced in the late ’80s. These are all differences that would be difficult for the uneducated eye to notice, yet they drastically affect the guitar’s sound and value.At the very least, these books will identify the time period during which the guitar in question was produced, basic information that will, for example, keep you from paying a premium for a '1960s Martin HD-28' (you’ll know that this model wasn’t introduced until 1976). Sometimes you can narrow down even further the time period in which your guitar was built because of a certain distinguishing feature. For example, a volute or scroll at the back of a Gibson headstock usually indicates that the instrument was built between 1974 and 1981 (although some appeared as early as 1969).Another thing that the trained eye will immediately be able to pick up on is whether an instrument was built in the U.S.

Or imported from one of the many low-end Asian manufacturers. When I worked in retail, a customer once walked in with a Ventura archtop for sale.

Convinced that he had a guitar that was built in the U.S. In the ’50s, he stormed out after I told him what I’d be able to offer him for it. Even if I hadn’t known that Venturas were made in Japan during the ’70s (which was confirmed by a quick look in the Vintage Guitar Price Guide), I knew as soon as he opened the case. It was mostly the guitar’s thick finish that gave it away, complete with lacquered neck-to-body joints and drips through the f-holes. The wimpy hardware was another dead giveaway that this guitar was neither domestically made, as he thought, nor a high-quality import. The best place to gain this kind of familiarity is at your local music store’s used-and-cheap section; the more guitars you inspect, the more experienced you’ll be.One of the biggest roadblocks in identifying a guitar can often be the serial number.

These numbers are frequently inconsistent or missing from reference books. In many cases, a serial number by itself is about as useful as a phone number with a missing digit. Few companies have consistently used the same system of numbering during their entire existence (Martin is among those that have). For example, Gibson began using an eight-digit number in 1977.

The first and fifth digits indicated the year of production (8XXX2XXX meant it was built in 1982). If you tried to apply this formula to a serial number on an older Gibson, or even a newer vintage reissue (which sometimes use 'vintage' serial numbers) you’d be making a big mistake.REFERENCE BOOKSSo, how does one go about accurately identifying a used instrument? Probably the publication most often referred to is Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars. Written by George Gruhn (of Gruhn Guitars in Nashville) and Walter Carter, the guide is a must-have for identifying older American-made guitars. Organized into brands, general information, serial numbers, specific features, and model designations, the book identifies most major-brand guitars of the past and offers meticulous descriptions and a wealth of helpful photos. It offers little or no information on smaller makers, budget instrument makers, and recent entries into the guitar market.Although designed to give approximate values for vintage instruments, the Vintage Guitar Price Guide is also quite useful in identifying instruments. While it doesn’t describe each model’s features in detail, it does provide a company history for most of the makers included.

The book’s many photos can be very helpful, and the general listings, which include many off-brands, are among the most complete available. As with all price guides, the dollar amounts shown are to be taken with a grain of salt, but having even a vague idea of an instrument’s value will make you a more savvy buyer or seller.Another excellent resource is the Blue Book of Guitars. This hefty book probably represents the most complete compilation of information on guitars that have not yet reached vintage status.

Ventura Guitar Serial Number Lookup

Ventura Guitars Models

It’s one of the few books that lists instruments made by companies such as Kay and J.B. Player and by individual luthiers such as Dave Maize and Steve Klein. Besides retail price information, the book includes brief descriptions of most companies and models listed, as well as a unique section on grading the condition of an instrument. In a color section, a variety of guitars are pictured front and back, showing a range of possible conditions-from 20 percent (poor) to 100 percent (new).You can also join guitar-related newsgroups on the Internet, but beware of advice from uneducated participants posing as guitar experts. Of particular interest to acoustic guitarists are rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic, rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz, and rec.music.classical.guitar.

Find Guitar By Serial Number

You might also check out rec.music.makers.guitar and alt.guitar.These resources and the others in the Acoustic Guitar Owner's Manual should help you on your way to becoming a guitar expert. All you need is hours and hours of paging through every available book on the subject, countless weekends spent at guitar shops and vintage instrument shows, a careful examination of all of your picking buddies’ axes, and (let’s face it) the purchase of a lemon or two.Excerpted from Acoustic Guitar magazine, October 1998, No. 70.Toll Free 877-712-4747.

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years

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Even in a Pandemic, Death Is a Popularity Contest

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The food media paid scant attention to the Indian-born chef and restaurant owner Garima Kothari when she was alive. That lack of coverage has extended to her tragic death.

This is Eater Voices, where chefs, restaurateurs, writers, and industry insiders share their perspectives about the food world, tackling a range of topics through the lens of personal experience. First-time writer? Don’t worry, we’ll pair you with an editor to make sure your piece hits the mark. If you want to write an Eater Voices essay, please send us a couple paragraphs explaining what you want to write about and why you are the person to write it to [email protected].

When the COVID-19 pandemic began earlier this spring, the Indian-born chef Garima Kothari saw business at her Jersey City restaurant, Nukkad, evaporate overnight. Yet she found little time to despair. Instead, she strategized.

She started selling DIY dosa kits. She tried curbside deliveries. She offered discounts. When we spoke over the phone on April 9, Kothari said that her numbers continued falling, yet she tempered her concern with hope. She laughed nervously when I asked if she feared that the restaurant, just five months old, would have to close for good. “I hope not,” she said. “I have plans.”

Just two weeks later, on the morning of Sunday, April 26, Kothari died in an alleged murder-suicide at the hands of her partner, Man Mohan Mall. She was 35. According to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, authorities discovered Kothari with multiple upper body injuries in the apartment the couple shared, eventually concluding that her death was a homicide. A day after her death, an autopsy revealed that Kothari was five months pregnant.

I had spoken to Kothari as part of my reporting for a short piece on the impact of COVID-19 on small, immigrant-owned restaurants. Though our conversation only lasted nine minutes, Kothari talked candidly about the challenges of operating a tiny, newer restaurant that focused on Indian cooking, which still struggles to gain high regard in America despite the valiant efforts of gifted chefs. She had applied for many relief funds and grants, but feared that the nature of her restaurant, coupled with its relative infancy, would make capital elusive. “For a very small restaurant like mine, especially a restaurant that’s not doing Italian and French food, I don’t know if I will ever get a single penny,” she told me.

Who gets spotlighted by the food media, and how do such decisions determine who publications choose to remember?

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the food and restaurant industry has stretched digital food publications thin, forcing journalists to dedicate all their resources to coverage of a rapidly shifting landscape. Stories that seemingly bear no overt relation to the pandemic — like, say, Kothari’s brutal death — have consequently fallen by the wayside. Such circumstances may explain why the tabloid and celebrity media covered the death, but few food publications in the country dignified Kothari with so much as a blog post, barring a short article on Tuesday morning from Grub Street (owned by Eater’s parent company, Vox Media).

But the response to Kothari’s death raises enduring questions: Who gets spotlighted by the food media, and how do such decisions determine who publications choose to remember?

Kothari’s death may be the first time that readers will hear about her, an embarrassing truth that suggests her demise will eclipse her accomplishments. She bid farewell to the life of investment banking in her native India (she’d later call the corporate world “too cold”) after realizing her life’s great love was food. In 2010, Kothari entered MasterChef India, making the top 15. Following that experience, she decamped for Paris and attended Le Cordon Bleu, where she received her pastry diploma in 2013. She then moved to America, working as a pastry chef in Jacksonville, Florida, before heading north to New Jersey in 2015. Kothari managed her own catering and events business; she was also an occasional writer, having contributed to such sites as Food52, the Kitchn, and the Michelin Guide.

Coverage of Kothari was so scant in her lifetime that some may reason that she wasn’t yet “famous” enough, that her restaurant was too young, to justify immediate reporting on her death. This argument is precisely the issue at hand, one that exposes the inherent bias of a food media whose narrative gaze skews towards white, materially advantaged, cis male chefs, who also tend to have aggressive public relations teams that help to guarantee media saturation. Such privileges also dictate access to capital, like the kind Daniel Humm’s Eleven Madison Park has gotten from American Express. Without them, few aspiring restaurant owners stand a chance of catching the mainstream food media’s attention.

Given the sheer number of restaurants that open each year, and the fact that Jersey City is flush with Indian restaurants, you may wonder what made Kothari’s restaurant so special. At Nukkad, she was trying to do something different with her native country’s cuisine; she saw street food through the prism of her own nostalgia, filtering childhood staples through the culinary techniques she’d picked up throughout her career. This approach resulted in dishes like butter chicken mac-and-cheese and pizza dosas filled with mozzarella, as well as fare one might consider more typical for a nominally Indian restaurant, such as idlis, chaats, and biryanis. Kothari didn’t care about being slapped with the dreaded “fusion” label, much less about the distinctions between north and south Indian cuisines. Like many chefs before her, she worked strenuously to push people past their worn perceptions of Indian cooking, and fought this battle in a highly individualistic way.

Viewed from a purely editorial standpoint, in other words, Kothari’s approach to food — and her winding path to it — made her a compelling character who should have been more famous prior to her death. But she operated at a distinct disadvantage within the restaurant world as a condition of her womanhood, her race, and the fact that she was not born in America. Her creative impulses, like the self-described “Indian soul food” she cooked, likewise put her on the fringes of the industry. In death, food journalists have further pushed her to the margins.

As such, Kothari’s case speaks to a rot in food coverage that existed long before the pandemic illuminated its fissures. While American food publications are infatuated with celebrity, they too often seem to impose a higher barrier of entry for figures like Kothari, an immigrant woman of color who didn’t quite have the resources (nor, eventually, the time) to become a media darling.

What credentials would have rendered Kothari important enough for food publications, in both life and death?

Critics may gripe that I’m reading these outlets in bad faith (or that Jersey City is too far from the food media’s pulse in New York City, but I’d point to stunningly consistent coverage of its critically acclaimed pizzerias). They may also charge that such intense scrutiny is unwarranted at a time when a pandemic has food journalists operating under unprecedented duress. But the muted response to Kothari’s death reveals a fundamental imbalance that Grub Street’s Chris Crowley illustrated in his sensitive piece on the April 1 death of Jesus Roman Melendez from complications of COVID-19. Melendez was a long-time cook at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Nougatine — the “backbone” of the restaurant, as Crowley wrote. In eulogizing Melendez, he gave flesh to a man who’d usually remain nameless in stories of Nougatine’s success, and simultaneously questioned the mechanics of a food media that deifies a man like Vongerichten.

Crowley’s posthumous profile of Melendez feels exemplary because it’s an outlier, pointing toward a future for food journalism that honors talents who so often remain unseen. But a piece like his shouldn’t be so unique. Two weeks elapsed between Melendez’s death and that piece’s publication; once the wound of Kothari’s loss begins to heal, I hope that other outlets will make room for a story that gives Kothari similar narrative consideration, framing her not in terms of erasure but instead focusing on what she achieved. Letting her story dissolve into the ether would merely confirm the anxieties Kothari expressed to me about the eventual fate of Nukkad: a fear that gatekeepers would look right past her.

It’s no secret that the press has unique power to mold public opinion and inform our ideas of who we consider to be stars worthy of respect. Just last year, the editor of a major newspaper’s food section asked me why I’d pitched a profile of a small restaurant owner in Bushwick when I could write about a more established name like Nigella Lawson. The question revealed this publication’s reactive, not proactive, default posturing. So I now find myself wondering if the food media’s commitment to the status quo will continue, despite how unsustainable the pandemic is revealing that to be?

In an ideal scenario, publications will emerge from this pandemic with greater sensitivity for the stories of restaurant owners like Kothari who suffered acutely as a result of the pandemic’s financial strains. To be fair, scores of food journalists are already doing this work, and no longer just at smaller and/or more regional publications. Such coverage should appear with even greater consistency in mainstream, national publications. But in a more likely (albeit cynical) scenario, these outlets may very well continue to give real estate to the blandly familiar cabal of well-funded celebrity chefs, figures who’ve become poster boys of this uncertain moment for American restaurants.

What credentials would have rendered Kothari important enough for food publications, in both life and death? It shouldn’t have taken some arbitrary metric of success, be it a James Beard nomination or a profile from the New York Times, for writers to extend her the very basic courtesy of aggregating an article about her death. Such anointments have more to do with access than intangible variables, like talent and dedication. Those prerequisites shouldn’t determine whether a woman who devoted her life to food gets a fair remembrance.

Mayukh Sen is a writer in New York. He has won a James Beard Award for his food writing, and he teaches food journalism at New York University. His first book, on the immigrant women who have shaped food in America, will be published by W.W. Norton & Company in fall 2021.

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The food media paid scant attention to the Indian-born chef and restaurant owner Garima Kothari when she was alive. That lack of coverage has extended to her tragic death.

Who gets spotlighted by the food media, and how do such decisions determine who publications choose to remember?

But the response to Kothari’s death raises enduring questions: Who gets spotlighted by the food media, and how do such decisions determine who publications choose to remember?

What credentials would have rendered Kothari important enough for food publications, in both life and death?

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