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vileintcnt · 1 year

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‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾»»»»» muse master list, so after about a month of hiatus and false return promises, I've finally got my shit together! I've removed a few muses, added a few muses, and ultimately categorized them into six groups. I've done this because I often feel like my muses would know each other, now I can keep up with those connections with a filing system, effectively. It also helps me separate what is an otherwise quite large selection of muses that would likely overwhelm me were they all just mashed together into one big list. this is mostly for me, honestly, but I thought I'd have it posted up as a way to share a little bit more about my muses, whilst my muse page is being reworked. I'm gonna link cheat sheets to each muse, they'll include basic information like name, age range, connections, orientation, headcanons and kinks, and also maybe plot ideas as they come and go. muses below!

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾

categorized by muses with an abundance of wealth.

Harrison Abbot. cheat sheet. ( fc > alex fitzalan )

Remi Windsor. cheat sheet. ( fc > savannah lee smith/ryan destiny )

Tobias Wilkes. cheat sheet. ( fc > keith powers/algee smith )

Valentina Ferreira. cheat sheet. ( fc > camila mendes )

Fitzwilliam Aldridge. cheat sheet. ( fc > charles melton )

Charlotte Montgomery. cheat sheet. ( fc > valentina zenere/sarah michelle gellar )

Elijah Anthony. cheat sheet. ( fc > daniel ezra )

Mali Saetang. cheat sheet. ( fc > n/a atm )

Brandy Vega. cheat sheet. ( fc > penelope cruz/salma hayek )

the ranch ‣‣‣

categorized by muses who live and work on the buffet ranch.

Ted Buffet. cheat sheet. ( fc > jeffrey dean morgan )

Wade Buffet. cheat sheet. ( fc > drew starkey/rudy pankow )

Barbie Buffet. cheat sheet. ( fc > diana silvers/hailee steinfeld )

the tour bus ‣‣‣

categorized by muses that are adjacent or involved in rockstar culture.

Otis Beckett. cheat sheet. ( fc > sebastian chacon/will harrison )

Bowie Romero. cheat sheet. ( fc > alexa demie )

Roman Romero. cheat sheet. ( fc > tyler posey )

Martina Rossi. cheat sheet. ( fc > camila morrone )

Penelope Quinn. cheat sheet. ( fc > nicola peltz/suki waterhouse )

Patrick Spence. cheat sheet. ( fc > joseph quinn )

the cell block ‣‣‣

categorized by muses who are morally corrupt. this includes muses who are violent, toxic, murderous, criminally versed etc. fair warning that these muses usually have the most intense set of kinks.

Connor Hawthorne. cheat sheet. ( fc > jacob elordi )

Claudia Jagger. cheat sheet. ( fc > maggie lindemann/barbie ferreira )

Vanessa Guerra. cheat sheet. ( fc > melissa barrera )

Wesley Loomis. cheat sheet. ( fc > felix mallard )

Bunny Brandt. cheat sheet. ( fc > mikey madison )

Damien Vaughn. cheat sheet. ( fc > dylan obrien )

the motel ‣‣‣

categorized by muses who incapsulate the 'daisy dukes' and 'pabst blue ribbon' americana aesthetic.

Colt Warner. cheat sheet. ( fc > david harbour )

Candy Waterhouse. cheat sheet. ( fc > sydney sweeney )

Duffy Maye. cheat sheet. ( fc > grace van dien )

Abigail Ramsey. cheat sheet. ( fc > madelyn cline/sabrina carpenter )

Angelica Dean. cheat sheet. ( fc > mia goth )

the apartment building ‣‣‣

categorized by muses who I could see inhabiting a dingy apartment in the middle of a city, spending most of their paychecks on takeout and wine.

Cherilyn Langley. cheat sheet. ( fc > madelaine petsch )

Lola Calvo. cheat sheet. ( fc > jenna ortega )

Michael Ostreicher. cheat sheet. ( fc > joe keery )

Brooke McConnell. cheat sheet. ( fc > alisha boe )

Teddy McConnell. cheat sheet. ( fc > mason gooding )

Catalina Ortiz. cheat sheet. ( fc > maia reficco )

Sam Soo-Hyun. cheat sheet. ( fc > woo do-hwan )

Simone Bellefleur. cheat sheet. ( fc > laura harrier )

Tomas Nunez. cheat sheet. ( fc > pedro pascal )

#vileintcnt | ooc #this took me all day lmao

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popcultureconfessions · 2 years

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2022 MET Gala Red Carpet Review

“In America: An Anthology of Fashion > Gilded Glamour” is the theme.

Camila Mendes: 👍🏽 - I love her makeup, hair, and dress!

Priscilla Presley (a.k.a. Elvis Presley’s WIFE!): No comment.

Maggie Rogers: 👎🏽 (Whoever did her hair and styled her must hate her...)

Agnes Chu: 👎🏽 - The dress and lipstick color are pretty...

Paapa Essiedu: 👍🏽 - I don’t see what his outfit has to do with ‘Gilded Glamour’, but I’m not mad. I like the necklace, color of the garments, and the pants.

Ariana DeBose: 👍🏽

Regé-Jean Page: 👎🏽 - Extremely handsome, though!

Lori Harvey: Elegant, but not really in-theme.

LaQuan Smith: 👍🏽 - I love the silver blazer! You are looking super dapper, sir.

Questlove: No comment.

Anitta: 👍🏽

Patrick Schwarzenegger: 👍🏽 - I love the color palette.

Janelle Monáe: 👍🏽 - I really like the headpiece and the colors on it. The gown itself is pretty as well as the fabric, and it fits her so well.

Kaia Gerber: 👍🏽 - FUCKING NAILED IT! Her hair, makeup, and dress are so pretty!

Isabelle Boemeke: 👍🏽 - Her outfit, makeup, and hair are intriguing, that’s for sure. I like it!

Austin Butler: 👎🏽 - Too basic.

Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict: No comment.

Kelvin Harrison Jr.: Not a thumbs up or down, but I do like the pants and shoes...

Vanessa Nadal and Lin-Manuel Miranda: I love the purple, green, and yellow together; however, her outfit does not follow the theme. Lin just looks handsome as ever! These two win best couple of the night.

Tommy Dorfman: 👍🏽 - I love the shade of green and the dress itself.

Harris Dickinson: Eh...

Sabrina Carpenter: Eh...

Ben Platt: 👎🏽 - Too basic.

Kacey Musgraves: 👍🏽

Lisa Airan: Eh...

Kate Moss: Nice dress...

Samuelle Leibovitz and Annie Leibovitz: Sam’s gown is pretty, but that’s about it. As for Annie, ... what?

Tom Ford: 👎🏽 - Too basic.

Tommy Hilfiger: 👎🏽 - Too basic. I do love the velvet blue, though.

Dee Hilfiger: 👎🏽 - Too basic. Gorgeous shade of gold, though!

Hugh Jackman: 👎🏽 - Too basic, my Broadway king, but I still love you.

Deborra-Lee Furness: 👎🏽 - The gown is pretty, though.

Janicza Bravo: 👍🏽 - I love her eyeshadow and shoes the most, but the outfit is still nice.

Michaela Jaé Rodriguez: 👍🏽

Chloe Bailey: 👍🏽 - The creation of the dress is neat, and I love the piece around her neck.

Iris van Herpen: 👎🏽 - Too basic. (You go all out for your client(s), but not yourself?)

Franklin Leonard: Not a thumbs up or down, but 10 points to his stylist for being creative.

Autumn de Wilde: 👍🏽

Caroline Wozniacki: 👍🏽 - I love the different shades of blue and her hairstyle.

Adrienne Adams: Pretty dress and jewelry, but it’s still an ‘eh’ for me.

Amirah Kassem: 👍🏽 - She honestly looks like a goddess, and that shade of blue looks great on her.

Melissa King: I... I don’t know what to think...

Steven Kolb: 👎🏽 - Too basic, but I like the details on the jacket.

Blake Lively: 👍🏽 - Gorgeous gown(s) and overall look!

Ryan Reynolds: 👎🏽 - Too basic, but I like the fabric.

Ciara: 👍🏽

Anna Wintour: 👍🏽 - Lol... she would wear a tiara.

Meredith Winston: Not a thumbs up or down, but I like the fabric and creation of the dress.

Wendy Murdoch: 👍🏽

Fabiola Beracasa Beckman: Not a thumbs up or down, but the dress creation is stunning.

David Harbour and Lily Allen: Not a thumbs up or down, but I love the top hat and cane.

Andy Blankenbuehler: 👎🏽 - Too basic.

J Balvin: 👎🏽 - Too basic.

Naomi Campbell: I don’t know what to think...

Jeremy Strong: Eh...

Francesco Carrozzini: 👎🏽 - Too basic, but damn, he is fine. Also, kudos to his stylist for choosing a navy blue suit. Absolutely dapper, sir!

Bee Carrozzini: 👎🏽 - Gorgeous from head-to-toe and the fabric is pretty, but her look doesn’t intrigue me.

Gina Sanders: 👍🏽

Nicola Coughlan: 👍🏽

Maisie Williams: 👍🏽 - She just pulls goth off so well.

Irina Shayk: Girl, what?

Stormzy: The all-white is nice...

Miranda Kerr: Gorgeous, but she did not stay true to the theme.

Denée Benton: 👎🏽 - I love the jewelry and her makeup, though.

Elizabeth Cordry Shaffer: Not a thumbs up or down, but I love the black bows printed on the gown.

Camille Cotton: 👎🏽 - Lovely fabric, boring creation.

Willow Lindley: 👍🏽 - I love the colors and how abstract the print is. Simple yet elegant and eye-catching.

Mark Guiducci: 👎🏽 - Too basic.

Future: No comment.

Lenny Kravitz: No comment.

Eaddy Kiernan: 👎🏽 - Too basic, but the magenta and necklace are pretty.

Emma Chamberlain: 👍🏽 - I’m not a fan of her and still HIGHLY disagree with Anna’s moronic decision to invite influencers to prestigious events such as this one, but I like her overall look.

La La Anthony: 👍🏽 - I love the head-to-toe burgundy! Also, that hat (or headpiece?) is amazing. Kudos to her stylist!

Vanessa Hudgens: 👍🏽

Frederick Robertsson: 👍🏽👍🏽

Giveon: Not a thumbs up or thumbs down.

Hamish Bowles: Not a thumbs up or down, but I appreciate the use of props.

Lucy Boynton: 👍🏽

Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz: I love the head-to-toe white outfit for Brooklyn and the shade of pink on Nicole’s dress, but neither of them followed the theme.

Adwoa Aboah: I like the outfit, but it doesn’t feel in-theme to me.

Paloma Elsesser: Not a thumbs up or down. I don’t know what to think to be honest, but I’m not mad.

Awkwafina: Not a thumbs up or down. The colors are pretty and I love the dress itself (and the jewelry), but I feel it [the dress] doesn’t compliment her figure well.

Lily Aldridge: 👍🏽 - A little too simple, but I still like the outfit.

Alessandro Michele: Meh.

Jared Leto: Meh.

Sarah Jessica Parker: 👍🏽

Normani: 👍🏽

SZA: 👎🏽 - I love her outfit, though!

Dakota Johnson: 👎🏽

Karlie Kloss: 👍🏽 - Nailed it!

Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner: 👍🏽 - I don’t know what they were going for, but I love that they actually dressed up!

Jack Harlow: 👎🏽 - Too basic.

Bella Hadid: 👍🏽

Shawn Mendes: 👎🏽

Sydney Sweeney: Eh...

Sebastian Stan: 👎🏽 - I love the all-pink attire, but he did not follow the theme.

Anderson .Paak: 👍🏽

Michelle Yeoh: 👎🏽 - Too basic, but the shade of green is pretty. She looked great regardless!

Maude Apatow: 👍🏽

Evan Mock: 👍🏽 - I love the color in his hair and the use of pastel colors for his outfit.

Riz Ahmed: 👍🏽 - His outfit is a “homage to” “immigrant workers”. I like it!

Cynthia Erivo: 👍🏽

Emma Stone: 👎🏽 - Pretty yet basic-looking dress. You missed the assignment, my friend.

Julianne Moore: 👍🏽 - Her outfit was inspired Jacqueline Kennedy.

Alicia Keys: 👍🏽

Swizz Beatz: 👍🏽

Jon Batiste: 👎🏽 - Too basic.

Quannah Chasinghorse: 👍🏽

Rosalía: 👍🏽

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II: No comment.

Caroline Trentini: 👍🏽 - Absolutely gorgeous from head-to-toe! I love her hair.

Tracy Collins: Pretty dress...

Claire Danes: Not a thumbs up or down, but I like her outfit.

Winnie Harlow: 👍🏽

Hillary Clinton: Not a thumbs up or down, but the shade of red is pretty.

Kodi Smit-McPhee: 👎🏽

Renée Elise Goldsberry: 👎🏽- She looks pretty, though, and I like the dress.

Rachel Brosnahan: Not a thumbs up or down.

HoYeon Jung: Not a thumbs up or down, but she looks pretty. I like the jewelry and dress too.

Eiza González: 👍🏽

Rachel Smith: 👎🏽, but I like the dress.

Renate Reinsve: 👍🏽

Danai Gurira: The dress and shade of blue is pretty...

Gemma Chan: 👍🏽

Jasmine Tookes: 👍🏽 - That shade of green looks great on her!

Xiye Bastida: 👍🏽 - I love the outfit!

Huma Abedin: 👎🏽 - Too basic. Pretty shade, though.

Lisa Love: Eh...

Madelaine Petsch: 👍🏽

Louisa Jacobson: 👍🏽

Kiki Lane: Not a thumbs up or down. The dress is pretty, though!

Laura Harrier: 👍🏽

Gigi Hadid: 👍🏽 for being original...

Eric Adams: 👍🏽

Glenn Close: 👎🏽

Amy Schumer: 👎🏽 - Why did Anna invite her?!

Chloë Grace Moretz: 👍🏽

Phoebe Dynevor: Not a thumbs up or down, but I like the creation of the dress and the fabric(s).

Ashley Park: 👍🏽

Daisy Edgar-Jones: 👎🏽 - Too basic.

Finneas O’Connell: 👎🏽

Lena Waithe: 👍🏽 - I love the outfit and the colors!

Precious Lee: 👍🏽

Mindy Kaling: Not a thumbs up or down, but the color and creation of the gown are pretty.

Megan Thee Stallion: 👍🏽

Elon Musk: 👎🏽

Kid Cudi: Not a thumbs up or down, but the royal blue is nice.

Alexa Chung: 👎🏽 - Too basic.

Adrien Brody: 👎🏽 - Too basic.

Nyjah Huston: 👎🏽 - I love the shade of blue, though.

Jodie Turner-Smith: I... I don’t know. She looks pretty, though!

Camila Cabello: I don’t know what to think...

Chloe Kim: Not a thumbs up or down. The only thing I like is the red (I think) feathers.

Erykah Badhu: 👍🏽

Oscar Isaac: Not a thumbs up or down.

Bradley Cooper: 👎🏽 - Too basic.

Jessie Buckley: 👍🏽

Lauren Remington Platt: 👍🏽 - I’m getting Marilyn Monroe vibes, and I’m here for it. Her outfit is gorgeous!

Emma Corrin: 👍🏽

Stromae: Not a thumbs up or down, but I kind of dig the outfit.

Leslie Odom Jr.: Eh...

Charlotte Tilbury: No comment.

Emma Ratajkowski: 👍🏽 - Super vibrant, detailed, and eye-catching!

Victor Glemaud: Eh...

Cara Delevingne: 👍🏽

Lizzo: 👍🏽

Jeremy Scott: Eh...

Anthony Ramos: 👎🏽 - Neat outfit, though!

Venus Williams: 👍🏽

Jordan Ruth: 👍🏽 - Why does he look like an emo version of Frollo?? I love it!

Olivia De Jonge: 👎🏽

Kerry Washington: Eh...

Jacob Elordi: 👎🏽 - Too basic.

Kris Jenner: I could not care less about this woman.

Billie Eilish: 👍🏽 - Who or what was she going for?

Phoebe Bridgers: 👎🏽 - Gorgeous gown, though.

Tessa Thompson: 👎🏽 - Absolutely beauty and stunning gown, but she missed the theme.

Bad Bunny: No comment.

Sigourney Weaver: Not a thumbs up or down.

Teyana Taylor: 👍🏽

Gabrielle Union-Wade: 👎🏽 - Gorgeous, but not within the theme.

Taylor Hill: 👍🏽 - That shade of blue is gorgeous, and so is she (as usual)!

Genesis Suero: 👍🏽 - Gorgeous dress; it’s simple yet bold!

Alton Mason: 👍🏽

Jessica Chastain: Not a thumbs up or down.

Kiernan Culkin: 👍🏽, because he’s wearing sunglasses and Converse. What a bold move.

Lily James: 👍🏽

Katy Perry: No comment.

Blake Lively: 👍🏽

Kendall Jenner: 👎🏽 - I love how the skirt looks and the fabric of the top, though. Also, why are her eyebrows gone?

Kylie Jenner: I could not care less about this woman.

Olivia Rodrigo: 👎🏽 - The theme was not Disney, kid, but the dress is nice. The butterflies in her hair was a cute idea.

Simone Ashley: Not a thumbs up or down.

Dove Cameron: Not a thumbs up or down, but I love Iris van Herpen. She looks nice with dark brown hair too.

Kourtney Kardashian: I could not care less about this woman.

Travis Barker: 👎🏽 - Damn, he is Ugly (I mean Post Malone-level ugly...).

Dwayne Wade: 👎🏽 - He looks good, though.

Conan Gray: 👍🏽 - GET IT! #thoseplatformbootstho

Chloe Fineman: 👍🏽

Khloé Kardashian: I could not care less about this woman. Leave.

Kim Kardashian: I could not care less about this woman. Leave.

Carrey Mulligan: 👎🏽 - I like the gold sequins, though...

Amber Valletta: 👍🏽

Iris Law: 👍🏽, because she looks like a mermaid. Beautiful, beautiful gown!

Shalom Harlow: Eh...

Gwen Stefani: 👎🏽 - Oh, absolutely NOT.

Ashton Sanders: 👍🏽

Joan Smalls: Not a thumbs up or down, but the gown is pretty.

Christine Baranski: 👎🏽

Cardi B: I could not care less about this person. Leave.

Nicki Minaj: I could not care less about this woman. Leave.

Hailey Baldwin: She can go choke on Justin’s cum. Leave.

Quite a lot of the women’s husbands or boyfriends didn’t try, so I didn’t include their names.

▪️ May 2, 2022 ▪️

#text #personal #2022 #pop culture #met gala #met gala 2022 #fashion #fashion industry

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codyfernsource · 5 years

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“After obliterating us with his head-to-toe goth Maison Margiela look at the Golden Globes, Australian actor Cody Fern was generous enough to slam our fingers in a door with more Margiela menswear greatness (styled by Nicola Formichetti). He was transformed into a devastating Fabio-esque cowboy in a camel suit designed by John Galliano camel suit, featuring a black tule overlay, gloves and blue sheer turtleneck piece. The look might have erred on tasteful, but Fern ensured Camp with turquoise cowboy boots and dramatic gelled ringlets.” THE MEN WHO RULED THE MET GALA | PAPER MAG

#cody fern #maison margiela #paper mag #press #*#met gala #met gala 2019 #dailymenedit #flawlessgentlemen #events

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bringinbackpod · 3 years

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Interview with Small Black

We had the pleasure of interviewing Small Black over Zoom video!

Formed in 2009 as a bedroom recording project, Small Black first made waves with their eponymous debut EP. Recorded in the attic of singer Josh Kolenik’s uncle’s remote Long Island beach house/surfboard workshop, the EP served as an introduction to the group, with its pulsing patchwork of vintage synths and casio beats culminating in the breakthrough single "Despicable Dogs." This track cemented them as pioneers of Chillwave, the sound of which seemed to get its hooks into so much music across the 2010s.

The project evolved into a fully-fledged touring act, consisting of Kolenik (vox/keyboards), Ryan Heyner (guitar/keyboards), Juan Pieczanski (bass/guitar), and Jeff Curtin (drums), and this live influence showed up in their debut LP on Jagjaguwar, 2010's New Chain. The loopy, weeded-out album found the band messing around with hip hop drums & samples, which they further explored on 2011's Moon Killer mixtape, collaborating with rapper Heems & remixing their own material through this kaleidoscopic lens.

Years of hitting the road hard sent the band after a brand new sound & aesthetic with 2013's beloved Limits of Desire. Chasing the 80s pastiche of The Blue Nile & Talk Talk, SB upped their production chops, writing, recording & mixing the record from scratch, with the anthemic "No Stranger" & "Breathless" leading the way. Punctuated by the incredible visuals of directors Nick Bentgen and Yoonha Park, it was a huge step forward for the project. 2015's Best Blues, led by "Boys Life," followed further down this sophisti-pop path, adding more organic flourishes, choral samples & a little goth energy into the mix.

2020 finds Small Black back in the game with a brand new label, the vaporwave upstart 100% Electronica. Working again with mixer Nicolas Vernhes, the band’s new record, Cheap Dreams is out now!

We want to hear from you! Please email [email protected].

www.BringinitBackwards.com

#podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #zoom #aspn #americansongwriter #americansongwriterpodcastnetwork

Listen & Subscribe to BiB

Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter!

--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/support source https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/episodes/Interview-with-Small-Black-e10ghsf

#podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #music #aspn #americansongwriter #americansongwriterpodcastnetwor

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theeverlastingshade · 3 years

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Favorite Songs of the 10s

100. Easy- Joanna Newsom

99. How I Know- Toro y Moi

98. Housebroken- The Hotelier

97. Unto Caesar- Dirty Projectors

96. R.A.P. Music- Killer Mike

95. Lover's Start- How to Dress Well

94. On Another Ocean- Fleet Foxes

93. Oblivion- Grimes

92. Sit Down, Man- Das Racist ft. El-P

91. Replica- Oneohtrix Point Never

90. Turn Into- Jay Som

89. Grief- Earl Sweatshirt

88. Can't Do Without You- Caribou

87. Haircuts for Everybody- The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die

86. Take It All- Iceage

85. Betsy on the Roof- Julia Holter

84. Is It Cold in the Water?- SOPHIE

83. Out of the Blue- oso oso

82. The Governor- Nicolas Jaar

81. Mute- Youth Lagoon

80. Nothing to Find- The War on Drugs

79. 715 Creeks- Bon Iver

78. Don't Touch My Hair- Solange ft. Sampha

77. Jenni- Big Thief

76. Troublemaker- Beach House

75. The Ooz- King Krule

74. Side A: Old- Danny Brown

73. Mutant- Arca

72.Sun's Coming Up- Tama Impala

71. Adult Goth- Gang Gang Dance

70. (Me & My) To Bury Your Parents- Andre 3000

69. Garden Shed- Tyler, the Creator ft. Estelle

68. Heavenly Father- Isaiah Rashad

67. Running- Helaldo Negro

66. Blackstar- David Bowie

65. I Serve the Base- Future

64. Never Matter- Toro y Moi

63. Crack Rock- Frank Ocean

62. Lifelike- Antartigo Vespucci

61. Feelin'- DJ Rashad

60. Centurion- Earl Sweatshirt ft. Vince Staples

59. Sorrow- The National

58. I've Seen Footage- Death Grips

57. Sunday Candy- Chance the Rapper & The Social Experiment

56. Str8 Outta Mumbai- Jai Paul

55. gb /ol h/nf- oso oso

54. Incomplete Kisses- Sampha

53. M.A.A.D. City- Kendrick Lamar

52. Honeycomb- Deafheaven

51. Do the Astral Plane- Flying Lotus

50. Helicopter- Deerhunter

49. Cosmic Hero- Car Seat Headrest

48. Gun-Shy- Grizzly Bear

47. Biking- Frank Ocean ft. Tyler, the Creator & Jay-Z

46. Faker- The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die

45. The Charade- D'Angelo & The Vanguard

44. Northern Lights- St. Vincent

43. Die Like a Rockstar- Danny Brown

42. Thievery- Arca

41. Fireworks- Mitski

40. Wasted Days- Cloud Nothings

39. Baby I'm Bleeding- JPEGMAFIA

38. Sprawl II- Arcade Fire

37. An Ocean Between the Waves- The War on Drugs

36. Dawn Chorus- Thom Yorke

35. Gosh- Jamie xx

34. Prom / King- Saba

33. Untitled- Moses Sumney

32. No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross- Sufjan Stevens

31. Modern Soul- James Blake

30. Self-Control- Frank Ocean

29. Come Down to Us- Burial

28. Brainfreeze- Fuck Buttons

27. Rave On U- Against All Logic

26. Seventeen- Sharon Van Etten

25. Peanut- Earl Sweatshirt

24. Dive- Beach House

23. Last Night at the Jetty- Panda Bear

22. Really Doe- Danny Brown ft. Earl Sweatshirt, Kendrick Lamar, & Ab-Soul

21. Death- Preoccupations

20. Gifts for the Earth- Deafheaven

19. 9/11 / Mr. Lonely- Tyler, the Creator ft. Frank Ocean & Steve Lacy

18. Galaxy in Janaki- Flying Lotus

17. Only Tomorrow- My Bloody Valentine

16. Full of Fire- The Knife

15. 'Til It's Done- D'Angelo & The Vanguard

14. I Can Be Afraid of Anything- The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die

13. Famous Prophets (Stars)- Car Seat Headrest

12. Never Catch Me- Flying Lotus ft. Kendrick Lamar

11. Distortion- Mount Eerie

10. Gretel- Alex G

9. Glass Jar- Gang Gang Dance

8. True Love Waits- Radiohead

7. The Blacker the Berry- Kendrick Lamar

6. Yesterday/Corded- Flying Lotus

5. Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Can Control- Tame Impala

4. Hannah Hunt- Vampire Weekend

3. ...He Would Have Laughed- Deerhunter

2. Dream House- Deafheaven

1. White Ferrari- Frank Ocean

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a-wlw-reads · 7 years

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Hey tumblr so I need your help! My school always had one of those “Read Across America” maps with young adult novels or romances or whatever (evidently, I’m American) but I’ve never seen anything comparable for wlw. I’ve tried to rely on my memory and on other people’s recs but I’m only (exactly) halfway through. Any suggestions to fill in these missing states? I’ve tried to avoid stories that take place across multiple locations. Or offer more options for the ones I already have, the more the merrier.

Alabama : Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flag

Alaska : Grief Map by Sarah Hahn Campbell, The Dead Go to Seattle by Vivian Faith Prescott

Arizona : Bright Lights of Summer by Lynn Ames

Arkansas : Cottonmouths by Kelly J. Ford

California : Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour, Honey Girl by Lisa Freeman, Frog Music by Emma Donoghue, The Necessary Hunger by Nina Revoyr, Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians by Lillian Faderman and Stuart Timmons, Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde, The Brightsiders by Jen Wilde, Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler, Far From Home by Lorelie Brown, The Summer of Jordi Perez (And the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding, You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour, Excavation by Wendy C. Ortiz, The IHOP Papers by Ali Liebegott, Soft on Soft by Em Ali, She Is Me by Cathleen Schine

Colorado : Marionette by T.B. Markinson, Sleight of Hand by Mark Henwick, Snow Falls by Gerri Hill, Sadie by Courtney Summers, Tell Me What You Like by Kate Allen

Connecticut : Pages for You by Sylvia Brownrigg, Patience & Sarah by Isabel Miller

Delaware : As I Lay Frying: A Rehoboth Beach Memoir by Fay Jacobs

Florida : Breathing Underwater by Lu Vickers, Roller Girl by Vanessa North, Down to the Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole

Georgia : Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, The Blue Place by Nicola Griffith, Taking Flight by Siera Maley, Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir by Maggie Thrash, Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli, Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake, Odd One Out by Nic Stone, The Cherokee Rose by Tiya Miles

Hawaii : Razor Wire by Lauren Gallagher, Name Me Nobody by Lois-Ann Yamanaka

Idaho : Ship It by Britta Lundin, Her Hometown Girl by Lorelie Brown, Right Out of Nowhere by Laurie Salzler, Idaho Code by Joan Opyr

Illinois : Coffee Will Make You Black by April Sinclair, How Sweet It Is by Melissa Brayden, What Matters Most by Georgia Beers, The Long Way Home by Rachel Spangler, Close to Home by Rachel Spangler, Memory Mambo by Achy Obejas, Things to Do When You’re Goth in the Country by Chavisa Woods

Indiana : Tessa Masterson Will Go to Prom by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin, Hoosier Daddy by Ann McMan and Salem West

Iowa : A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley, Moo by Jane Smiley, The Butches of Madison County by Ellen Orleans, Death by Discount by Mary Vermillion

Kansas : Far From Xanadu by Julie Anne Peters, My Almost Certainly Real Imaginary Jesus by Kelly Barth

Kentucky : Run by Kody Keplinger, Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney Stevens

Louisiana : Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen, Beauty and the Boss by Ali Vali, Rusty Logic by Robin Alexander, Spelling Mississippi by Marnie Woodrow, The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich

Maine : Style by Chelsea Cameron, Double Exposure by Chelsea Cameron, A Good Idea by Christina Moracho

Maryland : Cytherea’s Breath by Sarah Aldridge

Massachusetts : Mermaid in Chelsea Creek by Michelle Tea, Map of Ireland by Stephanie Grant, Heart of Brass by Morven Moeller, A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo, P.S. I Miss You by Jen Petro-Roy, Hocus Pocus & The All-New Sequel by A.W. Jantha, Marriage of a Thousand Lies by AJ Sindu, Love & Other Carnivorous Plants by Florence Gonsalves, Marriage of Unconvenience by Chelsea M. Cameron, Cool for You by Eileen Myles

Michigan : The Liberators of Willow Run by Marianne K. Martin, Drum Roll, Please by Lisa Jenn Bigelow, The Cold and the Rust: Poems by Emily Van Kley, Her by Cherry Muhanji, Vanished by E.E. Cooper, Radical by E.M. Kokie

Minnesota : Sister Mischief by Laura Goode, Being Emily by Rachel Gold, My Year Zero by Rachel Gold, Bend by Nancy Hedin, Hallowed Murder by Ellen Hart

Mississippi : Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy

Missouri : Deliver Us from Evie by M.E. Kerr, Heart of the Game by Rachel Spangler, Jam on the Vine by LaShonda Katrice Barnett

Montana : The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth, Innocent Hearts by Radclyffe, Storms by Gerri Hill

Nebraska : Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz, Over You by Amy Reed

Nevada : Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee, Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule, Bittersweet by Nevada Barr

New Hampshire : Good Moon Rising by Nancy Garden, Snowsisters by Tom Wilinsky and Jen Sternick

New Jersey : A Cup of Water Under My Bed by Daisy Hernández

New Mexico : Beauty of the Broken by Tawni Waters, So Far From God by Ana Castillo, The Last of the Menu Girls by Denise Chávez, Like Water by Rebecca Podos

New York : Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova, Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde, Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown, We Are Okay by Nina LaCour, Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg, Thaw by Elyse Springer, Eating Fire: My Life as a Lesbian Avenger by Kelly Cogswell, Rat Bohemia by Sarah Schulman, Tailor-Made by Yolanda Wallace, The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri

North Carolina : The Ada Decades by Paula Martinac, Challah and Callaloo by La Toya Hankins

North Dakota : Prairie Silence: A Memoir by Melanie Hoffert

Ohio : Fat Angie by E.E. Charlton-Trujillo, Taking the Long Way by Lily R. Mason, The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka, Eat Your Heart Out by Dayna Ingram, Juniper Lane by Kady Morrison

Oklahoma : Tumbleweed Fever by L.J. Maas, Edited Out by Lisa Haddock

Oregon : Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera, Forgive Me If I’ve Told You This Before by Karelia Stetz-Waters, Dryland by Sara Jaffee

Pennsylvania : Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, In the Silence by Jaimie Leigh McGovern, The Summer We Got Free by Mia McKenzie

Rhode Island : The Red Tree by Caitlín R. Kiernan, Homecoming by Nell Stark, Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

South Carolina : The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson, Two or Three Things I Know for Sure by Dorothy Allison, The Revolution of Little Girls by Blanche McCrary Boyd

South Dakota : Charity by Paulette Callen

Tennessee : Secret City by Julia Watts, If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo, South of Sunshine by Dana Elmendorf, Choices by Skyy, Like Me: Confessions of a Heartland Country Singer by Chely Wright

Texas : Forgetting the Alamo, Or, Blood Memory by Emma Pérez, Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey, The Unraveling of Mercy Louis by Keija Parssinen, Gulf Breeze by Gerri Hill, Gulf Dreams by Emma Pérez, Lay Down the Law by Carsen Taite, Far From the World We Know by Harper Bliss, Spinning by Tillie Walden, Mean Deaf Little Queer by Terry Galloway, The Dime by Kathleen Kent, Uncovered: How I Left Hasidic Life and Finally Came Home by Leah Lax

Utah : Saving Alex: When I Was Fifteen I Told My Mormon Parents I Was Gay, and That’s When My Nightmare Began by Alex Cooper

Vermont : Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon

Virginia : As I Descended by Robin Talley, Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley, Jericho by Ann McMan

Washington : The Edge of Nowhere by Elizabeth George, Dreadnought and Sovereign by April Daniels, About A Girl by Sarah McCarry, Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear, The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz, Stuck Landing by Lauren Gallagher

Washington, D.C : Madam President by Blayne Cooper and T. Novan, Pulp by Robin Talley

West Virginia : The Winter Triangle by Nikki Woolfolk, Blue Apple Switchback by Carrie Highley, Sugar Run by Mesha Maren

Wisconsin :

Wyoming :

#q slur #wlw #wlw books #wlw novel #wlw representation

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auroragoth · 2 years

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love everywhere 💕

#nicola goth-blue #celia goth-blue #ciara tinker #damian bjergsen #clark goth #troy tinker #ricardo bjergsen #lemon blue #basil blue #jeanette tinker #my sims #DND Legacy Challenge #sims 4 #ts4 #ts4 gameplay #simblr #gen4 #druid

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tinofotografie · 6 years

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#2017 World bodypainting festival 2017 #klagenfurt #austria Model @dianaverona Painter Nicola Loda ##wbf20years #wbf #bodypainting #warrior #girl #dark #gothic #goth #girl #sexy #beauty #vampire #vamp #blood #psychiatric #fight #blue #avatar #published (presso World Bodypainting Festival)

#fight #beauty #blood #austria #blue #vamp #klagenfurt #2017 #sexy #gothic #goth #wbf20years #girl #vampire #wbf #warrior #avatar #published #psychiatric #dark #bodypainting

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jamesosiris · 6 years

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Cover Art Basics: How to Talk to an Artist

At the recent (fabulous) 20 Books to 50K Conference in Las Vegas last weekend, one of the speakers challenged the 450-odd authors there to think of something they could contribute to benefit their peers. It occurred to me that there is something, as an artist, that I am eminently qualified to speak about – cover design, and how to get the absolute best out of the artist you’re working with so you both end up happy with the finished product.

How not to commission

There are two things all freelance artists dread.

The first one is the “I want a cover that has sparkles and unicorns and bevelled typography and looks like [insert bestseller name here]. Can you do that for $50?” client. Don’t ever be that client. You will not get what you’re looking for, and your artist will be sad.

If you have $50 for a cover, you can expect a $50 cover. That’s the first thing to know: approach artists within your price range. It not worth anyone’s time: yours, or the artist’s. Find someone who probably works for the amount of money you have. Email them, give them a description of what you’re looking for (genre, examples of other covers, the pitch of your book) and ask them for an approximate quote. Most artists will happily reply with a quote, or an hourly rate and the expected number of hours your cover will take.

This leads on to the second thing artists talk about around campfires late at night: the client who has the money, but has no idea what they want or how to describe it. This is actually worse than the cheapskate, because the erstwhile freelancer can tell the cheapskate to get lost. If they have a paying and otherwise awesome client, their heart sinks as a conversation like this gets going:

Artist: “So, what kind of cover are you looking for?”

Client: “I don’t know. Something like… uhh… something with magic in it.”

Artist: “Okay. What kind of magic? Do you want characters? A dragon?”

Client: “I don’t know. It’s fantasy with a female MC. There’s demons and dragons later on in the series.”

Artist: “Dragons. Okay… I can work with dragons.” *creates thumbnail sketches* “Like this?”

Client: “Sure.”

Artist: “You sure you’ve approved this thumbnail sketch? The one with dragon?”

Client: “Sure.”

*Three weeks and 20 hours of painting later, artist returns with a cover.* “Here you go!”

Client: “Why is there a dragon there? I wanted a demon. I write urban fantasy with a demon hunter.”

Artist:

While slightly exaggerated, this kind of exchange is more common than you’d think. There’s also variation of the same string of communication errors where an artist provides exactly what an author thinks they want, but they don’t get the result they were seeking. The author can’t fault the artist, because they delivered exactly what they asked for… but what they asked for just doesn’t work for some reason. They go away feeling disappointed, unsure of why their cover isn’t as great as their fellow’s, even though they both had the same designer.

Here’s why.

How to speak Artist

An artist is capable of delivering within the constraints of two things: their skill and ability to fulfill a creative vision, and the author’s ability to describe their own vision and their needs. So as with all things in Indie publishing, the initial responsibility to form that creative vision of your cover starts with you.

To start with, go to Amazon or Kobo or whatever and pull up books in your genre. Make note of the following things:

Even though the characters are interacting, the scene is very ‘still’.

Are the cover images static or dynamic? These qualities describe movement. Romance covers tend to be static, with half-naked people in various states of artful passion or, conversely, very well-dressed Victorian ladies (for Regency). But static. The people are standing around, sitting or posing, like portraits. By comparison, Action, Thriller, and Urban Fantasy tend to have dynamic covers, with action poses or interactive scenes. So do children’s books. Why do you think that is?

Are the cover images desaturated or saturated? Saturation describes the intensity of color in an image. The more saturated an image, the brighter and cheerier it looks. Horror and Memoirs tend to have desaturated, subdued palettes. Urban fantasy and PNR often have highly saturated colors against dark backgrounds, sometimes almost garish. The more desaturated something is, the more ‘dark’ (in terms of emotion’) and the more serious it seems. Very high saturation can make images look psychedelic. Find some desaturated covers and some highly saturated covers within your genre and see how they seem to be selling. Does bright and cheerful work better?

Look at the way the covers use light. Light is the foundation of all art, and the skill of an artist can be measured in the way they use light to manipulate mood, emotion (yes, they are different – mood is the overall tone conveyed by setting, emotion is something you read in specific parts of an image, such as a facial expression or the placement of objects). The darker the content of the book, the less light there tends to be. What light there is will be seen in ‘slices’, such as flashlight beams or small focused sources (like the helmet above). BDSM Romance will have light used in focused, almost spotlight-like ways. In sweet, uplifting, or Christian Romance, you’re going to see a lot of sunlight, and diffuse, dreamy, yellow and blue light tones.

What kinds of colors are used in the covers in your genre? Make a list of five or six (or two or three, if you write Horror. Hint: They’re Red, Dark Red, and Gray).

Make note of composition in your example covers. For example, in the Nicolas Sparks covers above, we have a series of very similar images that convey the very specific thing this author writes: emotional, love-focused, uplifting romance. We see that in the way the composition focuses on the people’s faces, closed eyes (a sign of trust), and their hands touching their lovers’ cheeks or necks. Note in all but one it is the man doing the clutching. That’s important – it tells us something about the expectations the readers have of the relationship dynamic between the characters. If you’re trying to indicate intense possession with body language, how would you go about that? What about ‘magic’?

Think about the emotion or ‘feeling’ you want to see in your book. If your book is dark, you can communicate this with low saturation, focused light sources, moody composition. If you’re writing contemporary women’s fiction, you probably want a lot of white, light breezy colors.

Speaking of colors: Colors by themselves communicate a lot of different emotions and can be used to express personality. Goths wear stark black and red for a reason. So do vampires, for similar reasons. Red, violet, gold, silver… they’re colors that communicate opulence, passion and royalty. Good colors to use if you’re writing vampire regency romance (I assume this exists).

When you talk to your cover artist, these are the kinds of things you will want to know. Your artist doesn’t know your audience – not unless they’re a specialist in a certain sort of cover, and even then. Someone like Tom Edwards, who is very well known in the space opera market, produces images he thinks will work as covers. You, as the author, are going to know whether or not your audience prefers battling dynamic spaceships with drop marines dropping from drop ships or majestic whale-like battlecruisers with no people or dynamism at all. Look up Dead Space and Battlestar Galactica, and make note of the similarities and differences. Same basic genre – space opera – but one is horror and one is drama. Note differences in saturation, dynamism, palette, light, and composition.

When you go to an artist, you can use these as frames of reference. Let’s redo our dragon conversation from earlier:

Artist: “So, what kind of cover are you looking for?”

Client: “My book is Urban Fantasy with a female main character who is a demon hunter, and I’m competing with the likes of [this cover] and [this cover]. I’m looking for art with a central character figure, really high contrast and saturation in black plus reds and oranges – ‘Hell’ colors, and some high contrast ‘flash’ somewhere in the piece to indicate that she can use magic.”

Artist: *spontaneously orgasms* “Why yes, I can do that for you. Let me draw up some thumbnail sketches…

That’s the basics of image composition. Next post, I’ll discuss where typography fits in, and how you can correctly identify your perfect font.

Cover Art Basics: How to Talk to an Artist was originally published on James Osiris Baldwin

#craft of writing #Indie publishing #writer chat #writertips #mothership #jamesosiris

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gigsoupmusic · 4 years

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Le Guess Who? 2019 - Here's what to look out for

Le Guess Who? Festival kicks off its 4 day celebration of genrebending, boundary crossing music from across the world. If you're lost in the clashfinder and not sure who to prioritise, here's some of the top names to look out for, with descriptions provided straight from Le Guess Who?...

Ustad Saami Saturday 20.45-22.00 at Jacobikerk Ustad Saami is the last living khayál master, widely considered a precursor of qawwali music that originated in Pakistan. That’s no small distinction, as Saami’s voice is able to minutely veer between 49 different notes – seven times the Western scale – to potent, haunting effect. Saami embodies his own pivotal adage ‘to sing is to listen’ quite poetically, as his name translates to ‘to hear’ and his lifelong vocation, kháyal singing, stands for ‘imagination’. Even under threat of islamic fundamentalists, the 75-year old master spent his entire existence as a dedicated practitioner of a vanishing art, one passed on from generation to generation since the 13th century. With this in mind, it’s an extremely rare privilege to have Ustad Saami perform at Le Guess Who?. Fatoumata Diawara Sunday 21.40-22.40 at Tivoli Over the past decade, Malian, Grammy-nominated artist, musician, and actress Fatoumata Diawara has been universally praised as one of Africa’s most trailblazing and outspoken voices. Diawara’s take on Pan-African folk is simply unmistakable: graceful, enchanting and effortlessly vibrant. Diawara’s work transcends the subdivisions of Africa and the world as a whole, fighting for the rights of women and children in her homeland. Meanwhile, her Wassoulou roots continue to snake off into the vast realms of Afropop, jazz, R&B, and blues. Diawara crossed paths with Herbie Hancock, Oumou Sangaré, Nicolas Jaar, Paul McCartney, and Damon Albarn. Ayalew Mesfin & Debo Band Friday 22.30-23.20 at Tivoli Quintessential Ethio-groove performer Ayalèw Mesfin has joined forces with the renowned US-based ensemble Debo band for his first European live performance ever, and in truth, few collaborations make more sense. Mesfin’s music rebelled vigorously against Ethiopia’s dictatorial oppression of the 70s and, like many of his contemporaries, he struggled against obscurity amidst political turmoil. Distributing 4000 cassettes for free - later becoming collector’s items - led to several months in jail for Mesfin and a prohibition to play music for 13 years. Last year, the compilation album ‘Hasabe (My Worries)’ was released after Mesfin’s music had gone unheard for 40 years - either on stage or on record -, leading to renewed recognition of the artist. Le Guess Who? celebrates this legendary artist with a show featuring the Debo Band, who formed in 2006 to keep the spirit and craft of Ethiopia’s golden age of pop alive. By joining forces with Mesfin, they symbolize an invigorating closing of the generation gap together, celebrating one of the greatest Ethiopian discographies of the 70s. Aldous Harding Saturday 21.45-22.45 at Tivoli Pop music canon has always compelled the listener to unravel the mystery behind the song. But the music of Aldous Harding inspires something arguably more powerful: an individual whose voice can seamlessly blend and blossom within the most bewildering of backdrops and characterizations. The New Zealand songwriter’s latest LP ‘Designer’ renders instrumentation and voice into the most vivid and impressionistic of scenes. In her own words: “It’s the greatest show on earth you shall receive.” Deerhunter Friday 20.25-21.30 at Tivoli During this decade, Atlanta art-punkers Deerhunter have further established themselves as one of the finest bands alive, consolidating an unmistakable sound with restless reinvention. The electronic-driven masterpiece 'Halcyon Digest', the rabid post-punk of 'Monomania', the classic rock indebted 'Fading Frontier' and the minimalistic, American goth gloom of 'Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?'; these are four radically different records, but quintessentially Deerhunter all the same. Lightning Bolt Friday 02.00-03.00 at Tivoli Lightning Bolt’s floor shows are the stuff of myth and legend, unleashing a hailstorm of noise that would leave every venue smoldering in dust and vapors for weeks. Two decades after their acclaimed self-titled LP, that firebrand streak burns as piping hot and surprising as ever. Seventh full-length LP ‘Sonic Citadel’ actually abandons the mask of distortion for more stripped-down, naked pop forms. Tropical Fuck Storm Sunday 21.40-22.30 at Tivoli Tropical Fuck Storm’s wailing backing harmonies sound like a coven chanting hellish incantations, and the filthy percussive thrusts, the otherworldly synth flourishes of the band’s debut LP ‘A Laughing Death In Meatspace’ feel like humanity is cannibalizing itself. Follow-up ‘Braindrops’ ups the ante even more with a tension very much akin to a tsunami reaching its pinnacle, before it all comes crashing down. Quelle Chris Saturday 21.30-22.15 Tivoli Unconventional and hard to categorize, producer/lyricist Quelle Chris is well-versed in several genres, including punk rock, poetry, abstract soul, and experimental hip-hop. As a beatsmith, he tends to favor lo-fi production methods and oddball samples, often creating eerie juxtapositions and contrasts. Armed with his biting sense of humor, Quelle Chris pokes fun at himself while addressing serious personal concerns and social issues. Girl Band Friday 00.20-01.20 at Tivoli When Girl Band prowl the stage, you’d best prepare for a barb-wired wallop of first class agit-rock. This Irish wrecking crew has become one of the most fearsome live units of the decade thanks to their shredding and propulsive performances. And somewhere down the dark corridors, you can hear the demented straitjacket howls of frontman Dara Kiely, an unrelenting fury waiting to detonate at the slightest prick. In September, Girl Band released their highly anticipated second album, ‘The Talkies.’ Deerhoof Saturday 18.40-19.40 at Tivoli Deerhoof is one of those fantastic beasts the world has been lucky to find, an anomaly of a band that can twist any crunch of noise into saccharine hook-heavy pop euphoria. Their wide-eyed trial-and-error performances are so incredibly infectious that it’s probably for the best to consider everything ‘part of the plan’. Deerhoof’s 2007 masterpiece ‘Friend Opportunity’ just became a whole lot friendlier at this year’s Le Guess Who?, with Brooklyn percussionist-trinity Tigue adding their own oddball minimalism into the mix. Not Waving and Dark Mark Friday 22.20-23.25 at Jacobikerk This blood pact marries the ink-black, minimal productions of Alessio Natalizia (aka Not Waving and member of Kompakt stalwarts Walls) with the smoke-suffused vocal drawl of alt-rock minstrel Mark Lanegan. Not surprisingly, their shared creative dominion inhabits an incredible riches of influences, ranging from the gloom-ridden dirges of latter-day Scott Walker to the windswept, arcane energy of Moebius and Popol Vuh. Holly Herndon Sunday 18.30-19.30 at Tivoli Holly Herndon’s vital album ‘PROTO’ is an inquisitive, affirmative work that interplays elements like Sacred Harp choirs with an A.I.-entity called Spawn, therefore splicing the organic and artificial into music that feels immediate, innovative and alive. In doing so, Herndon presents an enriching, hopeful exchange of concepts: technology’s capacity to amplify, manipulate and spread the human voice and humankind’s ability to teach technology to act beyond its rigid binaries. Read the full article

#LeGuessWho

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weekendwarriorblog · 5 years

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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND April 12, 2019 - HELLBOY, LITTLE, MISSING LINK, AFTER

We’re almost midway through April (already?) but that also means that we’re one week closer to Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame, which is probably the only movie everyone is really waiting for anyway, going by advance ticket sales.

For those who can’t wait for more super-heroics, Mike Mignola’s HELLBOY (Lionsgate) gets another go in theaters, this time played by David Harbour (Stranger Things) and directed by Neil Marshall (Game of Thrones). I wish I could say I was looking forward to seeing this, but frankly, I loved Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy: The Golden Army, and I have secretly wished for the last ten years that he would be able to continue that story with Ron Perlman, Doug Jones and the rest. This one has some interesting casting including Ian McShane, Milla Jovovich as the main baddie, Sasha Lane and Daniel Dae Kim. I guess with that cast, maybe it won’t be so bad? I expect the movie will be more geared towards the fanboys and girls rather than the mainstream audiences that have been flocking to other comic movies. (My review is now over at The Beat… and I hated it!)

Universal and Will Packer Productions are offering some interesting counter-programming to Hellboy in the comedy remake (of sorts) LITTLE, written and directed by Tina Gordon and starring Regina Hall, Issa Rae and Marsai Martin (from ABC’s Black-ish). This is the type of body-swapping comedy that’s delivered some great laughs in movies like both Freaky Friday, Tom Hanks’ Bigand others like Jennifer Garner’s 13 Going on 30. I mean, there’s still so much that can be done with this sort of thing as seen by Shazam!, and this sort of high-concept premise is also fairly easy to sell audiences. I missed the press screening of this, but if I have a few moments in April (it might happen!) I’d go check it out.

The other movie I saw that’s opening this weekend is LAIKA’s new stop-motion animated film MISSING LINK (Annapurna/UA Releasing), featuring the voices of Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana and Zach Galifianakis. I’m not going to review the movie even though I generally liked it, mainly since it’s been a minute since I watched it, but if you like some of LAIKA’s other films (particularly director Chris Butler’s earlier film ParaNorman) then you should enjoy this one, and like with all of LAIKA’s movies, I

Lastly, there’s Aviron’s AFTER, another teen romance drama, this one based on Anna Todd’s fan fiction that pairs Hero Fiennes Tiffin (Ralph’s nephew) and Josephine Langford in the type of Y.A. romantic drama that has had mixed results in recent years. Sure, the recent Five Feet Apartdid fine but others, like last year’s Midnight Sun, released by the defunct Global Road, barely made $10 million. Since I haven’t seen the movie – honestly, I haven’t even watched a trailer -- I’m not really sure what the appeal of this is going to be except that some younger women may not have much interest on other options this weekend.

LIMITED RELEASES

Well, I totally screwed up last week… including one movie that was delayed until this week and neglecting a movie which I thought opened this week. (This is why you need to keep me apprised on date changes, publicists!)

Actor Max Minghella makes his directorial debut with TEEN SPIRIT (Bleecker Street), starring Elle Fanning as Violet, a young woman from the Isle of Wight who hopes to get out of her smalltown blues by performing on a popular talent television show called “Teen Spirit.” Helping her out is the scraggly Vlad (Croatian actor Zlatko Burik, who starred in Nicolas Refn’s Pusher trilogy) who was an opera singer in Croatia and offers to manage Violet and help her get to the finals of the show. While Elle is no Aretha Franklin, I was truly impressed with her singing voice as well as Minghella’s screenplay and direction of the film which has a distinctive look and tone but is also a movie with quite a lot of mainstream appeal. If you like television shows like The Voice and American Idol, you might be interested in seeing one contestant’s (fictional) journey to get onto one of those shows.

You can read my interview with writer/director Max Minghella over at the Beat.

The movie I left out of last week’s column is HIGH LIFE (A24), the new movie and first in English from French auteur Claire Denis, which stars Robert Pattinson, André Benjamin, Juliette Binoche and Mia Goth. I saw the movie at the New York Film Festival last year, but I guess I never got around to writing about it, but I wish I did. Not that I particularly liked the movie, but if I wrote about it, at least I could remember what it was about. I know it takes place on a spaceship with a bunch of astronauts including Pattinson and his young daughter, all of them trying to survive.

But my absolutely favorite new movie of the weekend is Alex Ross Perry’s HER SMELL (Gunpowder and Sky), starring Elisabeth Moss as Becky Something, the lead singer of an all-girl punk band who have hit the big time but are about to implode due to Becky’s addictions and eccentricities. Becky also has a baby daughter who she is constantly neglecting and her bandmates (Agyness Deyn, Gayle Rankin) and everyone is worried about her. I’ve liked some of Perry’s past work, but something about this one really connected, maybe because I spent a couple decades working in the music business, so I can relate to the frustrated engineer in the recording studio section of the film. Moss, obviously, is amazing as Becky, a role that puts her through all the highs and lows of success and fame, but I also liked the cast around her, actors like Cara Delevigne and Amber Heard who I barely could recognize in their respective wigs. I actually saw this at the New York Film Festival, and I liked it even more when I watched it again recently. It opens in New York on Friday and in L.A. and other cities next Friday, and I hope to have an interview with Perry, probably over at NextBigPicture by next week some time.

A movie that I hoped would play the Toronto Film Festival in 2017, but instead got up in the Harvey Weinstein scandal was Garth Davis’ MARY MAGDALENE (IFC Films), the follow-up to his Oscar-nominated film Lion. It stars Rooney Mara as the title character and her real-life boyfriend Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus… and just hat last part gets me worried just because I remember Rodrigo Garcia’s Last Days in the Desert a few years back, starring Ewan McGregor as Jesus. This is being released this weekend into about 50 theaters in select cities after playing in just about every other country in the world last year as it sought out a new U.S. distributor.

Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone of Gamorrah fame returns with DOGMAN (Magnolia), a crime thriller set in a small seaside village where a dog groomer named Marcello (Marcello Fonte) is being coerced into committing petty crimes by an ex-boxer bully named Simoncino. Apparently, this is based on true events, and I generally liked it, particularly the performance of Fonte. It opens at the Film Forum and at the Film Society of Lincoln Center Friday, as well as the Landmark Nuart in L.A. It will expand to more California theaters on April 19.

Martial arts fans will want to check out master fight choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping’s latest The Ip Man Legacy: Master Z (Well GO USA), starring Max Zhang as Cheung Tin Chi, who is trying to make a life in Hong Kong with his young son after being defeated by Master Ip. The movie also stars the legendary Michelle Yeoh (in a great sequence with Zhang), Tony Jaa (ditto) and Dave Bautista… yeah, well I guess two out of three isn’t bad, but Bautista is pretty terrible, and the movie is disjointed in its storytelling. But the action is cool, so there’s that! It opens in select theaters this weekend.

Eva Husson’s Girls of the Sun (Cohen Media Group) stars Golshifteh Farahan (Pasterson) as Bahar, commander of the “Girls of the Sun” battalion, who are set to free their hometown from extremists, while also freeing her son. Emmanuelle Bercot (My King) plays a French journalist who is embedded with the warriors during the mission. Husson’s film opens at the Quad,Landmark 57and the FIAF Florence Gould Hall (now showing first-run films) on Friday, as well as the Laemmle Monica Film Center in L.A.

A movie I sadly had to miss at this year’s Oxford Film Festival is V. Scott Balcerek’s doc Satan & Adam (Cargo), a movie that took twenty years to make, as Balcerek pulls together two decades of documentary footage of the blues duo that were a fixture in Harlem in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. “Satan” is Sterling Magee, who played with so many greats but felt exploited so he walked away from the music scene, before being joined by Adam Gussow, an Ivy league scholar…but then Magee vanished, and the film follows what happened after that.

I had heard great things about Kaili Blues director BiGan’s Long Day’s Journey into Night (Kino Lorber), when it played a number of film festivals last year. It follows a man, played by Huang Jue, who is haunted by a woman from his post who he goes looking for her. And it includes a substantial single shot in 3D… for no particular reason that I could ascertain. To call the movie a “slog” would be an insult to actual slogs, and I barely could stay awake while watching it. It’s playing at the Metrograph and Film Society of Lincoln Center starting Friday.

Also now playing at Film Forum is Camille Vidal-Naquet’s debut feature drama Sauvage/Wild (Strand Releasing) following a gay sex worker, played by Felix Maritaud from BPM (Beats Per Minute).

Tim Disney’s William, opening at New York’s Cinema Village and L.A.’s Laemmle Monica Film Center, is a love story between two scientists who fall in love while trying to clone a Neanderthal from ancient DNA creating William, the first Neanderthal to walk the earth in 35,000 years. The film stars Will Brittain, Waleed Zuaiter, Maria Dizzia and Beth Grant.

Gilles de Maistre’s Mia and the White Lion (Ledafilms Entertainment Group) is an ambitious film about a ten-year-old named Mia whose family moves to Africa to manage a lion farm, bonding with a white lion she names Charlie. The film was shot over three years, so that the film’s young starsDaniah De Villiers and Ryan Mac Lennan could bond with their lion co-stars. The film also stars Melanie Laurent and Langley Kirkood, and it opens in select cities.

LOCAL FESTIVALS

I’m finally shifting my gaze over to Chicago where the 21stAnnual EBERTFEST kicked off yesterday with Alan Elliot’s Aretha Franklin concert film Amazing Grace, as well as a special showing of the Wachowski’s Bound with special guests Jennifer Tilly and Gena Gershon. It continues through the weekend with showings of recent and older movies, including Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous, Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married and more.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Late Nites at Metrographwill screen Werner Herzog’s Bad Liuetenant: Port of Call New Orleans, starring the inimitable Nicolas Cage, while the Playtime: Family Matineesthis weekend is Danny Kaye as Hans Christian Anderson. Although I forgot to include it last week, Michael Blackwood’s 1968 docs Monk and Monk in Europe(as in Thelonious Monk) will continue for the next week, as does King Hu’s The Fate of Lee Khan from 1973. This Saturday night, the Metrograph is presenting a cast and crew reunion for Sidney Lumet’s 1988 movie Running on Emptywith Christine Lahti, screenwriter Naomi Foner and producers Amy Robinson and Griffin Dunne

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

L.A.’s hottest newish rep theater will show Michael Ritchie’s 1975 film Smile as well as his 1992 film Diggstownon Weds and Thursday (and apparently, Bruce Dern appeared in person on Weds!), Friday and Saturday are Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry (1971) and Escape from Alcatraz (1978), while Sunday and Monday screens David Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). This weekend’s KIDDEE MATINEE is Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, while the midnight offerings are The Hateful Eight on Friday and The Blues Brothers (1980) on Saturday. On Monday afternoon, there’s a screening Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

On Saturday, Film Forum will screen Jaime Chávarri’s 1976 documentary El Desecanto, introduced by author Aaron Shulman, who wrote a book about the Spanish literary family, the Paneros, on which the movie is based. (FYI, Chávarri’s film was never released in the States, and there is only one screening on Saturday.) Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936) will screen Saturday and Sunday as part of Film Forum Jr, and Francesco Rossi’s 1973 film Lucky Lucianowill screen a 4k restoration for a single screening on Sunday afternoon.

AERO (LA):

The late Luke Perry gets a tribute with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) shown on Thursday, and then the Aero is doing its own Claire Denis tribute (cause everyone else is doing i!) with Salt, Sweat and Sunshine: The Cinema of Claire Denis with a double feature of her debut Chocolat (1988) and White Material (2009) on Friday, a screening of Beau Travail (1999) on Saturday, Nenette and Boni (1996) and 35 Shots of Rum (2008) on Saturday, and then Trouble Every Day (2001)and Let the Sunshine In (2017) on Sunday. Most of those will be showing on 35mm and Denis will be there, at least for the first two nights.

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: B is for Bacall continues with 1948’s Key Largo on Thursday and Jonathan Glazer’s Birth (2004) on Friday. The What Price Hollywood series will screen George Cukor’s Sylvia Scarlett (1935) and John Waters’ Female Trouble (1974) on Thursday, Nicholas Ray’s In a Lonely Place (1950) and Bill Gunn’s Ganja & Hess (1973) on Friday, Mitchell Leisen’s Midnight (1939), Clarence Brown’s 1931 film A Free Soul and George Cukor’s What Price Hollywood (1932) on Saturday and Fritz Lang’s Clash By Night (1952) and Joseph Lewis’ Gun Crazy (1950) on Sunday.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

The Quad begins its new series Wild Things: The Ferocious Films of Nelly Kaplan, a tribute retrospective to a pivotal filmmaker in the French New Wave, which I know next to nothing about, so I won’t even try. Just click on the title to see the movies playing.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

This week’s series is The Anarchic Cinema of Věra Chytilová, a celebration of the filmmaker who emerged during the Czech New Wave, which I know even less about than the French New Wave. Just click on the link if you know who she is.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

This Friday’s midnight screening is the ‘70s classic Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974), starring Peter Fonda and Susan George. I’m not sure when was the last time I had a chance to see this movie but if I were in L.A., this is where I would be on Friday night.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Streaming on Netflix starting Wednesday is THE SILENCE, the new apocalyptic thriller from director John R. Leonetti (Annabelle), starring Stanley Tucci, Kiernan Shipka and Miranda Otto. In this twist on Netflix’s hit Bird Box (and rip-off of A Quiet Place?), this one involves a world being terrorized by primeval beings with acute hearing and a family trying to survive. Also streaming Friday is the high concept teen rom-com The Perfect Date, starring Noah Centineo as a guy who is payed to take a friend’s cousin to the prom.

Next week, another horror movie in New Line’s The Curse of La Llorona, plus the faith-based drama Breakthrough from Fox and DisneyNature’s Penguins.

#Hellboy Little MissingLink Movies HerSmell TeenSpirit Reviews

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leaving-earth · 7 years

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Hi my name is John Eg’bert Ghost Bunny Cage and I have short egbert-y black hair (that’s how I got my name) with weird spikes and a strange part that defies gravity and ocean blue eyes like limpid tears and a lot of people tell me I look like Colonel Sassacre (AN: if u don’t know who he is get da hell out of here!). I’m not related to Nicolas Cage but I wish I was because he’s a major fucking hottie. I’m a human but I have three buck teeth. I have actual literal white skin. I’m also a player, and I play a magic game called Sburb in Paradox Space where I’m the heir of breath (I’m thirteen). I’m a goth (in case you couldn’t tell) and I wear mostly white. I love weird asian stores and I buy all my clothes from there. For example today I was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with a green ghost on it and kahki shorts and sneakers. I was wearing glasses with no frames that were just two lenses stuck to my face. I was walking around Lowas. It was snowing and raining so you couldn’t see Skaia, which I was very happy about. A lot of salamanders stared at me. I put up my middle finger at them

#homestuck #hs #please reblog this i spent a lot of time on it

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pcurrytravels · 6 years

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Thoughts: New Orleans (Part VII)

Well, here we are. My last day in New Orleans, and my last series of thoughts on the place. As long and arduous a process this was (I DID have a lot to say after all), I assure you all, I had a lot of fun sharing my experience with you all. Almost as much fun as I had visiting the place, really. Let us begin, shall we?

The day began with another morning walk and breakfast. My mom, ever so boring, just stopped by McDonald’s on Canal, but I, as the more adventurous traveler, decided to stop by this little spot a block away from our hotel named Merchant. A café largely aimed at the office workers in the area, this unusually modern space for New Orleans is one of fairly large number of places in the city which specialize in crepes. And I love crepes. They’re also a bit of a rarity in my city, so yes, having a crepe while I was in town was definitely one of my must-dos.

Tangent: Okay, the French and Spanish were colonizing, oppressive bastards, don’t get me wrong (although, given all I learned about French and/or Spanish colonial and slavery policies and practices during my trip, I must note that they were lenient to the point of being almost fair in comparison to their British and American counterparts), but one positive aspect of their legacy is a city that KNOWS how to cook. Of course, West Africans, Southerners from outside Louisiana, Italians, Haitians, Cubans and the Native Americans of the region must all be thanked as well. It may not have been kumbayah, but they all did come together for one thing and that is a unique and utterly delicious gastronomic identity! Bravo, New Orleans, bravo! /tangent over

Anyway, I ordered a cookies and cream crepe, made with Biscoff cookie butter (only one of my favorite things in the world) and French cream. One of the baristas suggested I add raspberries and I went for it, though I must say I kind of regret that decision. The crepe was good but it ultimately felt like there was a little bit too much going on. While I sat and ate, I also talked to the baristas who all gave me some more restaurant suggestions (New Orleanians really LOVE doing that, I’ve noticed), with two of the suggestions being, curiously, Popeye’s and Brother’s Food Mart for fried chicken. I decided to take them up on their word at the end of the day, so more on that later.

After relaxing in the room for another hour or so, we then embarked to Canal once more; first taking the Canal line of the streetcar to the Riverwalk before hopping on the Riverwalk line and taking it all the way down to Esplanade. Upon getting off, I had to kick myself as we walked past Louisiana’s Old U.S. Mint, now currently serving as the Jazz Museum, i.e. another place included in the Power Pass that I promised myself I would do but didn’t get around to. It’s a nice Greek Revival building though.

Well, given that our two-day limit on the Power Pass was up, we decided to use our last day to explore more of the city beyond the French Quarter. I walked up Esplanade Avenue, and looked down at the French Quarter for a moment, only to look in the other direction at Marigny.

Up until the early 1800’s, New Orleans was almost entirely limited to the French Quarter, but it began to rapidly expand after the purchase. Where Canal was the border that separated the Creoles from the American domains of Ste. Marie (now known as the CBD) and Lafayette (now known as the Garden District), across Esplanade was a faubourg that was more or less an extension of the French Quarter. The streets are lined with numerous Creole cottages and townhomes, many of these homes being where French Creole men would hide house their black and/or mixed-race mistresses and offspring. In some ways an archaic master-planned development, it was established by a wealthy politician known as Bernard de Marigny in 1806. Bernard was also known to be quite eccentric during his life, so it only figures that the neighborhood he designed would go on to become NOLA’s bohemian district.

As I walked down Frenchmen St., I felt bizarrely reminded of San Francisco. It is here where you see less tourists and even more of the strange and unusual, with a lot of counterculture present (such as punk, goth, rockabilly, modern hippies, modern beatniks, LGBTQ and the like). It was also here where New Orleans felt even more like the “Northernmost Caribbean City” as it’s sometimes called; whether because of the higher abundance of palm trees in this area, the even brighter colors on the Spanish architecture or something else. Marigny overall just felt very curious to me, but I liked it.

After stopping in one of the bars (whose name I can’t remember for the life of me) to watch a man tap dance while a funk band played for a minute, we walked over to Washington Square Park just to kick back and relax for a moment. We had walked in on a community event and, thanks to the DJ playing Marvin Sapp, I was reminded that this was a Sunday. Just taking in the scenery, we then walked across Esplanade and back to the Quarter.

Now, I’m not entirely sure, but I get the feeling that any and every avenue with a wide median in the middle serves as the dividing point(s) for the neighborhoods a la Canal. After all, in the local lingo, such streets have come to be known as the “neutral ground,” as Canal was once called in reference to how it was the dividing line between Creoles and Americans. Esplanade is an obvious dividing point between Marigny and the Quarter, just Rampart does the same with Treme. As I explored more of the city on my last day, I noticed quite a bit of this, though I wasn’t as sure if the other medians served as neighborhood dividing points or not (Example: I assumed Poydras marked where the CBD ends and the Warehouse District begins, but apparently it’s not quite as clear cut in that case). Either way, they are a very useful way of figuring out where you are.

Walking back into the Quarter, and approaching Gov. Nicholls, I decided to stop by and take some more pictures of the LaLaurie House in the daytime. Now, the night before, I was standing in front of the house as the story was being recounted to me, so of course I got goosebumps, but upon revisiting it in the day, I didn’t feel much sinister energy at all, oddly enough. During the ghost tour, I actually found the townhouse on 823 Orleans, Hotel Provincial and the Voodoo Spiritual Temple all to be way more threatening and ominous honestly. As I was taking these pictures, I could have sworn I saw a spirit walk by in one of the windows and still didn’t feel frightened. If anything, it just felt sad.

I did some research on recent experiences at the home and had some interesting finds. In this account, a medium who had joined a ghost tour claimed to have only felt the spirits of children within. Some of them playful, some of them nervous, and others very sad. Also, all of the people who’ve owned the house ever since it foreclosed on Nicolas Cage would have a priest bless it before they would even enter. Even the most recent interior decorator never went to work without dousing herself in holy water. Given these circumstances, I get the feeling that the more volatile of the spirits haunt the home no longer; including Delphine. Instead, it’s just lost souls like the poor girl who jumped to her death from the roof. Sad as it may be, it does warm me up a little to get some assurance they no longer have to share the afterlife around such evil.

Moving on from there, we decided to just start browsing the stores on Royal. The sky already being covered with ominous, gray skies, after poking in and out of a few stores, we stepped outside only to notice that it started raining, and we left our umbrellas in the room. Ironic, seeing that I packed them in the first place after numerous weather reports told us to expect rain that week. Given that up until that point it hadn’t rained a single time, we decided to not even bother bringing them with us on the last day. How wrong we were.

I also must say that rain is a pretty scary situation in New Orleans. I may just have been shook after seeing a Hurricane Katrina exhibit, learning about the high underground water table and being outright told it was the beginning of hurricane season in the days prior, but still. The rain comes down VERY heavily, in turn causing the streets to flood pretty quickly. Standing beneath an awning to stay dry, I couldn’t help but to gulp as I heard the rain hit said awning with loud thuds, only for the streets to rapidly begin puddling up. And mind you, this was the French Quarter, i.e. the only part of the city to evade flooding entirely during Katrina, so one can only imagine the effect that rain would have elsewhere.

Thankfully, this only lasted a few minutes. I personally wanted to see the Voodoo Museum, but my mom was too frightened to take part and wanted to do another house tour instead, so begrudgingly, I walked over with her to the Historic New Orleans Collection. Composed of a number of attached buildings, I can only thank the lord we had a guide as I’m 100% sure we would have gotten lost if we just walked around by ourselves.

The building you walk into from Royal Street is known as the Merieult House; once the home of a prominent merchant in New Orleans during the early 1800’s, which largely serves as a store, gallery and reception area. Going directly from the main corridor, you are led to a large blue room which also serves as an exhibit; originally a warehouse for Merieult, it’s known as the counting house in regards to how it served as a bank for a time. Then you have a courtyard; on one side is a three-story Maisonette (that’s a fancy French word for duplex). At one point apartments, it now houses offices for the collection. At the back of said courtyard is a Creole townhouse known as the Williams Residence (more on that later) which leads to another courtyard, surrounded by another townhouse, the Louis Adam House (the attic of which once being rented out by noted playwright Tennessee Williams) and a Creole cottage, all of which also housing offices.

Yeah……pretty confusing. Anyway, after paying the $5.00 fare for the tour, we first watched a video in the lobby which told us about the history of the Historic Collection. Although officially established in 1966, it was more or less founded all the way back in the 1930’s. Hard as it may be to believe now, in the early 20th-century, the French Quarter had become a rundown, dangerous slum; widely dismissed by the city at large. With the ever-looming threat of the entire district being demolished, in 1937, the Vieux Carre Commission was formed with the mission of restoring, preserving and protecting the Quarter. Two members of this commission were a married couple known as General Kemper and Leila Williams. In addition to the VCC, the two of them also began to research, record and collect artifacts of the region’s history on their own time, culminating in the very organization of the Historic Collection.

After the video, we first toured the Counting Room…….and all I remember is that it had some paintings on the wall. Who or what they were about, I don’t remember (I might have just been grouchy that I was here instead of the Voodoo Museum but I digress); from there we were led into the courtyard and given a brief rundown of the architecture before the house tour began.

It’s widely referred to by locals as “The Hidden House,” and you can automatically see why. Originally a series of apartments built “shotgun” style, the Williams decided to convert it into an elegant urban mansion, and I still have to scratch my head over how they could live in such a place day in and day out without pulling their hair out. In Creole and/or general Southern tradition, the kitchen is at the back and/or bottom of the house, which from there leads into another courtyard. This is where the main entrance of the house was (……….that making no sense?), which leads into a foyer, said foyer being flanked by the living room on one side and the dining room on the other. We then took some stairs up into the previous courtyard which led to a drawing room and a…..boudoir I’m guessing (the tour guide herself said that no one seems to remember exactly what the room was used for) that led to Leila’s bedroom and bathroom (which I’ll note looked shockingly modern to be from the 1940’s). On the other side of the hall from the drawing room was Kemper’s office, library and bedroom in addition to a second kitchen.

Yeah, the whole layout of the place is very odd. This could just be a sign of how much I’ve been spoiled by living in a place as obsessively modern as Las Vegas (in spite of how much I detest that aspect at the end of the day), but much as I love older homes and architecture, in addition to my fascination with the repurposing of older homes and buildings, the Hidden House really did seem to be a bit much, lol. Lovely vintage furnishings and décor though (the house is furnished and decorated to a status almost verbatim to when the Williamses were living in it). Upon leaving, we headed down to the French Market.

The oldest remaining outdoor market in the entire United States, having been in operation since 1791, one can easily get all of their shopping done here. There are numerous suites and stalls, all offering a number of good including, but not limited to: fresh produce, meat and seafood, spices, sweets, clothing, arts and crafts, books, bootlegs and even more daiquiris. I proceeded to buy myself another daiquiri and snacked on some pralines from Praline Connection as I browsed the numerous booths and did some souvenir shopping.

Souvenirs in hand, we decided to take one more look around the Quarter, stopping by Big Easy Daiquiris so we could finally try the Hurricane. Strong and fruity, indeed. While sipping our Hurricanes, my mom and I then stopped by the Jean Lafitte Historical Park; a free exhibit on New Orleans history attached to a small courtyard. After doing this, it was time to leave. I couldn’t help but to sigh upon leaving the Quarter, but alas, I wanted to see the Garden District at least once before departing.

So we hopped on the St. Charles streetcar and rode it all the way down. Although we didn’t get off a single time, it was still wonderful just to take in the scenery of the Garden District, Audubon and the rest of Uptown New Orleans. New Orleans has such a unique character and identity, it can be easy to forget that normal, everyday life does indeed exist there. I’m also a weirdo who likes to go beyond the touristy parts of wherever it is I go and see how the locals live, so there’s that I guess.

It was a peaceful, serene experience to look upon all of the lovely Victorian and Greek Revival homes, bars, restaurants and other hangouts frequented by locals, the abundance of greenery, Audubon Park, the Tulane and Loyola university campuses and just the sight of life beyond the Quarter. It’s a shame it was getting late, as I would definitely have loved to explored these areas some more. Oh well, there’s always next time.

Anyway, the night ended with fried chicken from Brothers Food Mart, and people were not kidding about how good it was. Even as I write this, I’m still gripped with disbelief that chicken just as good as Popeye’s or Cane’s could be had at a corner store. Once again, bravo New Orleans, bravo.

After one more night at the bar, it was then that I went to sleep for the night before returning to Vegas. I truly did adore every minute I spent in New Orleans. Although I’m not too sure if it’s a place where I could live, it’s definitely a place I would love to visit all the time if I could. When I’ll return, I don’t know, but now I do understand what it means to miss New Orleans.

THE FINAL VERDICT:

Pros: Lots of history and culture, wonderful architecture, fantastic food and drink, highly exceptional music and nightlife scene, very easy to get around on foot, nice people, liberal, free-thinking attitude, cheap prices and an upbeat, festive atmosphere.

Cons: The humidity, the bugs, subpar public transit, urban blight, lingering signs of Hurricane Katrina, lingering signs of the antebellum and Jim Crow eras, weird smells throughout the city, lots of crime, can sometimes feel a little bit too old-fashioned and political corruption.

Return Factor: 11/10. For real.

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