#[reworked history: blackout]

[amidst-the-storm]

[ @the-darkest-hedgehogs || Lit a match.]

Ah. Tempest barely even blinked. This hedgehog was definitely not like those she had run into thus far (aside from Shadow). No point in a friendly demeanor. She shook her head.

“Nearest burger joint is a good two days’ journey from here.- All the others nearby have been abandoned for about a year now. As for lawless....” Tempest shrugged. “There are some laws, but most of them are gone... Aside from the regular ‘don’t murder someone out of spite’ and other such things.”

[qwertyfingers]

WOO CONGRATS ON THE TEET YEET!!! also also, your poetry is beautiful. can i ask how you got started?

thank u!!! apologies for how long this answer got i’m waffling

so i feel like the start of my answer is kind of unhelpful because i really just. started writing? no one encouraged me or helped me or anything i really just ran with it on my own. a lot of how i write is really just how i think - the metaphors and similes and weird comparisons come very naturally to me. i have no idea if this is how other writers feel?? but i can’t give any advice on how to develop that beyond just. writing a lot.

i’ve find poetry to be really good emotional outlet, so a lot of what i write about is very repetitive in terms of themes - a lot of mentions of my dad and my stepdad, compulsions, teeth and while i don’t think any of what i wrote back then was very good or worth sharing it did give me a lot of practice in kind of. building a writing headspace?

i can’t really point to any specific inspirations early on because i really didn’t read very much. most of my favourite poems when i was younger were very structured and used a lot of rhyme - i really enjoyed war poetry when we studied it in high school for example - but i’ve always written pretty loosely, a lot of enjambment and playing around with formatting. i felt very drawn to mary oliver and richard siken when i discovered them in my mid-late teens (although i defintiely think that i understand them better rereading them now as an adult). 

i’ve written many different styles of poem, but i really only have two style of writing behaviour: either i write total stream-of-consciousness and don’t edit it until i’ve totally run out of things to say - pompeii, reimagined from��this collection was written this way, as was FOIL - or i write very conscious of the formatting from the start - some examples of this are unholied, ajovy and my father thinks i should learn how to code. sometimes there’s a crossover like in inelegant fingers but typically its one or the other.

the city i live in now has a pretty big ~poetry scene~ with several regular live readings, even more random events throughout the year, and people regularly coming from out of town to read here. i hiiiiighly recommend going to readings if you live somewhere that you can get to them because it can expose you to a really wide range of writers, from first-timers to people with long publishing histories. being involved in that scene really taught me that there’s really no hierarchy of talent, that there are fantastic writers at every ~skill level~. and more than anything, that it’s possible to hate a poem or poet and still get a lot out of their work. i’ve made a lot of friends through going to and helping to host events too :) 

some recommendations for writing that i personally find useful:

spend a lot of time thinking about writing! when i’m out walking, even when i’m getting groceries, i’m spinning thoughts around my head about writing. i frequently think up what i think of as the ‘headline’ of a poem when i’m busy doing something else. write that shit down! keep a notebook or note on your phone and write them down. 

relatedly: absolutely cannibalise your old poems. if you’ve got a piece you don’t like any more, or that you could never finish but you’re attached to it, steal your favourite lines and work them into soemthing else, or challenge yourself to rewrite that poem in a new style or format

i keep a word doc full of lines and phrases i liked that i couldn’t fit into anything or that weren’t developed enough that i go back to and take things from. sometimes it’s just a handful of words - ‘ transposing neuroses onto neurons’ sat in that doc for months before i used it - and sometimes its entire lines or even stanzas. i also paste in here things i deleted from existing pieces during editing - sometimes you like something but just not in its current setting yknow

give yourself writing challenges! there are allllll kinds of things you can challenge yourself to do. find a photograph you like, and try to write the feeling it gives you, or write about the content of it, or from the perspective of the person taking the picture. pick an album or song and listen to it on repeat and write. go to different places and see if your writing feels different there. write a poem first thing in the morning or on your lunch break or write before you go to bed. write when you feel really happy, or scared, or angry or tired. write about someone you love, or someone you really hate. write using found-language - blackout poetry is one version, but you can also cut words out and collage them. a friend of mine wrote an amazing poem using ads on gumtree. i like to hit random page on wikipedia and challenge myself to write using the words on that page or about the content of it. i dont find timed challenges helpful but some people do. experiment! ask your friends for prompts! if you’ve friends who also write poetry, give eachother challenges and give eachother feedback

also, if you’ve got friends who write, absolutely ask for their input on a piee if you get stuck. my friend tasha frequently helps me with my grammar and punctuation to improve clarity and many more people have helped me with ideas, promts, challenges and encouragement :)

my personal favourite: write about fiction! a lot of my favourite of my own poems were about this. ;kodos in error - which desperately needs reworking but that i’m nevertheless very proud of - was written about the tarsus iv storyline in the original star trek. the only overt reference to it’s origin is the name kodos in the title - and it’s very much about myself too - but ultimately the entire time i wrote it i was thinking about that plot. i’ve also written about fortnite and the expanse  

play around with what you want from a poem. sometimes it’s emotional, sometimes it’s all about the sound and the feel of it in your mouth, sometimes it’s about imagery and giving the reader a clear picture of something. Sometimes you want to do something fun with the formatting, or make it short and snappy or long and lilting. Try not to get stuck in one type of poem. 

personally unless i’m writing for a specific thing - like a reading of to submit to a specific journal - i never think about a reader until i’ve finished at least the first draft. i’m not a professional; i share the things i like but ultimately i write for myself only. i don’t need to have an audience in mind for anything i write, and i think that helps me. not everyone finds this easier, but i do.

read poetry! read absolutely anything you can get your hands on - even when you don’t like something you can learn from it. poetry foundations 

talk about poetry! i didn’t go to school for creative writing and most of what i learned in HS went totally over my head, but i find talking about poetry i like with friends to be infinitely valuable. discussion will help you find things you didn’t see before, and understand why the things you do like resonate so much, how you can maybe replicate those in your own writing etc.

if you’ve never written before, it is literally never too late to start. just get going! don’t let your inner critic get in the way, just write and write and try not to worry too much about whether its ~good~ until you get more used to writing.  there are a thousnad different ways for a poem to be Good. if you write for emotional release and it works then its good. if you write to get other people to understand how you feel and that comes through, its good. if you just want to make it sound a certain way then its good. 

<3

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

Submitted:

Article on Disney furloughs from The Hollywood Reporter. Disney’s problems are severe now and go well beyond furloughs, which are just an indicator at this point.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-furlough-staffers-jobs-aren-t-necessary-at-time-1288295

It’s unclear how many employees will be affected when the process begins on April 19. The Walt Disney Company will begin furloughing its employees as it grapples with the impact of park and store closures and delayed film releases as well as a downturn in TV advertising amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, the conglomerate said Thursday.

The Burbank-based media giant stated that staffers “whose jobs aren’t necessary at this time” will be furloughed as of April 19. The affected staffers “will receive full health care benefits, plus the cost of employee and company premiums will be paid by Disney,” the company said.

Numerous divisions are expected to be hit, including Disney’s film empire, which comprises myriad labels as well as marketing and distribution and a host of operational units. Since the company closed its $71.3 billion acquisition of most of 21st Century Fox last year, there have been staff reductions in multiple divisions. Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. …

In a March 19 SEC filing, Disney listed the “extraordinary business challenges” facing the conglomerate due to COVID-19: “We have closed our theme parks; suspended our cruises and theatrical shows; delayed theatrical distribution of films both domestically and internationally; and experienced supply chain disruption and ad sales impacts.”

“In addition,” Disney warned in the filing, “there has been a disruption in creation and availability of content we rely on for our various distribution paths, including most significantly the cancellation of certain sports events and the shutting down of production of most film and television content.” …

Disney tentpoles, including its live-action Mulan and Marvel Studios' Black Widow, have been removed from the release calendar, as have 20th Century Studios films including X-Men title The New Mutants and the thriller Woman in the Window, as well as Searchlight's Antlers and The Personal History of David Copperfield.

With a blackout on moviegoing in the U.S. and much of the world — including China — the release pipeline at Disney, as well as the rest of Hollywood, has come to a standstill. Many don’t expect theaters box office traffic to resume in earnest until late summer.

The studio division has halted live-action production on its films, including Marvel’s Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid and Shrunk, a sequel to 1989's Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Production also shuttered on Searchlight’s Ridley Scott drama The Last Duel and Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley.

And the company’s ESPN division has had to rework its programming lineup as nearly all sports leagues have gone dark. The sports network, which has been airing movies, classic games and documentaries, is expected to take an advertising hit without the NBA and other major events. 

_______________________________________________________________________

Oh, boy. I forgot they owned ESPN. However, I imagine a lot of companies are facing similar situations.

[avaliveradio]

New Indie Rock Music Rising with Jacqueline Jax Summer Curators Picks

We air our Rock Rising Music Show every Friday as an Exclusive Featured Spotify episode that will post to replay after it airs. 

AVA Live Radio hosted by Jacqueline Jax is a podcast that puts an unfiltered provocative spin on new music and what’s behind the releases. This show talks about what’s happening in music and Pop Culture, stripping away the walls of the music industry. 

*This show is exclusive to Spotify and all royalties from the show pay to the artists directly through spotify. In addition, listeners can replay your single right on spotify while listening to our show or jump directly to your spotify page.

Rock Rising with Jacqueline Jax

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Wzh7IKst0pge2NpIX9iEv?si=5308dcaba1324ec7

Follow the playlist

Featured Artists

Rock Rising Lineup:

Seneca Burns - Do You Know How Bright You Burn?

Release date: Aug 05, 2022 (6 days ago)

"This is the third track we're putting out, it kinda rounds off our first EP. It's the one that started us as a band, and the one we've most been excited to show. Hope you enjoy it."

Genre: Pop Punk

Similar artists: Blink 182, Boxcar Racer, Angels & Airwaves, Plus 44, Yellowcard, Jimmy Eat World

In March of 2020, Charlotte, NC artist Atticus Lane wrote an EP during the first lockdown after COVID-19. Fast forward almost two years exactly, and veterans from other Carolina Projects Duckbeak, Home for the Day, and No Rope joined Atticus under the name Seneca Burns.

https://open.spotify.com/track/72EgQM1FsVlVa2qLrKlk0A?si=e704655382bb45f4

https://twitter.com/senecaburns

Andy place and the coolheads- Lucid Girl

"Hope you like. Been grinding super hard and looking for exposure for my new album"

Released by: Black Water Records

Genre:  Punk

Debut album, In A Confusing Futuristic Bar out now on Black Water Records and streaming on all major platforms

https://open.spotify.com/track/1ekhn5K4woiNIxk8iyZwtb?si=b2f1869056974f58

Franjapan- Fingernails

Release date: Jul 27, 2022

"Coming off the release of 2 singles in 2022, and 2 sold out Melbourne shows. Franjapan have come out with their 3rd single of the year 'Fingernails.' Reminiscent of early pop punk"

Pop Punk

Similar artists: Blink182, Spacey Jane, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Kings Of Leon, The Beatles, The 1975, Radiohead

Franjapan dive deeper down the musical rabbit hole every day, with all five of the high school bandmates imploring their sensibilities into the group to create their own sound, instinctively recognized as indie-rock.

After reworking, rewriting and re-recording many ideas the band feel they’ve arrived where they were always meant to - five years of jamming and scribbling and the sonic pieces are falling into place with all the intent they longed for.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2EqHE1zU6LaICMOiIfodbn?si=4c9bc6db640948af

Special Thanks to New Music Release Radar for supporting this show and featuring these artists on your Rock Music Playlist: <here>

Nights Like Thieves - Sorry

Release date: Aug 05, 2022

Pop Punk, Emo, Alternative Rock

Similar artists: Senses Fail, Thursday, Taking Back Sunday

Nights Like Thieves is a melodic, emo, punk, rock, alternative band based out of Southern California featuring four musicians with longstanding history in the punk/rock scenes in both Southern California and New Mexico. Their sound varies from an upbeat, intricate and melodic vibe to a slower, more rhythmic and emotionally charged pace. The lyrical content is a prevalent factor in what defines the Nights Like Thieves catalogue. Through the combined years of experience of all band members, they function as a well-oiled machine onstage and know how to bring an impressive and engaging live performance.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2gsSXGm0Sy4N2jtnMmPrGY?si=0a3b1a3ee59a4fab

https://twitter.com/nltbandsd

Talk Heavy - I Wanna Skate Again

Release date: Aug 03, 2022

Pop Punk, Emo, Alternative Rock

Similar artists: Jeff Rosenstock, PUP, WAVVES, Blink-182, Motion City Soundtrack, Violent Soho

Blending ferocity and melancholy, Talk Heavy are Meanjin’s next big heart-on-sleeve export with a high energy and emotionally charged combination of alternative rock, pop-punk, indie and emo.

Comprised of members Matt, Pat, Tayla & Beej - these four Brisbanites produce Punk music drenched in existentialism to the tune of artists like Cloud Nothings, PUP, Motion City Soundtrack, Violent Soho & Jeff Rosenstock.

https://open.spotify.com/track/5v0k76ClALX1ieLJxhI6gM?si=ddbd25dcf3b34b59

https://twitter.com/talkheavyband

FEELRS - Belly

Release date: Aug 12, 2022

"This is Feelrs first release as a full band.

Genre: Surf Rock, Garage Rock, Alternative Rock

Similar artists: Shannon and the Clams, Fidlar, Wavves, White Reaper, Bass Drum Of Death, The King Khan & BBQ Show

Feelrs is a Nashville based troupe whose sound toys liberally with a diverse palette of garage/alt/punk rock. With songs saturated by saccharine alien ear worm melodies that live symbiotically within the amygdala, they will assimilate any and all listeners who come within ear shot.

https://www.instagram.com/feelrs_

https://open.spotify.com/track/0LdCdbTDRLRlDxaRxHxLHs?si=ac5cb22eb65c41fe

Indie Music Spin features a great lineup of indie bands and singles you don’t want to miss. They update their site weekly with different flavors of music from quality creators. <here>

Up From Here -Summer's Here

Release date: Jul 15, 2022

Punk, Pop Punk, Emo

Similar artists: All Time Low, State Champs, Mayday Parade, Neck Deep, Waterparks, Knuckle Puck, Sleeping With Sirens

Up From Here is a pop-punk band from Tampa, Florida composed of Danny Anderson, Bern Mustian, and Tyler Houser. Initially conceived as an acoustic duo in late 2014, Up From Here became a full band in spring of 2015. Up From Here is known for their high-energy live performances, catchy melodies, and relatable lyricism.

They receive frequent FM radio airplay on Tampa's 97X and Orlando's 101.1 WJRR as well as played 3 Vans Warped Tour stops in Florida. Make sure to catch them at a show near you!

https://open.spotify.com/track/1iXQtkIg8g3vsJCPC1aEg8?si=5450fcc7850f4aac

https://twitter.com/upfromheremusic

Crocodyle - So Happy

Release date: Aug 05, 2022 (8 days ago)

Released by: Amplify Entertainment

Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Alternative Rock

Welcome to the wild, weird, and whimsical world of Crocodyle, your new favorite four-piece out of Nashville. Crocodyle is an alt rock group in the vein of Arctic Monkeys crossed with Green Day.

The joy of performing is their foundation — frontman Hux Rittman, who grew up in Singapore and found his way to Tennessee, connected with drummer and Atlanta native Hays Thompson, and they got to work creating together, eventually filling out the band with CJ Gravley-Novello and Christi Landis

If Crocodyle can make a listener say, “I haven’t heard anything like that in a while,” they’ll consider it a job well done. More than that, though, the band wants people to feel good about themselves. There’s an undercurrent of optimism to Crocodyle, an act brimming with youthful energy, and that energy is contagious when the band performs onstage.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2UV7qYQpGDHVFu5f4YMawN?si=00a13b909ec84e72

Motel Breakfast- MB (as in Modern Baseball)

Release date: Aug 04, 2022 (9 days ago)

"A fast paced, energetic indie rock song with relatable lyrics and a catchy melody. "

Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Alt Pop

Similar artists: Mt. Joy, Willis, Modern Baseball

Motel Breakfast is a Chicago-based band with strong roots throughout the Midwest.

Since forming in 2017 they've garnered a devoted fanbase, booking regularly throughout the region and selling out shows in Illinois and Wisconsin.

They've self-released 1 full length album (2020's "Motel Breakfast"), 2 EPs (2020's "Left on Deming" and 2017's "Weekends & Holidays"), and a smattering of singles in recent years. Their latest single is “MB (as in Modern Baseball)”, recorded in Chicago with producer R. Andrew Humphrey (Twin Peaks, Calpurnia, Sun Cop).

https://open.spotify.com/track/4gyavb80zilaSZS4nEfuWp?si=bd06df034f684fa2

https://twitter.com/motelbreakfast

You Fool! - Put Your Dukes Up!

Release date: Aug 12, 2022 (a day ago)

Released by: Crying Under a Blanket After Drinking Too Much Vodka Records

Post-Punk, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock

I really like this song I think you have created something special that stands out. The vocals are unique enough to be identifiable with your brand which will be very helpful moving forward and I like the flow paired with those guitars.

You Fool! is an indie rock band from the suburbs of Washington, DC. While their music explores a number of complex themes, including childhood loss, tumultuous romance, and even anxieties about the end of the world - their songs invite cathartic release for even life's most daunting problems. Combining driving rhythms, warm guitar tones, and soaring, airy vocals, they have been compared to acts such as 90’s alternative act The Cranberries and modern alt-rock group Wolf Alice. Their debut album, ‘hello Armageddon’, is set for release on August 12

https://open.spotify.com/track/5TAosP8UhmwAq0lXLUdp74?si=d2c32b4da0b44da2

[lsmithart]

GCOP Lecture 5 – Nothing is Original (And That’s Ok) Notes 03.12.19

Today’s aims:

Think about the concept of originality.

Think about the concept of the copy and how it might impact my practice.

Think about the term’s: pastiche and appropriation.

Palimpsest – 17th century definition: “paper, parchment or other writing material designed to be reusable after any writing on it has been erased.”

19th century: “a manuscript in which later writing has been superimposed on earlier (effaced) writing.”

1800’s: “a thing likened to such a writing surface, especially in having been reused or altered which still retaining traces of its earlier form; a multi-layered record.” – metaphor

“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” – Herman Melville

Questions:

How would you define originality?

Something that comes from within you. If something is created in the moment, from within it forms originality. On the otherhand, everything is influenced by other things so nothing can be truly original. It exists if a person believes it to.

Should we try and pursue originality?

Yes. Impersonations aren’t so insightful to an artist’s skill.

Does originality exist?

It half exists.

If so, what does it look like?

Something true to the moment and that individual’s perception.

Video: The Artist as Conman – Wolfgang Beltracchi. Went to prison for forging art and passing it off as the original artists’ work.

Artist examples:

Arnolf Rainer - Angst (Portrait of the Artist) – 1971

Grayson Perry – Red Carpet - 2017

Douglas Crimp from Appropriating Appropriation Theories of Contemporary Art: “Appropriation, pastiche, quotation – these methods can now be seen to extend to virtually every aspect of our culture, from the most calculated products of the fashion entertainment industries to the most committed critical activities of the artists.”

Appropriation Art vs Forgery

Forgery:

Forgers copy close detail, markings on canvases and age the frames. They also create fake certificates of authenticity.

Apprenticeship (historical context). Copying existing artworks was seen as a necessary formation of an apprentice artists. The practice can be traced back to Cubist collage (constructions of Picasso and Braque).

Historical - Surrealism: Dali, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg. Marcel Duchamp, ‘ready mades’.

Appropriation in art practice:

Making artworks using already existing artworks.

Deliberate reproduction of (elements of) another artist’s work.

Copying artworks for their own artistic expression.

Involves adopting intellectual property from elsewhere.

Borrows images, styles, forms from art history or popular culture.

Movement evolved in the 60s and peaked in the 80s.

A significant post-modern theory.

Collage/deliberate reworking of other people’s works.

Artists using an existing form/image/sound in new ways.

End result: strangely familiar but altogether new

Appropriation Artist Examples:

Jeff Koons

Danny Treacy – Them.

Marcel Duchamp

John Stezaker – The Trial (1978)

Jeff Wall

Robert Rauchenberg – The White Painting. Exhibited of 1963. Conceptual art.

Books:

Appropriation: Documents of Contemporary Art

Image Music Text by Roland Barthes

Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture (Book – in the library):

‘Postmodernism has been characterized by a kind of fatigue

with the new and the sense that everything has been done before.

Postmodernism asks: Can there ever be new ideas and images,

things that have not been thought of or done before? Does it matter?’

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Walter Benjamin

“The action of mechanical reproduction effectively diminishes the concept of originality.” Mass production removes the aura, a unique authority, from the work. Its unique existence at the place where it happens(ed) to be. Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space. Its unique existence at the place where it happened to be formed.

“The presence of the prerequisite to the concept of authenticity and thus “the whole sphere of authenticity is outside of technical reproducibility.”

The Death of the Author by Roland Barthes

Barthes questioned the possibility of originality and authenticity. He said that any txt or image was a platform of quotations that were references to other texts, rather than emitting a fixed meaning from a singular voice.

Sherrie Levine - appropriation artist:

“We can only imitate a gesture that is always anterior, never original.”

Appropriated works:

After Monet - 1983

Self-Portrait After Egon Schiele – 1981

After Edward Weston

Subverted Definition: undermine the power and authority of (an established system or institution).

Video: TED Talk: Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

Blacking out of newspaper articles to create new phrases/sentences “Newspaper Blackout”. Accused of ripping off Tom Phillips, who got the idea from William Burroughs, etc. – it turned out that it went all the way back to someone’s idea in the 1700’s. Louise Hopkins also did this in her work (looked at for 201).

The genealogy of ideas.

Picasso: “Art is Theft”.

Transformation is flattery.

Thinking points for research:

Drum beat that features in 1000s of songs which was never claimed/copyrighted.

Artist with work at HOST (David Henty) who replicates existing famous paintings but does not pass them off as originals. Realistically, how is there a difference between this and Wolfgang Beltracchi (from the Artist as Conman video shown in the lecture).

When thinking about my work: the act of replicating the embodied action would make unoriginal to the exploration it’s focusing on.

Questions for reflection:

What do I make?

Is there an original or do I make copies?

Does my work have auratic qualities?

What do I look for in my discipline – form, content, expression, representation?

What gives my work originality?

Task:

Relevant work in my discipline and apply this to reflection. Consider how this could be explored in my work. Research: David Henty (refer to thinking points above)

[amidst-the-storm]

Dash o’ Halloween

@the-darkest-hedgehogs || Summoned from here.

“.... Strange...” Tempest glanced down to the small creature, before nodding. She exhaled for a moment. “Well, no stranger than the strangest things in my life, but certainly strange nonetheless.” Tempest shook her head. “I am getting off track... My name is Tempest, and you are?”

[amidst-the-storm]

A lone hedgehog stood amidst a ring of destroyed Eggman robots, hands in his torn-up jacket pockets, and looked around, “So that’s all... what a drag, that was so short...”

Tempest had actually been upon the battle pretty early on, watching the entire fight... The hedgehog was reminiscent of someone she could have sworn she knew once, but she tossed the thought aside. He was certainly an accomplished fighter, given how passively he had destroyed the robots around him.

“.... Probably because you’re more powerful than they are.”

[amidst-the-storm]

A small, witch hat wearing pumpkin spirit approaches Tempest, staring quietly for a few moments, before turning to see a black and red hedgehog approaching, watching it closely. The pumpkin turned back to Tempest, silently. The hedgehog sighed, “Yeah, sorry... it uh, it does that.”

Tempest blinked, watching the pumpkin spirit for a moment. She got down onto her knees. She examined its hat, internally finding the entire creature rather adorable. Tempest glanced up at the mobian before standing back up. She shrugged.“You have nothing to apologize for.” Her voice was completely and absolutely void of emotion, as was her face. She glanced down to the pumpkin and then back up at the hedgehog. “… Is this your child?”