#“well some people like Kenny Rodgers”

[jonathanbyersphd]

Nobody normal ever accomplished anything meaningful in this world. You got it?

[lizadoesrph]

how to: sports guide -- FOOTBALL edition.

Sports and lack of knowledge when it comes to sports is literally my biggest pet peeve in the RPC, so here is a little guide especially for those muses who play football! Please like or reblog if you’ve found this in anyway helpful! Please feel free to refer to this guide whilst making muses or college rps! Part one here. 

disclaimer: I have not, nor ever played football. everything I know is from personal knowledge with people who have as well as being a huge fanatic of the sport myself.  As well as personal experience of a college athlete.

Overall.

Football is America’s sport. let’s be real, y’all can say its baseball but you would be wrong. Okay maybe not, but football is my LOVE when it comes to sports so I am so bias.

For my babies from the South -- they will follow college football to a T! They will probably have parents who are legacies and they follow their teams. The power house conference for college football is the SEC (south eastern conference), and overall the most dominant team in recent history has been Alabama followed by Clemson, and Ohio State. Saturdays are THE game days.

For my children from the North -- this is much more about the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys are known as America’s team, however... nobody really likes them unless you’re a cowboys fan.  The most dominant team in recent history are the New England Patriots.  Game days range from Thursday night to all day Sunday to Monday night! Thursday, Sunday Night, and Monday Night are known as “prime time games”

Myself, personally, I follow both college & NFL pretty closely since my family is from the North but moved to the South when I was young. 

For those in the west, football isn’t as big of a thing as it is on the east coast -- but seattle LOVES their team. Take a quick research on the NFL team near your muse’s hometown if they are from the states!  Maybe they have family from somewhere. And.. Green Bay is more or less America’s Team (Go pack go babbbyyyy)

Positions.

Special Teams.

This is usually reserved for second strings to get reps in. I could go into gunners, and all that but... not a star position.

Place Kicker - Usually an ex-soccer player who chose football over soccer.  A very valuable asset to a team, but underrated. Can always get crowd hypes up when they make a tackle. usually the position who gets the most death threats (sorry) example. mason crosby Punter - Same with Place Kicker, can sometimes be the same person. see pat mcafee who did both in college. Usually ex-soccer player and VERY overlooked.  They are usually the holders for place kickers during field goals. example. JK Scott. Returner - can make or break a team. bringing back a punt or kickoff for a touchdown will literally create the hypest environment. example. Tyler Ervin.

Offense. 

Quarterback - 1 // yeah, yeah, yeah. there’s more positions than this, I promise. example. the goat. aka aaron rodgers. Running Back - 2 // Smaller boys, fast, and shifty.  They usually do some dirty work, but a good one is a jack of all trades -- blocking, route running/catching, and carrying.  example. aaron jones. Full Back - 1 // Bigger boys than running back and these are the unknown angels on the field.  They are usually used to clear ways for running backs and help with down the field blocks, but also used for pass protection blocks. example. danny vitale. Tackle - 2 // Have you seen the movie “The Blind Side”. this is it. They are on the outermost boys of the offensive line. ( Kinda skipping over the offensive line since.. I doubt people are gonna play as them. ) example. david bakhtiari Guard - 2 // This is the boys on the inside, on either side of the Center. example. elgton jenkins Center - 1 // Very important role, in charge of getting the ball cleanly to the Quarterback whilst also getting up as fast as possible to start blocking against lineman and linebackers. example. corey linsley Wide Receiver - 2-4 // Probably the second most glorified role depending on the team. Tall, fast, shifty, with strong knowledge to run different routes, look and track the football to catch it.  Whilst also knowing where they are on the field at all times. example. davante adams, allen lazard. Tight End - 1-2 // Very important but scarcely utilized. There are either receiving tight ends or blocking tight ends.  The best will do both and do it effectively.  As much as I hate to say it, Gronkowski is probably the best example you will find.  These are big, strong players who probably have some of the biggest loads dumped on them when it comes to expectations. example. Rob Gronkowski, George Kittle.

Defense. (the best)

Lineman -  2-4 // usually in charge of stopping the run / pushing the lineman in to put pressure on the quarterback (nose tackle) these are the big boy 300 pounders example. kenny clark. Linebacker - 2-4 // split up into outer / middle/ inside. They are in charge of either coverage or rushing the quarterback depending on the playcall. The biggest jobs of most in containing either the quarterback or running back from breaking out into a big run. These are probably some of the most popular defensive roles since they can do so much to receive recognition (interceptions, great coverage, sacks, forced fumbles, ect.) example. Preston Smith, Blake Martinez  Cornerback - 2-3 // These can probably be the smallest people on the team, but they also need to be the fastest with a really solid vertical.  There is a lot of studying that goes into this role when it comes to knowing who you are playing against. Needs to interrupt the pass, and cover your receiver well.  example. Jaire Alexander Safety - 1-2 // my personal fav. position in the game.  This used to be split in strong/free, but it really isn’t used much anymore.  A smaller linebacker -- either assist in the run defense, assist cornerbacks, or provide a safety blitz (rushing the quarterback) example. adrian amos.

( yes I listed all packers as examples except at TE bc Jimmy Graham doesn’t deserve that recognition )

Recruiting.

Recruiting in Football is WACK. You get ranked from zero to five stars depending on how good you are in high school.  Zero stars being not so great and five stars being the best of the best. Five star recruits are the most likely to go to those SEC schools.  You get unofficial offers from colleges, and you will “sign” to a school on National Signing Day when it usually in February!  This year, they have an Early Signing Day which is happening mid-December! 

As a senior in high school, an athlete is allowed FIVE “official” visits.  This is where the school will pay for everything the athlete does, and is the last attempt a college gets to convince that player to come to their school.  An official visit is usually for a recruits top five schools. 

Once you sign a letter of intent ( an official, legally binding document that says you will go to the college of your choice to play the sport (football in this case) with the amount of scholarship money the school promised to give you.

College.

If your muse makes it this far, there is a 99.9% chance football is literally their heart and soul.  Those who are at big schools probably have dreams of going to the NFL.  If this is true..... there is a 99.9% chance they don’t go to classes lmao. 

In season, they spend around 30-50 hours working out, practicing, studying film, in meetings with coaches. you will be busy. you will hate your life. everytime you don’t have class, you will likely be in the field house or hosting parties somewhere. nobody drinks like college athletes drink, trust me, I was one.

Most college football players have mandatory study hall, around 2-8 hours a week they have to check into a room, the library, or their academic advisor to make sure they are on track and eligible for the following semester.

IMPORTANT: 

College athletes have a clock of 5 years once they step on a D1 field. You are no longer eligible to play D1 football after these 5 years. ONCE you commit to go to the NFL draft, you are no longer eligible to play NCAA football. You have FOUR years of eligibility, after these four years you are no longer able to play NCAA football. This clock resets for every sport. You can play in the NFL and return to college to play college basketball.

You can receive a medical or academic redshirt. these rules are complicated, but mostly won’t matter in RP unless you want?? your character to tear their ACL. It will take a small google search, but if that is too much, feel free to message me.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

S.T. REWRITE - S2:E1; Chapter One, MADMAX - [Pt. 4 - FINAL PART]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

As the town preps for Halloween, a high-scoring rival shakes things up at the arcade. Will begins seeing strange visions as the anniversary of his disappearance creeps up.

||Reader's POV||

"Still no sign?" Dustin asked.

"Jack shit"

"Seriously, what is wrong with you guys? I thought we were coming here to play arcade games?" I ask.

"We came here to see if Max really is Mad Max." Lucas replied.

"You mean stalking?" I smirked. "Hey listen, I'm not really into the whole idea of stalking some poor girl, so I'm gonna go inside and beat some high scores, okay?" I said nonchalantly, pointing my thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the arcade.

"Y/N! Are you crazy? You'll jeopardize our mission!"

I began walking backward, hands in my pockets as I spoke to the slightly panicked boys.

"Yeah, mmhmm sure. Later guys, you both are welcome to join me if you like. Dustin? If you do end up heading home, just let mom know I'll be home by 7 at the latest."

Leaving them without time to respond, I turned around and head for the arcade doors across the parking lot as I heard their fading protests.

With that, I headed inside.

+++

"Well, shit." I mumbled.

I hated going to Kieth for stuff. I had only been here twenty minutes and one of the machines already ftitzed out again and kept my money. So, I begrudgingly walked over to the counter.

"Well, well, well, look who it is. Little miss too perfect."

"And what is that supposed to mean, Keith?" I sighed, folding my arms on the counter.

"You act like your too good for everyone. It's obnoxious."

"Just because I prefer to practice basic hygiene doesn't mean I'm a snob, it means I have common sense. Who knows what you've contracted handling all these machines." I retort.

"Do you need help or not?" He asked lazily.

He looked me right in the eye and took a large, noisy bite out of his cheeto puffs knowing I hated the sound.

"Forget it," I sighed and turned around about to storm off. 

I felt my shoulder collide with another and I backed up at the sudden impact.

"Sorry!"

"Watch it," a girl grumbled, obviously startled.

I looked up to see the girl from class, Max.

"Oh, hey. Max, right?"

"Yeah, how'd you-? Wait... you hang out with those creeps, don't you?" She asked with a frown on her face.

"I should explain," I said, a weak smile on my face. "For one thing, one of those creeps happens to be my brother.  And two, yeah... they can be creepy. I'm sorry, I've been trying to get them to back off. They can be a real handful sometimes,"

Her arched eyebrow soften and a small smile creeps up and she visibly relaxes.

"I'm Y/N, by the way," I say.

"Max," she smiled reaching her hand out to shake. "But, I guess you already knew that."

Both us laughed lightly.

"So," She began. "Any particular reason as to why I'm the subject of their interest?"

We began walking side by side and found ourselves by DigDug and I pointed at my brother's name.

"Well, you practically obliterated my brother's top scores and they find it hard to believe a girl is responsible for that,"

There seemed to be a look of confusion on her face.

"Well, you play don't you?"

"Yep, but I guess to them, I don't count,"

"I see,"

I leaned in sort of close, turning her away from the windows when I caught sight of Lucas and Dustin. "Hey listen, I feel like I owe it to you to tell you that they are here right now and it was my mistake to think they wouldn't resort to crouching outside the windows and spying so would you like to go to the opposite end of the arcade where they can't be creeps?"

She looked at me with slightly widened eyes, "Wait, you knew they were here?"

"They tricked me into coming, I thought we where gonna play, but when I realized it was a stakeout to see if you were MadMax, I told them off and came inside to play, I swear."

"Oh," her face softened slightly. "Well, thanks."

She casually glanced over her shoulder and grabbed my arm. "Come on, follow me,"

With a growing smile on my face, I followed.

+++

Max and I had a surprisingly good time. We hid out in the corner behind one of the machines and messed with Keith. Eventually, Max had to leave, this gross scuz showed up blasting AC/DC who I could only assume was the notorious asshole of a stepbrother that she briefly mentioned.

She barely talked about him but with the what little knowledge I did have of him, I felt bad for her and I suddenly was reminded of how extremely lucky I am to have someone like Dustin as my brother.

Before I could even realize it, I was pulling into the driveway, parking my bike. I had biked home with Dustin who had been gnawing my ear off trying to pry information from me about Max but I tuned him out.

"Seriously,  Y/N, why can't you just tell me what she was like?"

Dustin was parking his bike as I went through the front door ahead of him, assuming he was behind me.

"Because, for the last time Dustin, I'm not some spy that's gonna feed you information because you're too chicken to reach out and talk to her like a normal human being," I shed my coat and was hanging it up by the front door.

I turned to face my brother only to see he wasn't behind me. I walked towards the front door and peeked outside to see him cautiously stalking towards the garbage can.

"Dustin?"

He nearly jumped two feet in the air and whipped around to face me.

"Jesus! Y/N, don't do that to me!"

"I'm... sorry, are you okay? What the hell happened?"

He looked over his shoulder at the trash can once more and then back at me, sighing as he trudged inside.

"Nothing. Thought I heard something,"

||3rd Person POV||

The Byers household was filled with the smiles and the aroma of popcorn as everyone prepared for movie night. Jonathan could hear the sounds of his mother's voice as he made his way to his younger brothers room.

"Well, put the future down and get me a clean bowl."

Jonathan gently rapped his knuckles on the door to Will's room before opening the door.  Will was sitting on his bed, his legs crossed as he colored.

"Hey, bud. I didn't know what you'd like, so I got a variety." He held up the VHS tapes to show his brother before putting them on a nearby shelf. "Take your pick."

Will lightly shrugged before returning to his drawing. "Whatever you want,"

"All right," Jonathan came forward and took a seat across from his brother on his bed. "What are you working on?"

He leaned over to see the picture of a boy in ripped and ragged clothing with a snarl on his face, the words "Zombie Boy" next to him.

"Zombie Boy? Who's Zombie Boy?"

Will looked slightly uncomfortable at the question before mumbling, "me,"

"Did someone call you that?"

Will didn't respond.

"Hey.  You can talk to me. You know that, right? Whatever happened. Will, come on, talk to me."

Will's head whipped up. "Stop treating me like that." He snapped.

Jonathan was hurt, not by his brother's words but the fact that his brother was clearly struggling and he didn't know how to help.

"What? Like what?"

"Like everyone else. Like there's something wrong with me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Mom, Dustin, Lucas. Everyone. They treat me like I'm gonna break. Like I'm a baby. Like I can't handle things on my own. It doesn't help. It just makes me feel like more of a freak."

"You're not a freak."

"Yeah, I am. I am,"

"You know what? You're right."  Jonathan picked himself up and sat crisscross on the bed across his brother. "You are a freak"

Will looked up at his brother, taken aback.

"What?"

"No, I'm serious. You're a freak. But what? Do you wanna be normal? Do you wanna be just like everyone else? Being a freak is the best. I'm a freak."

Will tried to make sense of this. "Is that why you don't have any friends?"

Jonathan chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "I have friends, Will."

"Then why are you always hanging out with me?"

"Because you're my best friend, all right? And I would rather be best friends with Zombie Boy than with a boring nobody. You know what I mean? Okay, look... who would you rather be friends with? Bowie, or Kenny Rogers?"

Will smiled and shivered. "Ugh,"

"Exactly. It's no contest. The thing is, nobody normal ever accomplished anything meaningful in this world.  You got it?"

"Well... some people like Kenny Rogers." Will offered.

"Kenny Rogers." Came an excited voice from the doorway.

The boys turned to see their mother's boyfriend, Bob standing in the doorway.  "I love Kenny Rodgers." He chuckled.

The boys looked at each other with matching grins.

Bob walked in with a friendly smile on his face. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing" Will giggled, and Bob picked up the VHS tapes, examining them.

Suddenly his eyes lit up once he saw one of the movie selections. "Mr. Mom." Bob loud a loud cheer. "Perfect!" And he left with an enthusiastic grin.

As soon as he was around the corner, the brother looked at each other and burst into fits of laughter.

+++

The worker at Hawkins lab only had an hour left to go on his shift. In his spell of boredom, he had brought along his Walkman and was blaring one of his favorite songs as he repeatedly bounced the rubber ball against the wall. He would bounce and catch. Bounce and catch. Bounce and then catch. Until he noticed the light dancing off the wall he had been so focused on.

He turned around in his chair and felt his heart start pounding rapidly. The control panel he was supposed to be keeping an eye on was lighting flashing rapidly. He ripped the headphones of his head and it was only then that he heard the blaring of alarms around the building.

He knew what that alarm was.

Systems were down.

There were some monitoring systems out there. Out in the Nether. To maintain and feed back information for observation.

"A fuse must of blown."  The man told himself.

But then a dreadful thought popped into his head. He had no idea where it came from, and he had no reason for such paranoia. Almost as if something whispered it in his ear like the devil on his shoulder.

"Or maybe," he dismissed the thought as soon as fast it came. "Something else was responsible for this."

+++

It was nearly two a.m. and the Byers house was dead silent. The only sounds that could be heard were the soft hum of the clock's gears as the second hand made laps around the clock and the soft rhythmic plink of the leaky faucet.

Will Byers awoke, lazily pulling himself out of bed and walking down the hallway, his feet patting across the floor to the bathroom.

The sound of the toilet flushing was slowly waking him up, but he was still plagued with drowsiness as he turned on the faucet and sleepily washed his hands.

Suddenly, he froze when he thought he heard the sound of low rumbling in the distance.  He turned off the faucet, leaving the room quiet so he could listen. Sure enough, he heard rumbling coming from outside. Warily, he crept towards the bathroom door and opened it, surprised to see red flashing through the glass window on the front door. Deep violets and reds flashed across the living room accompanied by the sound of he could only guess to be thunder.

He fearfully crept towards the front door. He came to a stop when he heard the dreadful sound of wood creaking and he watched in horror as the front door slowly swung open to reveal a reddish purple sky, and the violent winds were carrying leaves and other debris with it. Something strange was growing around the outside of the house and he felt the familiar sensation returning.

His felt his blood run cold and his skin shriveled up and goosebumps broke out all over. His breathing picked up and he could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he watched frozen in terror.

Suddenly, his body was moving without his permission, and his legs carried him through the front door and out onto his front lawn. His hair and clothes were swept up in the wind and he came to a halt when he saw the horrors in front of him. The sky was a mess of black clouds and red lightning bolts shooting from the sky like daggers with thunderous booms. The clouds swirled together like a violent whirlpool in the sky and with every flash of lighting, the blood red sky was illuminating a dark towering figure.

It stood hundreds of feet tall and looked over the fields in the distance. It almost resembled a spider, only it was all limbs. Its head was a large crescent arch and as Will stared on in terror, it slowly turned its head. And even though it had no facial features, Will knew it was looking right at him.

The Shadow Monster.

+++

Hopper pulls his car to a stop. He always hated the drive out here. He preferred his grandfather's cabin to his run-down trailer by the lake, but driving in the woods at night was not something he liked doing. Regardless, he parked in the same spot he always did and put the car in park. He grabbed his hat and placed it on his head, stepping out of the car. He could feel the mud shift below his boots as he walked along the forest floor. Without even having to glance at the ground, his foot raised itself to step over the trip wire that was rigged around the area. He walked, up the porch steps and pulled open the screen door.

It took him less than a second to remember the rhythmic knock he had come up with and began knocking on the door.

Two quick knocks. Pause. Knock. Pause. Knock knock knock.

As usual, there a beat of silence and then the sound of the locks coming undone.

The man turned the doorknob and stepped inside, he was greeted by the sounds of the TV and an otherwise empty room. He glanced over to see the spare bedroom door was cracked, soft yellow light spilling out from behind the door.

He closed the front door behind him and hung his hat and coat on the coatrack. He then made his way over to the small television and switched it off. He walked across the room to the kitchen, unbuckling his holster from his belt and setting it down on the counter and then retrieved a can of beer from the fridge.

He lazily trudged over to the kitchen table and frowned at the plate of a single, half-eaten Ego that stood out against the trays of microwaveable dinner that were placed before each chair.

"Hey, what'd we talk about?" He softly called.

He pulled the yellow chair out and took a seat in his normal spot, anxious to eat after a long day.

"No signal," a young female voice carried across the cabin from the other room. He sat down, a frown on his face.

"What?"

"No signal. It's 8-1-5. You're late." The voice scolded.

He took a deep breath, hoping she wasn't too upset with him.

"Yeah, I lost track of time. I'll signal next time, all right?" He looked up as he heard the sound of the bedroom door opening and the small patter of feet. He looked up as he saw the girl come into view and sit down across from him. "Uh, and it's 8:15. It's not 8-1-5." He informed the girl.

It was Eleven. She wore a baggy grey sweatshirt and a pair of overalls. Her hair was longer now. It was still short, but it had length. It was a mop of curly brown hair. She looked at Hopper and repeated slowly.

"Eight-fifteen."

Hopper rolled up his sleeves so as to not dirty his uniform with dinner. He looked at the girl with a soft yet stern look. "Now, what did we talk about? Dinner first, then dessert.  Always. That's a rule,"

He leaned forward, and half smiled. "Yeah?"

"Yes," she replied.

They shared a smile and got started on their dinner, silently enjoying each other's company.

++++++

Tag List: @dickkwad @aimee-lucass @iblesstherainsdown-in-africa@miscellaneoustoasts

DM me if you want to be added!

[broadwaycantdie]

Disneyland / Part 2...The Destination! - Newsies (Pride) Month . Day 9

( all ) + ( modern ) + ( hc story )

a/n: i wanna go to disneyland so bad // also ah disney has pride merch now that’s so cute ! // ps. i will not make a 3rd part of the ride home cause that’s already too much lmao i just had a lot of fun with the road trip part i wanted to split it up

( this is part two of them actually at disneyland, click here for the road trip and journey of them getting here...it’s a wild one )

warnings: none

background: Every year the newsies all get together and go on their annual Disneyland trip. They drive from Manhattan to Anaheim because it’s cheaper than buying 20+ plane tickets. They also have a collective jar in the lodging house that everyone puts money into to help pay. Davey plans the whole thing for months and somehow things still go wrong. It’s never not a wild ride with their family. But every year they still enjoy it.

——————————————————————————

before they left the hotel, Davey made them plan everything out

it wasn’t a strict plan, but he knew that total freedom meant total chaos

he made a set of rules

rule #1 : you cannot be alone, stay with your buddy or a group at all times

rule #2 : meet back at the entrance after the fireworks so everyone can be counted and we can find people who are lost or don’t make it back in time and we can go to the hotel together

rule #3 : have fun

of course Davey would add “have fun” as a rule

he’d forget if he didn’t

they could barely sleep, everyone was so excited

so they got to the parks bright and early at 8am

they grouped themselves off

they ended up with 6 main groups

Jack, Davey, Bill, Darcy, Katherine, Sarah, and Les

Crutchie, Buttons, Henry, and Kenny

Specs, Romeo, Jojo, and Tommy Boy

Smalls, Sniper, and Finch

Mush and Kid Blink

Spot, Race, Albert, Elmer, Mike, Ike, Hotshot, Bart, and Myron

sometimes people broke into smaller groups depending on who wanted to go on what rides, when someone wanted to eat or didn’t, or when some people just wanted to be alone together

the smaller groups stayed together the whole time—Smalls’ group, Crutchie’s group, and Mush’s group—but the bigger groups sometime split up

especially Spot’s group

they started together but by the 3rd ride they split up

they would periodically meet up throughout the day to eat or ride certain rides

mainly the couples split up and the single friends stayed together

Davey and Jack left their group for a little while unexpectedly and it was actually Albert who found them making out in a bathroom stall

“Oh! So it’s like that now, huh? Way to go guys! Didn’t know you had it in ya!”

“You’re not gonna tell anyone, right, Dasilva? You know we aren’t usually like this...it just kinda happened yanno, happiest place on Earth and, uh, we were feeling that.”

“Oh, I can tell! Might wanna pick some tighter pants next time, Jacobs!”

the cocky bastard walked out, finally having something on Davey

he’d never let them live that down

Smalls’ favorite ride is Peter Pan’s Flight

they love that ride with all their heart and their group didn’t mind waiting in like for 45 minutes just to ride it

everyone—and i mean everyone—played heads up while waiting in line

it was just a given—that’s what you do

Race, Spot, Albert, and Elmer all got in a teacup together

it was absolutely chaos

while everyone else spun along nicely and enjoyed the ride

these boys used all of their combined strength—which was a lot—and spun themselves as fast as possible the whole time

Ike almost got sick just watching them

Katherine is a rollercoaster junkie

she rides every coaster and can’t get enough

Sarah also liked rollercoasters!

just not as much

but she does ride every one with Katherine and boy do they have fun

“Wow, I haven’t screamed that much since we left”

Katherine almost choked

( they shared a “special” night together right before they left so they could get a fill and not be as tempted like some other people )

everyone bought ears

it was like an unspoken rule that you had to get a pair every year

this year was special though

this was the first year that disney released its pride collection

so of course everyone was on that

Race spent most of his money on pride merch

he got rainbow shirt, ears, sunglasses, socks, and a pin

he was so happy about the collection, Spot secretly bought a pair of earrings from it and put one in just to see the look of joy on his boyfriends face

it was worth the money

Crutchie ate so many churros

half of his money went to just churros

worth it tho

Bill and Darcy really liked The Little Mermaid ride

obviously

Bill’s love of fish and Darcy’s love of mythical creatures

what other ride would they like more?

they cuddled up close in the seashell and watched the ride play out with so much happiness in their eyes

Sarah and Katherine took the iconic photo of “let’s kiss in front of the castle” and it was the cutest goddamn thing of all time

Mush and Kid Blink made out on Rodger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin ride

but what’s new

everyone at some point rode Splash Mountain

it’d be a sin if you didn’t

Spot and Race rode it together

Race made Spot sit up front cause his big body could block most of the water

also because Spot was wearing a white t-shirt

“Damn, babe! You haven’t been that wet since the car ride here!”

Specs, Romeo, Jojo, and Tommy Boy all rode the Matterhorn together

and Specs glasses flew off his face during one of the quick turns

after the ride everyone was panicking but he just calmly pulled out a second pair of glasses from his backpack and continued on with his day; unbothered

Crutchie would never admit if his leg hurt but about halfway through the day while walking to the next ride he fell

his leg just gave out and he just sat on the floor trying not to cry

everyone with him helped him up and Buttons got him a wheelchair

it wasn’t all bad though

Crutchie and Buttons got to go to the front of all the lines!

somehow everyone got the idea to meet in toontown at the same time

everyone decided to get embroidered hats

most people got their name or the date or something cute

like Mush and Kid Blink got matching ones that said “Blush”

or how Kenny got one that said “Ken-Ken” cause that’s his nickname of his nickname

and Jojo and Tommy Boy got each other’s pet names on theirs—Jojo’s says “Darling” and Tommy Boy’s says “Sweetheart”

while Jack and Davey got the date of when they first met because it was instantly love at first sight

but some of these dumbasses...are dumbasses

Hotshot would never stoop down to that level of stupidity

so he got together the Brooklyn Boys and got hats that said just that

Mike and Ike have been dumbasses since birth

so their hats got their full names on them

you know

Mike’s said “Michael and Ichael”

and Ike’s said “Isaac and Misaac”

“Those aren’t your real names!”

“And? How would you know my names not Michael Misaac Garcia? And his isn’t Isaac Ichael Garcia? Huh?”

“I—“

Albert and Elmer didn’t get anything too crazy

but they did get a something that just they would understand

they got the date of the day they lost their virginity to each other

and when people ask they just say it’s the first time they said “i love you” to each other

and now Spot and Race

do these boys have ANY chill? ever?

they literally got a sex joke on theirs

Spot’s said “Calvary’s Coming”

and Race’s said “I’m Calvary”

dumbasses

but to even it out, they also got cute ones

cause they are a couple who can do both

so they got “tu sei amore” and “you are love “ on their second pair—Race’s was in Italian because that’s how he always says it to Spot to make him swoon, and Spot’s is the same in English for when he repeats it back

everyone was so scared of getting lost or losing someone

not only because that’s completely terrifying

but because Davey would never let them hear the end of it

for extra caution, some people held hands to not be separated—Katherine and Sarah, Jojo and Tommy Boy, Mush and Kid Blink, Bill and Darcy—some just had a mutual understanding to not wonder off—Specs and Romeo, Jack and Davey, Hotshot and Mike, Albert and Elmer—and some...well not some...just Race

Race was on a fucking leash

like one of those monkey backpacks with the leash for children who wander off

cause every year Race gets lost so this year no one was gonna risk it

Spot holds on to the leash and everytime Race starts running towards another ride he yanks him back

he’s fallen a few times

and every time, mr. dramatic himself will pull the “woe is me” routine and wouldn’t get up until Spot lifted him up

he tried to get Spot to carry him and it only worked once when he actually cut his knee on the ground

it might’ve looked weird but hey, at least Race didn’t get lost this year

when it got dark they all went to the firework show and watched the magic

all the couples decided to be cute and take the “kissing my partner at the fireworks” pics

and they were all fucking adorable

some were soft and cute while others were a little saucier

but they all came out really good

they all met up where Davey told them to meet and they actually all made it there in one piece!

what a surprise! actually!

they all went back to the hotel full of joy, love, and happiness

and they couldn’t wait to go back next year <3

[krispyweiss]

Livingston Taylor at Thirty One West, Newark, Ohio, Dec. 6, 2019

Livingston Taylor brings just about everything to the concert stage.

He's uproariously funny.

He's a virtuoso (and teaches at the Berklee College of Music).

Genetics - "Who?," an audience member shouted when he mentioned his brother James - are on his side and the family resemblance is there in stage presence, guitar tunings, attitude and voice.

And Taylor, Livingston, that is, is as well-rounded an entertainer as anyone could ever hope to see, even if his relative obscurity meant only about 80 people turned out to see him put on an outrageously entertaining Friday-night performance inside Newark's Thirty One West.

Without being sappy about it, he acknowledged the Dec. 6 date by mixing two holiday originals, "Christmas is Almost Here," on guitar and "My Perfect Christmas Day," on piano, into a set that found him offering up mostly non-seasonal compositions and covering a wide swath of musical history with songs by Laura Nyro ("Sweet Blindness"), Jerome Kern ("Pick Yourself Up"), Kenny Chesney ("The Good Stuff"), Rodgers and Hammerstein (“Getting to Know You”) and some dude he had talked to the night before with a little number known as "Carolina in My Mind."

Dressed in khaki pants, a blue dress shirt and a bow tie that was loosened about a third of the way through the 95-minute set, Taylor epitomized the nutty professor, both incredibly serious and not at all serious. When his students get tired of playing the same chords, he said, he recommends they smoke marijuana until mediocrity becomes a viable option; when "F" chords become painful to play - they're always painful to play - he suggests switching to the key of "G," which is good for a week and a half; and though he's a pilot and a proud North Carolinian, he thinks it's "bullshit" his home state proclaims itself "first in flight" and sung his song "Kitty Hawk" to help make his point.

When he wasn't playing guitar or piano and accompanying himself with a stomping foot, Taylor was giving professorial dissertations and dissecting the lyrics to numbers like "It's My Party" and "My Boyfriend's Back" to prove the power in seemingly simplistic songs that he cast as engrossing conversations disguised as pop songs. These asides were slide splitting, as Taylor punctuated his insights with body language and exaggerated facial expressions.

Funnier still were tunes about living dangerously ("I'm Not as Herbal as I Ought to Be"), a dollar bill's journey through the straight and illicit economies creatively titled "The Dollar Bill Song" and a number about the struggle between a song's protagonist and its author in the form of Andy Breckman's "Railroad Bill," who would rather save a damsel on the tracks than a cat in a tree.

I said, 'maybe there'll be room in the eighth or ninth verse, but right now I want you up in that tree/I'm the writer, goddam, I got the pen in my hand and you're supposed to listen to me'/he said, 'you asshole, why should I listen to you, you should be listening to me instead/I'm a railroad man and if I was real, I'd separate your face from your head'

When the end of the program rolled around - far too soon - Taylor invited his former student, and opening act, Rebecca Loebe to join him for a lovely duet on "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Taylor sat at the piano bench fingerpicking his acoustic guitar while Loebe delivered the lyrics with just the right combination of power and emotion. They then closed the show with a medley of "The Merry Old Land of Oz" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" that, instead of being cheesy, which could have happened, were utterly delightful - a reminder that life is precious, holding on to a scrap of childhood is essential and music is an elixir.

Grade card: Livingston Taylor at Thirty One West - 12/6/19 - A+

12/7/19

[atmilliways]

You like AUs, right? Mash up Metalocalypse and That 70s Show, go! Mash up Metalocalypse and Friends, go! Mash up Metalocalypse and Frasier, go!

Oh jeebus, why?

… But yeah you’re right I do.

That Dethklok’s Show

You know what makes me mad is that I want to say Nathan and Charles are Eric and Donna, but Seth is unarguably Lori and that messes everything up.

Okay so Pickles = Eric, Seth = Lori, Calvert = Red but with hair, and Molly = Kitty except Seth is her favorite child too.

Skwisgaar = Kelso because he’s tall, pretty, and horny. Also, in this AU, he is drowning in brothers because Servetta can’t keep it in her panties.

Toki = Fez because he’s foreign, happy most of the time, sings and dances for the simple joy of it, and his room is decked out with toys and fun stuff.

Murderface = Hyde because of the righteous fa-RO baby, and also because he DOESN’T HAVE ANY PARENTS. He moves in with Pickles’ family and lives in the basement. (Pickles was hoping this would give Molly and Calvert another Target to rag on and give him a break. It didn’t work.)

Unlike Hyde, Murderface is not cool and doesn’t get any eventual Hyde/Jackie storyline. Instead, his relationship history goes more like Fez’s. Without the weird forced Fez/Jackie stuff at the end of the series, which really went downhill has soon as Donna dyed her hair blonde.

Charles = Buddy, the random rich kid who is canonically gay, only he’s a regular part of the group instead of a one-episode throwaway character.

I’m cool with Pickles/Charles, and that fits with Buddy coming on to Eric in the show. But I would eventually break them up and put Charles with…

Nathan = no one on the show, but he’s got a lot of Hyde’s qualities in terms of stoic, bad boy vibes. However, like Kelso, he is an Adorable Dumb (see “that’s doable” hat).

Rebecca Nightrod = Jackie, but she’s not a necessarily a regular character. Murderface fawns/lusts over her like Fez, even though she’s a bitch. Nathan hates her, even though he does date her briefly in a relationship that she holds onto tenaciously until, in an act of desperation that absolutely horrifies Pickles, he cheats on her with Seth.

Abigail = Donna, because she’s smart and has good hair. (Zero bleach kits in sight.)

Rockso = Bob, because he’s a cue ball on top and makes liberal use of crazy wigs. Bargain Rockso’s is that store that’s always open on holidays — just in case you’re driving home Christmas night, realize you forgot to get a gift, and rush in to buy a fridge to solve the gift problem and/or some cocaine to forget there was ever a problem in the first place.

Magnus = Leo. He gives Murderface a job at his hilariously unprofitable Photo Hut business, declines to sell his real cool car to Skwisgaar on principal, and generally supplies the gang with all their weed and assorted drugs.

Dory McLean = Midge. She’s young, dumb, has big boobs, and Abigail is exasperated as hell that she doesn’t understand feminism in the slightest.

Knubbler = Mitch, the weird kid who hangs around and is sometimes kinda entertaining but keeps hitting on Abigail, which annoys her. However, he’s also stupid and accidentally self-sabotages (see setting his sleeve on fire while trying to flirt), so she doesn’t really waste energy on slapping him back down.

Pickles “burning down the shed” = Eric telling Red “I do it too” when Hyde gets busted for possession. Either way Abigail (Donna) is standing in the background going, “For the love of god, DON’T.”

Trindle = Cousin Penny, only instead of prankish Pickles (Eric) she targets Nathan, who during her last visit when they were much younger helped Pickles trap her in a revolving door. Abigail is completely secure in her looks compared to Trindle and actually talks Rebecca out of a potentially disastrous sunlamp tan.

Nathan and Abigail go out for like, a second, while Nathan and Charles are I one of their off-again fazes.

Endgame parings are Nathan/Charles, Abigail/Rebecca, and Skwisgaar/Toki.

B.A.N.D.M.A.T.E.S

Nathan = Ross. Can you picture Nathan doing the *long sigh, ex wife is a lesbian blues* “Hi” thing? Because I can.

Abigail = Carol. They got together but it just didn’t work out in the long run. 

Rebecca Nightrod = Susan. Tbh, I think the reason she keeps popping up is because of how @little-murmaider portrayed her in Stay Alive. She and Nathan get along like a house on fire, in that it’s a disaster and Abigail keeps having to turn the hose on them to stop the bickering.

Toki = Monica, although his chef skills are mostly confined to providing fruit and burning plastic. He’s still got the overshadowed younger sibling thing going on though.

Molly = Judy Geller. Dotes on Nathan.

Oscar = Jack Geller. Is amiably odd.

Charles = Rachel. Except not as ditzy. But he does break an engagement off at the altar and moves in with Toki, an old acquaintance he hasn’t seen since high school and one of the few people he, ah, did not invite to the wedding. For the record, he was hoping that wouldn’t come up.

Skwisgaar = Joey. Except when they all go to London, Toki (Monica) does hook up with him, gradually teaches him how to relationship, and eventually they get married.

Murderface = Chandler. He hates his data processing job and keeps threatening to leave it to work on his side project, Planet Piss, but never actually does because the money is really good. When he goes back to the pet store to return the baby chick Skwisgaar impulse bought, he instead adopts an ugly-ass duck that no one wants because it’s original owners thought it was just an ugly duckling that would grow up into a swan. He feels that he can empathize with it, and names it Dick van Duck.

Knubbler = Dick van Duck. Listens patiently to all of Murderface’s Planet Piss ideas.

Pickles = Phoebe. He doesn’t even know who his dad is, and is proud that he doesn’t. (I’m not going to lie, Phoebe’s family situation definitely fits more with Murderface, but Phoebe’s dating track record is too good.) Remember the one where Pickles broke up with someone he’d just moved in with because the person shot a bottle of liquor?

Seth = Ursula. 100% Ursula. Seth is a “career driven” waiter and also a part time porn star on the side, using Pickles’ name.

Fraiser 

I don’t watch this one as much, so this one won’t be as detailed probably.

Skwisgaar = Frasier. Idk, because he goes on dates with a different woman at least every episode. Also, he’s a jackass, but good at what he does and there are some redeeming glimmers of not being a complete asshole that make his presence worthwhile.

Nathan = Niles. Minus most of the neuroses. Instead of successful musicians, he and Skwisgaar are both successful psychiatrists, although Skwisgaar usually gets the bulk of the public’s, ahem, attention.

Daphne = Charles. He’s oblivious to Nathan’s crush on him for ages, but when he realizes it’s there and thinks about how sweet Nathan’s always been to him, he falls hard.

Rebecca Nightrod = Maris. She and Nathan have a rocky marriage, and eventually a rockier divorce in which she accuses Nathan of being emotionally unfaithful because of Charles.

Abigail = The brilliant divorce lawyer that handles Nathan’s case, and briefly dates Charles. They seem like such a good fit on paper that they’re actually engaged for a bit, but they break it off amiably right before getting to the altar, and Nathan and Charles ride off into the sunset in an RV with “road warrior” vanity plates.

Toki = Roz. (I know, technically Roz’s promiscuousness would be more Skwisgaar, but Skwisgaar’s superiority complex fits better with Frasier.) Although competent and successful in his own right, he is not the on air talent. Unlike in Frasier, when Toki and Skwisgaar sleep together they actually become a couple instead of backing off and remaining good friends.

Rockso = That garbage man that Roz was head over heals with for a while… Rodger?He belongs in a garbage can. Anyway, after breaking up with Toki over the latter’s inability to get over his massive cocaine use, Toki goes to Skwisgaar for comfort, which leads to drinking which leads to sex. Toki flees the next morning and flies to Norway for the annual family reunion, only he hadn’t told anyone he’s broken up with Rockso. Skwisgaar, desperate to Talk Things Out and hopefully even Do That Again, follows and (cringingly, but of his own volition) answers to/pretends to be Rockso to help Toki save face in front of his critical family.

Murderface = Bulldog. He and Toki briefly have a thing, and he’s actually kind of sweet when you get right down to it, but things don’t work out. Masturbation photos are involved — don’t ask. Also, at one point Skwisgaar accidentally repeats a rumor that Murderface is going to get fired where Murderface can hear it, so

Murderface goes and yells at the station manager (then Knubbler) and quits. Then he’s unemployed for a while, and scrapes by delivering pizzas. I forget how that situation resolved itself in the show but it does.

Knubbler = Kenny the station manager. Weak willed. Weak chinned. Ineffectual. Good track record in his career, but mostly he’s just there.

Abigail = That domineering and extremely competent lady station manager that’s there for a while… Kate? Has a cat. But she does NOT get it on with Skwisgaar (Frasier) on his desk and accidentally bump the On Air button partway through. She has a very strict policy of not getting involved with anyone she works with, although naturally everyone tries.

That’s all I got.

Magnus = Martin. Because he’s a cranky old man. He and Nathan don’t get along and he resents having to live with Skwisgaar, but they all gamely trade barbed insults and leave it at that. Magnus is a retired cop who still works on old cold cases as a hobby, having vowed revenge on uncaptured murderers everywhere. He and Charles (Daphne) get along pretty well, and there is no stabbing of any kind.

Metal Masked Assassin = Cam Winston. At one point he blocks Skwisgaar and Toki in Skwisgaar’s SUV into a parking space with his own SUV, and only relents and backs out when Charles comes and calmly threatens him, because “that’s my bread and butter you’re blocking in.”

There, are you happy now?? I spent a ridiculous amount of time on this, asdf;lkj lol.

[mr-mellow-dj]

I Never Kew

Cross Posted from FF dot net

As Beckett said she “believes in the everyday magic of life in … the way that I feel when I hear Coltrane”, this is from his album “Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane”. These vignettes come to mind when I hear the songs as played by John Coltrane.

This song is “I Never Knew.” You can hear the song as played by Coltrane, Burrell, Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb on YouTube.

watch?v=Nd03dS9oMD0

This song is by Ted Fio Rito and Gus Kahn. A version of it being sung by Frank Sinatra is also on YouTube.  

watch?v=3UfMojz2j0c

 Disclaimer: The characters are the property of Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC television. The lyrics are the property of their respective owners. No infringement is intended.

I never knew

That roses grew,

Or that skies were blue or grey.

I never knew,

When breezes blew,

What a Summer breeze could say.

A/N: A summer sometime in the future

“Mom!”

Kate looked up from her book to see the younger of the twins running toward her from the beach.

“Mom!” Reese said huffing after running. “Mom, we saw some. It was so cool.”

She looked over her 7 year old son’s shoulder to see her husband of 14 years jogging up with the other twin close behind. She looked back at her red faced son smiling.

“You saw some what?” She asked her son.

He responded in earnest, “Dolphins, just beyond where we swim to. There was a whole school of them.”

“Pod.” Kate corrected her son. “And how far out do you swim?”

“What?” Reese asked.

“Pod.” Kate answered.

“Pod what?”

“A group of dolphins is called a ‘pod’.” Kate answered.

By that time Castle and Jake had made it to her lounge chair. Castle leaned down, kissed her on the cheek and whispered in her ear, “You’re so hot when you use correct animal groupings.”

Smiling, she gently slapped his chest and said, “Little pitchers.”

Reese, looking between his parents, said, “What are ‘little pitchers’.”

Castle mischievously smiling at his wife turned to his son and said, “I’ll explain when you’re older.”

“Aww, I’m never gonna be older,” Reese whined as he turned and stomped off toward the house.

“Reese, come back please.” Her son still stomping away. “Now!”

He stops knowing that another step will get him into very hot water.

“How far out do you swim?” Kate asks as her mother hen sense goes on high.

Her son, grumbling comes back to his mother but doesn’t answer. He stands beside her chair head down and sighs.

She puts her hand under her son’s chin to look her in the eye.

“How far?”

“Only as far as dad lets us,” Reese smiled turning to his father.

Beckett turns to her husband, “And how far is that, Castle?”

Smiling back at his wife he says, “Not so far as I can’t get to them. And not ankle deep either. I let them explore their abilities without letting them get in too deep.”

“So that’s what dads do. Let their children explore their abilities, huh? Is that another way of saying dads or maybe a specific dad doesn’t pay attention when his kids are out in the ocean? Hmm, Castle?”

“No, it’s a way of saying that mothers smother their children keeping them from discovering the world,” Castle responds ending with a sweeping arm gesture.

“Channeling Martha I see,” Beckett teases.

“What?” Castle innocently asks.

“I don’t think so, Castle,” Kate continues. “No, another way of saying it is: mothers would kill fathers if anything ever happens to a hair on the head of their cubs. Capeesh?”

“Yep,” Castle responds.

“Okay,” Kate turns to her youngest children. “Reese. Jake. Go with your father to wash up. It’s getting close to lunch time. Mama’s hungry so you know what that means.”

“Ahhgg!” Reese yells running toward the house swinging his arms like a windmill. “Feed me Seymour!”

Jake follows close behind as their parents chuckle at the twins antics.

“You’re much cuter than Twoee.” Castle says leaning down and kissing his wife’s head.

“And I figure if anyone gets eaten, it would be me,” He continues waggling his eyebrows.

“Castle,” Kate says playfully slapping his legs. “That’s awful. Good thing little pitchers weren’t here to hear that.”

“What?” Castle said trying to keep an innocent face. “Just the facts, ma’am. Just the facts.”

Beckett rolled her eyes at him.

Castle continued, “I said nothing about whether I enjoyed it or not.” Whispering in her ear, “And believe me, I do.”

Standing up Castle held his hand out. “M’ lady.”

Beckett grasped his hand and pulled herself up. “Thank you, kind sir,” She said as she kissed his cheek and the pair followed their sons inside.

I never knew

That dreams came true

And took your cares away

I never knew

What love could do,

Until I met you today.

A/N: Another summer sometime further in the future

Castle sat down in the Adirondack chair on the back lawn at the Hamptons house and gazed over the ocean. The weekend had been a great success for him and his extended family.

The key members of the crew from the 12th had come by. Lanie and her husband and their 3 kids. Javi and his wife and theirs. Ryan and Jennie with Sarah Grace and her husband and Nick and his fianc��e. Even retired Chief Gates and her husband had come.

Alexis had a flight to catch out of JFK back to Chicago so she left first. Lily, Reese and Jake were the last to leave. But all had left by mid-afternoon to try to beat some of the Sunday evening traffic back into the city. Beckett and Castle had ferried some of them to the nearby Long Island Railroad station. The rest were driving back.

Castle sat in the chair with the afterglow of a fun time with all his friends and family. Friends that liked him for being himself, Rick Rodgers, not the best-selling author, Richard Castle.

His brothers-in-arms still called him ‘Castle’ but his best-selling author fame or fortune weren’t why they were his friend, unless the Ferrari was involved. With age came the realization that they weren’t kids anymore that they didn’t need access to the mid-life crisis car, and that was emphasized the last time they tried to extract themselves from the seemingly lower than they remembered driver’s seat.  

He’d kept the Ferrari for ‘old time’s sake’ but hadn’t driven it in a couple of years. Kate drove it when they were out in the Hamptons but it mostly lay dormant in the garage.

Castle rides around the island with her occasionally remembering that sinfully short and tight midnight blue dress she wore while driving it during a case. If Beckett pushed him, he would give up that that was the only reason he kept the car.

He chuckled remembering all the fun times he had at the 12th.

“What’s so funny, Castle?” Asked Beckett.

“I never thanked him, you know,” Castle said to his wife of almost 30 years.

“Thanked who?” Beckett asked as she sat down in her husband’s lap. She wrapped her arms around his head and kissed him.

Still lost in thought, Castle answered. “I never thanked him.”

Kate pushed herself away so that she could see his face. She looked at Rick dumbfounded. “What are you talking about?”

“I never thanked him for his murders.”

“You never thanked him for killing people?” Kate asked. “Have you been in the sun too long?”

“Nope, never better,” Castle responded. “I’m feeling great right now. Great for being … uh, how old am I … 74 years old.”

“Ohhh kay,” Beckett said drawing out the ‘O’ and the ‘K’. “Who did you never thank? Jerry Tyson? Surely not William Bracken.”

“No. No. No.” Castle adamantly responded. “No. And never them. They’re ones that shouldn’t have seen the light of day. No. I’m talking about Harrison Tisdale. He’s the one I should be thanking.”

“So you never thanked Harrison Tisdale for what was it? Killing his sister and two other people? Castle, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Yes it does,” Castle says. “It makes perfect sense.”

Beckett looked at him sideways as if to say “what crazy thought is he having now.”

Castle continues, “While it wasn’t perfect for his victims, it made my life perfect.”

Still looking at her husband, “Okay, I’ll bite. Why did it make your life perfect?”

Castle lovingly looks into Beckett’s eyes and says, “It actually made my dreams come true. Because if Harrison Tisdale hadn’t murdered his sister and two other people, making murder scenes look like those from my books, you would never had recognized them and come to my ���Derrick Storm’ book launch party and arrested me. So probably we would never had met. That’s why I should thank him.”

“What about you always talking about ‘The Universe’? Saying that we were destined to be together. That we being together brought harmony to ‘The Universe’. What about that, hmm?”

Castle pondered for a moment. “You may have a point there, Beckett.”

Castle tapped his chin, thinking about what his wife said. “You know, though, sometimes ‘The Universe’ needs a little nudge to help it along. Tisdale did that.”

“A nudge, huh?”

“Yeah. Nudge. Prod. Push. Bump. Jolt. Yeah, nudge.”

Chuckling she continues, “Well thank you, Mr. Thesaurus.”

“I am a writer.”

With false surprise Beckett says, “You’re a writer? Who knew?”

“Mock all you like, Beckett. I feel like Rodney Dangerfield.”

Castle moves his left hand up to his neck as if to adjust an invisible necktie, “I never get any respect.”

“No respect, huh? Is that what you’re going with now?”

“Yes?” Castle answers sheepishly.

Standing up, Beckett says, “Well, now that the kids and friends are gone. I can think of something or maybe someone else that needs to be nudged. Prodded. Pushed.”

Castle stands up and wraps his arms around her waist, responding, “You do? Hmm, who could that be?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we should go upstairs and see what we can discover.”

“Discovery is nice,” Castle says. “Especially when it is the two of us discovering. Maybe some uncovering is involved?”

“I think that could be arranged,” Beckett responds, kissing her husband.

“Oh, goody,” Castle says rubbing his hands together.

“But not if you say ‘Oh, goody’ again.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Holding out her hand to him she says, “Come on. Let’s go inside.”

Grasping her hand in his he responds, “Beckett, I’d follow you anywhere.”

[adevotedappraisal]

DNA. By Kendrick Lamar from DAMN.

What is that there, lying in the heart of man?  What is there composing the shifting totality of a person?  Is it that rushing ambition to conquer? To eliminate? Is the heart of man to assimilate this environment around it in order to live with it?  Or is it to be a library of emotions, compiling sights, sounds and snippets of experiences that make up the whole of a person?  Or is it yet the limitations, the things outside of one’s reach that define the person?  You see I think this Compton, California rapper ruminated on questions similar to this and, like the great poet Walt Whitman, concluded that the soul can never be greater than the body and that the body cannot be greater than the soul, and he tried to coincide this with the pursuit of making an album that reaches out to try to be everything to everyone, and I think this approach reveals Kendrick Lamar letting go parts of himself to the hearth of the past in order to become the great American rap artist he needs to be.

What if your life doesn’t flash before your eyes when you die?  What if your life plays before your ears, in uncompressed audio?  Hey what if, like, you died and instead of Saint Peter there was Kid Capri rocking your book of life? Wouldn’t that be unexpected yet ill? And what if you replayed this book-of-life album in the reverse order and it flowed well and you could still tease out some meaning, or imagined meaning from the whole thing? Well some of this is what is going with Kendrick Lamar’s latest album DAMN., an album more open-ended and undefined than his previous releases, even as the songs explore his issues in this bold, concise and direct way.

And what is this talk about this album being ‘everything to everyone’? And what is this ‘direct way’ I speak of? What are these euphemisms in service of? Well, a buncha shiny, well-produced sellout songs to be curt. But hold on now, we gotta unpack that a bit because this is Kendrick we’re talking about, not some genre artist tossing up a hail mary of Pop fluff to prevent being dropped from their label.  This is Kendrick Lamar, who achieved his breakthrough year behind his most experimental and dense album, 2015s To Pimp a Butterfly.(review) It’s like if Stevie Wonder gained a strong following on Songs in the Key of Life but blew up internationally after releasing his obscure, mostly instrumental album Journey into the Secret Life of Plants.  The point being that any foray into contemporary sounds here is not an act of gasping desperation, but a considered and meaningful exploration, because let’s be honest here, after the positive reception from his leftovers EP untitled unmastered, ( he could have launched into his Miles Davis-esque electric period for a couple years and no one would’ve batted an eye.  

So these songs that take a nod to the radio (there go the euphemisms again, look make no mistake, these radio songs condescend heavily to modern sounds, in a near cynical display) must be judged on the ultimate efficacy of the end result.  At the end of the day, does Kung Fu Kenny sound good doing this shuffle? For the most part, yes he does.  It comes off more like the Nile Rodgers produced Let’s Dance album by David Bowie, as opposed to, say, any Mick Jagger solo album, or Hammer’s 2 Legit 2 Quit or something. In fact, you know how every now and then Fat Joe sometimes gets on some modern production of the moment and turns it into a Bronx anthem? Kendrick is like that at times here, like with “ELEMENT.,” a sparse head-nodder with Lamar rhyming, not too complex and rapid fire, but in a nonchalant and playful style, reminiscent of If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late-era Drake, warning “we ain’t going back to broke families selling dope” at one moment and doing a spot on Juvenile “Ha” impression the next, or with “GOD.,” a splendid slice of rap-pop of braggadocio with reverberating shimmering synths, synth bass and understated drums, Kendrick stretching out lines in the ear candy chorus with joyful relish.  He sounds comfortable here, experimenting with his words, slowing the cadence, singing a line here, doing a Quavo-esque ad lib there, making his presence in the radio and streaming playlists of people the way the Rakims and Daddy Kanes had to do in decades of yore.  

You see the great MCs, I mean the ones in peoples top ten, weren’t aloof, reclusive emperors tossing down sprawling, screeds without choruses from the castle tower. Nah, they were politicians, trying their best to get on the dancefloor of the club, shaking hands, kissing babies, prodding you to sing the chorus for them on the count of four.  His grip on this enterprise though becomes shaky on first single “HUMBLE.,” where he’s lumbering in an awkward gait on a Mike Will Made It beat which kinda sounds like a drunk, spastic Thelonious Monk banging keys in a strip club, and he’s the same on “LOYALTY.” with Rhianna.  Over a clean, cosmopolitan groove, with waxy, reversed voices floating by, the two remind us that loyalty and trust are central to any relationship, a prerequisite for love in fact.  Rhianna is fine here, intriguing even with her cool realisations and raps, but Kendrick is near anonymous on the song, reduced to a wallflower mumble on the summer cookout-ready banger.

While some songs are set up to accompany a cool, night at a trendy scene or as perfect driving music, some other songs have a density to them, made ornate and true with the person inside them.  “DNA.” is like this, with Kendrick in full command on a pair of Mike Will Made It beats, telling us all about this things wrought and proud within him.  As confident as he is on the sitar slinking around the cool stroll of the 808 drums, by the second beat he’s barely contained, belittling and dismissing unnamed rivals over a booming beat frenzied with a hectic vocal sample.  The song captures your attention and doesn’t let go.  It’s easily the best opener of any album of his.

“XXX.” with U2 is one of the emotional centers of the album, with the first verse –over some Ice Cube Bomb Squad era beat– showing an incensed Kendrick telling a man seeking advice for a dead relative that he would seek revenge by gun violence if it were him, offering no solace to the inquisitor, only blunt street invective.  The second verse, with Bono crooning about America with a knowing reflection that recalls the slower songs on the Side B of his Joshua Tree album, show Kendrick proposing that the violence in him and around this country are one and the same, existing in him with the same barely constrained ferocity that exists in U.S. domestic and foreign policy sometimes. I always like this conceptual side to Lamar, and we see it again with “FEAR.,” although its middle verse features a too-subdued Kendrick talking about all the things he thought he could die by when he was a late teen.  It’s too elementary, not only in comparison to the fiery and self-reflective first and third verses but to the nature of this beat.   This Alchemist beat would be the darling heart to any number of East Coast MCs winter albums.  With its ruminating bassline, flints of funk guitar, snatches of organ fills and samples of soul vocal lines, runs and hums, the beat was made for blunt wrappers, freestyle sessions and those thick studio monitor  headphones that so often look like halos. Black Thought would’ve kicked the teeth in this beat.  Royce could murder this for four, five verses easy.  It’s in this context that Kendrick falters, the sober nature of his fears blunted by the warm fog of this beat.  

He fares better with “DUCKWORTH,” yet another soul voice and harmony sample chop, this time by 9th Wonder adroitly stitching three different beats together to match temporal and mood changes.  Over this now Kendrick is commanding, telling a story of an up and coming gangster who meets with a wily fast food drive-thru worker, shading in the two characters with tales of hood agility and cross country wanderlust. The ending of the song talks about a choice not taken, and the choice that could’ve been taken and the resultant death that would’ve occurred to our not-so-faithful narrator.  

I mean this album is obsessed with violence, is moody and is suspicious of people when it’s not celebrating the trappings of being the most talked about rapper around.  It’s all over the place thematically but self-assured musically in the way that a lot of self-titled albums were made once upon a time.  You know I think that’s what this is in a sense, Kendrick Lamar’s Kendrick Lamar album, a self-portrait of the artist as young man, all dressed up in a life-flashes-before-your-eyes concept album framework, but there it is, a glimpse of the changing man and his vulpine ambitions, what he gained and what he’s let go of, a launching pad from which he could go in any direction next go around, no doubt engendering questions again. Because he, like us, as the Brooklyn poet Whitman reminds, contradicts himself, for he is large, and he does contain multitudes.

[spongebobreviewed]

Episode 01A: Help Wanted

Premise: Spongebob Squarepants attempts to obtain the job of his dreams: working as a frycook at the Krusty Krab.

Review: Help Wanted is a pilot episode and, as such, it does a great job of introducing us to the characters and (most of) their personalities. Spongebob, our protagonist, is portrayed as a determined go-getter, Patrick Star is Spongebob’s best friend, Squidward is the cynic annoyed by Spongebob’s antics, and Mr. Krabs is a rusty sailor with a love for money. Patrick is a far cry from the lovable dope we know him in later episodes, appearing here as a wiser confident to Spongebob. One of the great things about the character interactions here is that there isn’t that “introduction” aspect that most first episodes seem to feature. None of the characters are meeting each other for the first time (with the possible exception of Mr. Krabs and Spongebob) and each establish their relationships with each other through well-written dialogue. For example, Squidward sees Spongebob running towards the Krusty Krab and immediately says: “Oh no, Spongebob...”. There’s no explicit backstory as to why Squidward hates Spongebob, but we as an audience immediately understand the characters’ implied histories.

The animation is definitely different than most other episodes. It was the only episode produced in 1997, two years before it aired on television. The color palette is a lot more muted, Spongebob is significantly less yellow than usual, Squidward is a much brighter shade of cyan, and Mr. Krabs features bright pink eyelids. Character models are also slightly off, particularly Gary who’s vacant expression will haunt you forever. The backgrounds are watercolor and feature a tremendous amount of detail. Some probably already know that the Krusty Krab is based off an actual lobster trap and the inside is filled with ropes, wooden poles, metal walls, and the classic steering wheel tables and barrel stools. The restaurant is styled much like that of a ship and coupled with Mr. Krabs’ sailor jargon and mannerisms gives it a very distinct personality. The entire look of this episode, as well as the majority of Season 1, is very “vintage” looking and reminds me of most of the traditionally animated cartoons Nick aired in the 90′s.

The voice acting by actors Tom Kenny (Spongebob, Gary, Narrator), Bill Faggerbakke (Patrick), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs), and Rodger Bumpass (Squidward) is great. Each actor brings their character to life and is full of life and personality. The writing for this episode is decent and a good first start with a few chuckleworthy jokes and one standout that has escaped the confines of this episode and has become regularly quoted by many people to this day.

Special mention must be made to the music, which is another aspect of the show that has garnered contemporary fame. The music in Spongebob is 90% stock music from various libraries but the pieces are so iconic and recognizable that they’ve become ingrained as part of the show itself. This episode in particular features a rare licensed track, Tiny Tim’s “Livin in the Sunlight, Lovin in the Moonlight”, which caused Help Wanted to be left off the official Season 1 DVD release due to rights issues. The most notable piece, and one that will continue to be used for the rest of the show’s run, is “The Rake Hornpipe” which most people have come to associate as the official theme of the Krusty Krab, although it makes its entrance in the episode accompanied by the start of Mr. Krabs’ dialogue rather than the first appearance of the restaurant.

Overall, Help Wanted isn’t the most in-depth or extraordinary episode but as a pilot, it gets the job done and gets it done well. It’s a good starter episode for the series and introduces all the primary characters in a way that makes each unique and interesting.

Rating: 3.75 stars

Notable Quotes:

“There it is: the finest establishment ever established for eating: the Krusty Krab!”

“You’re terrible! A hydro-what?”

“Do you smell it? That smell. A kind of smelly smell. A smelly smell that smells...smelly.”

“Batten down the hatches, Mr. Squidward! We’re taking on water, Mr. Squidward! I WANT MY MOMMY, MR. SQUIDWARD!”

[theoriesontheory]

‘A Self-Portrait of an inspired and reflective practitioner” (Me?!?)

This week as a part of trying to reflect on my practice and who I am as a creative I was set to task to create a self-portrait. I was given no limits as far as media, method and message which left me with a seemingly endless pool of options. My initial reaction was to create a playlist, what better way to describe myself than with the medium I love. However, as I started putting it together, I found that while I can fill a playlist with songs from my childhood, what I was influenced by and what I am trying to emulate, it felt like there were gaps in the story.

I decided to put together a collage of images both gathered from the internet as well as some from my social media, with the idea that not only is it a collection of images that sums up who I am but also works to tell a chronological level. On the bottom level are the things that shaped me as a young person, before I ever had formal music training. I was raised in a very musical family, the three artists across the bottom, Prince, Kenny Rodgers, and Meatloaf represent listening to albums and songs in cars on the way to and from school with my family and watching Purple Rain when I was younger, seeing Prince and wanting nothing more than to be him. The fourth image is from Christmas 2014 and represents a common occurrence when I was younger that is at family events all my uncles would bring guitars and sing Latin American songs out of time and out of key. Looking at these formative images I am struck with two things that felt missing in a playlist and that is the experience of living through experiencing this media. I was drawn to songs that told a story like The Gambler by Kenny Rodgers or the Bat out of Hell Album by Meatloaf, the life of The Kid in Purple Rain and the family tradition of singing together.

Moving up we enter my high school years, which was when music shifted from something I liked to something I was obsessed with. I have included mostly photos from live shows as this was the period where I was going to as many shows as I could afford and trying to sneak into the ones I couldn’t. I was a typical teenager in that I was drawn to “angsty” music but was already developing a passion for Australian music, loving bands like Tonight Alive and Vices. The mecca of live music for me at this time was a venue in Wollongong called RAD Bar. It was a tiny venue with average sound on a good night, but it was a safe haven for the music community for many years and was where I made many friends that turned into industry contacts and where I would play some of my first ever shows. The non-Australian bands included here are Modern Baseball and Being as An Ocean. Different bands when considering sound but I was drawn to them for the same reason, the same reason I was drawn to the music I liked when I was younger, there were stories there, stories I related to. On the right side, lower portion you might notice the cover of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and be somewhat confused. When I started playing bass I ended up getting lessons at the local conservatorium through high school. I was already in love with music at this point and was super eager to start playing. Initially, I thought the jazz stuff was cool, appreciated why I should learn the theory but wanted to play in the pop-punk band me and my friends had formed. It wasn’t until I was introduced to modal Jazz, through Kind of Blue that I fell in love with the genre. Why? I heard stories, through Miles’s trumpet playing and the harmony I felt emotion and communication, just as much as I did when listening to a song with lyrics. While it is a seemingly tangential story I view my experience of learning Jazz theory and coming to understand harmony and how that can play into composition on an emotional level as core to some of the work I’m doing now.

Moving up into my uni, through to now life I found I was looking for less photos of other people and looking for experiences I had. My time at uni was when I started playing in bands more regularly, went on tour, was involved with recording, all of which I have continued as I have been able to this day. I have included photos of the two bands I played in primarily, Jack R. Reilly from Sydney and Indie Kid Callum from Wollongong, both projects were built on groups of friends wanting to create together as opposed to getting the best players in town together. I have also included two photos of me doing the solo work that takes up most of my current creative time. Even though Sal Viejo and found_sound.mp3 are solo projects, in that I am the only one with their name to the whole of the projects, I am still influenced by my community, I write songs about my life, experiences, friends and our stories. I remix work from other artists. I listen to and love my friends work; we share mixes and ideas with each other. The final image is the logo for the website/booking agency that I started with my best friend in 2020. We are dedicated to listening to, writing about, and promoting local music and have been working on shows and write ups for artists from Canberra and beyond. This part of my practice in my mind is informed and built on all the things that have come before. The way I play is influenced by the songs I grew up listening to, my performance is based on shows that I saw and was a part of, the way I enjoy collaborating can be traced back to my experiences with my family. At the centre is a photo I took today (on day of writing) in a mirror just outside of my room. Looking at the image, I find it interesting the little stories and memories that some of the images conjure. Alongside each of these is a song or performance or idea for a song or performance waiting to happen. I feel like I am the most creative when I am at the centre of all these things. Sometimes I find that I ignore some of the experiences I have, deeming jazz theory as inappropriate for an emo song or thinking that a standard four chord progression is too simple. But just looking at the breadth of my taste and experience, you’d think I know that it’s not always what you do it is often tied up with how you do it.

This exercise has proved a valuable tool for reflecting on who I am as a creative. I have concluded that as an individual I am drawn to art that has a story and is a part of community. So, it seems only fitting that in my journey as a creative practitioner when I work I am influenced by all of the things I have absorbed and had experiences with. I mix them all together and try to make something that tells a story and has a place in my community.

Image Descriptions and References (Starting Top Left)

1: Photo from Show with Jack R Reilly Band. (2019). Taken from Personal Facebook Page

2:HomeGrown Sounds Logo, designed by Beniah Coulburn. Taken from Personal Facebook Page

3: Sign from Rad Bar in Wollongong. (2018). Taken from Personal Facebook Page

4: Photo of me working as found_sound.mp3. (2021). Unpublished.

5: Photo of me performing at The Front as Sal Viejo. (2019). Taken from personal Facebook page.

6: Photo of recording set up for gang vocals for Canberra Band Plastic Plants. (2020). Taken from Personal Facebook Page

7: Photo of Tonight Alive Performing Live on the ‘The Other Side’ tour (2018). https://wallpapersafari.com/w/nvfjuN

8: Photo from the last ever Vices show at Rad Bar (2018). https://robfrench.com.au/2018/04/23/vices-last-ever-show/

9: Photo of me taken this morning (29/07/21). Unpublished

10:Photo taken at a band practice for Indie Kid Callum. (2017). Taken from Personal Facebook Page

11: Photo of Modern Baseball Playing live in Glasgow. (2014). https://louderthanwar.com/modern-baseball-audio-glasgow-24092014-live-review/

12: Photo of me playing bass at an Indie Kid Callum Show. (2017). Taken from Personal Facebook Page

13: Cover of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue. (n.d.) https://www.vinyldestination.com.au/miles-davis-kind-of-blue-mono-limited

14: Promotional Image of Prince for Purple Rain. (2019). https://ultimateprince.com/purple-rain-moments/

15: Album Cover of Kenny Rodgers’ The Gambler. (n.d.) https://genius.com/Kenny-rogers-the-gambler-lyrics

16: Photo of family Christmas eve gathering. (2014) Taken from Personal Facebook Page

17: Album Cover of Meatloaf’s Bat out of Hell (2021). https://tommygirard.wordpress.com/2021/03/16/meat-loaf-bat-out-of-hell/

[junker-town]

Predictions for every NFL team from those who know their team best

With no scrimmages or preseason, here is what to expect.

The hopes and dreams of 32 fanbases hang in the balance with the NFL season almost upon us. It’s been a bizarre lead up to the season due to the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning we have much less information than we normally would entering the season.

Normally we get at least some information from scrimmages and preseason by now. Instead we’re going off gut feelings and beliefs. We asked our network of team blogs (and a couple from your’s truly) to give us their predictions for their beloved teams in the hopes to learn more. Here���s what they think from the fans who know their teams the best.

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals will live and die by their offense. The Cardinals did little to address their defense in the offseason, instead further stacking the offense by adding DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins and Larry Fitzgerald are a quarterback’s dream, and Kyler Murray should have major success through the air this season. Unfortunately the defense still won’t be enough to have them compete in the NFC West ... yet.

— James Dator, SB Nation

Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons will be looking to put two straight years of mediocrity behind them and take a veteran team on a deep playoff run. With a ton of money committed to stars and short-term bets on players like Todd Gurley and Dante Fowler Jr., this team is built to contend right now and more or less has to keep the current brain trust around.

— Dave Choate, The Falcoholic

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens will win the Super Bowl. With nearly all of their high-level talent returning and multiple big-name pass rushers being added to the defense, the Ravens will end the season hoisting the Lombardi trophy.

— Kyle Barber, Baltimore Beatdown

Buffalo Bills

The Bills will sink their teeth into the AFC East. The window is wide open for the Bills after years of being in New England’s shadow. While the Patriots move on from Tom Brady, and the rest of the division is, well, the Dolphins and Jets — there’s a major chance for the Bills to dominate and try to becoming the source of consistency in the division.

— James Dator, SB Nation

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers will try to rebuild the franchise into a consistent winner under new head coach Matt Rhule, something they haven’t been since... well, since the team was founded in 1995. They’re still searching for their first ever back-to-back winning seasons, and they currently have a long, rocky road ahead if they plan to accomplish that goal anytime soon.

— Bradley Smith, Cat Scratch Reader

Chicago Bears

The Bears will once again have one of the best defenses in the NFL, but as is Chicago tradition, they’ll only go as far as the quarterback can take them. If Mitchell Trubisky — or Nick Foles — can simply manage the offense, the Bears will be back in the playoffs.

— Lester A. Wiltfong Jr., Windy City Gridiron

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals will bounce back faster than anyone expected. Joe Burrow is NFL ready from the jump, and the bones of this team are still good. Expect them to at least be competitive this season, and make people wonder why they were so bad a year ago.

— James Dator, SB Nation

Cleveland Browns

The Browns will have the best rushing attack in the NFL, but only when the passing game gets more efficient mid-way through the season will Cleveland start being the favorite to win every week as opposed to just a crapshoot. That will put them in the mix for a late-season wildcard chase in the AFC.

— Chris Pokorny, Dawgs By Nature

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys will see if Jason Garrett was the issue with their talented roster falling short of expectations. Mike McCarthy takes over as head coach and he will try to elevate the Cowboys into a team that can win in the playoffs.

— Dave Halprin, Blogging The Boys

Denver Broncos

The Broncos will surprise a lot of people. That defense is going to be sneaky elite, so watch out!

— Tim Lynch, Mile High Report

Detroit Lions

The Lions will have a top five offense with a healthy Matthew Stafford and new weapons in the backfield. If the defense can improve even marginally, they will be in the NFC North race come December.

— Jeremy Reisman, Pride of Detriot

Green Bay Packers

The Packers will be an NFC contender again, and even if they don’t match their lofty 13-3 record from a year ago they could be a better team overall. The defense returns almost all of the key players, featuring a terrifying pass rush and a strong secondary, while Aaron Rodgers looks poised for a bit of a bounce-back in his second year in Matt LaFleur’s offense.

— Evan Western, Acme Packing Company

Houston Texans

The Texans will be unpredictable. Yes, that sounds weird for a prediction — but so much is up in the air. Houston went some big roster shifts this offseason, notably headlined by trading DeAndre Hopkins, but as long as DeShaun Watson is under center this team can still make noise and win the AFC South.

— James Dator, SB Nation

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts will reclaim the AFC South title with a potent rushing attack, dominant offensive line and veteran quarterback leadership. The young defense will start to put everything together as All Pros Darius Leonard and DeForest Buckner complement each other, second year cornerback Rock Ya-Sin takes a second-year leap, and Kenny Moore returns to the field healthy as one of the league’s best nickel corners.

— Brett Mock, Stampede Blue

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars will try to avoid suffering their ninth losing season since 2011. With 16 rookies included on the roster going into the season opener, a question mark at quarterback in Gardner Minshew, and a defense that traded away key players like Calais Campbell and A.J. Bouye, it looks to be another year of heartbreak in Duval.

— Ryan Day, Big Cat Country

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs will become the first NFL team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since 2005. During the most uncertain of times, they returned nearly all of their starters from their championship team, highlighted by the game’s best quarterback in Patrick Mahomes.

— Pete Sweeney, Arrowhead Pride

Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders will be better on both offense and defense and will vie for an AFC playoff berth.

— Bill Williamson, Silver & Black Pride

Los Angeles Rams

The Rams will find the explosiveness on offense that they had in 2018 but lost last year and a surprise star player in the front-seven besides Aaron Donald, but who that is remains to be seen.

— Kenny Arthur, Turf Show Times

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins will look to build upon a surprise five-win season in 2019 after being called the “worst team ever” by some analysts. Under Ryan Fitzpatrick, this year is the stage-setter for the Dolphins to return to being a long-term contender once Tua Tagovailoa takes over late in the year or in 2021.

— Kevin Nogle, The Phinsider

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings will break their Bret Saberhagen-esque cycle of being very good in odd-numbered years and average in even-numbered years under Mike Zimmer. Despite their offseason losses, the Vikings still have a lot of talent, and the NFC North is there for the taking. The Vikings will do just that, nabbing their first division title since 2017.

— Christopher Gates, Daily Norseman

New England Patriots

The Patriots will continue to try to do their jobs. Are those jobs good enough to keep the dynasty alive, though? That’s the question...

— Bernd Buchmasser, Pats Pulpit

New Orleans Saints

The Saints will finally be able to add a second Super Bowl to the resume of Drew Brees. After getting agonizingly close the past few seasons, the Saints will finally take care of business in the playoffs to let Drew Brees ride off into the sunset of retirement as a champion.

— Christopher Dunnells, Canal Street Chronicles

New York Giants

The Giants will try to get turned around after going 12-36 over the past three seasons. The Giants are starting over with rookie head coach Joe Judge and second-year quarterback Daniel Jones.

— Ed Valentine, Big Blue View

New York Jets

The Jets will begin their latest rebuild. New general manager Joe Douglas made the first investments in the offseason by focusing on the offensive line. It is overdue, but the Jets have finally started to put pieces around Sam Darnold.

- John Butchko, Gang Green Nation

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles will make the playoffs for the fourth straight season but fail to win more than one playoff game at most due to offensive line issues.

— Brandon Lee Gowton, Bleeding Green Nation

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers will look to ride Ben Roethlisberger‘s surgically repaired elbow back to the postseason. With an elite defense and a two-time Super Bowl champion commanding the huddle, the Steelers have pushed all their chips in for the 2020 season.

— Jeff Hartman, Behind the Steel Curtain

San Diego Chargers

The Chargers will see if Philip Rivers was really in decline last season, or if it was his surrounding cast that couldn’t get the job done. However, injuries remain a nuisance as they’ve already lost their best player on defense for the year.

— Michael Peterson, Bolts from the Blue

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers will turn into an offensive juggernaut, but come up short in the Super Bowl for the second season in a row. After a season’s worth of offensive highlights, ironically enough, it’s the defense that lets the team down in the big game.

— Kyle Posey, Niners Nation

Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks will make their first serious Super Bowl run since the 2014 season. With an offense led by an MVP contender in Russell Wilson, as well as a defense with as talented a linebacker and secondary group as any in the NFL, Seattle is poised to win its first NFC West title since 2016, with the hope of greater things to come from there.

- Mookie Alexander, Field Gulls

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers will be one of the most improved and most successful teams in the NFL thanks to a man they call Tom Brady. Can we say Super Bowl?

— Gil Arcia, Bucs Nation

Tennessee Titans

The Titans will find themselves playing in the final four again, but this year they will get over the hump and make the Super Bowl.

— Jimmy Morris, Music City Miracles

Washington Football Team

The Washington Football Team will struggle, but finally show some signs of life. Ron Rivera is a coach players love to give all their effort to, and that alone should make Washington at least watchable this season. It’s not much, but it’s progress.

— Scott Jennings, Hogs Haven

[thequeenofshebasays]

I don't understand why some people are like "oh my god Jonathan is so pretentious he's comparing himself to Bowie like oh my god". He was literally never comparing himself to Bowie?? He was just trying to make Will feel better and said being a freak is okay and would Will rather be friends with Bowie or Kenny Rodgers. He legit never said that he himself was like Bowie. I've said exact shit like that to my younger sibling to make them feel better idk why they don't get that?

I’ve come to realize that many in the Stranger Things fandom don’t understand how to comprehend basic things that happen on the show… or they let their hate for him cloud their judgement… he was never trying to say “oh i’m fucking Jonathan Byers! i’m as cool as David Bowie!” like that isn’t a thing that happened. he was trying to say that if you got Bowie and Rogers, who do you wanna hang with! he’s trying to say that Freaks are awesome and why be normal!?

(side note the fact that Will is so cute and is like “hell yes imma pick Bowie!” bc that’s damn cute.)

Jonathan knows that he is not Bowie, he’s a loner, quiet, nerd (yes he is) photographer… who tbh is the coolest person in all of Hawkins, he’s cool bc he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks, he’s cool bc he is himself, and he’s not shamed of his introverted, awkward self. he’s awesome! he’s tbh the best parts of tumblr… think about it.

people who attack him have no ground to stand on. they’re desperate to attack him even though in S2 he literally did NOTHING! plot aside, dude was a fucking saint! what?!

i guess that’s boring to some… well they’re all a bunch of Kenny Rogers!

[womenofcolor15]

The Celeb TikToks & Extra LIT IG Concerts That Won’t Make You Cringe

Celebs have been cutting up on TikTok with their kids, their boos and loved ones while being on lockdown. See your faves learning the TikTok moves, turning up for some good vibes and more inside…

Celebs are making the most out of their time in quarantine with the rest of us. And they have been posting some funny, cute and fire TikTok videos, watch parties and more to keep us all entertained as we all bunker down due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Actor Lil Rel Howery and his son, Judah Howery, was just the video we needed to see to lift our spirits:

  My little man has such an old soul he finished his school work early and we decided to have fun with one of his favorite songs... #FamilyTime pic.twitter.com/BTFnCZUsGi

— Lil Rel Howery (@LilRel4) March 18, 2020

  Auntie Debbie Allen is teaching us how to dance on Instagram Live. Y'all better catch these high-dollar gems:

  Debbie Allen teaching people how to dance on instagram live because everyone is stuck in quarantine is definitely the best thing i’ve ever seen pic.twitter.com/b1QLqXPxcM

— (@hrtbrkjules) March 18, 2020

    Debbie allen better go head with her online dance class, come on icon! pic.twitter.com/Ae0JlUogAO

— B. (@MoeshaMitchell_) March 18, 2020

    ALWAYS remember Debbie Allen gave us LIFE during The 'Rona of 2020! pic.twitter.com/BqiNGMTAUo

— Ashley, Truly. (@ashleylatruly) March 18, 2020

  Listen, DJ D-Nice's social distancing parties on IG Live have been LIT LIT. One of his sessions was 9 hours long!:

          View this post on Instagram

                  Class begins in 5 minutes! I’m going to be shouting out healthcare workers all day so when you hear me say “drop some stars in the chat for all the healthcare workers out here saving lives” I want to see the entire screen shining for them. Drop your stars in now!!!!!!!!! #DNiceHomeschool

A post shared by D-Nice (@dnice) on Mar 20, 2020 at 2:01pm PDT

            View this post on Instagram

                  3pm PST we are going live! Tell your friends!

A post shared by D-Nice (@dnice) on Mar 19, 2020 at 12:17pm PDT

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                  I can’t believe that I started the Home School social distancing dance party just four days ago and it’s become a place for us to virtually dance together and stay connected. From my kitchen, I’m able to send positive vibrations to each of you. Thank you for rocking with me. Thank you to all of the artists that popped in to show love. Al B. Sure, Andre Harrell, Angie Martinez, Anthony Hamilton, Beverly Bond, Bevy Smith, Big Daddy Kane, Bink, Black Thought, Bun B, Chris Spencer, Common, Damien Hall, Dave Chappelle, Deborah Cox, Debra Lee, DJ Camilo, DJ Cassidy, DJ Clark Kent, DJ Goldfinger, DJ Tony Touch, Donald Faison, Dres, Dule Hill, Erick Sermon, Estelle, Fab 5 Freddy, Fat Joe, Ghostface, Grand Puba, Jairobi White, Jazmyn Simon, Jermaine Dupri, Jill Scott, Jim Jones, Joe Budden, John Legend, Jonathan Mannion, Kardinal Official, Kenny Burns, Kenny Smith, Kevin Liles, Lee Daniels, Lena Waithe, Lennox Lewis, Letoya Luckett, LL Cool J, Louise Hazel, Mary J. Blige, Maseo, MC Lyte, Michael Ealy, Michael Rapaport, Michelle Wolf, Naomi Campbell, Nile Rodgers, Omar Dorsey, Oneal McKnight, Posdonus, Royale Watkins, Russell Simmons, Sophia Chang, Spice Adams, Spinderella, Stretch Armstrong, Swin Cash, Tank, Tasha Smith, Teddy Riley, Tobe Nwigwe, Zab Judah, and more. Class resumes today at 2pm pst. Please tell your friends. #BrandNice #dnicehomeschool

A post shared by D-Nice (@dnice) on Mar 20, 2020 at 8:47am PDT

  And he's still getting it poppin' on his Live - as we type.

  Big Freedia is about to give us the digital Bounce concert of life tonight on IG Live:

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BigFreedia Friday night concert series Tomorrow night tune in I’m trying to Keep y’all entertain in these tough times stay at home stay safe wash ya wash ya wash ya hands ! Sanitation is a must right now ! Ya heard me praying for everyone Gods speed

A post shared by Big Freedia (@bigfreedia) on Mar 19, 2020 at 4:22pm PDT

  R&B crooner John Legend has been taking requests for a "live concert":

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                  Social distancing is important, but that doesn't mean it has to be boring. I did a little at-home performance to help lift your spirits. @Miguel, @CharliePuth - you want next? Learn more about how you can take action to help slow the spread of coronavirus with our partners at @WHO and @GlblCtzn globalcitizen.org/coronavirus #TogetherAtHome

A post shared by John Legend (@johnlegend) on Mar 17, 2020 at 9:48pm PDT

  The whole Tucker-Burruss gang has been having fun making family videos:

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                  We’re bored... Follow me on #TikTok #kandiburruss

A post shared by Kandi Burruss (@kandi) on Mar 16, 2020 at 7:25pm PDT

    Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez joined the TikTik fun with a funny clip:

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                  Late night Tiktoks @jlo . Follow me at AROD13!!!

A post shared by Alex Rodriguez (@arod) on Mar 8, 2020 at 8:27pm PDT

  Actress Keke Palmer said she's bored so she has been doing back-to-back TikTok videos:

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                  what y’all eat today?

A post shared by BIG BOSS (@keke) on Mar 20, 2020 at 11:50am PDT

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                  I’m still bored y’all, what should I do next? And don’t say “sit yo ass down somewhere” cause my momma already told me that...................all my life.

A post shared by BIG BOSS (@keke) on Mar 19, 2020 at 2:37pm PDT

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                  I’m extra. I must always be extra #savagechallenge #tediousAF

A post shared by BIG BOSS (@keke) on Mar 18, 2020 at 10:10am PDT

  Megan Thee Stallion's #SavageChallenge has been taking over our timelines. Keke did it (above), along with singer Tinashe, "black-ish" star/Hollywood producer Marsai Martin and "Empire" star/singer Serayah:

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                  Thankful for tiktok at a time like this

A post shared by All these Songs For You, baby (@tinashenow) on Mar 17, 2020 at 1:01pm PDT

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                  Day 5 #savagechallenge Dance by @queen.kekeeee

A post shared by Marsai Martin (@marsaimartin) on Mar 19, 2020 at 12:33pm PDT

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                  SAVAGE #tiktok #followme #theygotmeaddicted

A post shared by SERAYAH (@serayah) on Mar 18, 2020 at 9:51pm PDT

  America's new favorite couple Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton from "Love Is Blind" had us dying:

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                  #TheHamiltons Throw it back. How we are quarantine’n #AllForFun VIBE - @cookieekawaii

A post shared by Lauren Speed (@need4lspeed) on Mar 15, 2020 at 8:37pm PDT

  "Growing Up Hip Hop" star Angela Simmons and her son SJ are having loads of fun on TikTok:

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                  Haha Indoors fun #AlwaysPlaying

A post shared by Angela Simmons (@angelasimmons) on Mar 17, 2020 at 4:00pm PDT

  The James Gang serve up #FamilyGoals:

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                  My gang gang litty #BronnyJames #BryceMaximus #ZhuriNova

A post shared by @ mrs_savannahrj on Mar 5, 2020 at 10:05pm PST

  The Wilsons turn up with ultimate #FamilyGoals as well:

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                  1st Family Tik Tok Post @DangeRussWilson @Awilly03 Too much fun. #Family

A post shared by Ciara (@ciara) on Mar 19, 2020 at 9:58am PDT

  Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi flexed her flawless vocals for us:

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                  Something different for my feed. Something I wouldn’t dare do outside of my room but since we’re all virtually inviting each other into our homes and hanging out, here’s what I do when I’m alone. What have you been doing to keep yourselves distracted and entertained? DM me at @missuniverse and tell me. Or you could post your activities and #UniverseUnited so I can see your posts and we can all keep each other company

A post shared by Zozibini Tunzi (@zozitunzi) on Mar 20, 2020 at 7:34am PDT

    Loves it!

  Photos: lev radin/shutterstock.com

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/03/20/celebs%E2%80%99-tiktok-dance-posts-that-won%E2%80%99t-make-you-cringe

[jodiwalker]

Don’t Let the Door Hit Ya: A Pre-Hometowns Assessment

I know I've missed a lot here. The last time I checked in with The Bachelorette, Rachel was dating the entire "Hoodies" section of the Urban Outfitters in Times Square, and now her boyfriends couldn’t even make up an intramural basketball team without recruiting someone off of the elliptical machines. I know it doesn’t make any sense to come back in with commentary on what is notoriously the most boring episode of any Bachelorette season—the one right before Hometowns where Rachel cuts every guy she knew she was going to cut from the very moment she met them but kept around because they gave good hugs and always had gum—instead of any single other upcoming episode.

Ahead of us we'll be meeting the families who inspired these bros to seek love and/or protein gummies Instagram sponsorships on television; dropping in on date specifically designed for sex at Chris B. Harrison's invitation; and Rachel wearing a truly bomb ass silver dress in which she will be proposed to shortly before making the much more important decision of either going back to being an attorney and retaining the public's respect and adoration, or becoming the next host of Do You Want to Build a Tiny House Filled With Poltergeists: Weekend Edition? in which case we will turn on her in the swiftest of fashions, despite all the good she's done for our dear, awful, corrupt ABC franchise of choice.

With all that tantalizing drama waiting ahead of us, perhaps I should also briefly glance back at the carnage in the rearview mirror. I nervously avoided the Lee/Kenny drama for weeks, and now that I've watched, it simply must be said…

You guys. The Bachelor isn't racist! We've all been so wrong all along! The Bachelor's contestants may be racist, and the world around it may be racist, but The Bachelor isn't racist. No, no, no. It's just Lee. Lee is the problem! Lee is racist and since The Bachelor chose him and put him on the show, and were aware that his blatant, dangerous, toxic racism was, indeed, racism, they're totally in on it. It's meta!

Not buying it? Okay, watch this—name all the times Lee was racist on this season of The Bachelorette: That time he kept telling Eric he "loved him to death" while demeaning him every chance he got; that time he called Kenny aggressive for (initially) fussing at him calmly about interrupting him with Rachel twice; that time he kept calling Kenny aggressive while openly explaining to the cameras that his main hobby is riling people up and then smiling at them or saying sociopathic shit like "Jesus loves you" or "I'll pray for you"; telling Rachel that he was scared of Kenny; lying to Rachel about Kenny throwing him out of a van or whatever while actively sporting Cameron Diaz's jizz-hair from Something About Mary.

Okay, now name all the times The Bachelor WASN'T racist: that time it picked Rachel, a black woman, as The Bachelorette after 30 seasons of not doing that!

But for real, screw The Bachelorette for giving Lee a platform and putting Kenny in that situation which was, by the way, a storyline they pilfered directly from Unreal season 2—not even the good season! And let it be known that any goodness that comes from this season is a direct result of Rachel and any badness seeps from the pores of this franchise which was one step away from having Lee wear a Confederate flag swimsuit and be all, Whaaaa I'm just proud of my heritage?!

But Rachel, whose only human flaw seems to be that she has absolutely no self-control when it comes to large, statement rings—even when wearing winter gloves!—has somehow managed to live up to our absurdly high expectations. Heading into Hometowns, she has four dudes and what I imagine is a world of emotional trauma that is utterly not worth it lying ahead of her. Let's briefly assess their odds before they take us into their childhood homes and adult male psyches.

Matt (Who?) is only worth noting because of the sobs that overtook Rachel when she told Matt (Who?) she had to send him home. Every season the Bacheor(ette) sends home some man or woman that I while professing them their rock, their best friend, their damn Jiminy Cricket that I have literally never heard of before in my life. [Ed. note: The Bachelorette—the one place in the world the friend zone DOES exist, men. Because this woman IS contractually obligated to date you!] For JoJo, I seem to recall it was Vinny the Barber, who went on to a prosperous life in Paradise where he acquired a much more reasonable hairline. I can only hope the exact same for Matt.

I would wager that Dean is as cute (and tear-inducing) as the kid in the kid in Lion, while simultaneously making me want to put my face on his face as much as the grown-up kid in Lion: my boyfriend Dev Patel. Dean looks like the 26-year-old actor they'd cast to play the high school sophomore having an affair with his AP English teacher on The CW. Indeed, we've got a real Hot Archie on our hands here, and he is going to get his precious, fragile, surprisingly woke heart shattered into a million pieces by our resident Veronica-meets-Josie.

Rachel knows Dean is too young for her. Rachel knows she's not going to marry Dean—how else do you explain his first date being a blimp ride and his second date being…going to Catholic mass? But I think Rachel would be quite pleased to make a man out of Dean in the Fantasy Suite, and also, probably just wants to see if she can make him grow up a little in their time together. Yes, it will be awfully traumatic for him when she breaks up with him very soon after meeting the family that he's so self-conscious about. But one day, he'll look back fondly on Ms. Lindsay and all that she taught him about Fahrenheit 451 and the importance of clitoral stimulation.

Eric's weird. Aside from the initial challenges he faced with Lee and Lee's general dickish-ness, I was pretty bored by him. That probably comes from the fact that he's always seems like he's falling asleep in his interviews and his fashion sense rests somewhere between Season 1 Michael Scott and Blake Shelton on The Voice. But when he's with Rachel, all the sudden he appears to be quite a fun person. Eric has never been in love or brought a girlfriend home, so this all seems very, very real for him—and he will probably be very, very scarred when it all ends.

Peter is highly handsome and seems highly normal; he apparently has access to a unending supply of nice sport coats, and he is really easing into the salt-and-pepper thing nicely. If Rachel chose Peter and married him, I think they would be very happy together and have a lot of beautiful, athletic, well-dressed children who would one day compete on The Bachelor(ette) and talk about how their parents have been married for 35 years. So it's too bad…

Rachel's going to pick Byan because Rachel is absolutely in love with Bryan. I mean, maybe it's not too bad? Maybe Bryan is fine. But this relationship just feels so Andi-and-Josh circa 2014…and we all know how that ended up circa 2016. It could just be that Bryan resembles a cross between Aaron Murray's brother and Aaron Rodgers' brother, but something about Bryan's constant charm and dedication to telling Rachel exactly what she needs to hear feels a little off. Perhaps Bryan is exactly what Rachel needs…or perhaps he has a half-brother named Aaron somewhere and this will all be yet another strike against the good name of chiropractors.

See you in Hometowns—hope everyone was telling the truth about being sure their parents would be cool with them bringing home a black woman even though they've never done it before and that is actual dialog pulled from the year's most acclaimed and terrifying movie about race!

[blackkudos]

Billy Paul

Paul Williams (December 1, 1934 – April 24, 2016), known professionally as Billy Paul, was a Grammy Award-winning American soul singer, known for his 1972 #1 single, "Me and Mrs. Jones", as well as the 1973 album and single "War of the Gods" which blends his more conventional pop, soul, and funk styles with electronic and psychedelic influences.

He was one of the many artists associated with the Philadelphia soul sound created by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell. Paul was identified by his diverse vocal style which ranged from mellow and soulful to low and raspy. Questlove of the Roots equated Paul to Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, calling him "one of the criminally unmentioned proprietors of socially conscious post-revolution '60s civil rights music."

Life and career

Early years

Paul was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and raised in North Philadelphia. His love of music began at a young age, listening at home to his family's music collection. He recalled: "That's how I really got indoctrinated into music. My mother was always...collecting records and she would buy everything from Jazz at Philharmonic Hall to Nat King Cole." He began singing along and tried to emulate the records he heard: "I always liked Nat King Cole. I always wanted to go my own way, but I always favored other singers like Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald – I loved Ella Fitzgerald. There are so many of them. Nina Simone was one of my favorites – Johnny Mathis, They all had a style, a silkiness about them.... I wanted to sing silky, like butter – mellow. I wanted to sing mellow you know what I mean. One of my favorites is Jessie Velvet – they used to call him Mr. Easy. A lot of people forgot about him you know – Sam Cooke is another one of my favorites."

Paul explained why he was particularly influenced by female jazz singers: "I think the reason behind that is because of my high range. The male singers who had the same range I did, when I was growing up, didn't do much for me. But put on Nina Simone, Carmen McRae or Nancy Wilson, and I'd be in seventh heaven. Female vocalists just did more with their voices, and that's why I paid more attention to them." Perhaps the female vocalist who had the most impact on him was Billie Holiday whom he called "a BIG influence." He began developing a vocal style that would eventually incorporate traces of jazz, R&B, and pop.

He began his singing career at eleven, appearing on local radio station WPEN, then owned by the local Philadelphia Bulletinnewspaper. He attended the West Philadelphia Music School and the Granoff School of Music for formal vocal training. He recalled: "Well you know, it was something that my mum would say I needed, holding my notes you know, and delivering my notes. It gave me assurity, cos my mother was 100% behind me and it created the style and uniqueness of Billy Paul. All my life I wanted to sound like myself, I never wanted to sound like anybody else. How that occurred was cause I always wanted to be a saxophone player....I took my uniqueness and treated it like a horn, which created a good style for me."

Paul's popularity grew and led to appearances in clubs and at college campuses nationally, which led to further opportunities: appearing in concert with Charlie Parker, Dinah Washington, Nina Simone, Miles Davis, the Impressions, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Roberta Flack. He also changed his name from Paul Williams to Billy Paul so as to avoid any confusion with other artists such as songwriter Paul Williams and saxophonist Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams. He explained: "I had Jules Malvin, who was like my play father. He was my manager at the time. He took me up to the Apollo and I warmed the Apollo for six weeks and that’s where he gave me the name Billy Paul. I didn't question it."

First recordings

In 1952 he traveled to New York City and entered the recording studio for Jubilee Records. Backed by Tadd Dameron on piano and Jackie Davis on the Hammond organ, the first single Paul released that April was "Why Am I" with "That's Why I Dream" as the B-side (Jubilee Records 5081, both written by Bernard Sacks and B. Sidney Zeff). Billboard reviewed the tracks favorably saying of "Why Am I" – "Expressive warbling of a moody ballad, by the label's new 16-year-old chanter" and of "That's Why I Dream" – "Organ and piano lend the singer a hand in this slow-paced etching of a romantic number".

A few months later in June 1952, Paul released his second single – this time collaborating with the Buddy Lucas Orchestra – "You Didn't Know" backed with "The Stars Are Mine" (Jubilee Records 5086). Billboard was again positive saying about "You Didn't Know" – "Billy Paul, new young singer, makes an impressive bow on the label with a strong performance of a weeper ballad which should pick up spins and plays. The Lucas ork furnishes okay backing. A good disk" and about "The Stars Are Mine" – "Paul sings this new tune more quietly, over a smooth ork reading. Side is not as exciting as flip and tune is not as strong." A few weeks later, Jubilee took out an ad in Billboard to promote their artists in anticipation of the annual NAMM Show – the music industry trade convention put on by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). Jubilee plugged Paul's latest single and noted: "He's New – He's Hot!" Despite Jubilee's efforts, none of the tracks by the young singer made the charts.

Army years and resumption of professional career

Paul's career took an unexpected turn when he was drafted into the Armed Services. He recalled:

"I went in, in 1957, and I was stationed with Elvis Presley and Gary Crosby – Bing Crosby's son. We were in Germany and we said we're going to start a band, so we didn’t have to do any hard work in the service. We tried to get Elvis to join but he wanted to be a jeep driver. So me and Gary Crosby, we started it and called ourselves the Jazz Blues Symphony Band. Some famous people came out of that band; Cedar Walton, Eddie Harris and we toured all over Germany. Elvis didn’t wanna join us. I used to see him every day but he drove the jeep for the Colonel. He didn’t want to join our band. He wanted to get away from music for a while, while he was in the service you know.

Paul and the other members of the 7th Army Band including Don Ellis, Leo Wright, and Ron Anthony used the service to further their musical careers as best they could—ones they knew would continue once they returned to civilian life. Paul said: "I sang in the service, I sang with a jazz band. So when I came out I sang Jazz, going to clubs and so forth."

Paul also did some boxing in the Army – a sport he had grown up with as he explained in a 2012 interview: "Yeah we had a gym and all my friends from my neighborhood were boxers. Even during my army days I boxed as well as singing. Actually I still go to the gym; both me and my wife have trainers... Miles Davis would always say: 'Come to the gym! I'm gonna beat your ass!' Then one time I got hit too hard and I said no I'm going to sing!... That made my mind up."

After his discharge, Paul formed a jazz trio with hard bop pianist Sam Dockery and bassist Buster Williams. In 1959 he joined the New Dawn record label and released the single "Ebony Woman" backed with "You'll Go to Hell" (New Dawn 1001) both written by Morris Bailey Jr. In 1960, Paul recorded "There's a Small Hotel" (Finch 1005, written by Rodgers and Hart) backed with "I’m Always A Brother" (Finch 1006, written by Leon Mitchell and Charles Gaston). None of these songs charted but Paul would resurrect and re-record both "Ebony Woman" and "There's a Small Hotel" in later years.

Paul was a brief stand-in for one of the ailing Blue Notes with Harold Melvin. Paul remembered: "Well, I didn’t want to dance so Harold Melvin fired me (laughs). I had a six month stay with the Flamingos – I was with The Flamingos for a while." It was around this time that Paul established a lifelong friendship with Marvin Gaye—both singers filling in with other groups. Paul recalled: "I was one of the Blue Notes at one time and Marvin Gaye was in the Moonglows.... We were such good friends. We never did a record together and that would have been one of my dreams. And you know what one of my fascinations is? What we would be doing if he were here today. I think about Marvin every day. The love I have for this man is unbelievable. We were close, we were like brothers. When I would go on the road out in California, he would go round to the house – he and Blanche (Billy's wife) [would] make sure Blanche’s mother would take her insulin because she was a diabetic. I would heavily depend on him to make sure she ate and took her insulin. That’s how close we were. You know sometimes, even today. I wake up and hope it was a dream, but it’s real – it’s real you know."

Philadelphia soul years

In 2012, Paul was asked how important the city of Philadelphia is to him and what the Philly sound is: "It's very very important to me. I was born here and so many great and influential artists come from here as well. Its a city of its own and has its own sound. I think what makes it different is the drama; you know how they say everyone marches to their own beat? Well i think Philly has its own beat as well, and it's distinctive. It sounds easy, but it's hard to play."

Neptune and Gamble releases

Paul and his wife and manager Blanche Williams were in the process of recording his debut album when they met Kenny Gamble. Paul recalled:

"I was singing in a jazz club called the Sahara. He had a record shop on South St & Philly – right round the corner and I was singing with a trio at the Sahara club on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. He came over and said 'I am starting a record company and I would like to sign you.' Low and behold I took all the material I sung every weekend and I did an album in three and a half hours – a whole album. I had this album, and I produced it – me and my wife. And we gave him this album called Feelin' Good at the Cadillac Club to help start the record company and that was the album that helped start it up. I was singing totally Jazz then, but when I heard the Beatles and heard the gospel influence and everything I just said: 'I can make jazz with R&B.' That transition came when The Beatles came out to America. When I heard The Beatles that was my turning point. They were like my mentors. You know the funny thing about that, when I heard (Billy sings) 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand', at first I said these guys are like a flash in the pan. But the second album when they started doing all this, I had to like take all that back. John Lennon – one of the greatest writers in the world."

Paul's debut album Feelin' Good at the Cadillac Club was released in 1968 on the Gamble label. Largely a collection of jazz covers of songs popularized by others, it was a studio album that attempted to recreate the feel of Paul's live club performances. Neither the single "Bluesette" nor the album reached the charts. The album was re-released in 1973.

Paul's second LP Ebony Woman (1970), was a more commercial release on Gamble & Huff's Neptune label. Paul cut a new version of his 1959 single and made it the title track. Gamble & Huff were firmly in control of the production. Merging jazz and soul, the LP achieved some modest success reaching #12 on the Billboard soul chart and #183 on the pop chart.

Philadelphia International releases

After Neptune folded, Gamble and Huff started their third label – Philadelphia International Records (PIR) – and brought Paul with them. Gamble and Huff signed a distribution deal with Clive Davis and CBS Records.

Going East (1971) was the first Billy Paul album released on the Philadelphia International Records label, making full use of the label's regular group of ace musicians MFSB at Sigma Sound Studios. As they had done on the previous LP, Gamble and Huff sought to find the balance between Paul's jazz roots and the funky soul that they hoped would bring mainstream success. Paul nearly reached the charts with the single "Magic Carpet Ride" (a different song than the 1968 Steppenwolf hit) and the album climbed to #42 on the Billboard soul chart and #197 on the pop chart.

"Me and Mrs. Jones" and international fame

With each album, Gamble and Huff were moving closer to realizing the sound they envisioned for Billy Paul, and they achieved it with the 1972 album 360 Degrees of Billy Paul and the single "Me and Mrs. Jones". Both the album and song received commercial and critical acclaim.

"Me and Mrs. Jones" was a #1 hit for the last three weeks of 1972, selling two million copies (platinum single status), and went on to win Paul a Grammy Award. The gold album and platinum single broke the artist on world charts, including the United Kingdom where the single entered the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart reaching number 12 in early 1973. In the years since then, the song has been covered numerous times, most notably by the Dramatics in 1974, Freddie Jackson in 1992 and Michael Bublé in 2007. Paul recalled the Grammy win and the song's overall success: "Oh man! I was up against Ray Charles, I was up against Curtis Mayfield, I was up against Isaac Hayes. I was in the Wilberforce University in Ohio, I had to go do a homecoming – my wife and her mother went. And when I see Ringo Starr call my name, I said Ohhh... Yeah... The most sobering thing is to have a number one record across the whole entire world in all languages. It’s a masterpiece, it’s a classic."

The song was PIR's first No. 1. In addition, the label was enjoying considerable success with their other artists including the O'Jays and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. Paul remembered the atmosphere at the label: "It was like a family full of music. It was like music round the clock, you know."

"Am I Black Enough" controversy

But Paul's massive success was short-lived. The follow-up single – "Am I Black Enough for You?" – failed to reach the heights of "Mrs. Jones", with the song's Black Power political message proving too much for mainstream radio's taste. There was and continues to be much controversy surrounding the choice to release this track as the follow-up to a cross-over smash hit.

In a 1977 interview, Paul made plain that he opposed the choice from the beginning:

"I think though that a lot of mistakes were made at the time. The biggest one was releasing 'Am I Black Enough For You' straight after 'Mrs. Jones'. People weren't ready for that kind of a song after the pop success of 'Mrs. Jones'. They were looking for a sequel or at least something that wasn't provocative. You'll remember at the time that I told you I was 100% against it and history has proven me right. But though it was a company mistake, I'm still satisfied with both CBS and Philadelphia International."

Decades later, Paul was more philosophical about the song: "That was what I had with 'Am I Black Enough.' I wanted – I'm gonna make it this time and come out. I think it's true to the audience, cos they look for something to come out compared to Mrs. Jones and that was Clive Davis' idea to do that. I think it was Kenny and Clive Davis, but I think it was mostly Clive Davis." For his part, Davis has said that he opposed releasing the song as a single. Still, Davis called it an "all time great record, all time great performance". Gamble, the co-writer and producer of the track, said the song "was great and Billy sounded great doing it". Paul reflected: "Well you know... For a long time I was angry about it, I had a bit of a letdown. Now the song is ahead of its time. I feel as though I let the song down when I went into my darkness. I feel like I abandoned the song. And I'm still going to get to the bottom of 'Am I Black Enough'".

Ultimately, 360 Degrees of Billy Paul reached #1 on the Billboard soul chart and #17 on the pop chart. Despite the disappointment over the chart performance of "Am I Black Enough", there was no reason to believe that he could not replicate the album's success or reach even greater heights. In May 1973, while still promoting 360 Degrees of Billy Paul, he was asked about a follow-up LP: "I'm afraid that there will be something of a delay. As of right now, there are two sides actually completed. I have to tell you about one of them — Kenny and Leon wrote it especially and it's a definite single at some point. It's called "I Was Married" and I honestly think it will be bigger than "Me and Mrs. Jones". But for me, there are still two singles from the 360 Degrees album — "Brown Baby" and "I'm Just a Prisoner". But, we are starting to work on the album more seriously from May 15." Despite Paul's enthusiasm, neither "Brown Baby" or "I'm Just a Prisoner" were released in U.S., although "Brown Baby" was issued in the UK but failed to chart.

"Me and Mrs. Jones" was such a huge hit that Gamble and Huff decided to re-release Paul's first two albums Feelin' Good at the Cadillac Club and Ebony Woman. Reissued in 1973, both albums featured new cover art and were a boon to new fans hungry for Billy Paul product who had already purchased his first two PIR LPs. Still, neither reissue was terribly successful with only Ebony Woman re-entering the album charts at #186 Pop and #43 Soul.

Paul's next album, War of the Gods, was the follow-up to 360 Degrees of Billy Paul and was issued in November 1973. Unique in Paul's catalog, it contains lengthy psychedelic soul, song suites and marked a conceptual and musical advance for Paul that did not go unrecognized by critics and fans. And while the LP and its singles enjoyed some success, Paul was unable to repeat the kind of wide impact he had with his previous album and "Mrs. Jones". The War of the Gods single "Thanks for Saving My Life", backed with "I Was Married" as the B-side, was a top 40 hit, reaching #37 on the pop chart and a top-ten soul record reaching #9. It also reached #33 in the UK.

Paul's 1973 European tour with the O'Jays and the Intruders spawned his first true live album: Live in Europe. Recorded in London and released in 1974, it reached #10 on the Billboard Soul Album chart and #187 on the pop chart.

Got My Head on Straight was released in 1975 and was an attempt to return to the successful formula of 360 Degrees of Billy Paul. A collection of jazzy, soulful, funky, pop songs, it reached #140 on the Billboard Pop Album chart and #20 on the Soul chart. It included the singles "Be Truthful to Me" (#37 R&B); "Billy's Back Home" (#52 R&B); and "July, July, July, July", which did not chart. Despite the attempted return to form, the lack of mainstream success was a major disappointment to Paul, Gamble and Huff, and everyone at PIR.

Jesse Jackson controversy

When Love is New followed in the same vein as its predecessor and had a similar fate. Released in December 1975, it reached #139 on the Billboard Pop Album chart and #17 on the Soul chart. It included the singles "Let's Make a Baby" which hit #83 on the Pop singles chart (the last record of Paul's to make that chart), #18 on the Soul chart, and #30 in the UK and "People Power" which reached #82 on the Soul chart and #14 on the U.S. Dance chart.

"Let's Make a Baby" proved controversial and there were calls to ban or alter the track because of its supposed obscene or negative message. Jesse Jackson and Operation PUSH led the movement against this song and others such as Hall & Oates's "Rich Girl" and the Four Tops' "Catfish". The campaign was waged locally with individual stations making their own choices about how to handle the matter. For example, leading R&B station WWRL in New York City played "Let's Make a Baby" but decided not to announce its title. Other stations went so far as to alter the lyrics. Privately, several black disc jockeys described the controversy as "Jessie's phony crusade against sex on the air." The disc jockeys – who refused to allow their names to be used for fear of reprisals – accused Jackson of being "absolutely dishonest" about the campaign with one popular radio personality making reference to Richard Pryor's 1975 appearance at one of Jackson's events:

"This man suddenly discovered sexy recordings when several of our black recording artists began to stop performing for nothing at his annual Black Expos. Remember, this is the same Jackson who presented at one of his Black Expos the filthiest recording comedian in show business. And that comedian was filthy that night at the Amphitheater. It got so bad that parents and their children could be seen leaving the place."

The disc jockeys further pointed out that Jackson was not critical of other artists like Roberta Flack and the Brothers Johnson who had similarly suggestive songs like "Jesse" and "Get the Funk Out of My Face" but who were supporters of Operation PUSH. Several radio veterans were convinced that Jackson's actions were little more than a publicity stunt calling it "just another of his gimmicks, which he will soon drop for another, just to stay in the news."

For his part, Jackson responded:

We have not...leveled 'blasts at Billy Paul.' We have carefully and consciously avoided 'blasts' at specific entertainers and instead have focused on specific records – of which Billy Paul's 'Let's Make a Baby' is only one in a whole series, increasingly explicit and dominant in a market almost exclusively directed at children....Love and romance are part of life and we are not suggesting that these subjects should be 'censored' in record lyrics. Our appeal has been directed toward pornographic lyrics that degrade human sexuality rather than uplifting the human spirit. The lyrics change in Billy Paul's record was decided upon independently by WVON radio. Mr. Paul has not protested to WVON about the change. The allegation that we have 'suddenly discovered sexy records' because artists have stopped performing for nothing at PUSH EXPO is patently false....The fact that several artists performed at EXPO who have songs we find objectionable is further evidence that our concerns are directed not at the artist but at the record.

Surprisingly, the controversy only escalated with the release of Paul's next album Let 'Em In in late 1976. The title track was a funky soul version of Paul McCartney's #3 U.S. hit from earlier that summer. While McCartney's version was heavy on personal references and comparatively light on political figures, Billy Paul's version turned the formula on its head to become a kind of civil rights anthem – albeit one with a personal touch due to the mention of his recently deceased twin sister Pauline Williams. As where McCartney only obliquely refers to "Brother John" (John Lennon or brother-in-law John Eastman or John F. Kennedy) and "Martin Luther" (the martyred civil rights leader or the 16th Century theologian), Billy Paul's version is far more explicit in reciting a list of deceased civil rights leaders (Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Medgar Evers, and Louis Armstrong). Furthermore, interspersed with Billy Paul's verses are memorable passages of speeches by Malcolm X and King.

Yet just as they had done with "Let's Make a Baby", WVON – Chicago's oldest black-oriented radio station – altered the song. This time an engineer at the station spliced in a parts of a speech by Jesse Jackson as a substitute for parts of King's speech. Chicago Tribune columnist Gary Deeb said the station "mutilated" the song, doing so in order to solidify ties with Jackson, and called the whole episode "simply ridiculous." Paul was furious and said that he had the "shock of my life" when he learned of the alteration.

Reverend George Clements, the crusading pastor of Holy Angels Catholic Church on the South Side of Chicago presented Paul with an award for the song on Billy Paul Day, May 23, 1977 that included a ceremony at the church with the church's school choir performing the song. When informed of the honor by Father Clements, Paul reportedly cried tears of joy. Clements said:

"In an age of cynicism, suspicion and outright despair, it's uplifting to hear the kind of message that Billy Paul is giving all of us over the radio. Billy Paul is telling us that the dreamers, like Dr. Martin Luther King, are dead now, but it is time to let their dreams begin to come into our souls and begin to make an impact on our society. Congratulations to Billy Paul. Truly he has made a hit, not just with the general public, but also with Almighty God!"

In all, Let 'Em In was Paul's first LP to crack the top 100 pop album chart since 1972's 360 Degrees of Billy Paul, reaching #88. Paul also had his usual success on the Soul charts with the album hitting #27 and the singles "How Good is Your Game," "I Trust You," and "Let 'Em In" reaching #50, #79, and #91 respectively. Paul's version of the Elton John hit "Your Song" cracked the top 40 in the U.K reaching #38.

Final PIR recordings

Paul released Only the Strong Survive in 1977 and it proved to be his final charting album reaching #152 on the Pop chart and #36 Soul. The LP's title track was the first single reaching #68 on the Soul chart and #33 in the UK. The next time Paul's voice would be heard during the summer of 1977 was on the track "Let's Clean Up the Ghetto" featuring the "Philadelphia International All-Stars": Billy Paul, Lou Rawls, Archie Bell, Teddy Pendergrass, Dee Dee Sharp Gamble, and Eddie Levert and Walter Williams of The O'Jays. The song reached #91 on the Pop chart and #4 on the Soul chart. The Let's Clean Up the Ghetto album also included the Billy Paul tracks (both written by Gamble & Huff) "New Day" and "New World Comin'." All proceeds from the album and single went toward a program to benefit inner-cities throughout the U.S. Paul followed up the success of both his "Only the Strong Survive" single and "Let's Clean Up the Ghetto" with "Sooner or Later" – another track from his latest LP. Yet the track failed to chart as did "Don't Give Up on Us" and "Everybody's Breaking Up" which was officially released in the U.K. but only issued to radio in the U.S.

Paul's final studio album for Philadelphia International was First Class, released in 1979. It was the first album since his 1968 debut Feelin' Good at the Cadillac Club that did not make either the Pop or Soul charts. The LP's first single "Bring the Family Back" failed to chart but a 12" disco version did reach #90 on the Soul chart and #51 on the Dance chart. "False Faces" was also released in both single and 12" disco versions but neither charted.

Paul's run at Philadelphia International officially ended with the 1980 release Best of Billy Paul. This double-album compilation included four previously unreleased tracks: "You're My Sweetness," "Next to Nature," "What Are We Going to Do Now That He's Back," and "My Old Flame." The UK version was a single LP titled Billy Paul's Greatest Hits with a different track listing and only one of the "new" songs: "You're My Sweetness". That song was released as a single and reached #69 on the Soul chart. Paul's final single for Philadelphia International was an edited version of a song from his first Philadelphia International album Going East: "Jesus Boy (You Only Look Like a Man)" which failed to chart.

Numerous "best of" compilations of Paul's Philadelphia International work have been released over the years, though critics have made plain that most have failed to capture the right balance of singles and album tracks to fully represent the depth and breadth of his PIR output. For example, AllMusic's Andrew Hamilton said of the 2002 collection Super Hits: "If you didn't live and die with Billy Paul's albums when he cranked them out on Philadelphia International Records, you won't have a clue as to what his fans want to hear. To compile a CD from Paul's singles is to compile a mediocre collection; you have to supplement the singles with choice LP cuts. And with a brief ten-track collection like this, some of the singles should have been replaced with a few of Paul's icy album joints." By contrast, Jason Ankeny said that the 1999 compilation Me & Mrs. Jones: Best of Billy Paul "goes far beyond the classic title track in restoring the singer to prominence, showcasing his versatility via superb covers of pop favorites.... [and] the inclusion of R&B chart hits.... it all adds up to a definitive portrait of Paul in his prime."

Paul was on the Philadelphia International label, in all, for nine years and while he enjoyed considerable success – especially with "Me and Mrs. Jones" – critics generally agree that he deserved better. Andrew Hamilton put it bluntly: "Gamble and Huff did a horrible job picking Paul's singles. Some better choices, and his career might have been Hall-of-Famish." Similarly, Jason Ankeny wrote: "Too easily dismissed as little more than a one-hit wonder, Billy Paul was, in fact, one of the most gifted and affecting talents to grace the Philadelphia International stable – the recipient of some of the Gamble and Huff team's most lush and sophisticated productions. His deeply soulful voice bridged the gap between jazz and soul, textured in equal measure by street-smart swagger and touching vulnerability."

Post-PIR studio recordings

Paul made two studio albums in the 1980s. The first Lately was released in 1985 and was a dramatic musical departure from the lush Philadelphia Soul of his previous efforts. Recorded for Lonnie Simmons' Total Experience Records, the album's synthesizer and keyboard-driven tracks (typical of music production at the time) were closer to Simmons' work with the Gap Band and Yarbrough and Peoples than they were to Paul's 70's orchestrated wall of sound. The album's title track, a ballad, was released as a single in the U.K. but did not chart. The follow-up single – a slow jam called "Sexual Therapy" – fared better climbing to #80 on the U.K. charts.

Paul's final studio album was 1988's Wide Open for the Ichiban label. Similar in production style to his previous release, though perhaps a bit smoother, it reached #61 on the Soul chart. However, the singles "We Could Have Been" and "I Just Love You So Much" failed to chart.

"Retirement" years

Paul announced his retirement in 1989 on stage in London. But like so many artists before him, he could not resist the temptation to continue to play live shows and record. In 2009 he was asked how he was enjoying his retirement in South Jersey: "Retired? Are you serious?"

Post-"retirement," Paul regularly toured in the U.S. and abroad playing small clubs, hotel ballrooms, Las Vegas showrooms, Jazz festivals, and theaters. Asked in 2012 whether playing in Philadelphia held special meaning to him: "I try to feel comfortable wherever I play, but they call it being a native son and I do get a lot of respect there so it is special. The reaction internationally is great as well, so even in Paris or Brazil we have great audiences. Songs like Mrs. Jones are huge everywhere so I do perform a lot overseas."

In 2000 he released a CD – Live World Tour 1999–2000 – on his own label, PhillySounds. Recorded in São Paulo, Brazil; Paris, France; Bermuda, and Philadelphia, it contained the following tracks: "Billy's Back Home," "Love Buddies," "When Love is New," "This is Your Life," "Thanks for Saving My Life," "Let's Get It On/What's Going On," "War of the Gods," "I Believe I Can Fly," "Your Song," "Without You," and "Mr & Mrs. Jones." Two years later, a complete show from that tour was released outside the U.S. on the PID label. Titled Your Songs: Live in Paris, it was recorded in December 2000 at a private event for the RFM TV Channel at Studio 287 in Paris, France. It includes the songs "July, July, July, July," "Only the Strong Survive," "It's Too Late," "Brown Baby," "Let 'Em In," "It's Critical," "False Faces," and "Let's Clean Up the Ghetto" among others.

As these live albums illustrate, Paul's concert set lists have been varied, containing both his own songs as well as cover versions of jazz, soul, rock, and pop tunes. For example, his September 16, 2001 Sunday afternoon show at Gloria's Seafood in Philadelphia featured: "Billy Boy," "Billy's Back Home," "Just in Time," "Old Folks," "Sleeping Bee," "Ebony Woman," "Thanks for Saving My Life," "Love Buddies," "April in Paris/I Love Paris," and "Me and Mrs. Jones."

His show of June 12, 2011 in São Paulo, Brazil consisted of: "Thanks for Saving My Life," "I Will Survive" (performed by backing vocalist Anna Jordan), "Hello," "Purple Rain," "Smile," "Mrs. Robinson," "Your Song," "Me and Mrs. Jones," and "You Are So Beautiful."

"Me and Mrs. Jones" lawsuits

In 2000, Nike began airing a commercial featuring track and field star Marion Jones – the face of Team USA for the 2000 Summer Olympics. The campaign, entitled "Mrs. Jones", depicted the athlete as a half-hidden DJ talking about issues such as education and better pay for female athletes. The ad also featured Paul's studio recording of "Me and Mrs. Jones". Paul saw the commercial and contacted an attorney who filed suit in a federal district court in Los Angeles against both the sportswear company and its advertising agency, Wieden & Kennedy. Paul sought $1 million in lost licensing fees, arguing that the company had not obtained his permission to use the song. A spokesperson for the ad agency called the decision to air the song without permission "a very stupid mistake."

On the heels of the Nike suit, Paul targeted his former record company for unpaid royalties on his signature song. He claimed that he had not received an accounting statement from Philadelphia International Records in 27 years and sued Assorted Music, its owners Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and Sony Music Entertainment for nearly half a million dollars. At the 2003 trial in a federal district court in Los Angeles, Joseph E. Porter, the attorney for Assorted Music, argued that Paul was only owed about $27,000, explaining that while the company had mistakenly failed to collect proper foreign royalties on the record, Paul actually owed the company about $314,000 for the costs of recording and producing the 10 albums he made for Philadelphia International from 1971–80.

In the end, the jury deliberated for less than an hour and found that Paul did not owe the company anything. Instead, they awarded him half a million dollars in unpaid royalties for his recording of "Me and Mrs. Jones." Paul said through a statement issued by his attorney: "I'm so glad my path to justice has finally come to an end. I've been waiting years to be paid for my recordings." Seymour Straus, who testified at trial on Paul's behalf commented: "There is no question that Billy Paul's royalties had been improperly calculated for many years." Jay Berger of the Artists Rights Enforcement Corporation said: "This case firmly establishes the rights of singers signed to small production companies to receive 50% of the money earned by the major labels that distribute the records." Chuck Rubin the president of Artists Rights said: "The producers will no longer walk off with any of the artist's royalties." Paul's lawyer Steven Ames Brown commented: "It was a stunning victory for Billy. The jury awarded him $12,000 more than we requested. The years of deception and excuses are over and Billy Paul will from now on enjoy the fruits of his talents. Los Angeles juries have no patience for deadbeat record companies." Brown added: "And Billy Paul was Kenny Gamble's best friend. Can you imagine what might have happened to the others?"

Paul's wife and manager Blanche Williams called the decision a "moral victory" and had especially harsh words for Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff: "The jury was...pissed off at the arrogance of G&H, the 'creative bookkeeping' done by Sony, and at discovering how blatantly and systematically Sony and PIR under-reported Billy's earnings.... In addition G&H will have to pay us interest on that money going back to '94 (statute of limitations). Oh yes, 'the chickens came home to roost.' Winning this case opens the door for all of those other artists whose royalties were withheld or under-accounted to go to court and seek justice, and to know that they have a good chance of winning their case. This is just the beginning of G&H's worst nightmare. The avalanche cometh."

Gamble & Huff's attorney Porter said after the verdict: "It was nothing but an accounting (issue). No one said 'you cheated me.'" Still, Paul's case was an important precedent for other artists including Archie Bell of Archie Bell & the Drells and the O'Jays who also sued Gamble & Huff for unpaid royalties.

Feature film

In 2009, the biographical feature film Am I Black Enough for You?, directed by Swedish director Göran Hugo Olsson was released. Awarding the film three stars, Uncut magazine said "Olsson modelled his film on Let’s Get Lost, Bruce Weber’s 1989 portrait of Chet Baker, saying: "Paul is certainly no fallen demi-genius to set alongside Baker, but he proves an engaging, articulate subject, with a story that stretches back to playing alongside Charlie Parker, and peppered with the usual racial prejudice. His career is, in its way, emblematic of black America’s struggles over the last half century, including a descent into cocaine addiction and recovery, both shared with his wife, who remains a quirky, willful presence throughout the movie. The pair come across as a jazzy Derby and Joan."

Paul explained why he agreed to work with the filmmakers: "Well I'm not getting any younger and I wanted to express some things that might have been hidden. I wanted to release my heart and tell people about my highs and lows and I think you get that from this documentary.... It wasn't difficult to make. We were followed all over the world by this film crew from Europe and I got to be very good friends with the filmmakers. I would say things and do things as if the camera wasn't even there. They approached me about doing this film, and they are real fans. "Am I Black Enough for You?" is very popular in Sweden and these guys really knew their music. They were serious about it, they flew over and followed me and it got real personal...and I trusted them. It's very important like the relationship I have with my wife is based on trust. I wish everyone could have that level in their lives.... I am now at peace with myself, I think this movie has done a lot for me because it's helped me get rid of a lot of demons.

Later activity

In 2011, Paul participated in an album by French singer Chimène Badi, recording a duet with her on the Motown song, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

To mark the 40th anniversary of Philadelphia International Records, in 2011 Big Break Records in the UK began remastering and reissuing many of the albums released on PIR including Paul's works. They included new liner notes, interviews, and bonus tracks. In the U.S., Legacy Recordings issued Golden Gate Groove: The Sound of Philadelphia Live in San Francisco 1973 – a record company event recorded on June 27, 1973 at the Fairmont Hotel. Paul and other PIR acts were backed by MFSB which featured 35 musicians including Leon Huff on organ. Paul's performances of "East" (10:21) and "Me and Mrs. Jones" (8:34) appear on the album. AllMusic's Andy Kellman gave the release 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Awards and honors

In addition to receiving the Grammy for "Me and Mrs. Jones", Paul won several Ebby awards given by the readers of Ebony magazine; was a recipient of an American Music Award, the NAACP Image Award and numerous proclamations and keys to cities across the United States. Paul received the 2015 AMG Favorite Retro Artist of the Year award as well as being given the Sandy Hosey Lifetime Achievement Award during the Artists Music Guild's 2015 AMG Heritage Awards broadcast held on November 14, 2015 in Monroe, North Carolina.

Death

Paul died on the afternoon of April 24, 2016, at his home in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township, New Jersey, from pancreatic cancer at the age of 81.

Wikipedia

[adamreggio-blog]

Project Proposal

Rationale

Throughout my 7 units I have improved as a singer. This is because the course I am on we have to practise nearly every day with the other members of my company. I have learnt a lot more since being on this course such as, confidents in my stage performance and my singing, certain songs I sing I can feel the emotions and the power and the meaning of the song that I’m singing and finally improved on my vocal range and breathing. I have also learnt more about the music industry and what it takes to become a recording artist.

Project Concept

The concept for this project which will be recorded and viral remotedly. The reason why it’s got to be like this is because we aren’t aloud in college at the moment dew to a massive virus outbreak around the whole world. So, what my tutor and the rest of my company come up with if we do a show remotely, we will still get graded and then get it recorded. The research I will provide is find cover songs that I want to sing and show them to the rest of my company and then schedule when we can rehearse the songs on a group chat call or a zoom call. I also think we should find some a cappella songs that have really good meaning. This will give an effect to the perforce because when people be watching and listening, they will hear the lyrics and feel the emotion and power in the song. Another song that I think would be a good idea is all of our company singing we are the world by U.S.A for Africa. this song is a really good and powerful song and the message goes to all the people around the world and in Africa and they made this message into a song, there are loads of famous artists in this song such as Lionel Ritchie, Stevie Wonder, Willy Nelson, Michael Jackson, Kenny Rodgers, Bon Jovi, Tina Turner and many other artists. I think this would be a really good song for all of us to sing because of what’s going on in the world at the moment we will all stick together and stand by each other and I think if people hear us sing this song the will be every happy and they will probably carrying on listening to us.

Evaluation

I will be using this Tumblr site to evaluate my work weekly, any videos I have of my group rehearsing will go on here, my daily blogs my action plan and also my, weekly evaluation, and also anything me and my group have problems with I’ll put on here as well. I will be showing lots of research on here so that I know what I got to do and how I’m going to do it and perform it and look up different versions of the songs I’m going to sing. I will make sure I’m not getting distracted and disturbing others to learn. I will be focused and more on board than I have in the previous projects.

Project action plan and timetable

My plan for the project over the next upcoming weeks is that I will make sure I’m on time to any zoom calls, make sure I’m up to date with all my work, to make sure I reach my deadlines so I’m not falling behind on my work, and also to make sure I’m not late to any meetings or rehearsals and to make sure I’m always researching because this will benefit me in progressing. My responsibilities are to make sure everyone in my band has got something to work on and to make sure if I need any backing vocals/harmonies needed and also to make sure I learn all the song in time.

Proposed research sources and bibliography (Harvard format)

I will be looking into cover materials that fits into the project theme. I will also be using YouTube to find my research and also google to find out some information on the song I will using the Harvard method which is for example this video I have posted.