#25 days of vinyl challenge

[ailur4phile]

credit to cowboylikevinyl on instagram for the challenge, i wanted to post em on tumblr also!

i did not plan for this for taylor swift's birthday, it just so happens to be that the birthday girl has made my favorite album of all time, to which i own it on vinyl! i will always stand by the fact that red (specifically now taylor's version) is her best art to date. it captures the emotional rollercoaster of losing someone important in your life and the stages of grief that come with it in real time. i absolutely adore this album and always will

favorite tracks: state of grace, treacherous, all too well, i almost do, the last time, holy ground, sad beautiful tragic, the lucky one, the moment i knew, nothing new, i bet you think about me, forever winter, the very first night, all too well ten minute version ☃️

[thisapplepielife]

Written for the @steddieholidaydrabbles December challenge.

Five Christmases

Prompt Day 25: Christmas | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: T | CW: Language | Tags: Established Relationship, Future Fic, Christmas Day, Full Schedule, Family & Friends, Mostly Fluff, A Little Obligation, Steve POV

Christmas, 1999

8:06 AM

Steve is towel drying his hair, when Eddie pops into the doorway and taps his watch. 

"The day has just started and we're already six minutes behind, Harrington. C'mon!" 

Steve nods, "We'll be fine."

"Steve! Five Christmases! You committed us to five! That's a tight fucking schedule," Eddie shouts, and Steve just laughs. Usually he's the uptight one.

"I told you this was a bad idea," Steve says, just poking at him further. Just for fun, as a Christmas treat.

"This was your idea, asshole," Eddie says, slamming the bathroom door behind him, "I'm leaving in nine minutes, with or without you!"

"Okay, Bono!" Steve screams, not even sure if Eddie heard him.

9:12 AM

"Sorry we're late!" Eddie yells, pushing the front door open, letting themselves inside. "It's Steve's fault!"

Wayne gets up when he hears the door open, and Steve hugs Wayne. Eddie needs to chill the fuck out. Nobody is going to care if they are a few minutes late. Well, his parents will care. But nobody else will, especially not Wayne, that's for damn sure. 

Wayne's house smells wonderful, like maple syrup, coffee and bacon. This was a perfect first stop of the day, nobody does breakfast better than Wayne. 

They help him carry it all to the small formica kitchen table, sliding into the comfortable vinyl chairs, and it tastes as good as it smells. 

This is Christmas. 

The one thing they've done every year they've been together. Breakfast with Wayne. It's the only true Christmas tradition they have, and Steve wouldn't trade it for the world.

11:58 AM

Steve looks at his watch. They definitely aren't late as they stand on the steps, having rung the bell at the Harrington residence. 

Steve debates ringing it a second time, but just waits. Surely they heard it.

And it takes forever, because it's cold as shit out here, but his mother finally answers the door.

"Hi, mom. Merry Christmas," Steve says, and she nods her head at them, opening the door wider.

"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Harrington," Eddie says, politely. 

The long, formal dining room table is set up, and since it's just for the four of them, it's a little ridiculous. But he slides into his chair, a thousand miles away from everyone else at the table. His parents at either end, and Eddie across from him, hands folded in his lap.

He's nervous, Steve can tell. It never gets more comfortable, this awkward tip-toeing they all do around each other.

His parents know about Eddie, but would rather pretend otherwise, Steve supposes.

So, they eat their awkward meal, in uncomfortable stretches of silence.

In the car, Steve reaches over and takes Eddie's hand into his own, bringing it up to his lips.

"Thank you," Steve says, and Eddie nods. "The next one will be more fun," Steve promises and Eddie grins, wide and excited.

2:11 PM

They are barely up the walkway when the front door swings open, banging against the hallway wall.

"Shoes!" Steve hears being hollered from the house, but it's too late. Eddie's got an armful of little girl, despite her mother's warning.

"Uncle Eddie, Santa came!" she yells and Eddie smiles, brushing the snow off of her bare feet. 

Gareth appears in the doorway, to usher them inside, as his daughter regales them with tales of all her new toys that Santa brought this morning.

Eddie puts her down once they're inside, and rattles the sack he has thrown over his shoulder, full of more presents. 

Gareth shakes his head, but hugs Eddie once Eddie's handed over the sack, and she's ran into the living room, to open them up.

"You didn't have to do that," Gareth says, and Steve hears Eddie laugh. Of course they did.

"Sure we did, that's our girl, too, you know. And it's our right, as her super fun uncles, to spoil her rotten," Eddie states.

Gareth laughs, and settles onto the armrest of the chair Eddie has plopped down into, to watch her tear open the wrapping paper with delight.

5:33 PM

"Merry Christmas, dickhead," Steve says, and hugs Dustin.

"Back atcha," Dustin answers, guiding them into the living room. There's a nice fire going, and it's cozy. 

Steve's glad Henderson finally moved closer to home, again. It's been too long. 

Dustin pours them both a drink, and they sit and just talk. It's quiet, calm, and comfortable. All things Steve never would have assigned to Dustin Henderson, even ten years ago. But he's grown up, right before their very eyes. 

Their kid.

He'll always be their kid.

7:45 PM

Robin's running around her kitchen, and it smells slightly of smoke, so as soon as they're in the door, they both step in to help her, so she doesn't actually burn the place down. She wanted to do dinner by herself this year, and they'd all agreed, but she's clearly in over her head.

"I just spilled on the burner! It's fine! Nothing's on fire!" she yells, and Steve picks up the smoke detector from the counter, that's clearly been yanked off the wall.

"I can confirm!" Robin's girlfriend yells from the other room.

And honestly? Steve thinks they're both right, taking a good look around the kitchen. It all looks really good. A huge mess, for sure, but damn good. 

"It looks great, Robbie. You're killing it," Steve says, hugging her from behind, and she shrugs him off, still moving at warp speed around the kitchen. 

When they head towards the table, Steve kisses Robin on the top of the head before taking his seat, "Thanks for going to all this trouble."

Robin just rolls her eyes.

11:54 PM

"Merry Christmas," Steve says, as Eddie slides into bed, flopping against his pillow, groaning at the simple pleasure of the act.

"I have one more present for you," Steve says, sliding his hand over Eddie's bare stomach, and that gets Eddie's attention. 

"I'm listening…"

Steve laughs, and leans over, kissing him. 

Notes: The idea came from the Gilmore Girls episode where they have to go to four Thanksgivings in one day. Then I was googling the spelling of Christmases (to make sure, ha) and realized there is a movie called Four Christmases. So, that too, I guess, lol.

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @steddieholidaydrabbles and follow along with the fun!

If you want to see more of my entries into this month-long challenge, you can check them out in my Steddie Holiday Drabbles tag, right here!

[somethingvinyl]

May vinyl challenge day 25: weirdest band name. Listen, I know it’s not a competition, but I win today with the delightful chill sounds of indie band Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.

[felassan]

Spacelab9 have revealed more details about the upcoming Dragon Age Vinyl box set. (It's a 70 track collection which will include songs from DA:O, DAII, DA:I, DLC and also some DA:I bard songs.)

I found this new info blurb about the cover art really interesting 👁️ (emphasis mine):

Deluxe package features all-original artwork by Dragon Age Concept Director Ramil Sunga and Lead UX Artist Danny Richardson, created exclusively for this album set. The beautifully detailed artwork presents a pictorial timeline following the lore of the Dragon Age series, beginning at the dawn of the Golden City, throughout the City's Fall and culminating in its re-emergence as the Black City, seat of the Old Gods. [source]

hello??? (the announcement blogpost for the vinyl contained the flavor text "From the land of Thedas, at the dawn of the Golden City".)

they also announced that the pre-sale for the box set was scheduled to begin April 27th (can't see it atm unless I'm missing it, maybe it's not yet started?) and that on the BioWare Gear Store it will begin on May 10th. each outlet will offer their own exclusive color variant of the vinyl.

lastly they also posted the full track listing (emphasis mine):

"DISC 1 SIDE A [DRAGON AGE ORIGINS]

1. DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS (2:49) 2. ELVES AT THE MERCY OF MAN (1:21) 3. RUINS OF OSTAGAR (1:18) 4. THE COMMON DWARF (1:24) 5. THE PARTY CAMP (0:44) 6. THE DALISH (1:18) 7. DARKSPAWN IN THE WILDS (1:13) 8. HUMAN NOBILITY (1:21) 9. URN OF SACRED ASHES (1:01) 10. JOIN THE GREY WARDENS (1:53) 11. BATTLE THE DARKSPAWN HORDES (1:05) 12. MAGES IN THEIR CHANTRY (2:01) 13. LELIANNA'S SONG (2:33)

DISC 1 SIDE B [DRAGON AGE ORIGINS]

1. THE CHANTRY'S HUBRIS (3:16) 2. THE NATURE OF THE BEAST (1:30) 3. TAVERN BRAWL (1:15) 4. THE DALISH ELVES ENCAMPMENT (1:18) 5. FERELDEN AT WAR (2:57) 6. KING EDRIN (1:32) 7. CHALLENGE AN ARCH DEMON (3:12) 8. THE CORONATION (1:03) 9. I AM THE ONE (HIGH FANTASY VERSION) (4:02)

DISC 2 SIDE A [DRAGON AGE II]

1. DRAGON AGE II MAIN THEME (2:03) 2. HAWKE FAMILY THEME (2:00) 3. QUNARI ON THE RISE (2:04) 4. LOVE SCENE (1:39) 5. VISCOUNT (1:29) 6. TAVERN MUSIC (2:11) 7. KIRKWALL ARRIVAL (5:13) 8. ROGUE HEART (3:12)

DISC 2 SIDE B [DRAGON AGE II]

1. JOURNEY TO DEEP FEAR (2:55) 2. MAGE PRIDE (4:03) 3. KIRKWALL TOWN ACT 2 EXPLORATION (2:05) 4. DARK DAWN (3:22) 5. FENRIS THEME (2:30) 6. NIGHT ATTACK AND VICTORY (1:56) 7. DESTINY OF LOVE (3:25)

DISC 3 SIDE A [DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION]

1. DRAGON AGE INQUISITION THEME (2:52) 2. THE WRATH OF HEAVEN (5:25) 3. ESCAPE FROM THE FADE (1:14) 4. CALLING THE INQUISITION (1:59) 5. IN HUSHED WHISPERS (4:49) 6. THE WESTERN APPROACH (2:07) 7. JOURNEY TO SKYHOLD (1:48)

DISC 3 SIDE B [DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION]

1. THE DAWN WILL COME (1:58) 2. ORLAIS THEME (2:44) 3. THE SCAR (0:56) 4. SIEGE OF ADAMANT (1:14) 5. WICKED EYES AND WICKED HEARTS (3:35) 6. THEDAS LOVE THEME (1:59) 7. CHAMPIONS OF THE JUST (3:55) 8. SACRIFICE (1:01) 9. RETURN TO SKYHOLD (2:13) 10. EPILOGUE (1:10)

DISC 4 SIDE A (BONUS DLC TRACKS)

1. I AM THE ONE (DARK FANTASY VERSION) [DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS] (4:10) 2. MAIN THEME [DAI DESCENT DLC] (2:58) 3. AFTERMATH [DAI DESCENT DLC] (1:29) 4. DARK SOLAS THEME [DAI TRESPASSER DLC] (3:01) 5. QUNARI ATMOSPHERE [DAI TRESPASSER DLC] (2:41) 6. LOST ELF THEME [DAI TRESPASSER DLC] (3:58) 7. D'READ KODA (1:08) [HIDDEN TRACK]

DISC 4 SIDE B (DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION - THE BARD SONGS)

1. ENCHANTERS (3:23) 2. GREY WARDEN (2:12) 3. I AM THE ONE (1:58) 4. ONCE WE WERE (2:10) 5. RISE (1:26) 6. SERA (1:45) 7. FALL OF THE MAGISTER (3:01) 8. SCOUT LACE HARDING (2:08) 9. THE SLIGHTEST ONES (2:28)" [source]

👁️ Hidden track - "D'Read Koda"? ^^ Koda like a coda? (of interest here is that the recent Mass Effect vinyl collection contained some previously unreleased and some rearranged/remastered music.)

[source]

[pocket-elf]

New Years questionnaire for 2024/25

(I used to this this back during the LJ days, and a few times here as well, including last year. So let's keep going)

1. What did you do in 2024 that you’d never done before?  Proper hiking in the mountains! No tent, but day trips from a cabin. It might also be the first time I went north of the arctic circle (not sure if my childhood friend's cabin was just north of it?) Definitely haven't been that far north before.

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't tend to do resolutions, not even fun ones. And I don't think I did crafting goals this year either. I did succeed with my main reading challenge early and changed it twice. For next year I will set another reading challenge, and in general just wish I keep pushing to do more creative things in my spare time.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Nope.

4. Did anyone close to you die? We weren't close anymore, but my childhood best friend died in May. Despite her living just across the street from me the past few years we never hung out. Had drifted apart long ago. But I kept thinking I'd contact her again and ask her over but never got around to it. They still don't know what happened. She just collapsed on her balcony. Autopsy showed nothing, and when I last talked to her mum (I wanna say beginning of October?) they still hadn't gotten the results from all the tests done.

5. What countries did you visit? France! Finally got to see a friend of mine in person for the first time. We must've known each other for... at least 15 years. I've been to France before but it's been more than 20 years.

6. What would you like to have in 2025 that you lacked in 2024? As always... a girlfriend. Hit me up ladies and enbees! I'd also like some more energy and definitely would like some sewjo. It was DEAD all year. I crafted in other ways though thankfully. And MCR5...

7. What date from 2024 will remain etched upon your memory? I am very very bad with dates. And I don't think there's a single date this year that I remember.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I think the whole hiking trip. The fact that I could do it physically and didn't complain and it remained fun. And I didn't hate dad afterwards haha (it was just me and dad that whole week). Creatively my cross stitches should probably be seen as achievements. I just keep trucking along with them but my parents are hyping them so hard, telling me I don't understand how brilliant it is. And well, my very first one; the Gerard Way Black Parade one, has over 2000 notes and I am living for the tags people give it.

9. What was your biggest failure? I don't know... I feel a bit stagnant maybe? But at the same time that just feels like normal life when you have a stable job? I don't love my job though so I guess that helps in making life feel a bit meh. Not sewing any clothes feels like a failure compared to my past, but I just need to reframe it and think about the cross stitches I've made instead! I'm still being creative with textiles and whatnot. It's just different. And I did end up knitting a sweater in December so.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? No injury. But worst timing, getting a fever the day Callie arrived for her visit and spending the first week she was here with I guess the flu? It sucked. But that's been the worst of it.

11. What was the best thing you bought? So I prepped this thing in my drafts a few months ago when I was bored and felt like not much will change until the end of the year and I'll edit the last small things... and I said that this was such a hard question cause I I forget what I buy and when. But maybe my record collection? WELL, no. Assuming everything turns out alright, the best thing I bought was a ticket to Long Live The Black Parade for July 2025.

12. Did you try any new crafts? Nope! Unless using contact vinyl to make a piece of ikea furniture look pretty counts? But in general my crafting has been mainly focused on cross stitch. Finish up Gerard and then just falling head first into portrait stitching. Ended up with three more portraits on my wall (Kellin Quinn and two Alex Gaskarth) and one of Bob Dylan as a christmas gift for dad. He requested it. Halfway done with another Gerard, but didn't have the right frame for it so didn't know what to do about the torso. I have now though. But half of november and all of december has been full on knitting instead. Nice to get back into that too tbh.

13. Did your home change in any way? I moved some stuff around on the wall of my bedroom that isn't a big gallery wall... so that I could start I guess a second gallery wall of just cross stitch. They all hang above my bed now. I also added a clothing rack to my bedroom for things that need to be ironed and on hangers, but that I use fairly frequently. My closet is too crowded so even hanging stuff might get a bit wrinkly. This was I see it too. Gods there's a big pile of ironing to do though.

14. Where did most of your money go? I know it's bad but Temu is a trap. I mainly get crafting supplies though. And honestly yeah, that probably is where most of my money has gone. Various crafting supplies and a few books etc. Or maybe it's been records? Yeah records are expensive!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Music still. Not as much as last year though.

16. What song/album will always remind you of 2024? Hmmm... I guess something All Time Low? They've been the big ones this year I feel. Not sure which song will stick as a 2024 song though. Maybe the re-record of Remembering Sunday? Cause I remember listening to it for the first time on that vacation to the mountains.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: i. happier or sadder? Maybe the same? Just a bit more... blah. ii. thinner or fatter?  Slightly fatter I think iii. richer or poorer? Richer as I'm not a huge spender and I have had a full year of stable income and no extra big purchases.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Sewing for sure.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? The answer to that is always work. But we live under late state capitalism. I don't have a choice. Disregarding that though... napping? I mean I love napping but time disappears.

20. How will you be spending Christmas and New Years? Christmas was spent at my parents'. Very chill. A good dinner (not christmas food), some gifts, christmas sweets I brought while watching some tv... After parents went to bed I watched the second half of Fellowship of the Ring.

Tonight, New Years Eve, I plan on making salmon for dinner and then a classic Swedish 80s dessert (pears cooked in simple syrup and then quickly broiled in the oven with After Eight on top) I will end the year by crying to Return of the King.

21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with? Eron or Callie.

22. Did you fall in love in 2024? With more idiot boys who make music, but not love-love.

23. Did you try any new exciting food? I don't think so? Had some great pastries in France of course but nothing like new and revolutionary. I've had French baking before!

24. What was your favourite TV programme? At first I typed that I don't think I watched any proper tv, but when I scrolled down to things I look forward to next year and saw that a year ago I was looking forward to Doctor Who... well I did watch the new season of that! And enjoyed it.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Not really no.

26. What was the best book you read? For sure Geoff Rickly's half fictional biography Someone Who Isn't Me. I'm so happy Jacey managed to send it to me finally.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? All Time Low for sure. My sweet sweet idiot boys. I think Pierce the Veil and Sleeping With Sirens found their way to my heart towards the end of last year.

28. What did you want and get? To see the northern Swedish mountains. Or more precisely, to see Tjuonavagge (The Lapponian Gate) with my own eyes. Also Black Parade tickets.

29. What did you want and not get? We all know the answer to that, the same as last year: MCR5 and a girlfriend.

30. What was your favourite film of this year? I watched pretty shitty movies this year haha. But since I'm doing a LotR rewatch... that. Does that count though? It's like the 10th time. Movie watched for the first time this year though is tough. It's a lot of Hallmark. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice for the aesthetics? It didn't blow me away of anything but I didn't adore the first one either. Only one I've seen at the cinema (because the showing times for movies I've been interesting in towards the end of the year have been shit. Gonna try for Wicked next week though) Of the Hallmark movies I think maybe The 5 Year Christmas Party. This is ofc if we don't count the music documentaries that I do log on Letterboxd though, cause obviously ATL's It's Still Nothing Personal is a delight.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 37. I worked, and then I went to dinner at my parents' place. Very chill. The weekend after (I think? Or maybe before) me and Mandi went to an all you can eat berry buffet, and it was great.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Having more free time, while still having the same kind of economical situation (or better obviously)

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2024? Just kinda lazy with my workday uniform being skinny jeans and a band tee, or variations thereof. I did buy a couple of beautiful pieces from Disturbia though to change things up sometimes. But in general lots of black with printed tees.

33b. Any other changes to your looks this year? Nothing radical. By the end of last year I had buzzed the sides of my head already. But this year I did move towards a mullet hawk. And I did try green for the first time! And some more tattoos of course.

34. What kept you sane? Same as last year: music and talking to people online. And way more so this year, especially during summer and fall/winter: having a creative project going at work. I've even inspired my coworkers to start crafting! Has made the office environment so much nicer tbh.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I can't choose between my emo dads now can I?

36. What political issue stirred you the most? Same as last yeah: I am just so very tired. But gods, Palestine.

37. Who did you miss? Always friends.

38. Who was the best new person you met? I mean she isn't NEW but I did get to meet Sky in person for the first time

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2024. I don't know if I learned any specific life lessons? But once again the fact that making things for yourself is important. Just for the same of making them. Create beauty, even if it doesn't turn out the way you intended. You still <i>made something with your hands</i>. Having inspired my coworkers to start crocheting and knitting really showed that again for me. The energy at the office completely changed.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Well, the years start comin' and they don't stop comin'

41. What is the thing you most look forward to in 2025? <i>Long Live "The Black Parade"</i> of course.

42. What is the first thing you look forward to in 2025? Probably tattoo appointment as it's two weeks in to the new year. Nothing big or fancy but still a lil something.

43. Any upcoming releases make you excited? I will never stop hoping for MCR5. But I feel like 2023 was a big release year, with 2024 not so much. So maybe 2025 will have a bit more. I'm expecting a Sirens record, cause I know they've been working on it. Same with Kellin's side project. A bit curious about Dunes' new one that drops very soon, but not exactly hyped. The first few singles didn't do it for me, but <i>Paper Tigers</i> was pretty nice. And I'm sure ATL have shit brewing, they always do. The new season of Doctor Who might be fun? Oh and Wheel of Time season 3. And I am actually really interested in Mark Hoppus' memoir that comes out early April, despite not being a Blink fan whatsoever.

44. Do you have any big plans for the coming year? California in July with My Chem as the focal point, but of course then a couple of weeks of hanging out with Jenny and exploring and such. Sweating my ass off.

45. What is something you want to accomplish in 2025? So as I said earlier, the funny thing is I typed up a lot of the answers to this around Halloween I think, cause I was bored one evening. And for this I had typed "I said this last year but I will again: I would really like to go to a concert. Is that accomplishing something?" And now that is at least planned! Maybe some new cool cross stitch. Maybe trying some more embroidery techniques, branching out. Finish some knitting projects etc. Just get somewhere with my making hobbies.

And some stat ones (new additions last year):

46. Number of books read According to Goodreads, 77 That does include a few kids books, and a bunch of graphic novels.

47. Number of movies watched 44 at time of writing. Should be a yearly total of 45 with Return of the King tonight. I usually watch more than this. Interesting.

48. How was Spotify Wrapped? As we all know it sucked. But at least seemed decently correct in the basic Top 5 artists and songs. All my top songs were ATL, with the new Remembering Sunday at the top. Could've predicted all five of them tbh. Top bands were ATL, Sleeping with Sirens, Pierce the Veil, MCR, and Fall Out Boy. In that order. I didn't know if Simple Creatures would beat FOB this year, but apparently not according to the AI.

45. How many tattoos are we at now? Last year we closed out at 8. This year... 13. New additions: excited ghost with its hands up (we all know this is actually Gerard, I even made sure he got gloves on. Friendship tat with Callie), a needle and thread, a beetle (friendship tat with Therese), two bird of paradise flowers (the biggest one, and my very subtle nod to Farscape), and finally a few mountains with fires at two of the peaks (friendship tat with Jenny. The beacons are lit!) Number 14 is scheduled in a few weeks and will be a moth.

[ijustwantedtobeoneofthestrokesuk]

Back On The Road

2022 was the year of recovery, after being locked up for what felt like years it was time for artists to recoup what they missed out on and tour relentlessly. Which, for one, wasn’t as easy as it was before as there was more artists hitting the road at the same time, ever. This meant that scheduling tours wasn’t so simple, trying to make it as efficient and cost-effective was a minefield, trying to shift tickets when so many tours was a struggle and trying to get hold of essentials such as tour buses and crew proved to be a challenge when demand outweighed supply. Then there was the limitations from Brexit, cheers guys.

These challenges made touring less lucrative than it once was, which put pressure on other avenues to make money, for survival. There was a 10-month wait for vinyl so the opportunity for a spontaneous release was unlikely if they wanted to shift some physical copies so they had to look to merch, merch has become bigger than ever, and it isn’t unusual to pay £100+ for a tour hoodie…  

Many artists these days are locked into 360 record deals where the label take a cut from merch sales however, in April 2022 The Guardian reported that artists were missing out even more. AGM (one of the biggest venue owners in the UK) take 25% from merch sales at gigs at their venues and Universal Music Group get a portion of that 25%, even if the artist isn’t on the label. It’s like the system has been built to kill creativity!

Since lockdowns ended artists have barely stopped touring, and ticket prices are on the up. When we are talking about artists, we are talking about the established ones, who can sell at least a few thousand tickets in each city they stop in, and the major stars who can sell out stadiums a few times in each city they stop it. On average, attendees who went to see Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour spent £800 on one show (ticket, travel, accommodation, food, drink, outfits, merch, oh, and never forget about the friendship bracelets). When we are living in the ‘cost of living’ crisis era, is there any money left over to support new artists? In the 2000’s the small bands might have lost money on music piracy but they could go on tour, play in front of a few hundred people each night and sell a few t-shirts (tickets for a tenner, t-shirts for a tenner, pints for three quid, what a time). 

Even if small artists can sell a few hundred tickets, where can they play when venues are disappearing?

In London there was 430 music venues in 2007 but 2015 there was just 245, more are continuing to close faster than new ones opening. Unfortunately, it hasn’t just been London losing its nightlife, the trend was visible throughout the country. How many venues from the 2000’s still exist? Without small independent venues there’s nowhere for the ‘next big thing’ to develop. 

In the 2000’s there were loads of small venues in every town and city, regularly putting on gigs that not only supports the current music scene but also the future. Kids need to be able to see there is a realistic opportunity to be on a stage, to be inspired to form a band. 

As there were so many bands around who would tour the UK a few times a year they couldn’t just do the big cities so they would be stopping off in every town from Hull to Inverness, Southampton and Norwich and unlike the big cities, these towns were full of kids with a thirst for something to do and often became the best crowds of the tour, loyal fanbases, communities were formed because of these gigs. 

Music venues generally exist in city centres, where the ground they are built on is a valuable asset, business people see £££ over art and creativity. There are also more restrictions in place such as the volume of noise (housing developers aren’t soundproofing homes properly), making it more difficult to put on gigs while business rates make it less cost-effective. Government funding across the arts has always been questionable, particularly in the north of England.

James O’Hara “Putting on live music is prohibitively expensive, a sure-fire way to lose a lot of money, it's thankless and selling tickets in Sheffield is like pulling teeth. I hugely admire people who do it but it's not something for me anymore that's for sure. The highs are the gigs themselves, seeing people reacting to music, happiness, tears, dancing, singing. The lows? pretty much everything else hahah. 

Small, independent venues are hugely important, they take all the risk, they find and source all the new artists and then get very little in return.” 

Gemma Clarke “I think there is still a thirst for live music, just a smaller thirst than it was before. People can access music online so they will only go to see bands they know. It makes it harder for smaller bands to be seen and heard but everything changes and bands are using social media now to be seen and heard. I remain old school in that I just want to play, and I want to see bands play. I love social media and Spotify etc but I will always go support the smaller bands first.” 

In 2014 the Music Venue Trust, an independent charity was formed by Mark Davyd, starting as a small concept that has grown over the years. Its fundamental goal is to protect, secure and improve Grassroots Music Venues.   

Mark, a co-owner of The Forum in Tunbridge Wells, a live music venue that has been converted from a public toilet. The venue wasn’t really making much money so it would be hard for the 4 owners to sell on when they are ready to retire, and for it to continue as a music venue. In 2015 the value of The Forum as a music venue was £375,000, if it had been knocked down and turned into flats it would have a huge price tag of £1.2 million.  

The Music Venue Trust was created to safeguard the future of grassroots spaces after iconic venues had been lost to redevelopment or a change of purpose for profit. Independently run, grassroots music venues are a breeding ground for creativity, it’s where new bands form and learn to perform to an audience, not only that but it’s an affordable opportunity to watch live music and a space that inspires others to pick up an instrument. If Milburn hadn’t played The Boardwalk (closed since 2010) in Sheffied, their mates wouldn’t have seen them and thought “We can do that”, and formed the Arctic Monkeys.  

MVT do more than just showcase the venues and support their future, they also seek to improve the experience for both the artists and audiences who attend these spaces (let’s be honest, it’s great to be punk and DIY but it’s also nice for toilets that have a door…). Many grassroots venue owners are only leaseholders which means that they don’t own the land, the future of the building lays in the hand of the freeholder who could be easily swayed by money to sell it on. A long-term goal for the MVT is to acquire the freeholds of as many of the venues as possible.  

A year after the Music Venue Alliance was created, over 900 grassroots music venues were represented by the Music Venue Trust, supporting them in various capacities, from advice to campaigns. 

James O’Hara “The Music Venue Trust do great work but I think something hugely fundamental needs to change, perhaps venues being given protected status, maybe a tax on the big venues like The 02, something that trickles back down. Venues that are ostensibly businesses still being allowed to apply for arts council funding etc...” 

NEXT CHAPTER

[rjjameshiii]

RJ's Platinum Collection #12: Stray

Achieved on 10/5/2022 at 6:30 PM

Do you know how happy I was when I discovered Stray was available as a free monthly game on PS Plus?

EXTREMELY happy. I get to play as a CAT?

I didn't even hesitate to pick this game for my next platinum.

I decided to start my trophy journey off by playing the game blind and seeing what trophies I could get. And can I just say, the fact that this story starts off with a precious little kitty falling into a deep hole and ending up in an underground city is surprisingly heavy?

Anyway, entering the city got me my first trophy.

1/25: Missed Jump - Fall into the city.

And then I quickly got a second trophy because I abused the hell out of the button that made the cat meow.

2/25: A Little Chatty - Meow 100 times.

And then I met a robot friend who accompanied me on a journey to continue exploring the city populated by taller robots!

3/25: Not Alone - Meet B-12.

4/25: Cat Got Your Tongue? - Have B-12 translate a robot for the first time.

Ok, so I wasn't going in to this completely blind. I knew from one of my friends who played this game that there was a trophy for having the cat sleep for one entire real-life hour. So I decided to do that while I was in the Slums just to get it out of the way.

5/25: Productive Day - Sleep for more than one hour.

And then I continued through my blind playthrough, this time being completely surprised by all of the trophies I got as me and B-12 journeyed to reach the surface and free the robots trapped in the city - and get the cat home once and for all.

6/25: Tele A Chat - Browse through all the TV channels.

7/25: Cat-a-Pult - Jump 500 times.

8/25: Curiosity Killed The Cat - Wear the paper bag.

9/25: No More Lives - Die nine times.

10/25: Cat-a-strophe - Try to play mahjong with two robots.

11/25: Catwalk - Reach Midtown.

12/25: Al-Cat-Raz - Go to jail.

13/25: Eye Opener - Complete the game and open up the city.

Now with the game finished I started doing clean-up, starting with me deciding to get the trophy for completing the first Zurk chase sequence without getting caught. This trophy was VERY difficult but I eventually managed to get it after about 20-30 tries.

14/25: Can't Cat-ch Me - Complete the first Zurk pursuit without being caught.

Then I returned to the Slums level and decided to bring all of the music sheets hidden throughout the neighborhood to a robot musician named Morusque. There are eight total music sheets, and I also got two other miscellaneous trophies while I was in this area.

15/25: Boom Chat Kalaka - Dunk the basketball.

16/25: Meowlody - Bring all the music sheets to Morusque.

17/25: Cat's Best Friend - Nuzzle up against 5 robots.

After that I got the two other "challenge" trophies out of the way. These were completing the Sewers level without killing any Zurks with the flashlight weapon, which took me a few tries, and the one for completing the ENTIRE Midtown level - including the entire factory sequence AND sneaking into Clementine's apartment - without getting spotted by a single Sentinel. That one was much harder, but I did eventually manage to do it.

18/25: Pacifist - Complete the Sewers without killing any Zurks.

19/25: Sneakitty - Go through Midtown without being detected by the Sentinels.

After getting that trophy, I decided to continue on to the nightclub so I could get one more miscellaneous trophy.

20/25: Scratch - Scratch the vinyl in the club.

And then I realized that I needed all the badges, to scratch something in each chapter, and to finish collecting all of B-12's memories. However, I could not remember what chapters I had or hadn't scratched in, so I decided to just play the entire game all the way through one more time to get those three trophies.

21/25: Badges - Collect all badges.

22/25: Territory - Scratch something in every chapter.

23/25: I Remember! - Gather all B-12 memories.

And finally, I had one trophy left. I absolutely detest speedrun trophies, but luckily I found a YouTube video that basically gave me a step-by-step guide on how to finish the game in the time limit. It still took me about three tries, but I was able to finish the game in 1 hour and 46 minutes, getting me my last trophy and then the Platinum!

24/25: I Am Speed - Complete the game in less than 2 hours.

25/25: All Done - Unlock all trophies.

Like several of the games I have gotten platinums for, Stray is not very long, but my goodness is it fun. The cat is really great to play as, and I think the story is heartwarming. All cat lovers should get the platinum for Stray!

Rating: 10/10

[milfweirdal]

Weird Al 30 Day Challenge!

took the liberty of adapting my weird al ask game for a 30 day posting challenge. here's a handy dandy graphic i whipped up for it

if you decide to do it, please feel free to reblog this/tag me, i am so curious and nosy about everyones answers 😁

questions text underneath the cut!

Day 1: how did you first get into weird al? what was the first song you heard?

Day 2: what was the last song by al you listened to?

Day 3: favourite album? (you can pick more than one for the favourites questions)

Day 4: favourite song parody?

Day 5: favourite style parody/original?

Day 6: favourite album artwork?

Day 7: favourite polka medley?

Day 8: favourite unreleased/concert only song?

Day 9: favourite Ridiculously Self-Indulgent Ill-Advised Vanity Tour cover song?

Day 10: favourite music video?

Day 11: favourite ALTV interview?

Day 12: favourite member of The Band?

Day 13: favourite of his recurring jokes (e.g. the number 27, crazed animal attacks, being nerdy, food jokes, etc etc)

Day 14: favourite fandom event or in-joke? (e.g. getting him a star on the Hollywood walk of fame, Alcon, etc.)

Day 15: which song do you personally relate to the most?

Day 16: a song you think is underrated?

Day 17: a song that gets stuck in your head a lot?

Day 18: what song/s would you show people if they had never heard of weird al before?

Day 19: has al parodied any of your favourite bands/musicians?

Day 20: have you ever made any weird al-related fanart? (share/link if you feel comfortable doing so!)

Day 21: have you seen al live? if so, what was the experience like? which tour?

Day 22: What would your dream live setlist look like?

Day 23: have you met Al or any of the members of the band?

Day 24: do you own any physic-Al media? e.g. CD, vinyl, tapes.

Day 25: do you own any al merchandise? e.g. T-shirt, poster, action figure etc.

Day 26: do you have a "Lame Claim to Fame"?

Day 27: ever tried a twinkie wiener sandwich?

Day 28: al doesn’t accept other people's parody ideas (unless you're Madonna) but if he did, what song or style would you want him to parody?

Day 29: thoughts on the weird al yankovic cinematic universe (WAYCU) i.e. UHF, the biopic, The Compleat Al etc.?

Day 30: thoughts on the weird al yankovic televisual universe i.e. The Weird Al Show, ALTV, his numerous cameos, etc?

[mediamonarchy]

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/20240709_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Lavender logarithms, buying bitstamps and artificial arboretums + this day in history w/debatable crypto activities and our song of the day by Crimethinkers on your #MorningMonarchy for July 9, 2024. Notes/Links: Is an ‘anti-woke’ economy emerging?; Some companies are marketing themselves as woke-free to attract conservative customers. https://www.morningbrew.com/brew-markets/stories/2024/06/01/is-an-anti-woke-economy-emerging Laden With Debt, Gen Z Faces Daunting Housing Market; The obstacles holding younger generations back include historically high home prices, stagnant inflation, debt and spending habits, and wages. https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/laden-with-debt-gen-z-faces-daunting-housing-market-5678453 Many hiring managers are posting fake jobs. One reason may surprise you.; Job seekers are being asked to navigate fake job listings being posted by potential employers. https://archive.is/oEIXQ Just keep bringing up the 6 gorillion and act offended by any reasonable questions https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1656389726589947922 ‘What can we say to make it look like Israel is not committing war crimes?’: Dutch prime minister (Jan. 25, 2024) https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/what-can-we-say-make-it-look-israel-not-committing-war-crimes-dutch The British Lancet just announced that Israel may have killed up to 186k people in Gaza, or more. Here you are offering your support to them. You are a joke, a liar, a charlatan, and now a war criminal. https://x.com/ecomarxi/status/1810289881567900067 Haaretz (Further) Confirms IDF’s Use of Hannibal Directive on Oct 7 https://decensored.news/haaretz-idf-hannibal-directive-october-7/ ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree [aka holocaust] in Gaza https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/ Image: Israel Lavender AI machine directing Hamas in Gaza war https://medium.com/@ml_artist/israel-lavender-ai-machine-directing-hamas-in-gaza-war-478bb946acb7 Video: ‘Lavender’: How Israel’s AI system is killing Palestinians in Gaza (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkgexnnzKt0 Hannibal Directive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Directive Roni Size / Reprazent – “Brown Paper Bag” (Inst. Edit // Vinyl // Audio) https://www.discogs.com/release/19968-Roni-Size-Reprazent-Brown-Paper-Bag // https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Forms // ANOTHER MONARCHY EXCLUSIVE! The Liberty Justice Center Files Opening Brief in First Amendment Lawsuit Against Federal TikTok Ban��Legal Challenge Gathers National Support from Across the Political Spectrum https://libertyjusticecenter.org/pressrelease/the-liberty-justice-center-files-opening-brief-in-first-amendment-lawsuit-against-federal-tiktok-ban/ Robinhood to Acquire Bitstamp https://blog.bitstamp.net/post/robinhood-to-acquire-bitstamp/ Video: Robinhood to Acquire Bitstamp in $200M Deal (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKzyE1FsZY0 Speedworld – “The World’s Toughest Rally” (Inst. // Cassette // Audio) https://www.discogs.com/release/30981802-Speedworld-Safari // https://speedworld.bandcamp.com/album/safari // https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipZDhwcQ42s Laid-off tech workers advised to sell plasma, personal belongings https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/laid-off-bay-area-tech-workers-struggle-jobs-19545761.php AI pushes Google emissions upward; AI helps spur rise in Google’s emissions https://www.axios.com/2024/07/03/ai-google-emissions-report Video: Google blames AI for its carbon emissions | WION Tech It Out (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C70pStv30hg Don Dorsey – J.S. Bach: “Italian Concerto in F Major, BWV 971: III. Presto” (Inst. // Audio) https://www.discogs.com/release/11782539-Various-Everything-You-Hear-Is-True // https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachbusters // https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NfMB1yNt_s July 2014 – Page 2 – Media Monarchy https://mediamonarchy.com/2014/7/page/2/ Flashback: Coming soon – B...

[ailur4phile]

credit to cowboylikevinyl on instagram for the challenge, i wanted to post em on tumblr also!

for day nine, i only have one soundtrack on vinyl (though i'd love to own the yellowjackets s2 as well as arcane s2 ones) and that is the RSD life is strange true colors original soundtrack preformed by mxmtoon! who despite had a huge burst of popularity during quarantine, is still so unbelievably underrated! i loved her most recent album, and despite this only being four songs i love all of them

favorite tracks: in the darkness, blister in the sun, every wave 🥁

[somethingvinyl]

May vinyl challenge day 11: best-sounding/best reissue. I love an audiophile reissue, but don’t get to buy many because they’re often so crazy priced. That wasn’t the case for the heavenly 2014 mono Beatles reissues. They sound incredible, were pressed directly from the original master tapes, and sold for the same price as average new records did. I picked up almost the whole set before they sold out (still kicking myself for thinking Beatles for Sale would always be there), so NOW their prices are crazy… but at the time, I could get them from Barnes & Noble for $25 each! Here I’m showing off Sgt Pepper (the first one I bought and one of the best-sounding, most valuable things in my collection) and Hard Day’s Night (also a knockout but mostly just because it’s still got the mono reissue hype sticker on it).

[choicesjuly2023challenge]

Introduction | Guidelines | Masterlist

Welcome to the July 2022 Choices Challenge! Each day as two prompts as well as one classic fanfiction trope! You can use just one prompt/trope, or all three for any given day!

Day 01: national park | spf/sunscreen | Idiots in Love

Day 02: ladybug | potion | Love Confession

Day 03: soft pretzel | candle | Meet Cute

Day 04: protest | fireworks | Angst

Day 05: cat cafe | jazz | Found Family

Day 06: matching tattoos | plane ticket | Crossover

Day 07: meadow | pink | Matchmaking

Day 08: Squishmallow | podcast | Sick Fic

Day 09: nap | hot girl summer | Fluff

Day 10: beach | livestream | Crack Fic

Day 11: hiking | empowered | Friends to Lovers

Day 12: gaming | dream | Enemies to Lovers

Day 13: fight-or-flight | social media | Enemies to Friends to Lovers

Day 14: crop top | astrology | Sharing Clothes

Day 15: government | gardening | Miscommunication

Day 16: book | camping | Secret/Forbidden Romance

Day 17: environment | mint | Hurt/Comfort

Day 18: cobblestone | karaoke | Jealousy

Day 19: haircut/dye | vanilla | Meet Ugly

Day 20: softball | pool party | Meet Cute

Day 21: festival | aesthetic | Road Trip

Day 22: vinyl | local | Song Fic

Day 23: outfit of the day (ootd) | representation | Unrequited Love

Day 24: anime | sparkling water | Long Distance Relationship 

Day 25: yoga | witchcraft | Fix-It Fic

Day 26: bar hopping | sushi | 5+1 Fic

Day 27: angel numbers | essential oils | Pregnancy Fic

Day 28: ballet | recipe | Kid Fic

Day 29: vlogging | fairy | Mutual Pining

Day 30: true crime | hot tub | Domesticity

Day 31: baby/pet/house-sitting | k-pop | Only One Bed

[larrytimelines]

July 2021 complete timeline

July 1 (Thur): Robert Harvey posts a pic of Louis in the studio working on LT2 (link).

Holivia is seen by fans having drinks, walking and having dinner in Island of Giglio (pictures and videos here). Within 30 minutes of pictures dropping, there is an article about Holivia on a romantic Italian getaway (link). Deuxmoi posts a ‘spotted’ pic of Holivia at dinner (link).

Deuxmoi mention Holivia’s Italian vacation in their weekly email newsletter, as well as recap Jason and Keeley going on romantic dates in NY on June 26th - further confirming them as a couple (link).

Jason & Keeley are papped on several dates in NY. Ted Lasso is deemed a strong Emmys contender.

July 2 (Fri): Louis is seen watching a EUROs game with Oli in London (videos and pictures here).

Not seen, but Holivia were taking the yacht pics in Monte Argentario (link).

Ted Lasso is expected to “sweep Emmy nominations”. And everyone loves Ted Lasso.

July 3 (Sat): Louis watching the England EUROs game with Calvin, Charlie Lightening, Ella (E’s bff), Ella’s boyfriend, Eleanor and friends (pics here, here; videos here, here).

Holivia in Rome, attending the England v Ukraine match, they are papped and fans take pictures with Harry (pics here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here; pap pics; videos here, here, here, here and here).

Lottie posted a picture of Freddie on her stories with the text “mini Louis” on it (link).

July 4 (Sun): No updates.

July 5 (Mon): Louis is papped and pictured with fans outside the studio (pics here, here, here, here, and here). 

Yachtgate pics from Backgrid of Holivia dancing, lounging and kissing on a yacht drop and Page 6 exclusive. Pics from Monte Argentario on July 2.

Page 6 exclusive about Jason being in NY with the kids and how he’ll go on a promo-tour for Ted Lasso soon. They talk about how Jolivia take turns taking care of the kids and that he’s dating Keeley.

Jul 6 (Tue): Article and pap pics of Louis debuting his long hair to the press and greeting fans while signing autographs outside the studio. Article is positive, light, and mentions his record-breaking livestream last December (link).

Articles about Holivia’s “romantic” Italian getaway & how well Jolivia are co-parenting

July 7 (Wed): Louis is seen watching the EURO games with friends, including Oli, Eleanor, hot Luke, Alana, Ella (E’s bff), Ella’s bf and more (videos here, here, here, and here, pics here, here, here and here).

Articles about Holivia’s “steamy” kiss and “romantic yacht dance” on their Italian vacation

July 8 (Thur): New pictures and Page 6 exclusive of Holivia on the yacht. They try to distort the timeline and say it’s a different day, when it’s all from the same day. Emphasis of articles is on how hot shirtless Harry Styles is kissing Olivia (link).

And another Page 6 exclusive about Holivia being “holed up at a romantic luxury resort in Porto Ercole”.

July 9 (Fri): Super Hi post a video of Louis recording LT2 at the studio (link). And a fan posts pictures with Louis outside the studio (pics here and here).

Louis posts a video for BSL “sign of the day” challenge (link). Isabella Signs says that all she did to get Louis to film the video of him signing “singer” in BSL was ask him (link).

More articles about hot shirtless Harry Styles kissing Olivia in Italy.

Articles about Jason throwing the 1st pitch at a baseball game with his kids come out.

July 10 (Sat): Louis is seen with Oli and hot Luke at a EURO soccer village in London drinking beer and having fun. A fan reports that he smelled gooooood (pics here, here, here, here, here, here and here; videos here, here and here).

Some articles about Holivia kissing in Italy and Jason with the kids at the baseball game.

July 11 (Sun): Louis is seen attending the EURO final at Wembley with Eleanor (pics), and spotted walking among fans in the streets of London (video and pics here).

Article about Jason and Keeley being a couple.

July 12 (Mon): Exclusive 369 merch is sent out to fans (link).

Articles about Ted Lasso’s “overwhelming” reception.

July 13 (Tue): Jason is the cover of GQ and he confirms he and Onlivia broke up in November 2020, that he hit rock bottom, but has “chosen to land like an Avanger” and is moving on and “not heartbroken”. He says he “still doesn’t have clarity” in regards to their breakup. He also got 20 Emmy nominations for Ted Lasso, which were announced today in a move of HIGHLY calculated timing and PR (link).

July 14 (Wed): Love On Tour is rescheduled to start September 2nd 2021 only in the US. Canada dates are cancelled (link here, and here).

Louis’ DC and NY tour dates are rescheduled (they had been rescheduled a long time ago but many fans didn’t notice) (link).

Articles about Jason’s GQ interview - focus is on his split from Olivia.

July 15 (Thur): Harry likes Gemma’s post on IG (link).

Article about Olivia being focused on co-parenting and how she’ll always do what’s best for her kids (link).

Jason attends the Ted Lasso premiere in LA.

July 16 (Fri): Olivia is papped going to the gym in NY (link).

Deuxmoi expands on trashy tabloid rumors that Holivia getting engaged/married in Italy is a real possibility (link).

Articles about the rumor that Harry and Olivia got married in Italy.

Articles about Jason attending Ted Lasso’s premiere on the 15th, wearing a shirt supporting black English soccer players who faced racist abuse after England’s EUROs loss (article link).

Articles about Jason wearing a bracelet his daughter made him that spells out “daddy” to the Ted Lasso premiere (article link).

July 17 (Sat): Harry is papped arriving in LA (video and pics here).

Jojo pics says a friend saw Harry getting his covid-19 vaccine in London (link).

Fans post a video of them meeting Louis at the beach (video and pics here and here). Another fan claims Louis was close to her work (link).

Eleanor posts picture where Louis’ leg can be seen at a rocky beach (link).

Olivia and her daughter get their nails done in NY  according to Deuxmoi (link). Deuxmoi posts a ‘spotted’ post about Olivia being seen at the Fort Greene farmers market in NY (link).

Articles about Jason wearing a shirt supporting black English soccer players. 

July 18 (Sun): Articles about Ted Lasso.

July 19 (Mon): Olivia is papped arriving in LA, pics and video are released. In the video they ask her about ‘online rumors’ that her and Harry already got married, and what her ring size is. She replies that she isn’t “ever gonna talk to you guys” (link). Article is also released (link).

Deuxmoi posts a ‘spotted’ post about Olivia with her daughter Daisy getting their nails done in NY allegedly on the 17th. They claim they could see both of them smile (even tho they were wearing masks) and dance to WS and her daughter mentions Harry (link).

Jason is papped arriving in NYC with an avocado plush toy after being away on a Ted Lasso press tour (article link). And more articles about Ted Lasso.

July 20 (Tue): Deuxmoi posts story claiming that Holivia “are very serious” and that “word is they’ve talked about” getting engaged/married. She also posted a story about Jeff Azoff (link).

Jason is papped wearing a tie-dye sweater in NY and goes on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (link). More articles about Ted Lasso and Jason’s anti-racism support.

July 21 (Wed): Article drops clarifying Jason is not dating Keeley and is, in fact, single, and seen out at a bar with friends and model Irina Shayk (link). More articles about Ted Lasso and Jason’s anti-racism support, as well as articles about Jason playing with puppies on GQ.

Articles about Olivia “responding to Harry Styles marriage rumors”.

July 22 (Thur): Louis says on Twitter that he lost his phone during the EUROs, and tweets from an Iphone (link here and here).

Eleanor posts video of Bruce swimming at the pool in Louis’ public house and a picture of herself at the house (link).

Olivia is papped getting coffee in LA (link).

Articles about Olivia “responding to Harry Styles marriage rumors”.

Jason goes on the Today show. More articles about Ted Lasso and Jason’s anti-racism support.

July 23 (Fri): One Direction’s 11th anniversary! Louis thanks fans on twitter (link).

Unseen video of One Direction, shot by Cal Aurand in 2012 is released (video link).

Article about Olivia getting coffee in LA on the 22nd drops (link).

Olivia posts a picture on her IG story at the Dumbo Soho House and says that DWD is nearing the end of picture-lock (link). Picture is likely old.

More articles about Ted Lasso.

July 24 (Sat): More articles about Ted Lasso.

July 25 (Sun): LTHQ announces a giveaway for Walls vinyls (link).

Fan posts screenshots of Harry’s knees in Italy likely between June 18-30th 2021 (link).

Deuxmoi posts a ‘spotted’ post about Olivia getting coffee in LA on the 22nd (link).

Olivia is papped alone in LA (link).

More articles about Ted Lasso.

July 26 (Mon): Deuxmoi posts about Olivia facetiming Harry from a coffee shop in NYC using her back camera, calling her a “boomer” (link).

Article about Olivia being seen alone in LA, and how she’s working on coparenting with Jason, and that she’ll do whatever it takes for her kids. Pics likely from the 25th (link).

More articles about Ted Lasso.

July 27 (Tue): “Article” exclusive with US Weekly about Holivia being so free and having an “ease” to their relationship - justifying them spending little time together (link).

Article calling Olivia a boomer for facetiming with her back camera.

More articles about Ted Lasso.

July 28 (Wed): Louis drops his “summer drop” merch (link).

The Xfactor gets permanently cancelled (link).

More articles about Ted Lasso.

July 29 (Thur): Louis announces The Away from Home Festival in London (link). Articles about The Away From Home Festival (link, link).

July 30 (Fri): Louis liked tweets by bands ‘Johnny Took’ and ‘The Lathums’ (link).

Articles about The Away From Home Festival (link, link, link).

Walls reentered the Official Charts (link).

“Article” about Harry being “obsessed” with his relationship with Olivia and turning into her puppy dog who follows her everywhere (link).

Olivia is pictured in NY via her and her PA’s IG stories (pics).

July 31 (Sat): Harry is spotted in a coffee shop in LA in the morning. He is with his friends Reesh (srilankansunshine) and Al Shearer (pics and video links).

Deuxmoi reposts screenshot and video of Harry at the coffee shop. As well as a message from someone claiming that Harry was working on new music at a studio (link).

Deuxmoi posts (on Aug 1) a ‘spotted’ reel in which Olivia is seen with her kids at Empire Diner in Chelsea NY, as well as walking with her kids there (link). Jason was seen at a baseball game in NY. Dates are uncertain, alleged to be the 31st, but could be 26-31st.

[omegaremix]

Omega WUSB Summer 2022 Broadcasting Season.

In Summer 2021, Omega WUSB had a feeling that it'd be extremely busy. On top of our alternating 10PM-midnight Saturday slot, our then-program director Luke allowed us to temporarily take over the alternating midnight-3AM Wednesday slot. We’ve played an almost equal amount of deluxe and bonus sets along with two label tributes for a total of seventeen shows, including a double-deluxe street / backpacker set and our first-ever African sounds showcase. With three other fill-ins in the mix for absent dee-jays, Omega WUSB's Summer 2021 broadcasting season became our busiest broadcasting season we’ve ever had. 

Or so we thought.

In Summer 2022, our then-program director DJ Joi offered us a weekly Monday 11AM-noon slot and we immediately took it. With six deluxe slots, fourteen bonus shows, and two label tributes, Omega’s Summer 2022 broadcasting season was our biggest ever. For our deluxe shows (new, current, and relevant sounds), we featured top-shelf indie, post-punk / d.i.y, hardcore, metalcore, sludge, doom, stoner, backpacker, street, electronic, ultrapop, shoegaze, and marquee artists. For our bonus shows, we showcased classic punk, d-beat, thrash, noise, African sounds, crate-digging, and golden-era hip-hop. For the first time ever, we had our very first Japanese sounds and all riot-grrrl shows, plus a 4th of July New York hardcore set was all to its own. We featured two record label showcases in Captured Tracks and La Vida Es Un Mus. We also had an unprecedented three double deluxe (four-hour) sets thanks to our preceding show Everything Must Go. Finally, in a first for our show, we did two broadcasts in one day, and that was on the 4th of July. We done everything we did last year and more. The only ones out? Our jungle / drum-and-bass and breakbeat sets. Not since Year Four had we visited them.

Of course, there were some hitches. We had a bye-week to make way for WUSB’s Summer 2022 Reggae Marathon, leaving us with six bi-weekly deluxe broadcasts instead of seven. Our show before us, Everything Must Go, was more than generous to donate his time to us which became our three double-deluxe shows. And with three weeks to go before the end of our Summer broadcast season, our program director made scheduling changes which took effect before August’s end and replaced our final two weekly Monday bonus broadcasts with another show. Thanks to one of our station’s at-home programming engineers, those final two shows were played ahead of time as fill-ins for an absent dee-jay. Everything worked out in the end as we hope to be.

Now, our Summer 2022 broadcasting season is on record the busiest one we’ve ever done. We never backed down from a challenge and our mission of presenting innovative, non-commercial programming for our local and worldwide listeners kept us going. We exemplified independent radio in delivering on being diverse and stretched the limits of what we can do, as we always have. 

We hoped all of our followers and listeners of all things Omega enjoyed hearing us through our most ambitious run ever.

June 4, 2022; #308 (double-deluxe shoegaze, indie)

June 6, 2022; #309 (vinyl, crate-digging, sampling)

June 13, 2022; #310 (marquee)

June 18, 2022; #311 (metalcore, sludge, stoner, doom)

June 20, 2022; #312 (old-school, boombox hip-hop / rap)

June 27, 2022; #313 (classic punk, proto-punk, punk legends)

July 4, 2022 A; #314 (Captured Tracks tribute)

July 4, 2022 B; #315 (New York City hardcore legends)

July 11, 2022; #316 (daylight noise)

July 16, 2022; #317 (double-deluxe electronics and super-pop)

July 18, 2022; #318 (African sounds expo-)

July 25, 2022; #319 (ultra)

July 30, 2022; #320 (double deluxe noise rock, hardcore)

August 1, 2022; #321 (industrial winners)

August 8, 2022; #322 (punk, thrash, d-beat)

August 13, 2022; #323 (post-punk, d.i.y., city sounds)

August 15, 2022; #324 (all-Japan showcase)

August 22, 2022; #325 (street)

August 27, 2022; #326 (hip-hop, rap, golden-era veterans)

August 29, 2022 A; #327 (La Vida Es Un Mus tribute)

August 29, 2022 B; #328 (all riot-grrrl showcase)

And in case anyone of our followers were wondering, here’s what we did the previous summer:

June 2, 2021; #266 (vinyl, crate-digging, sampling)

June 5, 2021; #267 (electronics)

June 16, 2021; #268 (golden-era hip-hop, rap)

June 19, 2021; #269 (indie)

June 30, 2021; #270 (thrash, speed, crust punk)

July 3, 2021; #271 (double deluxe hip-hop)

July 10, 2021; #272 (shoegaze, alternative, dreampop)

July 14, 2021; #273 (classic punk)

July 17, 2021; #274 (metalcore, sludge, stoner, doom)

July 28, 2021; #275 (noise, obscura)

July 31, 2021; #276 (hardcore)

August 2, 2021; #277 (Mexican Summer tribute)

August 11, 2021; #278 (hip-hop / rap anniversary)  

August 14, 2021; #279 (noise rock, garage)  

August 25, 2021; #280 (African cassette expo-)  

August 28, 2021; #281 (post-punk, d.i.y., city)  

August 30, 2021; #282 (Awesome Tapes From Africa tribute)  

[iamtryingtobelieve]

A 35 Day NIN Challenge - Third Times The Charm!

“I told you, I’d shoot.  But you didn’t believe me WHY DIDN’T YOU BELIEVE ME?!?”...

I mean... Welcome to a re-vamped edition to something I did in 2017, a magical time where boobs were still allowed on Tumblr and David Lynch freaked the world out with Twin Peaks The Return. 

This is just a little fun daily challenge for Tumblr in which you just answer the questions based on your opinions on Nine Inch Nails.

35 questions = 35 days. You can provide links, images, audio, video, whatever. Without further ado, let’s look at the schedule!

Day 1 - How Did You Become a NIN Fan? Day 2 - First NIN Song You Heard/Fell In Love With? Day 3 - Favourite song(s) from Pretty Hate Machine Day 4 - Favourite song(s) from Broken Day 5 - Favourite song(s) from The Downward Spiral Day 6 - Favourite song(s) from The Fragile Day 7 - Favourite song(s) from With Teeth Day 8 - Favourite song(s) from Year Zero Day 9 - Favourite song(s) from Ghosts I-IV Day 10 - Favourite song(s) from The Slip Day 11 - Favourite song(s) from Hesitation Marks Day 12 - Favourite song(s) from The Trilogy [Not The Actual Events, Add Violence and Bad Witch) Day 13 - Favourite song(s) from Ghosts V - VI Day 14 - Favourite Live DVD Day 15 - Favourite collaboration Day 16 - Favourite Live performance? Day 17 - Favourite tv show/movie appearance Day 18 - Favourite music video? Day 19 - Favourite Trent and Atticus Score? Day 20 - Favourite band photo Day 21 - Favourite tour/tour you would have loved to have seen? Day 22 - Your NIN media collection? [CD’s, DVD’S, Tapes, Vinyl, Whatever] Day 23 - Favourite merch you own [T-shirts, magazines, autographs, whatever) Day 24 - Favourite album? Day 25 - Favourite song? Day 26 - Favourite Remix album/remixes? Day 27 - Favourite cover? (Either a NIN cover or a cover by NIN) Day 28 - Worst NIN album? Day 29 - Favourite HTDA Song? Day 30 - Worst Song? Day 31 - Favourite Trent photo? Day 32 - Favourite fan made project/item based on NIN? Day 33 - Dream NIN Stuff You Would Love To Happen? Day 34 - Vinyl or CDs? Day 35 - A note for Trent If He Ever Should Read This?

[digyourcnema]

delaney marie’s stats 

TW: mention of physical, verbal, emotional, and mental abuse and drug abuse/ overdose

GENERAL DETAILS.

FULL NAME:  delaney rose marie

NICKNAME(S): dee

NAME MEANING: “dark challenger”

AGE:  22-25

DATE OF BIRTH:  february 13th

PLACE OF BIRTH: long Island, New York

CURRENT LOCATION: depends on thread

ETHNICITY: white

GENDER: female

PRONOUNS: she/her

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: bisexual

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: biromantic

RELIGION: atheist

OCCUPATION: singer, songwriter, musician, dancer, actress, activist

EDUCATION LEVEL: high school & most of college

LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: lives in an apartment in Manhattan, though has other homes scattered throughout the united states as well

SPEAKING VOICE AND ACCENT: has a long island accent that switches to Italian when she speaks it, and is soft spoken

SPOKEN LANGUAGES: English, Italian, Spanish, and numerous others

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE, ETC.

FACECLAIM: Ariana Grande

HAIR COLOR AND STYLE: brown, has it up in a ponytail a lot of the time but wears it down every now and then

EYE COLOR: brown

EYESIGHT: wears glasses and contact lenses

HEIGHT: 4’11

WEIGHT: around 100 lbs ?? she’s tiny, so.

BODY AND BUILD: has abs and toned arms from the training she’s had to do for some of her films that require her to do her own stunts

TATTOOS: has a crescent moon on her upper right forearm

PIERCINGS: earrings

SIGNATURE SCENT: vanilla

HEALTH.

MENTAL DISORDER(S): PTSD, anxiety, depression, ADHD

PHYSICAL DISORDER(S): fibromyalgia

ALLERGIES: none

SLEEPING HABITS: has insomnia, so she spends many hours of the night awake

SOCIABILITY: is pretty social, but that’s mainly because part of her job requires her to be.

ADDICTIONS: caffeine

DRUG USE: she was addicted to cocaine and heroin when she was 18-19, but stopped using after she overdosed

ALCOHOL USE: drinks occasionally

PERSONALITY.

LABEL(S): the artist, the giver

POSITIVE TRAITS: kind, gentle, generous, funny, witty, selfless, intelligent, intuitive, creative, artistic

NEGATIVE TRAITS: insecure, stubborn, perfectionist, timid, workaholic

LIKES: singing, playing instruments (like the guitar, piano, and drums), dancing, drawing, acting, photography, activism, disney, marvel, star wars, gaming

DISLIKES: donald trump, republicans, being yelled at, being degraded

FEARS: her father, being alone, abandonment

HABITS: playing with her hair, chewing on her bottom lip, pacing, overthinking

GOALS AND AMBITIONS: to make music and films that she loves, and use her platform to help make the world a better place

PERSONALITY TYPE: INFJ

MORAL ALIGNMENT: lawful good

HOGWARTS HOUSE: hufflepuff

ELEMENT: air

WEATHER: loves snow and light rain showers

COLOR: purple

MUSIC: loves to listen to pop, soundtracks, and classic rock (her uncle listened to his classic rock cd’s and vinyl’s a lot when she was growing up so she got hooked on it)

MOVIE: she loves an assortment of films like v for vendetta, the scream films (except for the third one), most of the classic horror films like halloween and the shining, and comedies such as ferris bueller’s day off and the austin powers films

BOOK: literally too many to count, as she loves to read in her free time

BEVERAGE: coffee, dr. pepper, and water

ANIMAL: it’s a tie between dogs and cats

SEASON: winter

FAMILY, RELATIONSHIPS, ETC.

MOTHER: sofia marie. dee still gets along great with her and calls her almost every night

FATHER: jack walsh. he physically, verbally, emotionally, and mentally abused dee from when she was six until she moved out when she was 18, so their relationship is pretty much non-existent, as dee is terrified of him.

SIGNIFICANT OTHER: verse dependent

BEST FRIEND: christine moore, who is also her publicist

SIBLING(S): an older sister named elena, who dee also considers one of her best friends

PET(S): an orange tabby cat named anakin, after the star wars character