#Astor Towers Hotel

[happyfoxphantom]

Michael Nesmith outside the Astor Towers Hotel in Chicago during the summer of 1967 Monkees Tour, photo shared from Christine Siewert.

[fuckinuhhh]

Architectural Finds, 06/24/2023

My walk today was a brief 20 minutes, I was meeting up with a friend from upstate for some chai who had come down the night before to stay with some other friends. We met up at the Chai Spot on Mott St. (which I definitely now recommend) and we relaxed in their backroom lounge with our chai's for 45 min or so. She eventually had to leave to catch her bus back upstate & I walked her to the subway stairs hugged her and said goodbye. Feeling the warm weather on my skin and the caffeine in my veins I decided to walk up Broadway, here were some of the architectural highlights.

This cute turret room on the top of the building on the NE corner of Bleecker & Broadway. Doing the smallest ammount of googling I am finding out this was Peter Venkman's (Bill Murray) apartment in Ghostbusters 2???? ok.

It just looks like it would be such a whimsical little tower to hang your hair from, idk.

Building Facts: Built in 1891 as the Manhattan Savings Institution, also known as Bleecker Tower. Architect Stephen Decatur Hatch.

Built in the Romanesque Revival style with arches and ornaments, as well as the red sandstone and signature rough cut stone of this style on the base of the building (definitely why it caught my eye, I love Richardson Romanesque/romanesque revival).

The tower on top eludes my brief internet search, but if anyone has pictures of the inside please direct them to me.

Next up we have this lil copper cutie who looks like it just got a face lift judging by the shiny copper facade on top. It is currently a FootLocker so hopefully they're treating her nice.

Building Facts: (obv) Built in 1889 by Architect Alfred Zucker.

The menacing gargoyles are cute.

(maybe more of an opinion than a fact, but) there used to be a bookstore called Shakepeare's on the bottom floor and the top floors were 1-per-floor studio spaces for artists to live/work in, & I wish that was the case today, not footlocker and high rent.

MOVING ON, we've got this pair of cuties. Don't they look like the best of friends holding hands ready to face the world side by side? These guys are 734 (left) and 732 (right) Broadway.

734: Built in 1872 by Architects David & John Jardine in Cast-Iron Neo-Grec style. Until ~2015, the facade had become a rusted brown/black mess until they cleaned and repainted it.

732: Built in 1854 by unknown.

This little building has a complicated past but ill try and summarize the small dig I just did on it. Originally it was a 3.5 peaked-roof building as a set of 3 houses for wealthy sisters (daughters of John Mason) from 732-736 designed by an undocumented architect. It underwent large renovations twice in its life, and one small renovation adding the Treffurth's sign on the roof cornice. The first renovation happened in 1885 by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh (god write a romance novel already would you) and allowed the introduction of E. A. Mac's bookstore to take the place of the earlier saloon on the bottom floor. It was then renovated in 1900 by Bruno W. Berger to the Cast-Iron more or less Renaissance Revival facade we see today.

-

Im going to keep these next ones brief because I'm beginning to lose steam :)

1 Astor Place

Built in 1883 by Architects Starkweather & Gibbs (they also designed the Potter Building). Brick & Terracotta above Cast-Iron ground floor facade.

Originally it was used as a hotel and boarding house with ground floor stores. The harsh vertical motifs on the exterior caught my eye, and I was drawn in even more by the harmony of the design elements and color choices.

10 Astor Place aka 444 Lafayette St

Built in 1876 by Architect Griffith Thomas to the same owner as the above building, Orlando B. Potter, who seemed to have impeccable taste in architecture.

I love the ornate implementation of the painted white Cast-Iron in the arches and pillar ornaments on this one. As well as the eye-popping contrast of the white paint on dark red brick, kind of a juxtaposed take on themes seen in the building above with the way the red and black elements seem to blend in together in harmony.

21 Astor Place aka Clinton Hall

Built in 1891 by George E. Harney.

Originally a Library for the New York Mercantile Library. I love the classic industrial look its such a strong look while they still tried to give elements of the facade some artistic nuance like in the arched windows and dark banding.

Only Caught the side of this Collonade building but doing more research on it, it's owned by the Blue Man Group????

Built 1831 by Seth Greer and historically home to family member's of the Astor & Vanderbilt families, it is the oldest building I took note of today.

And of course, how could I not be drawn into the Cooper Union Foundation building's charm. It stands seemingly so alone in the heart of Manhattan, close to a modern miracle.

Built in 1859 by Frederick A. Peterson in the (what I'm finding now to be called) Rundbogenstil German neo-Romanesque style.

I didn't realize it at the time but this picture also seems to be the back of the building. Still just such ornate and well-balanced design!

HONORABLE MENTIONS: This house on top of this building and the cute lil mansard moment next to it, which I searched and searched for but I cant seem to remember where it is.

Edit: I found it, there were street signs in the picture whoops. The one with the cottage is 203 E 13th Street also known as Pear Tree Place. And the little guy with the mansard roof is 109 3rd ave, both of them resting above Kiehls 3rd ave.

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS: This NYU Alumni building. Who designed you, they should be ashamed. What is going on with your offset, unbalanced terraces in the back? Awful. What was the point of all of these different colored brick patches?? Uncomfortable, awful. It looks like a neutral-toned Duplo set.

Built in 1986 and I cant even find the architect so you know they weren't very proud of it.

[thistleandthorn-events]

Between January 3rd - January 10th Stonewall Prep will be sponsoring a trip for all students to London, England, in celebration of the new year. All students must attend, towns people will attend as chaperons.

Rules:

No participant is allowed to leave the city unless on an excursion with the group.

No participant is allowed to leave the country.  

No student is allowed roam the city unaccompanied.

Students must be back in their assigned rooms between 11pm - 6am.

Excursions are not optional.

No one is allowed in student rooms other than the assigned participants after curfew.

Accommodations:

We will be staying at the NYX Hotels London Holborn in their Deluxe Space rooms. Each room has two King sized beds and a sofa as well as desk and chair, armchair and coffee table, 49” HD TV with Chromecast, fridge and minibar, Telephone, Hairdryer, Iron and ironing board, Laptop safe, Air conditioning, Free WiFi, Nespresso machine & tea refreshment dock, Bathrobes, NYX slippers, Toiletries. Student room assignments are as follows:

Room 1: Sam Evans Oz Chang Matt Fabray Owen (Pierce) Evans 

Room 2: Sebastian Smythe Noah Anderson Elliott (Anderson) Smythe Ross Berry

Room 3: Gunner Rose Beau (Adams) Rose Alejandro Lodge Charlie Fabray

Room 4: Madeline Beiste Veronica Lodge Dexter Wells Bronson Jones

Room 5: Parker St. James Archie Andrews Annabeth Blossom Kyla Clarington Birdie Astor

Room 6: Logan Lodge JB Jones Sky Evans Buck Wilde

Room 7: Chandler Berry Barbie Blossom Kurt Hummel Emi Lopez

Room 8: Lucy Adams Javi Fogarty Sawyer Evans Archer Clarington Delilah Pierce

Room 9: Ivan Carvalho Betty Cooper Hunter Clarington Austin Fabray

Room 10: Stevie Evans Teddy Cohen-Chang Oliver Smythe Ryan Rhodes Joe Berry

Chaperone rooms are 2 room suites (2 king beds in each room with the above mentioned amenities) as follows:

Room 1: Hiram Lodge FP Jones

Room 2: Wyatt Sylvester Harrison Schuester Michael Chang

**SLAVES - slaves will be coming, however, a Dominant or Switch needs to volunteer to take one in their room and be responsible for them the whole trip. They will still be available for rent during the trip. Volunteer to FP as soon as possible - first come first serve.

Itinerary: The following are the plans during the trip. Any time not documented between 6am - 11pm is free time at the hotel or in town.

Jan 3rd:  Travel from Lima Ohio to London Rest of the day is free time until 11pm.

Jan 4th: 10am - 1pm: Tower of London, Changing of the Guard and London Eye with Lunch

Jan 5th: Free day

Jan 6th: 10am - 1pm: Sherwood Forest with Lunch 2pm - 3pm: Stonehenge 

Jan 7th: Free Day

Jan 8th: 7-10pm: River Thames Dinner Cruise

Jan 9th: Free Day

Jan 10th: Travel back to Lima

OOC:

Rules will be strictly enforced, so any rule breaking plots MUST be approved by admin. Other plots that need to be approved include (but not limited to) breaking curfew, large disasters, plots involving several people, plots affecting several people, law breaking, etc. 

[oppvenuz]

Iconic Mumbai Wedding Locations for a Dream Celebration

Mumbai, often known as the city of dreams, is home to a plethora of legendary wedding venues that may transform your special day into a memorable occasion. Here are some noteworthy places that exemplify Mumbai's charm and beauty.

Click Here More Deatils:https://www.oppvenuz.com/services/venues/Mumbai

The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai: This ancient hotel is the ultimate of luxury, with towering architecture and stunning views of the Gateway of India and the Arabian Sea. Its enormous ballrooms and outstanding service make it an ideal venue for a fairy-tale wedding.

JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu: Situated on the picturesque Juhu Beach, this five-star hotel offers a breathtaking coastline view. With its spacious grounds and magnificent banquet spaces, it's ideal for both small meetings and large festivities.

**The St. Regis Mumbai: The St. Regis is known for its refined ambiance and provides excellent settings such as the Astor Ballroom and a rooftop terrace with spectacular city views. Its elegant design and first-rate service provide a beautiful wedding experience.

Turf Club, Mahalaxmi Racecourse: For a unique outdoor location, the Turf Club's spacious grounds and colonial-era elegance provide for a lovely backdrop. It's great for individuals who want a mix of history and natural beauty.

The Oberoi, Mumbai: This luxury hotel overlooking the Arabian Sea offers gorgeous decor and superb food services. Its elegant dining spaces are ideal for hosting a smart and unforgettable wedding.

These classic Mumbai wedding destinations provide a choice of breathtaking scenery and first-rate facilities, guaranteeing that your wedding day is nothing short of amazing. Whether you want a beach view, historical elegance, or modern luxury, Mumbai offers the ideal location to make your fantasy party come true.

[brn1029]

On this date in the important music of Rock and roll….

August 11th

2022 - David Bowie

David Bowie was named Britain's most influential artist of the past 50 years in the Sky Arts list for his ability to transcend music, film and fashion. Other musicians in the list included the Spice Girls, Sir Elton John, Stormzy and Boy George.

1984 - Ray Parker Jr

Ray Parker JR. started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with the theme from the film 'Ghostbusters'. Parker who had been a session guitarist for Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye was accused of plagiarizing the melody from Huey Lewis and the News song 'I Want a New Drug', resulting in Lewis suing Parker, the pair settled out of court in 1985.

1979 - Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin played their last ever UK show when they appeared at Knebworth House, England. The set list included: The Song Remains The Same, Celebration Day, Black Dog, Nobody's Fault But Mine, Over The Hills And Far Away, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I've Been Loving You, No Quarter, Hot Dog, The Rain Song, White Summer/Black Mountainside, Kashmir, Trampled Under Foot, Sick Again, Achilles' Last Stand, In The Evening, Stairway To Heaven Rock And Roll, Whole Lotta Love and Communication Breakdown.

1966 - John Lennon

At a press conference held at The Astor Towers Hotel in Chicago, John Lennon apologised for his remarks that The Beatles were ‘more popular than Jesus'. Lennon told reporters "Look, I wasn’t saying The Beatles are better than God or Jesus, I said ‘Beatles’ because it’s easy for me to talk about The Beatles. I could have said ‘TV’ or ‘Cinema’, ���Motorcars’ or anything popular and would have got away with it’’.

1964 - The Beatles

The Beatles started recording their fourth album ('Beatles For Sale', not yet titled), at EMI studios in London, England.

1964 - The High Numbers

The High Numbers, (later to become The Who), played at The Railway Hotel in Harrow, England. Just before the band were due on stage, Roger Daltry's father-in law came into the venue and dragged the singer outside and hit him. The band started their set and Daltry appeared back on stage after the fight.

1962 - Neil Sedaka

Neil Sedaka started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Breaking Up Is Hard To Do', his first US No.1 as an artist. It reached No.7 on the UK chart.

1956 - Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley's double sided hit 'Don't Be Cruel / Hound Dog was released. The single went to No.1 on the US chart, where it stayed for 11 weeks - a record that would not be broken until 1992's Boyz II Men hit 'End of the Road'.

[oskarlevant]

Famous architects dressed as their buildings at a ball held by the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects on January 13, 1931 at the Hotel Astor in New York City. The ball's theme was Fête Moderne: A Fantasie in Flame and Silver.

From left to right:

A. Stewart Walker as the Fuller Building Leonard Schultze as the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Ely Jacques Kahn as the Squibb Building William Van Alen as the Chrysler Building Ralph Walker as 1 Wall Street D.E. Ward as the Metropolitan Tower Joseph H. Freelander as the Museum of the City of New York.

[thefakejeffreyazoff]

‘He’s our Satan’: Mega music manager Irving Azoff, still feared, still fighting

(x)PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. —  

This is not Irving Azoff’s house. Irving and his wife Shelli own houses all over, from Beverly Hills to Cabo San Lucas, but right now in the last week of October it’s too cold at the ranch in Idaho and too hot at the spread in La Quinta, so he’s renting this place — a modest midcentury six-bedroom that sold for $5 million back in 2016.

From the front door you can see all the way out, to where Arrowhead Point juts like the tail of a comma into the calm afternoon waters of Carmel Bay. More importantly, the house is literally across the street from the Pebble Beach Golf Links, where Azoff likes to play with his college buddy John Baruck, who started out in the music business around the same time Azoff did, in the late ’60s, and just retired after managing Journey through 20 years and two or three lead singers, depending how you count.

(Via LA Times) 

Azoff is 72, and this weekend he’ll be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside Bruce Springsteen’s longtime manager Jon Landau. Beatles manager Brian Epstein and Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham are already in, but Azoff and Landau are the first living managers thus honored. Azoff is not only alive — he’s still managing. As a partner in Full Stop Management — alongside Jeffrey Azoff, his oldest son and the third of his four children — he steers the careers of clients like the Eagles, Steely Dan, Bon Jovi and comedian Chelsea Handler, and consults when needed on the business of Harry Styles, Lizzo, John Mayer, Roddy Ricch, Anderson .Paak and Maroon 5. Azoff has Zoom calls at 7, 8 and 9 tomorrow morning, and only after that will he squeeze in a round.

The work never stops when you view the job the way Azoff does, as falling somewhere between consigliere and concierge. “My calls can be everything from ‘My knee buckled, I need a doctor’ to ‘My kid’s in jail,’” Azoff says. “I mean, you have no idea. The ‘My kid’s in jail’ one was a funny one, because the artist then said to me, ‘Y’know, I’ve thought about this. Maybe we should leave him there for a while.’”

Golf entered Azoff’s life the way a lot of things have — via the Eagles, whom Azoff has managed since the early ’70s. Specifically, Azoff took up golf in the company of the late Glenn Frey, the jockiest Eagle, the one the other Eagles used to call “Sportacus.” By the time the Eagles returned to the road in the ’90s they’d left their debauched ’70s lifestyles largely behind, but Azoff and Frey got hooked on the little white ball.

“Frey would insist on booking the tour around where he wanted to play golf,” Azoff says. “We made Henley crazy. Henley would call me in my room and he’d go, ‘Why the f— are we in a hotel in Hilton Head North Carolina and starting a tour in Charlotte? Is this a f— golf tour?’”

Trailed by Larry Solters, the Eagles’ preternaturally dour minister of information, Azoff makes his way down the hill from the house for dinner at the golf club’s restaurant. He’s only 5 feet, 3 inches, a diminutive Sydney Pollack in jeans and a zip-up sweater. In photos from the ’70s — when he was considerably less professorial in comportment, a hipster exec with a spring-loaded middle finger — he sports a beard and a helmet of curly hair and mischievous eyes behind his shades, and looks a little like a Muppet who might scream at Kermit over Dr. Teeth’s appearance fee.

His father was a pharmacist and his mother was a bookkeeper. He grew up in Danville, Ill., booked his first shows in high school to pay for college, dropped out of college to run a small Midwestern concert-booking empire and manage local acts such as folk singer Dan Fogelberg and heartland rock band REO Speedwagon. Los Angeles soon beckoned. He met the Eagles while working for David Geffen and Elliot Roberts’ management company and followed the band out the door when they left the Geffen fold; they became the cornerstone of his empire. “I got my swagger from Glenn Frey and Don Henley,” he says. “No doubt about it.”

Azoff never took to pot or coke. The Eagles lived life in the fast lane; he was the designated driver. “Artists,” he once observed, “like knowing the guy flying the plane is sober.” This didn’t stop him from trashing his share of hotel rooms, frequently with guitarist Joe Walsh — whose solo career Azoff shepherded before Walsh joined the Eagles, and who was very much not sober at this time — as an accomplice.

“This was a different age,” Walsh says of his time as the band’s premier lodging-deconstructionist. “We could do anything we wanted, so we did. And Irving’s role was to keep us out of prison, basically.” He recalls a pleasant evening in Chicago in the company of John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, which culminated in Walsh laying waste to a suite at the Astor Towers hotel that turned out to be the owner’s private apartment. “We had to check out with a lawyer and a construction foreman,” Walsh remembers. “But Irving took care of it. Without Irving, I’d still be in Chicago.”

Azoff became even more infamous for the pit bull brio he brought to business negotiations on behalf of the Eagles and others, including Stevie Nicks and Boz Scaggs. He didn’t seem to care if people liked him, and his artists loved him for that. Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker said they’d hired Azoff because he “impressed us with his taste for the jugular … and his bizarre spirit.” Jimmy Buffett’s wife grabbed him outside a show at Madison Square Garden, pushed him into the back of a limo and said, You have to manage Jimmy, although Buffett already had a manager at the time.

His outsized reputation as an advocate not just willing but eager to scorch earth on behalf of his clients became an advertisement for his services, a phenomenon that continues to this day. In August 2018, Azoff’s then-client Travis Scott released “Astroworld,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and occupied that slot again the following week, causing Nicki Minaj’s album “Queen” to debut at No. 2. On her Beats One show “Queen Radio,” Minaj accused Scott of gaming Billboard’s chart methodology to keep her out of the top slot and singled his manager out by name: “C—sucker of the Day award,” she said, “goes to Irving Azoff.” Azoff says he reacted as only Azoff would: “I said, ‘I’m really unhappy about that. I want to be c—sucker of the year.’” In 2019, Minaj hired Azoff as her new manager.

Most of the best things anyone’s ever said about Azoff are statements a man of less-bizarre spirit would take as an insult. When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the Eagles in 1998, Don Henley stood onstage and said of Azoff, “He may be Satan, but he’s our Satan.”

An N95-masked Azoff takes a seat on a patio with a view of hallowed ground — the first hole of the Pebble Beach course, a dogleg-right par 4 with a priceless view of the bay. He cheerfully admits that he and his partners at Full Stop are “obviously, as a management business, kind of losing our ass” this year due to COVID-19. In another reality, the Eagles would have played Wembley Stadium in August before heading off to Australia or the Far East. Styles would have just finished 34 dates in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. As it stands Azoff is hearing encouraging things about treatments and vaccines and new testing machines, and is reasonably confident that technology will soon make it possible for certified-COVID-free fans to again enjoy carefree evenings of live music together; he doesn’t expect much to happen in the meantime.

“What are you gonna do,” Azoff says, “take an act that used to sell 15,000 seats and tell them to play to 4,000 in the [same] arena? The vibe would be horrible, and production costs will stay the same.”

He knows of at least six companies trying to monetize new concert-esque experiences — pay-per-view shows from houses and soundstages, drive-in events and so on. But he’s not convinced anybody wants to sit in their parked car to watch a band play. More to the point, he’s not convinced it’s rock ’n’ roll.

“Fallon and Kimmel, all these virtual performances — people are sick of that,” he says. “Your production values from home aren’t that good. And they’re destroying the mystique. I mean, Justin Bieber jumping around on ‘Saturday Night Live’ the other night without a band, and then he had Chance the Rapper come out? It made him look to me, mortal. I didn’t feel any magic. So we’ve kinda been turning that stuff down to just wait it out.”

In the meantime, he says, Full Stop is picking up new clients during the pandemic. Artists with time on their hands, he believes, “have taken a hard look at their careers— so we’ve grown. No revenues,” he adds with a chuckle, “but people are saying, ‘We need you, we need to plan our lives.’”

“IN HIGH SCHOOL,” Jeffrey Azoff says, “I wanted to be a professional golfer, which has obviously eluded me.” He never expected to take up his father’s profession. “But my dad has always loved his job so much. There’s no way that doesn’t rub off on you.”

The younger Azoff got his first industry job at 21, as a “glorified intern” working for Maroon 5’s then-manager Jordan Feldstein. After a week of filing and fetching coffee, he called his father and complained that he was bored. According to Jeffrey, Irving responded, “Listen carefully, because I’m going to say this one time. You have a phone and you have my last name. If you can’t figure it out, you’re not my son.”

“Direct quote,” Jeffrey says. “It’s one of my favorite things he’s ever said to me. And it’s the spirit of the music business, by the way. There are no rules to this. Just figure it out.”

Over dinner I keep asking Irving how he got the temerity, as a kid barely out of college, to plunge into the shark-infested waters of the ‘70s record industry in Los Angeles. He just shrugs.

“I never felt the music business was that competitive,” he says. “It’s just not that f—ing hard. I don’t think there’s that many smart people in our business.”

It’s been written, I say, that once you landed in California and sized up the competition, you called John Baruck back in Illinois and said —

“We can take this town,” Azoff says, finishing the sentence. “Where’d you get that? John told that story to [Apple senior vice president] Eddy Cue on the golf course three days ago. It’s true. I called John up and said, ‘OK, get your ass out here. We can take this town.’”

In the ensuing years, Azoff has occupied nearly every high-level position the music industry has to offer, surfing waves of industry consolidation. He’s been the president of a major label, MCA; the CEO of Ticketmaster; and executive chairman of Live Nation Entertainment, the behemoth formed from Ticketmaster’s merger with Live Nation. In 2013 he and Cablevision Systems Corp. CEO and New York Knicks owner James Dolan formed a partnership, Azoff MSG Entertainment; Azoff ran the Forum in Inglewood for Dolan after MSG purchased it in 2012.

Earlier this year Dolan sold the Forum for $400 million to former Microsoft CEO and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, who’s since announced plans to build a new stadium on a site just one mile away. Despite the apocalyptic parking scenario that looms for the area — two stadiums and a concert arena on a one-mile stretch of South Prairie Boulevard — Azoff is confident that the Forum will live on as a live-music venue. “People are going, ‘They’re going to tear it down’ — they’re not going to tear it down,” Azoff says. “It’s going to be in great hands. I have many of the artists we represent booked in the Forum, waiting for the restart based on COVID.”

The holdings of the Azoff Co. — formed when Dolan sold his interest in Azoff MSG back to Azoff two years ago — include Full Stop, the performance-rights organization Global Music Rights and the Oak View Group, which is developing arenas in Seattle and Belmont, N.Y., and a 15,000-seat venue on the University of Texas campus in Austin. Azoff describes himself as increasingly focused on “diversification, and building assets for the family that aren’t just dependent on commissions, shall we say.”

But as both a manager and a co-founder of a lobbying group, the Music Artists Coalition, he’s also devoting more time and energy to a broad range of artists’-rights issues, from health insurance to royalty rates to copyright reversion to this year’s Assembly Bill 5, which threatened musicians’ independent-contractor status until it was amended in September. (“That was us,” Azoff says, somewhat grandly. “I got to the governor, the governor signed it — Newsom was great on it.”) He describes his advocacy for artists — even those he doesn’t manage — as a “war on all fronts,” and estimates there are 21 major issues on which “we’ve sort of appointed ourselves as guardians.”

He does not continue to manage artists because he needs the money, he says. (As the singer-songwriter and Azoff client J.D. Souther famously put it, “Irving’s 15% of everybody turned out to be more than everyone’s 85% of themselves.”) Everything he’s doing now — building clout through the Azoff Co., even accepting the Hall of Fame honor — is ultimately about positioning himself to better fight these fights. “I’d rather work on [these things] than anything else,” he says. “But if I didn’t have the power base in the management business, I couldn’t be effective.”

The recorded music industry, having fully transitioned to a digital-first business, is once again making money hand over fist, he points out, but even less of that money is trickling down to artists. That imbalance long predates Big Tech’s involvement in the field, but the failure of music-driven tech companies to properly compensate musicians is clearly the largest burr under Azoff’s saddle.

“These people, when they start out — whether it’s Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, whatever — they resist paying for music until you go beat the f— out of them. And then of course, none of them pay fair market value and they get away with it. Your company’s worth $30 billion and you can’t spend 20 grand for a song that becomes a phenomenon on your channel? Even when they pay, artists don’t get enough. Writers don’t get enough. Music, as a commodity, is more important than it’s ever been, and more unfairly monetized for the creators. And that’s what creates an opportunity for people like me.”

AZOFF’S FIRM NO longer handles Travis Scott, by the way. “Travis is unmanageable,” Azoff says, nonchalantly and without rancor. “We’re involved in his touring as an advisor to Live Nation, but he’s calling his own shots these days.”

I ask if, in the age of the viral hit and the bedroom producer, he finds himself running into more artists who assume they don’t need a manager. Ehh, Azoff says, like it’s always been that way. “There’s a lot of headstrong artists,” he says. “I haven’t seen one that’s better off without a manager than with,” he says, and laughs a little Dennis the Menace laugh.

We’re back at the house. Azoff takes a seat on the living-room couch; Larry Solters sits across from him, his back to the sea. Azoff recalls another big client. Declines to name him. Says he was never happy, even after Azoff and his people got him everything on his wish list. “He hit me with a couple bad emails. Just really disrespectful s—. I sent him an email back that said, ‘Lucky for me, you need me more than I need you. Goodbye.’”

He will confirm having resigned the accounts of noted divas Mariah Carey and Axl Rose. Reports that he once attempted to manage Kanye West have been greatly exaggerated, he says, although they’ve spoken about business. “Robert [Kardashian] was a good friend of mine. The kids all went to school together,” Azoff says. “What I always said to Kanye was, you’re unmanageable, but we can give you advice.

“A lot of people could have made a dynasty on the people we used to manage,” Azoff says, “let alone the ones we kept.”

But he still works with many artists who joined him in the ’70s ��� with Henley, with Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen and with Joe Walsh. Walsh has been sober for more than 25 years; it was Azoff, along with Henley and Frey, who talked him into rehab before the Eagles’ 1994 reunion tour. “Irving never passed judgment on me,” Walsh says. “And from that meeting on, he made sure I had what I needed to stay sober.” If he hadn’t, Walsh says, there’s no chance we’d be having this conversation. “All the guys I ran with are dead. Keith Moon’s dead. John Entwistle’s dead. Everybody’s dead, and I’m here. That’s profound to me.”

The first client Azoff lost was Minnie Riperton — in 1979, to breast cancer when she was only 31. Then Warren Zevon, to cancer, in 2003. Fogelberg, to cancer, four years later.

“And then Glenn,” says Azoff, referring to the Eagles co-founder who died in 2016. “I miss Glenn a lot. And now Eddie.”

Van Halen, that is. I ask Azoff if he can tell me a story that sums up what kind of guy Eddie Van Halen was; he tells me a beautiful one, then says he’d prefer not to see it in print. It makes perfect Azoffian sense — profane trash talk on the record, tenderness on background.

I ask if he’s been moved to contemplate his own mortality, as his boomer-aged clients approach an actuarial event horizon. Of course the answer turns out to involve keeping pace with an Eagle.

“Henley and I are having a race,” he says. “Neither one of us has given in. Neither one of us is going to retire.”

Henley was born in July 1947; Azoff came along that December. Does Don plan to keep going, I ask, until the wheels fall off?

“I don’t know,” Azoff says.

Do you ever talk about it?

“Yeah! He’ll call me up and he’ll go, ‘I really feel s— today.’ And I say, ‘Well, you should, Grandpa. You’re an old man. You ready to throw in the towel? Nope? OK.’”

Azoff says, “I contend that what keeps us all young is staying in the business. I’ve had more people tell me, ‘My father, he quit working, and then his health started failing,’ and all that. Every single — I mean, every single rock star I know is basically doing it to try and stay young. And I think it works. I really think it works.

“I have this friend,” Azoff says. “Calls me once a week, he’s sending me tapes, it’s his next big record. Paul Anka! He’s 80 years old. OK? And my other friend, Frankie Valli …”

“Do you know how old Frankie Valli is?” Solters says. “Eighty-six. And he still performs.”

“Not during COVID,” Azoff says. “I told the motherf—, ‘You’re not going out.’”

[archinform]

Looking for Mr. Goldberg

by Roger E. Jones

Marina City, Chicago, view from the river, c. 1965. Chicago History Museum, Hedrich Blessing Archive.

Unless noted, photographs are by the author.

The Chicago buildings of Bertrand Goldberg (1913-1997), architect of Marina City, have recently begun to capture my imagination, as I visit and photograph his work throughout the city. The destruction of  Goldberg’s Prentice Women’s Hospital (1975) in Chicago in 2013, a building I vaguely remembered admiring years ago, also set in motion my desire to know more about this groundbreaking architect.

Goldberg was the last of the great Chicago Modernists, who was educated within the city’s Miesian tradition. He evolve it into fantastical new visions of city life, like his twinned Marina City mixed-use apartment towers, that were both commercially successful and daringly experimental.

Zach Mortice, http://zachmortice.com/2020/09/23/bertrand-goldbergs-temple-to-futures-past/

Marina City, at the time of its completion boasting both the tallest apartment buildings and tallest concrete structures in the world, is dramatically sited on the Chicago River, and has been a focal point of the city since its completion in 1963. As Goldberg said,

At $10 per square foot, they were the most economical in the United States.   They were the first American mixed-use urban complex to include housing and possibly the first in the western world since the 14th century. They were a technological advance that was designed for a world which believed its urban problems could be solved with technology and facts.

- ‘The Critical Mass of Urbanism’, a speech first given before the Union Internationale des Architectes in April of 1983.

Bertrand Goldberg, Marina City,  East Elevation, 1960. Art Institute of Chicago, Ryerson and Burnham Archives, The Archive of Bertrand Goldberg https://www.artic.edu/artworks/180580/marina-city-chicago-il-east-elevation

View a clip from PBS NewsHour, Marina City: Bertrand Goldberg’s Urban Vision  from 07/27/2010 (3m 11s) here:

https://www.pbs.org/video/marina-city-bertrand-goldberg-s-urban-vision-1432250668/

On a recent Saturday, I hopped on my bicycle to explore and photograph some of Goldberg's Chicago buildings. Apart from Marina City, I was barely familiar with any of his other work.

Astor Tower, 1300 N. Astor Street, Chicago

Punctuating mansion-lined Astor Street on the near north side like a tall exclamation mark, Astor Tower was originally an exclusive hotel, now converted to condominiums. Built around a central core and rising above thin concrete columns with a couple of floating space-age canopies extending over the sidewalk, the thin tower is rather elegant but otherwise unremarkable, surrounded by a sea of similar structures on the lakefront.

Designed just before Marina City, and built at about the same time,

Goldberg exposed the core at the base of the building and again at top,  highlighting its important structural role by making it a central  feature of his design. Because the residential stories do not begin  until the fifth story, the exposed core gives the impression of an  architectural peep-show, the building lifting its exterior wall to  expose its structure beneath.  - http://bertrandgoldberg.org/projects/astor-tower/

More exciting and, similar to Marina City, combining residential, shopping, and recreational uses, Goldberg's River City (completed 1986) was a new discovery for me. The only place from which you can view the entire serpentine, double-curve structure, located in Chicago's South Loop, is from the opposite side of the Chicago River. Building on Goldberg's concept of multi-use complexes, here he shows his love of curved concrete sections, the antithesis of the "boxes" of steel and glass so loved by modernist architects such as Mies van der Rohe.

River City complex, Chicago

The complex, appearing rather blob-like and even startling, can only be viewed in sections from close up. It's a multi-level and perplexing structure, and I didn't gain access to the interior, with its grand atrium or interior "street." Perhaps someday I'll view the inside of the building; I could, of course, pose as a prospective tenant and view one of the model condos.

River City, view from one of the walkways that circle the structure

River City - another view

Wilbur Wright College, City Colleges of Chicago.

I should also mention that my interest in Goldberg was piqued by the fact that I work in a complex designed by him, Wilbur Wright College, City Colleges of Chicago. You'll notice the rather interesting pattern of square, rounded windows which, in a nod to aviation history, look like the windows set in vertical panels on the interior of a passenger aircraft.

Wilbur Wright College, Learning Center

The most striking feature of the college complex is the pyramid of the Learning Center, dominating the intersection of Montrose and Narragansett Avenues in northwest Chicago. When crossing through the tubes connecting to the other buildings, one is given the impression of boarding a plane through the tunnel leading from the boarding gate.

Wilbur Wright College, Learning Center interior

A superb article on the design philosophy behind the Wilbur Wright College Learning Center by Zach Mortice is available here: http://zachmortice.com/2020/09/23/bertrand-goldbergs-temple-to-futures-past/

On another day, I photographed Goldberg’s Raymond Hilliard Homes, built 1963-66, on Chicago’s near South Side. Learn more about the project here:

https://www.transfer-arch.com/materiality/bertrand-goldberg/

[travel-voyages]

20 Historic, Beautiful New York Buildings That Were Demolished

City Hall Newspaper Row Buildings (l-r) World Building (aka Pulitzer Building), Sun Building, Tribune Building - all demolished. New York Times and Potter Buildings are still extant

City Hall Newspaper Row Buildings (l-r) World Building (aka Pulitzer Building), Sun Building, Tribune Building – all demolished. New York Times and Potter Buildings are still extant

New York City real estate developers will always knock down a building if a buck can be made. So it really should come as no surprise that these buildings were demolished because they outlived their usefulness or more often than not, the land they sat upon was deemed more valuable than the building itself.

Nathan Silver’s must-own book, Lost New York (1967) Houghton Mifflin, was the first book to explicitly point out what New York City had lost architecturally over the years. If you have never read it, you should.

For our short postcard essay, there are hundreds of examples we could have chosen from and we picked 20. We omitted places of worship, theatres and restaurants which are the most transitory of buildings.

We’ve covered hotels before, and we could do another story on all the historic hotels that have been torn down, but we’ve included a few in this retrospective.

Rather than comment extensively on the buildings, a brief summary will suffice and the images should convey what we have lost. These postcards have been scanned at 1200 dpi in high resolution, click on any postcard to enlarge.

Singer Building hresSinger Building – 149 Broadway (corner Liberty Street),  A gem by architect Ernest Flagg, built 1908. Once the tallest building in the world. The Singer Building was elegant and sleek. Demolished 1967-68 and replaced by a ugly box of a building built by the Unites States Steel Corporation.

Produce Exchange hresProduce Exchange – 2 Broadway between Beaver and Stone Streets. Architect George B. Post’s splendid work of grace was constructed between 1882-84, and demolished 1957.

Gillender Building 2 hresGillender Building – northwest corner Wall Street and Nassau Street. Architects, Charles I. Berg and Edward H. Clark, built in 1897 at a cost of $500,000. The Gillender Building was the tallest office building in the world for a brief time. The 20-story tower lasted only 13 years. In 1910 it was the first modern fireproof building to be demolished and it was done at breakneck speed, in under 45 days. The Gillender Building was replaced by the Bankers Trust Tower.

St. Paul Building hresSt. Paul Building – 222 Broadway corner Ann Street at end of Park Row. Architect George B. Post, built 1895-1898. Personally one of architect’s George B. Post’s least favorite buildings. Called “ugly” by some contemporary critics, but hundreds of thousands of visitors came to marvel at it. Demolished 1958.

World Building hresNew York World Building (aka Pulitzer Building) (center with gold dome) –  63 Park Row corner Frankfort Street. Another George B. Post architectural masterpiece, built 1890. Demolished in 1955-56 along with 20 other buildings the city purchased in the immediate vicinity to widen the approach to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Tribune Building hresNew York Tribune Building – Park Row corner Nassau and Spruce Street. Architect Richard Morris Hunt, built 1875. Demolished 1966 to expand Pace University’s campus.

Herald Square Herald Building hresNew York Herald Building – Broadway and Sixth Avenue between 35th and 36th Streets. Architect, Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White architects, built 1893. While the area still carries the name Herald Square after the newspaper and its building, the ornate three story Herald Building was demolished in two stages one in 1928, the other in 1940 and replaced by two extremely mundane buildings.

Madison Sqaure Garden hresMadison Square Garden – Madison and Fourth Avenue 26th to 27th Streets McKim, Mead and White, architects, built 1890. When Madison Sqaure Garden was actually located on Madison Square. Demolished 1925. Replaced by the New York Life Insurance Company Building.

Pennsylvania Station hresPennsylvania Station – Entire block Seventh to Eighth Avenues and 31st to 33rd Streets. Architects, McKim, Mead & White, 1901 – 1910. McKim’s masterpiece and the most significant single loss of a public building. Its destruction brought about the creation of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Demolished 1963-65. Replaced by the hideous mouse maze called Penn Station beneath the Penn Plaza office complex and Madison Square Garden.

Waldorf Astoria Hotel hresThe Waldorf-Astoria –  Fifth Avenue 33rd to 34th Streets. Originally two separate hotels The Waldorf built 1893 and The Astoria built 1897 both by architect Henry Hardenbergh. Demolished 1929. One of the modern landmarks of New York City now stands on the old Waldorf-Astoria site, The Empire State Building.

Astor Hotel hresAstor Hotel – 1507 – 1521 Broadway west side between 44th and 45th Streets. Architects Clinton & Russell built the original portion of the hotel in 1904 and completed the second section in 1910. This beautiful landmark hotel was torn down in 1967. A boring boxy skyscraper now occupies the site.

Hotel Savoy hresHotel Savoy – 709 Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. Architect Ralph S. Townsend, built 1891-1892.  Demolished 1925-1926. Replaced by The Savoy Plaza Hotel which was also torn down in 1966.

Hotel Netherland Hotel Savoy together hresHotel Netherland – Fifth Avenue and 59th Street.  W.H. Hume architect, built 1890-93. Demolished 1926 replaced by the Sherry Netherland Hotel.

Hotel Majestic hresMajestic Hotel – 72nd Street & Central Park West. Architect, Alfred Zucker, built 1894. Demolished 1929. Replaced by the art deco Majestic Apartments.

Clearing House hresThe Clearing House – 77 Cedar Street north side between Broadway and Nassau Street. Architect Robert W. Gibson, built 1894-96. Demolished 1964 for a Skidmore, Owings & Merrill acclaimed nondescript glass office tower 140 Broadway (1968).

John Wanamaker hresJohn Wanamaker’s Department Store – Broadway between 9th and 10th Streets. Architect John Kellum, built 1862. Originally constructed for department store magnate A.T. Stewart, Wanamaker’s expanded to a second annex building in 1905 on Broadway between 8th and 9th Streets connected by a bridge of sighs to the original building which is shown above.

Wanamaker’s closed its doors permanently on December 18, 1954. Wanamaker’s was in the process of being demolished to be replaced by an apartment building, when on July 14, 1956, one of New York City’s most spectacular fires broke out at around 5:45 pm. Fortunately no one was killed but 187 firefighters were hurt, mostly with smoke inhalation, as they fought a blaze for 25 hours which consumed the original building. The Stewart House apartment building which replaced Wanamaker’s, was completed in 1960. The Wanamaker annex still stands.

Hippodrome hresThe Hippodrome – 756 Sixth Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets Frederick Thompson and Jay H. Morgan architects, built 1904-05. Demolished 1939.

Claremont Inn hresThe Claremont Inn – Riverside Drive and 124th Street. Originally built as a private residence sometime between 1783 and 1807, architect unknown. Wealthy navigator and owner Michael Hogan named the estate Claremont after his birthplace County Clare, Ireland. Claremont became a popular roadhouse and restaurant which was acquired by the city in 1872. As the New York Times wrote in 1949, “By the simple expedient of “doing nothing” the Board of Estimate has converted historic Claremont Inn from a picturesque addition to the Riverside Park landscape into a ‘not very attractive’ boarded-up structure.” As the building was being demolished in 1951, two separate fires a week apart destroyed it.

Vanderbilt Mansion hresVanderbilt Mansion – 1 West 57th St and 742-748 Fifth Avenue between 57th & 58th Streets. Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion, original portion by architect George B.Post 1883, expanded in 1893 by architect Richard Morris Hunt. The largest private house ever built in New York City. Demolished 1926. Bergdorf Goodman Department Store now occupies the site.

Charles M Schwab residence hresCharles M. Schwab Mansion – Riverside Drive between 73rd and 74th Streets. Architect Maurice Hebert, built 1902-06. Demolished 1948. The apartment building Schwab House occupies the site.

https://stuffnobodycaresabout.com/2015/06/10/20-historic-buildings-that-were-demolished/

[manhattan-forever]

Waldorf Astoria New York - 301 Park Avenue (near 34th Street)

New York's legendary Waldorf Astoria hotel has hosted kings, queens, presidents and movie stars -- but for the next three years, not even royalty will be able to reserve a room here.

The 86-year-old hotel, bought by China's Ambang Insurance Group in 2014 for $1.95 billion, closed its doors on February 28, 2017 for a major renovation project that will reportedly see many of its 1,400 rooms turned into apartments.

└─► USA TODAY

└─► Wikipedia 

[daggerzine]

Other Music documentary (2019- directed by Puloma Basu and Rob Hatch-Miller)  review by Dina Hornreich

“It is harder to put together than to take apart.” A plain and not-so simple comment coming from the former Other Music Record Store co-owners, Josh Madell and Chris Vanderloo, who are prominently featured in the film, as these words underscore a scene in which their crew is dismantling their once hallowed CD sales racks in preparation for the store’s reluctant closure. OM used to herald as a beacon of hope in NYC’s bustling offbeat East Village neighborhood, a cultural hub known as St. Marks Place – not far from New York University. (If you asked any New Yorker for directions, they would enthusiastically tell you to simply “get off at the stop for Astor Place Station from the #6 or #4 [subway] train: you will see the gigantic cube immediately after exiting the station...can’t miss it!”)

The OM store opened its doors in 1996, and officially closed in 2016. Twenty years is a very good run for any kind of establishment such as this one, especially in the Big Apple – a fact that was not taken lightly by the two makers of this film who each were an employee and a regular customer at the establishment themselves! And like the store itself: the film is an endeavor for music nerds by music nerds. (And, obviously, this Dagger Zine review is no different.)

For creatively inclined weirdos like us, OM was a place of refuge. It was a major meta-musical mecca that happened to take the form of a retail outlet which is a very bold endeavor to consider: an unusual existence as a cultural outlet that strove to challenge our knowledge, expand our awareness, and promote the discovery of completely unknown (even uncomfortable) expressions. This mentality was not conducive whatsoever to the slick sales-driven experience one might come to expect upon shopping for any traditional kind of consumable commodities. And we certainly did not receive that kind of treatment while shopping there anyway!

OM’s purpose was contrary to basic principles of economics because it was run by artistic types who believed in a much higher purpose behind what they were selling: it was a community focused approach. In doing so, they completely confounded the basic notion that we were purchasing mere commercial products to be unloaded for profit (like toothpaste). The store’s very existence was a subversive act of culture jamming in and of itself. This information in conjunction with a solid awareness of the cut-throat and risky nature involved with doing any kind of enterprising endeavors in NYC is extremely pertinent. (I was once told that any restaurant in NYC would be far more successful if it were in another location simply because the competition alone would be considerably less stiff.)

Instead, they were offering something very unusual to their customers by incorporating some kind of pseudo-quasi-intellectual discourse using extraordinarily inventively stylistic fusions and/or varied often inconceivable sonic experiments to create such astute, pithy, and massively passionate descriptions that would be entirely ineffective as a sales strategy to the less tolerant/picky shoppers at the overpowering Tower Records across the street. The store had a unique energy that was entirely its own manifestation. Bin categories had mysterious names such as: in, then, decadanse, etc. that baffled even the artists whose own work was often filed underneath them, as evidenced by the hesitant testimony provided by indie rock luminary Dean Wareham (of the bands Galaxie 500 and Luna). In fact, these idiosyncratically descriptive insider taxonomies were typically used as a rite of passage upon orienting new store employees to OM’s unique aesthetic.  

The delectably raw live in-store performance footage of more acquired tastes, but definitely well-loved by those “in the know,” included bands who simply could not have thrived in the same ways at more conventional outlets: The Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Rapture, etc. The most delightfully peculiar act might have been delivered by a performer named Gary Wilson whose legendary appearance began with him surreptitiously entering the store while beneath a blanket and then (from behind the scenes, presumably) covering himself in talcum powder prior to seizing the stage with unabashedly alarming flamboyance – with only the playful tunes that would we expect to appropriately match that indelible image so gloriously!

And that was precisely the point: they were unequivocally rebelling against more conventional music consumption habits by offering an entirely different kind of taste-making experience that was kind of less palatable overall – and, in doing so, they even helped launch the careers of some important figures: Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective, and Interpol. The description of the “consignment” process for emerging artists who managed to attain a place on their sanctified shelves seemed extraordinarily modest considering the scope and nature of the impact it offered. There was a lot of social currency behind the OM brand.

The inclusion of a parody skit starring Aziz Anzari and Andy Blitz (available here as well https://youtu.be/YN1mKiQbi4g), followed by the various customer testimonials (including actor and musician Jason Schwartzman), indicated that they may have exuded more than a hint of an unflatteringly, even off-putting, air of NYC hipster pretentiousness akin to that portrayed in the Nick Hornby book, Stephen Frears movie, and/or the new Hulu series (involving both Hornby and Frears): High Fidelity. However, there were clearly very good reasons for them to do this: They represented an extreme mishmash of strange characters who collectively embodied all the historically marginalized shapes, sizes, colors among other attributes that would not have been celebrated (or considered marketable) elsewhere. If they weren’t a little snooty, they probably would have been mocked entirely – as evidenced by an astute and pithy comment by a long-time store employee describing Animal Collective as appearing like a “sinister Fraggle Rock on acid.”

These artists never aspired to becoming real “rock stars” anyway – on the contrary, they embodied the antithesis of that concept. (A point made abundantly clear as they bookended the film with footage of ordinary musicians simply marching through the streets of NYC.) Literally, OM offered shelter to those of us who are able to truly appreciate the anthemic idea behind the phrase: “songs in the key of Z.” It was a place for gathering the outsiders among outsiders, in other words.

It is impossible to ignore various impressive personalities who made appearances throughout the film, in both large and small roles. This includes but is not limited to major NYC scene contributors such as Lizzy Goodman, author of the equally compelling and similarly themed book: Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock’n Roll in New York City 2001-2011. Footage in the film included key figures in influential bands including: TV on the Radio, Le Tigre, The National, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs (all of whom are also featured in Goodman’s book). You can also see glimpses of varied lesser known, yet supremely compelling figures of that era, including writers Kandia Krazy Horse and Geeta Dayal, and former store employees such as Lisa Garrett and Gerald Hammill.

These conversations take place until we eventually witness the demise of Tower across the street (and its many ilk of like-minded big box stores) which clearly signaled the ever-looming end for Vanderloo and Madell’s opus-like enterprise. A point that musician Stephin Merritt, best known for so many stellar masterpieces with his longest-running outfit, The Magnetic Fields, emphasizes upon casually observing the degrading presence of a fitness studio franchise that has since taken up residence in the spot that used to house Tower’s second floor. (I failed to try and restrain myself from recalling a new sense of irony from the lyrical lines that Merritt himself had written and recorded around 1991: “Why do we still live here.. In this repulsive town? All our friends are in New York.”)

There is also a bit of an underlying insinuation only apparent from random customer shots throughout the store regarding a possible impact from the Rough Trade Records shop that had recently opened in Brooklyn around the time of OM’s closing. This is exceedingly apparent to this biased writer herself who personally ventured out to that Williamsburg location last year for an in-store performance with NYU Punk Professor, Vivien Goldman, who had just published her own book Revenge of the She Punks. An event whose audience clearly included some members of the OM community featured in this film as I recall the store had heavily lauded her Resolutionary compilation album release prior to its official closing.

As the film successfully affirms the significance behind record store culture (especially in a global hub like NYC) which has long been hailed as a sacred gathering space for various misfits and weirdos who might find significantly less understanding and/or productive social outlets in other circumstances; its unavoidable bittersweet conclusion dramatically asserts how disappointing it is for us to witness the complete loss in their consistently tenuous financial viability as we are well into the digital information age – if not for the simple fact that paying for music (or any kind of intellectual property) is more commonly perceived as an anachronistic practice which is a clear and painful affront to all the prescient creative geniuses who are struggling to make an honest living off their work.

The film highlights the many multifaceted aspects that we fondly and endearingly associate with the appreciation of music that lies at the heart of the irrational fervor behind record collecting culture: the smell of the vinyl itself, the enormous visual impact around the artists’ choices for cover art, the substantial weight it possesses when we remove it from the sleeve, the delicacy necessary to handle vinyl so as to minimize any potential damage, its often very limited quantities as it is not cost-efficient to produce (the obscurity is intrinsically part of the exhilaration surrounding this “hunt”) among other substantial inconveniences that more or less confirm this as an unproductive – if not entirely illogical – endeavor overall!

Of course, it has always been very apparent to us that we were engaged in some insanely addictive bizarre kinds of quests that kept leading us to this absurd little locale in the first place – desperately trying to pacify some nebulous and insatiable deep cravings that we couldn’t always articulate… yet it always kept us coming back for more! As Mac McCaughan from the bands Superchunk and Portastic, as well as co-owner of Merge Records, astutely concludes: “They knew what you wanted before you knew.” (Of course, they did!)

The overarching and staunch message of this film is most apparent during the final closing scenes when we are eavesdropping on a conversation that the former co-owner, Josh Madell, is having with his young daughter about simply streaming the Hamilton Soundtrack on Spotify because the vinyl copy would have cost her $90 in the store. Perhaps even more ironic, of course, might be suggested by the very relevant context in which we find ourselves today: the annual Record Store Day celebratory event with which the film’s re-release was planned to coincide obviously could not happen. As a result, I was reluctantly watching it, albeit self-consciously, on my 13” laptop screen in my home office during the self-quarantine of COVID-19. Half the proceeds for the “tickets” were to be used to support one of my favorite local record shops here in Denver, CO, Twist and Shout, who may or may not be able to reopen as this pandemic situation evolves.

There are bigger questions to contemplate as the tide of change has only just begun in ways that only a tragedy, such as a worldwide pandemic, can facilitate for even the most obstinate luddites who have no choice but to incorporate regular use of digital formats in their daily habits – and we totally have, of course! This documentary remains as unequivocal evidence of the viability behind OM as it stood as an historic cultural hub that transcended the fundamental premise behind a commercial retail outlet. (Even though retail was once considered the only aspect of the industry where substantial money could be made. In fact, a measure of an artists’ success was often the number of albums they actually sold.) As its impact clearly exceeds its impressive years as a store-front operated business, it may also indicate a shortcoming in mainstream outlets who tend to ignore, silence, dismiss, and otherwise relegate the disempowered voices in our community – which, of course, are the major reasons that forced us to seek out these alternate forums in the first place.

The role of arts and culture for society is in fact to provide the very same opportunities that OM offered to us, which is (to reiterate that point from above) to provide an opportunity for discourse that challenges our knowledge, expands our awareness, and promotes the discovery of the completely unknown (even uncomfortable) expressions. These conversations give our lives meaning and force us to continually improve ourselves on many levels. While such commentaries could be considered an acquired taste or even an entirely esoteric endeavor, the crucial sensibilities they offer hold enormous potential for a world that honestly seems to need to hear from us… now more than ever!

If only we could find a better way to invite the integration of our perspectives into the bigger conversations? So that we can participate in the innovations for the changed world that will be waiting for us – and to ensure that it will be a more inclusive place for all of us. Which is perhaps what we ultimately (and so desperately) need, want, and deserve. The alternatives seem frighteningly Orwellian… at the risk of seeming a bit histrionic.

http://www.factorytwentyfive.com/other-music/?fbclid=IwAR3wtvtOKKC46YmfwjB6zv0wp5GMh4YBHFuWk0aLOti5m2NSs8PFChjrK4M

[oppvenuz]

Iconic Mumbai Wedding Locations for a Dream Celebration

Mumbai, often known as the city of dreams, is home to a plethora of legendary wedding venues that may transform your special day into a memorable occasion. Here are some noteworthy places that exemplify Mumbai's charm and beauty.

Click Here More Daetils:https://www.oppvenuz.com/services/venues/Mumbai

The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai: This ancient hotel is the ultimate of luxury, with towering architecture and stunning views of the Gateway of India and the Arabian Sea. Its enormous ballrooms and outstanding service make it an ideal venue for a fairy-tale wedding.

JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu: Situated on the picturesque Juhu Beach, this five-star hotel offers a breathtaking coastline view. With its spacious grounds and magnificent banquet spaces, it's ideal for both small meetings and large festivities.

**The St. Regis Mumbai: The St. Regis is known for its refined ambiance and provides excellent settings such as the Astor Ballroom and a rooftop terrace with spectacular city views. Its elegant design and first-rate service provide a beautiful wedding experience.

Turf Club, Mahalaxmi Racecourse: For a unique outdoor location, the Turf Club's spacious grounds and colonial-era elegance provide for a lovely backdrop. It's great for individuals who want a mix of history and natural beauty.

The Oberoi, Mumbai: This luxury hotel overlooking the Arabian Sea offers gorgeous decor and superb food services. Its elegant dining spaces are ideal for hosting a smart and unforgettable wedding.

These classic Mumbai wedding destinations provide a choice of breathtaking scenery and first-rate facilities, guaranteeing that your wedding day is nothing short of amazing. Whether you want a beach view, historical elegance, or modern luxury, Mumbai offers the ideal location to make your fantasy party come true

[exploation-isobelmck]

In 1946 Observer editor David Astor lent George Orwell a remote Scottish farmhouse in which to write his new book, Nineteen Eighty-Four. It became one of the most significant novels of the 20th century. Here, Robert McCrum tells the compelling story of Orwell's torturous stay on the island where the author, close to death and beset by creative demons, was engaged in a feverish race to finish the book.

Why '1984'?

Orwell's title remains a mystery. Some say he was alluding to the centenary of the Fabian Society, founded in 1884. Others suggest a nod to Jack London's novel The Iron Heel (in which a political movement comes to power in 1984), or perhaps to one of his favourite writer GK Chesterton's story, "The Napoleon of Notting Hill", which is set in 1984.

In his edition of the Collected Works (20 volumes), Peter Davison notes that Orwell's American publisher claimed that the title derived from reversing the date, 1948, though there's no documentary evidence for this. Davison also argues that the date 1984 is linked to the year of Richard Blair's birth, 1944, and notes that in the manuscript of the novel, the narrative occurs, successively, in 1980, 1982 and finally, 1984. There's no mystery about the decision to abandon "The Last Man in Europe". Orwell himself was always unsure of it. It was his publisher, Fred Warburg who suggested that Nineteen Eighty-Four was a more commercial title.

Freedom of speech: How '1984' has entrusted our culture

The effect of Nineteen Eighty-Four on our cultural and linguistic landscape has not been limited to either the film adaptation starring John Hurt and Richard Burton, with its Nazi-esque rallies and chilling soundtrack, nor the earlier one with Michael Redgrave and Edmond O'Brien.

It is likely, however, that many people watching the Big Brother series on television (in the UK, let alone in Angola, Oman or Sweden, or any of the other countries whose TV networks broadcast programmes in the same format) have no idea where the title comes from or that Big Brother himself, whose role in the reality show is mostly to keep the peace between scrapping, swearing contestants like a wise uncle, is not so benign in his original incarnation.

Apart from pop-culture renditions of some of the novel's themes, aspects of its language have been leapt upon by libertarians to describe the curtailment of freedom in the real world by politicians and officials - alarmingly, nowhere and never more often than in contemporary Britain.

Big Brother (is watching you):

A term in common usage for a scarily omniscient ruler long before the worldwide smash-hit reality-TV show was even a twinkle in its producers' eyes. The irony of societal hounding of Big Brother contestants would not have been lost on George Orwell.

Room 101:

Some hotels have refused to call a guest bedroom number 101 - rather like those tower blocks that don't have a 13th floor - thanks to the ingenious Orwellian concept of a room that contains whatever its occupant finds most impossible to endure. Like Big Brother, this has spawned a modern TV show: in this case, celebrities are invited to name the people or objects they hate most in the world.

Thought Police:

An accusation often levelled at the current government by those who like it least is that they are trying to tell us what we can and cannot think is right and wrong. People who believe that there are correct ways to think find themselves named after Orwell's enforcement brigade.

Newspeak:

For Orwell, freedom of expression was not just about freedom of thought but also linguistic freedom. This term, denoting the narrow and diminishing official vocabulary, has been used ever since to denote jargon currently in vogue with those in power.

Doublethink:

Hypocrisy, but with a twist. Rather than choosing to disregard a contradiction in your opinion, if you are doublethinking, you are deliberately forgetting that the contradiction is there. This subtlety is mostly overlooked by people using the accusation of "doublethink" when trying to accuse an adversary of being hypocritical - but it is a very popular word with people who like a good debate along with their pints in the pub. Oliver Marre

[ultralifehackerguru-blog]

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10 Castles in Europe We're Ready to Check Into

Visiting a castle is one thing, but how about staying the night in one? Across Europe, there’s a plethora of castles that open their doors to visitors as overnight accommodation. Feel like royalty in medieval manors surrounded by lush gardens or even a moat. Here are ten castles in Europe we’re ready to check into. Which would you book?

Dromoland Castle, Ireland

Credit: shutterupeire/Shutterstock

A magical pile with a history as long as your arm, Dromoland Castle is grandeur personified. There’s been a castle on this site since the 16th century, though the present structure dates from 1835. It’s now a five-star hotel with a fantastic golf course. In recent years it has attracted a host of celebrity guests including musicians Johnny Cash and Bono, actors John Travolta and Jack Nicholson, former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela and Richard Branson. While you’re here, you can try clay pigeon shooting, archery, falconry and horse riding. Or just wander the grounds and marvel at the stunning 450-acre estate. 

Fortaleza do Guincho, Portugal

Credit: LuisPinaPhotography/Shutterstock

Built in the 17th century as a fortress, Fortaleza do Guincho has been renovated into an exquisite five-star hotel with Michelin-star restaurant thrown in for good measure. But it’s the castle’s isolated location at Cabo da Rocha, Europe’s most westerly point, which provides that extra touch of modern-day drama. Nature has to try that little bit harder, of course, when it rivals such luxury and comfort. Stone staircases, wrought iron chandeliers and sumptuous textiles all add atmosphere to this Portuguese jewel.

Château de Mirambeau, France

Credit: @chateaudemirambeau

French castles come in the form of fancy châteaux, and they don’t come much fancier than this Renaissance gem. The manor’s elegance and serenity belies a checkered history that has seen numerous attacks, devastating fires and a spell of State ownership after the French Revolution. Count Charles Nicolas Duchâtel rebuilt the place in the early 19th century and a major 21st-century renovation saw the castle become one of Sorgente Group’s most sought-after properties.

Schloss Leopoldskron, Austria

Credit: canadastock/Shutterstock

Palatial Schloss Leopoldskron was the work of Prince Leopold Anton Freiherr von Firmian – how’s that for a name? – when he built it as his family home in the 18th century. More famously, in 1918 it was bought by theater impresario Max Reinhardt, who lovingly restored it and came up with the idea of a Salzburg Festival within its walls. Fittingly, it was a filming location for the iconic movie The Sound of Music and features on many of the city’s themed tours. But to venture inside, you need to book a stay at this magnificent castle located at the edge of one of Austria’s most enchanting cities.

Castello dal Pozzo, Italy

Credit: @castello.dalpozzo

Castello dal Pozzo sits on top of a hill overlooking Lake Maggiore and the interiors of this boutique hotel more than match up to the delightful setting. The Visconti family built this romantic castle in the 18th century. The Dal Pozzos have owned it for six generations and go out of their way to ensure that anyone who stays there feels like family. Glittering chandeliers, lavish curtains and cut glass crystal at the table create a luxurious feeling that ensure every guest at this hotel is pampered as befits their location.

Dalhousie Castle, Scotland

Credit: Agent Wolf/Shutterstock

Scotland’s oldest castle started life as the ancestral seat of the Ramsay Clan. Over its 700-year history, Dalhousie Castle has enjoyed Royal patronage – King Edward I and Queen Victoria have both stayed here – as well as a who’s who of the well-to-do and the influential, from Oliver Cromwell to Sir Walter Scott. These days, it could be you who gazes out over its turrets and towers and discovers its passageways, secret hiding places and even its dungeon.

Thorskogs Slott, Sweden

Credit: Nihayet Marof/Shutterstock

Thorskogs Castle lies in a verdant setting, amidst English-style gardens near the Göta Älv River just north of the city of Gothenburg. It opened its doors as a hotel in the mid-1980s with a guest list that reads like a who’s who of world statesmen: George Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev, John Major, Benazir Bhutto and FW de Klerk. There’s been a manor house on this site since the 18th century, but the current building was originally the home of successful shipping magnate Petter Larson and dates from 1892.

Hever Castle, England

Credit: Richard Melichar/Shutterstock

Hever Castle dates back to the 13th century and today remains one of England’s finest castles. It’s everything you dream a castle should be: crenellated, moated and of course, haunted. Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII, lived here as a child. A tour of the castle’s fascinating interior will reveal treasures such as fine tapestries, antique furniture, a wonderful collection of Tudor portraits and even Anne’s own prayer books. We can thank William Waldorf Astor for restoring the house and opening the Astor Wing for visitors to stay and become part of English history.

Parador de Cardona, Spain

Credit: joan_bautista/Shutterstock

Around 85km from Barcelona you’ll find the Parador de Cardona. This beautiful hotel occupies a mediaeval 9th-century castle positively dripping with secrets from the past. The castle boasts a resident ghost – if you’re easily spooked, don’t book room 712 where a poltergeist has a penchant for moving the furniture. Décor has been carefully thought through so that heritage features such as the towers and gothic adornments are allowed to shine, but they’re knocked out of the park by the incredible view over the town and surrounding countryside.

Stahleck Castle, Germany

Credit: kamienczanka/Shutterstock

If you’ve read this far and are bemoaning the fact that your paltry travel budget won’t stretch to castle living, Stahleck Castle will be your lifeline. This 12th-century castle, perched on a crag overlooking the breathtaking Lorelei Valley, is actually a hostel. Outside, there’s even a moat, a rare sight when it comes to German castles. Though it looks authentic, the castle is a sympathetic 20th-century reconstruction, but with dorm beds going for less than €25, who’s complaining?

(C)

[retronautis]

Broadway - 19?? Located on 1511-1515 Broadway, between 44th and 45th Streets. Hotel Astor was a hotel on Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built in 1905 and expanded in 1909–1910 for the Astor family, the hotel occupied a site bounded by Broadway, Shubert Alley, and 44th and 45th Streets.[1] Architects Clinton & Russell designed the hotel as a 11-story Beaux-Arts edifice with a mansard roof. It contained 1,000 guest rooms, with two more levels underground for its extensive "backstage" functions, such as the wine cellar. The hotel was developed as a successor to the Waldorf-Astoria. Hotel Astor's success triggered the construction of the nearby Knickerbocker Hotel by other members of the Astor family two years later. The building was razed in 1967 to make way for the high-rise office tower One Astor Plaza. Text: Wikipedia Photo: Detroit Publishing Company vintage #photography #vintagestyle #retro #art #vintagestyle #newyork #nyc #fashion #usa #newyorkcity #instagood #colour #artist #color #painting #drawing #retronautis #manhattan #travel #centralpark #timessquare #ladyliberty #america #bigapple #newyorker #photooftheday #libertyisland #travelphotography (at Broadway Manahattan NY) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiQB7o7KD7y/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[dontasktheradiodemon]

Alternate Picnic (4/19/2021)

Alastor a.k.a. Leal (@usedhearts) and Alastor a.k.a. Astor (hey there) have a picnic, how lovely.

And during the picnic, Leal reveals that Alastor a.k.a. Alastor in @ruddygore's universe appears to be rapidly going insane from grief and isolation—so, what do they want to do about it?

usedhearts

It was a lovely spread that Valera had set up. Leal couldn't help closing his eyes to take in the scents wafting off all of it. She'd really taken to these recipes-- he liked that.

Glancing up, he looked at his alternate as he took a bite of gumbo.

"So, about our self from Ruddy's Hell..."

dontasktheradiodemon

He liked it a hell of a lot less than his alternate did. These were *family recipes*, what business did somebody *outside* of the family have knowing them, much less an *entirely different species*—!

But the alternate presently here hadn't been the one to teach Valera, and he didn't know the culprit, and anyway what right did he have to tell his alternates what to do with the family recipes, it was *their* family too—

Anyway he'd already had his furious stomp-off and now he was just dealing with it. Angrily eating while pretending he wasn't angry.

"Hm?" It took him a moment to work out who his alternate meant. "Ah. Yes, right—that's what everyone's taken to calling the Sir Pentious who's fond of Ruddigore. Our self who interrupts overlord turf wars to discuss baby names for radio towers?" A huff.

usedhearts

"Yes, that's just the one. I went with Val to collect some gifts from Ruddy for Elizabeth, and he was there. It was....odd. He was just sitting there with tape over his mouth." He took another bite to keep his smile from twitching.

"Apparently, Ruddy had told him that he could stay and hang around as long as he stayed quiet. But I found it...undignified. Don't think I could do it. Sit there, not saying anything, for who knows how long? No thank you.

"But....well, my dear self, I'm concerned for him." His brow furrowed and he cracked open a crawfish, sucking the meat from the tail and head before breaking into the claws for what little was in there.

dontasktheradiodemon

"Reminds me I've got to finish my gifts," he muttered under his breath; but that wasn't really the question here, was it?

"Odd," he agreed, albeit not with quite as dire overtones as his alternate. "Dignity's optional in situations where it's not... how do I put it—narratively useful." Because Alastors were always constructing narratives around themselves, weren't they? "Some of our alternates find it more optional than others. I'm more surprised he was willing to keep quiet! But maybe he enjoyed the challenge, maybe he had his Mic and audience to speak for him, maybe he was entertained by whatever he was watching..."

Or maybe he craved Sir Pentious's company. Would Astor be willing to slap some tape over his mouth in exchange for permission to remain in that Sir Pentious's presence? No; Astor already found him nearly too condescending to stand, and he could hang out with Penny and Telly freely. But what about half a year ago? Possibly. Maybe this alternate was a kindred spirit.

And if that was the case, *this* alternate would probably be blind to it. All the same, he asked, "Do you think he was there unwillingly? Any signs he was drugged, hypnotized, restrained?"

usedhearts

"Oh, no, he was there willingly, I learned that later. I talked with him, first through a notepad, and then when he was leaving, we actually talked. No, that's not what concerned me."

Leal sighed, taking a roll to pick at, he huffed. How to word this? Should he dive straight to the point, or give some more context? Ah, to Hell with it.

"Alastor, his smile dropped."

dontasktheradiodemon

Astor paused with a bite of salad halfway to his mouth. His invisible audience rhubarbed around him; he shushed them—what a pack of gossips—and said, "I trust there's more to the story than 'it broke so he slapped some tape on as a quick repair job'?"

usedhearts

"It only fell for a moment, but both Val and I saw it. It was when Ruddy told him to leave." He was really tearing into that roll now, ripping it into little pieces as he ate it.

"I was, understandably, concerned when I saw that. And shocked. That's when I went off with him to talk for a bit, ostensibly to see him out. You remember Ruddy mentioned that the Cannibal Colony was gone? Well, Rosie is too, and Mimzy. He told me that, and apparently, he went on another rampage because of it-- which is understandable, certainly, I would feel much the same in his position-- but according to him, he doesn't remember what he did during it."

He took a breath and stuffed some more bread in his mouth to give himself a short break-- it was all rushing out and he didn't want to overwhelm Astor, after all.

dontasktheradiodemon

Astor's eyebrows twitched up. Rosie *and* Mimzy. He'd been bouncing back and forth between them to keep himself sane for far longer than he'd been alive.

"Rampage like that, I doubt I'd have a clear enough head to keep track of what I did either." But he'd withhold more commentary than that; he got the sense his alternate wasn't done yet.

usedhearts

He certainly wasn't done, and he took a breath.

"Yes, absolutely, I hardly recall what _exactly_ I did during my first one, it's no wonder he doesn't remember. But that's not all. Apparently, during his rampage he....hurt Vaggie, or he killed her, I'm uncertain. 'She's not around anymore' is what he said. Charlie is still going through with the Hotel despite that, but no one else at the Hotel will speak with our alternate."

Another breath.

"Ruddy is literally the only person who will speak to him, and who isn't terrified of him."

dontasktheradiodemon

And there went his chief distraction, too. Granted, it had turned out to be something of a poor distraction—but it was a distraction that had let him network with other distractions, that was something. "What about his underlings? Niffty, Husk, et al. I know they're hardly in a position to substitute for *friends,* but even socializing with the indentured help is better than socializing with no one."

usedhearts

"I didn't ask after the two of them, unfortunately, but I feel like when he said that everyone at the Hotel was scared of him and wouldn't speak with him, they were included in that."

Leal reached for some of the okra, piling it on his plate. Even a discussion like this wasn't going to dissuade him from good okra.

"Charlie will talk to him but, obviously, that's strained and I'm assuming that she'd only talk to him about Hotel things. He _is_ still helping, though? But....obviously, it's not going well. I told him I'd talk to some of our other selves, see if we could at least visit and talk with him."

dontasktheradiodemon

"Oh, are they with the *hotel* instead of with *him* now." Well, strange.

Why even help with the hotel at that point? Without even a *tenuous* connection to anyone in the hotel but Charlie, he might as well be watching it through a telescope, and he'd probably get just as much pleasure out of it. Something to fill the time, he supposed.

"He ought to be visiting other universes as well," Astor mused. "Not just *receiving* visits. I can teach him how to do it if he doesn't already know. Across four or five dimensions, we might be able to scrounge together one normal-sized social circle that isn't scared of him."

usedhearts

"Yes. I was figuring between you, me, and perhaps Alexa, we'd be able to make some sort of plan. But there's also the fact that, well, he could be a danger-- not just to random passerbys, but to the people trying to befriend him. It's safe enough for us, because we know mostly what he's capable of, as well as we can for any alternate. I just worry about him causing harm to other non-Alastors, and then that damaging him further."

He sighed and got a bowl of jambalaya this time. "I think we should use caution until we know better how stable his current state is."

dontasktheradiodemon

"We could unleash him in a dimension we don't care about? Ideally one where something took out our local alternate, so nobody important will get irritated if we make a mess."

The jambalaya was all Leal's. Astor didn't think he could touch his mother's recipe prepared by another person. "If it would help—my own Rosie and Mimzy have seen me when I've been an absolute mess, I doubt either of them would object if I asked them to indulge another me's grief. But I suppose we'll have to make sure he's stable enough not to do something stupid at the sight of them first, won't we?"

usedhearts

"That's an idea. Somewhere where we can see what he does, but don't care about anyone there he might hurt, if he is _that_ unstable." His static hummed as he thought, his spoon hanging out of his mouth.

"Oh, yes, that's an idea I had too-- taking him to see one of our Rosies or Mimzys to help him cope, but yes, it would be good to gauge how he could react first. I certainly don't want him having a bad reaction and hurting _mine_, I would feel awful.

"And branching from that, it would probably be best, I feel, to _not_ show him how to transport himself to other Hells _yet_. Just in case. Once we're more sure about his state, though, I would be fine with that too."

dontasktheradiodemon

Astor grimaced slightly. "I *suppose.* He ought to have open communications, though, we can do *that* much for him. If he figures out his own way out from there, it's on him, but he can't be left dependent upon *us* always calling him first to get somebody else to talk to."

usedhearts

"Of course, of course. I just don't want a possibly unstable version of us causing chaos in _our_ universes. That would be, frankly, disastrous. And _we'd_ be blamed." He chuckled, humorlessly.

"I don't know about you, but I definitely don't want another massacre hanging over my head."

dontasktheradiodemon

He laughed harshly. "Have regrets?"

usedhearts

He snorted, rolling his eyes. He grabbed more crawfish, cracking them open with hard snaps. Shellfish was always good for getting out traces of aggression.

"Of course. Don't you?" He arched a brow as he sucked the meat from a tail.

dontasktheradiodemon

"I get the impression that more of our others than not have no regrets about it at all. They got what they wanted and don't mind the side-effects enough to wish they'd done it differently." A shrug. "Bully for them, I suppose."

But he was grabbing some crawfish, too. Purge some of that destructive instinct.

usedhearts

"Bully for them." No, he didn't sound bitter whatever would give anyone that idea. He tossed the empty shells into the provided trash bucket as he continued to eat.

"I don't get that-- not regretting it, that is. I don't regret plenty, but that....that I do. Are they just...content with people running screaming from them? Do they not care that we can't show our faces without someone pissing themselves?" Snap. Shellfish was definitely a good choice tonight. He sucked down some more crawfish meat.

dontasktheradiodemon

"They miss the fame but prefer the infamy," he said morosely. "The times when they want somebody to stick around and chit-chat are outnumbered by the times they want everybody to flee in terror." He was reducing this shell to crumbs, and he hadn't even touched the peeled meat yet. "Many times, they're also the sort that call themselves overlords. They crave that power."

usedhearts

Leal can't help his smile turning into a sneer, lip curled up at the thought. "Other people call me 'Overlord' or say that I'm the 'Overlord of Radio' like V*x is the Overlord of Television, and it always irks me."

He sighed, snapping another crawfish in half. "When I was fresh off the drop, I liked it. There's a certain luster to having everyone that scared of you. Being invited to all the parties, given whatever you want, etcetera. But after nearly 90 years of it? It's....boring. I was lucky enough to gain a few friends, I suppose. Rosie, Mimzy, Madame...but I'm tired of it. If I could go back and stop myself, I probably would."

He perked up a moment then, eyes widening. "Oh! Though, that reminds me: you should go see the Burlesque at Madame's Cabaret soon-- I hear one of her headliners has got some new numbers lined up!"

dontasktheradiodemon

"The problem with overlord parties is that *overlords* go to them. Watching them politic at each other is all good fun, but *socializing* with them...?" He sighed, looking wearier than he usually let anyone see. "They're so tedious." He nodded in tired agreement; yes, he'd have stopped himself too. Stopped himself or done it all differently.

But he perked up as well at the promise of entertainment. "Oh, *really?* A talent worth seeing, I take it, if you're recommending them?"

usedhearts

"Oh yes! She's been on stage for fifty years now, and she's very good. Always puts on a stunning performance, fills the house-- you'll have to use my booth on the night she performs, otherwise there won't be a seat in the place!" He chuckled.

"She mixes modern things with classics, and gets risque, but not to the level of some of the other performers. And she uses magic for some effects, it's quite something, I'm sure you'll have a gas."

dontasktheradiodemon

"Well, well, she sounds like a delight! All right, take me when you go, I'd love to see. I've been meaning to make time to visit Madame's Cabaret anyway."

usedhearts

"Oh, I'll have to meet you there-- but I'll be sure to let you know when she's next scheduled! I keep up to date on when she's performing." He nodded and chuckled.

"We got off track, didn't we?" He shook his head a bit, smile turning rueful. "Back to our alt, I think if I introduce him to you, and we both talk with him some more, we can suss out if he's well enough to visit other universes. Start with unaffiliated ones, then build up to ones like ours. How's that sound?"

dontasktheradiodemon

Meet him there? What had Leal got scheduled that would keep him from making the start of the show on every night they could have gone together? And Astor hadn't even heard about it yet? Well, he supposed he was hardly the closest person in Leal's social circle these days.

But before he could figure out a way to pry for details without admitting he didn't already know about Leal's current commitments, they shifted back to the original topic. "Right, yes." He sighed. The alternate. "It sounds reasonable. Although even if his mask *is* cracked enough to show a frown, if there's something he really wants to keep hidden I wouldn't put it past him to keep just enough on to fool even his alternates. So. Stay wary, I suppose."

usedhearts

"Of course, of course. I mean, there's plenty we keep from ourselves-- you, me, Alexa, Engi, Rhedd.... I certainly wouldn't put it past our other alt to keep things to himself. But as long as he doesn't seem ready to crack open like an Egg Boi under a strong heel, we can offer him more that just Ruddy to deal with."

He nodded, to himself and to _himself_, as he went back for seconds on the jambalaya. Val had really outdone themself with that.

dontasktheradiodemon

Astor nodded in agreement. "And who knows. If he's lucky, maybe someday he'll make friends with people other than himself," he said wryly.

"In the meantime, if he's only got one person to talk to, I suppose he could do a lot worse than Sir Pentious. Consistently unintimidated by us *and* flying a ship full of toys." He's just kept peeling this same crawfish until it's a handful of meat surrounded by the dust that was once its shell. Maybe he ought to finally eat it. "... Although the duct tape isn't promising."

usedhearts

"Ruddy does seem to have a lot of interesting things there on his ship, not to mention-- have you seen those Fabrege Egg Bois? Those are something." His static hummed as he took a few bites.

"You know, Ruddy thinks me the 'weird' Alastor, because when we first met I gave him some of these." He lifted a crawfish and wiggled it around. "And then went diving for oysters for him and Val. Though, to be fair, I did turn into a fish before I dived." He laughed.

dontasktheradiodemon

"I have seen them! Quite spectacular, aren't they? They look like they ought to be locked up somewhere in Buckingham Palace."

He glanced Leal up and down. "The look does stand out," he said dryly. "Is he *aware* what a delicacy edible shellfish is in Hell, though? He should have been honored." A jack of many trades, but apparently cooking wasn't one.

"I'm fairly certain I'm just one step above a non-entity to him." Which was better than being dismissed as the weird one, he supposed.

usedhearts

"They do! I always feel the urge to smash my foot through Egg Bois, but I restrained myself with those ones." He chuckled again.

"He was visiting here, though, on Okkylk! Should he really be surprised that I can blend in with the local populace?" Another chuckle. "And what makes you say that? Weren't you helping him with something? Thought I saw that on the dash."

dontasktheradiodemon

"I was, yes—and I think he might forget that I was involved entirely if I don't remind him once a week or so. When I followed up with him on Okkylk he hardly deigned to *look* at me." A scoff, and a wan smile. "Well, if he throws any parties I want to go to, I'll just have to write myself an invitation rather than wait to get one in the mail."

usedhearts

"Hm! Wonder why. Madame seems very interested in him, did you see her at the barbecue? It's no wonder, though, she has a hard time finding gentlemen her size, and especially one from her same time period." He shrugged a bit.

His brows shot up as another thought struck him. "And what's the deal with that other alt of ours that's popped up recently? The one that's become King? You talked with him, haven't you? I saw the 'King of Hell' bit in his bio and decided to not interact."

dontasktheradiodemon

"I didn't notice. I mean—obviously I noticed HER, but I didn't catch them interacting."

Oh, the king. *There's* a potential can of worms. "You probably decided not to interact for the same reason I *did*. Sounds dangerous, doesn't it? If the alternates who call themselves overlords are a big enough bunch of power-hungry joyless nuts..." He shook his head. "I don't know a lot yet. But I've gotten an invitation to his palace in exchange for a bit of light musical entertainment, date pending. I'll see what I can see then."

usedhearts

"I'd be very interested to see what you find out-- If you're willing to share it, of course. I just don't want to try myself." Another chuckle.

"I have been reading his posts, though, and he seems...bored. Like all of us, I suppose. But his Hell also seems different. It would have to be, since he's been ruling for 70 years."

His eyes narrowed as he remembered something else. "And there's the fact that I think he was in _my_ Hell, when Valera and I burned the boba shop again. But we didn't see anything, and more importantly, I didn't _sense_ anything. That's troubling."

dontasktheradiodemon

"Oh, of course! I go to retrieve information for *all* of us. After all, if he decides he's bored enough to declare multiversal war, it's going to take more than one of us to keep him contained." He was already preparing for worst-case scenarios.

Astor tilted his head thoughtfully. "*Huh. That's... an interesting trick." *Troubling* was right.

usedhearts

"That it will. And I know who's side I'm on." He winked at Astor.

"Huh is right. I don't like the thought of him watching us, or being in our Hells without us knowing. It's disconcerting. And who's to say that's the only places he's been? He could've been _here_ for all we know!" He gestured around them, at Okkylk in general.

dontasktheradiodemon

"Well, if he's here, he could be neighborly, sit down, and have some dinner with us," Astor muttered. "That's one of my biggest worries—what powers *does* he have now, in his position? The options are limitless."

usedhearts

"They are. And limitless power plus boredom are a historically bad combination." Leal sighed, grabbing a roll and a fresh bowl of gumbo.

"Be careful when you go over to see him that he doesn't decide you're simply too much fun and try to keep you."

dontasktheradiodemon

"Oh, believe you me, that's my top worry. But *somebody* has to take that risk, and we're collectively not a very self-sacrificial person, so I'm not going to sit around and wait for somebody else to take it."

usedhearts

"You hit the nail on the head with that." Leal chuckled and shook his head.

"Collectively, we're a pretty selfish lot, good move. I know _I_ definitely wasn't going to volunteer for temporary court jester detail."

dontasktheradiodemon

"And you benefit from my uncharacteristic burst of selflessness for free! You're welcome, and count yourself lucky my morbid curiosity is *just* high enough to tip the balance."

usedhearts

"Yes, thank you! I'm glad it is, or we'd all be waiting around until one of us decided their curiosity just couldn't be held back anymore! Which, frankly, probably wouldn't be long, considering it's us, but still."

Leal sat back, his hands folded in front of him. He was full, at least for now.

"Was there anything else important we needed to discuss or is it about that time I send you off with a whole platter of crawdads?"

dontasktheradiodemon

How about that time very recently when Astor ruined a hunting trip and then they argued about who hadn't communicated well enough and then didn't talk about it again. "Mmmno! Nothing important that I can think of!"

usedhearts

Oh, that? Leal had already forgotten about that-- well, for now. It would swing back around eventually. Until then, though...

"Well, alright! Had a delicious dinner and a nice chat, we've got a game plan for our alt. I'd say that was productive!" He laughed, and started pushing crawfish into a take out container he just magicked up. That's why it was big enough to take a whole platter of the things.

"What else did you want for leftovers, my dear me?"

dontasktheradiodemon

Clever, but has Leal ever considered the benefits of normal-sized containers that somehow hold vastly more food than they look like they should?

"Oh, the crawfish will be just fine, thank you!" After he'd recognized what he was tasting, he hadn't been able to touch most of the rest, anyway.

usedhearts

Oh yes, he has, but the thought of a comically large 'chinese' food container full of crawfish just tickled him!

He stood and offered the container to Astor.

"Happy trails, then, my dear me! I look forward to our next meeting!"

dontasktheradiodemon

“And I as well!” He accepted the container and bowed theatrically to his other.

One last quick trip indoors to thank their host (and to pester his best friend (again)), and he’d be on his way.