#Fab nettles

[whateverthought]

You know what, Lesbian Beam

Baela goes to Winterfell because Jacaerys has to participate in the War Room and has a Doomed by the Narritive love story with Sara Snow

Helaena helps in taking Harrenel for revenge against Daemon and respite from her grief, and as she meets Alys, realizes the woman in her visions is real, visions Alys has also had, and as their eyes meet they have a Soulmates First Meeting

Rhaena assists with the dragonseeds, meets this infuriating woman named Nettles, and goes with them looking for Aemond+Vhager then Enemies to Lovers/Opposites Attracts falls in love before running away together

Fuck you Ryan Condal and Fuck you Sara Hess, Stop Cutting Out Women

[bbygirl-aemond]

I wonder what is your take on nettles and how will you handle in stormbreak

ooh nettles won't be a part of stormbreak! but i do have some thoughts on her since her character is honestly the one i'm most curious to see in upcoming seasons. fire and blood leaves a huge amount of her character and relationships ambiguous, but she's quite possibly like one of the coolest dragon riders ever. oh and i don't know whether she and daemon were in a romantic/sexual relationship (i will not be shocked if it is romantic tho), but i do know that she's not his secret daughter.

here's a visualization of where nettles and daemon were in 113 ac, the year that nettles was born. the blue arrow represents nettles on the island of driftmark, and the red arrow represents daemon in the stepstones:

as you can see, that's like super fuckin far apart. at this point in time, daemon has spent years basically exiled to the stepstones after being accused by viserys of seducing rhaenyra, aka there's no way he would have come anywhere near driftmark island around the time when nettles' mother would have become pregnant. it's deliberate to have nettles' birthdate be smack dab in the middle of daemon's exile imo.

i'm also fairly sure that nettles isn't a dragonseed. we know her mother wasn't valyrian, and since there aren't exactly a ton of targaryen men (in 113 ac, it was pretty much just viserys and daemon) i find it highly unlikely that viserys was out here wilding on driftmark while daemon was away and somehow sired her. which honestly makes her character all the more compelling as a "fuck you" to the traditional targaryen beliefs that you need targaryen blood in order to bond with a dragon.

the dragonlord houses of old valyria (of which the targaryens were one of many, and far from the most powerful) didn't come into existence already bonded with their dragons. they instead slowly tamed them as shepherds, and it's implied that the blood magic stuff only came much later. nettles tames sheepstealer with offers of food and with a lot of patience and bravery- essentially re-inventing the way that the very first valyrians laid claim to dragons all those years ago.

another part of why i'm pretty sure the show will go this route re nettles' heritage and how she claims sheepstealer is because it explains daemon's interest in her- whether that is platonic or otherwise. so i'm really curious to see what they do!

[awkward-sultana]

The absolute blind devotion of fans to Targaryens makes me violently angry sometimes. And no I will not elaborate at this moment.

[synchodai]

Live reactions of me watching Episode 5 under the cut. As you will notice, I'm easily impressed and turn into that Leo Dicaprio pointing gif every time a character I like is mentioned.

I love the "It's just meat" line from Ulf. It's great set-up for what's to come and how this whole war will hurt every Targaryen's legitimacy.

Hate the "Rhaenyra will answer for this" line from someone else. No one should be speaking treason that loudly so close to the Kingsguard.

They're peeling him! Love it.

"What would have me do?" Rhaenyra and Aegon both asking the question shows they're both puppets in the end. Neither have the strength and training to be a monarch.

YO CREGAN STARK MENTIONED! WINTER PREPPERS WE STAY WINNING!

Jace flying to Daemon makes sense. Him flying to the Twins instead because....it's too dangerous to go to Harrenhal????? Makes no sense.

YO BLACKWOOD-BRACKEN FEUD MENTIONED! RIVERCHADS WE STAY WINNING!

Daemon being like eeh, I guess you can torture our allies then. Hilarious.

Jeyne Arryn is reacting as she should.

"They betray their own smallness" is such a good line. Mizaya Suzuno is a treat every time she shows up on screen.

Rhaenyra not being taught "the difference between hilt and foible" makes no sense. If she was regular lady who had a very strict father, it would. But she had a rather permissive father who let her do pretty much as she pleased. If she wanted to, she could have learned as much as Arya or Brienne.

Baela finally having screentime? A minor miracle.

OH SO NOW THEY MENTION MELEYS IS THE FASTEST, HUH? (Again, I will keep saying that she could have and should have run away.)

Is that...Aemma??? OH NO IT'S ALYSSA.

How these scenes transition and cut seems more jarring than usual.

This "marital spat" lasting for four episodes seems unnecessary when the murder of a small child was forgotten in two.

Finally, calling out Aemond "for his lack of restraint." He should have been called out ever since he killed Luke.

Alicent makes a great point though. How can he be regent AND fight a war out there in the field???

Alicent having such strong emotions over being passed as regent.......why?

Why does Hugh get a family backstory added to his character and yet we've seen neither lick or hair of Nettles? Where is Nettles????

Costume department, please give Alicent more than two dresses.

YES FINALLY. THIS STORY IS ABOUT THE RIOTS. IT WILL BE THE SMALLFOLK THAT ULTIMATELY WIN THIS WAR AND KILL THE MOST DRAGONS

JASON LANNISTER MENTIONED! LANNATION WE STAY WINNING!

The Daemon will-he-won't-he-traitor is not fun to watch. It's been going on for too long and makes Rhaenyra's side of the war stagnant while the greens are making huge moves.

I don't remember Jace negotiating with the Freys in the book. Unlike in FaB, he was authorized by the queen to make the deals he did with Manderly, Arryn, and Stark. Here, he's completely rogue agent and any promises he makes to the Freys is....uh, questionable.

The purpose of this Frey negotiation scene perplexes me. My boy Jacaerys looks fabulous though. Keep serving, prince.

Alys saying "it's not war, it's a heinous crime" is...not my vibe. She exists in this society where they don't have the concept of humanely treating the enemy. What Daemon is doing to those who don't bend the knee is what is expected of a feudal warlord.

UUUUUUGH, Daemon going rogue agent is so self-sabotaging. This man is supposed to be a competent war veteran! He should know going alone is not the play. Aemond acting like this is believable because Aemond is a young man who's never seen war, but not Daemon.

At this point, Rhaenyra is taking as many Ls as Aegon, maybe even more. Why is everyone just standing around and talking at each other?! Your most important war asset died, where is the fire? Where is the urgency???

Why was Corlys not appointed the Hand from the very beginning?!

DID BAELA JUST REJECT HER INHERITANCE?? BULLSHIT. And she did it so casually too!!!! SHE HAS NO REASON TO DO IT. GIRL, INHERITING DRIFTMARK WOULD MAKE HER ONE THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN THE REALM WHAT IS GOING ON?

"I cannot send a raven for Daemon to disregard." Then why doesn't Rhaenyra go to Harrenhal????? She has a dragon, she can fly quicker than a random small councilman. What is going on with this war?

And now she just up and told a councilman who was already displeased with her and whose main reason for staying is his hatred of the Hightowers, "Oh yeah, Daemon might be raising his own faction. Anyways, you'll go to him and bring him back, won't you?" GIRL, DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO DEFECT?

And the message she sends to Daemon is so feckless. Do you think that will convince anyone to come back?!

HOUR OF THE WOLF MENTIONED. WOLFERINAS WE STAY WINNING.

"Works of barbarity." YOU'RE ALL FEUDAL WARLORDS. YOU ALL BURN FIELDS AND SACK CHURCHES. WTF IS THIS GENEVA CONVENTION BS

"I have seen a share of their fights—" Then you should know the Brackens and Blackwoods do this to each other all the time! They burn each other's sacred places and kill their children. This isn't new! That's why the Riverlands is so poor despite its lands being so rich—because the lords keep sacking and tearing at each other's lands!!!! ARGH THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING

Oh thank god, please let it be a dream. It's a dream. Because lords and ladies saying this and coming in the middle of the night make no sense.

Helaena's one line this episode goes hard.

"Well, it was a long time ago." You tell her, Jace.

"And yet, I must wait here." ...you don't have to. This is such a manufactured conflict, especially when Rhaenyra already showed she can come and go to King's Landing unharmed.

"I'm proud of you" she tell her son who made a deal behind her back and disobeyed her orders. And she wonders why people circumvent her authority? Girl, WIELD YOUR AUTHORITY DAMN.

VERMITHOR AND SILVERWING MENTIONED.

"Valyrian histories, written to gild us in glory." YOU TELL HER, JACE.

Jace should be going, "Look at me mother, do I look like a Valyrian dragonlord to you?" Bham! Much more impactful and goes back to his main character conflict.

ugh, this was such a slow and frustrating episode. Worst of the season so far. High points are more Jace screentime (I just like looking at the actor stand in his costume — so beautiful and princely), the Jeyne Arryn appearance, and setting up the eventual riots. Low points are everything else.

[meanqueens]

Hi ! Sorry to bother ans I hope I don’t sound silly but I was in your Nettles tag and it came to me that you said you also fell in love with FAB Alicent even before the show .So ,since you like FAB Nettles ,how would you like to see her developed in the show ?

Have a good day/night !

hi there!! no bother at all, i'm happy to offer my perspective!! thanks for sending an ask!!

now idk how likely it is we'll get much centered around nettles in the show, but at the bare minimum i would love to see at least some of her perspective! why did she decide to come forward as a dragonseed? did she believe in rhaenyra's cause at all, or was she just there for sheepstealer (and later daemon)? and what's her view of the dance? the targaryens as a whole? in her POV, what was her relationship with daemon? and when she had to escape or face execution, what was going through her mind? and after everything was over, did she feel like she won? or did she lose a part of herself in the dance too?

basically i want nettles to be a character, not a plot device.

[el-is-green]

So whatever Targaryens claim, Valyrian blood isn’t that special: Nettles was able to claim Sheepstealer with no (confirmed) Valyrian blood, and Daenerys was able to hatch/bond with her dragons with much more diluted blood than anyone in FaB/HotD. Dragons are also as willing to turn on/kill them as any other human in Westeros (re: the Dance). However, there is something unique going on with the Targaryens: the higher affinity for incest, for one, and the ability to withstand flames in few cases, such as Daenerys hatching her dragons. This is due to a phenomen I’d like to call ‘Targcasity,’ and in this essay I will-

[cbrownjc]

The problem is, HOTD only put thought into adjusting Rhaenyra's age but didn't put any work into adjusting the ages and timeline of anyone or anything else in the show to fit around that.

Again, sorry for comparing it to IWTV, but when that show decided to adjust and move up the timeline for when Louis was turned, it's clear it's not only Louis' character they looked at when adjusting that timeline. They clearly put thought into what Lestat would be doing for that extra 150 years; what Armand was doing during that extra time; how things would be different with Louis, Lestat, and Claudia staying in NOLA from 1910 to 1940, etc.,

The showrunner and writers of IWTV actually put thought into the implications of the timeline moving up not just for Louis' character but all the characters and the story as a whole. Meanwhile, with HOTD, I can't find any indication that the show took the timeline into consideration in any way beyond aging up Rhaenyra, because everything else is just so off.

It's lazy. It's lazy worldbuilding and writing. And throws things into the lore that were not there in the source material just to make one character seemingly look better than another for no reason other than that. Which, again, is just lazy.

Especially for those who are now screaming that Meleys chose Rhaenys and rejected Daemon, and this is canon because that was said so in a stupid show.

Rhaenys was born in 74 year after conquest, Daemon was born in 81. Rhaenys became a rider in 87 year a.c., when Daemon was six years old.

Baelon the Brave was mentioned as a loving and caring parent so I highly doubt he would allow his youngest son to try to tame a dragon in such young age.

Daemon did not try to become Meleys's rider, and she did not reject him for Rhaenys. At least in canon. I don't know what's going on with the characters' ages and timelines in the show.

[choclette8]

It’s peak season for wild garlic and nettles. They make a fab combination. Green is go! These super nutritious green flatbreads are nearly as easy to make as plain ones. Use wild garlic and nettles in the early spring or spinach at other times of the year. Wrap them around your favourite fillings, dip them into something delicious or use them to mop up a curry. Click link in profile to get the recipe on Tin and Thyme. Then type "green flatbreads" into the search box. #recipeoftheday #springrecipes #veganrecipes #wildgarlic #nettlebread #homemade #homebaker #weekendbaking #bakeandshare #bakersofig #cookblogshare #bakersgonnabake #foodstagram #tinandthyme #recipeontheblog #scrumptiouskitchen #thefeedfeed #thekitchn #scrumptioustribe #eeeeeats #bakedfromscratch #damnthatsdelish #baking #kitchenbowl #vegansofig #greenbread #edibleweeds https://www.instagram.com/p/CqdIy7BIm9w/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[loveomhh]

Fab Cleanse & Condition Duo

You can't put a price on beautiful, healthy hair and skin. If you could, this set is well worth it! Natural, vegan, organic aloe, lavender, chamomile, essential oils and other naturally healing ingredients are designed to help restore hair and skin back to optimum health. Uses: Luxuriously cleanses and conditions hair as it moisturizes. Vegan. Cleanse. Balance. Moisturize. Condition. Softens. Nourishes

Features

Vegan Restorative Ingredients: Organic Aloe Juice Organic Lavender Roman Chamomile Distillate Green Tea Extract Organic Nettle Leaf Extract Organic Slippery Elm Extract Blue Green Algae Pro-Vitamin B5 Essential Oils Other restorative ingredients that helps return hair back to a soft, radiant, beautiful state that is more manageable.

[dawnasiler]

DIY No Shampoo Cleansing and Conditioning for Green Purists

Since developing and making formulas for

this book

, I have been testing and using all kinds of different shampoo bars.

But before I started all the shampoo bar fun in earnest, I washed my hair with mud – and nothing but mud – for over 3 years.

Honest.

Rhassoul Clay - Perfectly Clean Mud

Rhassoul clay is nature's gift to both sensitive skin and hair. Even though it's admittedly a bit more fiddly to use than a shampoo bar, rhassoul travels just as well as a shampoo bar because, like a shampoo bar, it isn't activated until you add water.

It's the ultimate cleanser for green purists (and makes for a fabulous deep-cleansing face mask as well).

You do need a bit of 'equipment' to use rhassoul, but I've been working with it long enough to where I think I have developed the most painless method of use. All you need is the right kind of bottle: a squeezy bottle with an applicator cap thingy (such as you see pictured above). A narrow spoon that will fit into the bottle neck is also handy for mess-free dosing.

Washing Your Hair With Mud

Using rhassoul to wash hair is quite simple. Add a few grams of rhassoul to bottle (approximately a teaspoon for short hair and up to a tablespoon for longer hair), add warm water, place on cap, shake, and voilá, you're all-natural purist 'shampoo' is ready to go.

The liquid is a little reminiscent of 'slip' -- a runny, brown, muddy-looking liquid. What it lacks in the looks department, it makes up for in the gentle-and-effective cleansing department (especially if you happen to have a sensitive or itchy scalp).

Now, Get Fancy and Add Your Own Herbal Tincture

And since I've been exploring different methods and uses of herbal vinegar tinctures (explained in detail 

in this book

), it became a bit of a no-brainer to combine everything into a DIY naturally conditioning, scalp-and-hair-balancing-cleansing combo that is as easy to make and use as you please (purist style).

This is the combo I've been using in between testing out shampoo bars this past year, and my head and hair are thrilled with the addition of herbal tincture.

DIY Shampoo Free How To

If you can get past the fact that there is no lather anywhere in sight and are willing to give this combo a try, here's how.

Bottle size: 50 ml - 150 ml depending on your hair length (my hair is short and the bottle pictured here holds 50 ml)

Add desired amount of rhassoul to bottle (teaspoon to tablespoon is more than plenty and will even wash out pre-cleansing oil treatment (read more about DIY pre-cleansing treatment here).

Fill bottle 3/4 full with warm water

Fill up remainder with herbal vinegar tincture of choice

Cap, shake, and apply to wet scalp/hair. 

Massage mixture around scalp (just as you would a normal shampoo) taking care to not let the liquid get into your eyes (just as you don't with normal shampoo)

Rinse thoroughly

Dry and set as usual

TOP TIP: Rinse out the bottle and cap and let air dry between uses

Which Tinctures Are Best

This is obviously going to be a question of personal preference, hair type, scent faves and more, but these herbs might be worth considering if you want to make your own vinegar tinctures:

Rosemary 

Lavender

Rose

Chamomile

Peppermint

Lemon Balm

Nettle

Horsetail

Amla

Gooseberry

You can also make your own hair-strengthening or scalp soothing tincture by combining your herbs of choice. The possibilities are almost limitless.

Pictured above is a double-charged (twice-infused) lavender vinegar tincture that is potently fresh and smells absolutely fabulous.

Do Tell

Have you ever used rhassoul to wash your hair? Which vinegar tinctures would you add to your rhassoul hair wash? Please share in a comment below.

More Vinegar Tincture Stuff

There's a how-to vinegar tincture using pomegranate seeds and coconut vinegar

right here on the blog

, and

this book

has a whole section on how to make vinegar tinctures with calculation charts and step by step examples. You can also add your own vinegar tinctures to shampoo bars for an extra herbal boost.

Below: the book on Shampoo bars I wrote with

my fab colleague

from

Formulators Kitchen

DIY No Shampoo Cleansing and Conditioning for Green Purists syndicated from LisaLise Blog - Natural Skin Care

[daensa]

i didnt read fab and i dont know much of what they cut beyond nettles (lets hope we are wrong) but my ryan crusade...... the choice he made to hurt me personally? no cannibal the dragon

its just meat........ meat is meat!!!!! when shows says meat>>>>>>>>>> EAT IT EAT IT EAT IT!! meat is for feeding we must feed on the meat

[bobbinonsafari]

Our “Short” Gorilla Trek

If yesterday was amazing, today was off the charts. Sadly, the authorities said it would take too long for Sarah to get a permit to take a baby gorilla home to Fergus. I suppose it would have been tricky anyway when he grew into a 400 lb silverback.

This morning was the same routine as yesterday, except that we had to be packed before we left the hotel, given our tight post-gorilla timing to get to the airport.

Our co-gorilla trekkers were a mother and son, a young man with who they were friends, an older single woman (our token grouch for the day), and our grouch from yesterday, who was quite delightful today (turns out she wasn’t simply sick yesterday, she was hung over and dehydrated which is not good at 6500 ft. This information obtained through guide scuttlebut – LOL. We wonder what they are saying about us). Anyway, it actually turned out to be a good group.

Abou (vice Abu) was focused on getting us into a “short” group, so we’d have plenty of time to get back. He even communicated with the park ranger the night before. One family of 33 was quite close yesterday and yesterday’s tourist group returned by 11:30, so we were assigned that family. It was way the heck away, over a long dirt/stone path through various villages and fields with several quite muddy spots. After we were assigned our porters (Jill’s: Thomas; Sarah’s: John), off we went across fields. It was a steady uphill climb, though not steep - beautiful scenery. We got to the edge of the forest, put on our gloves and headed over the stone wall that protects the fields from jungle animals. The rest of the hike was much as one would expect of a gorilla trek: up, up, up through a very dense forrest, narrow paths with foliage encroaching, stinging nettles and red ants to be avoided. Thomas and John earned their keep, almost pulling us through the thick brush, catching us when we slipped and holding our hands for much of the walk. While they carry our packs, as their title implies, that is the least of there role. We couldn’t have made it without them, or at least not without it taking many many hours. There wasn’t much to see, as we spent most of the time head down, looking at or trying to see the ground so as not to trip (but confident our porters would catch us if we did!).

When we are close to the gorillas, we leave the porters with packs and walking sticks and head off with the guides and trackers. Trackers have started early in the morning to find the family based on location the previous evening, footprints, and poop. They go with us the rest of the way, armed with rifles and machetes. They also have learned the gorilla “language” of low growls and other noises, which helps them to let the gorillas know we are friendly visitors.

When we arrived at the gorillas after almost two hours, we got a few glimpses and then caught about 12 of them in a clearing. We got a great view of the primary silverback seated and pigging out on leaves. He was seriously big and indeed, is aptly called a silverback for, well, his silver back. He basically ignored all of the goings on behind him, which was the bulk of the show. We had a couple of 2-3 year olds on top of what looked like a canopy of shrubs, goofing around, thumping their chests, rolling and wrestling. Once in a while, they would disappear into the thick brush and emerge chasing and wrestling again a few minutes later. Meanwhile, on the ground of the clearing was a mass of fur: a few adults and some youngsters hanging out. The kids would snuggle up to each other or an adult, roll around, tumble and generally act like kids. The adults would sun themselves, showing their bellies, stretch, roll over, and one was picking his nose. At one point, the silverback himself stretched out and one of the little guys came up and had a snuggle. He snoozed a while while the chaos continued around him. At one point, one of the babies on the canopy was being rambunctious and took a flying leap smack onto the pile of gorillas on the ground. Too funny — while we’re supposed to be quiet in the presence of our ancestors, our group let out gales of laughter. It was truly a delight to watch their behaviors and their human-ness. The treat of the morning was when the mom with her 2 week old baby joined the group. Wow. She held her baby close, protected him by shielding him when others came too close. At first, all we could see was a bit of curly hair (yes, curly!!), and finally, we were rewarded with some great viewing of him cuddled to his mama’s chest, his adorable little fingers and sweet face. We had plenty of time to take a zillion photos (including many in which bodies and body parts were indistinguishable in the mass of gorillas) and also put down our cameras and simply observe these compelling creatures.

When we had about ten minutes left, the silverback got up and headed out and his crew followed. Well heck, so did we! We tracked them a bit and then looped around to get in front of the little parade coming up a path. It was fun to watch them pass right in front of us, including the mother who paused to re-adjust the two-week old, who jumped up to hang on to her belly as she started moving again. All in all, this experience was fab. We really got the whole picture with old silverback, baby, young‘uns and the jungle trek we expected. We weren’t quite as close as yesterday while in the clearing, but we got a better overview of the whole scene! We loved the family interactions from playing, to protection, to falling in line behind dad when he made a move. Fantastic.

Our guides were great, Jerome and Loyce - one of only 3 women guides. Both were knowledgeable and helpful and - much as we liked Fidel yesterday - we enjoyed Jerome more. In the end, the “near” family, of course, wound up being not nearby at all. Abou had staged the car for a quick get away, and after hurried thanks to the porters and guides (before our whole group was even all the way to the cars), we dashed to the car. Priority #1? Back to the hotel for a shower. How grubby can one feel after sweating up a mountain, stepping in - well, you can imagine, and generally wandering around in a jungle. Back at the hotel, we took about 1/2 hour to speedily each grab a shower while the staff cleaned our shoes (yay). We skipped lunch and just went with the post-gorilla snack packed by the hotel — popcorn, an apple, and cookies.

Abou, a very safe driver on crazy switchback roads, got us to the airport in plenty of time. We said our farewells and went through more airport security than either of us has ever been through - four checks in all! Yikes. Famished at this point, we tried to get a veggie wrap in the very sketchy airport cafe. Thankfully, our order didn’t come through before we had to board, which probably made the difference between health and sickness - LOL. The flight was quick and simple.

August 4, 2018

[rodwey2004]

Field Of Dreams: A great day out (après le travail) having fun, a laugh, and shooting the beautiful easygoing, and a tad nuts Rosa along with ace creative and fab shooting bud, Paul. Erm…. I did initially go to the wrong Nettle….😊 I went to Nettlebed instead of Nettleden… Just 43 miles apart…. Oooooops 😊 ⏮swipe⏭ . Also see @rodweyportraits . Visit: rodweyphotography.com . #field #summer #naturallight #landscape #model #fashionmodel #womensfashion #canonphotography #streetfashion #fashionista #ootd #stylegram #italiangirl #instafashion #nettleden #portrait #outdoorspaces #capturethemoment #pictureoftheday #igshotz #picoftheday #photooftheday #portraitphotography . 📸: @rodwey2004 @rodweyportraits (at Nettleden) https://www.instagram.com/p/CScEaJbt9yV/?utm_medium=tumblr

[morganbelarus]

‘This tape rewrites everything we knew about the Beatles’

Mark Lewisohn knows the Fab Four better than they knew themselves. The experts tapes of their tense final meetings shed new light on Abbey Road and inspired a new stage show

The Beatles werent a group much given to squabbling, says Mark Lewisohn, who probably knows more about them than they knew about themselves. But then he plays me the tape of a meeting held 50 years ago this month on 8 September 1969 containing a disagreement that sheds new light on their breakup.

Theyve wrapped up the recording of Abbey Road, which would turn out to be their last studio album, and are awaiting its release in two weeks time. Ringo Starr is in hospital, undergoing tests for an intestinal complaint. In his absence, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison convene at Apples HQ in Savile Row. John has brought a portable tape recorder. He puts it on the table, switches it on and says: Ringo you cant be here, but this is so you can hear what were discussing.

Challenging conventional wisdom Fab Four writer-historian Mark Lewisohn

What they talk about is the plan to make another album and perhaps a single for release in time for Christmas, a commercial strategy going back to the earliest days of Beatlemania. Its a revelation, Lewisohn says. The books have always told us that they knew Abbey Road was their last album and they wanted to go out on an artistic high. But no theyre discussing the next album. And you think that John is the one who wanted to break them up but, when you hear this, he isnt. Doesnt that rewrite pretty much everything we thought we knew?

Lewisohn turns the tape back on, and we hear John suggesting that each of them should bring in songs as candidates for the single. He also proposes a new formula for assembling their next album: four songs apiece from Paul, George and himself, and two from Ringo If he wants them. John refers to the Lennon-and-McCartney myth, clearly indicating that the authorship of their songs, hitherto presented to the public as a sacrosanct partnership, should at last be individually credited.

Then Paul sounding, shall we say, relaxed responds to the news that George now has equal standing as a composer with John and himself by muttering something mildly provocative. I thought until this album that Georges songs werent that good, he says, which is a pretty double-edged compliment since the earlier compositions hes implicitly disparaging include Taxman and While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Theres a nettled rejoinder from George: Thats a matter of taste. All down the line, people have liked my songs.

The Beatles Abbey Road album Photograph: Pictorial Press/Alamy

John reacts by telling Paul that nobody else in the group dug his Maxwells Silver Hammer, a song theyve just recorded for Abbey Road, and that it might be a good idea if he gave songs of that kind which, John suggests, he probably didnt even dig himself to outside artists in whom he had an interest, such as Mary Hopkin, the Welsh folk singer. I recorded it, a drowsy Paul says, because I liked it.

A mapping of the tensions that would lead to the dissolution of the most famous and influential pop group in history is part of Hornsey Road, a teasingly titled stage show in which Lewisohn uses tape, film, photographs, new audio mixes of the music and his own matchless fund of anecdotes and memorabilia to tell the story of Abbey Road, that final burst of collective invention.

The album is now so mythologised that the humdrum zebra crossing featured on its celebrated cover picture is now officially listed as site of special historic interest; a webcam is trained on it 24 hours a day, observing the comings and goings of fans from every corner of the world, infuriating passing motorists as these visitors pause to take selfies, often in groups of four, some going barefoot in imitation of Pauls enigmatic gesture that August morning in 1969.

George Harrison and John Lennon recording Let It Be. Photograph: Daily Sketch/Rex/Shutterstock

Its a story of the people, the art, the people around them, the lives they were leading, and the break-up, Lewisohn says. The show comes midway through his writing of The Beatles: All These Years, a magnum opus aiming to tell the whole story in its definitive version. The first volume, Tune In, was published six years ago, its mammoth 390,000-word narrative ending just before their first hit. (All the heft of the Old Testament, the Observers Kitty Empire wrote, with greater forensic rigour.)

Constant demands to know when Turn On (covering 1963-66) and Drop Out (1967-69) might appear are met with a sigh: Im 61, and Ive got 14 or 15 years left on these books. Ill be in my mid-70s when I finish. Time is of the essence, he adds, perhaps thinking of the late John Richardsons uncompleted multi-volume Picasso biography. This two-hour show is a way of buying the time for him to dive back into the project.

For 30 years, Lewisohn has been the man to call when you needed to know what any of the Fab Four was doing on almost any day of their lives, and with whom they were doing it. His books include a history of their sessions at what were then known as the EMI Recording Studios in Abbey Road, and he worked on the vast Anthology project in the 90s.

The idea for a stage show was inspired by an invitation from a university in New Jersey to be the keynote speaker at a three-day symposium on the Beatles White Album, then celebrating its golden jubilee. His presentation, called Double Lives, juxtaposed the making of the album and the lives they were leading as individuals outside the studio. It took several weeks to put together, and I thought, This is mad I should be doing this more than once to get more people to see it.

Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney in the studio. Photograph: PictureLux/The Hollywood Archive/Alamy

The next anniversary to present itself was that of Abbey Road, which took place during a crowded year in which Paul married Linda Eastman, John and Yoko went off on their bed-ins for peace, Georges marriage to Pattie Boyd was breaking up, and they were all involved in side projects. John had released Give Peace a Chance as the Plastic Ono Band and George had been spending time in Woodstock with Bob Dylan.

John also took Yoko and their two children, Kyoko and Julian, on a sentimental road trip to childhood haunts in Liverpool, Wales and the north of Scotland, ending when he drove their Austin Maxi into a ditch while trying to avoid another car. Brian Epstein, their manager, had died the previous year and the idealism that had fuelled the founding of their Apple company Its like a top, John said. We set it going and hope for the best was starting to fray badly. Other business concerns such as their song-publishing copyrights, which had been sold without their knowledge led to a war between Allen Klein, the hard-boiled New York record industry veteran invited by John to sort it out, and John Eastman, Lindas father, a top lawyer brought in by Paul to safeguard his interests.

Lewisohn has the minutes of another business meeting, this time at Olympic Studios, where the decision to ratify Kleins appointment was approved by three votes to one (Paul), the first time the Beatles had not spoken with unanimity. It was the crack in the Liberty Bell, Paul said. It never came back together after that one. Ringo and George just said, whatever John does, were going with. I was actually trying, in my mind, to save our future.

And yet Lewisohn challenges the conventional wisdom that 1969 was the year in which they were at each others throats, storming out of the recording sessions filmed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg for the verit-style movie Let It Be, and barely on speaking terms. During the making of Abbey Road, says Lewisohn, they were in an almost entirely positive frame of mind. They had this uncanny ability to leave their problems at the studio door not entirely, but almost.

In fact, Abbey Road was not the only recording location for the album: earlier sessions were held at Olympic in Barnes and Trident in Soho. And Lewisohns creation is called Hornsey Road because that, in other circumstances, is what the album might have been titled, had EMI not abandoned its plans to turn a converted cinema in that rather grittier part of north London into its venue for pop recording.

The show, Lewisohn believes, is the first time an album has been treated to this format. People will be able to listen with more layers and levels of understanding, he says. When you go to an art gallery, you hope that someone, an expert, will tell you what was happening when the artist painted a particular picture. With these songs, Im going to show the stories behind them and the people who made them, and what they were going through at the time. Certainly, no one who sees this show will ever hear Abbey Road in the same way again.

Hornsey Road is at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton, on 18 September and touring until 4 December.

Original Article : HERE ;

The post ‘This tape rewrites everything we knew about the Beatles’ appeared first on MetNews.

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Review: @Fireflydrinks Brand New Multi Packs

New Post has been published on https://www.vivrelereve.co.uk/firefly-brand-new/

Review: @Fireflydrinks Brand New Multi Packs

Review: Firefly’s Brand New Multi Packs

What better way to cheer yourself up on a dreary January day than drinking a chilled refreshing bottle of Firefly Lemon, Lime & Ginger? I think that it would make a fab alternative to alcoholic drinks, if you’re taking part in dry January.

It’s a nice relaxing non-alcoholic non-sugary drink that would be perfect to wind down with of an evening. Personally, I love that it is not bubbly, and that it has a fantastic hint of ginger. A classic citrus reviver, with nettle and old-school dandelion. It contains only naturally occurring sugars, No colours or preservatives, No artificial sweeteners, flavourings or preservatives. It’s also Vegan-friendly.

We were also lucky enough to test out Firefly Peach & Green Tea. Which is a perfect peachy pick-me-up, positively enlivened with green tea and kola nut. You can pour over crushed ice and a slice of fresh peach for a virgin cocktail, or make it sing with a drop of gin. Either way, it’s eye-opening stuff. Perfect on its own or as a mixer!

Harry and Marcus launched Firefly at Harvey Nichols in London in 2003. They were both working in the city at the time, burning the candles at both ends and wanted a drink that tasted great but wasn’t full of synthetic ingredients and refined sugar – yeugh! After much consideration, Firefly was born: a naturally revitalising juice drink enlivened with botanical extracts and absolutely nothing artificial. Nowadays, their colourful bottles with their synonymous black and white Polaroid imagery are seen all over the world.

Firefly’s brand new multi packs are now available in Tesco for £4.50.

[horsfields]

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