#GUYS I LOVE REVOLUTION RADIO

[c0smic-coral]

39/Smooth is underrated.

[strawberri-syrup]

ok i tried to compile a few rock/prog rock/etc band recs i thought might kinda fit what you’re looking for: sleeping with sirens, green day, hail the sun, children of nova, vola, muse, the protomen, 9mm parabellum bullet. also insert the obligatory ‘listen to thank you scientist their instrumentals and vocals are insanely good’ thing here + ALSO if you want specific song recs or even more bands i can offer those too :-) enjoy

omg i love you

[thislovintime]

On the set of 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee, November 1968.

“As a matter of fact, I think I might fairly say that 33 & 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee, I sat down and started to play the piano, I started to try to find again some of those old licks. I had played them almost more as joke than anything when they… when I was first playing piano in the late 50s. But later on I got to do them seriously, listening to the Fats Domino style of playing, Jerry Lee Lewis style of playing piano, Little Richard, I mean, those guys.” - Peter Tork, Headquarters Radio, 1989 “When rock and roll came in in the 50's, it was the bluesiest of the songs that got me the most. Early Elvis, Little Richard, these were the performers I was drawn to. As I got into folk music for myself toward the end of the 50's and into the early 60's, I didn't have the confidence it took to even try the blues. It's taken me all these years to believe that a) I understand the blues enough socially and emotionally, and b) that I have the technique to play them. A well played blues NOTE, to this day, makes my heart sing.” - Peter Tork, Ask Peter Tork, 2008 “We [Shoe Suede Blues] play blues, we play some Chicago blues, we play some rockabilly blues, that’s where the name comes from, ‘Blue Suede Shoes,’ ‘Rip It Up,’ Little Richard’s ‘Rip It Up.’” - Peter Tork, GOLD 104.5, 1999 “I love Little Richard; I think he is the greatest rock ’n’ roll singer of all time. He was just a powerhouse and taught us all how to do it. Then along came The Beatles who deeply influenced me. But the blues-pop thing just sends me.” - Peter Tork, Shindig Magazine, 2010

[rallamajoop]

I have too many feelings about Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (3/3)

The story so far: we've covered gameplay and worldbuilding, we've covered story. Now I get to talk characters. And while I'm at it, go off on a tangent or two about some of my favourite touches from Human Revolution, and why I'm still in the habit of calling the hero of these games by his last name.

Characters

Much as I do love Jensen, it’s no secret that Francis Pritchard is my favourite character in this series. His snarky banter with Jensen during missions is so much of what made Human Revolution for me. When I later tried out the original 2001 Deus Ex, I even joked to a friend, “There’s this guy in my earpiece who keeps giving me straightforward, good advice. It just seems so unprofessional!”

Faridah Malik, Jensen’s pilot, is his other major human contact in HR – a friendly face to get him to and from different settings, and occasional voice in his earpiece as well. But it’s not just Malik and Pritchard you’ll be hearing from – you’ve got Jensen’s boss, Sarif, mocking him for his surprise that the SWAT penthouse villain has a panic room, plus so many other random contacts calling Jensen up and prompting ‘how did you get this number?’ complaints that I started to wonder if it was tattooed to the back of his neck.

I knew going into MD that Pritchard wasn’t returning (except in DLC). Halfway through the first mission, it began to dawn on me that Jensen’s new, aggressively-British, aug-hating coworker, Duncan MacCready, seemed to be being set up as the new Pritchard – ie, the asshole in his earpiece with whom he’ll gradually develop a grudging semi-friendship over the course of the game. This did not immediately enthuse me. Pritchard’s initial dislike of our hero may have been petty, but at least it was personal, seeing Jensen as an under-qualified nepotism hire. MacCready just hates anyone augmented, which would be pretty weaksauce even if Jensen had, y'know, ever actually chosen to being augmented to begin with.

It's not like it would be hard to come up with better reasons why someone might distrust Jensen: he's secretly working for a hacktavist network, was declared legally dead in circumstances he can't explain, and MacCready would be right to find him suspicious. But I knew MacCready was a popular character, so I resolved to give him a chance.

The reality proved much worse: love him or hate him, MacCready is hardly in the game at all. You can go talk to him in the office a bunch of times about why he hates cyborgs so much, but he’s only deployed with Jensen in the very first mission and the very last one. Jensen seems to have relationships with a number of his other new colleagues, but for most of the game, there’s no radio chatter at all. Infolink calls happen occasionally, but are vanishingly rare. Even when doing missions for the Collective – a group dominated by augmented hackers – Jensen’s left to fly relatively solo.

Jensen’s main contact at the Collective is Alex Vega, arguably the new Malik, at least in that she’s an augmented woman of colour and nominally a pilot (though she doesn’t actually do any flying for us) on friendly terms with Jensen. In fact, DXMD has given Vega a substantial redesign to make her less of the shallow Malik-clone she was in her "original" appearance, in the lesser known mobile game Deus Ex: The Fall. You can see her and Malik in the comparison below.

Yeah, there's really not a lot to set them apart. She's a pilot? Give her short brown hair like our last pilot, stick her in a flight suit, and call it a day.

As of MD, the new!Vega is black, does her hair completely differently, has more obvious augmentations, and doesn't live in a flight suit: okay, fine, no harm in giving the character some individuality (though why you'd insist on giving her the same name as the old Vega at that point I do not know).

But looks aside, it's on the characterisation front they've really let her down. There was never a lot to Malik beyond being straightforward, friendly and professional. But you do get an optional side-mission to help her solve a friend’s murder, and the big set-piece where she’ll die if you leave her and run like she tells you to (also the reason I’ll probably never get a certain achievement, but fuck it, I like Malik, I don’t need that achievement that much). Straightforward as Malik is, what makes her work for me is that it’s so easy to buy her as someone with her own life outside Jensen’s crazy world. It’s to the point where I almost don’t want to see her get dragged any deeper into the whole conspiracy plotline, because she’s so easy-going and normal she shouldn’t have to be. Basic as that is, when you’re having a reaction that strong to a character, they’ve done something right.

Vega, by comparison, clearly should be a much more memorable character – a pilot working full-time undercover for a top-secret hacktivist collective? But Vega too seems nice, and normal, and yet has no role in this story except to be Jensen’s contact. You can ask her a bit about her backstory, but it made so little impression I can’t remember it. She’s nominally so much more important than Malik, but she never gets to do anything as interesting as making up a nickname for him, hijacking a bunch of public TVs to get back at her friend’s killer, or make the tough decision to tell Jensen to leave her and run. She’s just there to deliver plot-relevant information.

Other characters fandom had led me to expect much more of were similar non-events. Koller, Jensen’s go-to guy for aug maintenance, is certainly a character, but not one that grabbed me, and he appears all of twice, neither time for very long. There's got to be a hell of a story as to why Jensen, an Interpol agent with connections to a whole network of augmented hackers, is going to a weirdo like Koller for aug maintenance, but the game doesn't seem to think that's a story worth sharing, so there goes another wasted avenue to do something interesting. Chikane, Jensen's actual pilot, has far more meat on his bones character-wise and more interaction with our hero. But he’s probably a traitor (I say ‘probably’ because the strongest hints are a coded message in a well-hidden safe, and finding it changes nothing), so there's not much point investing in what camaraderie they develop. Similar is Delara, an obvious Illuminati-plant who spends the game acting innocent and helpful enough to make you wonder if maybe she’s alright after all, only for an after-credits scene to reveal that, yup, she’s an Illuminati plant. Is this supposed to be a twist?

The one major character I did get decent value out of is Jim Miller, Jensen’s Interpol boss. Seeing a convincingly Aussie character in a position of authority in non-Aussie-made media is novel enough that I’m always going to get a kick out of it (even if his backstory does involve that whole ‘Australian civil war’ thing, which is hilarious in so many ways that I’m not sure non-Australians appreciate). Doesn’t hurt that Miller’s subtly queer too – hacking his computer will turn up info about his (ex-)husband and kids.

And that’s about it. There’s a local Prague underworld, but no-one involved is as enjoyable as either of the Tongs in HR, and agreeing to put yourself in their debt on Koller’s account means you’ll get to do a couple of extra side-quests, none of which will give your conscience much trouble. Is this really the best they can do?

When it came out, Deus Ex: Human Revolution was rightly criticised for a weak ending and some seriously ham-fisted attempts at worldbuilding and social commentary. I knew all that going in, and was still astounded by how bad it was at introducing its own ideas. But for all its flaws, I fell in love with its characters, and there were some touches that really stuck with me. I've had a whole mini-essay rolling around my brain for months just on the subtext it packs into who's on a first or last name basis with who – Jensen especially.

Our hero is ‘Jensen’ to most of his workmates (past and present), but ‘Adam’ to Megan and Sarif – Megan because they used to date, and Sarif because he’s the kind of friendly, personable boss who calls all his employees by their first names. But that familiarity takes on a whole other sinister dimension when you realise that Megan and Sarif are the same people responsible for basing their research on Jensen's DNA without his knowledge or consent (and in Sarif’s case, cutting off three perfectly good limbs while he was in a medical coma). Eliza – an AI who’s been watching him for god knows how long – calls him ‘Adam’ too. (So does Wayne Haas, the cop you have to talk your way past to get into the station, which is just more proof he’s Jensen’s bitter ex.)

Meanwhile, Pritchard and Malik – the two allies Jensen can trust to have his back – both call him ‘Jensen’. When Malik starts to get more familiar, it’s not by switching to first-name-basis, it’s by giving him a nickname (‘Spyboy’, which he responds to by calling her ‘Flygirl’). And that’s most of why I still default to calling the guy ‘Jensen’ myself: intended or otherwise, the game is pretty consistent in that the only people who call him by his first name have a serious lack of respect for his boundaries. I can’t tell you how intentional all that subtext was, but it shines through like a beacon.

He’s not the only example either. The game never tells us that Pritchard hates being called by his full first name, ‘Francis’, but it doesn’t have to – you can tell based on the way Jensen uses it (and it’s notable that he’s ‘Frank’ to Sarif, the ‘we’re all family here’-boss of the year). It’s a great little characterisation note for the both of them.

So you can imagine my disappointment that in DX:MD, most of Jensen’s new workmates just call him ‘Adam’. Maybe you could argue that now that unearned familiarity is going the other way, since here ‘Adam’ is the double-agent sneaking around under their noses – but then, Alex calls him ‘Adam’ too, and there’s nothing to suggest she’s shady. Miller and Duncan call him ‘Jensen’, which tracks with their characters and relationships, but I’ve long since hit the point where I can’t hear people calling this guy ‘Adam’ without twitching a little. Why are you calling him that? What are you really up to, you creep?

And this is just one thing I loved from that previous game that was lacking in the sequel. Pritchard and Malik may top my list of favourite characters, but it goes on and on. Tong Senior is more charismatic than any guy that shady has any right to be (and Tong Junior is just such a fantastic little shit), and Keitner deserved so much more screentime than she got. David Sarif is a fascinating mess of completely terrible person who still deserves real credit for standing up against the 'real' villains behind the scenes. Megan's level-headed conviction that she's doing the right thing even while working for incredibly shady people fascinates me. Quinn is great in both his personalities, and I even enjoyed Kavanagh and the sleezeball that is van Brugen so much more than I had any right to. There are compellingly grey characters all over this script, and the writers deserve serious credit for all of them.

But there’s no-one in Mankind Divided I enjoyed as much as the best players from HR. Including, I hate to say it, that one DLC which brought Pritchard back at last.

So, yeah. It's time to talk that last little footnote to this game.

The System Rift DLC

DX:HR had only one DLC mission, but it set a high standard, introduced some of my favourite characters (see above!), and contributed to the greater story in a big way. By comparison, MD has three DLC missions, and all have the exact same problems as the main campaign: there’s just nothing to invest in here. Do you actually care whether Jensen is able to save an undercover agent who’s gone native in some prison facility? Not once you’ve met the guy, trust me, he’s painfully bland. And that mission may actually be the strongest of the three.

The story justification for System Rift is as perfunctory as possible. Pritchard calls Jensen up out of the blue to call in a favour. He needs Jensen to recover some data from a bank vault, and along the way, you might find some evidence of shady insider trading between characters you’ve never met. And you have to ‘save Pritchard’s avatar’ from a virtual world, because reasons, which is exactly as trite as most attempts to build cyberspaces into gameplay. Oh, and you get to ride a funicular elevator at one point, because that’s about the level of what we get here as a callback.

As for new characters, you'll meet Shadowchild, a hacker friend of Pritchard, who I found depressingly dull. Attempts to characterise her mostly mean sitting through dialogue like “there are only a few hackers in a world who could do this, but fortunately for you I am one of them,” delivered in a relative monotone. Much as much as I enjoyed the fact that Miller was queer only if the player is paying attention to the details, doing the same thing again with Shadowchild just makes me feel like the writers don’t have the guts to make a character gay enough to risk upsetting the homophobes in their audience. It’s executed that much worse here too (look, I fully assumed whoever Shadowchild needed Jensen to leave that coded warning for must be someone she’d long since lost real contact with, because why the fuck would she need or trust a virtual stranger to do that for her real, current girlfriend when the stakes are this high? Come on!)

But what really kills this DLC for me is that Pritchard and Jensen’s relationship is given so little to work with. They’re not working together to find the people who put Jensen in hospital or tracking down the secrets of Jensen’s past this time. We’re not getting any insights into Pritchard’s past or hunting major Illuminati secrets either, there aren’t even innocent people in danger – there’s nothing personal here, nothing to invest in. The data Pritchard wants is a MacGuffin in the purest and most meaningless sense, and Jensen’s only helping because he owes a favour (and you won’t even know what for if you haven’t read the novel).

The fact Jensen’s now working for Pritchard directly ought to add new tension to their dynamic, but all it seems to do is throw a dampener over what grudging camaraderie they ever achieved. I do like that they've reached the point where Jensen doesn't even sound like he's sneering when he calls Pritchard 'Francis' anymore, but most of their banter was underwhelming – and dull as I found the core conflict of Black Light, even it delivered on that. Jensen is a surly asshole to Pritchard for no good reason from the moment he answers the call, and the idea that he’s pushing friends away to protect them is present but (at least for my money) underplayed. Pritchard, meanwhile, is here largely to deliver mission-related exposition. There were definitely exchanges I enjoyed ‒ I'm a shipper, I can't not like Jensen's last little 'take care of yourself' at the end ‒ but it's not much to hang a DLC on.

(And to be clear, if you did love System Rift for what it was, no judgement here. But goddamn, did you deserve something you could’ve loved so much more than this.)

So with all that said, where does that leave me for a conclusion? If the plan with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was to make the series more like the original Deus Ex, then for my money, they’ve succeeded ‒ at least in that the plot is uninvolving, the characters are bland, and their relationships don’t evolve in any interesting way. But even the original DX managed some memorable reveals and a gloriously weird multiple-choice ending, where the heros could tell themselves they’d taken down the Illuminati and cured the plague. Jensen’s grand success at the end of MD is that a key UN vote on augmented rights hasn’t made the currently shitty status quo any worse. Everything that Human Revolution did well is missing here, and everything it did badly is just as bad.

And yet, at the end of the day, my single biggest disappointment may be that this really is it. There’s probably never going to be another Deus Ex game. I don’t know how you’d save a franchise from a rut like this, and it’s naïve to imagine you can only go up from here – but apparently it’d take more than one lackluster entry to kill my investment. It’s a hell of a bummer to see it end on a game that seems so ashamed of everything its predecessor ever did well.

It's enough of a bummer that rather than leave my own impressions rest there, I'm replaying Deus Ex: Human Revolution now, and you know what? Turns out it's not all nostalgia that's making me remember the last game so much better, because I'm having a great time with it all over again. The side quests you can pick up are just as truly absurd as they ever were (sure, random hooker I just met, I'll plant drugs in this guy's apartment for you!), but the stakes feel meaningful, the character dynamics are fun, and Pritchard is back being his terrible, sassy self. My absurd quest for enough XP to unlock all the cool powers ASAP has me spending way, way too long trying to set up double-takedowns and carrying vending machines around the middle of Detroit police station to try and block the sightlines between the computer I'm hacking and all the cops standing around the same room. Look, this is apparently my idea of fun, don't judge me.

For over a year now, I've had a couple of unposted bits of Jensen/Pritchard fic sitting around, never quite completed, and replaying the game has reignited the motivation to get them into some kind of shape worth showing to people. Lord knows I don't have the power to uncancel this franchise, but at least letting my own unfinished fic see the light of day is something I can do.

[streetkid-named-desire]

Top 10 Albums

Ooh this is a good one and probably gonna be mostly nostalgia because I never really listened to complete albums.

I was tagged by @merge-conflict and I am tagging @byberbunk2069 because I KNOW that bitch got albums.

These are not going to be in any particular order like by favorite or anything, just the first ones that really come up for me.

These first two are going to be multiple albums.

1. No Thanks! The 70s Punk Revolution

My mom got this for me for Christmas when I was 13 or 14 and it introduced to me old early punk. She yelled at me once for playing "Oh bondage, up yours!" by The X-Ray Specs too loud. I had already liked some 90s/00s punk from my sister and the radio and stuff I found on Limewire, but this really started it all. It came with a little booklet that had a little mini history and anecdotes about all the bands. I really liked Iggy Pop a lot.

Also, I thought I was hot shit and Different from other punks and would spend hours in a Yahoo IM punk music chatroom arguing with people older than me about what real punk music was.

2. This 15 disc set of 80s new wave I downloaded off of whatever torrent program

When I finally got my first iPod and iTunes was a thing, BitTorrent was also becoming more in vogue and replaced Limewire for me. I only torrented entire discographies. There was this 15 album set of 80s New Wave music. So, both of these compilations are very important because my taste in music will always be punk and 80s new wave at its core.

This set introduced me to Erasure (and so did my drum teacher), Army of Lovers, all the classic stereotypical 80s pop hits and even some dark wave bands!

3. The Postal Service - Give Up

This was one of the first albums I ever listened to all the way through. I listened to it on my CD player when I was flying to Minnesota to visit my online boyfriend when I was 16 to lose my virginity. (Don't ask, my mom let me get away with some weird ass shit). And it was the first album that made me realize, most albums should probably be listened to all the way through because they have a whole story. This one is about a guy dealing with a bad break up.

4. Reel Big Fish - Cheer Up!

I don't care if it makes my a ska poser, I love this album. I think it's one of the albums I bought with my own money from Hot Topic. I just love all the songs on it and loved the album art. Drunk Again is a song very near and dear to me. That and their cover of New York, New York are my favorites to absolutely belt out in the car.

5. Fatboy Slim - You've Come A Long Way Baby

One of THE first albums I EVER bought with my own money (okay when I say "own money" I mean my allowance). I had to have been 13-15? At the Fiesta Mall (RIP) Hot Topic in Arizona with one of my friends. One of the other albums I bought will be next.

I only like Right Here, Right Now, Rockafeller Skank, and In Heaven (still get "Fatboy Slim is fuckin' in heave / fuckin' in heaven / fuckin' in heaven" stuck in my head.)

6. Short Music for Short People - Fat Wreck Chords Compilation Album

The other CD I bought in that same shopping trip. I later would go on Limewire and find the full versions of songs. It introduced me to a lot of my fave punk bands and I still get some of the little bits stuck in my head from time to time.

It was a promotional album released by the studio Fat Wreck Chords. The gimmick was 101 artists with 30 second or less songs.

It also introduced me to Gwar!

Unfortunately, the album isn't on Spotify but a kind soul curated a playlist with all of the songs that were on the album.

7. Slipknot - Iowa

My first kinda real boyfriend gifted me this album and a custom mix CD that included songs like Seether by Veruca Salt, a song by Matthew Sweet I can't remember and some others. We watched Cabin Fever at his house. He held my hand walking me home and it was very sweaty and clammy. He eventually became my biggest bully at school lmao

I listened to this album all the time at school/on my way to school in middle school when I was depressed.

8. The Distillers - Coral Fang

A BFF I met in middle school who was SO fucking cool and always had funky makeup, she was never shy to express herself. I love her SO much. My first kiss with another girl was my other BFF who has been my BFF for the longest since we were like 8. And then the other one was the first girl I ever fooled around with. We were watching Totoro while she was fingering me in bed at her grandma's house. We also made out and she fingered me while watching Braveheart.

ANYWAY, she introduced me to this album on that same trip. I wanted to sing like Brody Dalle and always wanted her haircuts too.

An honorable mention here is Tribute by Tenacious D, we shared earbuds while listening to it on my CD player and swinging in the hammock on the roof during a nice breezy summer night.

9. Weezer - The Blue Album

I was a HUGE Weezer fan when I was younger and I'd draw their little funky W on all my notebooks next to the anarchy symbol lmao

This album just has the most songs I like. This, The Green Album, and Pinkerton were my faves.

You can find me at karaoke belting out Say It Ain't So.

10. Cake - Comfort Eagle

Shadow Stabbing was the opening track in the film Orange County and I really liked that move as a kid for some reason. I love Comfort Eagle, Fashion Nugget, and Pressure Chief about equally. But just like the Weezer album, this one had more songs I liked.

I was like top 0.1% of listeners for Cake on Spotify Wrapped for like three years in a row. I know all the lyrics to almost all of the songs on those three albums and probably have the most songs out of any artist on my driving playlist.

[spotify-official]

Green Day has been around since 1989 and theyre still producing BANGER hits please link one of my green day rec playlists because links dont work in asks but uhhh yeah

GREEN DAY ERAS:

pre-American Idiot (1989-2000)

focused on personal problems with a little "hey society sucks right"

that mostly comes in Warning (2000) tho

billie joe had really long hair in 1989-1991 look

1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours and Kerplunk both have a lot of love songs

Dookie has general themes of growing up

Insomniac is definitely interesting. only like half an hour long tho :/

Nimrod and Warning are both explorations in genres and they have a really unique sound to them!

THE 2000's

this is just American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown

both banger albums! just because they're both political doesn't mean theyre connected tho

seriously the worst thing you can do is treat 21CB as an American Idiot sequel. because it's not

some of the best Green Day songs ever on these two albums. just listen to them both fully honestly

2012

despite this being one year, it contains 3 albums (¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!)

do not listen to Nightlife.

Fuck Time is great tho

some amazing songs! about 3 or 4 per album

Let Yourself Go >>>>>>>

also Kill the DJ

but yeah not some of their best work

REVOLUTION RADIO (2016)

one album

another political album

again.NOT American Idiot or 21CB sequel. it's its own thing

this one's more personal to Billie Joe tho

so many good songs!!! especially Still Breathing omfg

FATHER OF ALL (2020)

no

well sugar youth is really good

SAVIORS (2024)

FUCK YES

YES

YES

YES

IT'S EVERYTHING I LOVE ABOUT GREEN DAY ALL IN ONE ALBUM

LISTEN TO THE FULL THING OH MY GOD

Check it out guys!!! It's so good!

[scottsummersgal]

Album tag game - 6 albums you've been listening to, plus one track from each that you're especially fond of

Thanks a bunch for the tag @dontirrigateme :)

--

Tango In the Night (Deluxe edition) by Fleetwood Mac -> Everywhere - 2017 Remaster

This is my favorite song to listen to in the morning or whenever I need to get myself into a good mood. I just love how dreamy and upbeat it sounds.

Magic by Bruce Springsteen -> Girls In Their Summer Clothes

This song makes me feel so nostalgic. But in a good way! It really feels like the end credits of a coming of age film. The kind that leaves you with an epiphany about life.

Hold An Old Friend's Hand by Tiffany -> All This Time

Okay...it's cheesy and a little corny,,, but I'm cheesy and corny so it's to be expected.

When Did We Do That? by Letters to Cleo -> I Want You To Want Me

It's so catchy and such a 2000s song. It's perfect for dull afternoons when I need to feel energetic. I just...love it so much, it's so fun

Revolution Radio -> Bang Bang

Bang Bang is the first song I listened to. I saw the lyrics used in a video edit once and nearly spat out my drink because it was so evocative the sound was exactly my kind of thing. I love the punk sound so much! Honestly @executethyself35 @dontirrigateme this album kind of gives off your guys' vibes but not in a violent way! Just really energetic and punk rock <3

Love In The 4th Dimension by The Big Moon -> Cupid

I love this album and the way it sounds! The melodies, the instruments, the energy...it just scratches that itch in my brain and it feels so me.

no pressure tags: @caseofvatsixtynine @goneandbackagain @bast0gne @melancholictearz @1waveshortofashipwreck @love-studying58

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 8.28

Holidays

Bow Tie Day

Crackers Over the Keyboard Day

Criminal Appreciation Day

Crumbs Between the Keys Day

Dream Day Quest and Jubilee

828 Day

Emerati Women’s Day (UAE)

Emmett Till Day

End of the Fairy Tale Day

Giving Black Day (a.k.a. Give 828)

Goldenrod Day

Gone-ta-Pott Day [every 28th]

Grandparents’ Day (Mexico)

Green Shirt Guy Day

Higalaay Festival (Cagayan de Oro, Philippines)

I Have a Dream Day

International Read Comics in Public Day

Makaton International Awareness Day

Manifest 828 Day

Mariamoba (Republic of Georgia)

National Bow Tie Day

National Grandparents Day (Mexico)

Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander (NHPI) Equal Pay Day

National Over It Day

National Power Rangers Day

National Sport Sampling Day

National Thoughtful Day

Nativity of Nephthys (Egyptian Goddess of Love)

Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day

Radio Commercial Day

Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day

Russian Germans Day (Germany)

Scientific American Day

Significant Historical Events Day

Speeding Ticket Day

Tan Suit Day

Tom Thumb Locomotive Day

Watermelon Day (French Republic)

World Day of Turners Syndrome

Food & Drink Celebrations

National Cheese Sacrifice Day

National Cherry Turnover Day

National Red Wine Day

New England Apple Day

Stuffed Green Bell Peppers Day

Subway Sandwich Day

Independence & Related Days

Holy Empire of Reunion (Declared; 1997) [unrecognized]

Kingdom Proclamation Day (Montenegro)

Luana (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Moldova (from USSR; 1991)

Ohio Empire (Declared; 2008) [unrecognized]

Popular Consultation Anniversary Day (East Timor)

4th & Last Wednesday in August

Hump Day [Every Wednesday]

La Tomatina (World’s Biggest Food Fight; Buñol, Spain) [4th Wednesday]

National Meals on Wheels Day (Australia) [Last Wednesday]

Tug-of-War Day [Last Wednesday]

Wacky Wednesday [Every Wednesday]

Website Wednesday [Every Wednesday]

Weird Wednesday [4th Wednesday of Each Month]

Whatever Wednesday [4th Wednesday of Each Month]

Whole Grain Wednesday [Last Wednesday of Each Month]

Willing-To-Lend-A-Hand Wednesday [Wednesday of Be Kind to Humankind Week]

Wishful Wednesday [Last Wednesday of Each Month]

Weekly Holidays beginning August 28 (4th Full Week of August)

Paralympic Summer Games (Paris, France) [thru 9.8]

Festivals Beginning August 28, 2024

Apollonia Festival of Arts (Sozopol, Bulgaria) [thru 9.7]

Best in the West Rib Cook-off (Sparks, Nevada) [thru 9.2]

Halifax Fringe Festival (Halifax, Canada) [thru 9.8]

Johnson County Fair (Clarksville, Arkansas) [thru 8.31]

La Tomatina (Buñol, Spain)

South Dakota State Fair (Huron, South Dakota) [thru 9.2]

Sweet Corn Festival (Millersport, Ohio) [thru 8.30]

Twin Falls County Fair and Magic Valley Stampede (Twin Falls County, Idaho) [thru 9.2]

Venice International Film Festival (Venice, Italy) [thru 9.7]

Walla Walla Fair & Frontier Days (Walla Walla, Washington) [thru 9.1]

Feast Days

Alexander of Constantinople (Christian; Saint)

Andraste (Celtic Book of Days)

Assumption Day [Roman Catholic] (a.k.a. ... 

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Abkhazia)

Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Canada)

Feast of the Assumption (Christian)

Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Anglican)

Ferragosto (Italy)

Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God (Eastern Orthodox)

Mary, Mother of Our Lord (Lutheran)

The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Sacred Heart)

Augustine of Hippo (Christian; Saint) [brewers] *

Ayyankali Jayanti (Kerala, India)

Constant Troyon (Artology)

Edmund Arrowsmith (Christian; Saint)

Edward Burne-Jones (Artology)

Feast of the Mother of God (Georgia, Macedonia, Serbia)

Festival for Luna (Ancient Rome)

Festival for Sol (Ancient Rome)

Festival of the Neon Revolution

First Onam (Rice Harvest Festival; Kerala, India)

Frank Gorshin Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Hermes of Rome (Christian; Saint)

Jack Kirby (Artology)

Jack Vance (Writerism)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Writerism)

John Betjeman (Writerism)

Julian (Christian; Saint)

Junipero Serra (Christian; Saint)

Kanō Motonobu (Artology)

L. B. Cole (Artology)

Marimba (Virgin’s Assumption; Georgia)

Mariotte (Positivist; Saint)

Media Aestas III (Pagan)

Michael Craig-Martin (Artology)

More Rum Day (Pastafarian)

Morris Graves (Artology)

Moses the Black (Christian; Saint)

Norse Harvest Festival (Everyday Wicca)

Pebble Memento Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Rita Dove (Writerism)

Robertson Davies (Writerism)

Tony Husband (Artology)

Uncle Norton the Elephant (Muppetism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 40 of 60)

Premieres

Animal Crackers (Film; 1930)

The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are, by Alan W. Watts (Spiritual Book; 1966)

Cain's Jawbone, by E. Powys Mathers (Novel/Puzzle; 1934)

Come Clean, by Puddle of Mudd (Album; 2001)

The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas (Novel; 1844)

Do the Evolution, by Pearl Jam (Animated Music Video; 1998)

54 (Film; 1998)

Flying Leathernecks (Film; 1951)

Gallipoli (Film; 1981)

Get Rich Quick Porky (WB LT Cartoon; 1937)

Honeymoon in Vegas (Film; 1992)

I Have a Dream, by Martin Luther King Jr. (Speech; 1963)

Let’s Get It On, by Marvin Gaye (Album; 1973)

Little Ol’ Bosko and the Cannibals (Happy Harmonies MGM Cartoon; 1937)

Lohengrin, by Richard Wagner (Opera; 1850)

Mary of Scotland (Film; 1936)

Mickey’s Follies (Disney Cartoon; 1929)

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (TV Series; 1993)

Narcos (TV Series; 2015)

The New Mutants (Film; 2020)

Perri (Disney Film; 1957)

Personal, 19th Jack Reacher book, by Lee Child (Novel; 2014)

Pesty Guest (Chilly Willy Cartoon; 1965)

Phineas and Verb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (Animated Film; 2020)

Pink Pranks (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1971)

Private Lessons (Film; 1981)

Q. Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, by Devo (Album; 1978)

Rope (Film; 1948)

Sink or Swim (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1952)

Smile, by Katy Perry (Album; 2020)

Song of the Thin Man (Film; 1947)

Studio 54 (Film; 1998)

Tease for Two (WB LT Cartoon; 1965)

Travelling Without Moving, by Jamiroquai (Album; 1996)

The Truth About Mother Goose (Disney Cartoon; 1957)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (Film; 1992)

Victoria (TV Series; 2016)

Walk This Way by Aerosmith (Song; 1975)

Yankee Doodle Bugs (WB LT Cartoon; 1954)

Today’s Name Days

Adelinde, Aline, Augustin (Austria)

Augustin, Tin (Croatia)

Augustýn (Czech Republic)

Augustinus (Denmark)

August, Gustav, Kustas, Kustav, Kusti, Kusto (Estonia)

Tauno (Finland)

Augustin, Elouan (France)

Adelinde, Aline, Augustin, Vivian (Germany)

Damon (Greece)

Ágoston (Hungary)

Agostino, Ermete (Italy)

Auguste, Guste, Ranna (Latvia)

Augustinas, Patricija, Steigvilė, Tarvilas (Lithuania)

Artur, August (Norway)

Adelina, Aleksander, Aleksy, Augustyn, Patrycja, Sobiesław, Stronisław (Poland)

Augustín (Slovakia)

Agustín (Spain)

Fatima, Leila (Sweden)

Agustin, August, Augusta, Augustina, Austen, Austin, Austina, Austyn, Gus, Gustava, Gustavo (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 241 of 2024; 125 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of Week 35 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 26 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Ren-Shen), Day 25 (Jia-Zi)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 24 Av 5784

Islamic: 22 Safar 1446

J Cal: 1 Gold; Oneday [1 of 30]

Julian: 15 August 2024

Moon: 27%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 17 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Worcester]

Runic Half Month: Rad (Motion) [Day 6 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 70 of 94)

Week: 4th Full Week of August

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 7 of 32)

Calendar Changes

Gold (Month 9 of 12; J Calendar)

[whovianwatchingstartrek]

A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 076 - The Time War Begins

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season 4 Episodes 1 and 2 - Storm Front

Two parter, so really long post here.

Only one season of Enterprise left, and I'm excited to see where that cliff-hanger goes, it was a bombshell. Let's go!

Tip and Mayweather in the shuttlepod are beyond shot down by some WW2 era fighters, and Archer is in the hands of an Alien working with the actual WW2 Nazis. Not for long though, because the prison transport Archer is in is attacked by what I first thought was French Resistance, but later they're revealed to be American resistance.

Meanwhile, Enterprise is picking up Radio Signals of Winston Churchill. It's quickly revealed that there are Suliban on enterprise. Lovely to see the Temporal Cold War plotline is back on track.

The unknown aliens seem to have deeply infiltrated the Nazi leadership, and they have been messing with the timeline. The Nazis have reached North America. Archer wakes up in the care of woman in Brooklyn, and is also caught up on the time shenanigans going on.

The Aliens have boosted the Nazi's technology and allowed them to overwealm the allies. Currently, they are proposing giving them access to plasma rifles, and more crucially a plague. Phlox gets jumpscared by a guy in the future-people's uniform, who scans later confirm is Daniels, albeit aged and decayed severely, although it would appear to not be infectious, thankfully. As he dies, Daniels confirms that the Temporal Cold War has become a full blown Time War.

Archer gets to spend some time with his nurse, and it's some nice really worldbuilding for this alternate timeline, and I love that they're fleshing out what occupied New York would look like. We also find out from a few resistance members that the Gestapo are hunting for Archer, specifically.

Meanwhile on enterprise, Sillik appears before Trip, and a fight ensues. Silik ends up stunned, and Silik launches a shuttle down to earth. Trip and Mayweather are sent down to find him. They find the shuttle, but he's gone.

Archer and the Resistance members start moving to talk to capture one of the aliens who regularly asks for information about the resistance and the gestapo. Apparently the Nazi aliens are trying to get home, so they're just as stranded as Archer and Enterprise. Unfortunately as Archer is explaining his situation to the resistance, a firefight breaks out. Archer tries using the aliens communicator to get through, allowing him and Alicia to be transported to Enterprise in the nick of time. Trip and Travis however are captured by the Nazis.

Seeing the crew delighted to see Archer back safely was great. As the first episode ends, we get a final scene between Archer and Daniels, where we learn more about the Nazi Aliens. They're led by someone called Vosk, and are apparently the most dangerous faction in the Temporal Cold War.

Between episodes, I just want to say, I'm loving this one. It's very Doctor Who, and I love seeing aliens mess with history. I will say that Germany Winning World War II is a bit overdone in time travel fiction in general, but it's still a fun go at that cliched set up. I absolutely love the designs of the Nazi Aliens

Episode 2 opens with some Nazi Propaganda about Hitler visiting the USA, after the intro we start to see a breakdown between the Nazi leadership and the Aliens, and the alien in the Nazi war room, who I'm assuming is Vosk is really threatening. He is written with the same cold and careless manor that the Time Lords have, but twisted into a more outwardly evil place. I love it.

Alicia gets some time on Enterprise and is just really suffering culture shock from all the future stuff around her. Malcolm has managed to settle on the point of divergence, specifically Lenin was assassinated before the Russian Revolution. However as they're discussing their next moves, Vosk contacts enterprise to discuss negotiations in a neutral location. Archer agrees and heads down with two MACOs to meet Vosk. Vosk beings Trip and Mayweather to the negotiations, and hands them back to Archer. Vosk offers Archer a deal which Archer outright rejects.

Back on Enterprise, Archer immedietly realises that Trip has been replaced by Sulik. So the question is: Where is the real trip? Well, he's tied up in Vosk's base. Archer confirms that he rejects Vosk's offer and they open fire on eachother. Unfortunately, Enterprise can't breach the shielding on Vosk's base, so Archer decided to push for a temporary alliance with Sullik, to sneak into Vosk's base.

Apparently Vosk had previously tried to erase the Suliban from history. The Nazi Aliens are preparing to open their conduit, but Archer and the American resistance launch an attack on the compound, and the action here is superb! As the battle occurs the Nazis and Vosk's faction start turning on eachother. Sulik is killed, and despite him being the main villain of seasons one and two, his death is oddly touching. Not in a full redemption arc kind of way, but it still got some feelings out of me.

It was really fun seeing enterprise fly around a real world earth location shooting down real WW2 fighters. Enterprise destroys the facility and the Time Line is restored.

Supposedly, this is the end of the Temporal Cold War, and Daniels shouldn't be interfering with Enterprise's history any more. Moreover, the Crew are finally home after a long mission, and man do they deserve some down time.

As I said earlier, I really enjoyed this two parter. It's setting was really fleshed out and it's villain was spectacular. Vosk is definitely going to stick in my mind a lot longer than some of the other Villains that have popped up throughout this series. I'm glad we're back on Enterprise's normal Season 1 and 2 exploits going forwards.

[slowdancingtorock]

Ireland - Day 31

Did I overreact yesterday? Probably. Has today confirmed my worries? Kinda. We (the 3 of us) went to the National Museum with a grand total of 4 adult students. At least the museum was somewhat interesting and I had a good time there.

We got back early so as to avoid trouble with public transport and that was a good call seeing as the next 3(!) trains were either canceled or delayed. We also browsed some shops after we brought the students back to find some souvenirs. We didn't find anything we liked but I did find a book. The office walls and the mugs I have to wash and carry around all day have Seamus Heaney quotes on them and when I saw a book with his poetry I couldn't resist. I am not immune to propaganda. At all.

Anyway, I got to chat with the only other German intern who is here (I genuinely didn't know she was here nor that she was German - she literally has the opposite schedule of me). Apparently she not only has to be here for 5 months (good God) but also gets ordered around to do the most stupid shit I have heard of for most of the morning as she doesn't have any breaks to take care of. Like "Go to the shop to buy a new cable" or "Go water the plants" type of tasks. Ridiculous. She seems somewhat fine with it and I really shouldn't do anything on her behalf without her permission but I really wanna help her out :(

Maybe I can get our Dean to let her come with us on the trip tomorrow as we'll going to be Guinness Storehouse (the school will pay the entrance fee for us employees, yay). Looking forward to that, a little at least but since I don't like Guinness there is not that much hype. However, a whole bunch of students signed up for it so maybe it won't feel like a total waste of time going there.

Because we returned to the office so much earlier, I also got to chatting with some of the teachers and they are all quite some characters; one is a 50-something year old dude who talks a lot but uses questions instead of phrases like "You're quite tall, aren't you?" or "I forgot my pen in the classroom, didn't I?". Love him. Also, one is apparently sorta famous on IG but not for teaching but for modeling (slay, Queen) and she showed some really bold outfits, lol. Then there is also that other guy who is prolly in his 30s, who loves cursing in a monotone voice (" Morning, assholes") and expresses his love by insulting you, that's a rough thing to get used to, at least for me. But they're all mostly fine, I think we all just bond through our dislike of some of the people in administration. Healthy office culture here.

My song of the day is Revolution Radio by Green Day. I listened to it on repeat today, 'cause I totally forgot how much I love that song. Also, I feel a little rebellious today what with me being unhappy about my one colleague's situation and also I watched The Order Season 2 and the characters got their fears stolen and did a whole bunch of rebellious and reckless stuff so yeah, it does fit fairly well.

[thesinglesjukebox]

††† - "INVISIBLE HAND"

Claire recommends a Deftones/Far superduo with an ungoogleable name. (Literally! "Your search - "†††" - did not match any documents.")

[6.09]

Ian Mathers: Wait, is ††† just Chino from Deftones doing noisy synthpop? Did I forget about this? Was I not informed? [8]

Claire Biddles: This time last year, ††† released a cover of George Michael's "One More Try", a swoony bit of December melancholia that also served as a direct acknowledgement of inspiration. Much like Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, Chino Moreno has always carried Michael's influence in his vocal performance, and no more so than in his work with †††, his Depeche Mode-ish duo with producer Shaun Lopez. In "Invisible Hand", Moreno's croons are propelled by internal drama, lifting and surging in the middle of words. His lyrics are either enigmatic or nonsense, depending on one's position, but the song itself is dense with narrative. Lopez switches modes and textures with every verse, laying a sheet of synths only to shoot through it with ten-foot-tall industrial drops; stabs of synthesised voices are weaponised; glass shatters as if in a locked room. Listening to the song, looking at the blue-lit model on the album art, I'm struck by the commonalities between the sheen of '90s/'00s alt-rock and Michael's contemporaneous "adult" period: the thread that links "Spinning the Wheel" and "Digital Bath", ending up with "Freeek!" and "Invisible Hand" -- the kind of industrial that isn't made from scrap, but from chrome coated in silk. [9]

Michelle Myers: What kind of Deftones girl are you? I'm from the Saturday Night Wrist era, but I probably would have told you my favorite album was Around the Fur if you were a metal dude I bummed a lighter from at a party in 2007. Anyway, I like this as an album cut, though I'm not sure it stands on its own as a single. Still, nobody does hot, sleazy angst better than Chino Moreno. [6]

Micha Cavaseno: I've said plenty about Chino over the course of my life, so let me go over to Shaun Lopez (or "Slopez" for those of us with far too much familiarity) first. At one point, this guy was a great post-hardcore guitarist, responsible for a number of great records with his band Far. "Love, American Style" and "Bury White" still get regular play from me, and even though that comeback album was bad and his post-Far band The Revolution Smile was some of the worst middle-of-the-road radio rock possible... the guy's had great moments! Chino -- again, I've said so much about my love for the guy! Crosses... ? Always getting worse! Part of it is that Shaun is such an unimaginative producer. So many of these riffs and little digital stabs of "hard clubby synthpop" just come off like the worst sort of adult-oriented electronica. Deftones have been mostly uninspiring to me in the last decade and a half, but if I wanted Chino doing his best faux David Gahan over Phantogram-level cliches, I know he's done better. (Team Sleep was right there! And all their gimmicky electronica was perfectly in vogue with the '00s!). So here I am, begging these men to get off TikTok, stop scrolling through legions of goth girls calling themselves "baby bats" dancing to warmed-over faux-'80s music mislabeled as "darkwave," and get their heads back in the game. [2]

Katherine St Asaph: Chino from Deftones going Dave Gahan mode (NOTE UPON REREADING: pun actually not intended, god) over a song composed entirely of bridges and final choruses. So when the actual bridge and final chorus arrive, they're identical, no more tension to be had. The half-time bit at the end could have gone somewhere. [7]

Nortey Dowuona: I was kinda excited to hear Chino's powerful yet silky voice rise over the swollen stolen valor of the 808 kick by Shaun Lopez, who also provides the newly drowned synth keys and seething guitar. But then they decided to add a Phil Collins drum track throwaway for the chorus. Big sigh. At least it's only a test. [5]

Alex Clifton: When the synths hit in the chorus this is pretty cool, but the rest of the time it feels like a knockoff Imagine Dragons song. [5]

Brad Shoup: The AWOLNATION EP was a dud, so this will have to tide me over for yowling modern rock with self-conscious electronic production choices. (Well, this and the Pumpkins' space opera.) Chino's voice remains a marvel. His sighs still don't feel like shtick, which is why I'm amazed at how much I enjoy them on the chorus paired with bog-standard synthwave. [6]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: An expertly executed take on some shit I really, really don't want to listen to -- every big noise and faux-gothic tone here has clearly been assembled by true appreciators of a dogshit form. The hook soars and the bass breaks the speakers and oh my god this is so tedious. But honestly, I respect it -- relative to the active rock and alternative radio baseline that these guys are pushing up against, this is a masterpiece. [4]

Frank Falisi: That sound is stuck in me. You know the one. [10]

Tim de Reuse: An unnerving, staccato vocal sample and an pleasantly grimy bass stab segue abruptly veer into a competent synthpop cruise. It'd go down smoother if the lyrics reached beyond the vaguest tendencies of early-aughts nu-metal. By their tone I understand that we're not happy, but I haven't a clue what we're supposed to be upset about. [5]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

[brookston]

Holidays 8.28

Holidays

Bow Tie Day

Crackers Over the Keyboard Day

Criminal Appreciation Day

Crumbs Between the Keys Day

Dream Day Quest and Jubilee

828 Day

Emerati Women’s Day (UAE)

Emmett Till Day

End of the Fairy Tale Day

Giving Black Day (a.k.a. Give 828)

Gone-ta-Pott Day [every 28th]

Green Shirt Guy Day

I Have a Dream Day

International Read Comics in Public Day

Manifest 828 Day

Mariamoba (Republic of Georgia)

National Bow Tie Day

National Grandparents Day (Mexico)

National Over It Day

National Power Rangers Day

National Thoughtful Day

Nativity of Nephthys (Egyptian Goddess of Love)

Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day

Radio Commercial Day

Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day

Russian Germans Day (Germany)

Scientific American Day

Significant Historical Events Day

Tan Suit Day

Watermelon Day (French Republic)

World Day of Turners Syndrome

Food & Drink Celebrations

National Cheese Sacrifice Day

National Cherry Turnover Day

National Red Wine Day

Stuffed Green Bell Peppers Day

Subway Sandwich Day

4th & Last Monday in August

Araw ng mga Bayani (National Heroes’ Day; Philippines) [Last Monday]

August/Summer Bank Holiday (UK) [Last Monday]

International Day of Cyber Attack Ceasefire [Last Monday]

Liberation Day (Hong Kong) [Last Monday]

Motorist Consideration Monday [Monday of Be Kind to Humankind Week]

Notting Hill Carnival (UK) [Last Monday & day before]

Social Justice Day (Antarctica) [4th Monday]

Independence Days

Holy Empire of Reunion (Declared; 1997) [unrecognized]

Luana (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Moldova (from USSR; 1991)

Ohio Empire (Declared; 2008) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Alexander of Constantinople (Christian; Saint)

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Abkhazia)

Augustine of Hippo (Christian; Saint) [brewers] *

Ayyankali Jayanti (Kerala, India)

Constant Troyon (Artology)

Edmund Arrowsmith (Christian; Saint)

Edward Burne-Jones (Artology)

Feast of the Mother of God (Georgia, Macedonia, Serbia)

Festival for Luna (Ancient Rome)

Festival for Sol (Ancient Rome)

Festival of the Neon Revolution

First Onam (Rice Harvest Festival; Kerala, India)

Frank Gorshin Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Hermes of Rome (Christian; Saint)

Julian (Christian; Saint)

Junipero Serra (Christian; Saint)

Marimba (Virgin’s Assumption; Georgia)

Mariotte (Positivist; Saint)

Media Aestas III (Pagan)

More Rum Day (Pastafarian)

Moses the Black (Christian; Saint)

Uncle Norton the Elephant (Muppetism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 40 of 60)

Premieres

Animal Crackers (Film; 1930)

Cain's Jawbone, by E. Powys Mathers (Novel/Puzzle; 1934)

Come Clean, by Puddle of Mudd (Album; 2001)

The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas (Novel; 1844)

Do the Evolution, by Pearl Jam (Animated Music Video; 1998)

54 (Film; 1998)

Flying Leathernecks (Film; 1951)

Gallipoli (Film; 1981)

Get Rich Quick Porky (WB LT Cartoon; 1937)

Honeymoon in Vegas (Film; 1992)

I Have a Dream, by Martin Luther King Jr. (Speech; 1963)

Let’s Get It On, by Marvin Gaye (Album; 1973)

Lohengrin, by Richard Wagner (Opera; 1850)

Mary of Scotland (Film; 1936)

Mickey’s Follies (Disney Cartoon; 1929)

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (TV Series; 1993)

Narcos (TV Series; 2015)

The New Mutants (Film; 2020)

Perri (Disney Film; 1957)

Personal, 19th Jack Reacher book, by Lee Child (Novel; 2014)

Phineas and Verb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (Animated Film; 2020)

Private Lessons (Film; 1981)

Q. Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, by Devo (Album; 1978)

Rope (Film; 1948)

Smile, by Katy Perry (Album; 2020)

Song of the Thin Man (Film; 1947)

Studio 54 (Film; 1998)

Tease for Two (WB LT Cartoon; 1965)

Travelling Without Moving, by Jamiroquai (Album; 1996)

The Truth About Mother Goose (Disney Cartoon; 1957)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (Film; 1992)

Victoria (TV Series; 2016)

Walk This Way by Aerosmith (Song; 1975)

Yankee Doodle Bugs (WB LT Cartoon; 1954)

Today’s Name Days

Adelinde, Aline, Augustin (Austria)

Augustin, Tin (Croatia)

Augustýn (Czech Republic)

Augustinus (Denmark)

August, Gustav, Kustas, Kustav, Kusti, Kusto (Estonia)

Tauno (Finland)

Augustin, Elouan (France)

Adelinde, Aline, Augustin, Vivian (Germany)

Damon (Greece)

Ágoston (Hungary)

Agostino, Ermete (Italy)

Auguste, Guste, Ranna (Latvia)

Augustinas, Patricija, Steigvilė, Tarvilas (Lithuania)

Artur, August (Norway)

Adelina, Aleksander, Aleksy, Augustyn, Patrycja, Sobiesław, Stronisław (Poland)

Augustín (Slovakia)

Agustín (Spain)

Fatima, Leila (Sweden)

Agustin, August, Augusta, Augustina, Austen, Austin, Austina, Austyn, Gus, Gustava, Gustavo (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 240 of 2024; 125 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 35 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 21 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Geng-Shen), Day 13 (Wu-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 11 Elul 5783

Islamic: 11 Safar 1445

J Cal: 30 Hasa; Nineday [30 of 30]

Julian: 15 August 2023

Moon: 92%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 16 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Mariotte]

Runic Half Month: Rad (Motion) [Day 1 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 68 of 94)

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 7 of 32)

Calendar Changes

Rad (Motion) [Half-Month 17 of 24; Runic Half-Months] (thru 9.9)

[picnokinesis]

I was gonna do this in the tags but I actually wanna make it a proper rec list to give some of my favourite artists some love haha, so sorry op, feel free to ignore this. But! Using the metric of monthly listeners on Spotify, since it's the only metric I have (and since Spotify Wrapped just dropped), here are some of my favourite little guys:

Chncer - 77 monthly listeners - discovered these guys listening to a radio show about local artists when I was up in Carlisle for a few days. They haven't got much music out but I love their song Put the Sun in My Hand

Beautiful Boy - So, these guys don't seem to be on Spotify, but they have 143 subscribers on YouTube. They have this song called But You Do that I absolutely adore, but I can't actually find it anywhere anymore, other than an acoustic session that they did here

Breakbeat Heartbeat - 696 monthly listeners - if you like sad chiptune music, then these guys are for you haha. Really love the tracks You Were My Friend, Constellations, and I Need You

Brolly - 7,435 monthly listeners - these guys have a fantastic album called Wolfe which I love a ton, but especially the tracks They Run, They Hide and Love Grew Legs (which has made me cry more than once haha)

Unknown Chapters - 7,488 monthly listeners - these guys are such a vibe. Highly recommend the songs Born and Bred and Frozen Bones

Blackchords - 15,541 monthly listeners - I think I discovered these guys through their song Into The Unknown, but honestly their entire self-titled album from 2009 is fabulous, especially the track Broken Bones

The Jerry Cans - 15,731 monthly listeners - I only found out about these guys a month or so ago, but they are SO so fantastic. They include a lot of traditional throat singing which is sounds so cool (especially when they get the violin to kind of mimic the pitches of it). Highly recommend both the albums Inuusiq and Echoes, and especially the songs Ukiuq, Nirliit, Qaumajuujusi, Havava, and Atauttikkut

There Will Be Fireworks - 24,875 monthly listeners - absolutely love these guys. Their album The Dark, Dark Bright is one of my favourites, it's SO good. Highly recommend the songs River, South Street, Something Borrowed, Roots, and Bedroom Door

Voice of Baceprot - 32,959 monthly listeners - these guys are genuinely so so awesome. Highly recommend PMS and School Revolution, but they also do some sick covers so I recommend checking out their live shows!

Twin Pumpkin - 37,287 monthly listeners - I need to listen to more of this guy, but I am soooo obsessed with their song Monolith

Wake Owl - 51,475 monthly listeners - these guys have this gorgeous EP called Wild Country which is just sooooo so good, especially the songs Wild Country, Gold and Grow

Okay I think I'll leave it there for now, although I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Special shout out mention to some artists that I think less people will have heard of but had a bigger monthly following than the above and so didn't quite make the list:

Luca Wilding (Book of Fate, Carmen)

Racing Glaciers (the entire Caught in the Strange album, and the Don't Wait For Me EP)

Wojciech Golczewski (the album The Signal, and The Priests of Hiroshima)

aeseaes (Carrion Comfort, All in Blue)

Civil Twilight (Oh Daniel, Holy Dove, Human, and Letters from the Sky)

Barcelona (Come Back When You Can, Lesser Things - please listen to Lesser Things - and Response)

Matthew and the Atlas (the entire album Morning Dancer, the entire album Temple, To the North, Out of the Darkness, Counting Paths)

Bloodywood (who are like, well known in certain circles but not others haha - listen to everything they've ever written though ALSO NEW TRACK ON FRIDAY and I am going to be SO normal about it)

Anyway hope someone enjoys this lol. Talk to me about music I love so much music

enough about taylor swift already. reblog and tag the smallest, least known artist you listen to

[popmusicu]

GHOST IN THE RADIO

By Gabriel Salvador Contreras

“It’s ghost-like, isn’t it? That period between the ‘30s and ‘40s is between wars. And a lot of people had went to wars and never come back so there was a lot of uncertainty. It’s about ghosts, loss, and all these incredible lyrics. The weight of these tracks is incredible sometimes. Like one of the main guys I’ve sampled over the years, Al Bowlly, died in the war because a bomb landed on the house he was in. They say he would have been bigger than Bing Crosby, that he had a better voice. It’s very sad.” - Leyland Kirby (x)

The relationship within music and horror is quite as long as the history within humanity itself. When it comes to pop music though, we wouldn’t immediately assume there’s something sinister about it at first glance. The Caretaker is a solo project by Leyland Kirby, debuting in 1999 with “Selected Memories From the Haunted Ballroom”. The whole vibe from Caretaker is strongly nostalgic, moving, even anxiety inducing at times. One wouldn’t imagine such an artist would become extremely popular even with a younger generation, but this is proven wrong by the massive acclaim his LP, “Everywhere at the end of time”. From it’s terrifying yet realistic premise —a mind going through dementia, slowly forgetting everything about their lives, knowing as well the impact music makes in people’s memories and positive effects on dementia patients — to it’s atmospheric, slow progression into nothingness, nothing could predict its popularity in the internet sphere. The prevalence of this EP is so vast that it can be easily found — especially the first track, “A1 - It’s just a burning memory” — all over TikTok, YouTube memes, and with over four and a half million plays on Spotify. Considering it’s niche and artistic intent, one could easily forget about the music he’s sampling: ballroom, pop music from the 30’s and 40’s, as he says himself.

Was this music supposed to sound this eerie? Has pop music terrified listeners before like this? Could this be considered something undesired by the industry, would it stop it from be pop at all? In this text I’ll present my point of view about this matter. As I would love to make it longer, I’ll try to keep as concise as possible while I go through some examples of what I would consider some interesting cases of Pop turning a scare to the audience, songs being inspired by catastrophes that scarred the artists, or musicians that are just looking for a spook. PART 1: EVIL (IS GOING ON) - Before the 60s Fear has plagued the human mind since before history can reach itself. Therefore, we can assume that fear and the terrifying has been a common theme since folklore music. It’s deeply rooted in our brain, but when it comes to pop culture we might not notice at first how big of a theme it is. Here are some examples from various media where this phenomenon can be seen, usually songs with some religious subtext, Halloween, and “contemporary” witches, zombies and other spooks. Anatoly Liadov - Baba Yaga, Op. 56 (1904) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17szhwbiw_o   The House is Haunted by Roy Fox (1934) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoJj7dCbEX8

Howlin' Wolf - Evil (Is Going On) (1958) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osnDVXlhxPw

Playlist with more Examples -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SisxwnlEiq0

There's something interesting I notice at this time, in contrast to our first example, on how nostalgia is not really an horrific thought, or at least not a popular one, and, pretty common when it comes to popular music, it's mostly lighthearted. Usually, folk horror and creatures born from pop culture are the ones in the front of the stage most of the time. However, things slowly take some interesting turns, as we will see...

(Coming Next: PART II: REVOLUTION 7 - 60’s, 70’s and 80’s)

[curiousgworge]

꒰‧⁺ falling in love with txt as taylor swift songs *ೃ༄

*ೃ pairings: txt!ot5 (individual) x reader

word count: 0.6k (653)

warnings: none i guess

⠀⠀⠀⠀꒰‧⁺ choi yeonjun - gorgeous (reputation)  *ೃ༄

the first thing you notice when you met yeonjun is how handsome he is, like, the whole package of attractiveness: he’s tall and his smile is so white that it almost hurts your eyes. that’s why you avoided him like the plague: you couldn’t picture a scenario where you would interact with him without stuttering or saying something stupid. but he was so attractive, like literally, ‘cause you kept bumping in him and locking eyes and it took you a while to see that his magnetic field was just too strong. then you got to the talking stage, and you fell in love with him all over again: for his voice, his bubbly personality, his terrible jokes and even worse pick up lines, all his dreams and expectations, and for the way he would hold you hand and hug you suddenly. and, of course, by the way he would smirk and tell you that he always made his best to look that gorgeous just for you

⠀⠀⠀⠀꒰‧⁺ choi soobin - ivy (folklore)  *ೃ༄

falling in love with soobin was actually a process, something that happened gradually. it began with this weird feeling in the pitch of your stomach when he was not around, the sensation that something was missing; then, the shyness and blushed cheeks whenever he smiled your way, or how easily you’d laugh at his awful jokes, or the late night calls you would have discussing dreams and fears, and you tried, but you couldn’t really picture a future without soobin in your life, like his presence was rooted in your dreams and you heart, covered in him

⠀⠀⠀⠀꒰‧⁺ choi beomgyu - the way i loved you (fearless)  *ೃ༄

at first it felt like some kind of nightmare. there’s just absolutely no way that you have feelings for choi beomgyu, since the guy just can’t spend five minutes in your company without teasing you for dear life. you fight for almost everything, screaming and calling eachother names (well, you call him names; he just keeps saying how hot you look when you’re mad). but still, you realize that you really like him after a couple failed dates, all of the guys being gentlemans, you just felt like it missed something. and then you come home and beomgyu just has to comment something about your appearance, maybe your choice of clothes or terrible taste for men, and when you tell him in a chuckled laugh to just fuck off, you realize that you’d rather fight him than being in peace with anybody else

 

⠀⠀⠀⠀꒰‧⁺  kang taehyun - you are in love (1989) *ೃ༄

you don’t even realize that you’re falling for him until, during a movie night with him and the boys, you look to your left and there he is, eyes in the screen and a focused expression, and even tho it’s nothing special, you just can’t look away. and you remember all the late night drives, coffee in hand and the silence between you being filled by the soft hum of the radio, and realize you have already been in love with him all this time. loving taehyun is calm, monotonous even: instead of causing a revolution in your emotions, the way his eyes bright and his smiles grows at the sight of you just floods you with peace and undisturbed happiness

⠀⠀⠀⠀꒰‧⁺  hueningkai - everything has changed (red) *ೃ༄

loving kai is a feeling just as sweet as him; it happens suddenly, but it’s not like you didn’t expect it. you were playing some game together, and not only he’s cheating for dear life, but the way he laughs and screams every time he dies or you become close to winning just make your heart tingles, and is inevitable to laugh and somehow scream louder than him. then he looks at you, eyes shining with tears from laughing so hard and it’s over for you. it may not be your first love, but it surely feels like it: butterflies in your stomach, stupid giggles to unfunny stuff and adrenaline rushing through your veins everytime he is around

[continuousmeowing]

i hate the question "whats your favorite song" because i cannot answer it in a normal way. my options are.

a. obscure retelling of a slavic folk tale whos only recording is in the middle of a 50 minute long recording of a radio show. theres also themes of christianity and sin and homosexuality.

b. second part of a five part long song (?) that tells the story of a train derailing and a world ending at the hands of a lovecraftian horror

c. polyamorous cowboys sing about how they're probably going to die but they love each other very much

d. immortal people DIE for GOOD.

e. revolution???train??? the void sings??? a bunch of overlapping singing. everything is going to shit. guy who sounds like hes losing it steps in to narrate for a bit.