#Hotel Warwick

[secosmolhadoseafins]

[classylovecheesecake]

Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz throwing out the trash during the Monkees press conference in New York City at the Warwick Hotel, June, 1967

[dcartcorner]

progress!

[sarrsqz]

Cosmic Attachments

AHS: Murder House

Tate Langdon x Death!Reader

Mentions of Violet Harmon, Chad Warwick and Sally McKenna.

This is a combination of both Murder House and Hotel, but the large majority of it takes place in the Murder House.

In this, the reader is an ambiguous character to takes on the common Grim Reaper trope of guiding souls to the afterlife. They struggle with doing this in supernatural hotspots such as the Murder House due to the stubborn, evil and traumatized spirits that live there.

But they especially struggle with Tate Langdon, a boy who refuses to accept his hellish fate. But Death just can't seem to grapple their strange attachment with him.

Word count: 2k

If you don't want to read the Hotel section, skip to the transition symbol ┉┈◈◉◈┈┉

The hallways of the Hotel Cortez were never welcoming. At least, for you they weren't. The non-human entities, most of whom contradict your existence, weren't keen on having you roam the building. You demonstrated the truth of their circumstances. The vulnerability they hid behind violence.

But you still saw it. How could you not? It's your job, after all.

The carpeted floor felt grimy, even through your shoes. The lights down the hallway flickered. You could feel a draft echoing through the unmaintained vents, or... screams?

It's difficult to tell when they all feel the same to you. A calling – more work to be done. Eventually, that is.

You heard footsteps staggering somewhere behind you. Turning your head down the dim hallway, you saw Sally stumble out of a darkened room. Her old, crimped and frizzy hair fell around her face while cigarette smoke curled around her figure.

She stopped when she saw you. She pointed at you, cigarette latched between her two fingers. "Well, look who's decided to haunt my hallways. What do you want, Grim Reaper?"

You smiled, glancing down at the patterned floor before meeting her eyes again. "You know that's not my name, Sally." The ghost in question scoffed, throwing her shoulders back to emphasize her distaste at your correction. "And it's not haunting, it's... monitoring. Making sure the lost know they have a choice."

Sally snorted, her feet dragging as she walked further down the dimly light hallway. "A choice? Please. You really think any of us would choose this damned place if we had any real options?"

You shrugged. "Some did. Some still can, if they want. It's never too late for those who haven't thrown it away." Your voice was gentle, but firm. It was a necessary precaution when speaking to spirits, especially those like Sally.

You watched Sally take a long drag of her cigarette. She had stopped walking, planting her heeled shoes into the dirty carpet. Her narrowed eyes never left yours.

Breathing out the smoke, "You mean, if they haven't been stupid enough to turn you down already." Her arm fell back down to her side, cigarette ash falling to the floor. She paid it no mind. "But we all know how that goes–regret and begging. You get off on that, don't you?"

You shook your head. "It's not about getting off on anything, Sally. It's about respect. It's about finality. I don't relish in their pain. I mourn it."

The ghost laughed bitterly. Your words, which normally cut through the fragile facades of the deceased, barely scratched her. "Well, yeah, keep your mourning to yourself. None of us are going anywhere. We're all trapped in our own hells, and nothing you say will change that."

"Perhaps. But I'll still be here, Sally. For those who might change their minds. For those who need to know that there's a way out, even if it's only once." You spoke softly, looking away from Sally for a moment. You nodded slightly, confirming your beliefs to yourself.

You need to stay in touch with your ideals. Your morals. Your job.

You saw her eyes flicker, hints of vulnerability poking through before they hardened again. "Don't waste your time." She brought the cigarette back up to her red lips but stopped before she inhaled the drugs within. "You know, instead of bargaining with the freaks here, you should really be having that talk with your boy-toy at that house."

Your face hardened whilst hers curved with humor.

She shrugged dramatically, tilting her head in the process. "Seems like you're not so good at your job after all." Her eyes widened in mockery.

"Tate's choices are his own. I can't force him to do anything." You defended your stance, shifting your body to fully face the deranged ghost. "My job doesn't circle around force. It's about accepting your situation and moving on."

"Hm. Well, good luck with that." Her eyes narrowed more, which you didn't even think was possible. "Places like this have a way of holding on to its ghosts." Her hand, cigarette still placed between her fingers, gestured around you two to the otherwise empty hallway.

You watched her turn heel and walk down the remainder of the hallway. Your eyes remained latched onto the cheetah print of her coat before she turned out of sight.

You sighed, looking down at your feet for a moment. Shit– you should really check up on that place.

┉┈◈◉◈┈┉

You walked into the house through the back door, noticing the emptiness in the air due to the absence of the living. Ever since the death of the Harmons, the large house has sat abandoned for the most part.

You sighed, running your fingers through your hair. You haven't been here in a hot minute– too caught up at the hotel in the city.

"Oh, look who it is." You looked over your shoulder at the kitchen area, seeing Chad Warwick leaning on the counter. "Back again, oh door-to-door Jehovah's Witness? Still trying to sell us all on that afterlife plan?" You watched his nose crinkle when he spoke and how his clasped hands gripped each other with more strength.

The man's reaction to you was common. He's always been like this. Originally refusing you to stay with his boyfriend, now existing in pure ignorance ever since the relationship soured with age.

You raised your eyebrows, responding to him anyway. "Your choice, Chad. But remember, doors to the afterlife don't stay open forever."

"Hm, do they?" He tilted his head, watching you as you walked by and towards the staircase. You knew his bitterness was just a reflection of his personal problems, so like the others, you didn't let it affect you.

The stairs creaked under your shoes. Dust and broken glass littered the wooden floorboards. Graffiti decorated the walls in various bold colors as you trailed throughout the familiar building.

Your fingers traced the cracked walls. The paint crumbled and fell behind them, hitting the floor softly. The only sound was the sound your shoes made as you navigated down the hall. You finally stopped when you turned a corner, opting to lean against the wooden doorway instead of fully entering it.

Tate laid on the old mattress in the room. It still sat on Violet's old bed frame, although you don't remember who owned the mattress. It's been too long to remember trivial details like that.

The boy turned his head to face you, dirty blond hair falling over his forehead. "What's the matter, Death? Didn't get enough souls today?" His voice was laced in sarcasm, arms crossed in a defensive pose. He became detached after learning of your true purpose. Cold.

You haven't decided if you should put that against him though.

"Just thought I'd check in, Tate. How's the afterlife treating you?" You raised an eyebrow. He's rejected your proposals of moving on more times than you can count. There's no point in being professional anymore. So why do you still feel so attached?

Tate scoffed, sitting up on the bed and crossing his arms in his lap. "Oh, it's great. Violet still hates me; the house is still a hellhole."

So hostile.

"Why are you here?" He added on at the end of his short rant. You watched his blue eyes, lined with redness, narrow at you.

You shrugged, walking in the room slowly. You lingered around the walls, quickly glancing outside through the window. "Just... doing rounds. Discussing the reality of the stubbornness you ghosts seem to hold for my proposal." You said it nonchalantly, but Tate could recognize your poor attempts at manipulation. You were a truthful, blunt entity. Manipulation wasn't in your blood.

You leaned against the wall, shadows encapsulating your face as you looked at the boy. In contrast, the sun amplified his features. His expression of hatred, fear. Refusal to accept his fate. "Maybe," you started, "I'm just... attached in a way I shouldn't be."

"Attached? That's rich." He crossed his legs on the mattress, jaw ticking as his fingers traced the stained seams of the fabric. "I thought you were all business. Guide souls, move on. An eternal one-night stand attitude." He grumbled, eyes looking back at you.

You smiled. "It's not that simple, Tate."

He didn't respond. His fingers continued to trace the stitches in the fabric, trying to find a distraction to the situation he was in. An obvious detail that none of the ghosts here seemed to take into consideration when scaring the living away was the removal of any distractions or entertainment.

You looked down to where Tate – and also Violet, at some point – had stored his albums. The floor was empty now.

"You know," you heard him speak, "if I go with you, there's only one place I'm heading. Hell. Doesn't exactly sound like a vacation."

It wasn't a lie. You had been honest about that with him from the get-go. The boy was destined for Hell, and you couldn't help but silently pray that he'd just accept that.

"Tate, you've always known the consequences of your actions. But staying here, trapped in this endless cycle, isn't a permanent solution to your problem either. You remained natural, as best you could regarding the boy. Your stance was approachable, casual.

His eyes darkened. His finger stopped the movement against the mattress below him. "At least here, I know what to expect. Hell... that's a different kind of torture. I'm not exactly itching to find out what they have planned for me."

"Hm." You hummed, leaning your head against the cracked wall and staring off at the ceiling. "That's true. You don't. I don't even know."

He scoffed, annoyed by your attitude. He could feel his irritation grow the longer you intruded in his space.

"But think about it, Tate." Your nose crinkled as you turned your head to look back at him. "This house won't stand forever." You smiled. "One day it will crumble or be torn down. And where will you be? Trapped in the ruins, a ghost with no anchor. Your suffering won't end, Tate. It'll just evolve into a new kind of torment."

Tate frowned, a hint of fear flickering in his eyes as he quickly looked away from you. "Why does it matter? I'm already in Hell here. At least it's familiar."

Your voice was still soft, but sterner as you continued to fill his head with images of his fate. "Familiar doesn't mean safe. The ghosts bound to this place will scatter, their ties disconnected. Lost without something to focus their energy on. You have a chance to leave this shit hole on your own terms. Obtain a semblance of control over your fate."

"Fuck. Control, seriously? What kind of control do I have knowing what's on the other side?" His voice got louder, angrier as his head shot up to face you again.

"Hiding from what you fear will only make your existence more miserable when this place can't protect you anymore."

Your face went blank. You watched one of his eyes twitch, annoyed by the impending reality he was faced with. You stared at each other, yours a look of understanding, his of fear and boiling hatred. Suddenly, he whispered, "You really believe that, don't you?"

You nod. "I do. I need to. And I'll be here, waiting, for whenever you do too."

You stood up straight, not giving the boy another look as you left the room. Your hand trailed against the wall again, before you turned the corner.

Tate watched you leave, attempting to appear indifferent to your conversation. But he couldn't deny the emotions it stirred up inside him. He could take what the other ghosts said about him. He could push their words down until he either forgot about them or lashed out in a swell of emotions.

But you... you were different. You were an inhuman, cosmic creature crafted by the universe.

And his attachment to you wasn't going to save him. 

[poem-today]

A poem by Rachel Coventry

On the Death of an Absent Father

It is a very different thing to remember a place while it still stands, even as a ramshackle ruin, than to remember it once it has been torn down.

The long corridor from the toilets to the dancefloor, where we sat for hours surreptitiously pouring vodka from the naggins in our handbags into our glasses, is gone.

The Warwick Hotel, broken and dilapidated, invisible for an age as we drove past it, forgetting how little hope we had as we attempted to launch ourselves from the dirty carpet, how little hope as we adorned the pitiful world with laughter.

The Warwick Hotel is gone. It is an empty plot that someone will force a future on.

Rachel Coventry

Watch and listen to Rachel Coventry read her poem (at 4:20).

Read Carol Rumens commentary on the poem which she chose as poem of the week in The Guardian.

Image: The start of the demolition of the Warwick Hotel in Salthil, Galway. Photograph: Joe O’Shaughnessy.

[yanksafloat]

Trains, a taxi, and half pints

Safely landed in Manchester, we continue our journey to Warwick.

Friday, 15-09-2023 Once safely landed and delivered to the Manchester airport terminal via bus, I really wanted to shop at the Marks & Spencer we passed, but we had to hustle along (not exactly sure why) and get the train to Manchester Piccadilly. Trekking to the train There we changed trains and traveled to Leamington Spa for another train change that took us to Warwick. Trains were referred…

[gardenwalrus]

Brian Epstein & Diz Gillespie's relationship

So I put together most of the quotes on Brian and John 'Diz' Gillespie's relationship from Peter Brown & Steven Gaines's book The Love You Make & Jim Irvin's MOJO article on Brian's death earlier to make it a bit easier for me to look at in full - I'll put it on here too if anyone wants to read.

(Some of the quotes from the MOJO article are in the BBC documentary The Brian Epstein Story. It's available on YouTube here but its also available on BBC iPlayer for the next three weeks in better quality)

//

In spring 1965, Brian meets and quickly falls for 'Diz' Gillespie, a young Californian actor living in London, who soon moves into his Whaddon House flat. 

'Dizz was an aspiring actor-singer in his early twenties, with dark hair, mischievous eyes and an impish, upturned nose. Brian was so taken with him he seized upon Dizz’s phantom acting career to play Svengali. … Using the excuse that Dizz was a NEMS artist, Brian paid many of his debts and began to dole out a small allowance from his own pocket. Naturally, all of Brian’s friends warned him against being used by this boy. “He may be manipulative,” Brian said, “but he’s different than most. There’s something special about him, something that I can’t name.”'  - Peter Brown, The Love You Make: An Insider’s Story of The Beatles (1983) p.172

Despite Brian's infatuation, the relationship is evidently volatile and unhappy - 

'But Diz was bisexual and upset Brian by bringing women back to the flat and causing scenes in public, once in front of Brian's parents. Their doomed relationship lasted too long and clearly made him miserable.' - Jim Irvin, “The Death of Brian Epstein”, MOJO (November 2002)

- and this instability was further intensified by the pair spending many nights at Brian’s flat ‘ingesting large amounts of uppers, Tuinals, and Cognac’, which would often turn violent:

‘…these drugged, drunken nights ended in some sort of unhappy confrontation. They ran from simple arguments to all-out fistfights, which included breaking vases and mirrors. One night, unhappy with Brian’s largesse, Dizz worked himself into a rage. When Brian ordered him out of the house, Dizz raced to the kitchen, grabbed the largest knife he could find, and held it to Brian’s jugular vein while extracting an additional sum of money from Brian’s wallet.’ [Brown, p.72] 

As a result of the incident, Brian ends the relationship, yet according to Brown ‘[Brian] only pined away for the boy, lovesick over him.’

Yet it isn’t long until Gillespie appears again in August 1965, contacting Brian, who was in New York two days ahead of the Beatles’ Shea Stadium concert. Brian appeals to his New York business partner, Nat Weiss, to keep Diz away. 

In a meeting with Weiss, Gillespie pushes for a car in exchange for staying away from Brian. When told this information, Brian insists that Nat Weiss gives Diz $3,000 to buy a car. Weiss therefore strikes a deal with Diz - that he was to ‘be kept locked in a hotel room at the Warwick Hotel on Sixth Avenue - with a private guard hired by Nat - until the Beatles and Brian left town.’ [Brown, p.185] 

After this event, Gillespie disappears again, only to appear a year later in LA on August 28 1966, the day of the Beatles’ penultimate live performance. Brian, overjoyed, believes it to be a true show of Diz’s love for him, and the pair spend the day together at a house in Beverly Hills - despite Nat Weiss’ scepticism: 

‘At first Nat was incredulous, then angry. “Brian, you must not have anything to do with that boy–”  “Now, now,” Brian interrupted, “he came all this way to find me. He said he came because he loves me.”  Nat sighed but said nothing. As preposterous as it was that Dizz Gillespie had any real affection for Brian, Nat could see by the smitten look in Brian’s eyes that he believed it. ... Brian had been so skittish lately that one wrong word could send him off on a three-day snit.' [Brown, p.205]

Weiss’s caution was not unfounded - the following day, Diz had disappeared and taken briefcases belonging to Brian and Weiss. Weiss’s case had contained important business documents, whereas the contents of Brian’s case would have been even more damaging if made public: 

First, there was his large and questionable supply of pills, obviously the property of a junkie. Then there were half a dozen or so billets-doux containing explicit references to his conquests, along with Polaroid photographs of his young friends. Lastly, there was $20,000 in brown paper bag money skimmed from concert funds to be distributed as a bonus [Brown p.206] 

Nat Weiss soon received a blackmail note from Gillespie, demanding an additional $10,000 for the return of Brian’s personal photographs and letters. The suitcase was eventually recovered, however $8,000, the pills and Brian’s photos and letters were all missing - as was Gillespie, who had not been found by the police. 

Alongside the fear that the content of the suitcase may still at some point be made public, as well as the realisations that:

‘...he'd been duped by someone he trusted – coinciding with the last performance by his boys – seemed to tip Brian into despair. "That accounts for his first major depression," says Weiss. "That was the beginning of Brian's loss of self-confidence." [Irvin, 'The Death of Brian Epstein']

--

Also of note - this livejournal account pointed out that a ‘vendor’ mentioned in the descriptions of two Christie’s auction items in 2006 was most likely Diz Gillespie. The items were a 1962 Beatles handbill and an autographed copy of John Lennon’s book In His Own Write, which was addressed ‘To Diz, You're a great turn, good God, from John Lennon’

The description of the 1962 handbill: 

‘According to the vendor, he was given this handbill by Brian Epstein in 1966. The two met at a party in Los Angeles in 1964 and maintained a friendship for many years.’

The description of the autographed book: 

The vendor first met John Lennon and Brian Epstein in 1964 and was given this book by John Lennon when he visited him at his home, Kenwood, in Weybridge, Surrey. Diz was the vendor's nickname.

[neutron669]

A surreal view from New York City, 1982. (65 W 54th St, taken from the Warwick Hotel)

[billboard-hotties-tourney]

The Hot Shots Roster

Hey, everyone! As mentioned, here's the list of the Round One competitors that are vying for the title of the hottest vintage album cover:

AC/DC - High Voltage (European alternate cover)

Anita Ward - Songs of Love

Aretha Franklin - Almighty Fire

Aretha Franklin - La Diva

Aretha Franklin - With Everything I Feel in Me

Art Blakey - The Freedom Rider

Art Van Damme Quintet - Martini Time

Ashford and Simpson - Is It Still Good to Ya

Barbra Streisand - Classic Barbra

Barbra Streisand - Wet

Bee Gees - Main Course

Bee Gees - Spirits Having Flown

Belchior - Todos os Sentidos

Betty Davis - Nasty Gal

Billy Joel - 52nd Street

Billy Joel - The Stranger

Billy Preston - Live European Tour

Bionic Boogie - Tiger Tiger

Blondie - Parallel Lines

Blossom Dearie - Blossom Dearie

Blue Oyster Cult - Blue Oyster Cult

Blue Oyster Cult - Tyranny and Mutation

Bob Dylan and The Band - Before the Flood

Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Bob Thompson, His Chorus, and Orchestra - On the Rocks

Bobbie Gentry - Fancy

Boney M - Love for Sale

Boney M - Take the Heat off Me

Breakwater - Breakwater

Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town

Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle

Caetano Veloso - Araca Azul

Carly Simon - Boys in the Trees

Carly Simon - Playing Possum

Carmen Maki - Poems in the Midnight

Carole King - Tapestry

Carole King - Thoroughbred

Chaka Khan - Chaka

Cher - Backstage

Cher - Dark Lady

Cher - Half-Breed

Cher - Prisoner

Cher - Take Me Home

Chic - Chic

Claudio Baglioni - E tu...

Claudio Tellino - Calamo

Cockney Rebel - Love's a Prima Donna

Cockney Rebel - The Human Menagerie

Contortions - Buy

Cream - Disraeli Gears

Crosby, Stills, and Nash - CSN

Crystal Gaye - We Should Be Together

Curtis Mayfield - Do It All Night

Curtis Mayfield - Give, Get, Take, and Have

Dalida - Elle S'appelle Dalida

David Bowie - Aladdin Sane

David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World

David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust

Deep Purple - Fireball

Deep Purple - Stormbringer

Deep Purple - The Book of Taliesyn

Della Reese - Moody

Dexter Gordon - Our Man in Paris

Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye - Diana and Marvin

Diana Ross - Baby It's Me

Diana Ross - Everything Is Everything

Diana Ross - Ross

Diana Ross - The Boss

Dionne Warwick - The Sensitive Sound of Dionne Warwick

Dolly Parton - Heartbreaker

Dolly Parton - Here You Come Again

Dolly Parton - My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy

Don McLean - Tapestry

Donna Summer - Bad Girls

Donna Summer - Four Seasons of Love

Donna Summer - Live and More

Donna Summer - Love to Love You Baby

Donna Summer - Once Upon a Time

Eartha Kitt - Down to Eartha

Eddie Rabbitt - Loveline

Eddie Rabbitt - Variations

Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

Elton John - Friends

Elvis Presley - Clambake

Emmylou Harris - Elite Hotel

Emmylou Harris - Luxury Liner

Eric Clapton - Backless

Fausto Papetti - 2a Raccolta

Fausto Papetti - La Playa

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Four Tops - On Broadway

Foxy - Get Off

Francesco de Gregori - Bufalo Bill

Frank Zappa - Apostrophe

Freddie Hubbard - Hub-Tones

Gal Costa - India

Gary Numan - The Pleasure Principle

Genevieve Waite - Romance Is on the Rise

George Martin - Live and Let Die

Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson - Winter in America

Gina X Performance - Nice Mover

Grace Jones - Portfolio

Harry Belafonte - An Evening With Belafonte

Heart - Dreamboat Annie

Heidi Bruehl - Verliebt wie du und ich

Herb Alpert - Whipped Cream and Other Delights

Iggy Pop - New Values

Ivano Fossati - Good-bye Indiana

Janis Ian - Between the Lines

Janis Joplin - Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits

Jards Macale - Contrastes

Jeff Beck - Blow By Blow

Jim Post - I Love My Life

Jimi Hendrix - Crash Landing

Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland

Jimi Hendrix - Loose Ends

Jimi Hendrix - The Cry of Love

Joan Armatrading - To the Limit

John Barry - You Only Live Twice

Johnny Cash - Orange Blossom Special

Johnny Mathis - Killing Me Softly With Her Song

Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny

Juliane Werding - Ein Schritt weiter

Julie London - About the Blues

Julie London - Julie

Julie London - London by Night

Julie London - Whatever Julie Wants

Jun Fukamachi - Second Phase

Katja Ebstein - Mein Leben ist wie ein Lied

Kenny Burrell - Blue Lights

Kiki Dee - Stay With Me

King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

Kool and the Gang - Spirit of the Boogie

Kumiko Hara - No Smoking

Leslie First and Combo - Sexy Hammond

Linda Ronstadt - Hasten Down the Wind

Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like a Wheel

Linda Ronstadt - Simple Dreams

Lizzy Mercier Descloux - Press Color

Loretta Lynn - Blue Kentucky Girl

Lou Reed - Coney Island Baby

Lou Reed - Rock n Roll Animal

Lou Reed - Take No Prisoners

Louis Moholo Octet - Spirits Rejoice!

Love - Forever Changes

Maria Bethania - Alibi

Marianne Faithfull - Broken English

Mark-Almond - Other People's Rooms

Martha Miyake - Together With Jun

Martin Denny - Quiet Village

Marvin Gaye - I Want You

Marvin Gaye - Live at the London Palladium

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

Marvin Gaye - When I'm Alone I Cry

Mick Ronson - Slaughter on 10th Avenue

Miles Davis - 'Round About Midnight

Mina - Mina 2

Momoe Yamaguchi - Dramatic

Mott the Hoople - The Hoople

Musique - Keep on Jumpin'

Nanako Sato - Kissing Fish

Nelson Riddle - Sea of Dreams

New York Dolls - New York Dolls

Nick Drake - Bryter Layter

Nico - Desertshore

Nino Oliviero - La Moglie Giapponese

Nukhet Duru - Bir Nefes Gibi

Ohio Players - Ecstasy

Ohio Players - Fire

Olivia Newton-John - Totally Hot

Ornella Vanoni - Uomo Mio, Bambino Mio

Osanna - Suddance

Parliament - Mothership Connection

Patti Smith - Easter

Patti Smith - Horses

Pearl Bailey - Sings for Adults Only

Peggy Lee - The Man I Love

Peter Straker - Changeling

Phyllis Hyman - You Know How to Love Me

Pink Floyd - Animals

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

Prince - Prince

Pucho and his Latin Soul Brothers - Yaina

Queen - News of the World

Queen - Sheer Heart Attack

Ramones - Ramones

Ray Charles - The Great Ray Charles

Ray Conniff - Say It With Music

Rie Nakahara - Touch Me

Rod Stewart - Blondes Have More Fun

Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure

Roxy Music - Stranded

Ruth Copeland - Take Me to Baltimore

Scorpions - In Trance

Shirley Bassey - Something Else

Sonny Clark - Cool Struttin'

Sonny Rollins - Work Time

Sparks - Propaganda

Strapps - Strapps

Styx - Best of Styx

Styx - Man of Miracles

Su Kramer - Die zwei Gesichter

Sun - Wanna Make Love

Susan Cadogan - Doing It Her Way

Suzi Lane - Ooh La La

Suzi Quatro - Suzi Quatro

Suzi Quatro - Suzi...and Other Four Letter Words

Suzi Quatro - Your Mama Won't Like Me

T. Rex - T. Rex

T. Rex - A Beard of Stars

T. Rex - Electric Warrior

T. Rex - My People Were Fair...

T. Rex - Tanx

The Beatles - Abbey Road

The Beatles - Revolver

The Beatles - With The Beatles

The Cars - Candy-O

The Clash - London Calling

The Doors - The Doors

The Doors - Waiting for the Sun

The Dubliners - A Drop of the Hard Stuff

The George Shearing Quintet - Mood Latino

The Kinks - Low Budget

The Kinks - Percy

The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers

The Stooges - Raw Power

The Supremes - High Energy

The Velvet Underground - 1969: Live

The Velvet Underground - Andy Warhol's Velvet Underground ft. Nico

The Velvet Underground - Loaded

The Velvet Underground - Squeeze

Thin Lizzy - Fighting

Thin Lizzy - Nightlife

Thin Lizzy - Thin Lizzy

Tim Buckley - Tim Buckley

Tim Curry - Fearless

Tina Turner - Acid Queen

Tom Jones - The Body and Soul of Tom Jones

Tom Jones - Tom

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Tom Waits - Blue Valentine

Tom Zacharias - Belindas Doettrar

Toto - Hydra

Townes Van Zandt - Townes Van Zandt

Tubeway Army - Replicas

Van Halen - Van Halen

Vicky Leandros - Ich liebe das Leben

Wally Tax - Love In

Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy

Waylon Jennings - Hangin' On

Wild Cherry - Wild Cherry

Zafer Dilek - Oyun Havalari

[nocompromise-noregrets]

five good things

Very quickly before I go to work, because I had a bugger of a day yesterday but there are good things on the horizon, and also in response to the lovely @glorf1ndel tagging me to post three things I'm excited for in April (thank you! <3333333 ), here goes:

I am GOING TO HELSINKI AGAIN at the end of the month! Japa's band has a gig on 30 April, I have it from the horse's mouth (himself on FB) that it's going ahead, and I got my passport back yesterday (having suddenly realised last week that it didn't have enough time left on it aargh and had to go to Newport to do the fast-track application thing) and booked flights and hotel yesterday evening. Now to see if the silly bugger remembers me. I think it's unlikely, as it's been over ten years since I last saw him, but he once recognised me after three years, a very radical haircut and losing my most distinctive feature after my waist-length hair (a top hat) so you never know. (this is Thing One I Am Excited For In April)

I went to see Ricky Warwick and the Fighting Hearts at their headline gig in Cardiff last Monday evening and had a marvellous time - they did a much longer set including some Thin Lizzy (Ricky sang for the revived Thin Lizzy, which turned into Black Star Riders when they started writing new music), BSR, The Almighty (Ricky's original band) and their own stuff, and it was GREAT. I managed to get Ricky and the drummer to sign the LP I bought at the first show, so now I have the full set, and I had another little catchup with Ben who is THE SWEETEST. They're touring again in September, which is looking busy already (Japa's band in Helsinki on the 19th which is v tempting, them in Bristol on the 25th, and the prize idiot in London on the 28th, and the 29th if I lose the plot any further and decide fuck it I might as well go to the second date as well seeing as I'm there...)

It's BARDUIL MONTH you guys! I am very conscious I have been extremely distracted for the last several months, but if anyone fancies helping me shake the muses into action, the prompts are here and here, please send me some! As specific as possible, and especially for my existing 'verses, as I think I might need to ease myself back in. (this is Thing Two I Am Excited For In April)

I have finished the emergency project I didn't want to do, at job number one, and although I'm likely to be called back in to help with other aspects of it, the main bit is done and I will hopefully be able to get on with what I was about to start doing SIX WEEKS AGO which is sorting out the very fragmentary and duplicated run of chief officers' management team minutes from our employing organisation and knocking it into order and getting rid of all the duplicate copies and generally making it make sense. It sounds incredibly dull but for my enormous administrative-systems nerdery it is an absolute treat and I've been itching to do it for all this time. I'm hoping to be able to get rid of a bunch of stuff we don't need to keep (duplicate copies) and get it into order and that is the most rewarding thing. Also nobody else but me is ever going to want to do it, so. I just want to be able to get on with it! (this is Thing Three I Am Excited For In April)

I only have one more day of the thing that made my day extremely trying yesterday - we are closed to the public for stocktaking and a huge team exercise this week, and we received 800 boxes of coroner's inquest files (investigations into unexplained deaths) from our records management arm on Monday, which all have to be reboxed out of their boxes and into ours. It is much more complex than it sounds, and when we got started on it yesterday it became immediately obvious that nobody had really thought through the logistics of exactly how we were going to do it, and everyone kept asking me because I have the experience. But I don't know either! Because every time we opened a new box there was some different issue! It was absolutely too complex for me and I could not handle everyone constantly asking me questions and I very nearly had a meltdown and spent the afternoon biting my tongue so as not to bite anyone's head off. I also found it impossible to concentrate while everyone was talking, as we were all working in the same room, some of them were talking to each other, some of them were talking to themselves, and I went home exhausted and upset and almost at the end of my tether. I feel much better today, however, and I am going to ask my manager if I can please please work at my desk, if I can't be excused the task, because I cannot spend another day in that room with all of them. The contents of the files are also pretty upsetting sometimes, but that doesn't really bother me - I have a stomach of steel and a heart of stone when it comes to that sort of thing - it's just the complexity of the task and the incessant fucking peopling. Anyway. One more day, and then I am at job number two tomorrow and it will be a blessed relief.

Oh yeah, and the weather is finally picking up. It's supposed to be sunny and warm all week, and if it holds, I'm going to get the bike sorted out at the weekend (battery charged, tyres inflated, general restarting-after-being-in-the-garage-all-winter)

And I finished my most recent assignment, with considerable bad grace, and handed it in at the weekend. I am very much hoping next year's course has been tested and designed better - it is the first presentation of that one as well and I am half-wondering if I should take a year off and let them work out the teething troubles on someone else. But I've done it and it's in, and now all I have to do is the end of module assignment which is a research proposal, I think. And then I shall be FREE for the summer. :D

OH YEAH and here's a bonus Thing I Am Excited For in April: the lovely Toby Jepson's band Wayward Sons are playing in our city next week! Toby was the singer for the Britrock band Little Angels in the 90s and the missus and I both love them very much, and Wayward Sons are just as good. So that's exciting!

And the prize idiot's solo album is happening in mid-May, which means new music hooray! Maybe another song will drop before then? Keeping my fingers crossed.

And I am having so much fun in angst-'verse with my friend. Things are about to get very angsty indeed. And then very fluffy, with a bit of luck. I am DETERMINED. :D :D :D

Right. That's quite enough. Time to go to work and take things out of boxes and put them into different boxes all day. Sigh. Hopefully at my own desk on my own.

As always, if anyone wants to take this format and run with it, please feel free! Five (or more) good things about your day/week/month/year/life, no matter how large or small. Go!

[daydreamgoddess14]

Sid in Italy Moodboard

because I'm in deep, guys. I'm in real deep here.

Come on a guided tour with me!

Welcome to Bassano del Grappa, where Warwick has hired out the Cà Sette Hotel for Sid to live her best life by the pool in a gorgeous collection of sundresses and swimwear!

In the base of the Venetian Prealps sits the oldest Grappa distillery in Italy, the Grapperia Nardini, where you can have a guided tour.

Following a few delicious cocktails, you'll head to a cookery class where you can learn to make fresh pasta and tiramisu.

Then, the final full day involves a trip to Verona for a walking tour to discover the love story of Romeo and Juliet...

... is Sid's story equally doomed?

[eptodaytommorowforever]

Events In The History And Of The Life Of Elvis Presley Today On The 6th Of January In 1957.

Late-morning-early afternoon of Sunday, January the 6th,in 1957 at the Warwick Hotel in New York. Elvis Presley would soon be off for rehearsals for his appearance on Ed Sullivan that night – – his last, and the only one where he was filmed “from the waist up.” b/w rare candid photo's of Elvis Presley at the Warwick Hotel in New York.

True Fact; Ed Sullivan said he would never have Elvis Presley appear on is show. but when he met him and saw he was a decent human being and due to public demand Ed Sullivan had no choice.

[ao3feed-piltovers-finest]

Too Sweet

by leyforshort

Caitlyn Kiramman and Violet Warwick have been best friends since their sophomore year in high school. Now both in college, Caitlyn working up to being a lawyer and Vi, (surprisingly), a history teacher, the two decide their hard work deserves a vacation. With a long road trip ahead and a shared hotel room in a nearby town with a ton of hearty country folk (and quite a bit of bar hopping), the two discover some feelings that have gone unsaid despite their large amount of time together. With a lack of communication, and a whole lot of advice from the people they love, the pair desperately hopes they’ll get over their differences.

Words: 1113, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F

Characters: Caitlyn (League of Legends), Vi (League of Legends), Jinx (League of Legends), Ekko (League of Legends), Jayce (League of Legends), Viktor (League of Legends), Mel Medarda, Mylo (Arcane: League of Legends), Claggor (Arcane: League of Legends), Cassandra Kiramman, Tobias Kiramman, Vander (League of Legends), Miss Sarah Fortune, Maddie Nolen

Relationships: Caitlyn/Vi (League of Legends), Ekko/Jinx (League of Legends), Jayce (League of Legends)/Mel Medarda/Viktor (League of Legends), Caitlyn (League of Legends)/Maddie Nolen

Additional Tags: Fluff and Humor, Suggestive Themes, no smut though, Hopeless Lesbians, No Beta We Die Like Loris, Vi is a little stupid, but not really, Autistic Caitlyn, Miscommunication, Jinx goes by Powder, Claggor Lives, Mylo Lives, Vander Lives, College AU, Sort Of, Shenanigans, Isha is adopted by Vander, Brief Maddie mention, Maddie gets shit talked, Brief Sarah Fortune mention, Jealous vi, Jealous Caitlyn?, Maybe - Freeform, Jayce is adopted by the Kirammans, Good Parent Cassandra, Good Parent Vander, idk how to tag

Read onA03. from AO3 works tagged ‘Caitlyn/Vi (League of Legends)’

[abybweisse]

Ch213 (p2), Recap, West Pier, and Colin Greville

We get a recap about what little is known about this resort hotel, now revealed to be called Nectar Springs.

Reasonably priced but service is so good that people decide to extend their stays or even move in. (Are they seen after that?) As I said before, in a spoiler post, the resort hotel is visually based off The Grand Brighton -- originally built in 1864 -- a highly expensive resort hotel in Brighton, where service is said to be "unparalleled".

Then a recap about Undertaker's reanimation of real Ciel and the other lords of the stars... or at least the fact they require a lot of blood. Also a reminder that their own purpose at the hotel is to discover whether it's a blood collection center, then destroy it, if it is.

Sebastian points out West Pier and explains some about the activities there. Apparently, you only see the sea from there during the winter. Is this a high tides thing? I'll have to look into this.

Then the demon goes on about how humans have such peculiar habits, like talking about nothing and putting themselves in situations that increase the likelihood of getting ill.

Our earl says that if they can see the pier, the resort hotel must be nearby.

It's time to talk about their aliases, and Sebastian explains his young master is Colin Greville, the 3rd son of Earl Warwick. Sebastian is to be his valet, James Blackwood.

Our earl gives Sebastian a mild compliment, since it would make sense for a sick child in a landlocked earldom to seek recuperation in a place like Brighton, by the seaside. Warwickshire is just about smack dab in the middle of England, sort of hugging the southeast outskirts of Birmingham. Unless our earl can pull off a more northern accent, he should pretend he's from southern Warwickshire... though I doubt Yana-san will bother with that detail.

😆 Not like it'll matter much anyway....