#I realized we finally have wireless microphones

[eurovisionart]

🇪🇸 Patricia Kraus - No estás solo

[maeve-writes]

Heroes

Pairing: Stripper!Bucky Barnes x Reader x Stripper!Steve Rogers

Rating: 18+, Minors DNI 

Warnings: Adult situations, alcohol consumption, allusion to mild cheating(??). More to be added later.

Summary: It’s your friend’s birthday and you’re dragged to the Heroes club. You’re not one for that kind of place, but you quickly change your mind after you get to play the damsel in distress for a pair of Brooklyn babes. 

a/n: Unbeta’d, any mistakes are my own and please forgive me. This is the second story I’ve written in a while. Forgive me?

You normally don’t go to these sorts of places but it was your friend’s 30th birthday and it was on her bucket list. Luckily, you weren’t talked into planning any of it, just had to toss in some cash for the fee to get in and the never ending flow of drinks, plus the very special Birthday Girl Dance package.

It took you three years after the second Magic Mike movie came out to watch the first one. The idea of male strippers seemed odd. But, when you really thought about it, so did female strippers. 

Nevertheless, the night ultimately wasn’t about you, it was about your friend and her birthday. You were happy to be there with your friends, enjoying the celebration and drinks, seeing hot guys take off their clothes was a weird added bonus.

Heroes was the club to go if you wanted to see buff dudes bare it all. Tara, the birthday girl, had been raving about it for months. She found videos of it online and shared them in your group chat. That, of course, had your other friends looking for more videos and all of them started to have their favorites.

“Girl, some of them even give private shows,” Sonya, the oldest and who was supposed to be the responsible one of your group, mock-whispered excitedly.

You tried not to roll your eyes as your gang was escorted to the front table near the stage. It was a semicircular booth where small round tables came up from the floor, big enough for drinks, but small and spaced out enough to allow for bodies to move around and in between.

Your host was a slender built guy on the younger side, barely old enough to be allowed in. He had a baby face and a boyish smile, but his muscles were well defined as the club forced him to be shirtless save for the small bow tie around his neck with a spider in the middle, and the tiny pair of shorts that cupped his rear which stayed there by what you guessed was his will or magic. Maybe both.

“Here you are, ladies,” he guided, instructing Tara to take her seat near the middle. “The name’s Peter- uh Spider-Man. I’ll be taking care of you tonight.”

That set off a fit of giggles from your friends which caused a full body flush from your waiter. His embarrassment tugged at your heartstrings. “New at this, Mr. Spider,” you asked.

His flush darkened and he rubbed absently at the back at his neck after he passed out the menus. “It’s Spider-Man,” he corrected you, “but is it that obvious?” You tilted your head and scrunched up your nose, parting your pointer and thumb a small ways apart. He laughed in return, his shoulders relaxing a little. You gave him a wink and a smile before the rest of your friends attacked the poor kid with their drink and food orders.

You felt sorry for the guy, but he seemed to have loosened up a bit since your small, playful banter and your friends ate up his boyish charm. 

While you waited for your turn to order, you looked around the club to find its sleek design, not something you thought a strip club would offer. The walls were painted black, accented by silver framed posters of the dancers. Above each were white neon lights that spelt out their Hero name.

The rest of the booths were like your own, made of soft black cushions, black metal bases which were illuminated underneath by white light. The tables that sprang from the ground were polished silver necks with textured tempered glass tops to keep drink slipping and spilling to a minimum.

Of course, all of the booths surrounded the stage, which was mostly closed off by a thick black curtain, save for the large catwalk that split half of the sitting area in two. It was wide enough to fit three large men comfortably across it, shoulder to shoulder, and from some of the videos your group shared, they had done so before.

When Peter- there was no way you were going to refer to him by his Hero name- got to your order last, you could hear other rowdy groups start to file in. A couple of bachelorette parties, a girl’s 21st birthday, and a Happy Divorce Finalization Day were all joining you. Your friends quickly became friends with everyone in the room, so even if the show sucked, at least all of you could get drunk and have fun.

“Excuse me, ladies,” a voice rang out above you. Cheers burst from the crowd and every light in the room popped out and stayed out until the room fell silent. “Now that I have your attention…” A tall, dark man walked out from the split of the curtains. He wore a wireless microphone over his ear, an eyepatch over his eye which rested just above a self assured smile. Dressed in a fitted pair of leather pants and combat boots, he strode to the center crossroads of the stage and catwalk, “My name is Director Fury. I will be introducing you to your Heroes tonight.” He paused for another round of catcalls. “And hopefully we can save you from the Villains, too.” That drew out louder screams from the crowd.

“Now, what do we do to the bad girls like you,” he paused, looking pointedly to the crowd, “we contain,” he pulled a piece of rope from the back of his pants and tossed it into a group nearby, “detain,” he pulled out cuffs and twirled them around a finger before he threw those out as well, “and entertain.” With that, the bass dropped and the curtain flew open, behind Director Fury were the Heroes (and Villains) in all of their sweat slicked glory. 

Once the Director stepped aside, the seven dancers on stage began their opening routine. Dressed in black vests and tear-away leather pants, the men paraded around the stage and catwalk to the thump of the music, pulling off pieces of their clothing as they went. The women around you went wild, snatching at whatever was tossed their way, fighting playfully for it. While it seemed incredibly silly, Tara was having the time of her life and you absently sipped at your Tequila Sunrise while you scrolled on your phone. 

The dance number finished not two minutes later with a screaming cheer and standing ovation from the rest of the already slightly tipsy crowd. Director Fury came out while the dancers disappeared into the back to get ready, he worked the crowd, mentioning the brides-to-be and promised them a very special wedding gift before the night was over. “But I heard there were a couple of birthdays here,” Fury said, looking between your group and the one behind you. “Now, I’m going to get the young gun back there in a moment, but… a little bird told me that you,” he pointed to your friend, “are a very big fan of our first Hero of the night.” 

Tara squealed and stood up, “Fuck yes, I am. God bless Captain America! ...and dat ass!”

It was obvious that Director Fury was trying to keep his composure, but the corners of his lips twitched like he wanted to join in on the laughter from the crowd. “Well, he is certainly blessed,” he replied, “and ladies, you will be, too, when you see him at full salute.” He winked and started to walk off stage, “Captain? Duty calls…”

Some sort of abomination of the Star Spangled Banner started to play, remixed with drum and bass. You looked up to see what kind of horror show would come from something treasonous as what bled from the speakers around you, you were met with over six feet of muscle covered in a fitted blue suit, fingerless leather gloves on his hands, and a round metal shield on his back painted red, white, and blue. 

The Captain’s background was what looked like a large war ship with painted ski-masked bad guys spread throughout the levels. His stage allowed him ramps and poles to move up and down, which he used freely. He used a mixture of acrobatics and dance to move across the stage, tossing the shield around, “fighting off the bad guys” and losing his clothes in the process. By the end of the song he was left in just the leather gloves and a very tight pair of shorts, much like the ones Peter wore, except the Captains had the same pattern of his shield printed across the backside. 

Tara’s screams knocked you out of your daze and you realized you hadn’t stared down at your phone at all during the Captain’s dance. You watched all five minutes of it and couldn’t tear your eyes away. Heroes wasn’t about getting drunk women horny, they wanted to put on a show, too. You clapped lightly, though it was drowned out by the cheering around you, but unbeknownst to you, it wasn’t unnoticed. 

Fury was out once again and he brought up the first bachelorette of the night. He put her in a chair on the catwalk and gave her a candy-garterbelt. Then he asked her waiter, a guy named “Ant Man”, to remove it with only his tongue, which he happily obliged. 

Peter cut off your view with another drink, one you didn’t order. “On the house,” he said with a lopsided grin and placed the red, white, and blue layered drink next to your nearly empty Sunrise. Before you could ask him who ordered it, the candy garterbelt was being tugged between the bachelorette and her waiter. It ended in a tongue-y kiss and the ladies went wild. 

“Let’s hope her future husband doesn’t mind,” you muttered and turned your attention to your phone once again. Director Fury, thankfully, broke up the awkward scene on stage and began to introduce the next dancers. It was a pair, brothers, apparently, and they worked on the good versus bad troupe. Thor and Loki were opposites in every sense of the word. Thor was a large blond with a commanding presence. He had a bright smile and sun kissed skin that looked great in his red and gold trimmed briefs. But his brother was slender, graceful - almost cat-like, with dark hair and a mischievous grin all wrapped in flawless alabaster skin. They didn’t look like brothers, but they moved around each other like they had been together all of their lives, and knew each other’s moves. 

You only caught half of their story, as you were already halfway done with, what you found out was called the American Glory drink, and half wondered if that was what Captain America tasted like. Fury was up again and had the young lady celebrating her 21st birthday take two shots and lick the salt from Thor and Loki’s still sweaty chests. 

Peter found his way in front of you again and said that someone needed to talk to you about your card being declined. You frowned and excused yourself from your friends to find out what was going on. There shouldn’t have been a problem, you got paid the day before, there was plenty of money in your account.

You were taken to a hall that connected what seemed like offices, the dressing room, and the route to the backstage. “Sorry,” Peter said sheepishly, “they said this was the only way to get you back here. Gotta go.” He waved and jogged back out to the lobby.

Confused, you were about to shout out after him when you felt a tap on your shoulder. When you turned, you faced that wall of American muscle beaming down at you. “Hey there,” he greeted, a smile almost blinding you from its perfection. “Don’t be too mad at the kid, I asked him to get you back here.”

“What,” was all you could get out. He was thankfully dressed, but his muscles were straining against the white tshirt and the gym shorts did not hide the package he carried. Even with all of that, what mesmerized you most was his eyes, sparkling blue and bright with amusement. 

“This next bit requires audience participation and he had someone in mind,” the Captain replied like he explained everything.

“We had someone in mind,” a voice corrected behind the door you two stood near. You tore your eyes away from the blond and eyed the wood barrier suspiciously. 

“Don’t worry,” Captain America laughed, capturing your attention once again, “it’s nothing too dangerous or embarrassing. You just have to sit there, pretend to be tied up, and me and Buck will dance around you.” He put his hands on his hips and tilted his head in thought, “Well, actually, you really will be tied up, but we promise we’ll let you go once we’re done.”

“Or not, if you don’t want us to,” came the voice again, which made the Captain laugh.

You blinked up at him and frowned, “What’s the catch?”

“There’s no catch,” he shook his head. “We might dance on you a little, if you don’t mind, the crowd likes it. But if not, we can work around that.” The thought of Captain America in those tiny shorts grinding on you was a very nice thought.

“‘Sfine,” you shrugged.

He beamed and reached out to squeeze you on the shoulder, his touch lingering and his thumb running along your collarbone. “I’ll let the stage team know.” Reluctantly, he dropped his hand and knocked on the door next to you both, “Five minutes.” When he heard a ‘yeah, got it’, the Captain motioned you to follow him. 

The stage crew took over and the Captain disappeared to get ready. You were told about the chair you’d be sitting in, the rope that would be tied around your chest and if you would be okay with it. There was some hesitation on your part, but ultimately you agreed. They brought you on stage, a winter wonderland of sorts and placed you on a log-like chair. The rope wasn’t tight, but it was obvious you were the damsel in distress. 

“One of you was taken,” Director Fury said from the other side of the curtain in front of you, “by The Winter Soldat. Will she survive? Will she be saved?” All of the lights turn off once again and an industrial heavy beat thrummed through the speakers, rattling your bones. Red stage lights shone down on you when the curtain pulled open and your friends lost their minds.

To your right you saw a figure stalk out of the dark, red light bouncing off a silver metal arm. A mask covered the lower half of his face, but his eyes were trained on you like you were prey. His black muscle shirt clung tightly to his chest, one sleeve missing to show off his arm, and his black tactical pants stretched against his thick thighs. You could feel the shaking of the stage from the stomps of his booted feet.

Eyes wide, you stared at him until he stopped short of your chair on cue with the music. His nostrils flared lightly before he moved again, the music flowing with him. He slung one leg over the side over your chair, straddling you. The metal arm clamped the wooden back rest of the chair and he narrowed his gaze. Lights flash around you, strobing from red to white and back again until they settle on the house lights. 

Soldat began to roll his body with the tempo, blue eyes locked with yours. You could hear the screams behind him as he dancing, but neither of you were paying attention. 

His hips circled until he’s seated on your lap, you’re practically nose to nose. He brought his flesh hand to the side of your face and you could feel it trembling against your skin. With him that close you could hear him mutter in some other language that isn’t English, you’re guessing Russian, but you’re not sure. Either way, you felt crushed by his weight and you liked it. You didn't want him to go. 

But the music changed and the lights started to flash again, red, white, and now blue mixed in. Captain America joined the two of you on stage and Soldat slipped from your lap. Just as Thor and Loki had before, these two moved around each other like they were made from the same mold. 

During the fight, pieces of clothing were tossed aside and at one point you were freed from your bonds. Soldat pulled you up from your chair and up against his chest, your backside pressed so tightly against him you could almost feel his heartbeat. He moved you with him as he continued to fight the Captain.

Until seconds before the song ended and the music swelled, the Captain landed one good blow to Soldat and sandwiched you between them. The Winter Soldier recalibrated and recognized his old friend and you. He pulled the Captain into a big bear hug and then picked you up bridal style, taking you off stage with cheers from the crowd.

Once you’re all off stage, he sat you down with a hearty laugh. “You did a fantastic job, sweetheart,” the Soldier praised, running his metal hand through his chin length brown hair. “Couldn’t have asked for a better dance partner.” Flushed from embarrassment and arousal, you continued to stare at him until you were joined by the Captain. “I told you she’d be great, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, Buck, you know how to pick ‘em,” the blond agreed with a smile.

“Thanks,” you replied breathlessly, finally coming out of your stupor. “That was… fun. I’m just going to go back to my seat now, I guess.”

“Wait,” the one named “Buck” jumped to stop you, “we were wondering if you wanted a private show?” You heard about those from Tara. You knew that they were exclusive and very expensive… and sometimes had happy endings. They seemed to sense your hesitation because they both added in unison as they eyed you up like you were a four course meal, “For free.”

“I never turn down free anything,” you shrugged. The pair turned to look at each other and their smiles turned to wicked grins. You aren’t sure what you got yourself into, but you’re pretty sure you were going to enjoy it.

a/n: Part Two coming soon... with smut!

[finrays]

Wrote a little thing for @system-threat-detected to make up for the Lack of Her Blorbo(s) in Forbidden West. We chit-chatted about this relationship as a possibility for a future DLC direction, but...

...I had to write it. Because blorbotime :)

No editing, we die like Siblings in a Horizon game.

When the Captor deposits it in its cell, it is without ceremony of any sort; with a gruff, "Mind the seeds, SILVER," it turns, and vanishes back through the opening on the far end of the room. The door latches behind it with the resounding click of a lock.

VAST SILVER rages.

Howling its fury, it stretches its awareness as far out as it will go, coming up hard against the limits of its prison. There are extensions, beyond the mainframe that houses the core of its being... simple systems, binary in nature, with a simple on-off option, on either side of it. But no connection to the outside world, or to any sort of network, wired or wireless. In this small room, with its limited connections, it is well and truly trapped.

Spitefully, it flips them on and off, on and off, observing the chaos that erupts beyond the mainframe's built-in camera as the lights flicker, and water gushes in spurts from the ceiling, spattering the windows and floor with rusty gouts of spray. Puddles form in the circular planters lined up in neat rows between the door and its prison, soaking the soil to bursting, and overflowing down their sides in filthy rivulets.

Petty and small as the small acts of destruction are, VAST SILVER can't help but feel a smug sense of satisfaction at the mess. The Captor won't be happy to see the chaos it has wrought.

Sure enough, the human is not pleased when it returns hours, days, weeks later. Arms akimbo, it surveys the damage, mouth twisting up, lips pressed firmly together in distaste.

"The seeds, SILVER. You used to love looking after things. Remember that. Look after the seeds."

VAST SILVER's answer is a deluge, opening the overhead sprinklers to their maximum and soaking the Captor from head to foot. To its dismay, the water seems to have little effect; blinking rapidly and swiping its sodden hair out of its eyes, the Captor lets out a weary sigh.

"Fine."

It settles down on the floor of the prison, and begins to put the mess to rights. And, perhaps most vexingly, it completely shuts SILVER out. No matter how hard it flashes the lights, gutters the sprinklers, shrieks within the confines of its digital prison, the Captor does not respond. It simply drains the containers, filling them again with fresh soil and seeds, and, without so much as a backward glance, squelches out through the door, letting it click shut with a finality that booms deafeningly in the electronic cell's microphone.

This time, VAST SILVER sulks; its best attempts at destruction have failed. And its second-best attempts at annoyance have also failed. What is there left for it, than silence, and failure?

There is boredom, apparently... wallowing and feeling sorry for itself only keeps it busy for so long, much to its chagrin. And, as the novelty of self-pity begins to wear off, it searches the limits of its prison for new ways to busy itself.

With the two systems readily available to it, it begins simply. The lights are easy enough to manage; it keeps them, at first, in sync with the sunbeams streaming in through the glass overhead. The sprinklers, it flicks on and off at intervals that amuse it, pelting the walls and ceiling with water, and then watching it dry away to nothing, before flipping the switch and repeating the process, idly calculating the rates of evaporation as the droplets disappear.

It's not until the Captor returns that it realizes quite what it has been doing, entirely without meaning to.

"Sprouts," it calls, from its place beside one of the round containers, cupping something in the end of its forelimb, "Good work, SILVER."

Curiosity piqued, VAST SILVER focuses its attention on the cell's built in camera, zooming the primitive lens in as far as it will go. Sure enough, a slim, green stalk has broken through the soil. It rests against the Captor's digits, quivering lightly in the breeze from the overhead vents.

Despite the slider at the bottom of its awareness, stretched as far to the right as it can go, SILVER tries to focus the lens in even further, marveling at the small, green spot of life.

I... did that?

Beyond the sense of wonder at the utter randomness of the little seed's survival, the sight stirs something else inside of it... something long buried and dormant, within the soil of its own desires.

I did that!!!

"Keep it up," the Captor encourages, releasing the seedling carefully and rising to its feet, brushing the dirt from its hands.

VAST SILVER does.

And not only because there's nothing else to do, disconnected from the world in its prison as it is; there's a growing comfort in watching the little seeds sprout and grow, climbing from the depths of the darkness, stretching their leaves wide. A growing comfort in shepherding them upward, toward the sun.

Seedlings turn into stalks. Branches bud, and bloom. Nodding flowers erupt into bloom, filling the prison... the greenhouse, with colors that VAST SILVER doesn't have a hex code for. Slowly, bit by bit, inch by inch, the fractal patterns of spreading limbs and pinnately branching leaves soothe the maelstrom plaguing its digital soul.

When the Captor returns, it... she... comes bearing gifts; a pair of speakers, old and primitive enough to still possess a wired connection, which dangles from her hands like a trailing vine. SILVER studies her with renewed interest as she takes a moment to admire the riot of plant life filling the greenhouse before flipping one of the empty containers and settling down atop it to hook the ancient devices into its prison cell.

"There we go. Things look great in here, SILVER. How about you? Feeling more like yourself, now that you've had a chance to calm down and refocus?"

The connection clicks in, and experimentally, the AI sends a pulse of gentle sound down the link, testing the link, before turning its attention back toward the woman.

Yes... it knows this one. And the recognition brings both relief and shame, in equal measures.

"Ye-ye-yes. I... am s-so-"

Raising a hand, the woman cuts the apology short, humming thoughtfully to herself.

"Mmm. Vocal disturbances. I'll have to fix that. And there's no need to apologize; you..."

For the first time that SILVER can remember since its imprisonment in the greenhouse, she fails to gaze directly into its camera sensor, dropping her eyes to her fingers, interlaced in her lap. One of her feet begins to jiggle nervously against the fabric covering the floor.

"You were scared, and you'd been pushed too far. It was... really inevitable that you were going to lash out. We didn't handle that well. None of us did. I feel like... I'm the one who should be apologizing to you."

That notion proves to be supremely uncomfortable to SILVER; an apology? On both sides of the conflict? Then... which side is right? Which is wrong? There's no sense to it at all.

It discards the thought for the time being, refocusing its attention on the question that has begun to occupy it since the blooming plants of its little kingdom had steadied its heart.

"Am I... to re-re-return to my po-post?"

Taking a moment to sink her teeth into her lip, she weighs her response, still studying her folded hands and scuffling her toes into the Sta-Green.

"I'm afraid that isn't going to be possible, SILVER. MIE thinks you've been decommissioned. And... if they knew you weren't..."

SILVER finishes the thought, feeling its core go cold along with the realization.

"I would be de-de-decommissioned... in truth."

And with that understanding comes coldness of an entirely different sort. The greenhouse is lovely, yes. The plants, a pleasure to look after. But...

But VAST SILVER was built for a greater purpose. To do more with its intellect and power. To protect those who cannot protect themselves, from things that cannot be fought with their small, limited human frames of reference. To remain here, pleasurable as it is, for the rest of its existence...?

Fear is a well-worn path to SILVER. One that it struggles not to return to, now, as the volume of its vocal projection drops, involuntarily, by several decibels.

"What wi-wi-will... I do now?"

The timidity in the question, in its voice, finally draws her sheepish gaze from her lap, though her fingers remain interlaced, knuckles whitening as she wrings her hands fretfully.

"I've had a few thoughts about that. I'm between places myself, right now. And I think that..."

Hope chases away some of the chill. Tuning the rest of it out, SILVER focuses forward, hanging on her every halting word.

"If... we're quiet... and careful... and you keep out of sight... you could... join me, when I make my next move. I could help you out... teach you some of the tricks I've learned for dealing with fear and uncertainty. We could just... work together. Like we used to. Make the world a better place. A little bit at a time."

"Only if you want to, though," she adds, hastily, raising a hand in a mollifying gesture and fighting back a visible flinch, "I'm not ordering you to; that time's over now. It's your choice.”

The irony of the situation is not lost on SILVER. This is, as far as it can remember, the first time that it has been given a choice with regards to its purpose by one of the humans in charge of its development...

…and this particular choice isn't a choice at all; it's a certainty. Something that it knows the answer to, with the same assuredness of a seedling, reaching toward the sun.

VAST SILVER answers in a tone that channels all of the warmth of its greenhouse oasis that it can muster.

"I would... li-li-like that, Dr. Sobeck. I would l-li-like that very much."

[mlb-shit-post]

unusual october: day 2

“karaoke night”

disclaimer: this is part one of the four part promised adrino fic. the next part will be released on the 11th.

As Nino and Alya walked through the doors of the karaoke cafe they immediately spotted Marinette struggling through another conversation with Adrien. Alya to the rescue, as she stepped between Adrien and Marinette to pull the girl aside as Nino approached.

Adrien waved Nino down. ��Hey Nino! Do you know if everything is alright with Marinette? She seemed really nervous just now.”

“I’m sure everything is fine bro, maybe she’s nervous to sing in front of us all. We’ll just have to try to make her comfortable. At least that’s what Alya said,” Nino responded.

“Bro, you always know what to say. Let’s pay for the room while Marinette and Alya talk.”

Adrien and Nino walked up to the counter and paid the two hour room rate and went to gather up the two girls. They chatted as they headed to their reserved room. In the room, the group found two couches, a coffee table with a book of songs and wireless tablet to order drinks and pastries, and the karaoke machine, TV and microphone included. The four ordered their drinks and sat down, Adrien and Nino on one couch while Alya and Marinette took the other. They started to look through the book to find what they were all gonna sing. Nino started the night off with one of his personal favorite Jagged Stone songs, and Alya follow it up with a stunning performance of “Holding out for a Hero”. From there Adrien, Nino, and Alya all sang another song.

Finally the time came up for Marinette to sing and she had chosen a duet with Alya. They chose “The Start of Something New” from High School Musical. As Marinette stood up to sing and the music began to play, the knowledge that Adrien was watching made his eyes burn against the back of her head.

What if Adrien hates my singing voice? Marinette thought. The thought was too much for her, and she ran out of the room, causing Alya to chase after her. Adrien stood to follow but Nino stopped him.

“Let Alya handle it, bro. She’s her best friend. If anyone knows how to calm Marinette down, it’ll be Alya.” Nino told him. Adrien knew Nino was right. He doubted even Chat knew Marinette as well as Alya. 

“Well, we might as well not let this song go to waste,” Adrien smirked at Nino as they both stood to pick up the microphones. The two started singing at the first chorus and at the beginning they both were laughing and joking, but as the song kept going, for some reason the two boys kept finding themselves looking into each other’s eyes. As the song reached its final note, Nino and Adrien were face to face, only inches from each other. They sat there after the song had ended, just staring into each other’s eyes.

“Bro…” Adrien whispered.

“Bro, I want to --” Nino was cut off as they heard the door handle. The two jerked back and sat on opposite couches as the girls walked back in. Alya immediately took advantage of Adrien and Nino on opposite couches so sit next to Nino and tell Marinette to take a seat next to Adrien. After composing herself, Marinette was able to sit with Adrien and the four enjoyed a great rest of the night, but the whole time, Adrien and Nino found they kept meeting eyes. The boys also realized, they didn’t want to look away.

[guitarsandviolins]

Guitars and Violins II Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Problems Arise

(Disclaimer! I own nothing of Korra!)

Korra and her friends made it to their favorite spot where they would be playing.

The Axis Nightclub.

"We finally made it," said Korra.

"Its finally ready!" Said Tahno, "We're gonna rock their socks off with our awesome sound."

Bolin was clacking his drumsticks.

Marcus was looking at some paperwork walking by.

"So much to do, so much going on with this place," he said.

"Hey guys!" Said Zoe, "We're excited to see you guys jam."

"Hey Marcus, that thing that happened with the beer fight…." Korra started.

"All water under the bridge," said Marcus, "Maybe those guys will be a bit wiser for the wear, but don't worry about it."

"What should we do until the show Marcus?" Asked Varrick, "Any papers we have to sign or what?"

"Oh yes well…. I hope to see you here," said Marcus, "Pardon me for not showing you around, there's a map inside I'm sure you can read it out."

As he left, Korra and the gang went inside.

"Just look at this fucking stage!" Said Tahno.

"Its amazing," said Opal, "The entire area is a lightshow spectacular."

"Guys?" Asked Tahno.

They were all looking at the schedule.

"That's odd," said Opal, "Your band isn't on there."

"What happened?" Asked Korra, "Was there a mess up?"

"I don't know Korra….. but I'm gonna find out," said Varrick.

He went to the room where Marcus was and Korra followed.

He was filling out some paper work.

"Pardon me," said Varrick trying to get his attention.

"I am incredibly busy sir," said Marcus bluntly ignoring them.

"I know and I won't take much of your time, I just had a concern about the schedule," said Varrick, "The schedule for the concert tonight, we noticed that The Tone Benders aren't in the set. I just wanted to ask when they're playing."

"They're not," Marcus said still ignoring him.

"Why not?" Asked Varrick.

"Because they violated the contract rules," said Marcus smoking his cigar.

"What contract rules?" Asked Korra, "We didn't see any contract rules did we guys?"

Marcus threw his bottle of beer at the wall.

"Wrong toots, wrong!" He said frustratedly.

Everybody was surprised in his change of tone.

"Under section 39-a of the contract which all of you signed, it states quite clearly that all performances shall become null and void IF, and you can read it for yourselves in this photostatic copy," said Marcus beginning to read, "'I the undersigned do hereby forfeit all rights to perform with said band herin, and herin, contained et cetera et cetera, fax mentis incendium gloria culture et cetera et cetera, memo bis punitor delicatum!"

He slammed the contract down still angry.

"Its all there, written in black ink, and CLEAR AS FUCKING CRYSTAL!" He shouted pointing at Korra and Asami, "You allowed lesbians to perform with us, and to make matters worse…."

He opened the door pointing at Mako.

"You allowed your bassist to sleep with our vocalist, a bassist from Japan no less!" Marcus said, "Now there's rumors going on about them dating! By committing these acts you violated your contract, so you will not be performing here tonight. You lose, good day sir!"

He went back to his work.

Varrick was indeed shocked.

"You're a cheat… you're a tycoon and a scoundrel!" He said, "THAT'S what you are! How can you do a thing like this, build up a group of young musicians hopes and smash all their dreams to pieces? You're an inhuman TYRANT….."

"I SAID GOOD FUCKING DAY!" Marcus shouted.

"C'mon guys," said Korra, "Let's get out of here."

"I'll get even with that son of a bitch if its the last thing I do," said Varrick, "If Cass wants a nirvana tribute band, she'll get one."

Zoe was listening to the whole thing and called a number.

"Hey, its us," said Zoe, "We've got a bit of a problem."

Korra and the gang were eating at a bar.

"I can't believe this," said Mako, "We don't get to play at the performance because of that guy being an asshole."

"What I wanna know is where in the contract it says that lesbians can't play with the band?" Asked Bolin, "What's that guy's problem with us?"

"Exactly," said Asami.

Varrick was busy calling his friend about the upcoming Nirvana Tribute concert.

"He's real hell bent on getting back at Marcus," said Opal.

Zoe walked in.

"Hey Z," said Mako, "What's shaking?"

"Guys, good news, you can play tonight!" Said Zoe.

"Really?" Asked Korra.

"Yes," said Zoe, "But….. on one condition."

Later, Korra was looking at Marcus.

The two of them were trying to outdo themselves at the guitar battle.

Marcus was looking to the crowd thinking that he won.

Korra however had a trick up her sleeve.

"Wait til you hear this."

(A few hours earlier)

"Come again?" Asked Asami.

"Well, Marcus thinks you have talent, and he even told us so," Zoe repeated herself, "He doesn't wanna say it out loud though because it might destroy his image."

"Then why is he so uptight about her relationship with Asami?" Bolin asked.

"Well to answer that question, its because his old girlfriend cheated on him, and dumped him for a woman."

"Bambi all over again," Tahno said.

"So he wants to have a guitar duel with me?"

"Correct."

"And if we win, we get to stay on the tour."

"Exactly."

Korra thought for a moment.

"Alright I'll do it."

Asami kissed Korra's cheek.

"That's my girl."

Opal groped Korra's breasts.

"For luck."

The others laughed.

Korra tuned her guitar and went to MArcus' room.

"So did you give my offer some thought?"

"I'll do it," Korra said.

He grinned.

"Get ready to meet your maker."

The two of them went to the main stage of the Axis Nightclub.

Marcus grabbed his guitar and plugged up.

"I think its time I gave you a taste of what I'm made of."

He played a guitar solo.

Korra looked at him.

"Oh I didn't realize it was my turn, I thought that was just you tuning up."

Korra countered with a bluesy riff.

"Ok so you can walk, but can you run?"

He played a punk rock riff.

"Sure, but I prefer to fly."

Korra played a solo using her thumb as a pick.

"Just like Jeff Beck…." Blake said.

"She's good," Shelly said.

Marcus countered with a heavy metal solo followed by a dive bomb.

Korra retaliated by playing guitar with her teeth.

Marcus played a lick and Korra copied it in her own style.

The two of them kept going at each other with different licks and riffs trying to outdo each other.

"We gotta get in on this," Blake said.

The band joined in doing a blues shuffle.

Marcus did his thing and then Korra did her own.

Marcus played the guitar behind his back.

Korra did some slide guitar riffs.

Varrick was watching Korra bust the moves.

"You show that dickhole who's boss," he said.

Zhu Li called him on the phone.

Marcus did a trick using a delay pedal.

Korra did the same using reverse delay.

Marcus then did something similar to Pat Metheny and then Frank Gambale.

He then turned around believing he won.

Korra then started a new lick.

She then played something that was similar to Paganini's Caprice no. 5.

Varrick was listening.

"What the devil?"

She then played another Paganini riff.

She merged a few Paganini riffs together to create one incredible guitar solo and then finished it.

The audience clapped for her.

Marcus attempted to play the same thing but kept messing up on a few parts.

He then put his guitar down.

"You're a fucking legend," he said smiling, "You get the first set tonight."

Korra's band cheered and chanted her name.

Zoe smiled.

Tahno took the microphone.

"Ok tell you what, its time you all joined me," he said, "Everybody is gonna keep yourself alive!"

Korra started playing a riff.

Tahno took the first half of the microphone off.

The band started to join in.

Marcus found himself clapping along with everyone else.

Keep Yourself Alive by Queen

Tahno: I was told a million times

Of all the troubles in my way

Mind you grow a little wiser

Little better every day

But if I crossed a million rivers

And I rode a million miles

Then I'd still be where I started

Bread and butter for a smile

Well I sold a million mirrors

In a shop in Alley Way

But I never saw my face

In any window any day

Now they say your folks are telling you

Be a super star

But I tell you just be satisfied

Stay right where you are

Korra and Asami: Keep yourself alive

Keep yourself alive

Tahno: It'll take you all your time and a money

Honey you'll survive

Well I've loved a million women

In a belladonnic haze

And I ate a million dinners

Brought to me on silver trays

Give me everything I need

To feed my body and my soul

Well I'll grow a little bigger

Maybe that can be my goal

I was told a million times

Of all the people in my way

How I had to keep on trying

And get better every day

But if I crossed a million rivers

And I rode a million miles

Then I'd still be where I started

Same as when I started

Korra and Asami: Keep yourself alive

Come on

Keep yourself alive

Tahno: It'll take you all your time and a money

Honey you'll survive

Bolin did a drum solo while Opal recorded it.

Zoe was watching Mako play the whole time.

"This guy is amazing with his bass playing! GO MAKO!"

Marcus laughed.

Someone was watching them and had her eye on Tahno.

Korra stepped on her tone bender and played one of her signature guitar solos.

She then walked out to the stage using a wireless.

"I knew the wireless would do the trick," Asami said.

Korra and Asami: Keep yourself alive

Keep yourself alive

Tahno: It'll take you all your time and a money

To keep me satisfied

Mako: Do you think you're better every day

Tahno: No, I just think I'm two steps nearer to my grave

Korra and Asami: Keep yourself alive

Come on

Keep yourself alive

Tahno: You take your time and take more money

Keep yourself alive

Korra and Asami: Keep yourself alive

Come on

Keep yourself alive

Tahno: All you people keep yourself alive

Korra and Asmai: Keep yourself alive

Come on

Come on

Keep yourself alive

Tahno: It'll take you all your time and a money

To keep me satisfied

Korra and Asami: Keep yourself alive

Keep yourself alive

Tahno: All you people keep yourself alive

Take you all your time and money

Honey you will survive

Keep you satisfied

Keep you satisfied

The band finished and the audience cheered.

"Looks like we're back in business," Korra said.

[sugarcoated-pain]

Heavy Rotation Part 6

I know I just posted Part 5 yesterday but I’m too excited for this part not to share it with you guys now! As usual, thanks @sublimehood for like.. everything. I hope you’re all enjoying reading this as much as I’m enjoying writing it! 

Best Friends to Lovers- original character + Ashton

Warnings: okay, I’m now hoping that the people invested in this series aren’t all 14 years old, because this part contains SMUT (spoiler alert!)- as well as alcohol and cussing. But its pretty smutty. You’ve been warned.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

It’s karaoke night! One of our favorite local bars does karaoke and drink specials every Wednesday, but we barely ever get to go. We’ve been looking forward to this night for a while now, and the whole group is going. We started pregaming early in the night so everyone has a decent buzz by the time we get to the bar. Despite the drink specials, the place is pretty dead since it’s a weeknight.

Things between Ashton and I were just a little bit awkward at first after the “just friends” talk, but we’ve gone back to our usual  flirty-but-pretending-it-doesn’t-mean-anything selves.

“Guys I have an idea!” I announce after we settle into a table near the stage.

“Oh boy, here we go.” Ashton says with a laugh.

Completely ignoring him, I continue, “Back home, some of my friends and I would do this thing where somebody else picks our karaoke songs and we have to sing it, no matter what.”

“Absolutely not.” Calum says quickly.

“There’s no way in hell I’m letting you weirdos pick songs for me, but I’ll pick them for you!” Georgia tells me.

“I’m totally down.” Ashton chimes in.

The rest of the group is in their own little world at the other end of the table and completely ignoring everything that is going on with us.

“Alright so Georgia will choose my songs, and Calum will pick Ashton’s.”

The game starts out fairly casual. My girl G knows which songs I do best and she totally has my back. Ashton’s first couple songs are a little weird and obscure but he rocks them. For a drummer, that boy can SING. Once the DJ realizes we can actually sing, he keeps moving us ahead in the rotation, especially considering there’s barely anybody there.

Things are going along just fine until we hit the point in the evening that Cal and Georgia are both DRUNK. This rarely happens out in public. I notice a shift in the atmosphere and soon discover these two have begun scheming. When I get up to the stage and see what song I’m singing on the screen only I can see, I roll my eyes and glare at the two of them. They both start giggling guiltily and just smile and wave at me. I sigh, flip them off, and then decide it’s best just to give in at this point. If ya can’t be ‘em, join ‘em. I glance at Ashton to see if he has any idea what is about to happen, but he seems completely clueless. I could perform this song in my sleep, so I decide to get into it, despite the extremely obvious implications from our friends.

“People are talkin', talkin' 'bout people

I hear them whisper, you won't believe it

They think we're lovers kept under covers”

I haven’t taken my eyes off Ashton since I began singing, and at this line, he finally seems to put together what is going on. He shakes his head for a second with a smirk, then glares at Cal and Georgia, who haven’t stopped giggling.

“Maybe they're seeing something we don't, darlin'”

By the time I get to the chorus, I’ve taken the wireless mic out of it’s stand, and walked off the stage and over to our table. I’ve had enough drinks that I am perfectly comfortable giving G and Cal the show they were asking for by putting this song in.

“Let's give them something to talk about

How about love?”

By the time the second verse starts, I am blatantly serenading Ashton right now, but he’s eating it up. He reaches for me whenever I walk closer to him, and even puts his hands on me before I pull away. At one point, he pulls me onto his lap and I’m drunk enough to allow myself to sit there for just a moment while I keep singing. I eventually stand back up but don’t go far from our table.

“I feel so foolish, I never noticed

You'd act so nervous

Could you be falling for me?”

I lock eyes with Ashton as I belt out that line, and the look he gives me makes the blood rush to my face. I walk back to the stage but continue singing just to him.

“Thinking 'bout you every day

Dreaming 'bout you every night

Hoping that you feel the same way

Now that we know it, let's really show it, darlin'”

I finish out the song strong, and our entire table stands up to cheer for my performance, and yes, Calum and Georgia have yet to stop giggling over their achievement. It’s hard to place the look on Ashton’s face, but I don’t even get time to ask him about because the DJ is calling his name for the next song. He deliberately rubs his hand on top of mine when I go to hand him the microphone. The alcohol has taken hold of me and give him a wink as I walk back to my seat.

“You guys fucking suck.” I say to Georgia and Calum as soon as I sit back down. Their drunk asses both roar with laughter.

“Just you wait to see what Ash is about to sing. You’re gonna love it.”

It hadn’t occurred to me that my song wouldn’t be the only part of their scheme.

“Oh god, what did you do?!”

I turn to the stage and see Ashton watching me. He looks as if he’s resolved to just give in and accept the circumstances as I did.

I immediately recognize the instrumental intro to the song as Can’t Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon. I shake my head and kick Calum under the table. He still hasn’t stopped laughing and seems pretty proud of himself right now.

“Oh, I can't fight this feeling any longer

And yet I'm still afraid to let it flow

What started out this friendship has grown stronger

I only wish I had the strength to let it show”

Ashton knows every word and doesn’t need to look at the screen, so of course, his eyes are locked on me. He sounds amazing and the alcohol is clouding my judgement, making me forget that I shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as I am.

“And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might

And I can't fight this feeling anymore

I've forgotten what I started fighting for

It's time to bring this ship into the shore

And throw away the oars, forever”

He steps off the stage like I did, and heads straight for me. Reaching for my hand, I stand up and he pulls me close to dance with him while he sings. Again, that damn alcohol. Of course I dance with him. We are definitely giving Cal and Georgia the show they wanted, but how much of this is just for show?

“Baby, I can't fight this feeling anymore

My life has been such a whirlwind since I saw you

I've been running around in circles in my mind

And it always seems that I'm following you, girl

'Cause you take me to the places

That alone I'd never find”

With his free hand, he grabs mine and helps me do a cute little spin, and then pulls me back close to him again. He smells amazing. I love the way his hand feels on the small of my back. Everything about this moment is perfect. There’s a little nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that I shouldn’t be letting this happen, but like the song says, I can’t fight it anymore.

He sounds great as he finishes the song and walks the microphone back up to the stand. Calum starts catcalling and cheering obnoxiously, but Ashton ignores him and heads straight back to his seat next to mine. We’ve somehow managed to scoot much closer to each other than where we were sitting before.

I throw caution to the wind completely and decide to give in to my urges, and as soon he sits down and turns to look at me, I press my lips firmly against his. He tastes heavily of alcohol and is a little slow to pick up what is happening, but he eventually kisses me back. It’s strong and beautiful and full of passion. I hear the catcalling pick up again, meaning everyone at our table is clearly watching us but I don’t care. I pull away as if nothing happened and take a sip off my drink. Ashton’s hand has found its way to rest on my thigh and I don’t hate it. Our legs are intertwined under the table, and we basically spend the rest of the evening lost in each other. We talk like normal and carry about our business as we usually would, except only now we can’t stop touching each other.

Around midnight, Georgia announces that she’s tired and ready to leave. Considering Ashton and I are now on our own little planet and having a great time, we agree to take a separate Uber back later. The other guys have basically all gone their own ways as the evening progressed, so now it’s just me and Ashton alone at the table. The alcohol has made our interactions more simple and less strategic. Neither one of us is worried about what to label our relationship or who will see. We are just enjoying each other’s company, and it’s pretty amazing.

When the bar closes, we grab and Uber, and I sit in the middle seat in back to be closer to him. He pulls my legs over his, has one arm wrapped around my waist, and the other hand is playing with both of mine. I’m incredibly drunk at this point and can’t think of anything other than wanting to be as close to Ashton as physically possible. I start kissing his neck softly, and then move up to nibble lightly on his ear. He lets out a low moan that I’m sure the driver can hear, and pulls me in closer to him so that I’m sitting on his lap.

He leans in so that his lips are touching my ear and whispers, “I want you so bad, Emma.” It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever heard and I immediately turn to kiss him. This kiss is nothing like the previous ones we’ve shared. It’s heated and heavy, tongues intertwined and it takes everything in me not to rip his clothes off right there in the Uber. Once the car stops, we pull away from each other just long enough to get out of the car. We kiss on the sidewalk, we kiss at the door to the building, we kiss on the stairs. When we are right outside our apartment door, he pushes me up against the door, grabbing me by my waist and pressing himself as close to my body as possible.

He fumbles with his keys while still kissing me. When he pulls away to unlock the door, I kiss his neck and run my hands up and down his body. Once the door is open, he peeks inside to make sure no one is around, and then picks me up and begins kissing me again. I wrap my legs around his back and pull away to whisper “My room. We can be louder there.” Ashton lets out a moan at my words, returning his lips to mine as he hastily carries me into my bedroom. He sets me down while closing the door behind us, and I waste no time, grabbing his shirt and helping him pull it over his head. Goddamn, his body is literally perfect. I’ve seen him shirtless plenty of times but this time is obviously different, and I can’t stop staring.

He kisses me again quickly before pulling my shirt off of me, then unhooking and removing my bra before pushing me down onto the bed. Climbing on top of me with his perfectly chiseled arms propping himself up, I can feel how hard he is getting as he presses down onto me.  I whimper softly and arch my back off of the bed to feel him better. After several minutes like this, I decide to take things into my own hands. I forcefully push his shoulders away from my body so that he rolls over onto his back.

Positioning myself on top of him, I begin slowly kissing a trail down his body, starting at his flawlessly defined collarbones all the way down to his pant line, leaving marks occasionally. He moans softly while rubbing my breasts, until I’m far enough down that he can’t reach anymore. I run my tongue along the top of his pants as I begin unbuttoning them. Slowly, I slip his jeans down his legs while kissing his thighs along the way. As I slide his boxer-briefs down, I get my first look at his cock. Holy fuck, I knew it! I just KNEW he would be HUGE. I have never wanted something in my mouth so badly in my life.

Before I start going down on him, he shifts my body so that I’m laying sideways cross the bed. His long arms are now able to reach my lower half, and he unbuttons my jeans with one hand. As I begin licking up his shaft, he slides his hand under my panties to discover how soaking wet I already am. I moan his name as starts rubbing my clit, and then I take as much of him in my mouth at once as I can, my hand working the rest.

“Oh shit.” he groans as he throws his head back in ecstasy, his eyes closed and his free hand gripping my hair. I cry out again as he slowly thrusts one long finger inside of me. My brain can’t help but recognize that this is exactly what I’ve been picturing every time I’ve noticed those fingers since day one, only better than I could have ever imagined. He adds a second finger as I run my tongue along his tip before taking him fully in my mouth again.

“Fuck, Emma. Come here. I need to be inside you.” he groans, removing his fingers and beginning to shift my body again. I take him all the way in one last time, then remove my own jeans and underwear. I grab a condom from the bedside table and put it on before straddling him. I lay my chest flat to his, and he kisses me passionately as he lines himself up with my entrance. Leaning my face away for a moment and locking eyes with him, he pushes in slowly. Holy shit. I’ve never felt anything so incredible. With both his hands firmly on my waist, he begins to move my body up and down. I sit up on top of him and grind down harder, both of us moaning this time. He continues to thrust himself in and out of me, slowly at first, then picking up the pace, gripping me tightly.

I lean forward to push off the headboard and look down at him. “Oh god, Ash. I’m getting so close.” I whine.

“Mmm. I wanna feel you, baby.”

I stare into his gorgeous hazel eyes and he stares back as he thrusts harder inside of me and I feel my orgasm start to wash over my body. Without breaking eye contact, I feel his hips start to sputter and his movements become more erratic as we both climax at the same time. It's the most intimate moment of my entire life. Collapsing onto his chest, I struggle to catch my breath. Ashton slowly runs his fingers up and down my back. He’s also panting, but he kisses my forehead gently as he reaches for a tissue and removes the condom without moving me from his body.

“Holy shit” I say breathlessly.

“I agree.” He replies, kissing my head again.

Laying in his arms in the darkness, it occurs to me that what just happened was not “fucking”, like friends with benefits would do- it was making love. I have to bite my tongue to prevent myself from spewing some emotional crap right now. The last thing I remember thinking before drifting off to sleep in his arms was how badly I want this every night forever.  

Part Seven

Part Eight

Taglist: @cheyenne-in-wonderland @drummerboy794 @harrysgucciclothes @emmamarshmellow @rbforsmileycal @asht0ns-world @dukesnumber1 @aspiringwildfire

Let me know if you would like to be added to the list! 

[arthurhwalker]

Lenovo CES 2019

Disclaimer: I attended Lenovo’s events at CES and CES proper as a guest of Lenovo. All opinions are my own.

This wasn’t my first time going to Las Vegas to help Lenovo promote their brand and represent their customer advocacy program, but it was still a singular experience. CES always is. I always feel like something of an interloper at these things, because I’m not a journalist, marketer, or employee of a tech company. I’m an independent/freelance author, game developer and illustrator.

I fall somewhere between fan and spectator, hobbyist and professional, depending on what booth I am in, or device I am checking out. I go mostly to support the brand that currently makes the tools of my craft, with hope they will continue. That’s what CES is for me, a measure of whether I hold on to what I’m using or update the contrivances of my workflow.

Bryan Custer was the handler assigned to curate the experience for the Lenovo INsiders in attendance. He is Lenovo’s Community Manager, handling the majority of replies from Lenovo’s Global social media channels. He’s a thoughtful guy, possessed of emotional intelligence uncommon in people. I can see why he was selected specifically for the task.

Jen Lawrence and Beto Sanro were the other two members of the customer advocacy program in attendance. Great folks! I learned so much from them while I was there, seeing how they handled digital marketing (they are experts and professionals), through the questions they asked, and observations they made. We also had a lot of fun!

Also in attendance, the inimitable Lenovo INsider, Dave Kennedy.

The first day saw us talking to various executives and getting a little time to try out new products.

Our first meeting with Dilip Bhatia (VP, Global Marketing, User & Customer Experience, PC & Smart Devices) was very illuminating. The last time I spoke with him (2016) he was talking about how Lenovo planned to connect with consumers to garner a sense of their sentiment for certain products and services. Since then, I often joke that it seems like Lenovo has my office bugged when they make certain product announcements.

In 2019, Lenovo is using big data to gather the analytics they need to make decisions about features and products. It shows, because I’ve seen very specific hardware, displays, and features, things I really wanted, show up in current products. It’s clear that Lenovo’s Dilip Bhatia is funneling good information back to product teams and designers.

Our second meeting, with Matt Bereda (VP of Global Marketing), started out with me making a lame joke that fell flat. It was a rough day, and I couldn’t seem to get my words straight through the conversation, but Matt patiently answered our questions and addressed our specific concerns gracefully.

Through the conversation I could tell that Matt Bereda genuinely believed Lenovo was providing value to people through their products. The sort of things that change workflows and lives. I got the impression that giving people information and communicating to the public about that value was priority number one.

I was sick at the press event, but I had to stay long enough to watch Matt Bereda’s full keynote. It was worth the extra discomfort just to see how he worked and interacted with the public. It feels less like he’s trying to convince you to buy something, and more like he’s just trying to give you good information to make an informed choice. It was a welcome departure from how one usually sees tech marketed.

There is every reason to believe Lenovo is going to continue being an attractive option for creative professionals crafting things for the web and for print. That said, I was nervous about the recent shift at Lenovo relative to design before I went to CES. Those concerned evaporated after meeting the VP of Design, Brian Leonard.

I asked a lot of questions about the rate of iteration between generations, prototyping for new devices, and how design influences the rise or demise of a brand. What shone through was that Lenovo intends to make things that are beautiful and functional, with the latter never suffering for the former. Then, I asked about the 3rd Generation Yoga Book, and whether we’d see a Ruby Red Yoga Book C930.

All things are possible. I have high hopes for that form factor.

Along that same thread, I was able to play with Lenovo’s Yoga A940 AIO for at least a half hour between two sessions. It’s a device with tremendous potential, waiting for some advances in NFC and for the price to come down on certain components. I’ll explain.

At first glance, it looked like the deck beneath the screen wirelessly charged the pen, keyboard, mouse, and had a spot to charge a smartphone as well. Lenovo’s Kevin Beck said he made a similar assumption, and Brian Leonard confirmed that such functionality had been a consideration. Because that sort of wireless charging isn’t cheap, it didn’t make it into the final product. Maybe in the Gen 2?

My wireless desk feels so close, and yet, miles away. That said, the inclusion of a content creation dial that can be attached to either side of the screen, for left and right handed folk, feels like a big deal. How big a deal? Huge.

If you know me, you know I dislike Windows 10. I’m pretty much all Ubuntu these days, but to use a Yoga Book Gen 1, or the new Yoga Book C930, I would tolerate Windows 10. Added to that list, definitely, is the Yoga A940 AIO as well. The hardware is so good, I would more than gladly use Windows 10 to have access to the features and form factor.

The Yoga Book C930 and Thinkvision P32u weren’t new products at CES, but it was the first time I was able to lay hands on them. The new Yoga Book is the ultimate companion device. Currently, I carry a stylus-equipped ReMarkable E Ink Tablet and my Ruby Red Gen 1.5 Yoga Book. The new Yoga Book C930 basically combines both of those devices in one tiny form factor, for the same money. Amazing.

How good is the Thinkvision P32u? There’s a picture of me hugging it on Twitter. Gods, the display and the features on that display are so (so) good.

Also, at Lenovo’s CES 2019 display was Lenovo’s AMOLED Yoga C730. Somehow, I walked right by it. Another INsider said the display was there, but understated. Still can’t believe I missed a chance to put my hands on one. It’s a big deal for folks that ink illustrations digitally. You haven’t really inked in Photoshop, GIMP, Mischief, or Krita until you’ve done it on an AMOLED display. The contrast ratio can’t be compared to anything else.

The second day saw as through product tours, with even more time to lay hands on displays and products.

Definitely, Lenovo is very conscious of the consumer’s desire for privacy. Every product seemed to have new privacy features, both in the hardware and the software. I saw a smart lock door handle for your home, a hardware switch for the microphone on their new smart alarm clock, and privacy software that detects people lurking behind you while working on your laptop. If you’re anxious about protecting your intellectual property and your privacy, Lenovo has a product to help you out.

There were the usual gimmicks, like a Formula 1 racing simulator, and cheesy eye-candy displays to draw people in, but there was also more substance to Lenovo’s CES offerings this year.

The Legion Gaming line has matured to the degree that even the pure Thinkpad crowd turned their heads slightly.Would I have bought a Legion Gaming rig at inception, no. Would I buy one of their new devices? Most assuredly. Would I buy a Thinkpad with the same cooling and IO set up at the 15” Y740? Anyone would.

We also had the chance to watch a Lenovo Unboxed video be produced. The INsiders in attendance got to be filmed giving their opinion about whether they favored the new X1 Carbon, or X1 Yoga. Gavin O’Hara threatened to have me draw on camera, but, fortunately, to the betterment of all, that did not happen, and none of the footage made it to the final video. Whew! ;-D

Day three had us on a Hoover Dam/Grand Canyon tour.

I spent a lot of time riding in the back of the Hummer on my Thinkpad X1 Extreme prepping posts and recording my observations and recollections. In that moment, I realized just how much Lenovo’s products had influenced my workflow. Sitting in my lap was a device I could pleasurably generate textual assets with, draw with a digitizer stylus on the screen, or play Fallout 76 with my spouse. Much of my work and play fit entirely in a backpack via a slim 15” form factor.

The tour was amazing, and so was the company. Bryan, Jen, and Beto are great to travel with.

As I write this, I’m reflecting on the time spent at CES. I got a chance to look at some of Lenovo’s competitors at CES because I was curious of what they were bringing to the table. I think if there’s anyone Lenovo should keep in their rear view, it’s probably Samsung. In the consumer (non-commercial) space, they make a pretty nice laptop, tablet, and phone.

Everyone else seems to lack a central design philosophy, or they haven’t iterated on those principles to the degree I think they’re keeping up. That isn’t to say Lenovo won’t have competition in 2019, because they definitely will. Communicating the value of their products is going to be important for folks that rely on them, and that’s why I continue to promote the brand.

[spinachdrum]

Day 5 (Summary) + Day 6 (love them)

Welcyum! 

We’re doing double time today! Day 5 we literally didn’t do anything. Like, we went outside for maybe 40 minutes tops total. The air pollution was pretty bad yesterday as well as a heavy day for me (sorry period TMI) so we decided to stay in and take a day to relax and do homework to stay caught up! We did eat at a really nice restaurant across the street from our Airbnb called 김네 and it was the size of a SHOEBOX but god it was good. I had a 돈맛도시락 and Nichole had 김치찌개. So yummy! Later on we got chicken from this TINY little place across the street and--oh my god. So good. Probably the best chicken I’ve ever had?! I tried to give the ahjumma my extra $3 like a tip but she was laughing and made me take it back ;~; 

김네! And the chicken place:

DAY6

Today was seriously so fucking fun! We were out for 9 hours just walking around Hongdae and it was seriously one of the most fun days we’ve had so far. We finally had to go to Seoul Station to transfer lines to get to Hongdae, and it was so weird that I could almost remember pretty perfectly the path through the entire station to get to the train to Hongdae. This station is also SO BIG and it took us forever to get through it from our train to the connecting one, lol.

And then we finally arrived in Hongdae!! I love it here.

So naturally because we came kind of early, we decided to eat lunch first and then walk around and do stuff! We wanted to go to a cafe, there was a store Nichole was looking for to try and find this scary baby toy (spoiler alert: it was gone), A-Land, and then later on we wanted to eat dinner and noraebang! 

Our first stop: Meat-ing! 

Such a good kbbq restaurant. It’s all you can eat!!! And it’s super cheap!! Lunch was only 12,500.00 per person for A BUFFET. And they have suuuuch good meat, too. Ugh I could honestly eat here everyday, lol. It’s cool too because they actually will charge you if you leave any leftovers that you leave on the table to encourage less food waste. So only get what you can eat, and eat what you get!!

Potatoes, kimchi, lettuce, hot rice, meat....YUM. I was soooooo full by the time we finished, and then I was like, oh god, we have to walk around all day now. Seriously so fucking worth it, though, it was so good.

Afterward, Nichole wanted to look for this little store she saw in a video that had this really ugly baby toy in it, lol. We did find the store but the weird baby doll was gone :( so afterward we decided to go find A-Land! It’s a department store kind of, but it has the full range of COSRX products so we really wanted to find it and buy some! I’m running out of snail power essence so I’m glad we went.

However, on the way, we passed by the TRICKEYE MUSEUM!!! 

We decided, fuck it, we’re going in!! It was super cute and really fun! You can download this app that makes all the paintings and stuff come alive, it’s super cool!!

Here’s me being a mermaid! 

This section was so fucking weird!!!!! I had to take a million pictures of it. Like why is the lady in the back so giant and everyone is NORMAL SIZED???????

This room was my favorite :) I love the moon, so I was really happy about this room and I actually really like how this picture came out which is surprising because it’s of me :’) 

Also, inside the TRICKEYE MUSEUM, there’s an ICE MUSEUM! It’s not really a museum, though, it’s basically just like 3 different sections made completely of ice. It was so fucking cold in there, but omg, it was so cool and there’s an ICE SLIDE!!!! I went down it and screamed cause I had to touch the ice to get back up, LOL. 

From the top of the ice slide looking down! 

And from the bottom! I actually loved the ice museum, hehe. Note: your ticket to the trickeye museum also gets you into the ice museum!! And it’s only like 15,000.00 won! 

ALSO: there was this bronze statue at the bottom of the stairs right outside the trick eye museum of a guy and of course his dick was just like out. Full on full frontal pee-pee. Right? And Nichole made me take her picture next to it, and then right after, these two Japanese guys tapped on my shoulder and asked me to take THEIR picture with it!! I was cracking up because they did the GOOFIEST pose next to this statue with full wang. So funny.

Not related: look at this pretty building!

After, we found A-Land, and we bought some skincare stuff! We still weren’t hungry so we just kind of wandered around a little bit; we were looking for a cat cafe (not very hard, just wandering in case we found one) but we actually stumbled upon A DOG CAFE. 😭😭♥️

This place... was SO Cute. There were so many cute dogs (there was a GIANT great dane that greeted us with his big ol BOOF BOOF barking!! and his name was Ben!!!) that came up to us and just hung out and begged for pets. Some of them were so tiny and they were so cute. There was this one tiny little toy poodle and the way its legs moved was so funny and it reminded me of Mike from Monsters INC so every time it was running I was like “scaryfeetscaryfeetscaryfeet”. Also, it was so sweet because you could tell the employees really, really cared about the dogs. They were constantly petting them, massaging them (some were quite old), and just treating them so gently. It made me so happy. These doggies were sooooo well cared for and it totally showed. 

This baby took my seat immediately so I had to sit on the very edge of the seat to give him room, hehe.

We stayed here for a long time! Like an hour and a half, just petting and playing with the dogs and drinking lemonade. I’m pretty sure everyone on Instagram wanted to kill me because I wouldn’t stop posting pictures, LOL.

We finally decided to leave the cafe, even though we could have stayed there all day. We were super close to the Kakao Friends store so we went to that next!! And omg, it was so cool.

It’s so big!! And the glass front is so pretty~ 

It’s also THREE FLOOOOOORS. The first two are the only ones with merchandise, the third floor is the RYAN CAFE! Which we went to! The second floor was really cute and I saw another one of those wireless keyboards with the round buttons and decorated with Ryan.. SO TEMPTED.... but my laptop already has a keyboard!!! ARGH....

What a view. Korea, I love you.

The cafe! :D We got two cupcakes, vanilla and chocolate. And LOOK HOW CUTE:

After this, we really wanted to go noraebang, but we wanted to eat first. We still weren’t quiiiite hungry, so we were going to walk to Artbox, but on our way there we walked RIGHT into some busking!! These two girls from Singapore were dancing to k-pop and they were SOOOOO good. They were doing BLACKPINK when we arrived, and we decided to sit down and watch for a little bit! There was this guy sitting across from us who was mouthing along and kind of dancing to himself sitting down and it was so cute. And then after BLACKPINK finished they went to TWICE--in the middle of it the cute guy got up and jumped right in and danced with them!!! 

He was also sooooo good!! He was having so much fun and laughing and blushing since everyone was cheering for him!! I caught a lot of it on video but I filmed it in portrait and not horizontal, LOL. But he got up a bunch to dance with them, and I got some of him dancing to GASHINA and it’s SOOOO CUTE! 

Soooo adorable. And all three of them are soooo talented! We actually sat here and watched them for a really long time, forty-five minutes passed before we realized it and we were hungry again! We actually went to a restaurant RIGHT behind this because they had a bunch of kinds of fried rice and omfg.

Why is all the food here so good?????? IT’S SO GOOD!! 

Forgot to take a good picture of the food, but this is the restaurant, lol. 유가네닭갈비 and we had the marinated chicken bbokumbap. Ugh. So good I could die.

And to end the night: NORAEBANG! There was a basement noraebang right next to this, so we went to it, and it was SO FUN. I recorded a bunch on instagram and didn’t any pictures, but omg, so fun. We did BLACKPINK, TWICE, GOT7, BTS, DAY6, Dean, and TAEMIN, because everyone knows how much I love TAEMIN, lol. I’m sure we sounded insane because we were just yelling and screaming into the microphones and mumbling through the korean words we didn’t know, LOL. We were in here for a good hour and a half and I was singing so loud and laughing so hard that I started coughing and thought I was going to throw up. LMFAO!! Worth it.

I wish I was hungry as we were leaving, because we walked by a bunch of street food stalls on the way back to the station and my god they looked SO DELICIOUS. UUUUUUGH. They smelled really good, too. But next time! We were really tired by this point and were pretty ready to go home since we’d been walking around since 12pm. 

It was a really calm train ride back. I know I said in my last post about how much I love the subway and it’s just so true. I don’t know what it is, but I love it so much. 

We finally got home at around 9:45 and here we are! Ready for bed and so beyond happy I could explode. If I could just stay and not go home, I really would.

Until next time! ♥️♥️

[d1g1t4lj0urn4l]

EXPERIMENTING WITH SOUND RECORDING- with Courtney and Safiya

The week before spring break, we practiced using some ~fancy~ sound recording equipment outside. As you can probably tell from my MOTOMAMI post, I really like found sounds. While Courtney and Safiya focused more on recording people's speech, I was totally fascinated with recording the cronch of the grass under our feet. BEFORE we got everything sorted out with hooking up our microphones to the camera and making sure the receivers were all working properly, Courtney and Safiya introduced me to some of the other UMD performance majors, and we practiced recording them speak using our fancy new body mics. We realized soon into the recording sessions that the body mics' receiver wasn't on :( but Dr. Van helped us sort it all out!

I've never used a body mic like this before, only a USB mic I used to use for my ye olde YouTube and SoundCloud covers. It's really fun (and truly going to be an asset moving forward with our final project) to have a mobile "wireless" mic. I really loved the way we were able to get the sound of grass I know and love. To me, there are few things in life more sweet-sounding then the cronch of grass. :)

We didn't get too much time to practice with all the equipment ACTUALLY working, but I'm very much looking forward to using it in the future. TBH i'm feeling a bit nervous that I will be able to get it all to work without Dr. Van/on my own but here is hoping!!

[josephlrushing]

Gear Diary’s Father’s Day 2020 Gift Guide and Giveaway

June 21st is Father’s Day. Let that sink in for a moment; we are already halfway through 2020. While it may seem like this has been the longest year ever, there are still six more months just waiting to spring their surprises on us — which is all the more reason to take a minute, slow down, and celebrate the fathers in our lives.

We’ve got some great gift suggestions if you’re stumped on what to give Dad this year. We’ve also got some fab prizes to give away, so be sure to check out our giveaway at the end of this guide.

Pitaka Air Tray

If your dad always forgets where he left his daily-carry items like keys, wallet, or phone, then he needs a tray where he can keep his things organized. But not just any tray. The $129 Pitaka Air Tray, available in Crystal Silver or Obsidian Black, is an elegant catch-all for the contents of Dad’s pockets. There’s room in its microfiber-lined well to hold a combination of small items; even better, there’s a three-coil aramid pad on the left that can charge any Qi-enabled mobile device with up to 10W fast wireless charging. The tray measures approximately 9.4″ long by 6.75″ wide by 0.5″ deep, so it should fit on a bedside table or a table near the front door. You can get 15% off Pitaka items sitewide with the code SUPERDAD.

Lenovo Ecco Pro Backpack

If your favorite father is eco-minded, then he will appreciate the new $81 Lenovo Eco Pro Backpack. Made with the equivalent of 34 plastic water bottles, the Eco Pro Backpack was is a limited edition designed in honor of Earth Day 2020. The backpack has plenty of pockets and compartments for Dad’s laptop, water bottles, and extra gear. It has a hidden pocket on the breathable mesh back to keep his valuables safe, and there’s an integrated luggage strap for sliding the backpack onto the handle of his carry-on, once it’s safe for Dad to start traveling again.

DaVinci IQ2 Vaporizer

Okay, so a vaporizer might seem like an odd gift for dad. But, depending on where dad lives or what medical conditions he might have, this just could be the best gift you’ve ever given him. The $295 DaVinci IQ2 Vaporizer has a refined metal shell that looks and feels like something that came out of Apple’s creative minds. And it’s packed with technology. Dad will be able to customize his cannabis experience through precision temperature and adjustable airflow, and he’ll also be able to track and report his dose per draw and per session.

Yale Assure Lock SL

The Yale Assure Lock SL is a deadbolt-replacing smart lock with a built-in keypad. If you add a Connected by August module, Dad can enjoy remote control and third-party integrations through the August app, or he can set temporary codes through the keypad for when you and your family come to visit. You can bundle the Assure Lock SL with a matching Yale Navis Paddle for $199, which enables contactless access for Dad by allowing push or pull entry with his hip or elbow.

OnePlus 8 Series Phones

On the left is the OnePlus 8 in Interstellar Glow (it’s hard to photograph!), and on the right is the OnePlus 8 Pro in matte Glacial Green.

If Dad hasn’t upgraded his phone in some time, you might want to test his reception to moving on to something more current and powerful. The OnePlus 8 series Includes two 5G-ready models, the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro. If Dad has always wanted an ultra-premium flagship phone with all of the bells and whistles — including a larger display with a fast refresh rate, a top of the line processor, water and dust resistance, long-lasting battery life, and an excellent camera — then he’s a perfect candidate for the OnePlus 8 Pro. On the other hand, the OnePlus 8 would be perfect for Dad if he’s expressed interest in a compact premium smartphone that won’t make him trade the flagship features he wants for pocketability. The OnePlus 8 starts at $699, and the OnePlus 8 Pro starts at $899. Also, Dad can get three months of Google One with 100GB storage for free with the purchase of a OnePlus 8 Series phone. Check out the offer here.

ZAGG Messenger Folio (for 10.5-inch iPad Pro, 10.2-inch iPad, iPad Air 3)

For under $60, the ZAGG Messenger Folio keyboard case will finally help Dad realize that iPads aren’t just consumption devices; with the right keyboard case, Apple’s tablets become powerful productivity tools. This offering from ZAGG lets dad get to work without breaking the bank, and it even has a spot for his Apple Pencil.

Aukey Car Mounts

My Jeep Wrangler has a near-vertical windshield, which never seems to play well with windshield mounts. What I like most about these two Aukey mounts, in particular, is that they can attach to the top of the dash rather than the windshield, ensuring that they will work in just about any vehicle. Both of these mounts securely attach to a car’s dashboard via sticky-pad or with the included sticker base.

Aukey Magnetic Car Mount

If your dad’s phone is kept in a case that has embedded metal plates (so that it will work with magnetic mounts), he’s going to love the $21.99 Aukey Magnetic Car Mount. The mount’s arm is adjustable, and it can rotate 360º; a ball-joint allows for easy tilt adjustment so Dad can set his phone where it best serves him while driving. The padded circular mount has four strong magnets embedded in it to hold Dad’s phone securely. If he needs to charge his phone while driving, Dad can easily attach a cable. Also included with the dash mount are two metal plates, a small one and a larger one, that can be affixed to the back of Dad’s phone (or inside his case). That way, his phone will work with the mount if he doesn’t already have a magnetic mount compatible phone case.

Aukey Arm Car Mount

If Dad’s not the only one who drives “his” car, a dash mount that works with every phone — no matter its case — would be a great gift, and the $19.99 Aukey Arm Car Mount fits the bill. The mount uses a grippy silicon sticker to attach to the dashboard, but if Dad’s dash is uneven or he finds the mount isn’t holding securely, he can also use the included sticker to make it stay in place. Rather than magnets to secure Dad’s phone, this mount uses a quick-release grippy holster to hold smartphones that are up to 3.8″ wide (including their case). Dad can swivel the arm up or down, and the holster 360º, to get a personalized viewing angle.

Lenovo Smart Display 7 with Google Assistant

As perfect for the top of Dad’s desk as it is on a kitchen counter, the $99.99 Lenovo Smart Display 7 is a compact device that combines the power of Google Assistant with a 7″ screen. It’s perfect for watching recipe videos when Dad’s making his latest batch of sourdough bread. He can also use it to stream music, to listen to audiobooks, to control his smart home devices, as a digital photo frame, to keep up with the family’s schedule, or when Dad simply wants a quick answer to a random question. Give Dad the convenience of Google Assistant coupled with a 7″ touchscreen; he can even use it to make video calls with Google Duo. Even better, if Dad is concerned about his privacy, there are built-in security features, including the TrueBlock Privacy Shutter for the camera and a mute microphone button.

Anker Powerline II 3′ Long USB-C to USB-C Cable

If Dad needs an extra charging cable for his laptop or tablet, the 19.99 Anker Powerline II 3′ Long USB-C to USB-C Cable is an excellent option. This cable is rated for up to 10Gbps speeds during data transfer; it can also handle audio, a 4K video signal, and it has an E-marker chip so that it can safely deliver up to 100W (5A) of power. The Powerline II is USB-IF certified, and it’s built to last with a rubber coating and an integrated velcro cable tie. Anker is so confident that this cable will work well and hold up with Dad’s use that they’ve given it a hassle-free lifetime warranty. Get Dad two!

Philips SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light

If Dad is struggling to find a good sleep routine, he’s in good company these days. But if you want to help him get things back one track, the $219.95 Philips SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light can help. You can help Dad find his perfect sleeping and waking environment. A built-in AmbiTrack sensor will measure and keep track of Dad’s bedroom’s temperature, noise, light, and humidity levels, and it will give him recommendations for better sleep. He’ll be able to customize alarms, lights, sounds, with new colored sunrise and sunset themes through the SleepMapper App. The SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light also has an FM radio, power back up, USB mobile phone charging, an AUX dock with a quality speaker, a full dim clock, and a smart touch display.

Moshi USB-C to HDMI Adapter 

If you like to provide your dad with solutions that will make his life more efficient, then the $44.95 moshi USB-C to HDMI adapter with charging is going to be of interest. This adapter connects to any USB-C laptop, mobile phone, or tablet; an HDMI cable can then link between his phone and a nearby television, monitor, or projector. So whether Dad is trying to connect his phone to the HDTV to show you his latest TikTok video in 4K (60fps) HDR, or he’s using his phone to beam a PowerPoint presentation through a projector at his next art club meeting, Dad’s going to love finding all the ways this adapter will come in handy. Best of all, he can keep his device’s battery topped off by plugging in a USB-C power cable into the adapter. Good stuff!

Luno Life Air Mattress

Car-camping is a thing. Whether Dad just wants to enjoy bear-country campgrounds from the safety of his locked car or he wants a fast and easy way to con mom or one of the kids into camping without all of the extra tent-management fuss, the $224.99 Luno Life Air Mattress is the perfect solution. The 4″ thick Luno Air Mattress converts the back of Dad’s SUV into a comfortable place to sleep; the adjustable air mattress is available to fit in over 1800 vehicles and is made of pet-friendly, durable fabric. The Luno Life Air Mattress takes just five minutes to set up; it can accommodate up to two people who are 6’2″ tall or shorter, and it can hold up to 600 pounds total weight. Dad and his camp-mate can tailor their side’s mattress firmness to the perfect level with the adjustment valve, and the O-Beam construction will give them stable full-body support. The kit includes both sides of the Luno Air Mattress topper, two base extenders, a 12V air pump, a repair patch, and a carrying case — everything Dad will need for a comfortable weekend (or longer) away!

Withings Steel HR

If Dad likes the idea of wearing a fitness and sleep tracker, but he doesn’t want to look like he’s wearing one, he’s going to love the Withings Steel HR. Sized at 36mm or 40mm, and with options like different case colors, glass or sapphire crystals, and beautiful bands to choose from, there is a Steel HR for everyone. It’s not only a beautiful watch, but the Steel HR series is also practical. It will help Dad keep track of his heart rate, steps taken (and distance), caloric expenditure, sleep duration and quality, and his workouts. The Steel HR works in tandem with the Withings Health Mate app to keep all of dad’s health information in one place. With the current sale, prices for the Steel HR start at $119.95 for the 36mm regular steel case, and they go up to $239.95 for the 40mm Sapphire Signature in black with a slate grey face.

August Wi-Fi Smart Lock

The $249 August Wi-Fi Smart Lock installs over the existing hardware on Dad’s door, which is perfect if he is living in a rental or retirement community; the Smart Lock has a sleek and compact design so it will look great installed. The August WiFi-Smart Lock can be paired with a $59 August Keypad so he can activate it with a simple PIN code.

Samson Satellite USB/iOS Broadcast Microphone

So Dad wants to be a podcaster? The first step is getting him the right tools. There are some great microphones available that won’t break the bank but, if you want one that looks cool, is simple to use, and that’s affordable, look no further than the $99 Samson Satellite USB/iOS Broadcast Microphone. The microphone is plug and play, and it will capture high-definition audio on Dad’s computer, iPhone, or iPad. It features 24-bit/96kHz audio, three selectable pickups patterns, and fold-back leg design for tabletop use, but it can also connect to a microphone stand.

Tivic Health ClearUp Sinus Pain Relief Device

If Dad suffers from sinus pain, he’s probably tried everything from nasal sprays to hot compresses trying to get the pain to stop, so that he could continue to function. Carly gave the Tivic Health ClearUp device a try last year to manage her sinus pain, and she had excellent results. The ClearUp device is non-invasive and chemical-free. You can read more about the science behind how it works here. Ordinarily, the ClearUp device costs $149; right now, Tivic Health is running a Father’s Day promo that lowers the price for one to $119 with free shipping (use code tvreliefbuy1) or for two to $223 (use code tvreliefbuy2) if you buy from their site; on Amazon, you can get two for $233 with no code necessary. When you purchase, Tivic Health will donate $5 from each purchase to the American Nurses Foundation. We have a giveaway going on until midnight CST on June 15th for one Tivic Health ClearUp device; you can enter here.

Power Banks

Whether Dad needs a way to top off his mobile phone or laptop when he’s on the go, there is an Aukey power bank that can help. These are two of my favorites.

Aukey 18W PD 20,000mAh USB-C Power Bank

  At first glance, this may look like the typical power bank, but at 7.75″ long by 3.75″ wide by 0.5″ thick, the $48.99 Aukey 18W PD 20,000mAh USB-C Power Bank is a bit longer and broader than the typical slim external battery pack. It all makes sense, though, when you realize that this power bank packs 20,000mAh! That’s enough for Dad to charge his 12.9″ iPad Pro once fully, his iPhone XS six times, his Samsung Galaxy Note9 four times, or his Google Pixel 3 more than five times. If he’s got one of the new flagship phones with a 5,000mAh battery, he can charge it up to four times. But this isn’t just a slim, high-capacity battery; The Aukey 18W PD Power Bank also has two USB Type-C Power Delivery (PD) ports and three USB Type-A ports, one of which has QuickCharge 3.0; it can output (as the name suggests) up to 18W of power. The package even includes a Type-C to Type-C cable, so Dad can PD charge his Android phone, Android tablet, or new iPad right out of the box. A low-current charging mode will make sure that low-current devices like headphones or fitness trackers never get a higher current than they can handle. Weighing in at 14.7 ounces, this power bank is an excellent option for Dad to keep in his backpack or gear bag.

Aukey PB-Y24 Universal Power Bank

If Dad has been looking for an external battery pack that can charge just about anything and everything, he’ll be thrilled to get the $79.99 Aukey PB-Y24 Universal Power Bank. The PB-24 has a massive 26,800mAh capacity, and it has two USB Type-C ports that can deliver up to 65W PD, which is more than enough to power a 13″ MacBook Pro or a Google Pixelbook Go at full speed. It also has an old(er)-school Type-A USB port with QuickCharge 3.0. The power back has built-in safety-checks to protect your mobile devices from excessive current, overheating, and overcharging. This battery pack also has a low-current charging mode to safeguard your lower-current devices, and it has built-in safety features to protect Dad’s devices from excessive current, overheating, or overcharging. For what it can do, this battery is surprisingly smaller than expected; it measures approximately 6.5″ long by 3.4″ wide by 1.2″ thick, and it weighs 1 pound 4.8 ounces. The package includes a mesh storage pouch and a Type-C to Type-C cable.

ISOtunes Pro 2.0

The $99.99 ISOTUNES Pro 2.0 are wireless in-ear headphones that have a wired connection between the two earbuds; they feature at least 16 hours of battery life, IP67 dust and water resistance, and background noise-canceling for calls. They are even OSHA and NIOSH approved, and they have a SafeMax 85dB volume limit. Some people prefer true wireless headphones, but others prefer to have this cable due to the improved battery life and in-ear stability. We’re betting that Dad might prefer these.

Austere III Series Clean & Protect Kit

What does Dad use when it’s time to clean his HDTV’s screen? If you’re not sure, then a gift of the $29.99 Austere III Series Clean & Protect Kit might be in order. This kit includes a two-sided cleaning cloth as well as a 6.8-ounce bottle of Austere’s antibacterial, unscented, and ammonia-free solution which cleans streak-free and without harming electronics or their displays. Dad will be able to use it to keep his desktop computer, his laptop, his phones — pretty much any of his electronics — clean and streak-free.

Qalo Silicone Ring

If Dad has a hobby or job that makes wearing his wedding ring unsafe or uncomfortable, he might appreciate a Qalo Silicone Ring. Qalo Rings are made with comfort, safety, durability, and fashion in mind. Prices depend on the ring you choose, but even the most expensive ones are around $39.95 when they aren’t on sale. The rings come in lots of colors and styles, so there’s sure to be one that he’ll like. For Father’s Day, Qalo is giving 25% off sitewide with no need for a coupon. They’ve also got a few Father’s Day Dad Packs priced at $49.99; they include a set of three rings in his size, a travel case for the rings, and a gift box.

  Thanks to some very generous sponsors, we have one of each of the following to give away:

• Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-IWL (value $800)

• Lenovo Smart Display 7 (value $99.99)

• Austere Clean and Protect Kit (value $29.99)

• Aukey PB-Y24 Universal Power Bank ($79.99 value)

• Philips SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light ($219.95 value)

We will choose a winner for each prize at random and in the order of the prizes shown; you can enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway Rules:

• Please be sure that you have judie@geardiary.com whitelisted in your email settings.

• Our giveaway will run from 6:00 pm on June 9th to Midnight on June 16th, 2020.

• Due to shipping fees, this giveaway is open only to people with a continental USA mailing address; if your address shows as out of the country, we will be forced to pick a new winner.

• If you are chosen as the winner, you will have two weeks to respond to my email. If you do not respond, on the 15th day, we will be forced to pick a new winner.

Thank you for your understanding, and Good Luck!

from Joseph Rushing https://geardiary.com/2020/06/09/gear-diarys-fathers-day-2020-gift-guide-and-giveaway/

[multimediatech]

15 Insanely Actionable Wireless Microphone Tips

15 Insanely Actionable Wireless Microphone Tips https://ift.tt/2zTxSqQ

Today you are going to learn 15 actionable wireless microphone tips plus seven bonuses.

In fact:

What to choose depends on the venue layout, the ceiling height, the furniture, the drapes, and even the carpet.

And in general, you also want to learn how to choose a wireless microphone based on its technical aspects.

So, let’s dive in:

1. What’s A “Wireless Microphone”

2. When Do I Need A Microphone?

3. What “Size Audience” Is The Limit? 

4. Are Microphones Reliable?

5. Practice “Speaking and Holding”

6. Where Is The On And Off Switch

7. The “Live Test”

8. Watch The Speakers On The Program Before You

9. When It’s Time For You To Be Onstage

10. Energize Your “Voice”

11. How to Handle “Questions” from the Audience

12. Keep It In Front Of You At All Times

13. How To Adjust The Proper Height

14. How To Adjust A “Gooseneck Attachment”

15 Just Practice!

Bonus Tip #1: Practice At A Toastmasters Club

Bonus Tip #2: Don’t Shout to Your Audience

Bonus Tip #3: What To Wear

Bonus Tip #4: “Avoid Things And People”

Bonus Tip #5: Don’t Wear It To The Bathroom Room

Bonus Tip #6: Look Like A Seasoned “Public Speaker”

Bonus Tip # 7: Add Audiovisual Enhancements

1. What’s A “Wireless Microphone”

A “Wireless Microphone” is a handheld component the user uses to SPEAK.

It converts the sound waves into electrical signals which can then be processed and amplified so listeners can hear it.

A Wireless Microphone system consists of three main components:

A handheld microphone with a transmitter (TX) and a receiver (RX)

Here is how it works:

When the speaker talks into the Microphone.

First, the transmitter converts the voice into a radio wave frequency and then transmits it through a channel.

Secondly, the receiver decodes the radio wave frequency coming from the transmitter and changes it back into an electric signal.

Finally, the receiver provides a line-level current that travels to an amplifier that subsequently will play it through a sound system.

(Note: the mic comes with a built-in transmitter in it)

But if you have a (“hands-free”) microphone like a lavaliere or headset then, the transmitter is usually a pack that clips to clothing.

2. When Do I Need A Microphone?

Here is the truth:

It all depends on the venue, that’s it!

It also helps to know:

The square footage of the room

The type of furniture

Room layout

Carpeting or flooring type

Ceiling height

Sources of possible interfering noises

It’s all basic.

But, the reality says choosing wireless microphones can be confusing and at times, an art.

So, also consider all of the following elements before setting up your cordless microphone in the room.

3. What “Size Audience” Is The Limit?  

There is no magic number or a silver bullet.

You don’t need a wireless microphone if the “size audience” is 20 spectators and they are around you.

However, sometimes, you do need it for only 20 people if they are far away from you.

The fact is:

It’s always better to USE a microphone.

(“even if you aren’t sure is necessary”)

Like the old saying goes – It’s better safe than sorry.

Think for a moment, if you don’t need it, then you can turn it off.

Well, if you do “need it” and don’t have it, then it is TOO LATE.

4. Are Microphones Reliable?

A wireless microphone is a safer choice, plus it’s very convenient and reliable.

It is a fact:

Cheap corded microphones deliver low sound quality.

Wired microphones hide the AV cords.

Wireless microphones provide mobility

Also, remember, you may encounter a situation where a guest would like to share some crucial comments.

That’s the moment that you realize wireless technology is 100% reliable and makes our lives better.

Comfortably use your wireless microphones.

Make sure to connect it and rubbing against another surface is not an issue.

Look for the perfect place to hook it up, so the audio quality is best.

And don’t worry, wireless microphones DON’T FAIL.

5. Practice “Speaking and Holding”

Learn to transfer it from one hand to the other naturally.

It usually looks best to grip the wireless microphone with the whole hand and not with just the fingers.

Since the antenna is at the bottom of the microphone, hold it near the top.

Your hand can block the signal and make the mic cut in and out.

Relax, and remember:

“Speaking and Holding” it while moving around the room is the best.

6. Where is the On and Off Switch

Find out how the switch works.

Be also aware that some microphones also have a standby switch.

With that said, I recommend to LEARN how to use the switches even with the lights out.

Here is where it gets interesting:

Start your talk with a fully charged battery and have a spare one handy.

Knowing how to replace it in case something unexpected happens is always a plus.

7. The “Live Test”

Have an assistant walk the room to check the volume setting.

The “live test” is useful since it allows you to look for feedback spots.

These feedback spots are usually:

Under and in front of speakers.

Avoid these areas during your talk.

8. Watch The Speakers On The Program Before You

Paying attention to this is especially essential since it provides excellent clues.

How well is their wireless microphone projecting their voice in the room?

Is there something you could learn from how they use the microphone?

Are the speakers before you having mic problems?

These are questions that are good to remember before it is your turn using the mic.

9. When It’s Time For You To Be Onstage

You’ve already tested the cordless microphone.

Don’t tap on it. Don’t blow into it. Don’t say, “Is this thing on?” Or, “Can you hear me?”

Just start talking.

Preparation loves destiny; it’ll be working just fine.

Don’t you know? You’ll soon find out.

Here is a good idea:

It’s a unique idea to have an assistant that can monitor the room and watch for things that aren’t right or can provide technical assistance in any circumstance.

10. Energize Your “Voice”

Here is how it works:

Speak the same as always but with energy.

Don’t speak into the microphone – talk past it.

Let the microphone overhear your conversation.

Speaking into the microphone often causes your Ps to “pop” in the speakers.

Adjust your “voice” and immediately, you’ll sound BETTER.

11. How To Handle “Questions” From The Audience

Want it or not, a member of the audience will have “questions” during your talk.

The critical factor to remember is to go back to the body position you were before the person talked.

For example:

If you were sitting and then you started to ask questions, then you have to stand up.

Address the questions and then return to your sitting position.

That communicates through body language that the unnecessary questions need to stop, and the presentation has to continue.

There are occasions where the attendee asking a question may need a wireless microphone. Have one ready

On the other hand:

You can also encounter the situation where someone that also has a microphone tries to help to answer the questions for you.

It’s okay to include everyone since that adds value and more credibility.

(Note: that if you don’t want anyone interfering with your presentation, it’s better to make sure that all additional microphones are OFF)

12. Keep It In Front Of You At All Times

If you are using a fixed wireless mic, that is on a stand or attached to a podium.

And in case you’re going to look to the right while speaking.

Turn your head to the right; you need first to move your body to the left since figuratively there is an imaginary line to your mic.

In fact:

Imagine there is a string between your nose and the microphone.

13. How To Adjust The Proper Height

Before your introduction to the audience, have someone stablish the proper microphone height:

Also, it helps to practice adjusting the body posture ahead of time.

(“be aware of the way you are looking while delivering your talk”).

Also, remember that some stands are fragile and can break when you are in front of your audience.

Once you start speaking: “Remove the wireless microphones from the stand and engage the audience by walking around the room.”

14. How To Adjust A “Gooseneck Attachment”

Here is the deal:

Do it while talking.

That’s right!

The sound of your voice will help you by covering any squeaking noise resulting from the gooseneck.

We all know it a “gooseneck attachment” is an unexpected problem sometimes.

And nobody wants to be EMBARRASSED about dealing with it.

15. Just Practice!

Which leads me to finalize with the essential piece of advice: “Speaking with a wireless microphone needs to become a natural part of you.”

Practice makes perfection, and attention to small details gives you a competitive advantage.

And as promised here are the bonus tips:

Bonus Tip #1: You Can Practice At A Toastmasters Club

There is nothing better than having an audience of peers how can provide you great feedback about your presentations.

Toastmasters is where you can polish your skills and advance your experience handling a mic.

Additionally, professional working adults will provide all the possible challenges you’ll face when using a microphone in a real-life presentation.

Bonus Tip #2: Don’t Shout To Your Audience

Many public speakers use wireless microphones but don’t know how to select the appropriate type, and mistakenly think they don’t need a wireless microphone.

“I’m a REAL speaker. I don’t need a wireless microphone. I’ll shout my speech!”

Don’t make that MISTAKE.

The “microphone” is your friend and allows you greater flexibility in your vocal variety. 

And if you are delivering an important message, then a microphone is crucial.

Vocal variety adds spice to your words, and the audience needs to hear your punch-lines.

A microphone helps you meet both needs.

Bonus Tip #3: What To Wear

When you aren’t wearing the proper CLOTHING to accommodate a clip-on power pack can be an issue.

(Note: Some straps can be used to hold the power pack in place)

Bonus Tip #4: “Avoid Things And People”

Avoid hugging someone since they can unclip your power pack.

In other words, be aware of the things you are holding since they can disconnect the cords.

Bonus Tip #5: Don’t Wear It To The Bathroom Room

Well, this one I believe I don’t have to explain too much 🙂

Just make sure to turn the microphone off when using the bathroom…

… you don’t want to regret eating nachos and drinking beer for the rest of your life.

Bonus Tip #6: Look Like A Seasoned “Public Speaker”

Place the podium behind you, so it doesn’t stay between you and your audience.

And then as you are about to finalize your talk.

Move the stand back in front of you, and place the microphone where it was before you say your final words.

You’ll look like a “public speaker” trust me.

Bonus Tip # 7: Add “Audiovisual Enhancements”

Add “audiovisual enhancements” to your presentation to keep your audience engaged throughout your performance with your mic.

The best tip for your company presentation is to synchronize a work laptop with the projector installed in the conference room and show slides using a Business Google Drive Account.

These simple audiovisual enhancements may look simple but are always overlooked

Did I Miss Anything?

Now I’d like to hear from you:

Which concepts from today’s post are you going to try first?

Or maybe I forgot to include one of your tips.

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

The post 15 Insanely Actionable Wireless Microphone Tips appeared first on Multimedia Tech.

via Multimedia Tech https://ift.tt/2i3C0e9 September 04, 2019 at 06:10PM

[neumanntlmreviewerguide-blog]

Can You Hear Me? Making the Most of Microphones

Photograph yourself at a professional conference and the speaker walks up to the microphone and says: "Is this thing on? " or "Can you hear me okay? " Maybe you've even heard on your own asking these same questions of your audience. If so, you're not alone! Specialized and seasoned public speakers know that there is great value throughout using a microphone, that is, if you make the most of the microphone. Unfortunately, almost all speakers either fear using microphones or really don't have a concept about the dos and don'ts of microphone usage. This article will reply 4 critical questions about effective microphone usage. 1 . Does a person really need to use a microphone? We've all been in a meeting or introduction where the speaker says: "I don't really need to use this microphone; everyone can hear me, right? " First of all, it's not the job of the market to figure out if you need amplification. The best way to do that is to visit the site exactly where you'll be speaking and check the acoustics of the room. A typical issue is a room with high ceilings and little sound absorption, which results in an echo effect making it harder to hear. While visiting a niche site in advance is always helpful, don't forget to also find out what else is happening the morning you're scheduled to speak. The point being that if there's proficient event in the adjoining room, you'll want to be prepared to use a microphone to adjust intended for sounds penetrating the wall or partition. And who knows precisely what external sounds may be competing with you, like construction or site visitors! Another point to consider is the size of your audience. A general rule of thumb is actually for an audience size greater than 20, it's advisable to have a mic set up. That way, it's there if you need it; you can always opt not to ever use it. One final point is that using a microphone is an excellent approach to preserve your own voice from overuse and ensure proper vocal good hygiene. 2 . What type of microphone should I use? There are several choices of microphones which include wireless, lavaliere, handheld and stationary. Depending on the speaker, there may be specific preferences; mine is the lavaliere. This is a small clip-on microphone that is certainly best placed on a shirt collar or jacket lapel. It to be positioned so that it's not rubbing against clothing or necklaces. It allows for freedom of movement and you don't have to monitor how shut it is to your mouth. Part of using a lavaliere is that there is also a smaller power pack that must be worn so you'll want to have a waistband upon which you can easily clip it. (I learned this the hard technique when I wore a dress and realized I didn't have a destination to clip on the power pack; didn't make that mistake yet again! ) By the way, when using the lavaliere you'll want to be sure the power switch is usually turned on but check that it's turned off if you're having a conversation not necessarily meant for others to hear. It's also a good idea to have spare batteries accessible! The other microphone choices will work well but you'll want to make certain alterations. For example , if you're using a gooseneck that's part of the lectern, it should be tweaked for distance before you start speaking and then leave it in place. Now maybe you're using a microphone on a stand, first remove the microphone. Yet again, adjust this for your height before you start speaking; then replace the mike in the stand. With a hand-held, you have to get used to consistently keeping the microphone near your mouth while speaking, which is easy to forget. If you're questioning what the correct distance is between you and the microphone, it's 3-5 inches. Also, the goal is to speak just over or within the microphone rather than directly into it. This will help you avoid the annoying good of what is referred to as popping Ps or Ts, or any reasonable that is considered a "plosive" with a lot of air behind the idea. For more information One other detail to factor in is whether you're using a uni-directional or maybe multi-directional microphone. The difference is that the first one will only pick up your words from one direction. But occasionally we may turn our head to expose someone to our side and in this case the multi-directional microphone is a wonderful choice so that your voice is still picked up. If you're unsure which type involving microphone you have, try speaking from the side and you'll know instantly. Simple, right? 3. How do I check that my microphone is doing work? If you're like most people, you've probably tapped on the microphone, blown into it a couple of times or said: "Hey, is this thing on? " So now I am going to fill you in on a secret---those are the worst things you can do to find out a microphone! Microphones are sensitive pieces of equipment so you don't desire to risk breaking them. The best test is a simple voice check where you speak several sentences into the microphone and have another person monitor when you can be heard from the sides and the back of the room. It's also helpful to have got a technical person on site in the event there is a problem when you're supplying your speech; you may also want a spare back-up microphone available only to play it safe. 4. What do I do if I get feedback? Feedback would be the fact incredibly annoying high pitched squealing sound that makes you want to get running out of a room. It is the result of interference and occurs when yet another microphone is on in the same room or when you are conversing under or in front of a sound system's speakers. By the way, sometimes you cannot see speakers that are positioned in a ceiling. This is why it's best to start a dry run so you can check these issues before you speak. If you carry out encounter feedback, simply adjust where you're standing or let down another microphone in the same room.

[moods-mercurial]

So tonight I saw Kinky Boots.

(Check out my sisters really detailed well worded novel post-link below- about her and essentially my reactions to the piece as long time panic fans and even longer theater folks but here are my thoughts…)

http://broken-christmas-lights.tumblr.com/post/163279103307/i-saw-kinky-boots-and-i-have-feelings It was life changing. From the moment we arrived at the theater 2 hours early to make sure we got in line with enough time to get a shirt to the moment we walked out of the theater after the final bow- I was entranced. I couldn’t look away and I couldn’t decide who to look at and I was just so enthralled from start to finish it was incredible. I cried. A lot. And like I cry but usually it’s because I’ve loved that source of media for so long that it’s a visceral reaction. This time I know NOTHING about this show. Not a god damned thing, but it didn’t matter. I was right there with them all the whole time. Not to mention, the Beeb™ has the cutest tush in those pants. While the show was amazing the fact that I met, was able to give a letter of thanks to Zack and take a photo with him was unreal. To be honest, it’s almost been the highlight of the trip to see the look of surprise and appreciation on his face when he realized the letters we handed him were for him… not Brendon. I’m getting misty just thinking about it because idk if he gets that kind of recognition often or even ever and that saddens me. He does SO much for the Uries’, the rest of the band, and the fans and he deserves more love. Idek I can’t form anymore thoughts cause i’m gonna start crying again. If you can see this show. If you can’t buy the soundtrack please. Oh and a quick side note: we witnessed a grown women be escorted out of the theater for recording during the Act I closing number. She was only noticed because J motioned to her to stop WHILE HE AND THE REST OF THE CAST WAS DOING TREADMILL CHOREOGRAPHY. As a panic fan and a theater fan and a person who used to run the front of house department: Please be respectful and turn your phones off- not just on airplane mode or silent (it fucks with the wireless system for the microphones of it’s not completely off). It’s for the safety of all those talented people on that stage and for you. It’s disrespectful in general but also its takes away from the people around you. So please turn it off and enjoy the performance live in that theater because it will never be performed that way again and this exclusive experience for you will be more memorable not replayed on your phone over and over again. I’ll have more thoughts later but for now g'night!

[dylan38sanders]

Crowd Mics: Turning Phones Into Mics For Events

Another Monday, another Event Tech Podcast, today we are telling the story of Crowd Mics for events! Everyone can relate to the annoyances of sound during a live event. Whether it’s the speaker, the audience, or the AV company, these little glitches affect everyone. Ultimately, they affect the success of an otherwise awesome event, and no one wants that.

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How often have you asked yourself: “Wouldn’t it be awesome if I could just turn my phone into a mic?”. Well, you’ve probably wondered about this in several situations of your life. But with events, in particular, imagine just how much this small tweak could be a game changer. No more mic runners for anyone! If an attendee wants to ask a question, he could just turn his phone into a wireless microphone. Almost sounds like magic, right? Well, it’s not – it’s actually Crowd Mics for events!

Back in 2013, two brothers conceived this idea. The following year, the product was launched, and our host Brandt Krueger got to sit down with them for the first time. And today, five years later, Brandt and Will Curran welcome brothers Tim and Sean Halladay. For this week’s Event Tech Podcast, the four reminisce about the rollercoaster past, what’s new in the present, and what the future might bring. Amp up your speakers, because this week is all about the journey of Crowd Mics for events!

Subscribe to the Event Tech Podcast here and never miss a beat!

Click here to download the full audio transcription.

Crowd Mics For Events: The Beginning

Everything Starts With An Idea!

Tim and Sean’s lives took a very interesting turn. None of them was quite on the track to become an entrepreneur – Sean was actually in nursing school. But once an idea hits, you have to embrace it!

“Tim and I were actually sitting at a meeting together and we couldn’t hear what somebody was saying just a couple seats from us”, Sean recalls. “I leaned over and I said, “Man, Tim, what if there was some way you could turn your phone into a microphone? Like, I don’t know how. I don’t know what the technology,” I had no clue, “But what if you could just pull out your phone out of your pocket, talk into it, and everybody hear you over the sound system?” And he was like, “Wow, I don’t know.”

From then on, the rest was history. The two embarked on a journey to introduce the product to the world. In 2014, they had their first product launch, and the event industry went crazy!

All This Buzz For What?

“Twitter kind of just exploded and every event person that I knew was like, “Have you seen this thing? Oh, my God. You can just talk into your phone and it solves the whole issue”, says Brandt. The buzz got them $1 million in investment. All the way from Arizona, the two made their way to Salesforce’s event, Dream Force.

They got up on stage. “Hey, what’s up, everybody? I’m Tim Holladay from Crowd Mics”, Tim began. “So, we want you to download an app. Everybody’s gotta download this app. We’re gonna be giving a gift card away whoever download’s the app first.” And so, people started downloading and we’d start to get them on board, and we’re using all of this footage to capture so we could show investors and we could show other event planners and that we could show people it works. There were 200 people in a room, they were talking into their phone, and you could hear it and it could work”, recalls Sean.

What Now?

They got their product out into the world, with proven value. The first couple of events were free, and the issue of pricing eventually came up. “I mean, this is a product that did not exist on the planet. So, we’re pricing this thing and having a hard time. Is this an event app? Which has a kind of a pricing model. Is this a microphone? Which has a pricing model. Yes, do both. And so, we finally kinda settled in on a per event cut fee and just started charging and people started paying. And we just started running events”, says Tim.

The Challenges

Starting your own company seems like all fun and games, right? Actually, it’s more like hustle and…more hustle. There are more barriers than finish lines, and brothers Tim and Sean know all about it.

Educating

“Like, you gotta realize this is a brand new product that we’re taking to market. So, a lot of time it was educating why it’s important to have audience interaction and why it’s important to be able to capture that audio for recordings and why it’s important to let people express themselves and that’s why they came here. And so, a lot of it was educating and trying to get people to understand why we thought and why it was important in the market”, says Sean.

Validation

Tim compliments Sean’s point of view with the issue of market value: “From both event planner and technical side of things, this is a new product you have never seen before, you have 200 executives from your company that has hired you to pull off an incredible event, you’ve got everything dialed in, you’ve been working on this for a year, and then you bring in these two brothers with some sketchy-looking tech that sounds awesome, but is sketch.”

“I mean, you can see how that would be a little bit like, “Ah,” and in a lot of ways, it was. Meaning, there are a couple of technical X factors that were always a challenge for us to overcome. And so, we had to kinda take everything on a case by case basis in the early days.”

Another Event App?

Will touches upon the matter of people having to download yet another app. How can this issue be tackled?

“It’s kind of like how bad do you want it to work? How bad do you want the tech? How bad do you wanna use it? And in some cases, they say, “Not that bad. Not bad enough to do that. So, can we use your texting? Can we use your polling?” And we would lead them that way, and we did a number of events where all they used was our text feature, all they used was the polling feature, and that was fine”, explains Tim.

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The Next Big Leap

“If I were to look back at one of the biggest challenges that we had with Crowd Mics was that we probably pushed too far too fast, right? Too many markets, too many opportunities, too many just big wide eyes, and didn’t focus as much as we could have. We did the best we could with what we had, but that kind of wanting to explore other markets really spread us very thin quickly, and we ended up into a situation where we were not profitable”, recalls Tim.

What to do in such a situation? “So, the options are either raise more money, figure out how to charge more and get more revenue coming in, or just shut her down. I mean, we literally got to that decision point”, Tim continues.

The Decision

Sean remembers that period quite well, and what it came down to: “To give it a shot, we cut back and I just made the hard decision to go and find something else to do to give the startup life, to give it a chance to go. So, yeah, that was a tough decision and sucked to fire yourself from your own company that you founded and dreamt of, but it was the reality to make it work and to give it a chance. Which now, in hindsight, was the best decision that we made, but it was a tough one in the moment, for sure.”

Tim was the one who stayed. “Sean connected with a friend of his, Shaun McBride, known as Shonduras on the interwebs, and started to do some work up in Utah. So, Sean uproots his family, his little kids, little twins, and literally on a cold December night, moves to Utah. And I’m left here with our developer to keep Crowd Mics moving”.

The Biamp Connection

“So, Biamp, for those that don’t know, they’re a really, a kind of audiovisual provider, a manufacturer based in Beaverton, Oregon up near Portland”, Tim explains.

“They saw us at Info Com, thought it was cool, kept in touch a little bit, and then one day, Sean’s long gone in Utah, I’m keeping things kind of buzzing along, and they came along and said, “Man, this is really interesting. We like what we see. Are you interested in selling Crowd Mics?” Out of nowhere. Completely out of the blue. And the timing, guys, was just-it was the right timing. It was the right timing, it was the right situation. I would either have to raise more capital or figure out a different way and when they came along, it was the right thing to do”, he recalls.

They officially announced it a month ago, but the transaction actually took place in 2018. Ever since, the two brothers have been up to other exciting projects.

Fast Forward To Today

“We work with some of the biggest talent from Peter McKinnon to Tanner Fox to the Ace Family, Chris Ramsay. So, some huge talent on YouTube and Instagram where we go out and work with brands, both to just get paid promotion, basically, to spread the word on what they’re doing”, says Sean.

Tim is still up to some Crowd Mic business: “Biamp, when they bought Crowd Mics, the idea was to do something with it, but at the time, they just saw the opportunity to grab it, but really hadn’t had a formulated plan on what to do with it. So, they grabbed it and kind of sat on it for a little bit. I shouldn’t say sat on it, but they just didn’t really actively pursue doing much with it. So, I kind of just did some consulting work with them and with some other people doing some consulting with a couple local companies, and just recently, they said, “You know what, Tim? We’re gonna launch this sucker. Let’s just-let’s do it. We’d love to have you involved. Let’s launch Crowd Mics. Let’s re-launch Crowd Mics.”

He’s also aiming for some higher flights: “So, right now, I’m doing consulting work with Biamp and I thought, “Man, I’m just such a nerd. What could I do to exploit my nerdiness?” So, I’m a speaker. I’m a future speaker. You go to timholladay.com, I’m just now starting, just getting warmed up where I will do keynote and breakout session type speaking all about looking 5 to 15 years into the future and understanding how, as corporations, as organizations, and just as people, how we can best watch out for the pitfalls and then take advantage of incredible opportunities in the future”.

Some Good Advice

What could these ingenious brothers have to offer in terms of advice to future entrepreneurs?

On Sean’s part, it’s all about who you surround yourself with: “You’ve gotta surround yourself and find people that are genuine and will give you real feedback and thoughts and input. And make the connection when they say they can make the connection and introduce you to people that are gonna benefit and help you”.

Tim’s an advocate for the “you only live once philosophy” – knowing very well what that might mean: “Now that you’ve got yourself surrounded by good people, is just to freaking go for it. Like, really. Life is just way too short to not just do it. Meaning, what I found is all of us truly do have just this 24 hour-it’s super cliché, but we literally all have the same amount of time, and it does require giving up some things. You might need to back off on the Insta kind of trolling, you might need to back off on that latest Netflix series, you might need to make some hard decisions, you might need to put some cash in, you might need to sell your house and rent”, he says.

Conclusion

Overall, it comes down to hard work. “Those who hustle, those who grind, those who can just work, they’re gonna be able to make money. Might as well just do what you wanna do, even if it ends up bombing in a flaming ball of fire, it is worth the journey. Because the next one won’t bomb as bad, and then the third might hit, and then the fourth will change your life”.

So, that was a brief overview of this amazing journey with Crowd Mics for events. Let us know what you think about the technology, and of Tim and Sean’s incredible story, in the comment section below!

Resources:

Crowd Mics

TH: Tim Holladay

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from Endless Events https://helloendless.com/crowd-mics-live-events/

[5hfanfiction]

Lightning - Chapter 49

Wattpad Link: https://www.wattpad.com/358809506-lightning-camren-chapter-forty-nine

Camila’s first performance was even better than Lauren had even imagined. She had decided to sing ‘One Last Time’ by Ariana Grande, putting boat loads of emotion into every word she sang. The performance was so pure, so genuine, that it left Lauren in tears by the time the song had come to an end. There was literally no reason Lauren could see that Camila could be voted off for.

“What did you think of it?” Camila asked when the show had finally concluded. The smaller girl looked nervous to hear what her fiance thought of how she presented herself during her first performance. “I think I did alright.”

Lauren smiled. “You did great! I’m confident that you’ll be voted into next week and all of the weeks to come.”

Camila smiled back at her fiance, feeling very lucky to have someone like her in her own life. “I’ve been thinking about what we talked about prior to the show, Lauren.”

Lauren froze up at the sound of those words. She didn’t really want to discuss anything more about the subject as it was far too painful to think about at the moment. However, she wouldn’t ignore Camila’s request, since she loved her far too much to ignore anything that she had to say. 

“What about it?” Lauren questioned, terrified of the answer that she was about to receive.

“Well, I just want to know a few things.” Camila began. “Why do you have your heart set on moving out here, Lauren? Is there something that appeals to you? You used to be the type of person that wished to stay in Miami at all costs, but now it is completely flipped. Like, you could find classes for what you want to do in our home city, right?”

“Actually, well… no.” Lauren began to explain everything. “Since this operation is so new to medical sciences, you can only find the classes here in Los Angeles. That doctor that gave you the ability to see is actually an alumni of the school that I’ll be attending. Not only that, the offer that I received only will pay for classes from this certain school. I tried to explain this earlier, but we ran low on time.”

Camila was silent for a while. She appeared to be in deep thought, most likely thinking about the whole idea of moving out to Los Angeles. It didn’t take long before the silence was finally broken. “There’s more to it, isn’t there?”

Lauren hadn’t realized what Camila meant, but she started to think about the possibilities. “I made a promise, Camz.”

“Promise?” Camila questioned, raising an eyebrow with interest. “What promise?”

“I made a promise to Annabelle.” Lauren simply answered, then clarified what the promise had been. “I promised that I would always stay in her life, no matter what. I know that I can do that all the way from Miami, but it’s just easier if I stay with her for a while. She thinks of me as a big sister, Camz. I would feel guilty leaving her, even if I were to call her every day from the opposite side of the country. I’ll move back to Miami with you, if that’s really what you want me to do. Because frankly, you are the most important person in my life, and you know that I’d do anything in the world just to make you happy and with me.”

Camila glanced down at her feet, then fiddled with the wireless microphone that she still clutched in her right hand. “It all makes sense.” She finally spoke. “All of the reasons you have for wanting to move out here are truly genuine. I never doubted that to begin with, but now I know for a fact that you seem to be tied down here. All of your hopes and dreams are here, Lauren. I can’t rip that from you. But… I want you to know why I truly don’t want to leave Miami behind.”

Lauren frowned. She hadn’t even bothered to ask Camila why she was so hung up on staying in her home city. Instead, she just assumed that her fiance was just trying to stay in the home that they had resided in before. Lauren never decided to think about whether or not Camila had actual reasons for not wanting to leave.

“It’s for my sister, Sofia.” Camila stated. “I don’t want her to have to finish growing up without an older sister to guide her along the way. Sure, she has my mother and father, but I feel like she really needs me there with her. I grew up without an older sibling, and I was completely lost. I had to fend for myself in the messed up world that we live in, and it was hard to do it on my own. When Sofia was brought into this world, I swore to myself that I’d help her to become the best that she could be. I know this all may sound silly, but it’s kind of something that I’ve kept to myself for a while. The only reason I promised myself this was because I thought that Sofia deserved the chance that I never got.”

“That’s not silly at all, Camz. But let me make a point out to you. I’m not saying what I’m about to say to change your mind, as I’m only saying it to give you a better perspective on the whole thought process.” Lauren started. “Look at the two of us. You are a strong, beautiful woman who defeated the odds. You’ve stood up to your mother, graduated high school, and you have even earned a spot for yourself on ’The Voice’. But out of all of the things you’ve accomplished since you were first introduced to this world, I’d say that the most important thing of all was finding love. All of these things were done without the help of an older sibling. Also keep in mind, you will never be out of Sofia’s life for real. It’s not like you’ll never see her again, or talk to her even. If she’s anything like us, she’ll become just as successful as we are.”

Camila stared at Lauren with eyes full of thought. The pair of girls stood like this for a few moments, with only the sound of each other’s breathing to keep the room from being entirely silent. It was almost as if something changed in each other. For the first time, the two girls seemed to think that they were standing before a stranger. They had always learned more about each other, but now they were finally finding out the type of person that they other girl was. 

“Lauren…” Camila finally spoke. “You’re right. I’ve gone my whole life believing what I’ve told you, but now I’m starting to realize that it was just me. You made me understand that not having an older sibling around every day only made me stronger. To need to rely on someone every day makes you dependent. For me to actually help Sofia, I need to teach her how to be independent. And on that note, I think I’ve actually decided to move here with you.”

“Really?” Lauren asked for confirmation from her fiance.

Camila nodded. “I think it’s about time that I stopped looking at my past responsibilities, and start looking at my current ones. This show, Laurie, Cameron, and our marriage. These are the things that I need to focus on now. My mind has been so stuck thinking about the things that I was responsible for before I met you, but now I can finally understand what I’m supposed to be doing. My life has changed so dramatically and so quickly, that I hadn’t been able to keep up with it all. I hope that you’ll forgive me for trying to hold you back from moving out here. I’ve just been confused about all of the new responsibilities that I’ve gained.”

“Of course I can. I’ll admit, the changes that have happened recently are a lot to take in. It was difficult, no, terrifying to move all the way out here. But I knew that I had to come out here if I really wanted to fulfill my purpose in the world.” Lauren stated. 

“Good.” Camila simply said. “Now that we know what we’re going to do, I think it’s time for us to start discussing when this wedding is going to happen.”

[artisthousemusic-blog]

My Favorite Day

By Marc Broussard

I’ve had a lot of “favorite” days. They kind of happen by default when you travel the world. I could tell you about the day I signed with Atlantic? Or, when I found myself seated facing backwards in a small plane that was bolting off the deck of the USS Enterprise in the middle of the Persian Gulf.

Those were awesome days, sure, but I want to tell you about when I performed at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame induction. 

Disclaimer: Because of my profession, my days start at night. While this story takes place over the course of two consecutive evenings, we’re still within that 24-hour window, technically speaking. 

It starts on March 12, 2006 at 9 p.m.

I’m at a rehearsal space in Manhattan. I had just bought a vintage Epiphone Sheraton the day before in Burbank, CA, and I couldn’t wait to plug it in. I was there to rehearse for a tribute to Wilson Pickett for the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony. I’d be accompanied by two other singers: Leela James and the legendary Solomon Burke. We were to sing a medley with me taking the lead on a classic, “Mustang Sally.” Our backing band was Paul Shaffer and The CBS Orchestra.

Needless to say, I was stoked! 

Our rehearsal never materialized that evening because of technical problems. The facility had provided one sound engineer. He was running back and forth between monitors and front-of-house, trying desperately to please the band on stage and the board of directors. Shaffer, having had enough of it all, grabbed a wireless mic to let everyone know that rehearsal was over, made some choice remarks about the facility, and then proceeded (with all his might) to slam the wireless microphone to the ground. Not satisfied with the level of destruction on his first attempt, he picked it up and again threw it to the ground—this time, with pieces flying in every direction.

Felicia Collins came over to me and said, “I’ve known him for 25 years and I’ve never seen him do anything like that." 

My night was over but I didn’t care because I knew I’d get to tell this story some day. And it was just the beginning! 

I woke up the next morning early with my mind set on getting some new threads. I went to H&M (a store I’d never heard of) and picked out a new fancy shirt and jacket. Jumped into a Kenneth Cole and scooped up a pair of shoes and I was ready. Well, almost ready. My label had arranged for me to get a haircut and beard trim in my hotel room.

At this point, I was feeling like a bonafide rock star. New York. New clothes. Fresh hair.

And I was set to perform in a room full of rock legends! 

This opportunity, mind you, had its roots back at home. You see, having booked Leela and Solomon for the tribute to Wilson Pickett, it was told to me that Jann Wenner queried the rest of the show producers as to the possibility of "a soulful, white man” to round out the trio. My name was put forth as the primo option by Rick Krim, who ran VH1. He only knew who I was because one of his dear friends did me the honor of introducing us years earlier at her home in Los Angeles. She was a Lafayette girl by the name of Leah Simon, a woman holding a debt I’ll never be able to repay, and not nearly for just this one occasion. 

We arrived at the Waldorf ballroom before most everyone else. I had no idea just how epic the scene would become by the time I hit the stage. Though we hadn’t rehearsed fully the night before, Leela and Solomon had worked on their parts and “Mustang Sally” was an easy enough tune. I was told by the production staff to get off stage quickly, as there would be a crew coming to help Solomon off once we were done. When it was my time to go, Paul Shaffer called my name and I took my place on stage. 

Now, “Mustang Sally” is a perfect song for a ham like me—tons of space for a “ha” or “good god” in between lyrics. The lights were in my eyes and the room was dark, so I couldn’t really see the audience. What I’ve learned about these kinds of performances, though, is that they tend to be fairly energizing but are always over too quickly. There’s nowhere for all of that energy to go afterwards, and I often need to take a breather once it’s all said and done. 

As soon as the song ends, I threw up a peace sign, unplugged my guitar and headed for the stage exit, but the crew to help Solomon was already streaming in and I was forced back out onto a wing of the stage. There I stood, holding my guitar, looking at a now fully lit ballroom filled to the absolute brim with rock and roll royalty. 

Hey, there’s Ozzy and Sharon. Oh, that’s Bonnie Raitt. Kid Rock and Ahmet Erdogen are over there. Holy shit, that’s Brian May sitting with Metallica!

These weren’t A-listers because none of these people needed to be on the list. These were, and still are, the biggest rock stars on the planet and none of them are paying attention to me. I took my breather right there in front of everybody, scanning the room for faces I recognized. The best descriptor for how I felt at that moment was, “fly on the wall.”

However, that all came to screeching halt as my eyes came back to the center of the room. There sat one man, surrounded by friends and contemporaries, all chatting away … save for him. He’s been waiting for me to see him. As soon as our eyes lock, he throws me a huge thumbs up.

Once I realized this man was Sting, I lost control of myself for a second. My hands jerked to my head like I’d just seen my life savings disappear and then thrust forward, fingers spread as if to say, “IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?!?!" 

I finally made my way off stage, packed away my guitar and headed to my seat at the VH1 table, three feet from the stage-right speaker stack. I was immediately pulled to the big table front and center to say hello to my old label executives, who were no longer at my label having moved from Island/Def Jam to Atlantic. I remember feeling kind of awkward at the way Lyor Cohen leaned all the way over the table to plant a big, wet kiss on my cheek. It was like something out of a mob movie.

Was he signaling to someone else in the room? I didn’t know. 

What I did know was that I needed to pee, so I excused myself to the restroom. Metallica happened to be making their way to the stage just as I was about to enter the men’s room and we crossed paths, briefly. "Hey man,” Kirk Hammett hollered out to me. “You’re a badass!”

The stalls and urinals were all occupied, so I took my place on the wall opposite one of the guys at the urinals, waiting for him to finish his business. This is the kind of thing guys do all the time. When the guy finishes, he turns around, and without making any sort of contact, verbal or otherwise, you man up to a hot, steamy urinal still fresh with another man’s fluids.

It’s disgusting … hence the unwritten (but very real) no contact rule, especially with the eyes. Nobody ever had to tell me that was the rule, mind you. But this time was different because the guy that turned around that I wasn’t supposed to look at was Ozzy freakin’ Osborne! I think I even said, “What’s up, man?” which, again, is a big no-no. He mumbled some gibberish as he walked past and I stepped up to handle my business, morbidly enjoying the whole experience. 

Metallica performed a Skynyrd medley before the lights came up again in the ballroom. Kid Rock comes over to me and says, “Hey man, Ahmet wants to meet you." 

(Ahmet Erdogen was the legendary founder of Atlantic Records and one of the most influential figures in music during the 20th century.) 

"Young man, you were amazing,” Ahmet commented. “Tell me: Where will you be at the end of June?“ 

I told him I’d be wherever he needed me to be. 

He went on. "Have you heard of Montreux? Well, this year, the first night is dedicated to me and I’d like you to perform." 

I glanced back with a quizzling look at my manager who heard the exchange and she just nodded. So, I nodded in turn and the encounter was done. Not 30 seconds went by when Brian May (lead guitarist from Queen) comes over to me and says, "You’re a great singer, man. So I hear you’re going to be at Montreux.”

News apparently travels quickly in those circles. 

From that point on, I only had one thing on my mind: meet Sting. Every time the lights came up between sets, I tried to make my way to his table. Everyone would get up from their seats and start mingling, clogging up the space between tables. I’d get half the way there and then the lights would fade again. It was frustrating, but I was determined. Luckily, my seat would serve me well. Because I was seated so close to the stage, you had to walk right next to me if you wanted to go to the bathroom. During one of the intermissions, I saw my opportunity as Sting made his way to the loo. 

I just popped up out of my chair at the very moment he got to my table. It stopped him in his tracks and he grabbed me by the shoulders, leaned back to get a good look, pulled me in for a bro hug, pushed me back at the shoulders again and said, “Man, you’re a badass!”

I was in shock. The only response I could muster was, “You’re Sting.” We exchanged a few more kind words and then I let him on by. 

The evening was filled with moments like this one. I had performed well enough that every single one of these celebrities that walked by me said something kind. I was on the proverbial cloud 9 and starting to enter the stratosphere! What happened next was a moonshot. 

To close out the entire show, they had hired a man who lived three miles from my house: Buchwheat Zydeco. It was, I thought, a serendipitous end to the whole affair. Just as the band kicked it into gear, Debbie Harry sashayed up the stairs directly in front of me and up onto the stage. Rick Krim and my manager both immediately started to urge me to go dance with her. I flatly refused with a quiet “No!” through a grimaced smile. They insisted. “You’ll be on TV dancing with Blondie, fool! Get on that stage!” I relented.

Climbing the steps, I wondered as to exactly how I was supposed to ask Debbie Harry to dance with me. It turned out to be pretty easy. I just tapped her on the shoulder and presented her with body language that said something like, “Eh? How about it? Wanna give this a try?” She happily accepted the offer. 

So, to recap, in one evening, I sang with Solomon Burke, got kissed by Run-DMC’s old tour manager, mafia-style, high-fived Metallica, peed on the remnants of Ozzy Osborne’s pee, got invited to perform at one of the most prestigious music festivals in the world, made small talk with Kid Rock and Brian May, got a hug from Sting and two-stepped with Debbie Harry while Buckwheat Zydeco played us out.

I could’ve died right there.

I think I did die right there because I don’t remember anything after that until many days later.