#It is an Indian wedding so the traditions are gonna be a bit different but still!!!

[meowthefluffy]

i love that the fictional wedding is on hiatus because you're attending a real wedding

OH MY GOSH I DIDNT EVEN REALIZE

[thesoftrainbows]

You're one of the first people I've seen who write a HP rewrite with an Indian James Potter and specify where he's from in India. You said you headcanon him from Gujarat. I'm Gujarati and am interested in knowing why you headcanon him as so and if you have any specific headcanons

Hi Anon,

It’s such a shame that there’s not many people writing James Potter as Indian, I believe it opens the door to so many wholesome opportunities. However, I’m happy to be one of the few.

There’s no real reason why I headcanon him as Gujarati. I was sleep-deprived and already overwhelmed because I was studying like 5 different cultures, disabilities, and religions when I decided that I wanted James to be Indian. I think I just googled a map of Indian and blindly picked a place — which was Gujarat — and decided to do research on it to see if it fit my metal image of him. As I learned more and more about Gujarat, though, I fell in love and made it a permanent fact for my James.

I can’t, for the life of me, find the document on the Potter history I know I made. It’s been a while since I last touched it because I’ve been focusing a lot of disabilities as of late. But here are some headcanons I’ve developed, they might be vague or not specific to Gujarat. I’ll make another post once I find my doc.

JAMES POTTER HEADCANONS.

Fleamont Potter’s birth name was Pavalan Kashyap.

Euphemia Potter’s birth name was Thanya Gill.

They moved to England when Thanya was around six months pregnant due to a dangerous war happening all over India where hybrids (such as werewolves, harpies, fauns, centaurs, etc.) rebel against the Ministry as an attempt to get equal rights. Pavalan was afraid that the stress as well as the physical danger of the war would cause another miscarriage, so he contacted a former mentor (Giri Amin) to help him leave the country with his wife.

It was through Giri that they met Albus Dumbledore, who provided them with new identities (Fleamont and Euphemia Potter) as well as money and a home where they could live. They were now forever indebted to Dumbledore.

Their son was born, and they named him James Pavalan Potter — his official birth name — but they called him Jigishu (which was the name they had originally wanted to give him) at home because they wanted to raised their son to be in touch with his roots.

That didn’t go as planned, though. The racism against Indian people in England was strong. And poor James grew up surrounded by white kids who made fun of him for the way he smelled, his food, his skin color, etc. It grew to the point where James rejected his Indian side. It broke his parents’ hearts.

Throughout James’s school years at Hogwarts, James was always dealing with the constant need for approval. He needed to prove that he was equal to his white classmates.

It’s not until his 6th or 7th year that he finally accepts himself completely, and attempts to learn as much as he can about his culture and about his parents’ lives back home and such.

The rest of the Marauders & Co. were also thrilled to be included in the journey of learning about Gujarat, India.

When Lily and James marry, they have a big wedding, highly influenced by Gujarati traditions.

When Lily and James have their child, they name him Hari Pavalan Potter.

Hari, because it’s one of the names Vishnu used when he came to earth to restore the balance of the world. Pavalan, to keep his own father’s name in the family.

Those are the headcanons that come to mind at the moment. I apologize if it’s messy, it’s super late here and I’ve got a long day tomorrow. I’m gonna make a better post with my headcanons more organized and detailed.

Either way, thank you, Anon, for the message. If you’d like to help me out a bit, I’d really appreciate it!

[newtonsheffield]

Hi Henna/Oil Anon here again. I’d not be anon but I’m shy. So I think they both would be great in white. Since kates Tamilian (Simone is at least don’t know about the last name Sharma being traditionally tamilian) she’d wear a silk saree mostly a kanjiveram saree and the groom wears a “lungi” not really a sherwani. But caution cause while I’m south Indian I’m Muslim so huge difference in wedding styles but I’ve seen a couple so just giving my two cents. Do look up deepika padukone wedding 1/2

Cause taht wedding was 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Also I’ve seen brides do white whether it’s mixed or not. Red is traditional but honestly everyone these days wears what they want color wise. Again 😭😭 thank you for writing those Indian wedding pieces. Im trying to remember other wedding things but again since I’m Muslim And 2nd gen I don’t want to get anything wrong. But I’m in love molly. Stop being so amazing 2/2

Hey!

I think I remember some people saying that Sharma is a Northern Indian name but being Scottish born Australian myself I'm obviously not an authority on that, and my googles have not gotten me very far though admittedly I haven''t done much research on it, but I've decided that Simone's Tamilian so Kate is too.

You're the second person to tell me to look into this wedding so I'm weirdly a little excited to do it. I feel like this is gonna be a real feast for the eyes!

Part of me thinks that Kate would choose to have at least a little bit of white because it's traditional for Anthony. And I think Anthony would wear a pretty muted colour, but he'd be really excited to pick something out!

There is a moodboard in the works for this wedding, my apple pencil is charged and ready to go so that'll hopefully be out tonight!

Glad I did your idea justice!

[ladymazzy]

One year on: the BLM event that divided a Gloucestershire town

I'm beyond furious and exasperated with the perpetuation of the lie that racism is a thing of the past. This woman is only 25, and her recounting her experiences of going to school as a Black girl in the West Country only around a decade ago speaks volumes

Some highlights from the article. (CW for racism and White Fragility™️):

Growing up, Khady Gueye was one of just a handful of black pupils at her school in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. By the time she was a teenager, she was desperate to fit in and conform. And so when her nickname became “Nigs” – short for the N-word – Gueye didn’t challenge it.

Here, in the rural west of England, where she had been fed racist stereotypes of black people her whole life, she didn’t want to be labelled “the angry black girl” or the self-pitying minority who “couldn’t take a joke” or what was considered a “bit of light banter”.

And so it was, that on the last day of school where it is tradition for year 11s to scrawl goodbye messages on one another’s school shirts, Gueye took home a shirt covered with the N-word in giant block capital letters across the front. “Gonna Miss You Nigs” was written on the back next to jokes about golliwogs and messages of good luck.

Gueye was supposed to consider it an affectionate send-off; it was written by her own friends. It was 2012, the year Britain proudly celebrated its optimistic and diverse Olympic Games opening ceremony, or as Conservative MP Aidan Burley would call it, “multicultural crap”.

“I became complicit in allowing it to continue, by being ‘Ha ha! Good joke guys,’” says Gueye, flatly. “But when you grow up in an area that is so predominantly white and are already made to feel different, you just do your best to fit in. The ideal is don’t call out racism. Let it slide. You become so accustomed to it, it becomes your norm.”

Now 25 and on the verge of finishing her English degree at Manchester University, Gueye has become a local community organiser and is more visible than ever in the town where she was born and grew up.

“I don’t want my daughter to grow up with the same experience I did,” she says emphatically, over lunch at her local pub. “This is my home and it’s a lovely area to bring up a family in. I want my daughter to have a life where she is celebrated for who she is, not feel attacked or unwelcome because of her skin colour.”

But Gueye’s attempts to hold a small “celebration of BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) culture” sparked a furious backlash that, one year on, still reverberates throughout the small Gloucestershire town of Lydney.

...an online petition was set up to stop the event going ahead on the grounds that it was unsafe and high risk in the middle of a pandemic. Organiser Natasha Saunders wrote: “A mass gathering is a slap in the face to people who have been tirelessly shielding themselves, the elderly and loved ones from this virus.”

Anger, tension and outright abuse boiled over online as a counter-petition to support the event was organised. It got twice the number of signatures, leading Saunders to say that hers was more valid by claiming “90% of [signatories] are from Lydney, can you say yours was?” Later, she would make Eldridge-Tull gasp by posting: “He couldn’t breathe, now we can’t speak”, in a reference to Floyd’s murder by a police officer.

“We’re a happy community, we don’t really have an issue with racism,” said one middle-aged man, who didn’t want his name published, as he nursed a pint outside a local pub. “Outsiders bring their problems, but there’s not a lot of them here,” he said, echoing in politer terms a point that was made repeatedly to the Observer last week.

Last year, Gueye and Eldridge-Tull spent hours patiently replying to comments online in an attempt to explain the event and reassure people about it, but still received threats. Hundreds of screenshots of the abuse have been shared with the Observer. A typical missive read: “Fuck off. Not everyone agrees with black lives. I can’t say what I want on here coz I’ll be reported for racism. But I would bring back black slavery.” Gueye was repeatedly told to go back to where she came from if she didn’t like it and that she would be responsible for bringing harm to Lydney residents.

The pair’s standard response to those with genuine concerns about mass gatherings in a health pandemic, during a lockdown, was to keep explaining that social distancing was being strictly adhered to – two-metre grids were hand-chalked by Gueye and Eldridge-Tull on the site – and that PPE was being provided to anyone who didn’t have any.

“I think it speaks volumes that BAME people are still willing to protest for their human rights even though they are disproportionately affected by the pandemic,” wrote Gueye. “Maybe this should highlight the severity of the inequality in our society”.

....

When asked if she [deputy mayor, Tess Tremlett] accepted there were a lot of racist aspects to the abuse the organisers had endured, Tremlett replied: “I think some of the comments coming from supporters of the event were actually racist in themselves. They were called ‘white trash’, they were called Nazis and all sorts.”

But as anti-racist activists have spent the last year explaining, racism isn’t simply prejudice based on how one looks, but a system...[based] around a specific set of ideas – in this case, racist ones.

It is useful to explain why it is possible for white people to experience individual prejudice and unpleasant behaviour simply based on the colour of their skin but why it is inaccurate to call that “racism”. Being white does not mean one is more likely to be criminalised by the police, or that one is more likely to work in lower-paid frontline work or that one is more likely to be exposed to and die of Covid as a result.

In Gloucestershire, for instance, police statistics show that being black means you are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police than you would if you were white.

The numbers are blankly disproportionate; there are just over 5,000 black people resident in the county compared with 570,000 white people. Last year, Gloucestershire council published evidence that jobseekers from minority ethnic groups had to send an average of 60% more applications to receive the same level of interest as white candidates. It’s not a conversation that Lydney, like much of the country, appears to have much interest in yet.

Tremlett, who has two decades of experience working in community engagement, explained that her sole reason for opposing the event was to be lawful. “Racism is the biggest insult anyone can say to me and I was called a racist by Khady’s team, whoever they are.” Was being called a racist worse than the actual racism that Gueye was continually facing in her everyday life? At this, Tremlett began to cry.

”You don’t understand,” she said, explaining that her daughter had been to three Indian weddings, that her builder was black, and that she had run an equalities panel for years as a councillor. Her experience – being called a racist, being abused online – when she felt she was doing the right thing, understandably made her defensive and upset. But it’s a difficult position for Gueye and Eldridge-Tull to deal with. Especially as she described Gueye as “aggressive and confrontational”.

Last year, Tremlett took the matter of the Forest of Dean’s BLM movement to local Conservative MP Mark Harper, who raised the matter in the House of Commons.

On 17 June, Harper, who may be best known as the immigration minister responsible for sending vans encouraging illegal immigrants to “go home” around parts of London, appeared to encourage an online pile-on against Eldridge-Tull, who had a tenth of his 30,000 followers, and demanded she apologise to the local community for tweeting: “The reaction to the BLM protest in Lydney has brought to light so much support, but so much hate. I love where I live, but I’m ashamed of my neighbours, and ashamed to be part of a community that has so widely endorsed and exacerbated racial hatred.”

....

When Gueye posted a picture of her school-leaver’s shirt on Instagram last year, one of her schoolfriends wrote that it was outrageous, and that she was impressed with everything Gueye was doing. “I was really happy she felt that but it was awkward,” says Gueye. “I messaged her back to say that she was one of the people who wrote those messages.” An embarrassed silence followed, but Gueye is hopeful and optimistic. “It’s still a positive sign.”

[fulcrumahsokaamidala]

Fan Fic Catch Up: One-shot

Hello, everyone!!! So this is me thanking awesome fanfic writers for their amazing work and all the time they put into their fics. ♥️ I want to recommend spectacular fanfic stories I’ve read since my last spectacular Saturday post! ♥️ Which was last November!!! Saturday spectacular post will resume this Saturday. Will still be tagged as #saturday spectacular fic rec

This is the second of three catch up posts.

Completed multi-chapter fics

WIP fic

One-shots

cook with love (to make food for the soul) by @inlovewithimpossibillity | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: ‘I don’t really cook.’ ‘That makes sense.’

An expansion on the beginning sequence of 8x05 within which Oliver takes it upon himself to try and remedy a gap in Mia’s education. The kitchen.

these faultlines in our guard by @alexiablackbriar13 | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Instead of forcing Mia into doing the initiation bell exercise, the Bratva use more extreme measures to try and extract information from Oliver, using his daughter. Mia is left trying to deal with the physical and emotional aftermath of being tortured in front of her father while he dials his overprotective instincts from 10 up to 11.

Viscount Hood’s Return by @hope-for-olicity | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Lady Felicity Smoak attends a Yuletide Ball and is surprised to discover Viscount Hood.

A Perfect Holiday Getaway by @blondeeoneexox | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: This fic is just a whole lot of holiday Olicity fluff.

no I don’t hardly know her (but I think I could love her) by vickovac | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | One-shot

Summary: 'I’m in the library doing extra-credit work and you’re working on a term paper due tomorrow’/'you accidentally took my coffee’ 'you really drink that?’/'I took the flyer for the society you were handing out because you’re so pretty but I have no idea what we actually do’ AU

or Amy Santiago, like any normal college student, has a routine. Naturally, her class rival, Jake Peralta, disrupts it…in the best way possible.

Boyfriends From College by Impossibly_Izzy | Brooklyn Nine-Nine & One Day at a TIme | One-shot

Summary: Jake dated two guys in college, but doesn’t realize until he introduces one of them to Amy.

Into the B99-Verse by ThatOneSmolFangirl | Brooklyn Nine-Nine & Into the Spider-Verse | One-shot

Summary: that title was so bad ANYWHO, our favorite boy, Miles Morales, finds himself in the Brooklyn-99 precinct. Him interacting with everyone and generally having a good time. Based off that one tumblr post

Are You Wearing My Shirt? by @green-arrows-of-karamel | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Felicity has a little accident and borrows Oliver’s shirt.

Not The Last Time by CSM | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Post 804. Mia desperately wants to see her mother and there is no stopping her, so Oliver and William accompany her to Bloomfield to see a surprised Felicity and baby Mia.No association with my other season 8 fic

Big Belly Reprieve by @inlovewithimpossibillity | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Bored in the bunker waiting for their parents to finish at the gala, FTA head to Big Belly to introduce Mia to the food of their childhood. [Set in 8x06: Reset]

Merry and Bright by @inlovewithimpossibillity | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: The 2013 Queen Consolidated Holiday Office Party sneaks up on CEO, Oliver Queen, but if he’s learnt one thing this year, it’s that anything’s possible when he has Felicity Smoak by his side. (For the 'Olicity Holiday Tropes Challenge’ prompt: Office Party)

The Little Green Secret by @green-arrows-of-karamel | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: This is not how Oliver imagined New Year’s Eve was going to be.

A Heart Full of Love by @inlovewithimpossibillity | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: With Christmas upon them now, Felicity has to admit that she’s incredibly excited as well to do something other than eat takeout and watch Disney movies with her baby girl. Sharing the Queen’s traditions with them is just another move towards them becoming a more cohesive family and she’ll always be excited for that. [A Christmas morning fic set within my Single Parents AU 'Welcome to Starling Prep Elementary’ around a year later]

sugar and smoke rings by @inlovewithimpossibillity | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: He never would have believed the full story if it hadn’t come directly from the lips of the man he trusts most in the world. The legendary vigilantes Green Arrow and Overwatch had a daughter no one knew about?[How Connor meets Mia, pre-s7 flashforwards]

kissing death and losing my breath by fbismoak (midwestwind) | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: “In the grand scheme of things, she figures she’s probably due for a mental break anyway.“Picks up immediately after the end of 2x07.

A Late Christmas Present by @alanna-the-lionheart | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: When Oliver and Felicity’s friends send their wedding gift back to them, the two of them feel quite differently about it. Oliver tamps down his frustrations in an effort to make Felicity feel better, and together, the two of them turn an unpleasant situation on its head.

a father should be great by @inlovewithimpossibillity | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Two conversations, thirty years apart. A seven-year-old Felicity and a nine-year-old Mia. Both two scared girls wondering why their fathers are no longer with them. Both seeking the comfort of their mothers.

Everything by WinnieTherPooh | Agents of SHIELD | One-shot

Summary: Jemma tries to reconcile the Doctor of the Framework with her Fitz. Set immediately post-Framework (in a world where the space adventure doesn’t happen, or at least doesn’t begin right away).

hot chocolate conversations by riverwoodhills | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Walter stumbles upon a distraught Oliver being consoled by his Executive Assistant in his office, a hot chocolate being passed subconsciously between them.

open up the door for you by @inlovewithimpossibillity | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: A random evening with a little too much whiskey leads to Mia opening up to Connor about where she comes from and a little bit more.

gentle lady, your knight is here ready  by @alexiablackbriar13 | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Set in S2. A collection of missing scenes. The five times Oliver took care of Felicity and the one time she took care of him.

(drop everything) meet me in the moonlight by @inlovewithimpossibillity | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Oliver is working late one summer’s night in the mayoral office when a text from Felicity alerts him that everything is not alright with his beautiful, blonde ex-fiancée partner. (or post-s4, Felicity’s trying desperately to deal with the guilt of Havenrock and reaches out to Oliver one night when it’s all a little too much.)

we do, but friends don’t by @inlovewithimpossibillity | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Detective Billy Malone learns many things early on in his relationship with Felicity Smoak but his most important finding is just how close she seems to be with her ex-fiancé, newly appointed Mayor Queen.[a (semi-)outside perspective on olicity, just before the start of s5]

Life was Full of Surprises - and Oliver Queen was the Best One byaponderingcharming | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Set sometime in Season 2. After a rough night, Oliver gets drunk and Felicity is left to take care of him. After some fluff and a heartwarming moment of honesty, Felicity notes a shift in their relationship.

kneel by 101places | Agents of SHIELD | One-shot

Summary: Simmons has a bad reaction to an episode of Doctor Who.

a dance or two to escape the gloom by @alexiablackbriar13 | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Queen Incorporated’s Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak of Smoak Technologies, rival CEOs, dance with each other at a holiday gala to avoid their exes.

New Year’s Eve by @alexiablackbriar13 | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: William pulls a 5x20 on Connor and Mia, locking them inside the bunker on New Year’s Eve with Indian food and wine. Of course, things escalate.  

Regret by Altum_Videtur  | Star Wars: The Clone Wars | One-shot

Summary: In the aftermath of the Battle of Ryloth, Ahsoka comes to terms with being responsible for other people’s lives. Set right after Storm Over Ryloth.

The Subtleties of Fashion by FrostOnGalway | Star Wars: The Clone Wars | One-shot Summary: Can we all agree that Ahsoka’s first outfit with the tube-top and mini-skirt is terrible for so many reasons? Anakin thinks so, and he’s gonna take a stand against stupid costume designers. The only problem is, how does he do that without hurting Ahsoka? When faced with a crisis of fashion (or most crises, really) the obvious solution is to go to Padmé for help. AKA The story of how Ahsoka gets her new outfit in Season 3. AKA The Fashion and the Arts (of Subtlety) Remix

you put your arms around me (and i’m home) by @inlovewithimpossibillity​ | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: The bunker is filled with people, Mia had been right about that, and there are many faces she recognizes staring back at her in shock but Mia is only interested in one of them.[An 8x10 spec-fic based off of the promo stills wherein Adult Mia meets 2020 Felicity]

no one will win this time by @alexiablackbriar13​ | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Canon divergent from COIE Part 5.Instead of targeting the Paragons, the pissed-off Anti-Monitor sends shadow demons after Oliver’s loved ones. Realizing two of the people Oliver loves most are vulnerable currently out in Bloomfield, dealing with the archer’s death, Sara rushes to protect Felicity and baby Mia, and bring them back to Star City so they can keep them safe.

The Next Right Thing by @inlovewithimpossibillity​ | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: A cabin. A wife. A teenager. A baby. Felicity Smoak is shaken to her core after the events of Crisis but she must come together for her son and daughter now. For Oliver, and for the true reason he sacrificed so much.

Take Your Daughter Into Battle Day by @alexiablackbriar13​ | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Oliver and Mia are trying to keep her identity secret from the other superheroes as Crisis begins, saying that she’s a Green Arrow from E-20 called Maya. But after their first huge team battle, Barry and Kara quickly notice something is up between them - and the truth unfolds.

Let me know if you want to be tagged!

@hope-for-olicity @emdee8907 @malafle @laxit21 @icannotbelieveiamhere

[midnightiscoming-kasabian]

New/Old interview with Ian (November 2016) _______________

Mike Dolbear DRUMS | Interview with Ian Matthews - Kasabian

“Rock compares to jazz like killing someone with a baseball bat vs. putting a pillow over their mouth”. Ian Matthews has both ways down like few others.

Coming from a jazz background he swapped the thin sticks for some proper wood and has been the power house behind British Indie Rock band Kasabian for the last 13 years.

2015 has also seen Ian seeking out new adventures joining a team surrounding master drum builder Keith Keough launching the brand new British Drum Company.

I caught up with Ian after his performance at the London Drum Show to chat about his musical upbringing, Kasabian and his new venture into the drum building business.

[x]

You started at the age of four after your babysitter taught you your first beats?

Yes, my babysitter (now passed away) was one of my dads mates and a long standing friend of the family. He would come to babysit me and bring me drum sticks when I was about two. I still remember ‘Mama - Dada - Mama - Dada’. His dad had an amazing red sparkle drum kit which I always loved. I think that’s where the seeds were sown.

My dad being a pianist wanted me to play the piano too but he realised that I wasn’t interested. So when I was four he tried to find a teacher who would teach somebody so young. There was a guy who lived just around the corner in Bristol called Mike Holmwood who was playing as a session player at the time for a band called The Brotherhood of Men. He had me come round the house, stick on some Cowboys and Indians or whatever was on the telly on a Saturday morning, gave me some milk and biscuits; take me up to the drum room for ten minutes to teach me some stuff; then back down for some more Cowboys and Indians; then back up for another ten minutes and so on... He did that for several years and taught me how to play brushes, jazz independence, how to read and all that. He got me to a point where when I was seven years old my dad turned around to me as he was packing his organ in the back of the car and went: ''Son, you’re coming with me''. The drummer for his social club gig was ill so I filled in. I went to do the gig with him and got £5. From that point I was hooked.

This guy Mike used to tell me about playing with confidence and feel. It was something I didn’t quite understand then but he sowed those seeds in my head. I’m making music for the sake of how I’m doing it as opposed to what I’m doing and I’ve got on as a drummer from the age of 19/20 as a drummer by going into from that direction.

Was it a conscious decision for you to make drumming your career or did it just happen?

I went through school still doing all these gigs with my dad and then joined a Bristol drum corps called The Troopers when I was ten. I don’t think we were a very good drum corp; we rehearsed twice a week and we also came last in the championships, but it taught me how to play with others and we used to race each other on rudiments trying to become the lead drummer.

I also did some school orchestras and in the band of the Avon and Somerset fire brigade learning to play with a wind band, playing military type stuff and lots of reading. I also did wedding gigs and jazz gigs, so I was always involved with music through school.

Even my drum teacher at the time, Eddy Clayton, used to dep me out for his gigs so I was playing in the pubs of Bristol when I was 13. Props to all these middle aged jazzers letting a 13 year old boy sit in and count them in.

I left school and had some crappy jobs which all weren’t really well paid and I just realised I could make nearly enough doing a couple of function gigs on the weekend. So I decided I would like to just sit at home and have to do nothing else but just play the drums and see if I can live of that. So I did.

You once made this beautiful comparison between rock and jazz being like “killing someone with a baseball bat vs. putting a pillow over their mouth”.

[laughs] Yes, this was kind of a half joke between me and a friend of mine who’s a jazz violinist. I’ve done jazz gigs with him and it’s so different than going on stage for a hundred thousand people driving a drum kit through the stage. That’s why we came up with that. To me, brewing on a ride cymbal at mid- to up- tempo, or even a slow brush thing, the inner me is trying to bring as much intensity to that musical moment of a whisper as I would at a yell.

You’re left-handed but you set up your drum kit right-handed?

I had this question a lot during my time as a teacher. You find people have left/right issues with their bodies. For me, I’m left-handed writing but my natural instinct is to kick a ball with my right foot, so my right foot was always gonna be my kick drum foot. Also, I was just put on a traditional drum set by my first teacher. I can’t even remember if he made me play like this or if I just naturally did it because I as a kid I watched all these drummers on our little black and white TV making their drums shake, guys with massive bangs of hair and huge sideburns. Maybe that’s where it came from. I’m not against playing lefty but it’s just the way it rolled. The right foot thing though was important for me.

Let’s talk about Kasabian.

I had a teacher who indicated to me that if I wanna get on the scene I needed to make sure to make friends and connect to as many engineers as possible. That’s where you meet the musicians who are doing stuff and where you get a call of people who need a drummer. These are the guys who are active, not the getting stoned in a bedsit dreaming about being a rock star.

I had red light fever and every time the recording button got pressed I would jam up. I tried getting as much training as possible, whether it was paid or not.

Mat, a friend of a friend, ran a studio called Big Bonk and I used to go there and record for free on his projects and in return he would throw me some work. Sometimes there was 50 or 100 quid in it. Kasabian from Leicester were coming down. They got some development money from their manager to spend on a drummer and Mat recommended me.

The day before the recording I fell down the stairs, sprained my right ankle badly and was inches from picking up the phone to cancel because I couldn’t walk. I still did it. I limped down to his basement, the boys looked at me and I went: ''I’m your drummer for the day''. That’s when I first met them. I did the session in pain you wouldn’t believe, they were blown away it seems and I did a couple of sessions with them after that.

They got signed the year after in 2002 but I couldn’t really get involved because I was doing enough stuff already. I was working with a guy signed to Virgin, another artist signed to Real World and was going to Paris a lot doing some African crossover stuff replacing Manu Katche in a band.

During that time the guys were sharing a farm up in Leicester working on their record. We lost contact a little through 2003 and later that year they started getting on the road playing the Dog & Duck here, the Dog & Duck there, driving up and down the motorways in a Mini Metro and an Austin Maestro.

In 2004 the manager called me in a panic saying they needed a drummer next week and they wanted me. It was Easter holidays so I went in and we tore it up for two weeks. After that the manager said: “Do you want to come and work with us? I can hire you and we have enough money to replace your teaching and feed your family. Come with us for 18 months.” I went for it and it was amazing. In fact they made me a band member in 2005 - so it’s kind of a gradient in membership. I wasn’t just parachuted into a famous band. I proved myself, we proved ourselves and together we made it all possible. I met them 15 years ago and it’s all been developing ever since.

There’s a bit of a time off for the band at the moment?

Yes, we last seriously toured in 2014 when we headlined Glastonbury. That was a big gig. That whole year was really dense.

Then 2015 we just did about 15 or 20 festivals mostly in eastern Europe, we also went to Brazil and did the Lollapalooza tour of Latin America taking in Chile, Peru, Colombia and Argentina. Then come the end of August we decided we’re on our sixth album, we need to give us some time off. We also wanted to give the public some time off and not just bring out another album and go back out on tour.

This coincided with Keith inviting me to become partner in the British Drum Company.

2016 was quiet apart from May where Leicester, Kasabians favourite team, won the Premiership in the most dramatic way ever and we played their victory parade in front of 150,000 people in Victoria Park. In my down time I did some jazz gigs, some funk gigs, a little bit of session work here and there, the drum company and my family. I’m not pursuing a project because by the time it gets going Kasabian will be back out.

Let’s talk about the British Drum Company for a bit.

So Keith is a guy I met a few years ago at the Scottish Drum Fare and we got on like a house on fire straight away, it’s like Bro-Love. We stayed in contact every since and every time I was in Manchester we met up for a drink, some food or he came to see a gig - we just became mates and we would trade on each other on our perspectives on drum maker vs. drum player. I always knew I wanted to work with but he was with Premier and I was with DW so we just didn’t have the situation.

It came to that he left Premier and Al Murray convinced him to keep on building drums, so the two of them started collecting partners. Stu Warmington does our marching devision, Alan Kitching is our product designer and there is me, which is flippin’ amazing. Keith literally just turned around to me at V-Fest, the last gig of our tour and went: “You’re up for this then mate?”. And I just went: Wow! Fuck yeah!

It must be something like a little boys dream to be involved in building your own kits. Is there any limit to what you can do or can you just try anything?

Mate, it’s incredible! Keith is the genius and what the rest of us do around Keith is to steer his genius in the right way. We’re like a band. We’re flying very quickly, we’ve only just gone a year and already everybody is going: oh yeah, British Drum Company. People are intrigued still  but we all came together because we’re all senior in what we do somehow. We’re not ‘having a go’ or just investing in a business and try go get people in to run it who are not that emotionally into it. We’re five partners who came together to create something magic that we’re proud of and I think it’s working.

I think it has taking people by a bit of a shock that a little Manchester workshop can create a drum kit which sounds f**king unreal.

I had that moment when I left DW, who I was very loyal to, and turned up to London Drum Show last year [the official launch of British Drum Company]. I got up in the lift, got to the booth, drums all over the floor, the boys all red-eyed because they’d been up all night to finish the last drum kit and you could still smell the solvent. Keith gave me a drum key, put me on this 24” kick drum kit and told me to tune it up. I took a deep breath: Right, this is the moment, let’s see what I’ve done. I hit the drum and I tell you now: the adrenaline that went through me when I realised I’d done the right thing was incredible. We set the whole thing up, I played it and my first words when I turned to Keith were: ''I’ll take this kit on a stadium tour tomorrow. I’ll never forget that moment''.

I’m catching you just after your masterclass in the Mike Dolbear room here at the London Drum Show. How does this compare to being on stage with a band?

Well, I’m coming here to a full room of people and I have Ash Soan, Karl Brazil, Mark Richardson, Cherisse Osei and Tina from Zildjian out there who all came to see me. Bloody hell! I’m nervous of those situations but it’s not the playing, it’s the talking. Am I actually gonna manage to entertain these people and give them something?

When it comes to playing music I’ve been doing it long enough. The intense acceleration of Kasabians career happened in the mid noughties - especially when Fire came out. Suddenly we started headlining all these festivals. I remember being at T in the Park and looking at this enormous stage, there was Channel 4, T4 cameras everywhere, celebrities hanging about and 60,000 people out the front and I shit myself! I had my moment of ‘Wow’ and had to talk myself down of it. I told myself: I’m only here because the boys want me here and the way I play. I can’t change the way I play that’s just the way it is. We are only here because the people out there want us there. We can’t change the way we play, that’s the way we do it. So if we only go on stage and play the way we play and not be scared of that, then happy days surely! We spent hours together in dressing rooms and tour buses talking about these issues, Tom just always went: ''You have nothing to prove''.

So I think those other drummers can think what they like, we’re all mates. I could have a bad one today and wouldn’t give a sh*t. I’m only human.

I know that I’ve made 100,000 people jump at the same time in a field so there is something about my humble basic beats that works. That’s me being arrogant of course but if we get into the psychology of it... and maybe there are some readers out there who might have to read that. It’s like sports psychology.

Finally, what’s next?

The company is keeping me busy pretty good. We’re doing most of it via social media so my phone is just going ‘bing’ all the bloody time.

In the meantime, the weather is changing for Kasabian, we’re gonna be brewing up. The new record is in completion I think and for all you Kasabian fan readers, there’s gonna be something special coming your way.

That’s the good thing though: if I do go out back on tour with Kasabian this year, I’ll still be helping to manage the company.

I feel very lucky at the moment.

Thanks a lot for your time Ian!

Interview -Tobias Miorin

Photos - Francesco DesMaele

www.mikedolbear.co.uk

[nearronline-blog]

Let’s unmask the latest ethnic wear trends 2018

As the wedding season is in full swing, nothing can beat the look of an Indian ethnic wear. Every woman looks gorgeous and elegant in an Indian wear whether it is lehenga choli or saree/mekhela chadar. We all have filled our wardrobe with all types of clothing but when the wedding season knocks in, no one likes to wear the same old ethnic wear and repeat it again. Well, it’s obvious that we all want to look gorgeous at our best outfit.

Right from frills to bell sleeves, off-shoulders to capes, we have seen it all in last year. But this year, it’s time to upgrade your wardrobe with some silk, fringe and full sleeved blouses. So, let’s share some amazing ethnic wear trends of 2018 which anyone can carry gracefully and dance whole night with ease. So, get ready to flaunt your ethnic look like a celeb!

1. Wear a Saree with Churidar – Wearing a saree with petticoat is now old-style. This year try something different by teaming it up with churidar pants. Just wear a beautiful cut-out blouse with a matching churidar pants and tuck in the pre-draped saree. If you don’t have any pre-drapped saree, don’t worry! Just take out your favourite saree and make pleats until you reach the pallu section. Stuck the pleats in your front side and wrap the pallu around your waist. Don’t forget to complete the look with belted pallu.

2. Shirt style/high Neck Blouses - This year high neck or shirt style blouses are in a new rage and very much prevailing amongst our B-town celebs also. This look is very unique and compliments well with any saree or mekhela chadar. Just choose a high neck blouse with detailed embroidery work, kundan or stone work to get a whole classy look. Apart from this, you can also try out shirt style blouse which will be more experimenting and will give you indo-western look. These looks are perfect for any festival, wedding or family affairs. So just paired it up with any gorgeous silk saree or Assam silk mekhela chadar and here you got your ravishing traditional look.

3. Silk Sarees/Assamese Mekhela Chadar – Silk sarees always been one of the most sought ethnic wears since ages. It is elegant, vibrant and captivating in designs which never fail to catch attention from others. It’s magnificent design and style is ruling the fashion world. Whereas, Assamese mekhela chadar is also very popular for its distinctive style and enticing traditional look. Pair it up with high neck full sleeves or sleeveless blouses to get the perfect look.

4. Fringes Obsession – Fringe blouses are surely going to set a trend with a storm in the Indian fashion industry. Tassled earrings and shoes were one of the most loved fashion trends last year and we are still in love with that tassled touch. So, let’s continue the tassled trend in a traditional way and I am sure, you all gonna love to try this look. Just add some fringe in your traditional wear whether it is your saree or blouse. Off-shoulder fringe style blouses and saree with fringe details is something which is definitely going to be a dramatic. One fringe style ethnic wear is must for every wardrobe this year.

Hope, this new ethnic wear trend tips are going to be useful for you. Don’t wait anymore; just get some outfits in fringes, silk and more for this wedding season. Well, it’s time to add a little bit of drama in your same old traditional look!

[gentlespaceman-blog]

Wedding and Engagement Poses | The V Up - Natural Light Couples Photography Workshop DVD E502

Wedding and Engagement Poses | The V Up - Natural Light Couples Photography Workshop DVD E502

you the first foundation pose that we're going to be showing you is the via the VF is essentially the cornerstone Foundation pose because you'll find that so many poses are going to be based upon this pose we'll be using the V up for many of their shots during their couple session including some of the more traditional portraits some of the candid shots and more Plus this is going to be the pose that we use primarily throughout the wedding when we're needing to shoot and pose the family or the wedding party around our couple so we always start with a V up because it is the first of the foundation poses alright guys so here's what we can do we're going to start first with kind of our foundation pose I want you guys to get comfortable being from the camera we'll get all of our kind of traditional stuff knocked out here and then we're going to go and have some fun alright we're going to start first with the V up I'm gonna have you guys pull into the V up and what that is is basically your shoulders in the back - and hold this for a second or you are going to touch in the back okay so you're essentially making a V with your back shoulders and I want you guys to think of this almost like the back where your shoulders are touching is like the hinge on a door okay so whenever I say if I say Jackie open all you got to do is just open up a little bit like this way if I say Jackie close you just closed up a little bit so this is the first foundation pose because we're essentially going to base everything off this if I say close up into the closed pose then you guys both know just to come in and close the door essentially okay so think of it that way your shoulders are kind of that hinge and then what we're going to do is Jackie like we talked about your hands going to come off the body so onto the hip that's great right there ryan give me a little bit less of those fingers kind of out on her hip right there there you go right there and then on your right hand let's go right hand let's go thumb in the pocket yes nice then keep the fingers closed like that and just remember like we talked about want to keep our heads leaning toward each other not too much so it doesn't look like you're sleeping I each other so lean in a little bit okay that's sleepy and then I come out a little bit there you go that's perfect right there okay so this gives you guys well it lets us know that you actually like each other and that's important right alright Jackie what you're going to do is take a tiny bit of a step forward just so you're not behind Ryan with the face because we're going to shooting with a very shallow depth-of-field what that means is if you're a little behind you'll turn out a little bit blurry okay so you won't be sharp that's perfect guys remember we talked about I want you guys to be kind of of my advocates so like look at each other before each...

See more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2l98tzTAAg

Exactly what are the Rewards of Employing a Competent Wedding Photographer?

This specific post explains about the advantages of choosing a skilled Asian wedding photographer for your wedding. Probably the most pleasurable day of anyone's existence is without a doubt their wedding day. It is a time when two souls meet to begin a new life. The personal appeal of marriage ceremony is that it can easily give excitement, satisfaction, passion, delight, smile as well as tear all sensation in your heart at once. The absolute best method to catch every one of these types of memories of a wedding ceremony is certainly to employ the services of a skilled wedding photographer. The proficient wedding photographers really help you in capturing the priceless instants in an unique as well as breathtaking method. Asian wedding day, most especially Indian wedding is definitely not a one day function. There are various rituals as well as ceremonies, which finish at minimum in a week or so. Thus, there is not a sight that the range of beautiful memories will definitely finish without an epic photo album. Choosing a competent wedding photographer is a clever move to make sure that each and every occasion of your wedding is caught in an extraordinary a spectacular method. Many of the people do not employ a professional photographer so as to save on their money. However, hiring a professional photographer may supply you positive aspects in a variety of means. Securing spectacular and awesome photographs is definitely not something that anyone may do perfectly without skills and appropriate tools. Professionalism and reliability is just one of the greatest advantages of working with a professional Asian wedding event photographer UK. The specialist photographers provide a very good knowledge about the important guidelines of photography. On top of that, they are geared up with all the equipment and accessories needed for capturing natural looking and stunning photographs. The professionals catch each and every photo manually so as to provide outstanding reminders of priceless moments. The wedding event photographer will likely give conscientious attention to every ritual so as to immortalize every instance of your wedding day. When employing the services of a qualified professional wedding photographer, you can rest assure that you will acquire only superior high quality photographs of your wedding. They deal with all the factors and identify how to capture the subject matter in the best possible natural aspect. An additional advantage of selecting a professional wedding photographer is valid years of experience. The competent photographers provide hands-on practical experience in many different kinds of wedding photography. This enables them to help their clients in choosing the appropriate theme, colour and style of their wedding day. The professional photographers offer many different packages so as to measure up to the various needs of the customers within their budget. Furthermore, they personalize the package deal as per your need and criteria. The wedding photographer will certainly also enable their customers to keep their wedding memories in wide ranges of configurations. A lot of qualified professional photographers will supply a large range of photography solutions to pick from. The bride and groom can pick from photos printed on a variety of colourful papers, a comprehensive wedding album or in an electronic format like Compact discs as well as DVDs. And so forth, whenever you employ the services of a professional photographer you will certainly obtain photos that will definitely help you remember your big day for several years.

[nearronline-blog]

Let’s unmask the latest ethnic wear trends 2018

As the wedding season is in full swing, nothing can beat the look of an Indian ethnic wear. Every woman looks gorgeous and elegant in an Indian wear whether it is lehenga choli or saree/mekhela chadar. We all have filled our wardrobe with all types of clothing but when the wedding season knocks in, no one likes to wear the same old ethnic wear and repeat it again. Well, it’s obvious that we all want to look gorgeous at our best outfit.

Right from frills to bell sleeves, off-shoulders to capes, we have seen it all in last year. But this year, it’s time to upgrade your wardrobe with some silk, fringe and full sleeved blouses. So, let’s share some amazing ethnic wear trends of 2018 which anyone can carry gracefully and dance whole night with ease. So, get ready to flaunt your ethnic look like a celeb!

1. Wear a Saree with Churidar – Wearing a saree with petticoat is now old-style. This year try something different by teaming it up with churidar pants. Just wear a beautiful cut-out blouse with a matching churidar pants and tuck in the pre-draped saree. If you don’t have any pre-drapped saree, don’t worry! Just take out your favourite saree and make pleats until you reach the pallu section. Stuck the pleats in your front side and wrap the pallu around your waist. Don’t forget to complete the look with belted pallu.

2. Shirt style/high Neck Blouses - This year high neck or shirt style blouses are in a new rage and very much prevailing amongst our B-town celebs also. This look is very unique and compliments well with any saree or mekhela chadar. Just choose a high neck blouse with detailed embroidery work, kundan or stone work to get a whole classy look. Apart from this, you can also try out shirt style blouse which will be more experimenting and will give you indo-western look. These looks are perfect for any festival, wedding or family affairs. So just paired it up with any gorgeous silk saree or Assam silk mekhela chadar and here you got your ravishing traditional look.

3. Silk Sarees/Assamese Mekhela Chadar – Silk sarees always been one of the most sought ethnic wears since ages. It is elegant, vibrant and captivating in designs which never fail to catch attention from others. It’s magnificent design and style is ruling the fashion world. Whereas, Assamese mekhela chadar is also very popular for its distinctive style and enticing traditional look. Pair it up with high neck full sleeves or sleeveless blouses to get the perfect look.

4. Fringes Obsession – Fringe blouses are surely going to set a trend with a storm in the Indian fashion industry. Tassled earrings and shoes were one of the most loved fashion trends last year and we are still in love with that tassled touch. So, let’s continue the tassled trend in a traditional way and I am sure, you all gonna love to try this look. Just add some fringe in your traditional wear whether it is your saree or blouse. Off-shoulder fringe style blouses and saree with fringe details is something which is definitely going to be a dramatic. One fringe style ethnic wear is must for every wardrobe this year.

Hope, this new ethnic wear trend tips are going to be useful for you. Don’t wait anymore; just get some outfits in fringes, silk and more for this wedding season. Well, it’s time to add a little bit of drama in your same old traditional look!