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tosikoarts · 4 years

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SFW Alphabet | Usami Tokishige

🎵 This may become a little brutal If I'm honest but It's any-anything for you my dear, I promise 🎶 You can figure our what I was listening to while writing this piece. Anyway, hope you’ll like it, anon! You can check tosikowrites tag for more. Warning: there’s a lot under the cut.

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

The fact that Usami fell in love and now can’t shut up about them is not that surprising since the soldiers of the 7th Division have already witnessed his unhealthy obsession with the First Lieutenant. The dangerous aura of infinite adoration he carries does not bother others as much as well, maybe, because now his cursed energy has more output options, you know? It is not concentrated on one person and seems not so intense. Seems.

No matter how wild his fantasy runs, Usami behaves himself in their presence. Of course, his nerves are as taut as a rope since if he loosens up his attention he may not contain his passion…Chooses words carefully so as not to push them away and comes across as a lovely bubbly young man with the cutest smile! Even sitting in silence together is special. Usami can’t quit staring at them, they are so majestic!

He wants to follow them everywhere. Eat together, go on morning walks together, sleep together. Usami is a human version of burdock that will either quite by accident bump into his crush every other day or shamelessly ask them if they will be in this specific place or if they want to go there with him.

Personal boundaries? Don’t know her. As soon as his loved one gives him green light, Usami’s hands are all over the place. If he isn’t pinching their pink cheeks then he is patting their head. If he isn’t patting their head, he might be squeezing their ass. Usami is all about physical affection in every possible way, and it is extremely important for him to touch his partner. He might even lose it when they put a hand on his knee or take him by the hand, leave alone anything spicier.

Usami will end anyone who steps between him and his loved one. For him this is a cut-throat axiom, it is as natural as breathing, and it should be obvious to the surrounding. Anyone who wants to separate them automatically signs their own death sentence that will be carried out immediately by Usami himself.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

To be friends with the rabid Superior Private, you have to be a mad lad with no moral compass (the questionable moral compass is ok too) just like him or be a literal angel with the patience of a sage and a heart of gold to deal with the chaos Usami brings into your life. Also, this person has to have impeccable reflexes just in case he decides to cut this friendship off. Takagi Tomoharu didn’t and where is he now?

With such a friend, nothing is scary. Friendship with Usami provides invulnerability in situations where an ordinary person would think twice. In addition to that, Tokishige doesn’t really look for troubles and prefers to spend time like a real hedonist: red-light district workers know his preferences very well, the owner in his favorite diner always meets him with a question “the usual?”, and Usami knows places to hang around in general. His friend gets to experience life delights with him as well.

He needs so much attention! If it was up to him, Usami would spend at least an hour every day with them even when they have already talked about every single thing in the world. Everyday chats about nothing are cool, mutual flattery is appreciated. These points lead to Usami being overly possessive: if his best friend suddenly starts spending more time with someone else, he will definitely take action against this stumbling block.

Demands that his friend to follow the “the enemy of my friend is my enemy” rule. They are obligated to get embittered at Ogata. No, Usami doesn’t explain why, they just have to.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Usami has restless ass syndrome. It’s like restless legs syndrome but with ass: he can’t sit still for more than 15 minutes. Cuddles do not last longer than that and often progress into steamy making out. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t like to cuddle though. Usami prefers to do it while leaving some space for moving so the leg hug is just perfect. Any other position including classical spooning feels like a rabbit trap.

If his partner is bigger than he is, Usami will definitely lie on their chest with legs wiggling up in the air. First of all, now he can see their lovable face, and second of all, he is on top which means being in control.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Eeeh. Does he want to settle down? No, not really. Let’s say, there was no reason for him to think about settling down but even if there was, Usami would aggressively shake his head in negation. He is, just like Koito, too young to plan a quiet family life, and, at the moment, living on the wheels without thinking up ahead seems much more exciting than being chained to one place with one person. In his head, things are kind of overexaggerated but the answer to the question is still no for the next 10 years for sure.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

It is highly unlikely that Usami will break up with his partner in a proper manner. Self-deprecating comments and taking the blame for a failed relationship have no place in his explanation if he even decides to talk about it. Most likely Usami will leave them as spontaneously and unexpectedly as he popped up in their life in the first place: hops on a horse, gives them short indifferent look over the shoulder, and fades into the darkness of the night to never be seen again. Maybe, it’s for the better since Usami doesn’t have to face the fact he has nothing to say. Well, he chooses to be silent since crushing them with disinterest that makes the kid throw the old toy into the toybox doesn’t please him either. No check-ups, no letters, no “let’s stay friends”.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Avoids this question to the last minute because he is too young to commit and jump into family life. Usami reminds me of the type of person who wants to experiment in youth so that in old age he would not regret missing exciting opportunities. There is not a chance he will propose until he comes to the conclusion that he has already seen and experienced the most impressive stuff. So, maybe, from 7 to 10 years? Most definitely feels neutral about having an affair or two since he has a pretty lenient conscience.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Emotionally? Absolute emptiness with, perhaps, distorted memories of family love arising here and there. His feelings are strong, aggressive, filled with preceding excitement before the upcoming fun. Calm states of mind such as serenity, clarity, boundless love are too underwhelming for Usami. Wouldn’t call him gentle in the physical sense either: life is motion, and he has to move or do something, anything to feel alive, and impatience makes his moves rough and harsh. Even in a gentle embrace, it seems that he squeezes his loved one to their ribs cracking. He kisses them out until they want to slip out of his hands like a gasping fish. They may like it, they may not, but Usami doesn’t loosen his love grip and remains a (little) wild in the relationship.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Usami hugs them at the most unexpected moments, takes them by storm to squeeze the hell out of them. Perhaps these are his favorite ones, to pick them up high and spin, leaving their legs tingling in the air like a ragdoll.

His hands never stay in one place. Feeling their warm body under the fingertips is indescribable pleasure so Usami gives himself free rein to rub their back, squeeze their sides, press them to his chest, and nuzzle into their neck. He may bite them as well.

Can’t stand to be hugged when he is obviously busy to the point where Usami can kinda gently push them away but sees no problem when he does the same to his partner. Believes that everything can be forgiven for his big puppy eyes (and other particular qualities).

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Casually says it on like the second day of official dating over the cup of tea. Hard to say if he is for real so confident in his feelings or if he does it to check their reaction but nevertheless. Usami looks his loved one right in the eyes with undisguised beaming complacency, and his confession is short, definite, and unobjectionable. Propping his chin with his pale hands, he immediately returns to the casual conversation and keeps going joyfully about whatever on his mind like Usami didn’t just murmur how he is in love with them forever and for ever. After that, he is elated. Confession is a kind of seal of belonging to him, consent of another person is optional, it doesn't matter at all, all that does it that they are his and he is theirs.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

This shit is scary for everybody involved. Usami doesn’t get jealous per se but he has a strong feeling of having his loved one in his possession. Should someone try to covet his partner as hell breaks loose: regardless of who exactly was the initiator, - his loved one or another person, - Usami immediately takes action. In his mind, his partner can’t be guilty of infidelity, they were simply coerced into foul play and have to be taught how to recognize such a thing, they are innocent. This awful other person is different though, they are the ones who need to be taught some manners.

To start a fight Usami needs one dirty look, one carelessly thrown word. This is just an excuse to allow himself to take out all the anger on the poor soul. If Koito likes to gab hours on end but secretly hoping to avoid getting physical, Usami sees talking as a waste of time. Of course, if one fight is not enough, then Usami can go in for murder.

After the accident, he acts a lot rougher with his partner forcing them deeper into submission. To maintain ego and control and to be sure that they know their place, Usami needs praise, persuasion, and tons of physical affection.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Loves the concept of kissing, loves to kiss, and to be kissed. Sees every kiss as a personal signature but also, on another level, rewarding pastime so Usami is all about steamy make-out sessions. He is eager and rough, oftentimes marks his partner in visible areas with not only bright hickeys but with straight out bites. The look of dark crescents from his teeth scattering on their delicate neck turns Usami on like nothing else.

Likes to be kissed all over the body, would prefer them to be as rough though since casual soft kisses don’t really set a mood for him. The same goes for them, Usami won’t leave a spot unkissed on their body. Has a thing for the neck, wrists, and insides of the thighs.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Don’t let him around kids because it seems like Usami is good at it but in reality, he just builds up an army of naughty children to throw eggs at the neighbor's door. He like a devil coerces the goody angel into a mini-revolution under the nose of parents without offering any candy. Give this man a free hand, remove Tsurumi from his life, and you’ll see Usami growing into a cult leader. So, yes, he is pretty good with children older than like 5-6 years old, can’t do shit with babies younger than that. Usami hasn’t thought about being a father himself because beyond pranks and fun he knows absolutely nothing, zero, nada about raising children.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Incredibly active and varied if Usami managed to fall asleep before midnight the day before. He unceremoniously wakes his partner up either covering their face with kisses or pulling the blanket off them or starting a pillow fight. Expects his loved one to rise and shine without spending an hour just sitting here with an empty stare in the void.

Even when Usami collapses in the bed at dawn, it is possible that he will accidentally wake them up with a sweeping elbow blow to the nose. During the cold season, his partner should be ready to wake up trembling without a blanket. This bastard steals it every other night.

It is rare to see Usami cooking or doing anything useful at all in the house in the morning. He prefers to wander around while his partner lays the table and talk out loud to himself.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Unpredictable. He may get lost for an evening, come back with no explanation (we all know he was up to no good), and crash next to them with a smug smile. Other nights Usami can’t leave them alone: it feels like it is vital for him to fiddle with their fingers, play with their hair, pull them into a tight hug. The maximum relaxation effect is achieved with a couple of bitter sake shots drunk before meals.

Sleeping. Nobody canceled messed up sleeping schedule (check out the last letter of the alphabet) so Usami may have to make up for it by going to bed as early as 8 p.m.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Opens up slowly but doesn't pay much attention to what exactly he is saying. Everything that has happened to the present moment is already history so Usami treats it as such. What once pleased or upset him does not evoke any strong emotions now and he easily reveals his past to the loved one. Usami, of course, avoids mentioning the murder of his friend but with a partner who very clearly shows their loyalty, he will not hesitate to describe how much it turned him inside out and changed him, opening doors to the darkest corners of his soul. In return, Usami asks his loved one tons of questions from favorite color to a relationship with their mother, feeling free to ask the most intrusive ones.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

He is in the state of the boiling kettle 24/7, ready to whistle for any given reason. Not that he is that angry, but definitely in an unstable state of mind. When he gets pissed off, Usami doesn't change in the face, except that his smile can get even wider baring sharp small teeth. In most cases, other people have to restrain his anger so the military does a good job at keeping Superior Private in check with an iron fist out of battles and letting him go wild when the situation requires it.

In the relationship, Usami teeters on the brink just like the outside of it but his reactions to upsetting situations are milder and are easily resolved by sublimating desire to destroy into intense workout, make out, etc. He is easy to blow out but he tries really hard to do not harm his loved one.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

There is a whole room in his mind palace to store volumes of information about the loved one. Usami thrives on discovering different aspects of his partner’s personality in deep conversations and in characteristic behavior that he enjoys so much to observe. Therefore, nothing goes unnoticed.

Perfectly navigates the tone of their voice: Usami knows exactly how their sadness sounds when they try to veil it with cheerful words and when to step back when they rise their voice in a fit of anger. Awfully useful with a person who has a hard time communicating and/or expects others to understand them just like that.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

He doesn’t have a favorite one. All meaningful moments like the first meeting, first kiss, other first times occupy equally important places in his heart so if asked Usami will murmur how every second with them is unthinkably precious and he can’t pick just one!

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Ready to faithfully protect his partner in the most dangerous situations. It is obvious, isn’t it? Usami will cover them like a shield on the battlefield, but most of the time he prefers to eliminate the source of danger: thanks to a state of perpetual alert and intense adrenaline rush, he can ignore multiple injuries for hours while shooting off foes. Usami lacks the voice of reason so he tends to overreact when it is completely out of place.

Oh, Usami doesn’t let anybody touch his loved one. As soon as he sees a hand reaching to them, he reflexively grabs it if not twists it with excessive force. Strangers understand they should not mess with Usami from his piercing look but there is always a fool who tempts fate in vain.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

Not that much. He doesn't bother planning dates and gifts but sometimes there are moments of enlightenment that make Usami sit down and think about how to impress his loved one in a good way. Most of the time he prefers spontaneity to foresight since in his mind whatever is fun to him will work for them too.

Anniversaries are the dates when Usami is all sweetness and light: he runs around his loved one ready to bend over backward for their enjoyment. Seriously, he is ready to be used as a footrest for the whole day if it’s what they want.

Slacks on everyday tasks though, he is great at avoiding daily chores under the stupidest pretext.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

I won't even start talking about how unhinged he is, you should have had figured it out by now. I just have to mention again that this is an integral personality trait and Usami cannot physically change it. Take it or leave it. He is not forcing anybody to participate in his violent misadventures but he won’t tolerate attempts to stop them.

Control freak, Usami thinks he owns a person when in the relationship. He quite seriously believes that he is in control of their life and can decide whether they can or cannot do particular things. Of course, if they do not act in accordance with Usami’s wishes, they will be punished to prevent further misbehavior.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Usami’s skin is naturally silky and he likes to keep it this way despite the harsh weather conditions. Nobody knows if he is using any creams or other cosmetics but the fact remains: his face is almost baby-like soft. Also, running men tattoos fade quickly due to their location so Usami has to renew them quite often. He does it with enviable regularity and forbids everyone (except his partner and First Lieutenant) to touch his cheeks. His clothes are in fair condition as well as his shoes. Usami wears his clothes neatly, and never wears them off to the holes and patches.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

All attempts to break up with Usami end with his theatrical chuckle and short “good joke, darling”: they are not going anywhere until he allows them to do so. The more times his partner brings this dumb question up, the angrier he gets, barely hiding it behind biting his lips. By the time his patience bursts, Usami has already come up with a plan to keep them by his side, voluntarily or compulsorily. If they decide to leave him because they didn’t get enough attention and affection, Usami will try to fulfill their every whim. If they express their concerns regarding his behavior, Usami will learn how to hide unsightly features better. All in all, he is not going to let them go just because they want to. It seems that the risk of ending on the side of the road gives him even more fervor to fight for their love.

The only thing that remains for his loved one is to leave Usami with no farewell letter left behind. Otherwise, they risk gaining a stalker with military experience under his belt. Not the best combination if you ask me.

If they were killed, Usami one hundred percent will find their murderer and tear them apart. Literally. He snaps, he is not going to hold back any longer.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

Must be an obvious one but Usami is a kinky bastard. He tries such things to which no adequate person would agree or if they did it is unlikely that they would tell anyone about it. This applies not only to sexual behavior, he is eccentric in general, he is not held back by social rules and limits of decency. Usami would set few things on fire just to see how long it takes each to burn to the crisps. Sucks fingers and toes. I don’t know, he does everything you are kind of uncomfortable to do. Might fuck around and start another war idk.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Can’t handle boring people. Looking at what he considers “boring” people tells that it includes people with no character, withdrawn from society and recent events, silly and predictable ones. First, most likely they would not interact with Usami considering how unhinged he is. He is more trouble than he is worth, you know. And secondly, Usami doesn’t notice them in the crowd. If his loved one happens to be too boring, he will leave them, sooner or later.

Anyone standing between him and First Lieutenant can forget about any relationship with Usami. It is impossible. The gears in his head are spinning like crazy to come up with a perfect plan and get away with their murder. No hard feelings, but Usami’s obsession with Tsurumi isn’t going anywhere, and the only scenario he can agree with is dating someone who if doesn’t support it then at least doesn’t try to ward him off of it.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs?)

His sleep schedule is an absolute mess with no hint of changing in the future. First of all, Usami sleeps 4-6 hours per day, can’t sleep during the day so he doesn’t take naps and doesn’t nodes off. At the same time, these short hours of sleep do not stick to night time only: sometimes Usami decides to go to bed at 3 a.m. still full of energy, other days he crawls under the blanket at 6 p.m. exhausted to the point of collapsing. He never complains about sleep, sees almost acid-trippy dreams a few times a month, and not even once had to take a pill to fall asleep.

Sleeps like a dead man with limbs entwined around his loved one. His lips break into a sweet smile as Usami throws a leg over their body and presses himself closer. He looks so peaceful you’d never think this man can bite your hand and throw you out of the window uwu.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy headcanon #golden kamuy imagine #Usami Tokishige #tosikowrites

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gamehayapkmod · 4 years

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Countersnipe

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Giới thiệu Countersnipe

It's an all out war between the agents of Axiom, those self-appointed defenders of global stability, and the operatives of Havoc, the champions of a new world order. Choose your faction, customize your weapon, then scour the map for hidden enemy agents and take them out! Join up with 3 other players for quick, intense four-versus-four matches. Featuring a unique blend of target seeking and skill-based shooting, every game is a new challenge as agents appear randomly across hundreds of possible locations on each map. Set up custom builds of weapon, upgrades, agent, skills, activated items, armor, and ammo type to suit your play style, and team up with friends to create your ultimate 4 person squad. Victory means more rewards as well as progress through episodic unlocks that include powerful in-game items and rare cosmetic upgrades for guns and agents. CRAFTED GAMEPLAY * 3 distinct maps with hundreds of possible agent locations, distractions, and destroyable objects * Balanced variation - spawn points change each game but are shared by both teams to ensure each match is fair * Target seeking is key to victory - quick scanning, pattern recognition, movement sense, and memory can give your team the edge * Wide spectrum of gun handling and scopes, further modified by upgrades, attachments, agent skills, and mastery, which allows for nuance and refinement with each weapon * Balanced multiplayer - squad formation and match selection factor in gun tier and agent level to find the fairest match MASSIVE DEPTH * 4 gun manufacturers, each with their own styles - Griffin, Blackburn, LAO, and K&B * 25 guns across 5 tiers of power, 280+ upgrades, and 28 attachments for incredible variety in handling and play * 180 levels of Mastery in 9 critical areas for each gun allows expert fine tuning * 8 Agents with 10 upgrades each and an assortment of 24 skills that can amplify offense or defense * 100+ awesome unlockable rewards each Episode * Plus 80+ achievements, Gun Training, Events, new Episodes and tons more! Jump in and try the most fun, competitive, and surprising free-to-play sniper game out there. Then see how much more fun it is when your squad of friends pulls off that epic, down to the last elimination, come from behind win! Download Countersnipe and play for free now! Best experienced on Galaxy S8, equivalent, or above. ********** Ninja Kiwi Notes: REQUIRES INTERNET CONNECTION TO PLAY Please review our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You will be prompted in-game to accept these terms in order to cloud save and protect your game progress: https://ninjakiwi.com/terms https://ninjakiwi.com/privacy_policy Countersnipe contains in-game items and a subscription can be purchased with real money. You can disable in-app purchases and manage your subscriptions in your device's settings, or reach us at [email protected] for help. Countersnipe also includes ads, mainly as optional accelerators for game progress. Please note that ad-blockers may disrupt core features of the game. Your purchases and ad views fund our development of updates and new games, and we sincerely appreciate your support! Ninja Kiwi Community: We love hearing from our players, so please get in touch with any feedback, positive or negative, at [email protected]. If it's stuff you want the whole community to see and talk about, then join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/ninjakiwigames/ https://twitter.com/ninjakiwigames https://www.instagram.com/realninjakiwi/ Streamers and Video Creators: Ninja Kiwi is actively promoting channel creators on YouTube and Twitch. If you are not already working with us, keep making videos and tell us about your channel at [email protected]. Minor bug fixes

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romancatholicreflections · 8 years

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26th February >> Daily Reflection on Today's Mass Readings for Roman Catholics on the Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)

You are welcome to Living Space, where you will find commentaries on the daily readings. Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A) This Sunday, which can fall either before Lent or after the Easter season, is not often celebrated. Readings Isaiah 49:14-15 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 Matthew 6:24-34 THE GOSPEL IS A STRONG CHALLENGE to the lifestyle that prevails in most of our cities in the so-called developed world and in many parts of the developing world too. Jesus puts it very bluntly: "You cannot at the same time be the slave of God and money (and this includes all the things that equate to money, like property, cars, clothes, foreign holidays, etc.)" As such, he does not criticise the having of things. What is in question is our attitude towards them, our being in thrall to them, having our lives controlled by them and, above all, being unable to share them with those in real need. Also in question is the false illusion that, if we have money and power, we have control of our lives. We are secure. Nothing could be further from the truth. So ultimately Jesus is teaching us that our only real security is total trust in God’s love for us. Money primarily is a means of exchange by which we can provide for the needs of our life, whatever those needs are at any given time. The problem begins when money and the pursuit of money becomes an end in itself, "I want to be rich." Which soon becomes "I have to be rich". And, when I am rich, when I have lots of things, I will go to any length to hold on to them. It is amazing how very rich people keep being driven to make more till they have more than they could possible spend. There was the case of a dollar billionaire in an Asian country who went to jail for insider trading on the stock exchange in order to make even more than he already had. And, after he came out of jail, he was worth more than twice than when he went in. When a very rich man died, someone asked how much he had left. "Every red cent," was the answer. "You can’t take it with you," as the cliche‚ goes. What will we bring with us? And, in a way, that is what Jesus is asking us to consider. When we come to the end of our lives what do we want to bring with us and what do we want to leave behind? Would you want to die alone and desperately lonely and unlamented like billionaires Getty and Howard Hughes or be like a Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi who just kept giving themselves to others and were mourned by millions? Jesus is asking us today to reflect on what are our most basic values in life. Is it just what we want to have or is it what we most want to be? What is life about? Is it a matter of getting what we have not got or sharing with others what we have, however little it may seem to be? Is to be rich the only thing I want? Or are there other values, other more precious qualities which no bank can evaluate? What about things like happiness, peace, freedom, contentment, wonderful friends, a supportive family? Does having money guarantee us these things? Are they not available even to those who have little or no money? Conflicting goals We have to make a choice between the God’s vision of life and a preoccupation with money and possessions. They are not compatible. They involve conflicting goals in life and different visions of what is most important in life. The truly materialistic person may have a veneer of Christian practice but cannot be a really committed Christian. By definition, to be rich is to have more, a lot more than others. To continue to live this way when in the same society there are many poor, that is, people who do not have enough cannot be equated with a following of the Christian Way. Jesus preaches something like what St Ignatius Loyola calls ‘indifference’ to material things. Obviously some material things — like food and clothing and shelter — are necessary to daily living and everyone has a right to have these things. At different times other things will be necessary too, such as basic medical care, education… The attitude of ‘indifference’ in this sense is not that one does not care; on the contrary, one cares very much. But one cares to have things and to use things only in so far as they are needed to love and serve God and others for his sake. This involves a very high level of inner freedom — the ability to say ‘Yes’ only to what I need. Trust in God Linked to our attitude to material things, Jesus further urges greater trust and confidence in God’s care for us. Isaiah in the First Reading speaks of Israel as feeling abandoned and forgotten by God in its times of trial. The response comes in one of the tenderest passages in the whole of the Bible: "Does a woman forget her baby at the breast, or fail to cherish the son of her womb? Yet even if these forget, I will never forget you." For his part, Jesus points to nature. Nature lives always in the present. It never shows any anxiety about the future. Yet it is covered with a staggering beauty. Solomon in all his glory cannot match the lilies of the field. But, if God lavishes such beauty on things which quickly wither away, how much care will he not lavish on his own children? Jesus urges us to liberate ourselves from worry and anxiety about our body and material things such as food and clothing. To be concerned about food because right now I am very hungry and do not have anything to eat is very different from worrying whether I will have food next month; to be anxious about what is happening when I am in intensive care is very different from wondering how long my health will hold up in the coming years; to be fretting because I have no money to pay my rent with the landlord knocking at the door is very different from wondering whether I will ever be rich. Worry and anxiety about the future are a waste of time and energy yet we indulge in them so much. They are a waste of time and energy because they are about things which do not exist and very possibly may never exist. As Fr Tony de Mello used to say, quoting a Buddhist axiom: “Why worry? If you don’t worry, you die; if you do worry, you die. So, why worry?” So we are invited to look at the birds of the air and the flowers in the field. They do nothing except be themselves and God takes care of them. And how beautiful they are! When their time comes they pass away. We are often so busy regretting the past or worrying about the future that we never get to enjoy life in the here and now. Stewards Paul in today’s Second Reading gives us another reason for not being obsessed with our future security. Here in the present, we simply have too much to do. We are, he says, Christ’s servants. And as such, responsibilities have been entrusted to us, mainly to build up the Body of Christ in our Christian communities and to spread the Gospel message of God’s love far and wide. "What is expected of stewards is that each one should be found worthy of [God’s] trust." In other words, we are not being trustworthy stewards if, like the man in the parable, we take the gift that God has given us and bury it in the ground for fear it should be lost. No. If large sums of money or goods come our way, we are not to store them away. Our gifts are to used here and now and every day. We should simply be too busy doing God’s work to have time to worry about the non-existent future. As the saying goes, "Let go and let God". Be here To be fully alive, Fr Tony de Mello also used to advise: "Be yourself. Be here. Be now." Enjoyment and happiness are only in the present. Nowhere else. If we keep looking forward or looking back we will never find happiness. It is right here in our grasp at every moment of every day. Again as Fr Tony used to say, "You have everything you need right now to be happy." Do we believe that? How our lives would be transformed if only we could really believe it! Jesus puts the same thing today in different words, "Do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself." God is only to be found in the here and now; he is always available.

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jesseneufeld · 5 years

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5 Biggest Longevity Myths

Older people (and those headed in that direction, which is everyone else) are really sold a bill of goods when it comes to health and longevity advice. I’m not a young man anymore, and for decades I’ve been hearing all sorts of input about aging that’s proving to be not just misguided, but downright incorrect. Blatant myths about healthy longevity continue to circulate and misinform millions. Older adults at this very moment are enacting routines detrimental to living long that they think are achieving the opposite. A major impetus for creating the Primal Blueprint was to counter these longevity myths. That mission has never felt more personal.

So today, I’m going to explore and refute a few of these top myths, some of which contain kernels of truth that have been overblown and exaggerated. I’ll explain why.

1) “Don’t Lift Heavy: You’ll Throw Out Your Back”

Obviously, a frail grandfather pushing 100 shouldn’t do Starting Strength right off the bat (or maybe ever, depending on how frail he is). That’s not my contention here. My contention:

Lifting as heavy as you can as safely as you can is essential for healthy longevity. That’s why I put it first in the list today. It’s that important.

For one, lean muscle mass is one of the strongest predictors of resistance to mortality. The more muscle a person has (and the stronger they are), the longer they’ll live—all else being equal. That’s true in both men and women.

One reason is that the stronger you are, the more capable you are. You’re better at taking care of yourself, standing up from chairs, ascending stairs, and maintaining basic functionality as you age.

Another reason is that increased lean mass means greater tissue reserve—you have more organ and muscle to lose as you age, so that when aging-related muscle loss sets in, you have longer to go before it gets serious. And that’s not even a guarantee that you’ll lose any. As long as you’re still lifting heavy things, you probably won’t lose much muscle, if any. Remember: the average old person studied in these papers isn’t doing any kind of strength training at all.

It doesn’t have to be barbells and Olympic lifts and CrossFit. It can be machines (see Body By Science, for example) and bodyweight and hikes. What matters is that you lift intensely (and intense is relative) and safely, with good technique and control.

2) “Avoid Animal Protein To Lower IGF-1”

Animal protein has all sorts of evil stuff, they say.

Methionine—linked to reduced longevity in animal models.

Increased IGF-1—a growth promoter that might promote unwanted growth, like cancer.

Yet, a huge study showed that in older people, those 65 or older, increased animal protein intake actually protected against mortality. The older they were and the more protein they ate, the longer they lived.

Meanwhile, low-protein diets have been shown to have all sorts of effects that spell danger for older people hoping to live long and live well:

Slow the metabolism, increase insulin resistance, and cause body fat gain.

Impair the immune system and make infections more severe.

Reduce muscle function, cellular mass (yes, the actual mass of the cell itself), and immune response in elderly women.

Impair nitrogen balance in athletes.

Increase the risk of osteoporosis.

Increase the risk of sarcopenia (muscle wasting).

And about that “excess methionine” and “increased IGF-1”?

You can easily (and should) balance your methionine intake with glycine from collagen, gelatin, or bone broth. In animals, doing so protects against early mortality.

In both human and animal studies, there’s a U-shaped relationship between IGF-1 levels and lifespan. Animal studies show an inverse relationship between IGF-1 and diabetes, heart disease, and heart disease deaths (higher IGF-1, less diabetes/heart disease) and a positive association between IGF-1 and cancer (higher IGF-1, more cancer). A recent review of the animal and human evidence found that while a couple human studies show an inverse relationship between IGF-1 and longevity, several more show a positive relationship—higher IGF-1, longer lifespan—and the majority show no clear relationship at all.

3) “You’re Never Getting Back That Cartilage—Once It’s Gone, It’s Gone”

Almost every doctor says this. It’s become an axiom in the world of orthopedics.

But then we see this study showing that people have the same microRNAs that control tissue and limb regeneration in lizards and amphibians. They’re most strongly expressed in the ankle joints, less so in the knees, and even less so at the hip—but they’re there, and they’re active.

I’ve seen some impressive things, have been able to personally verify some stunning “anecdotes” from friends and colleagues who were able to regrow cartilage or at least regain all their joint function after major damage to it. Most doctors and studies never capture these people. If you look at the average older person showing up with worn-down joints and degraded or damaged cartilage, how active are they? What’s their diet?

They are mostly inactive. They are often obese or overweight.

They generally aren’t making bone broth and drinking collagen powder. They aren’t avoiding grains and exposing their nether regions to daily sun. They aren’t doing 200 knee circles a day, performing single leg deadlifts, and hiking up mountains. These are the things that, if anything can, will retain and regrow cartilage. Activity. Letting your body know that you still have need of your ankles, knees, and hips. That you’re still an engaged, active human interacting with the physical world.

4) “Retire Early”

This isn’t always bad advice, but retiring and then ceasing all engagement with the outside world will reduce longevity, not increase it. Having a life purpose is essential for living long and living well; not having one is actually an established risk factor for early mortality. And at least when you’re getting up in the morning to go to work, you have a built-in purpose. That purpose may not fulfill your heart and spirit, but it’s a purpose just the same: a reason to get up and keep moving.

Retiring can work. Don’t get me wrong. But the people who retire early and make it work for their health and longevity are staying active. They’re pursuing side projects or even big visions. They have hobbies, friends, and loved ones who they hang out with all the time.

The ones who don’t? Well, they are at at increased risk of dying early.

You don’t have to keep working a job you hate, or even a job you enjoy. You can retire. Just maintain your mission.

5) “Take It Easy As You Get Older”

As older people, we’re told that sex might be “too strenuous for the heart” (Truth: It’s good for it). We’re told to “take the elevator to save our knees.” They tell us “Oh, don’t get up, I’ll get it for you.”

They don’t tell me that because, well, I’m already up and doing the thing. I’m active and obviously so. I don’t take it easy.

Stay vigorous, friends. Stay vivacious. Don’t be foolhardy, mind you. Be engaged.

“Take it easy” quickly becomes “sit in the easy chair all day long watching the news.” Don’t let it happen.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t rest. Rest is everything. Sleep is important. But you must earn your rest, and when you have the energy, take advantage of it. Don’t rest on your laurels.

As you can see, there are tiny kernels of truth in many of these myths. We should all be careful lifting heavy things and pay close attention to technique and form. Everyone should care for their cartilage and avoid damage to it. No one should continue working a job that sucks their soul and depletes their will to live if they can move on from it. And so on.

What we all need to avoid is sending the message to our brain, body, and cells that we’re done. That we’ve given up and our active, engaged life is effectively over. Because when that happens, it truly is over.

Someone asked me when aging begins. How old is “old”?

I think I know now. Aging begins when you start listening to conventional longevity advice. As I said on Twitter earlier today, healthy aging begins when you do the opposite.

Want more on building a life that will allow you to live well into later decades? I definitely have more on that coming up. A perceptive reader shared the news in one of the Facebook groups already, so let me mention it here. My new book, Keto For Life: Reset Your Biological Clock In 21 Days and Optimize Your Diet For Longevity, is coming out December 31, 2019. I’ll have more info, including a special bonus package for those who preorder, in just a few weeks. In the meantime, you can read more about it here on our publisher’s page.

That’s it for today, friends. Chime in down below about longevity or any other health topics you’re thinking about these days. What are the most egregious aging myths you’ve heard? What do you do instead? Take care.

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References:

Karlsen T, Nauman J, Dalen H, Langhammer A, Wisløff U. The Combined Association of Skeletal Muscle Strength and Physical Activity on Mortality in Older Women: The HUNT2 Study. Mayo Clin Proc. 2017;92(5):710-718.

Malta A, De oliveira JC, Ribeiro TA, et al. Low-protein diet in adult male rats has long-term effects on metabolism. J Endocrinol. 2014;221(2):285-95.

Carrillo E, Jimenez MA, Sanchez C, et al. Protein malnutrition impairs the immune response and influences the severity of infection in a hamster model of chronic visceral leishmaniasis. PLoS ONE. 2014;9(2):e89412.

Castaneda C, Charnley JM, Evans WJ, Crim MC. Elderly women accommodate to a low-protein diet with losses of body cell mass, muscle function, and immune response. Am J Clin Nutr. 1995;62(1):30-9.

Gaine PC, Pikosky MA, Martin WF, Bolster DR, Maresh CM, Rodriguez NR. Level of dietary protein impacts whole body protein turnover in trained males at rest. Metab Clin Exp. 2006;55(4):501-7.

Wu C, Odden MC, Fisher GG, Stawski RS. Association of retirement age with mortality: a population-based longitudinal study among older adults in the USA. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2016;70(9):917-23.

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lauramalchowblog · 5 years

Text

5 Biggest Longevity Myths

So today, I’m going to explore and refute a few of these top myths, some of which contain kernels of truth that have been overblown and exaggerated. I’ll explain why.

1) “Don’t Lift Heavy: You’ll Throw Out Your Back”

Obviously, a frail grandfather pushing 100 shouldn’t do Starting Strength right off the bat (or maybe ever, depending on how frail he is). That’s not my contention here. My contention:

Lifting as heavy as you can as safely as you can is essential for healthy longevity. That’s why I put it first in the list today. It’s that important.

2) “Avoid Animal Protein To Lower IGF-1”

Animal protein has all sorts of evil stuff, they say.

Methionine—linked to reduced longevity in animal models.

Increased IGF-1—a growth promoter that might promote unwanted growth, like cancer.

Meanwhile, low-protein diets have been shown to have all sorts of effects that spell danger for older people hoping to live long and live well:

Slow the metabolism, increase insulin resistance, and cause body fat gain.

Impair the immune system and make infections more severe.

Reduce muscle function, cellular mass (yes, the actual mass of the cell itself), and immune response in elderly women.

Impair nitrogen balance in athletes.

Increase the risk of osteoporosis.

Increase the risk of sarcopenia (muscle wasting).

And about that “excess methionine” and “increased IGF-1”?

You can easily (and should) balance your methionine intake with glycine from collagen, gelatin, or bone broth. In animals, doing so protects against early mortality.

3) “You’re Never Getting Back That Cartilage—Once It’s Gone, It’s Gone”

Almost every doctor says this. It’s become an axiom in the world of orthopedics.

They are mostly inactive. They are often obese or overweight.

4) “Retire Early”

The ones who don’t? Well, they are at at increased risk of dying early.

You don’t have to keep working a job you hate, or even a job you enjoy. You can retire. Just maintain your mission.

5) “Take It Easy As You Get Older”

They don’t tell me that because, well, I’m already up and doing the thing. I’m active and obviously so. I don’t take it easy.

Stay vigorous, friends. Stay vivacious. Don’t be foolhardy, mind you. Be engaged.

“Take it easy” quickly becomes “sit in the easy chair all day long watching the news.” Don’t let it happen.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t rest. Rest is everything. Sleep is important. But you must earn your rest, and when you have the energy, take advantage of it. Don’t rest on your laurels.

Someone asked me when aging begins. How old is “old”?

I think I know now. Aging begins when you start listening to conventional longevity advice. As I said on Twitter earlier today, healthy aging begins when you do the opposite.

window.onload=function(){ga('send', { hitType: 'event', eventCategory: 'Ad Impression', eventAction: '72277' });}

References:

Malta A, De oliveira JC, Ribeiro TA, et al. Low-protein diet in adult male rats has long-term effects on metabolism. J Endocrinol. 2014;221(2):285-95.

Castaneda C, Charnley JM, Evans WJ, Crim MC. Elderly women accommodate to a low-protein diet with losses of body cell mass, muscle function, and immune response. Am J Clin Nutr. 1995;62(1):30-9.

Gaine PC, Pikosky MA, Martin WF, Bolster DR, Maresh CM, Rodriguez NR. Level of dietary protein impacts whole body protein turnover in trained males at rest. Metab Clin Exp. 2006;55(4):501-7.

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christophertheodore-net · 6 years

Text

New York Review of Books (NYR)

Lessons from Hitler’s Rise by Christopher R. Browning Hitler: Ascent 1889–1939 - by Volker Ullrich, translated from the German by Jefferson Chase

When the original German edition of Volker Ullrich’s new biography, Hitler: Ascent 1889–1939, was published in 2013, the current political situation in the United States was not remotely conceivable. The reception of a book often transcends the author’s intentions and the circumstances in which it was written, of course, but rarely so dramatically as in this case. In early 2017 it is impossible for an American to read the newly published English translation of this book outside the shadow cast by our new president.

To begin I would stipulate emphatically that Trump is not Hitler and the American Republic in the early twenty-first century is not Weimar. There are many stark differences between both the men and the historical conditions in which they ascended to power. Nonetheless there are sufficient areas of similarity in some regards to make the book chilling and insightful reading about not just the past but also the present.

Ullrich establishes that Hitler’s early life was not quite as impoverished or oppressive as he later portrayed it in Mein Kampf. Even after first his father and then his mother died, he lived on various orphan pensions and small inheritances. During periods when these resources were insufficient, Hitler did indeed lead an impoverished existence in men’s hostels, scraping out a bare subsistence by selling his paintings, and even briefly experiencing homelessness. More important was the fact that by the age of twenty-five—lacking education, career training, or job experience—he was still a man completely adrift, without any support network of family or friends, and without any future prospects. Nothing could be more different from Trump’s life of privilege, prestigious and expensive private schools, and hefty financial support from his father to enter the business world.

For Hitler, World War I was a decisive formative experience. He volunteered for the Bavarian army, endured fierce frontline combat in the fall of 1914, and then miraculously survived four years as a courier between regimental headquarters and the trenches. For Hitler the war meant structure, comradeship, and a sense of higher purpose in place of drift, loneliness, and hopelessness; and he embraced it totally. For many veterans who survived the war, it was a tragic and senseless experience never to be repeated. For Hitler the only tragedy was that Germany lost, and the war was to be refought as soon as it was strong enough to win. For Trump the Vietnam War was a minor inconvenience for which he received four deferments for education followed by a medical exemption because of bone spurs, and his self-proclaimed heroic equivalent was avoiding venereal disease despite a vigorous campaign of limitless promiscuity. In war as in childhood, Hitler and Trump could not have had more different experiences.

Ullrich takes a very commonsense approach to Hitler’s sex life, eschewing sensational allegations of highly closeted homosexuality, sexual perversion that caused him to project his self-loathing onto the Jews, asexuality commensurate with his incapacity for normal human relations, or abnormal genitalia that either psychologically or physically impeded normal sex. He surmises that Hitler (having refused to join his comrades on trips to brothels during the war) remained a virgin until at least the immediate aftermath of World War I, and remained intensely private about his relations with women thereafter.

The discreet and undemanding Eva Braun (twenty-two years his junior), consistently hidden from the public, proved to be the perfect match in facilitating Hitler’s desire to maintain the image that his total devotion to the cause transcended any mere physical needs or desires. Once again, the contrast with Trump—parading a sequence of three glamorous wives and boasting about the extent of his sexual conquests, his ability to engage in sexual assault with impunity because of his celebrity, as well as the size of his manhood—could not be starker.

In a March 1936 speech to workers at a Krupp factory in Essen, Hitler proclaimed: “I am probably the only statesman in the world who does not have a bank account. I have no stocks or shares in any company. I don’t draw any dividends.” Just as Hitler cultivated the image of transcending any physical need for the companionship of women, he also cultivated the pose of an ascetic man beyond materialistic needs. In reality he had a large Munich apartment and an expanded and refurbished mountain villa at Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps, and he loved his Mercedes cars. His royalties from Mein Kampf and access to secret slush funds meant that he would never go wanting.

But these modest luxuries were not flaunted in the face of less-well-off Germans. Usefully for Hitler, the limitless greed and corruption of many of his followers, from the ostentatious Hermann Göring down to the local “little Hitlers” who utilized their newfound power to shamelessly enrich themselves, sharpened the contrast with his public asceticism. This appearance of simple living helped keep the image of the Führer untarnished, while the high living of party leaders and functionaries remained the focal point of popular resentment.

Once again in contrast, virtually no businessman flaunted his wealth and gold-plated name as blatantly as Donald Trump, and his entry into politics only increased the audience for this flaunting. Once elected he openly refused any of the traditional limits on conflict of interest through divestiture of his assets into a blind trust, and has filled his cabinet with fellow billionaires. The emoluments clause of the Constitution, hitherto untested due to commonly accepted axioms of American political culture, may remain so (given the Republican stranglehold on the House of Representatives through at least 2018 and very likely beyond), as Americans experience corruption, kleptocracy, and “bully capitalism” on an unprecedented scale.

If Hitler and Trump are utterly different in their childhoods and wartime experiences on the one hand and attitudes toward women and wealth on the other, the historical circumstances in which they made their political ascents exhibit partial similarities. Within the space of a single generation, German society suffered a series of extraordinary crises: four years of total war that culminated in an unexpected defeat; political revolution that replaced a semiparliamentary/semiautocratic monarchy with a democratic republic; hyperinflation that destroyed middle-class savings and mocked bourgeois values of thrift and deferred gratification while rewarding wild speculation; and finally the Great Depression, in which the unemployment rate at its worst exceeded a staggering 30 percent.

For many Germans these disasters were unnecessarily aggravated by three widespread but false perceptions: that the war had been lost because of a “stab in the back” on the home front rather than the poor decisions and reckless gambles of the military leadership; that the Versailles Treaty was a huge, undeserved, and unprecedented injustice; and that not just Communists but moderate Social Democrats, feckless liberals, and Jews—having delivered Germany to defeat and the “chains” of Versailles—threatened Germany with “Jewish Bolshevism.” According to Ullrich, it was this toxic brew that Hitler imbibed in postwar Munich, much more than his experiences in pre-war Vienna (his portrayal in Mein Kampf notwithstanding), that turned him from a complete nonentity into a rabidly anti-Semitic ideologue and radical politician.

The experience of Americans in recent years has not been one of sequential, nationwide disasters but of uneven suffering. After two protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a barely avoided total economic meltdown in 2008–2009, many Americans have enjoyed a return to comfort, security, and even prosperity, while wealth has continued to concentrate at the top. But for the sector of the population that provides the vast bulk of the recruits to our professional army, the endlessly repeated tours of duty, the inconclusive outcomes of the wars they fought, and the escalating chaos in and threat of terror from the Middle East are disheartening and demoralizing. For industrial workers and miners whose jobs have been lost to automation, globalization, and growing environmental consciousness, the post-2008 economic stagnation has meant an inescapable descent into underemployment, drastically lowered living standards, and little prospect of recovering their lost status and income.

For the first time, the life expectancy of middle-aged white Americans without a college education has significantly shortened, above all because of “diseases of despair,” especially alcoholism, drug addiction, and suicide. For social conservatives whose predominately white and Christian milieu and deference to male dominance were both taken for granted and perceived as inherent in shaping American identity, the demographic rise and political activism of nonwhite minorities, the emergence of women’s rights, and the transformation of societal attitudes toward homosexuality, especially among the younger generation, have been surprising and to many dismaying. The division of society into what the ill-fated John Edwards once called the “two Americas” has intensified. One optimistically sees America as functional and progressing, while the other pessimistically sees America as dysfunctional and declining.

However unequal in severity the situations in the two countries were, large numbers of Germans and Americans perceived multiple crises of political gridlock, economic failure, humiliation abroad, and cultural-moral decay at home. Both Hitler and Trump proclaimed their countries to be “losers,” offered themselves as the sole solution to these crises, and pledged a return to the glories of an imagined golden past. Hitler promised a great “renewal” in Germany, Trump to “make America great again.” Both men defied old norms and invented unprecedented ways of waging their political campaigns. Both men developed a charismatic relationship with their “base” that centered on large rallies. Both emphasized their “outsider” status and railed against the establishment, privileged elites, and corrupt special interests. Both voiced grievances against enemies (Hitler’s “November criminals” and “Jewish Bolsheviks,” Trump’s “Mexican rapists,” “radical Islamic terror,” and the “dishonest” press). And both men benefited from being seriously underestimated by experts and rivals.

However, while both men created coalitions of discontent, their constituencies were quite different. The first groups to be taken over by Nazi majorities were student organizations on university campuses. In their electoral breakthrough in 1930, the Nazis won the vast majority of first-time voters, especially the youth vote. Above all, the Nazis vacuumed up the voters of other middle-class parties, and women of different social backgrounds voted in roughly the same proportions for the Nazis as men.

The two groups among whom the Nazis were relatively unsuccessful were Germany’s religious-block voters (in this case Catholics voting for their own Center Party) and blue-collar industrial workers (who more often shifted their votes from the declining moderate Social Democrats to the more radical Communists rather than to the Nazis). Still, the Nazis drew votes much more broadly across German society than any of their rival class- and sectarian-based parties and could boast with some justification to be the only true “people’s party” in the country.

In the end the Nazis built a strong base and won a decisive plurality in Germany’s multiparty system. The party reached 37 percent in the July 1932 elections and declined to 33 percent in November in the last two free elections, before it peaked at 44 percent in the manipulated election of March 1933.

Unlike Hitler, who won voters away from other parties to the Nazis, Trump did not build up his own party organization but captured the Republican Party through the primaries and caucuses. Despite this “hostile takeover” and Trump’s personal flaws, traditional Republicans (including women, whose defection had been wrongly predicted) solidly supported him in the general election, as did evangelicals. In contrast, the Democrats failed both to maintain Obama’s level of voter mobilization among African-Americans and youth and to hold onto blue-collar white male voters in the Great Lakes industrial states (especially in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania) who had voted for Obama in the two previous presidential elections, but had already deserted the Democratic Party in the previous three state elections. Trump’s 46 percent of the vote in a basically two-party race barely exceeded Hitler’s maximum of 44 percent in a multiparty race, but it was strategically distributed and thus sufficient for an electoral college victory despite Hillary Clinton’s receiving nearly three million more votes nationwide.

While Trump attained the presidency through a constitutionally legitimate electoral college victory, Hitler was unable to obtain the chancellorship through electoral triumph and a parliamentary majority. Rather he came to power through a deal brokered by Germany’s nationalist and authoritarian conservative elites and President Paul von Hindenburg. Having mobilized the large popular base that the old elites could not, Hitler was indispensable to their plans to replace the increasingly defunct Weimar democracy with authoritarian rule.

As Ullrich admirably demonstrates, it was not the inexorable rise of the Nazis but rather the first signs of their decline in the November 1932 elections (exhausted, bankrupt, and demoralized from constant campaigning without ultimate victory) that led conservative elites to accept Hitler’s demand for the chancellorship, before his stubborn holdout could ruin his own party and leave the conservatives to face the left without popular support. Many of Hitler’s and the conservatives’ goals overlapped: ending Weimar’s parliamentary democracy; rearming; throwing off the Versailles Treaty and restoring the borders of 1914; crushing the “Marxists” (i.e., Social Democrats and labor unions as well as Communists); and de-emancipating Germany’s Jews. The fundamental assumption of these conservative elites was, of course, that they would control Hitler and use him to realize their agenda, not vice versa.

Trump the populist and the traditional Republicans have likewise made a deal to work together, in part to realize those goals they share: tax “reform” with special emphasis on cuts for the well-off; deregulating business and banking; curtailing environmental protections while denying man-made climate change; appointing a Scalia-like justice to the Supreme Court; repealing Obamacare; increasing military spending; increasing the deportation of undocumented immigrants and “sealing the border”; shifting resources from public to charter schools; expanding the rights of individuals or businesses to discriminate against unprotected groups in the name of religious freedom; ending the right to abortion; and on the state level intensifying voter suppression.

It is highly unlikely, however, that Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and other Republican legislators share Trump’s enthusiasm for a trillion-dollar infrastructure package; his pledge not to cut Social Security and Medicare; the replacement of broad, regional free trade agreements with narrow, bilateral trade treaties; and some economic conjuring trick to reopen closed coal mines, steel mills, and factories. Presumably some of these Trump promises will be set aside (as already appears to be happening to his promise of a health plan that covers more people with better care at less cost, though not sufficiently to the satisfaction of hard-core conservatives), and further conflict looms ahead.

If both Hitler and Trump made deals with conservative political partners on the basis of partially overlapping goals and those partners’ wishful thinking, it is simply not possible for Trump to consolidate absolute power and dispense with his allies with either the speed or totality that Hitler did. One of the most chilling sections of Ullrich’s biography deals with the construction of the Nazi dictatorship. Through emergency decrees of President Hindenburg (not subject to judicial review), freedom of the press, speech, and assembly were suspended within the first week. Due process of law and the autonomy of state governments were gone within the first month, as the government was empowered to intern people indefinitely in concentration camps without charges, trial, or sentence, and to replace non-Nazi state governments with Nazi commissioners. By the sixth week, the Communist Party had been outlawed and the entire constitution had been set aside in favor of Hitler (rather than Hindenburg) ruling through decree.

In the third month equality before the law was abrogated with the first anti-Jewish decrees and the purging of the civil service, and in the fourth month the labor unions and the Social Democratic Party were abolished. The remaining political parties disbanded themselves in month five. In June 1934 Hitler carried out the “Blood Purge.” Among its victims were former chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and his wife as well as hundreds of others on Hitler’s enemies list. Former vice chancellor Franz von Papen, who had brokered the deal that brought Hitler to power, was dispatched as ambassador to Austria. It was as if Hillary and Bill Clinton were gunned down in their doorway, and Mike Pence sent off as ambassador to Canada.

Partly because Trump does not have an independent party and paramilitary militia totally committed to him personally and partly because American democracy is in no way as atrophied as was the Weimar Republic, such a whirlwind creation of dictatorship is not a possibility in 2017. Courts continue to exercise judicial review and uphold due process, governors in states like California and Washington are not being deposed and replaced, the exercise of free speech, press, and assembly under the Bill of Rights is still intact, and opposition parties are not being outlawed. Equally important, large numbers of people are frequently and visibly exercising their rights of assembly and speech, and the news media have not sought to ingratiate themselves with the new regime, thereby earning the administration’s reprimand that they are both the real “opposition” and the “enemy of the people.” Whatever the authoritarian tendencies of Trump and some of those around him, they have encountered limits that Hitler did not.

Two factors that Ullrich consistently emphasizes are Hitler’s ideological core on the one hand and the fact that he made no attempt to hide it on the other. On the contrary, knowledge of it was available to anyone who cared enough to look. If Hitler’s first postwar biographer, Alan Bullock, treated him as a tyrant seeking power for its own sake, Ullrich embraces the research of the late 1960s, especially by Eberhard Jäckel,*who laid out how, over the course of the 1920s, Hitler’s worldview crystallized around race as the driving force of history. He believed the Jews constituted the greatest threat to Germany’s racial purity and fighting spirit, and thus to its capacity to wage the eternal struggle for “living space” needed to sustain and expand Germany’s population and vanquish its rivals.

Ullrich also accepts later research that demonstrates that this worldview did not constitute a premeditated program or blueprint, but provided the parameters and guidelines for how Nazi racial, foreign, and military policy evolved and radicalized over the twelve years of the Third Reich. Ascent ends in March 1939, with the occupation of Prague as Hitler’s last bloodless victory. But it is clear to Ullrich that no one should have been surprised that Hitler’s ideologically driven career was destined to culminate in war and genocide.

With Trump, of course, we have neither historical perspective nor discernible ideological core. The overwhelming impression is that his ego and need for adulation, as well as his inability to discern simple reality and tell the truth when his ego is threatened, are his driving forces, not ideology. Among his appointees, however, is the Breitbart faction of Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller, who embrace a vision of what Bannon euphemistically calls “economic nationalism.” It combines white supremacy; the Leninist “deconstruction” of the New Deal/cold war administrative state; Islamophobia (especially in seeing a titanic and irreconcilable clash of civilizations between Islam and the West); the dismantling of the current international order (UN, EU, NATO, NAFTA, etc.) in favor of a return to unfettered and self-assertive, ethnically homogeneous nation-states; affinity with Putin’s Russia and other ultra-nationalist and increasingly authoritarian movements in Europe; and apocalyptic historical thinking about the end of the current era (a roughly eighty-year cycle that began in the 1930s) and the emergence of a new one in the very near future.

Trump shares these views sufficiently to have made Bannon the chief strategist of his administration, and his easy resort to racist rhetoric—the birther myth, Mexicans as rapists and criminals, the Muslim ban, Lindbergh’s “America First” slogan—makes clear that he is perfectly comfortable stoking racism. But it is not clear if any of this ideological package would have priority over his central agenda of self-aggrandizement. The future direction of the Trump administration depends in no small part on the extent to which the Bannon-Miller faction prevails over the collection of traditionalists, military officers, and billionaires whom Trump has also appointed to important positions.

Ullrich also shows that the phenomenal rise in Hitler’s popularity—his ability to win over the majority of the majority who did not vote for him—crucially resulted from the dual achievement of a string of bloodless foreign policy victories on the one hand and economic recovery (especially the return to full employment) on the other. Full employment was accomplished above all by rearmament through huge deficit spending and enormous trade deficits that resulted from bilateral trade deals. They created an economic house of cards in which the frenetic pace of preparing for a major war planned for 1942–1943 required the gamble of seizing Austrian and Czech resources while avoiding war in 1938–1939. The infrastructure program of building autobahns had a very minor, mostly cosmetic, part in economic recovery.

Trump too has staked his political future on economic promises of 4 percent growth; the reopening of coal mines, steel mills, and factories in regions of economic blight; and the replacement or renegotiation of free trade agreements (that were based on the assumption of mutual benefit) with bilateral trade deals in which America wins and the other side loses. In this regard the goal of his bilateral trade agreements is exactly the opposite of Hitler’s, i.e., he seeks trade surpluses, while Hitler paid for crash rearmament in part through trade deficits that would allegedly be paid off later or preferably canceled through conquest. Trump is tied to a political party that traditionally has favored free trade and abhors deficit spending for any purposes other than providing tax cuts for the wealthy, increasing the military budget, and justifying cuts to the welfare safety net.

It is unclear how Trump’s populist promises on health care, Social Security and Medicare, infrastructure rebuilding, and recovery of blighted industries can be accomplished, particularly in an environment of potential trade war, higher cost of living due to import taxes and diminished competition, possible decline in now relatively prosperous, cutting-edge export industries, and agrobusiness that needs both export markets and cheap immigrant labor. Tax cuts, deregulation, and reckless disregard for the environment are the Republican panaceas for the economy. Will they provide even a temporary boost (before the balloon bursts and the bill comes due as it did for George W. Bush in 2007–2008) sufficient to help Trump escape the economic and political cul de sac into which he has maneuvered himself? Here too the future direction of the Trump administration is unclear.

Hitler and National Socialism should not be seen as the normal historical template for authoritarian rule, risky foreign policy, and persecution of minorities, for they constitute an extreme case of totalitarian dictatorship, limitless aggression, and genocide. They should not be lightly invoked or trivialized through facile comparison. Nonetheless, even if there are many significant differences between Hitler and Trump and their respective historical circumstances, what conclusions can the reader of Volker Ullrich’s new biography reach that offer insight into our current situation?

First, there is a high price to pay for consistently underestimating a charismatic political outsider just because one finds by one’s own standards and assumptions (in my case those of a liberal academic) his character flawed, his ideas repulsive, and his appeal incomprehensible. And that is important not only for the period of his improbable rise to power but even more so once he has attained it. Second, putting economically desperate people back to work by any means will purchase a leader considerable forgiveness for whatever other shortcomings emerge and at least passive support for any other goals he pursues. As James Carville advised the 1992 Clinton campaign, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Third, the assumption that conservative, traditionalist allies—however indispensable initially—will hold such upstart leaders in check is dangerously wishful thinking. If conservatives cannot gain power on their own without the partnership and popular support of such upstarts, their subsequent capacity to control these upstarts is dubious at best.

Fourth, the best line of defense of a democracy must be at the first point of attack. Weimar parliamentary government had been supplanted by presidentially appointed chancellors ruling through the emergency decree powers of an antidemocratic president since 1930. In 1933 Hitler simply used this post-democratic stopgap system to install a totalitarian dictatorship with incredible speed and without serious opposition. If we can still effectively protect American democracy from dictatorship, then certainly one lesson from the study of the demise of Weimar and the ascent of Hitler is how important it is to do it early.

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christheodore · 7 years

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New York Review of Books (NYR)

Lessons from Hitler’s Rise by Christopher R. Browning Hitler: Ascent 1889–1939 - by Volker Ullrich, translated from the German by Jefferson Chase

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rbeatz · 7 years

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Past, Present, and What’s on the Horizon – An Interview with Tritonal

Tritonal is a production duo and DJ tandem made up of Chad Cisneros and David Reed. They are co-owners of the record label, Enhanced Music, and radio hosts on their Sirius XM Electric Area show, Tritonia.

The duo formed in 2008 and quickly rose to the label ranks, starting off on the British record label, Anjunabeats, and eventually moving to Will Holland’s Enhanced Music, which they currently co-own. Their debut album, Piercing the Quiet, crushed the Beatport charts, landing 8 singles in the top 20, and 5 #1 singles on the Trance charts. They remixed Piercing the Quiet, which lead to a top 5 placement on iTunes dance album charts.

They released their Metamorphic EP trilogy from 2013-2014, cracking the top Five on Billboard’s Airplay Dance chart with the single, Now Or Never featuring Phoebe Ryan. In 2015, Now Or Never became a sports anthem for CBS’s Thursday Night NFL broadcasts.

In 2015, they went on tour with Cash Cash on their Untouchable Tour, selling out major city venues such as New York’s Terminal 5, San Francisco’s Warfield, and L.A.’s Club Nokia. They also collaborated with The Chainsmokers on their single, Until You Were Gone, and remixed Adam Lambert’s Ghost Town, boosting their streaming success online.

Last year, they released their Painting With Dreams album with hit singles such as Blackout, Getaway, I Feel The Love, and Rewind. They’ve toured the world, playing primetime hours at major festivals such as Electric Daisy Carnival, Escape From Wonderland, Ultra Music Festival, Electric Zoo Festival, and Creamfields Australia.

They recently released their label’s 300th track, Good Thing ft. Laurell. They’ve also released an official remix of Armin Van Buuren’s Sunny Days featuring Josh Cumbee. This fall, Tritonal is set to go on their Horizon Tour with Seven Lions and Kill The Noise.

We had the pleasure of interviewing Tritonal below. Take a listen to their new remix, then listen to their new featured singles on Soundcloud and read the full interview below to get the FULL Tritonal experience. Chad and David answered questions separately.

INTERVIEW:

Where does the name Tritonal come from?

Chad: A Tritone is a musical interval, otherwise known as a chord. It’s a diminished 5th to be exact or an augmented 4th. It has a very dissonant sound, and the actual word Tritonal is an explosive. It’s 80% TNT, and we thought that musical explosivity is super rad!

Where are you from and how has that shaped the musician you are today?

Chad: We’re both from Austin, TX – although Dave grew up close to Washington DC. Im not sure geographic region influenced our love of Electronic Dance Music a lot in the early days since we were finding most of our music online! That said, Austin is a thriving live music area, and we get to see / hear loads of different cool bands!

What instruments did you play when you were younger?

Chad: Dave played Piano, and still does. I don’t particularly play anything, although was academically trained at University for Audio Engineering. We use our instincts when it comes to music, and always bring it back to “how does this make me feel?”

Are there an instruments that you currently wish you COULD play?

Chad: Definitely! I wish I had been more studious at learning piano; it’s so fundamental in writing. It’s definitely handicap at times, and I am constantly reminded of it! That said, we work really hard at our sound design, arrangements, and go with our instinctive guts on harmony and musicality.

Tell us the story of how you started creating music on your computer?

Chad: I actually started making old school beats on gear, a Roland MC-505 Groovebox and a Korg Triton Workstation. We saved our tracks on Floppy Disks! lol!

Dave started noodling with FL Studio when he was about 12 years old after listening to a Tiesto album.

What was your favorite studio moment when producing your Label, Enhanced’s, 300th release, Good Thing ft. Laurell?

Chad: Hands down when we nailed the acoustic guitar counter riff with our boy, Teal. We kept sending back n’ forth notes on the rhythm and melody of it. It’s such a mainstay of the vibe!

Tell us about your new remix for Armin van Buuren.

Chad: Well obviously we respect Armin as an artist so much, but much more as a human. He’s such a great person. We have been close with him for years and have played a few of his massive ASOT celebrations at Ultra, EDC, and in Amsterdam. Although our sound has changed, we really wanted to give this record a euphoric twist.

What do you like to do when you’re simply hanging out – aside from music?

Chad: My wife and I just had Twins! Wow, they’re so adorable, but can also be so much work! I honestly can’t take credit, as my wife is the one who deserves all of it. She has somehow maintained an amazing home for all of us, and I’m just blessed to be a part of it. We have 3 kids now, and thats gonna be all for us!

Dave and I work out, we go on hikes, and hang out with friends when in Austin. It’s such a great city this time of year!

Are you involved in any extracurricular activities?

Chad: As someone in recovery, who’s been sober for almost 12 years – this plays a big part of my extracurricular activities. Super active in meetings, sponsoring and mentoring others, and I also co-own and operate an Inpatient / Outpatient Detox Treatment Facility called Infinite Recovery here in Austin. We treat alcoholism and drug addiction, helping people put their lives back together.

Who are your musical influences?

Chad: Both of our favorite band is Coldplay. We also love Jon Hopkins and Nils Frahm. We listen to so much music each week preparing for our radio show Tritonia, that we stay pretty involved in whats current. Hard not to be inspired by so much awesome music out there!

Who is one of your favorite acts right now to watch live?

Dave: Cold play is pretty exciting; however, we enjoy a lot of acts including Galantis live! We like how they innovate with their drums and percussion fused in with their DJ set!

What are some of your favorite venues to play and why?

Dave: We really love Terminal 5 in New York, Echostage in DC and venues similar! They’re so much fun to play, watching a seething, soaring mass of people get down with our music. It’s awesome.

What are some of your favorite cities to play-in and why?

Dave: We are fortunate to be able to have played in many great cities! We really enjoy playing out in Hawaii though, as it’s a complete switch from the normal vibe of travel. It’s nice to change it up and maybe bring the family sometimes.

What DAW do you use and why?

Dave: We use Logic Pro mostly! We’ve come from a variety of DAWs and feel Logic supports our needs overall rather than switching between many programs. However, we do use Ableton Live frequently!

Do you have a typical music production process? If yes, can you explain it?

Dave: Indeed we do! Between the two of us, we like to start with the peak of the record, i.e the “drop” as some would say. It helps us understand where the most intense threshold of the record is, and then we like to boil it down from there to help prepare our verse, pre, etc. It’s a great method we feel works for us.

What is your favorite MIDI Controller or instrument to produce with right now?

Dave: Honestly, we’ve still been rocking our good ole’ M-Audio AXIOMs! But we’re all about upgrading our gear as we see fit!

What is one of your favorite or go-to VST Plugin?

Dave: Whew there are many we love to pinpoint here, including spire, nexus, avenger, sylenth and we really love Omnisphere! It’s super awesome!

Do you have a key production tip for our young producers out there?

Dave: Definitely! Whenever you begin your mix, especially if it pertains to something more vocal heavy, we like to bring the entire mix down a bit by a few DBs. Then, we can properly hear our levels when mixing in drums, leads, bass, etc. You don’t need to blow your ears at high volumes to get your mix proper – take your time

What is your favorite color?

Dave: haha! Anything on Phillip’s HUE!

Do you have a favorite in-studio snack?

Dave: haha we do! Almonds or apples is the way! At times, you might catch us with some of those Peanut M&M’S though!

What is next for Tritonal?

Dave: Quite a bit actually!! Not only do we have some new music coming down the pipeline soon, but we’ve also got a dope tour lined up along with Seven Lions and Kill the Noise this fall called the Horizon Tour!

Click here to buy tickets

from rBeatz Radio http://ift.tt/2wZtaVX

#rBeatz Radio #Past #Present #and What’s on the Horizon – An Interview with Tritonal #Music #Fun #Dan

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houstonlocalus-blog · 7 years

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Houstonian Tales: Christian Kidd

Christian Kidd. Photo: Alexis Kidd

It’s never lost on me that having an older brother, a father, and a mother who all enriched my love of music through their own, was a vital key in shaping who I am. While my father handed me my first blues album with Trouble In Mind by Mance Lipscomb, my older brother put Bad Brains’ self titled debut in my hands, and my mother passed on her love for artists like Sam Cooke and Otis Redding. However, my mother also handed down to me a rich hometown pride. No matter what show I was going to, she always reminded me that I was a native Houstonian and that I shouldn’t forget the locals who opened those shows. It was that hometown pride that made me seek out local music to listen to and champion on the regular. I don’t really look back much anymore, though with age I think we all look to what came before us to see where we’re heading. In the late seventies when The Hates were formed, Houston was a swampy wasteland of terrible cover bands and honky tonk wannabes that so blanketed our city that we had become known for it. If you ever wondered why touring act rarely came her for so long, that’s a large reason for it. But, as all pioneers do, The Hates were among the first Houston bands to make their own scene and bring bands to town that otherwise would have skipped over our Southern city without regret. Growing up here, there were always bands that were full of jerks that wouldn’t give a local teen the time of day. However, Christian Kidd of The Hates wasn’t one of them. One of the kindest people to walk the streets of Houston, Kidd has been playing in The Hates for most of our lives, while making spots like the Pik N Pak, The Axiom, and even Rudyard’s famous over the years. Kidd is one of the largest reasons Houston has a music scene today, and one of the greatest examples of how the past can dictate where the future goes. Free Press Houston was more than happy to take some time to talk to Kidd while he looked back on all he’s done, what his future looks like, and how to take on his biggest challenge to date with the grace and intensity that he’s utilized in making this city’s music scene relevant today.

Free Press Houston: Are you originally from Houston, and what side of town did you grow up on?

Christian Kidd: I was actually born in Panama. My father was in the Army, so we went back and forth between Panama, New York, and Seattle until my parents divorced and my mother moved to Houston in 1968. We lived in Northeast Houston, kind of in the Lake Houston area, and I graduated from M. B. Smiley High School in ‘73.

FPH: Houston has changed a lot since the late seventies. Were there any local bands you were really into that we might not have heard of?

Kidd: When I first started going out into the world on my own, disco was in full swing and most of the bands out there pretty much country/western bands or cover bands.

FPH: Before Zyklon B, were you in any other bands? Besides the previous incarnations of the band, Guyana Boys Choir & Christian Oppression? What drew you to punk rock?

Kidd: I actually played in a funk group with a guy named Castle T. The band didn’t even have a name, and it didn’t last long. In fact, when I met up with him to break up, so to speak, it turned out someone else was listening in to our conversation. Nathan Faulk, who would go on to be a founding member of D.R.U.M., wanted to introduce me to a friend of his who might be a good musical match for me. That friend turned out to be Robert Kainer, who would lend the contrasts of his classical training and his fondness for the avant-garde to the kind of music I wanted to make.

I’ve always been a fan of all kinds of music, and I’d swarm the import sections of every record store I could get to for prog rock or other weird stuff. I would just devour the music, as well as British magazines like Melody Maker, because they’d write about all of the bands that I liked. Before long, it was punk that was filling those import bins, and I couldn’t get enough of the energy and raw power contained in those little circles of vinyl. I’d buy everything I could get my hands on and it wasn’t long before I knew that I wanted it for myself. It was all so different from my everyday life — the anger, the noisy guitars, the brevity of the songs, and I loved it. When I first started playing punk, it was all just hubris. Honestly, I had nothing to rage against. It was just fun. But eventually I found a voice in it, and I’ve never really wanted to stop.

The Hates, early lineup (Christian, far left). Photo: Christian Kidd

FPH: You guys became The Hates in 1979 at the Rock Against Racism show at University of Houston. Did you think you’d still be playing together almost 40 years later?

Kidd: No. No way. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — punk rock was not supposed to grow up. Get old. It was supposed to be a young person’s game. How I’m still around slinging a guitar and singing “Armageddon” and “Dirty Politics” almost 40 years down the road, I have no idea. At all. But I’m grateful for it. I’m thankful that people still want to hear what I’ve got to say, because really, this is my life’s work.

FPH: The Hates are the longest running unsigned punk band in Houston, were there ever offers to sign onto labels or have you always wanted to keep things DIY? Was there ever a plan to record any of the rockabilly material from that era of the band?

Kidd: In ‘79, a London label called Cherry Red sent someone to Houston to talk with me about putting out my early material on an album they’d call No Talk in the 80’s. Eventually they opted to put out The Dead Kennedys instead. I don’t dwell too much on that missed opportunity, because at least by having my own label I ended up in complete control of my own music. Sure, having my own label sometimes meant literally putting 45s in their freshly printed sleeves and sending promo copies all over the country; but that was part of the fun.

As to the rockabilly material, we actually did record some of it during the 30 Years of Hate sessions at Sugar Hill. It just has not been released.

Christian Kidd with his book at Barnes & Noble. Photo: Alexis Kidd

FPH: Your book, Just a Houston Punk, which you wrote with your wife Alexis, really brings back a lot of memories of the old punk scene. How underground it all was, the shows at spots like Pik-n-Pak, The Vatican, The Abyss, The Axiom. Do you ever miss that underground punk scene that used to thrive here back in the day? What’s your favorite memory from the old days of the Houston punk scene?

Kidd: I do miss some things about the early days — the coolest thing to me was that the idea of what punk rock is supposed to be hadn’t been formed yet, so fledgling punk bands could be more arty or avant-garde. There was a lot of experimenting musically, and it created some incredible music. We all fed off of each other’s creativity and influence and really supported one another — it was an almost magical time. One of my favorite shows from the first era of Houston punk was New Year’s 1979 at The Island — The Hates with Really Red and Legionaires Disease. It was a crazy night, and we went on at midnight. What a great way to bring in the new year!

FPH: Going off of what I know, The Hates have released six 7” records, four full length albums if you count the 30 Years of Hate album, and multiple appearances on compilations. You’ve really embraced the digital side of the record industry, yet those 7” records aren’t available to stream. Has there been any effort to get them posted? Have you ever considered having any of the releases repressed or talked to a label about reissuing them?

Kidd: Just a couple of years ago, Rave Up Records out of Italy released No Talk in the 80’s, which is made up of the first 3 EPs and Panacea. Unfortunately, it’s currently out of print. Also, the first 3 EP’s are available on CD Baby, I just have to get around to getting them on Spotify. The biggest hindrance to getting the entire back catalogue of Hates music to the digital world is that the master tapes are not in the best shape. I’ve even tried to get one of them baked in order to salvage anything that might be left on them. But it’s something that I do want to accomplish, eventually.

Christian Kidd. Photo: Alexis Kidd

FPH: You worked at city hall for quite some time. How long did you work there and was there ever a time when you got crap for the liberty spikes?

Kidd: I worked for the City for 23 years, and I enjoyed it very much. But sure, there was a time that I got a talking to by the Employee Relations manager. In fact, one of the secretaries called a friend who worked at the Houston Post and they did an article on it. Also, in 1990 when Houston was the host of the G7 Summit, they asked all of the City employees to go out and line the streets with tiny US and British flags like we were watching a parade. They wanted to be sure that Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister of England, got a warm welcome as she drove by. I was actually pulled out by a Secret Service guy for looking suspicious, despite my City uniform. I got to keep the flags, though, so that was good.

FPH: How long have you worked at Fuller’s and how did working there come about?

Kidd: I’ve been lucky enough to work there almost 4 years. Gary Burgess called me up and encouraged me to apply. It was just that simple. Funny thing is, working around guitars every day isn’t the same as working at an ice cream shop and eventually getting sick of ice cream. I’ve got a real love affair going on with guitars, and being around them all of the time is pretty intoxicating. And for someone who’s been playing guitar for as many years as I have, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to have learned a lot more about the instrument since I’ve been there.

Alexis & Christian Kidd. Photo: Alexis Kidd

FPH: You and your wife Alexis seem to really be a loving and doting couple. What’s the secret to your happiness?

Kidd: She doesn’t believe me when I say this, but I had a thing for her right from the start. It was her smile, you know? Anyway, back to your question. There’s not really just any one thing that makes us work. One of the things that’s best about us is that we’re individuals as well as a couple. We have shared interests, like music, scootering, rescue animals, and reading. But we have things that we enjoy on our own, and I think that having separate passions makes us more interesting. Aside from that, she supports just about everything I ever want to do, and kicks my butt when I need it. I write her poems and remind her to take care of herself because she works too hard. And in the rare instances when we get under one another’s skin, as people do from time to time, we never yell at each other — in fact, we usually air our grievances and then tell each other that we love one another anyway. Oh, and did I mention that she’s my best friend?

FPH: You had to have surgery on your arm and they discovered something else — stage three throat and mouth cancer. You’re currently beginning the early stages of chemotherapy, do they know how someone who doesn’t smoke can get a form of cancer like this?

Kidd: Squamous Cell Carcinoma. It’s on the base of my tongue and has spread to a lymph node in my neck. Even though it’s uncommon for a non-smoker to get this kind of cancer in the mouth or throat, my doctors say it’s on the rise due to HPV. The two good things about HPV-related cancers is that they’re more treatable if caught early, and if the next generation of kids get the vaccine before they’re sexually active, they could possibly eliminate these cancers as a threat to their health.

FPH: As a guy who has seen a lot in Houston, and especially in the Houston music scene, is there anything you’ve learned that you’d like musicians in town to know from your years of experience?

Kidd: Always be cool to the sound guy. Be supportive of your fellow musicians. Take the time to talk with your fans, or else they won’t stay your fans. And if you never make it to the big time, or never even make it out of Texas, it’s okay. As long as you’re doing what you love, the big time doesn’t matter.

I, as a fan of music, and of this city’s music culture, can never begin to thank Kidd for his time and his contribution in putting Houston on the map as far as any form of scene is concerned. The methods in which we all book shows and release records can all be traced back to pioneers like him, and those he surrounded himself with when The Hates started their storied career. You can stream The Hates’ catalog here, or buy merch from them here.

Kidd will be on hand during the week of June 12 through June 18 for the first annual Houston Benefit Week, benefitting he and his wife while he battles cancer. Taking place at local venues throughout the city, the week begins on Monday, June 12 at Insomnia for a poster art show featuring the art of the week’s shows. Shows at Continental Club, Rudyard’s, Walter’s, The Secret Group, and Rockefeller’s will have sets from acts like Los Skarnales, Another Run, Trillblazers, Black Kite, and many more. The week will be including lineups from local acts that’ll never occur again, before ending June 18 at Big Star Bar with a headlining set from B L A C K I E. There’s more information available here for the week of shows where all of the proceeds will go to Kidd.

Houstonian Tales: Christian Kidd this is a repost

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