#also takes out the fun when people try to rationalize the sillier names by having it be a nickname

[kald-dal-art]

Do you think Blight is his actual name or a nickname

With how silly Hunger Games names can get I am inclined to believe it is his actual name.

It is interesting though. Blight is a disease for plants, so it is fair to assume it is a nickname, because what parent would name their children after something that is negative. Like the whole industry of 7 would take a big hit if a big amount of the trees suffer from blight, so interesting someone would name their kid after that.

Or idk maybe his parents just hated him lol

[travellovekai-blog]

La Noria de San Antonios is located in the municipality of Mazatlán in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. This small rural town is well known for its handmade items of leather and clay. The overall population of La Noria de San Antonio (La Noria as most call it) is only about 1200 people.

As I drove into the sleepy pre-colonial town I felt a connection with the historic feel and look of the area. There were brightly colored buildings and a couple small gene-rationally owned business. Since it was around noon most the town was closed down for siesta time. It left the borough with a sense of stillness, calmness and quiet.

The first place I stop at is a very quaint leather shop there are only two in town, this one is in the very center. The shop owner produces a variety of leather products, belts, saddles, and beautiful masks etc. These masks are the same ones many use when attending the Mazatlan Carnival. The saddles are made with such a detail to craftsmanship they are in themselves a work of art. Myself I was intrigued with the masks that lined an entire wall. I will definitely be getting a few of them to display throughout my home. The shop owner has been doing this skillful craft since he was just fifteen years old he was taught by his father. Juan I believe his name was, gave us a demonstration of the centuries old skill. We watched as he quickly made and embossed a beautiful leather belt. Hanging from the other side of the wall was more of his crafts. Variously sized purses and a chest-crossing belt of sorts that allowed one to carry a bottle of liquor and shot glasses. The handmade leather sandals were very nice also.

Just up the street hidden behind another small leather shop in a clay dirt backyard is an artist. He created skillfully without any electricity using only manpower making many sizes of bowls, cups and various other items with handmade molds. He demonstrated how exactly he creates these little works of art. He used a small but effective wooden spinning wood plate that he spun with his foot kind of like a lazy Susan.  The proprietor of this makeshift small business was extremely entertaining and friendly. I enjoyed speaking with him and laughing at his jokes. The fact of his limited English mixed into his fast speaking Spanish made the experience even better. I kept thinking this must be how I sound when I’m speaking Spanish. Well, I’d guess I sound a little sillier with a couple points for at least trying to speak Spanish. I couldn’t resist buying two of the cutest small clay cups that were glazed in a clear and green tint. They were hand stamped with a leaf-like image and engraved with the township name.

On the way back I stopped in at the very Mexican traditional rustic outdoor restaurant, EL Saszon de la Abuela Tina. On one side of the restaurant was a large open field with many barnyard type animals. Lots of turkeys, chickens, ducks and such wandered around. On the other side was a dirt-floored additional seating area. In the back was the open kitchen, I stood and watched the women creating my soon to be lunch. Hanging from the thatched roof were fans and small items from around this picturesque town. I ordered the house specialty Molcheta bowl. This is amazing it’s a black clay bowl filled with smokey beef, chicken, and shrimp that is placed into a wood-burning brick oven. The layers of flavors from the smokey meats, the gooieness of melted cheese all swimming in a delicious mildly spicey ranchero sauce. So fantastic I’ve never tasted anything like this meal. They served it with piping hot handmade blue tortillas. The freshly made frothy ice cold limonada was the perfect complement to this meal. I will warn you the serving size is huge I could have easily portioned this into two meals. However, since I was driving a ways out back to Mazatlan I ate what I could. I honestly didn’t think it would reheat well either.

Don’t be caught off guard though. The chickens and turkeys amongst other animals wander around you while your eating. They could be a little loud and curious but it only added to the authenticity of the experience. I’m pretty sure this is truly farm to table. The service was genuinely nice and friendly. When Jeff returns from Alaska this will be a place I will take him for sure. It is definitely worth the forty-five-minute drive.

Please share in the comments if you have any ideas or questions.

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La Noria de San Antonio La Noria de San Antonios is located in the municipality of Mazatlán in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.

[thisaintascenereviews]

Album Review by Bradley Christensen J.I.D – The Never Story Record Label: Dreamville / Interscope Release Date: March 10 2017

If there’s one thing I can’t stand from music fans, at least more than the “I miss the older stuff” fans, it’s people that dismiss critics as being snobby, pretentious, and annoying, solely because they read a review they disagreed with. The funny thing is, though, those people aren’t totally wrong. I don’t really enjoy a lot of critics, because they present themselves in this “holier than thou” light, almost like their opinions are somehow more valid than the person reading / watching. I mean, at the end of the day, you’re just a random person that has something to say about an album. That’s what the fans are, too, right? You’re not any better than someone reading / watching your reviews, and some critics have this superiority complex. I could name some off the top of my head, but I won’t at the moment, because it wouldn’t be worth it. Even the critics that try to present themselves as the “everyman” can be very snobby, too, because that “fame” can get to their heads. While some fans aren’t necessarily wrong, critics are important, at least the more levelheaded, intelligent, and relatable ones, anyway. When I watch or read a review, I never go into them with the hope that my opinions will be validated (permitting that I’ve already seen or listened to whatever they’re talking about), because that’s completely backwords. You shouldn’t go into stuff with that mindset, because if your opinions aren’t validated, you’ll feel betrayed, even if the critic just merely disagreed with you in the most rational, understanding, and interesting ways. I always like listening to or reading the different perspective that a critic might bring to whatever they’re talking about. That’s why introductions are important to me, because context is everything. I’ve had some bands and fans get pissy with me, merely because my reviews are too long, and I don’t start off by talking about the album. That would be weird, because you’d have no context as to how I feel. I could say I like or dislike something, but without the context, why should you care about my thoughts?

Critics aren’t given the proper respect they deserve, because they’re mainly used as vehicles for fans to validate their opinions. Of course, though, you have your awful critics, too, ones that will take advantage of their position to talk down upon people that might like stuff they don’t, or act as thought their opinion is the most important one. As a critic myself, my goal is just to offer my thoughts on something, and it’s up to you whether you want to check it out or not. I might not like everything I listen to, but if you want to listen to the stuff that I might not recommend, or that I don’t like, go for it. I’ve always thought that the job of a critic should be to persuade something to listen to something that you’re talking about, or avoiding it if they don’t like it, but as I’ve gotten older, that’s not the case anymore. The job of a critic is to provide their thoughts with some personality behind it. You might not like what the critic has to say, because their thoughts don’t mirror your own, but you know a good critic from a bad one when you can still respect where a critic is coming from, and you still listen to what they have to say, versus invalidating their reviews and thoughts. Even though I write a lot of reviews, I like to watch them, too, and I look for the same things in other reviews. When it comes to checking out an album that a reviewer talks about, I won’t listen to something solely because that reviewer liked it or loved it. Just because they love something, it doesn’t mean that it will be for me. Remember, it’s okay to disagree with critics, even ones that you typically like. It helps that they might enjoy something, for sure, but it’s not the sole reason I’ll take a look at something. Today I’ll be talking about the new project from rapper / singer J.I.D, who’s signed to J. Cole’s record label, Dreamville, and I’ve seen his newest project, The Never Story, being talked about on a few hip-hop channels.

Because there was a lot of praise thrown to the album, and the album seemed like something I’d like, I thought I’d take a look at it. I didn’t want to listen to it, solely because these critics liked it. That’s the balance in motion here. I might stay tuned to a critic, because I enjoy their perspectives and personality, but I won’t blindly listen to whatever they might praise. That’s where my own taste and thoughts come into play. If a critic enjoys a record, that helps in my decision making, but if I know an album won’t be for me, I won’t bother with it. The Never Story seemed like it would be something I’d like, as I said, and after listening to it for the last couple of weeks, it surely is, because this LP is quite nice. I can’t say I really love it, or anything like that, because it does have some issues for me, but it’s a very solid LP. I didn’t quite know what to expect with this, because I didn’t listen to anything prior, so I was just going off what the reviews I watched said about this project, but if J.I.D was signed to J. Cole’s label, I was expecting a sound pretty similar to that. That could have gone either way, though, since I’m not all that crazy about Cole’s latest album. It was very boring, uninteresting, and pretentious in some spots, which was a disappointment to me, because the album before that was quite great. Definitely one of my favorite albums of 2014, but this one was one of my biggest disappointments of last year. Thankfully, though, I like J.I.D more, because his sound reminds me a lot of Anderson .Paak, but I can’t say that I cared for .Paak’s music, either. I reviewed his last album, 2016’s Malibu, and it was okay, but it didn’t do a lot for me. What Malibu didn’t do is where The Never Story delivers, though.

For starters, this LP is a lot shorter, only around 39 minutes, so it’s a very quick listen. J.I.D sounds a lot like .Paak, too, but he doesn’t constantly switch between rapping and singing, and he just sounds a bit better. That was the biggest issue I had with Malibu – I thought .Paak wasn’t that good of a singer / rapper. I mean, I can’t say that J.I.D is much better, but its length, overall sound, and its lyrics help a bit more in its favor. This LP is short, like I said, but its sound is also a bit more accessible and flowing than Malibu was, too. I can’t pretend that anything is outright amazing here, either way, but I do enjoy a lot of production here, and even J.I.D himself sounds pretty good on a lot of the tracks here. He’s got some good flows, and some good hooks running throughout the album that keep me coming back to it. The production is good, too, but it’s pretty by-the-numbers, generic, and nothing I haven’t heard before. It’s all done well, though. I can say the same about the lyrics, too. He brings up a lot of topics that we’ve all heard before, so there’s nothing all that unique, different, or insanely interesting, but J.I.D has a sense of humor, which I really like. There are a lot of jokes, punchlines, and sillier moments throughout the album, and it makes it worth listening to. Like I said, though, there’s nothing outright amazing on this record, and everything amounts to being pretty good, but it’s not a record I would skip. I feel like a lot of people could enjoy this, and a lot of people probably are still enjoying this record, as well as listening to it, but it’s nothing that you haven’t heard before. I’m happy that I gave it a listen, because it fit the bill for what I’ve been looking for – catchy, fun, energetic, and enjoyable hip-hop, even if it’s not making any grand statement or doing anything too unique. No matter what, it does its job quite well, and if you’re a fan of hip-hop, I’d give it a listen.