#also the song was edited in like 10 minutes. if it’s lame or bad it’s because I did not put all my efforts into it

[starryluminary]

Boyfriend kisser!

They thought he was above this, well I beg to differ

He can act a beggar, but I won’t be the giver now!

Masterlist | Bonus (?)

Deakids watermark and original screenshots!!

[hangovercurse]

The Things We Can’t Tell Pete About vi

You and Colson grapple with being “just friends.”

Colson X Reader

Warnings: Cursing

Word Count: 1871

| i | ii | iii | iv | v |

masterlist

Hi friend

You were in the studio working on editing one of your songs when you got the text. You hated it, but you smiled automatically when his name popped onto your screen.

Hi friend

The past few days had been weird, but necessary. Colson ended up staying at Pete’s apartment the next night too, so you had plenty of time to figure out how “friends” worked. Unsurprisingly, you hated it. But it was the only way to keep Colson close to you, so you’d take it.

I’m bored

I thought you were friend?

Haha

But seriously you should entertain me

As friends

I’m in the studio rn

U can take a break

What would we do if I took a break?

You tried really hard not to flirt, but it came so naturally. But maybe if you convinced yourselves that you were just friends, it would happen. Because that’s how things work.

Lunch?

I’m hungry

I thought you were bored?

That joke is lame

:)

Will u pls go out to lunch with me

As friends

Hmmmmm

I suppose I could think about it

You sighed, saving the audio project and shutting the computer down. You hadn’t eaten all day and spending time with Colson wasn’t the worst way to spend your lunch break.

Y/N I will find you and drag you out of that studio

You don’t even know where I am

Where do you wanna go?

I could find out…

Whatever u want

Mediterranean? There’s a cute place right by me I’ve been wanting to check out.

You sent him the address, asking him to meet you in 10 minutes.

It’s a date

Wait

No

Not a date

Like I’ll see you then

You laughed as the texts came through your phone, shaking your head. You headed out of the building, walking towards the small restaurant. You weren’t exactly dressed in “lunch clothes,” because you had expected to stay in the studio all day, but you would survive.

You got in line at the blue painted restaurant, thankful that it wasn’t too long. You waited a few minutes before a familiar voice spoke from your side. “Now what’s a pretty girl like you doing all by herself?”

You smiled, turning to Colson. “Waiting for her friend to show up.”

He raised his eyebrows, a smirk on his face. “I hope your friend is as hot as you are.” He chuckled.

You rolled your eyes, “not even close.”

Luckily Colson understood you were joking and he laughed with you. “How have you been?” He asked, “did they catch the guy breaking into apartments?”

“I’ve been good, working.” You nodded, “yeah, they caught him. He broke into this police officer’s place while he was home.”

Colson huffed in amusement, “talk about bad luck.”

“Right? I mean, I’m glad they caught him but, I mean, what are the odds?” You moved forward in the line, reaching the hostess stand.

“Two please.” Colson asked, flashing the girl a smile. You bit your tongue to hide the scowl that almost instinctively came to your face.

The hostess was young and no doubt attractive. She batted her eyelashes towards the tall man, not even acknowledging you. “What’s the name?”

You furrowed your eyebrows as Colson answered, wondering why she would need his name if she was taking you to the table. “And what’s the number?” She asked sweetly. If you were drinking water you would have spit it out.

Colson blushed slightly as you stood in shock. “Um-I’m.” He looked at you as if to say “I’m here with someone” but then he must’ve realized that he wasn’t technically on a date. “You’re lovely, but I’m not interested.” He muttered out, an awkward look on his face.

You were trying your hardest not to look pissed off, because if you looked pissed off then the lie you and Colson have been telling each other about being just friends would be exposed.

The girl looked you over, eyes raking up and down you with a disgusted look on her face. You felt very self-conscious suddenly, your head turning towards the floor in embarrassment. Colson noticed and cleared his throat, “our table?”

The girl didn’t speak a word as she grabbed two menus and led you to the table. “Your waiter will be with you shortly.” She spit out, anger on her face. Your heart was beating very fast, but you couldn’t tell if it was from anger or sadness.

Colson eyed you from across the table as you played with the hair tie on your wrist. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You spoke too fast to convince him, your quiet demeanor also giving you away.

He sighed, his foot kicking yours lightly and pulling your focus up to him. “Okay, you just seem a little uncomfortable.”

You huffed, “yeah, well, having girls look at me like I’m the scum of the earth does that to a person.”

He frowned, “You know she has, like, nothing on you, right?”

A small blush found your cheeks, and you looked down at your hands again. “You can’t say stuff like that.” You muttered.

“What? Friends say that stuff to each other! I’m trying to make you feel better.” His smile told you he knew what he had done, but he didn’t care.

You sighed, “yeah but you can’t say that to me.”

Colson gaped dramatically, “why not?”

“Because it’s different coming from you.” You laughed. “Why didn’t you give her your number?” You asked, curious for his answer.

He shrugged, “wasn’t interested. Guess I have high expectations.”

You rolled your eyes, “it’s not because I’m here, right?”

Colson let out a sigh, “N-“

He started to speak but was interrupted by the waiter at your table, “Welcome to Shuka, my name is Oliver, I’ll be your server today. Can I get you guys started with something to drink?”

“I’ll get a water, please.” You said, smiling at the man. Colson raised an eyebrow at you. “I have to go back to work after this.”

He chuckled, scanning the menu, “can I get a Nitro?” Oliver nodded, sending you both smiles before heading back to the kitchen.

You sent Colson a look, expecting him to continue your previous conversation. Instead, he continued to read through the menu. “Do you know what you want? I’m thinking about the Shak-Shakshu-.” He tried to pronounce the name of the dish but was failing.

You giggled, finding the dish on the menu, “Shakshuka.” You told him, “and I haven’t even looked.” You scanned through the menu in your hands, reading the names of the various dishes. Colson took to studying you, a small smile on his face.

“It’s not because you’re here. It’s because I’m genuinely not interested in anyone else.” He said out of the blue. Confusion flashed across your face before you understood what he was referring to. You took in a breath, trying to figure out how to respond. “I know I shouldn’t tell you that, but I just think you needed to know.”

You smiled to yourself, “I don’t mind, I just- it makes it harder to convince myself this isn’t a date.”

Colson nodded, “this is not a date. We are just two friends having a friendly lunch. As friends.” He was trying to convince himself too.

“Right. Friendly friends. Two people who are just friends.” You said, exaggerating the word “friends”. Awkwardness hung in the air for a few moments before you both started laughing.

You fell into the familiar pattern of conversation that seemed to come naturally to you both. When your meals arrived, you were both very excited. “Can I try some of yours?” You asked, sending him the most convincing puppy dog eyes you could muster. He chuckled, placing some of the poached egg onto his fork and moving it towards you. You rolled your eyes at the cliché but smiled anyways, letting him feed you. Your eyes widened in shock “that’s so good!”

He nodded, swallowing his food. “My turn.” He said, reaching over and plucking up a falafel from your plate with his fork. Once he finished eating he smiled at you, “you have excellent taste. You’re picking the restaurants every time now.”

You raised an eyebrow, a sly smile on your face. “So we’re going to have more of these friend lunches?” You asked.

“Duh. We’re friends. This is what friends do.”

You giggled, “I don’t hear about you and Pete going out for lunch together.”

The man chuckled, eyes closing for a moment. “If it’ll make you feel better I’ll take Pete to lunch one of these days.” That made you giggle even harder, shaking your head.

 Neither of you finished your meals, packing them into to-go boxes to eat later. When Oliver brought the check over, you were very flustered. Colson automatically reached to pay but you grabbed his wrist, “we’re on separate checks.” You told the server. Oliver nodded, moving to fix it until Colson spoke up.

“I got it, it’s not a problem.” You sent him a look. “I asked you to lunch, I pay.”

“Friends let their friends pay for themselves.” You muttered, moving your hand from his wrist.

He rolled his eyes, “you can pay next time.” Smiling smugly, he handed his credit card to Oliver, who was very confused. “Relax. I’m just being nice.”

You sighed, pouting slightly. “It’s already hard enough and then you make it worse by flirting and paying and- ugh.” You cut yourself off, frustrated.

Colson clenched his jaw, letting out a hard breath through his nose. “I know, I’m sorry. This isn’t exactly easy for me either.” You nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed at your small outburst. “We can do this.” He said, confidently. If only you could feel as confident as he sounded.

Once Oliver came back with the card and receipts, you both left the restaurant. You hadn’t noticed the cameras as you walked down the street with Colson, the conversation returning to light banter and jokes, but they noticed you.

Colson walked you all the way back to the studio you were working at, insisting on going with you all the way inside. “I just wanna see where you work.” He claimed, but you insisted it was just like every other studio.

You got into the elevator to ride up to the fourth floor, where your space was. Colson stepped in with you, a smile on his face. You sighed, pressing the button and waiting for the elevator to close.

“Hey Y/N?” He spoke as the doors began to shut. You looked up to him, eyebrow raised in question. The doors closed and instead of responding, Colson leaned down, pressing his lips to yours.

You kissed him back, hands cupping his face. You heard the elevator beep as you passed the second floor, and then the third floor. He pulled away, smile on his face.

You took in a deep breath, “I thought you…”

“Fuck it.” He muttered, standing up straight. You smiled, biting your lip. “But we’re not hiding this from Pete. We’re just… testing the waters.”

You hummed in agreement as the elevator doors opened, stepping into the hallway and leading him to your studio.

[sierrabinondo]

woodland creatures - day 4 (orlando pt. 2)

was i excited to be on tour? yes. was i also super nervous about going on tour before leaving? also yes.

was i excited to go to disney springs? Y E S. was it the one thing i knew i could look forward to even if i sucked at every fucking show??? 

B I G  Y E S. 

my poor bandmates. i said the night before, “hey, i just realized, we never actually really discussed going to disney springs.” and they were like, “yeah.”

but! we went anyway!!! bless their hearts!!!

the morning after staying up and partying was rough. i had the NASTIEST hangover. my headache was so severe that i couldn’t even fall back asleep following 5 hours of rest. i popped some advil and tried to get a couple more hours in but it was impossible, so i just got up and showered. the guys brought back panera for lunch, and then once everyone was ready we were off to disney springs. i could tell everyone was worried it was gonna be lame, i felt it in the air lmao. i was also worried i was leading them to a miserable afternoon in the hot florida weather. but i figured if they hated it we could always leave.

we pull up to disney springs and there is some semblance of what i remembered from the last time i was there but also a lot that i DID NOT recognize. the parking garages were definitely new. they had sensors over each parking spot that could indicate whether or not a car was in the spot, and it would update an LED screen outside the entrance with how many spots were available on each floor. i thought that was really cool. there were gardens on the sides of the garages too. we then go up some stairs and down an escalator to get in, and hooooly shit i was blown away. there was a brand new area that had a fountain and all of the shops looked reminiscent of spanish architecture. it was so beautiful. 

we got group pictures in front of the fountain, and then i decided to get a happy birthday pin from guest relations lmfao. i wanted to see if i could get any free shit by just waltzing around with a birthday pin on. i was unsuccessful but i had never been in or near disney on my birthday anyways so i just rolled with it. we started to the right and went to world of disney, marketplace co-op, the lego store and the pin trading shop. 

i was completely overwhelmed by how big all of the stores were. there was so much cool shit. i really thought i would have an easy time abstaining from spending money, since my sister was literally just there and got me the one thing i wanted, but i did NOT. at world of disney i bought ANOTHER pair of minnie ears, the rose gold sparkly ones lmfao. not usually my style, but there weren’t any others i was crazy about. joe got a shirt and ryan bought some stuff for his girlfriend christina. i wanted clothes but i decided to wait to see if there might be better merchandise elsewhere.

we moved on to marketplace co-op and i immediately found a disney world long sleeve shirt i loved so i grabbed that. i alsoooo balled out and got a print of the most beautiful mulan painting i have ever seen. it was a depiction of one of my favorite parts in the movie, when she is singing reflection and chops off her fuckin hair, but in the garden instead of the shrine. that movie means very very much to me as an asian american!!! besides that i got emperor’s new groove patches later on in the afternoon and that was all i spent my money on. $138 later. yeesh.

my friends eton and jeri who came to the show the night before wanted to meet up for food and drinks, so i walked over to frontera cucina. i thought maybe my bandmates might join us but they weren’t hungry and it was more of a sit down place, so we parted ways for an hour. i hadn’t seen eton and jeri since they moved down to orlando in january, holy shit. it was so good to hang out with them. we caught up and enjoyed some really good lunch. i ordered a gin and tonic that had a whole ass cucumber peel wrapped around the glass and pork belly tacos. i bugged out bad because eton wouldn’t let me pay nor could i get his venmo from jeremiah to cover my portion. it was so sweet of them to treat me. i met them through jeremiah, i always tell him how much i love his friends and how they’ve become my friends the more we all hang out together. it sucks our time was so damn brief but i’m just glad i got to see them.

after late lunch i met back up with everyone and we walked around a little longer, but i mistakenly let us stay a little later and lost track of time. it was just about time to start heading over to hail the sun. i felt really bad because people mentioned wanting to go swimming or take a nap and i effectively robbed everyone of any allotted leisure activity time by wanting to gallavant around more. i was definitely just as wiped as everyone, but i hadn’t been back to disney in forever. we hurried back to the van and drove back to kissimmee. 

pulses. had been grilling and chillin at the airbnb all day, so they were ready for the gig when we got back. we got back just in time to leave when they did, like 15 minutes before. we both hopped in our respective vehicles and we were off. they always dropped snails in the tour chat and called us with snails ahead because we were slow with the van lmfao but it’s not MY FAULT the shit is SO HUGE damnit. i drove the van to the gig with josef, jaime and kris while ryan and santino stayed home. 

it’s interesting to go to a show in another state, it does feel pretty weird to go somewhere unfamiliar, but it really does feel the same as attending a show at home. people really are pretty much the same everywhere else, just different geographical locations and climates. the gig was really good but the venue was SO SMALL. too small. i like the soundbar but i might like it better if you didn’t have to wade your way through a crowd of swamp ass to get to the bathrooms alllll the way on the other side of the venue opposite of the entrance. plus, it got so packed that it was really difficult to be near the stage, let alone inside the building. for most of the show the 10 of us camped out in a really great spot near the bathrooms that wasn’t getting too much traffic and had its own bar so we stayed there.

we were at the show where sergio broke his headstock. i don’t think i’ve ever seen a show where sergio stands still the entire time, in the dozens of times i’ve seen him play. he was so close to that monitor/the ceiling but i didn’t suspect his guitar was going to break. i completely missed it because i was looking down at my phone (womp) but i heard everyone audibly gasp. that sucks dude. i think that was the only bummer the whole show though besides the heat and some sloppy drunks. pulses. are friends with zach garren so he was hanging out near us here and there throughout the night. daisy came to the gig so she came and found us, we hung out for a good portion of the show, too! it was a really good chance to talk more too after the gig the night before. she told us a lot about what the florida scene is like. we told her it’s infinitely better than the tri-state area LMAO. at least like, people show up to shows and STAY on a monday night which is insane. and then joseph arrington is a friend of ours so he said hi a couple times during the gig, afterwards him and i talked more when it was quieter. 

it is one of the greatest honors in my entire life that joseph arrington sees me as a homie. writing this under the presumption he’s never gonna see this lmao, but i have to pinch myself sometimes. we’ve been friends since we played the last ALLB tour september 2017. i introduced myself and mentioned that we had opened for sianvar’s 2016 tour at webster hall and he actually remembered us. ryan also introduced himself as one of his patreon donors and they talked for like 45 minutes. that show he asked for a CD (and it was years in waiting our older album too yikes lol there’s bangers on there but it doesn’t sound like us anymore) and he messaged me later that night like, “we’re listening in the van right now, you’re a great singer”. we’ve hung out at gigs a couple more times, whether we played together or either ryan or i went to go see him play. the fact he considers us peers is one of the most validating things i have. i’ve learned a lot of helpful insight from him. i have tremendous respect for him and couldn’t be more grateful that he actually likes us as musicians and as people. 

all of the bands of course were awesome, i couldn’t stand the heat enough to be inside for every single hail the sun song but i caught most of their set. it’s pretty insane to see them blow up like they have. they deserve it. and i think donovan is one of the best vocalists i’ve ever heard. that whole camp of blue swan musicians are just so talented. 

josef, jaime and kris graciously waited outside for me to finish talking to joe arrington, and during that time josef actually caught will swan outside. he said he had the chance to tell will swan deathstar is the reason he plays music and it made him very happy to do so. it had happened like a little bit before i came back outside. we then got lost trying to find the van and hilariously passed the actual entrance to the parking garage like 3 times. it was literally across the street and i led them around the block twice. 

we went back to the airbnb for one more swim and we almost had another super late night legit just talking to pulses. kris sat outside editing photos while some of the guys swam, some of us just sat with our feet in the pool. when we got back ryan and santino had been sleeping and i think i maybe saw santino get up once to go to the bathroom. i did really want to go to sleep but ughhhhh i also thought to myself, i can sleep when i get home from tour. i get really bad FOMO every day of my life. so we stayed up and we talked about all things dance gavin dance, blue swan, our local scene, and bein in a band. it’s insane how alike we all are in our way of thinking. i also find it hard to open up to other bands though because it seems like no one else sees playing music and trying to grow a band the way we do. i just wanted to eat up any time i could bonding with pulses., taylor and tyler. thankfully we weren’t up until 4 am again but legit any time up spending time with all of my friends was worth it.

[vonschweetz]

15 Things Tag

Tagged by: @lunatic-desert-child

1. Are you named after anyone?

Nope. My name was a last minute decision because apparently my parents thought I was gonna be a boy (Apparently I was gonna be a Kyle but then I was a girl and they were like oh shit um... Amy?)

2. When is the last time you cried?

I teared up earlier today but like a full on cry? Maybe like last night or the other night? I usually try to never cry and if I do, it’s when I’m completely alone and in my room in the dark. It’s been about 5 months now and I’m still trying to get over some grief while also getting my life back on track so it’s been taxing on me emotionally.

3. Do you have kids?

Nope! I am too young for that and also I’m nowhere near getting my own life stable enough to even think about it. Maybe sometime in the very far future when I’m reliable and financially stable enough to have a dog, then I’ll think about kids (I do love kids though, so I’m cool with being like the fun aunt for as long as I can be)

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Is it bad that my first reaction to this question was to go “*sarcastically* Oh nooooooooooo. Never.”

5. What’s the first thing you notice about someone?

I’ve never really thought about it. Idk maybe like hair or clothes? I have a hard time looking people in the face, especially the eyes, so I tend to notice things far away from the face if I’m close up.

6. What’s your eye colour?

Brown. Just a boring ass brown hidden behind large smudged glasses.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

Oh man happy endings I guess? I hate being scared but I appreciate scary/horror movies so much. But I’m a coward and I loved happy endings so much.

8. Any special talents?

Bold of you to assume I have any of this “talent” you speak of. But I can whistle? And roll a quarter over my knuckles and repeat with dropping it.

9. Where were you born?

Honolulu, Hawaii

10. What are your hobbies?

Reading, writing, video games, cross stitch on occasion, shopping, sometimes I make edits

11. Do you have any pets?

I have a family dog a maltese names Sidney (she was born in Australia) and my sister has her own dog named Rascal.

12. What sports do you play/have you played?

I was forced to play basketball when I was elementary school for several years. It’s not really a sport but stupidly back in middle/high school me and my friends would do like Jackass/Pro Wrestling shit that I also recorded. But like obviously when doing the wrestling stuff we didn’t know how to like do everything safely so like my friends are getting kicked in faces and I’m getting powerbombed in bounce houses all being recorded on shitty potato quality digital cameras that would only get stolen anyway. But it was fun. One time I got to put my friend in the walls of Jericho after school, that was a shining moment for me.

13. How tall are you?

5 feet. Maybe 5′1″ with good shoes

14. Favourite subject in school?

Hmmm a favorite? I kinda hated being in school so I skipped all the time. OH! I know my favorite. It was called “Ensembles” but in reality it was a rock band class. The whole point of the class was to gather up the kids in it and have them form a rock band. Each kid would learn an instrument, then a couple of songs and perform set lists at a concert. I joined a little late into the first week of the class so I was the singer/frontman for my band since no one else in the band wanted to be it (I’m not a good singer but I love to perform ((thus me being in the drama club)) and man were we shit but it was great. We all had the rock band attitude and just had a blast. I learned how to work music equipment and be a sort of roadie as well. Also I got my first major boyfriend in that class (he was so cool and already knew how to play an instrument and him and his friends were already in an established band so it was like I was dating a rockstar, but he had already mellowed out and was kinda lame and was “too mature for high school” which sucked because I had a crush on him in middle school and he was such an anarchist punk. But he was still my first real boyfriend and it was fun while it lasted.

15. Dream job?

I have too many to even count anymore. Film writer/Director/Actor, Theater actor, book writer, wrestling reporter (kayfabe), wrestler, wrestling reporter (in real life), librarian, book shop owner, clothing designer, voice actor, radio dj/host, museum curator, entertainment/pop culture writer, the list goes on and on.

I’m too lazy to tag so like whoever wants to do it, go for it.

[edh-a-to-z]

Dominaria - Green

Looks like elves are coming back.

Good ol’ Magic elfball. Something needs to go toe-to-toe with the Gobs.

My Top 3 picks:

Multani - Commander (I know, not included in this post, but a reviews coming soon) that just keeps kicking, with relevant Reach and Trample

Song of Freyalise - Ramp. Ramp. Win

Verdant Force - A Reprint of an EDH fave

Adventurous Impulse

Grade: D

Home: Any green deck

Range: Very Wide

Draw is always nice, but these “check the top X cards” are usually less impactful in EDH. In a format where you can Diabolic Tutor on turn 1 (much less any other tutor), this feels less useful.

Ancient Animus

Grade: C+

Home: MonoGreen

Range: Narrow

Needs an interesting requirement, and feels like Pounce for legends. Fight at instant speed is pretty decent, but if you’re outside of mono green, there’s better removal

Abhor Armament

Grade: F

Home: Counters deck?

Range: Average

Most monogreen decks aren’t in desperate need of combat tricks granting reach, and the counter is only nominally useful.

Baloth Gorger

Grade: F 

Home: Ramp, Fatties

Range: Narrow

Vanilla creatures are lame. For about the same cost, Kavu Primarch gives you more options. Bottom line, there’s better kicker creatures, better 4 drops, and better fatties.

Broken Bond

Sorry Chandra, looks like your girlfriend left.

Grade: D+

Home: Any green deck, Ramp

Range: Narrow

Another cousin of Naturalize, trading Instant speed for Ramp. Nice that it doesn’t care what type of land, so it meshes well with cards like Kodama’s Reach that put lands into your hand.

Corrosive Ooze

Wait a minute, that’s not a Magic card!

Grade: D

Home: Anti Equipment, Anti Voltron

Range: Very Narrow

A bear that destroys the equipment of creatures it blocks or is blocked by. Not particularly powerful, but I was able to make a Hearthstone joke, so I like it.

Also, destroying the Equipment at the end of combat won’t save you from being completely killed by a Trampling Voltron commander, so it’s meh.

Elfhame Druid

Grade: C

Home: Kicker, Elf Tribal, Any Green deck

Range: Wide

Kicker has a lot of use in EDH, and having GG available makes many of them more attractive. The worst case of being a mana dork for 2 isn’t that bad especially in a tribal deck.

Fungal Plots

Grade: C

Home: Saproling Tribal, sac deck

Range: Narrow

I compare it to Night Soil, one of my Fave EDH cards. Unlike Soil, it costs more, it only goes after your ‘yard, only exiles one creature, but offers some utility to saprolings, like much needed draw.

Solid option to have in Saproling deck to give you more Sap sac options.

Gaea’s Blessing

Grade: D+, Reprint

Home: Recycling Decks, weak GY Hate, Anti-Mill

Range: Narrow

Weak GY hate is ok, self replacement is nice, and milling protection is nice. Sorc speed always stinks, but this in a weird niche card.

Gaea’s Protector

Grade: F

Home: N/A

Range: N/A

Effect not interesting or powerful enough for EDH. Especially at 4 mana.

Gift of Growth

Grade: D

Home: Combat Trix, Ramp

Range: Very Narrow

An odd spell. Green doesn’t get a lot of this untapping stuff as much as White. It can untap to make a blocker, or give quasi-vigilance to an attacker. Buffing, with multiple strength levels, is interesting.

It’s expensive, but neat.

Grow from the Ashes

Grade: C 

Home: Ramp Deck, Multicolor deck

Range: Wide

Explosive Vegetation with Kicker options.

There’s plenty of ramp in the CMC 2-4 that’s pretty solid, and I think kicker gives it some consideration, especially in ramping early and late. Solid card.

EDIT: (thanks @starkmaximum) I should also mention the benefit of the lands coming in untapped. Sure they’re basic, but fixing RIGHT THEN AND THERE is great.

Kamahl’s Druidic Vow

Grade: B-

Home: Ramp, MonoGreen, Big Mana Combo

Range: Average

If you got mana and a legendary (annoying hoops to jump through), you got toys.

I can’t wait to go infinite, play my whole deck, and Elixir of Immortality everything back. Boom, Board full of legends and lands. Gonna be great in the Captain Sisay deck (if you can buy her for 30!).

Remember that Genesis Wave is kinda a strictly better version than this (sure it costs G more, but doesn’t need a Legendary and hits any permanent), so get this as a budget option, not a power options.

Krosan Druid

Grade: D

Home: LG Deck

Range: Narrow

Most LG, especially one shot lifegain, isn’t useful in EDH. Incremental or repeatable lifegain is usually the name of the game.

While 8 mana to kick a 2/3 and gain 10 life is fair, it’s just okay. At that point I’d rather play Archangel’s Light or Congregate-look alikes.

 Llanowar Elves

Grade: Reprint

Home: Every elf and green deck in existence

Range: Very Wide

The source of strength for many an elf deck, I’m mostly interesting in the sweet new art, plus awesome FNM cards.

Llanowar Envoy

Grade: C-

Home: Multicolor Infinite mana combo

Range: Very Narrow

Straight up Mana Filter when you go Green infinite mana, as well as mana fixing in multicolored decks.

Body’s decent enough but nothing to write home about

Llanowar Scout

Grade: D

Home: Ramp, Elf Tribal

Range: Average

Compare with Budoka Gardener and Sakura-Tribe Scout for similar effects, with Budoka as the most powerful. Solid ramp option, and a good reason to keep a handful of lands.

Mammoth Spider

Grade: F

Home: N/A

Range: N/A

Decent limited fodder, trash for EDH.

The Mending of Dominaria

Grade: C

Home: Land Sac deck

Range: Narrow

Plays well with Titania, Gitrog, most land heavy commanders. You can even Zuran Orb your board if you time it right, and get a ton of life.

Nature’s Spiral

Grade: D-, Reprint

Home: Any Green Deck

Range: Very Wide

Not really the best EDH card. It ends up in the first draft in a lot of my decks, but usually gets cut. Mostly because Reclaim exists.

Pierce the Sky

Grade: F

Home: N/A

Range: N/A

Bog standard anti flying. Sure, you’ll get to use it, but bring something better, like Beast Within. 

Primordial Wurm

Grade: F

Home: N/A

Range: N/A

Bog standard fatty. There’s better

Saproling Migration

Grade: C

Home: Saproling Tribal, Token decks

Range: Narrow

Solid Servo Exhibition, in green with upside. Kicker gives it some nice utility. Me gusta.

Song of Freyalise

Grade: B

Home: Ramp Deck, Fatty decks, Any Green Deck, Go Wide

Range: WIde

Ramp. Ramp. Smash.

An ult that lets you smash with no consequences is amazing. Mana fixing early game is great

Spore Swarm

Grade: C-

Home: Token Decks, Saproling Tribal

Range: Average

Useful for token decks. Captain’s Call for Saprolings. Slightly nicer while it’s at Instant speed.

Sporecrown Thallid

Grade: B+

Home: Fungus/Saproling Tribal

Range: Very Narrow

A lord at 2 CMC? Wow!

In the Fungus/Saproling deck, it’s amazing. Elsewhere, it’s usually a strictly better bear, so it’s bog awful there.

Steel Leaf Champion

Grade: C+

Home: Mono Green decks, Elf tribal

Range: Narrow

The last of the CCC cycle, a beefy elf with the Daunt power.

It’s a great reward for playing the color, much like a better Woolly Thoctar. 

Sylvan Awakening

Grade: C+

Home: Lands, Untap deck

Range: Average

Any deck with enough lands can run this well. Get an army of 8-12 lands, attack without worrying.

Untappers like Awakening give you an army of Reach Indestructible creatures on the defense. Combos well with Armageddon, if you’re the mood for destruction.

Territorial Allosaurus

Grade: C

Home: Dino Tribal

Range: Very Narrow

Only dino tribal actually wants this, and barely at that. It’s costed aggressively, and kicker is a nice option, so it’s nice removal for 7. It can usually trade without dying, but there’ll be some times when the kicker won’t help, so play after combat I guess.

Thorn Elemental

Grade: D-, Reprint

Home: Fatty Deck, Any Green Deck

Range: Very Wide

Power creep hit this elemental hard.

Bog standard hitter fatty. Does decent work as a super trampler, but there’s better options at this CMC.

Untamed Kavu

Grade: C-

Home: Any Green Deck, Ramp, Counters

Range: Very Wide

Unlike many common and uncommon Kicker cards, this one is good with and without kicker. 

A french vanilla bear is nice, and makes a good early game card, and the 5 drop with 5/5 and the same abilities is pretty solid. Plus some deck likes counters, so that’s good.

Never your first choice for any deck, but decent to fill out a curve, and good for the first or second draft of a deck. I’ll bet it’ll be in a Commander pre-con.

Verdant Force

Grade: B, Reprint

Home: Any Green Deck, Go Wide Deck, Ramp deck

Range: Wide

The original solid EDH card. This card came out over 20 years ago, and it’s still racking up kills in EDH.

One of the best scaling Fatties that can sorta take over a game (but not really in EDH, cuz no player should be over run by Saprolings)

And side note, hey it’s the first new art!

Wild Onslaught

Grade: D?

Home: Counter deck?

Range: ???

Not sure where I can really use this. Most counters are, in my opinion, are better suited to being put on one creature.

Yavimaya Shepard

Grade: D-

Home: Fungus/Saproling tribal decks, Go Wide

Range: Narrow

3 mana for 3/3 of stats is not interesting, even for Sap/Fungus decks. Leave it in the box.

So that’s the five colors! Multicolored reviews, Artifacts reviews, and more, are coming soon!

[yourbleedingh3art]

Seshposting

Pre sesh: Just got done playing w a baseball.Listening to slimesito.On the toilet. Swear to god ive been to the bathroom nine times already I havent eaten anything or had anything to drink since last night But yet i have to piss every 15 minutes on today of all days When im wearing two mf belts i have to hurry to unbuckle before Piss dribbles down my FUCKING leg.Stole somebodys lipgloss off the ground bc it was Hempz. Imma weedhead need my own strain - duwap kaine (Now he's on)

Sesh start time: 2:21 pm i hand ground some weed bc idk where my grinder is rn im waiting to hit the first bowl till 2:22 AYY it changed to it rn Time for bowl #1 in my pipe

bowl #1 2:22 highness scale of 1-10: 0, it hasnt hit me yet, i literallt havent even exhaled bowl #1. Note my "bowls" r like half size bc its easier for me to clear each bowl in one pipe hit so tht way smoke doesnt waft from the weed and i minimize the smell (Smoking in the college dorm life) Random observation: There is an empty paper towl roll, incense, a press on nail, 2 incense boards, a green rug, a kleenex ashtray box, a towel, toilet paper, a toilet, and a shower On top of the floor. That is my environment. (Yeat is playing)They say yeat keep on evolving how u so steady wid it!

bowl #2 2:26 highness scale 1-10: 4 That one made me drool spit Eyes water throat burn As to be expected but ewwwww Owwwie Considering getting some water... Listening to a stupid soundcloud lawyer ad rn OHH YES NOW THE YEAT IS ON! I DONT GOT NO COMMENT...IONT GOT NO COMMENT! Such a good concept to center a song around bc literally No comment.... like sorry I just be seeing stuff and it's like ok no comment. Literally no comment. Comment but am i going to sya it no im not. No comment. Or can i even be bothered to care about this no i cant. No comment. Did i even hear what u said No was i even listening... NO Comment. Like such a good phrase..... Maybe i more than a 4/10 high but it feels crazy to change it now hmm i guess it's 2:31 now so 5 minutes have passed (that math took me a hot second tbh like not a long time but not quick either) Okkkk 3G is such a crazy song yeat and uzi Like i dont fw uzi voice like that im sorry his music usualyl just falls outside of my personal taste But sometimesss he makes a banger anyway who am i arguing w anyway idk how I feel about 3G it's kinda lit tbh growing on me like mold rn And officially chaning my rating to 5 on the highness scale. I am trying to reason with myself if i should smoke more or not like yes i only smoked 2 half bowls but i. ground so much ore weed up but also i feel like a good level of high for 2:35 pm on a thursday u feel me? I dont have ny classes today left idk and i did take my italian quiz... shit... Smokin more (I pulled up bust a nut and then she thank Meeee-yeat *scream crying*)Ooh ooh yea I pulled upo smaosdakMachetes ooh...ahh..zahh!!WeeoOowowooeeoowowowowwoeeeeeeeeoOOEoeoeoeoeoeoeyaayay... ahh... (kant relax by yeat.) I so high listening to ome soundcloud edit remix HuananaamamaHunonhehno heh no heh type song osqaidhuf ahhhh it sounds like that deadass but like slowed down and randomly sped up its hype...I guess lmao this is straight paper garbage shredder trash tbh im just high

^Like that. ^^#Real. ^^

Do u see how much i procrastinate inbetween bowls like wow. Ok anyway. THIS FUCKING SONG IS STILL ON ITS SO BAD I am not turnigng it off too high to do that of course but wow Oh it eneded and went right into an ad

FUCK YOU SOUNDCLOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUD!!!

OOOH now fginally a good song is on yesssssssssssssssssss yes Ok yes.

bowl #3 2:41 highness scale like idk that bowl was lame still a 5/10 if anything Im sober now. No im lying of course but that bowl somehow had the reverse effect of getting me high .. Like now im like yeah i .. ahhsdahvsajiJDHSJFJAIOSsihfeodekfjhjdhd LMAOOO THIS DUWAP SONG CA ME WONNN NVMMM... EMPIRE BY DUWAP KAINE. Ok i think im about done live posting one more bowl and our lovely sesh will be done. Duwap kaine is fuckoing crayz bc empire 1:49-1:55 like omgmgmgmgmgg that part goes sooo <3 perfect

party in the back ft ooskully by jewelzworld is so good like oooooooooooooooh ok thank god music hitting rn.

bowl #4 2:49

bowl #5 2:52

im high.

I hate CONNER.

kay modern family and ignore everything time.

SESH EL FIN ... 3:07

[explode-a-pult]

All the Hogwarts Mystery asks 🤗

1. Did you use your real Last Name in the game or not? Why?

yeah, well–i used jay, but I used my real last name lol 

2. Which house did you take and why? (Any back stories why you took it?)

I chose Ravenclaw!~ I mainly chose it because I am a Ravenclaw in like…every quiz I’ve ever taken? thats a lie I’ve gotten slytherin before a couple times

3. Opinion on Rowan?

they’re just a pure lil ravenclaw like they were made for ravenclaw idk why they didn’t keep them in ravenclaw but anywho~ i adore them–i mean, they’re a lil nerd and a bit lame in what they think is ‘cool’ but i still love em

4. Favourite character so far and why?

hmmm idk i mean, everyone is in love with penny or bill but i’m just meh on it all…i love good ol’ minnie the most, probably lol (I can’t spell her name I’m dumb I know shhhhh)

5. Who did you take with you on the first adventure to discover what’s behind the door and why? (Did you take Penny or Ben. And if you haven’t come that far, who do you plan to take along with?)

I took Ben because I didn’t have enough friendship for Penny UnU

6. Which character are you most excited to meet in the game? (This can be characters that haven’t appeared in your friend list, for example Charlie Weasley)

Tonks, probably~ Or even the twins, who are supposed to come in your seventh year

7. Have you heard any theories about the game? If so, which one?

Nope! 

8. Opinion on Merula?

uUuuuuuuUUUuuggggh just malfoy as a girl tbh like so in love with my character but so repressed… she’s pretty annoying tho too, sometimes like gurl just leave me alone and let me solve this mystery–OR help me solve it since you want to figure it out so bad like bruv chill… also, that hair? what is it? why do you have one streak? 

9. Favourite teacher?

I love McG the mostest even if i can’t spell her name flitwick is a close second tho

10. What do you think about your Prefect?

fucking annoying ass chester that motherfucker i fucking hate him omfg i wanna sock him in the face always fucking ‘didn’t lose more house points did you?’ ‘you haven’t gotten in trouble recently, i’m impressed’ like bITCH get on my level i’ve got the house up 60 points over the second place house BY MYSELF like brooooo i’ve earned over 200 points this year alone and i’m only half way through second year bUT NO, I LOSE 40 POINTS ONCE AND NOW I’M A TROUBLE MAKER, fuck you chester you lil shit. cursing slytherins when they’re not paying attention ass, not doing shit for the house ass, always on my ass ass… also, making me feel bad for not being able to volunteer for that slytherin altercation side quest, fuck yooooouuuu 

so yeah. that’s what i feel for my male prefect. never met my female one yet.

edit: I was being nice. I got us 93 points ahead of the second place gryffindors.

11. Do you care about your brother Jacob? Why?

idk I guess I do? I just think ‘what if it were renee/ray/my other siblings’ and i’m like i would be surprised they did this bec they’re all fuckin introverts and not really ambitious enough to try find something enough to break rules? so it’s like…eeeehhhhhh i try to care but I’m more interested in like, being at hogwarts tbh

12. Are you more interested about Vaults or what happened to your brother?

probably what happened to my brother, because like…it drove him mad? what did it? watch, the vaults are just gonna be some stupid thing like the philosophers stone or s.t that’ll get moved at the end and that’s why the cursed vaults were never brought up in the books xD

13. Hogwarts Mystery or The Cursed Child? Best story so far?

I never read the cursed child bec fuck that. i’m not reading about a kid named albus severus like lmaooo

14. Any ideas what can have happened to your brother?

nope! merula says she knows but she’s not telling like the lil bitch she is. says he hasn’t got much time now so like??????????? is he dying?????

15. What do you hope you will get to do in the game?

uh romance people and actually fly around and duel more and actually get to befriend people without having to do stupid side quests like bruv

16. There is a lot negative about the energy bar, can you give something else about the game that you think is really positive? Can be anything!

you get to go to hogwarts, what’s the big issue? stop complaining about shit yo like have you tried other energy based games? shits ridiculous, especially in the money grubbing ones like kim k’s or even in the idol ones or those otome games like goddamn they’re expensive once you start hitting higher levels because you’ll end up needing gems and shit to refill your energy, meanwhile this one is every hour 50 you get a full bar again 

17. Some stuff have appeared in the game that they never had in the movies, what are you happy have appeared in the game?

peeves is cool. you get an energy from tapping on him. also, depending on which house you choose, you get to see what they look like…also also you get to go to different areas that weren’t in the movie like filch’s office and shit, also hogsmeade is available in third year so i’m excited for that

oh, also! spells! like spongify seems like i’d use it all the time bec squish

18. Can you think of a song that suit to the story?

do you believe in magic

lol jokes idk not off the top of my head

19. How has the game affect your life? (is it hard to play because you’re at school/job? Has it affect your sleep schedule? Affect your phone?)

it really hasn’t affected me in any way other than having a new game on my phones? idk i guess it does take some time outta my life but i usually stick to 1 hour missions because that usually depletes my energy for two hours but i get like 40 attribute points or 1000 coins because i force reset the app when i get rewards so it takes maybe 20 minutes a mission? 

20. How many have you told about the game?

i saw the tweet about it and went BOI, screenshot it and sent it to my sibs group chat and was all ‘fi you think i didn’t download this immediately’ and then showed my neph tex it when he asked what i was playing and he downloaded it and apparently my bro-in-law has it but idgaf about that but anyway yeah…

21. Who do you think Barnaby Lee is and what do you think he has purpose in the game?

i think he’s bae tbh 

lol fuck watch it being my brother using polyjuice to try find the vaults again aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh 

[thisisheffner]

Pet Shop Boys: 'The acoustic guitar should be banned' | Music | The Guardian

The new Pet Shop Boys album is, they say, the third in a trilogy. Hotspot follows 2013’s Electric and 2016’s Super, all collaborations with producer Stuart Price, all examples of the duo’s return to “electronic purism” after a succession of albums where, as Neil Tennant puts it, they variously “pretended to be a rock band” (Release), “made a zany one with everything and the kitchen sink on it” (Yes) and “went to LA and made an album about being old” (Elysium).

“That was your big idea, being old,” says Tennant, nodding in the direction of his fellow Pet Shop Boy Chris Lowe, who is sitting alongside him on the sofa in a record company office in the City of London. “He explained that to our manager and she was absolutely aghast. She looked completely horrified.”

It is worth noting that in recent years the Pet Shop Boys have also written scores for Eisenstein’s 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin and a ballet based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale (2011’s The Most Incredible Thing), as well as premiering A Man From the Future – a kind of pop oratorio based on the life of Alan Turing – at the Proms. They also provided the music for a theatrical adaptation of Stephen Frears’ film My Beautiful Laundrette and a one-woman Edinburgh festival show by actor Frances Barber, based on the character of Billie Trix, the washed-up pop star she played in the Pet Shop Boys’ 2001 musical Closer To Heaven. Its revival was also noticeably more successful than the critically savaged original production. “It was a very outrageous piece for 2001, loads of drugs in it, somebody dies,” notes Tennant. “Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s company produced it and I remember him saying: ‘Well, sorry guys, I guess it was a bit too much for everybody.’”

Set against this backdrop, the Electric/Super/Hotspot trilogy does seem like a return to what you might call Pet Shop Boys basics. They began their career in 1984, working with hi-NRG producer Bobby Orlando, transforming the predominant sound of the era’s gay clubs into a very British and brainy brand of pop music, shot through with a streak of social comment so subtly done that people frequently missed the point entirely. Thirty years of the duo patiently explaining that Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money) was a satire of 80s excess doesn’t seem to have dimmed TV documentary directors’ enthusiasm for playing it in the background during footage of yuppies shouting into enormous mobile phones or spraying champagne; 1987’s Shopping was a withering portrait of London consumerism between the Big Bang and Black Monday, so shrewdly drawn you could imagine a City boy of the era banging the wheel of his Ferrari and bellowing along, oblivious to its real intent.

A lot has changed since 1984, though. For one thing, the Pet Shop Boys have sold 100m records. But while the vast majority of their 80s contemporaries have long been consigned to the nostalgia circuit or vanished entirely – “down the dumper,” as Tennant memorably put it while working as a journalist on Smash Hits – the Pet Shop Boys have become a kind of curious national institution. Still close enough to the heart of pop that younger stars flock to work with them – Hotspot features Olly Alexander of Years & Years, who, Tennant dryly notes, “is of a different generation to us, sings in a different style, more R&B, whereas Chris always says I sing like Julie Andrews” – and yet sufficiently highbrow that all the ballets and oratorios and scores for silent films feel like a natural fit rather than an affectation.

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The duo long ago reneged on their refusal to play gigs, although, as Tennant points out, his celebrated 80s line about how he “liked proving that we can’t cut it live” was meant as a joke, on account of their inability to make their grandiose plans for shows work financially – their first US tour was both a vast success and lost half a million pounds. Now, however, they are a reliably stadium-filling, festival-headlining act – a 25-date greatest hits tour of European arenas begins in May. It’s a state of affairs they seem to enjoy, but it’s not without its hiccups. “I announced I was going to retire,” sighs Tennant, “when we played a half-empty venue in Grimsby on my birthday in 2002.”

And yet here they are, in 2020, roughly where they were in 1984, occasional residents of Berlin (they own a flat in the city, its kitchen converted into a recording studio, complete with “a vocoder which we never use because I don’t know how to plug it in,” says Lowe), making music at least partly inspired by the city’s nightlife. They are regular visitors to its notoriously hedonistic techno mecca Berghain, although their approach to the club seems impressively genteel, as befits men in their 60s. “We go on Sunday lunchtimes,” smiles Tennant, “around 12 o’clock. We treat it as pre-lunch drinks – we go up to the Panorama Bar and have a glass of prosecco. You get the people who’ve been there all night, they’re absolutely twatted, but then there’s a fresh crowd coming in as well, and it’s a very interesting atmosphere. And it’s great to walk in from daylight on to the main dancefloor, which is completely dark, there’s just a kick drum playing four-to-the-floor, and it’s really, really exciting in an alienating way.”

If the duo’s penchant for satire seems less present on Hotspot, says Tennant, that’s because it was “siphoned off” on the 2019 EP Agenda, home to Give Stupidity a Chance and What Are We Going to Do About the Rich?, by some distance the angriest songs the Pet Shop Boys have ever recorded. “What was the reaction to them? Probably generally negative,” laughs Tennant. “I mean, if you’re doing something to wind people up and they get wound up, I suppose your job’s been done.”

In fact, a careworn song about the refugee crisis aside, the tone of Hotspot is often rather romantic. “Berlin’s quite a romantic place,” says Tennant. “People in Britain tend to think of Berlin, even now, as the wall and Bowie making ‘Heroes’. But it’s got 80 lakes in it, you can be in the countryside in 20 minutes, it’s such a beautiful place in the summer, you have pubs on the river. So that’s why I think it sounds warm and romantic.”

The duo are famously entertaining interviewees, Tennant’s background as a music journalist clear both in his theorising about “the discipline of the pop single” and an awareness of how things look in print. When talk turns to the current crop of earnest post-Ed Sheeran troubadours, he first, perhaps rashly, suggests: “I think the acoustic guitar should be banned, actually.” Then offers a headline for a feature based around that quote: “Pet Shop Boys Blast Lame Rock Rivals”.

Lowe, meanwhile, contrary to his public image – stony-faced and silent beneath an unending selection of preposterous hats – is drily funny about everything from his partner’s singing voice (“Neil is not from the gospel tradition, despite having been an altar boy”), to the Americanisation of British culture: “I can’t believe schools have started having prom dances. As if school isn’t bad enough anyway without a prom at the end of it. They never end well in films, do they? We’ve all seen Carrie.”

But nevertheless, an old-fashioned element of mystery and distance remains intact: what they do when they are not being the Pet Shop Boys remains largely unknown, their private lives off limits throughout their career. They don’t do social media, or rather they did, then reconsidered when they realised that it involved “interaction”, a word Tennant says with comic horror. “We were early adopters of Twitter,” says Lowe, “and early leavers. The only thing I liked about it was blocking people. I loved to block.”

“Chris,” smiles Tennant, “is the sort of person who, if he’d been a pop star in the 1970s, would have posted a turd to someone he didn’t like.”

They do feel a little out of place in the current pop climate’s obsession with authenticity and ordinariness (“authenticity is a style,” notes Tennant, “and it’s always the same style”), its lyrical penchant for what they waspishly term “narcissistic misery”.

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“We’re always looking for euphoria and excitement in music,” he says, “that sort of feeling we got the first time we heard Bobby O’s records, or Helter Skelter by the Beatles, or even She Loves You, going right back to being a child. That euphoric thing came back in with the rave scene in the 80s, but it isn’t really at the core of pop music now. Its context is social media; social media has actually created and defined the form of popular music and I think, unfortunately, that takes it down the narcissistic misery route. It doesn’t have the importance it once had, and that’s been the case for quite a while. It’s become a facet of social media. You know, everything we do, there’s people working out how to edit it down to 10 seconds, literally everything. I wonder what would happen now if you released Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Then again, says Tennant, they never did fit in. “When we started off we really did think we were going to create our own world that might reference other things, like a novelist writing a series of novels set in a particular era or something like that, where we were characters. And when we did collaborations, we judged them very carefully. So our first collaboration was with Dusty Springfield [on 1987’s What Have I Done To Deserve This?]. Our label didn’t want us to work with her, they wanted us to work with Tina Turner or someone like that. I remember the director of EMI going: ‘I can get you Streisand!’ But” – he thumps the coffee table before him for emphasis – “we wanted Dusty. Then we worked with Liza Minnelli and that was sort of politely greeted with horror, but everyone went along with it and it worked, because it’s our world.”

Of Top of the Pops, he says: “We were never the kind of performers who were going to enter into it wholeheartedly. Chris established early on that we weren’t allowed to look thrilled to be there. Whenever the camera came over to us, he’d say: ‘Don’t look triumphant!’ But we used to quite enjoy Top of the Pops, you know, being glared at by some singer because you’d said something nasty about them in the press.” He laughs. “I always liked the way that British pop stars always hated each other. When I worked on Smash Hits, I remember the editor saying: ‘We should do a piece on Paul Weller, because he’ll slag everyone off.’ The feuds! Duran Duran and Spandau, Boy George and Pete Burns arguing about who had those sort of gay dreadlocks first.”

“I don’t think bands do that now,” nods Lowe. “When we tour, we’ve got this band, young musicians, and it’s so refreshing because they’re so nice. They feel part of a musical community, they all know each other, they play on each other’s records, they’re all linked in. It wasn’t like that when we were around.”

But, of course, they are still around. Their albums – if not their singles – are inevitably Top 10 hits and sprinkled with songs that rank alongside their best. The Billie Trix cabaret show, Musik, is about to transfer to London, and there are excited rumours abounding that they are playing Glastonbury this year – “which we can’t talk about, which is annoying” – after their guest spot on the Killers’ headline set in 2019.

“Making music, there is still a magic about going into a studio and finding that sort of euphoria and excitement of something new,” says Tennant. “There’s a magic to realising there’s nothing more you can add to something, it’s finished, and then judging its value or whatever. It’s a supremely enjoyable and satisfying career, and, you know, you can’t stop doing it. I mean, if you run out of ideas, that’s when you stop.”

“I’m quite looking forward to that actually,” nods Lowe. “Running out of ideas.” He grins. “Because that’s when you go and work with Brian Eno.”

Hotspot is out today

This content was originally published here.

[scifiphan]

92 Things About Me

tysm @sleepwalkerphan  for tagging me in this! it’s 2am and I’m procrastinating the heck out of writing so this is perfect lmao.

also I’ll put most of the things below the cut so keep reading if ya wanna know 92 fun facts about me

edit: this took me almost an hour to do and towards the end, I basically confess my entire life so have fun reading that lmao. like i seriously have a realisation about how idk what i’m doing with my life hahahaha

THE LAST..

1. Drink : Water #stayhydrated 2. Phone call : mum 3. Text Message : a gif of phil being scared in bed (even my irl friends are trash) 4. Song You Listened To : currently listening to Taro - alt-J 5. Time You Cried : On sunday I cried over a renovation reality tv show (??? yeah idk either, bro) the apartments just looked so nice and the team I liked got kicked off the show.

HAVE YOU EVER..

6. Dated Someone Twice : nope 7. Been Cheated On : nope 8. Kissed Someone And Regretted It : YES (smh @ me) 9. Lost Someone Special : thankfully no 10. Been Depressed : i honestly don’t know. i think I have but am so freaking stubborn at admitting I have had depressive episodes in the past 11. Got Drunk And Thrown Up : YES OH MY GOODNESS I HAVE HAD SO MANY BAD TIMES. DON’T DRINK WINE AND THEN A MILKSHAKE AND THEN DANCE ON A BEACH. YOU WILL ONLY END UP THROWING UP IN A GARBAGE BIN OUTSIDE A KEBAB STORE (it wasn’t even after midnight, that’s the most embarrassing thing) 

LIST 3 FAVOURITE COLOURS :

12. Green 13. Pink 14. Turquoise

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU..

15. Made New Friends : yes!! so many new and amazing friends 16. Fallen Out Of Love : nope. 17. Laughed Until You Cried : laughing until I cry is me every time 18. Found Out Someone Was Talking About You : yes (you would think that adults would stop teen behaviours lol) 19. Met Someone Who Changed You : yes, the last year included so much change. 20. Found Out Who Your True Friends Are : Yes. Just gonna put it out there: traveling for an extensive period of time overseas really shows who your true friends are and who are the snakes. 21. Kissed Someone On Your Facebook List : hahahaha yes (too mant rip) 22.How Many Of Your Facebook Friends Do You Know In Real Life :  probably almost all of them (so like 550) only a few on there are my internet friends 23. Do You Have Any Pets : nope and I probs wont get another pet for a long long time 24. Do You Want To Change Your Name : NO!!!!!!! Teddii is a blessing although I would change my last name (it’s two surnames joined together and it makes life difficult because it’s so long) 25. What Did You Do For Your Last Birthday : went out for dinner at a mexican place, won a few dollars on the pokies and then went out clubbing (also i got a fine rip me) 26. What Time Did You Wake Up This Morning: 11am OOPS (i slept in and missed uni) 27. What Were You Doing At Midnight Last Night : probably making a gif 28. Name Something You Cannot Wait For : FINISHING UNI AND MOVING TO THE UK (hopefully to do my masters in global terrorism at the uni of london but if not i really wanna get a 1 year working visa and just do some hospitality work before I start a career) 29. When Was The Last Time You Saw Your Mother : like 4 hours ago when we were watching tv 30. What Is One Thing You Could Change About Your Life : I wish I had a UK passport, it would make life a lot easier for me if I had dual citizenship instead of a boring Australian passport 31. What Are You Listening To Right Now : alt-J, a live performance of Taro  32. Have You Ever Talked To A Person Named Tom : I know so many Tom’s it’s ridiculous 33. Something That Is Getting On Your Nerves : PEOPLE!!! WHO!! THINK!! THAT!! IF YOUR DEGREE!! ISN’T STEM!! THEN IT ISN’T!! HARD!!!! (i’m looking @ every friend who does a stem degree and always laughs at how my degree must be so easy because it doesn’t include math)

34. Most Visited Websites : tumblr, youtube, my uni’s website, facebook 35. Elementary : v great time, got bullied heaps but still had fun 36. High School : problematic fave. honestly my time at high school can fill a 500 page essay. being right next to a beach and river was actually gr8, the endless issues weren’t so good. 37. College/University : it has been a wild ride. I swapped degrees so I still have around 2 years left but uni has been my fave so far 38. Hair Colour : PINK!!!! (naturally ginger) 39. Long or Short Hair : long 40. Do You Have A Crush On Someone : nope (which is a shocker) 41. What Do You Like About Yourself : I like my individuality and independance 42. Piercings : 2x lobes, 1x helix, 1x nose. (i’m thinkng about getting my conch in a few weeks) 43. Blood Type : O+ 44. Nickname : ted, teddii bear, sideshow bob, cotton candy 45. Relationship Status : hella single 46. Zodiac Sign : Cancer (aka my birthday is soon hell yeah) 47. Pronouns : she/her. 48. Favourite Tv Show : STAR TREK: VOYAGER WILL ALWAYS BE MY FAVOURITE 49. Tattoos : crescent moon on my right wrist (i sorta don’t like how it turned out but after a year I have grown to appreciate the meaning) 50. Right Or Left Hand : Left handed (aka another reason why Dan is my spirit animal)

FIRST..

51. Surgery : i got a bunch of teeth removed when I was like 4/5  52. Word : baba or ma  53. Sport : soccer  54. Vacation : i actually can’t remember my first vacation. probs Sydney tbh idk I went a lot of places when I was young 55. Pair Of Trainers : probably something Adidas tbh

WHAT ARE YOU..

56. Eating : nothing 57. Drinking : water 58. Reading : nothing at the moment besides uni textbooks 59. I’m About To : I should say sleep but I’ll probably just watch youtube 60. Listening To : Breezeblocks by alt-J (can you see a recurring theme with my music questions?) 61. Waiting For : GoT SEASON 7 AKA MY BIRTHDAY (honestly feel so blessed to grow older and watch new GoT on the same day) 62. Craving For : MONEYYYYYYY. ya girl is unemployed thanks to the bad habit of planning last minute overseas holidays 63. Do you wanna get married : eventually but at the same time it doesn’t worry me 64. Going To Do When You Get Older : ????? ?????? ????? you would think I would have an idea but tbh idk. I’m studying International Relations and I want to do a postgrad in global terrorism. But career wise I have no bloody idea. I would like to work in the UN or UNESCO or for the Australian Government in an embassy. but at the same time I also want to be a travel photographer and just ignore my degree (idk adult life is hard)

YOUR TYPE..

65. Hugs or Kisses : HUGS 66. Lips or Eyes : eyes! <3333 67. Short or Tall : tall guys!!! but short girls are my weakness!! 68. Young or Old : HA haHA HA old 69. Nice Arms Or Nice Stomach : slight preference for nice arms because tummys are cute no matter what 70. Sensitive or Loud : I am both of those things so, por que no las dos? 71. Hook Up or Relationship : relationship (although I can’t relate because i am eternally single) 72. Troublemaker or Hesitant : I prefer when people are upfront instead of hiding stuff from me so I guess that means troublemaker?

HAVE YOU EVER..

73. Kissed A Stranger : yes 74. Drank Hard Liquor : yes (love me some vodka) 75. Lost Eye glasses or contact lenses : not yet thankfully 76. Turned Someone Down : YES! (there is nothing wrong with turning people down.) 77. Sex On First Date : no 78. Broken Someone’s Heart : yes and I still feel bad 79. Had Your Heart Broken : yep 80. Been Arrested : yes (kind of, long story) 81. Cried When Someone Died : yes. although I tend to go more numb instead of crying. idk it’s weird because I cry about everything but death kinda makes me become numb 82. Fallen For A Friend : yes (oops)

DO YOU BELIEVE IN..

83. In Yourself : yes although I need to believe in myself a lot more 84. Miracles : yes 85. Love At First Sight : yes and no. I believe it exists but I feel like a lot of people believe that they are experiencing love at first sight when in reality it is infatuation/lust. 86. Santa Claus : this question conflicts me because the logical side of me says no but the optimistic child side of me refuses to accept the truth 87. Kiss On The First Date : yeah 88. Angels : nah, not for me

OTHER..

89. Current best friend’s name : do i have a best friend? not really. again, it’s a weird time for me when it comes to friends. 90. Eye Colour : um blue with green and grey mixed in (it’s so hard to describe but yeah, those three) 91. Favourite singer/Band : Ed Sheeran, Mumford & Sons, al-J (i love them all a lot.) 92. Favourite Movie : Avatar. yes the blue alien one. It’s lame but I fell in love with the na’vi culture and it kinda helped get me obsessed with scifi.

And that’s a wrap!

If anyone actually read all that I hope you enjoyed my (very) late night confessions. Idk who to tag so if you see this and want to do it feel free to do so! Also, come hit up my inbox/messages if you wanna be my friend after reading this, I wanna make some friends on this hellsite

[swearronchanel]

As per request, 2.05

You guys have been so freaking sweet and kind  to me with your feedback since I started making these ridiculous posts, it’s insane but I love it!❣️ I literally started these as a joke because my one friend who watches call the midwife didn’t pick up the phone (and bc I was under the influence whoops hahaha it happens) but now I have so much fun posting every week! I’m sure I won’t stop these any time soon (what will I do when this series is over until Christmas? Yikes lets not talk about it yet)  Anyways @marialujan22 requested I rewatch and post for 2x5 & shit it’s been a while since I’ve watched series 2 but I couldn’t say no! Besides Im in a good mood because I have 10 days till spring break & only like 8 weeks left in the semester so here we go ..

idk if I’m mentally prepared for this

THE BIKE SONG I LOVE IT

“Somewhere far away, scientist we’re working on a magic pill, rumored to make pregnancy a case of choice..” Hell yea birth control, deff a magic pill in my opinion

Crazy that it took 3 series for the pill to become a thing & then there was still lame ass government guidelines

Jenny Lee! lol I often forget about her sorry not sorry, I liked her but she left. ya no importa

I love how “mature jenny” still narrates even though her character is never even mentioned anymore #letmenarrate lol jk I like Vanessa Redgrave’s voice

“Meanwhile other scientists were trying to send humans to the moon” fuck yea Hidden Figures

If CtM went up until 1969 that’d be lit, like the episode on mad men when they watched the moon landing! Just replace them with nuns and nurses and babies & replace the liquor for tea 😂

Shit I’ve said typed so much already

SISTER MJ💕 I wanna smack myself she’s brushing her teeth & I thought of that stupid toothbrush song from last week’s episode kill me

Nora’s pregnant again uh oh

Cynthia! SISTER E! Jane! It’s been so long

My bby Trixie 💕😍 I miss her pin curls! But now she’s serving those 60s looks so I’m here for it all

“Take that off this minute before you go to hell” LMAO TRIX YOU CANT TELL KIDS THAT

lol who am I kidding I would’ve said the same

I love sister Monica Joan, id quote everything she ever says but that’s too much work

Vicar’s wife? But who was the vicar?

LMAO WAIT DOESNT SISTER MJ FAKE A HEART ATTACK??

YES SHE DID IM DEAD I LOVE HER, WELL IT WAS LIKE ANGINA BUT IDC STILL FUNNY CAUSE SHE DIDNT WANNA GO

PRECIOUS SISTER BERNADETTE 😭💕

I STILL CANT BELIEVE MY BBY SHELAGH WAS A NUN, ITS SO STRANGE TO GO BACK AND SEE HER IN THE HABIT, LIKE YOURE PREGNANT NOW, WITH DR TURNERS BABYYY!!

anyone else really wanted to know how she was going to tell Sister Julienne “um i was already done with being a nun and now im love sick, I can’t stop thinking about Dr Turner so  I gotta ditch this habit”

damn I feel so bad like she did not want another baby & had no choice but to deal with it

No Jenny, tea is not gonna help right now

And heres the lady that scammed her

How much is 2 guinnis ? Idk how to spell that u already know I’m an ignorant American

Did she really tell a married woman keep her legs closed? It Doesn’t even matter if she was married or not like who are u anyway?? I would’ve bitch slapped her too, good for u Nora

Sister MJ saying her horoscope was right, we are the same😭

Wtf is spotted dick? Also I laughed because I’m immature Lmaoo

Sister J eating the pudding, she knows how to get to sister MJ 😂 I love them

Trixie teasing Jane about the Reverend lol aw

“I can’t knit I had a heart attack this morning” ME TRYING TO GET OUT OF THINGS

8 kids in one bedroom though yikes

Cute and classic bedroom moments 😭💕

“Naughty version of eggnog” like coquito? Lol nah, coquito is the bomb

IM CRYING SISTER BERNADETTE LOOKING IN THE DOORWAY

THIS BREAKS MY HEART EVERYTIME

THEY FUCKING CLOSED THE DOOR ON HER, MY BBY. I WANT TO HUG HER 💔💔💔 she deserves the world

Who is this irrelevant ass vicars wife? “Cherrio”

I’m so sorry Nora

Ew wtf a rat just bit the baby?

“Just tell me what you want sister” SHE WANTS YOU DOCTOR

THE WAY THEYRE LOOKING AT EACH OTHER OMG IM SHOOK

WHAT THE HELL TIM WHY DID YOU RUIN THE MOMENT ?!

sister MJ wants to roll bandages, make it happen! lol I love that Cynthia and Jane unwrap them all for her 😭

Aww i love babies !! but that one with a funny nose uhh

SISTER BERNADETTE BLOWING THE WHISTLE AND CHEERING 💕 MY HEART SHE IS SO ADORABLE

Aw I wish Trixie could have another scene going through old pictures and maybe share old stories with the new nurses💔 unlikely but you know I can hope. SHE DID HAVE THAT PHOTO OF HER AND CYNTHIA ON HER MIRROR LAST SUNDAY💕

“I’m a woman on a mission” beatrix, light in my life

Curly locks lol, when I was younger I  was called Shirley temple and when I dyed my hair I was called Goldie locks.. mind u that lasted into high school 😂 I’m staying blonde for good though, I don’t think I can pull off anything else

DONT GO OUT WITH HIM TRIXIE, HE’S TRASH

Laura Main’s angelic voice ✨👼🏼

who am I kidding she’s an angel

you know what would be fun and a dream? to go out with the ctm cast and get drunk and take trashy snapchat videos singing

Gin & a hot bath??

Trixie looked him up lol, good move

BUT HE’S STILL TRASH and an asshole

Pickle knife ?

again, this irrelevant vicar’s wife? vete ya

Everyone thinks Sister MJ is senile but she knows what’s up with Sister Bernadette..

“..but is all blank sadness and continued tears”  MY HEART💔 sister Bernadette/Shelagh has spent the majority of this show crying/being sad/distressed ugh!! Laura Main plays is beautifully but I CRY!? Let her be uninterruptedly happy please 😭💕

she (and helen) ruined me tbh, I used to have dignity

Is Jenny really naive or is she just pretending not to understand??

SEE SISTER BERNADETTE IS ON SCREEN AGAIN & IS UPSET

“I almost wish I was physically ill..” okay bRb CRYIN. THIS IS WHY I CANT WATCH THESE OLDER EPISODES I CRY TOO MUCH, I DONT LIKE TO SEE HER UNHAPPY

Remember when I started the show and didn’t know it was gonna ruin my life? Or before I grew attached? Yea me neither lmaoo those were the days when I thought downton killed me. I Didn’t know what was coming 😂 still love downton though rip #downtonmoviepls

Knitting needles?? aye dios mio

HA GREMLIN TIM AND JACK

Again how much is a gunniea and how do I spell it? I could google it but I’m busy here

She was willing to sell her wedding ring and risk her life for an unprofessional abortion. DO YOU SEE THE ISSUE? This isn’t just the a period drama either. Shit is real

“Are babies more valued because they can survive or do they survive beside they are more valued?” good question sis

lol Jane was so sweet and just bounced with no word

AT LEAST I KNOW WHERE SHE WENT THOUGH, THANKS FOR THAT NZ CUT SCENE

Trixie being a babe and getting ready to do her nails 😍💕 I wish I could do mine well but I’m trash and so I pay to get them done

The cross cutting in this scene is crazy but so well done (& yes look at me using real terms lol, I took a Music in film class last semester and had to know editing techniques 😂, I did fairly well too)

I really don’t know how she survived this

My bby trixie looking gorgeous as per usual. I love her so much, Helen u kill me

NO COÑFIO TRIXIE, HE’S NO GOOD

Haha why did I not remember the Gone With The Wind reference? Cynthia was so cute, I miss her carefree and happy

FRECO MOVE YOUR DAMN HAND, YOU ARE TRASH.

HE’S FICTIONAL BUT ID STILL FIGHT HIM

my poor bby😭💔 it is not your fault , he’s trash!! But this moment between the nurses warmed my cold heart

“Matrons in charge, virgins of iron” 😭😭

Aw Earth Angel playing, ✨🎼 I highkey pop to 50s/60s pandora stations

Jenny yes it’s illegal but do you think that matters rn??

TIM AS MAID MARION LMAO

Sister Bernadette looking at Dr Turner ah omg 😭they’ve come so far.

It’s not your fault Jenny but you should’ve told someone

Sister B & Tim won 👏🏼

LMAO ALL I CAN THINK OF IS THAT POST “WOAH CALM DOWN IM JUST TRYNA DATE YOUR DAD”

and she’s down, and the glasses flew

“You’ve hurt your hand” “well I’m sure there’s no need to amputate” ah sister b/shelagh lowkey has some of the funniest lines she just slips them in and people miss them !!

Here it comes ..

THE MOMENT..

“Would you like me to have a look at that?” UHM YEA

No but seriously I can barely remember what I thought when I first watched this but I knew something was gonna happen because a nurse can handle her own damn cut & well you know, she was in love with him

HE KISSED HER HAND. A fucking doctor kissed a nuns hand people, how scandalous & this was THE MOMENT I KNEW I WAS CORRUPT AND WAS GOING TO HELL, I AM SATAN I WANTED THE DOCTOR TO KISS A FREAKING NUN ON THE MOUTH LIKE WTF WHO RAISED ME? MY MOTHER WANTED IT TOO SO IDK BUT THIS KILLED ME, LIKE R.I.P HERE LIES GABBY, I WAS IN THE GROUND DECEASED. I’m actual trash. Someone dispose of me in the proper bin #recyle

for real, this is when I really knew that I was never going to love any other show like this and I allowed it to ruin me

BUT HONESTLY WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING? THATS A BOLD MOVE

BOLD IN GENERAL BECAUSE YOU DONT KNOW IF SHE LIKES YOU BUT BOLD x1000 BC SHE IS A NUN, YOU KNOW MARRIED TO GOD, VOW OF CHASITY AND ALL THAt??

What if she would’ve freaked tf out or told sister Julienne? I don’t even know. I’ll just be grateful for how things turned out

“At this moment I only know I’m not turning my back on you because of you but I’m doing it because of him” AHHHH, DONT WORRY BBY GOD LOVES U AND UNDERSTANDS YOU LOVE HIM AND THE DOCTOR, LOSE THAT HABIT AND GO PROPERLY KISS PATRICK 😭

Sister MJ judging the baby contest is the purest thing & I need it to cleanse my disgusting soul that wants a dr to get with a nun #notsorrythough

“In Nonnatus we were good at tending other’s wounds and there were times I felt we were all each other’s children..” brb I’m crying I love that they’re like a family 😭💕💔

I’m so happy they didn’t kill Nora and she actually was happy in the end. I really wasn’t sure for a moment (obviously when I first watched lol)

“ Free reliable contraception came too late to help her, but in time the scientists triumphed. Her daughters and granddaughters lives remained transfigured, long after man left fleeting footprints on the moon.” Vanessa always knowing what to say in the end.

Lets see how the pill is going to be reintroduced this series, I’m interested  in how it’s going to play out.

I’ve said that so many times though so I’ll be done

The End.

[admittedlynotspartacus]

20 Best Picture “Losers” MOONLIGHT is About to Join

It's fair to say there's a large contingency of people hoping Moonlight wins Best Picture at the Oscars next Sunday. It's the best-reviewed film of the year, a grand epic with an intimate, personal feel and the ability to inspire empathy for characters usually on the margins of our cinematic landscape. In the year of Donald Trump, it seems like a no-brainer to give top prize to something so beautiful and socially important. And yet, La La Land is primed for ultimate victory, possibly tying the all-time record for Oscar wins of 11. Chalk it up to an out-of-touch Academy, escapism in an election year, whatever you want. But the fact is the Oscars don't always get it right. And to prove it, here are 20 films that didn’t bag Best Pic, but have endured as cinematic landmarks despite.

20. BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID (1969)

While the film took home 4 Oscars, including wins for the iconic song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" and for William Goldman's screenplay, it lost Best Picture to the very worthy Midnight Cowboy, the only X-rated film to ever take top honors. Still, it's hard to argue Butch hasn't become more of a cultural staple, ranked as #49 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list.

19. FARGO (1996)

The Coen Brothers are widely regarded as two of our greatest filmmakers. But although they won Best Original Screenplay for this film, they wouldn't go on to win Best Picture until No Country for Old Men in 2005. Their anointing should have come much sooner, however, as the winner this year was the epic snoozefest The English Patient.

18. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)

One of the best film adaptations of a novel ever made, Mockingbird largely fell victim to the 7 Oscar sweep of Lawrence of Arabia, winning just 3, including Gregory Peck's victory over Peter O'Toole for Best Actor.

17. BOYHOOD (2014)

No film of the new millennium (excluding Moonlight, interestingly enough) received such universal passionate praise. A.O. Scott of The New York Times even went so far as to call it "the first film masterpiece of the 21st century." So how many Oscars did it take home? Just one, for Patricia Arquette's supporting performance. The lion's share went to Birdman, a highly-uncharacteristic but deserving Best Picture winner.

16. GOODFELLAS (1990)

I'm not the biggest Goodfellas fan; I also think it's hurt by Scorsese consistently drawing on the visual and editing styles of it for his films (see Wolf of Wall Street). But even I think it deserved more than the one Oscar it got for Joe Pesci, and that it should've toppled the overblown Dances With Wolves for top prize.

15. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)

Regarded as not only one of the best holiday films of all time, but one of the best films period, this classic didn't win a single Oscar, not even for James Stewart's iconic performance. So what won? The Best Years of Our Lives, which I've never even effing heard of.

14. APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)

Presumably the Academy was tired of rewarding Francis Ford Coppola after two years of big wins with both Godfather films. But it's hard to deny the intense power of what is regarded by most as the best war movie of all time. It was famously hell to film, the most ambitious entry in an already ambitious director's filmography, and yet it only won 2 technical awards, with Best Picture going to the deserving family dramatics of Kramer vs. Kramer.

13. DO THE RIGHT THING (1989)

#OscarsSoWhite is no new phenomenon, as Spike Lee's greatest film to date not only didn't win Best Picture, it wasn't even nominated. Its only nods were for Screenplay and for Supporting Actor, for Danny Aiello, the only principal white character. The win went to Driving Miss Daisy, in a depressing encapsulation of the Academy's viewpoint on race.

12. NASHVILLE (1975)

Robert Altman is easily one of the greatest film directors of all time, yet he never won a competitive Oscar, despite five nominations. His greatest film, Nashville, went 0 for 4, losing Best Picture to the admittedly excellent Oscars juggernaut One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

11. RAGING BULL (1980)

My personal favorite Scorsese film won for Editing and for Robert De Niro's legendary performance, but ultimately lost Best Picture to the fine, but ordinary Ordinary People. The Academy had so many chances to reward Scorsese for true masterpieces, and yet he won for The Departed.

10. STAR WARS (1977)

The movie that changed everything was indeed nominated for Best Picture. It was actually the only one of its 8 nominations that it lost, as the Academy backed out at the last minute and went with Annie Hall, which is obviously also great and the last true comedy to win Best Picture.

9. SUNSET BLVD. (1950)

Whether you view it as an Old Hollywood masterpiece, a camp classic, or you just love that it's narrated by a dead guy, it's undeniably a legend. But it was mowed down in all but 3 of its 11 categories by All About Eve, proving that camp divas were super "in" this year.

8. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)

My favorite Spielberg film is one of the most enduring in his sterling canon. Nominated for 9, it took home 4, including for Visual Effects and for John Williams' iconic score. But it un-deservingly lost to the Oscar-bait that was Gandhi.

7. DR. STRANGELOVE, OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING & LOVE THE BOMB (1964)

Kubrick is another director that is chillin' in the pantheon with not a single Oscar. This comic masterpiece went 0 for 4, not even bagging a win for Peter Sellers' brilliant triple-performance. The Academy loves their musicals, going with My Fair Lady, which I do love but can hardly hold a candle.

6. PULP FICTION (1994)

Probably the last movie to really "change the game," proving that independent artists could create something both artsy and commercial and that screenwriting rules were made to be broken, Tarantino's classic only won for Screenplay. In one of the Academy's most blatantly lame decisions ever, Forrest Gump prevailed this year.

5. ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN, NETWORK, and TAXI DRIVER (1976)

The 70's were famously an incredible time for film, but this year was out of control. 3 of the greatest movies of all time were denied top honors, with Network and President's Men each going home with 4 and Taxi Driver with 0. So what was the big winner? The feel-good Rocky. Blame it on an election year... sound familiar?

4. THE GRADUATE (1967)

Curiously, this American classic would've gone home completely empty-handed were it not for Mike Nichols' surprise win for Director. Most of the booty went that year to In the Heat of the Night. It's hard to argue against either, but surely this landmark film deserved a little bit more love.

3. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)

Just like Do the Right Thing, Kubrick's masterwork and one of the most iconic films of all time was completely snubbed for a Best Picture nomination. Its lone win for Visual Effects supports the theory that the film was initially viewed as a mere technical marvel and a "drug movie," only achieving its enigmatic wonder and majesty over time. Perhaps more than any other entry, it proves the Academy doesn't know everything, as they gave Best Picture to Oliver! - which despite my love for it - is horrifying on so many levels.

2. CITIZEN KANE (1941)

No film more routinely tops "Best Movies of All Time" lists like Citizen Kane, yet it was toppled by John Ford's traditional multi-generational family epic How Green Was My Valley. History has been kinder to the former, but with Orson Welles embroiled in controversy with William Randolph Hearst, Kane was lucky to get any Oscar recognition at all, winning only 1 of its 9 nominations for Best Original Screenplay. It's typical for a masterpiece to be ignored for something more conventional and ordinary, but Kane raised the bar for cinematography, editing, and pure audacity in filmmaking. While it will remain at the top of those lists, it will still only have that 1 Oscar.

1. THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)

1939 is often thought of as Hollywood's "golden year," featuring Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, the John Wayne breakout Stagecoach, the anti-Stalin Ninotchka, and eventual Best Picture-winner Gone With the Wind. Of these, the latter is the most enduring (uncomfortable and dated as it may be), but no film can truly compare to the timeless magic of Dorothy's adventures down the yellow brick road and back again. It's no doubt the closest there is to a film everyone has seen, with a story and themes that will never grow old, iconic performances, and visual effects that still hold up today. Yet it won only one Oscar, for its Score. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," arguably the most famous song of all time, wasn't even nominated.

So come Oscar night, I'll be rooting for you, Moonlight. But if La La Land does indeed prevail, don't feel too bad. You're in good company.

[usstatesofsong]

Countdown to #Eurovision: Yearly Reviews - 1982

We’re approximately three months away from the next edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, and while we’re waiting for more of the 2017 songs to be released before reviewing them (as we did last year), we’re going to revisit Eurovision song contests from the past and rank our favorites in each contest.

Welcome to Harrogate! Well, where is that? In North Yorkshire, apparently... as if all people should know where that is, of course... It’s in England, where I participate in watching the last contest that I’m not too familiar with - for a while, that is. From 1983-1996, I’m well-informed about the songs and the presentation. However, I’m curious enough to watch this edition in full; it’s only a little over two hours long. British efficiency – but of course! Jan Leeming (I think that’s her name) would lead a very structured and quick songs presentation and voting sessions; the first song is already starting about 8-9 minutes in! When we get to 1997, it’ll be an entirely different era of Eurovision starting to take form, and I’m interested in seeing that, too. Her French is a bit awkward and clumsy, but so will be 1983’s English and French, soo… what can we say. They didn’t try to pull anything crazy, but the presentation of 1982 wouldn’t be very memorable as a result. Moreover, there were only 18 countries – Greece, Italy, and France all jumped ship. For shame!

Again – I only know a few of these songs. I also know that everyone’s immediate reaction to Bucks Fizz winning the year previously was to start dancing and actin’ a fool. But I’m ever-so-eager to learn what else will surprise me here. Let’s go!

(Click the titles of the songs below to listen to the full-length songs.)

1. PORTUGAL – Doce, “Bem-Bom” - 13th place, 32 pts

God damn, Portugal! For two straight years you sent really fun and interesting music! They don’t usually do ‘wacky’ entries, but this was as close as they got back in that day. I love the thumping drums that keep the song moving and interrupt this from being a true disco-beat. The four ladies who sing the song have fun dance moves, all black and white ensembles, and the “Hey!” shout followed by two claps during the choruses enhances this song. The only thing I could fault them for is the vocals themselves, which are very basic. It’s just fun, and a great start to the contest.

2. LUXEMBOURG – Svetlana, “Cours apres le temps” - 6th place, 78 pts

With a name like Svetlana, I’m going to guess she is not a native Luxembourgian. Well, whatever – she’s beautiful, and her voice soars high into falsetto-land. High and above the heavens, at the end! She is attempting to fly like a bird and starts prancing like a ballerina. I’m not sure how I feel about the song itself, given it’s simple pop feel, very typical for that era. But I think it holds up well for what it’s setting out to accomplish. This is much different, and much better than, their 1981 entry – but they would perfect it even more in ’83.

3. NORWAY – Jahn Tiegen & Anita Skorgan, “Adieu” - 12th place, 40 pts

Gah, they’re back!  Actually I read somewhere something interesting about this – apparently Norway was getting tired of being relegated so lowly in the voting, so they put forth some ridiculous amounts of effort in ensuring the lyrical and musical quality of the song would sound less ‘Norwegian’ and be more accessible. I think it paid off! I am fonder of this than Luxembourg’s song already, and it’s simple but steady… at least, steadier than Jahn’s microphone. Calm down, dude, no need to be nervous! It’s cute, it’s cuddly, and very loving. Good on you, Norway!

4. UNITED KINGDOM – Bardo, “One Step Further” - 7th place, 76 pts

Alright, so you’re at home in the UK, watching your act take the stage and thinking how awesome it is that your country is hosting the biggest television show in the world. Two singers, a male and female, proceed to sit on the stage. Then this tribal drum sound starts up, the title comes stuttering up the screen, and the dancers start rolling and … air-humping? Wow, Mom and Dad, we sure are a great country! The problem with this song is that it tries to do EVERYTHING at once. It’s over-the-top. There are great parts, and horrible parts. Her singing is more inconsistent than the guy’s, too. I wanted to really like this, but all I can remember is how the first 10 seconds of the song were completely unnecessary.

5. TURKEY – Neco, “Hani?” - 15th place, 20 pts

“Not there, honey!” Okay, then where? Well, it’s obvious to me that the 1970’s aren’t completely over yet in Turkey. Now, Neco has a great voice; it takes a lot of confidence and experience to lead an effort like this. Also, the sounds that take over toward the end – the electro-disco synthesizers and drums - make this song so much better than the year before. A solid effort from the country that had yet to see a Top 10 placing.

6. FINLAND – Kojo, “Nuku pommiin” - 18th place, 0 pts

Oh… This is that song… LOL. Well, Finland makes sure to expand your idea of music, that’s for sure. I don’t know how they expected to score well with this song; the first two lyrics (in English) sound like “Yo sir Kunaka, eating cock-aaaa” and the credibility flies out the door. The chorus is “Bomb me – bomb me – nuku bomb me – lean on help a bomb”… It’s a rock song in Eurovision, and it’s very new-wave 80’s rock. Now, this is one of those “so-weird-slash-bad-slash-odd-that-its-good” entries. I’m having a hard time doing anything but making fun of the song. But in 1982, this was too progressive, and he literally screams half the song. The breakdown at the end is very cool, and he has a Bruce Springsteen vibe. He loses that rep when he makes a snore sound at the end. I don’t care if this was part of the original composition, it’s dumb. Why do the Finnish insist on making awkward sounds in the last five seconds of their music? (See 1980.) The man at the giant drum does this pirouette move and fails to pretend to hit the drum on queue. Watch it, it’s hilarious!! I will have to balance these things towards the end with my voting. Summary: this song is awesome. But it’s challenging.

7. SWITZERLAND – Arlette Zola, “Amour on t’aime” - 3rd place, 97 pts

Well this pondered right into the hearts of the 50 and 60-year-olds watching from home, huh? I get a weird half-Aunt vibe from Arlette; not to mention, she’s trying to be Kate Bush a-la Wuthering Heights during her ESC performance, dress and all. She has the right voice to take this song to new heights, though, and it’s very schlager. But it’s not in a category of song that I wish to pursue after I’m done watching this song contest.

8. CYPRUS – Anna Vissi, “Mono i agapi” - 5th place, 85 pts

This has a very melancholic feel for a ballad, and I sure do love it. It harkens to “Johnny Blue” but carries a true sense of lament. This song shows off Anna’s vocals so much more than “Autostop” did, not to mention, her intonation is flawless. Literally not even one note was out of tune! I can definitely feel something going on here, and it’s probably the best ballad of the night thus far!

9. SWEDEN – Chips, “Dag efter dag” - 8th place, 67 pts

There was supposedly a band named Chips in the Irish National Selection, which could have caused the very interesting and odd situation of two groups with the same name in one contest! This is so lame, I’m sorry. Interestingly it’s similar in design and content to the 1985 winner, but for whatever reason I could feel the energy and jubilance of that song. This just looks lame, and outdated. Maybe it’s those loser saxophone players; I don’t know. There’s also some weird thing going on toward the end that lends influence by ABBA themselves. And ABBA you are not. Get off stage, please.

10. AUSTRIA – Mess, “Sonntag” - 9th place, 57 pts

You named your song ‘Sunday’? You... named your group “Mess”? This song is a mess. Well, this is the reverse of the UK – the female singer is much better than the male. But again, it’s a lame throwback song. Are there any redeeming qualities to it? Uhhmmm… well, they look colorful on stage? And the man did a good job at catching the girl? No, this is definitely a candidate for the big goose egg from me, which hurts – I really like most of Austria’s songs from the 1980s.

11. BELGIUM – Stella, “Si tu aimes ma musique” - 4th place, 96 pts

Yes! We have officially entered the world of 80s pop! It’s a bit schlager, but not too bad. And dare I say that Stella is knock-dead gorgeous. Yes, I do love your music! Now the lyrics end up coming off as a bit corny, and I’m not sure how well the Francophone countries scored this, but the composition boosts this one for me. It has a very sunshiney feel that was missing from the previous two songs, since those came off as so fake. This actually makes me happy!

12. SPAIN – Jan Lucia, “El” - 10th place, 52 pts

I was listening to the Spanish commentary leading up to this entry, and it was really conserved – but I imagine the hype was there! Lucia is such a diva on stage, and she controls the audience with her delivery. It’s very Spanish and it’s basically tango music, but I have to love the dance breakdown halfway through the song. What an interesting way to enhance its uniqueness. Spain has recovered from an otherwise dull past two years! So, knowing that ethnic can work, what do you think they’ll send in ’83? …. :D

13.  DENMARK – Brixx, “Video-video” - 17th place, 5 pts

Oh my god, Denmark, you actually sent new wave music to Eurovision!!?!?!? YES! The music television era has begun! Now, let me guess – the song did horribly with the juries. It is a tad short, and the front-man’s voice is a bit cringe-worthy at times. But talk about a song that can get stuck in your head… “Video! Video! Ja, video mej”. I’m definitely rewarding this some points if I can!

14. YUGOSLAVIA – Aska, “Halo, halo” - 14th place, 21 pts

Okay, I was watching the first 15 or so seconds of the beginning of this performance thinking, “Okay, so the only really bad comment I have so far is their clothing. Not a deal breaker!” but then they started singing, and I put my hand to my face. Not only does the orchestra have to literally quiet down so that these ladies’ voices can be heard, but then you’re welcomed with a bunch of 45-year-old housewife voices grooving and sidestepping to a schlager-fest. No thanks. There are… okay elements to this, especially towards the end, but it’s too late. The lady in the black dress looks so bored. It’s too bad because I recognize one of the singers (the one in blue) – she’d return in 1983 as a backup singer for a much better song.

15. ISRAEL – Avi Toledano, “Hora” - 2nd place, 100 pts

This is one of the other few songs I’m aware of (save for the winner) for a very hilarious reason. Problems with the design of the British stage become evident during this performance; at about 1:27 in from the beginning of the song, the female dancer on the back-right knocks over her microphone, making a very audible fall. You don’t actually see it fall, but when they cut to the next shot, you see it on the floor. The female dancer on the back left is looking over to her like, “God damn it you messed this up for us!” and I laugh it off. There’s just not enough space to do those dances on that stage. But listen – the song itself is fantastic, perhaps even the best dance song of the night. Very Israeli, but powerful, driving, and led by Avi, who sings it with all he’s got. An excellent entry! And just when you think it can’t get any louder and bombastic, it does! Whoever composed this song for the orchestra deserves a gold medal. For real.

16. NETHERLANDS – Bill van Dijk, “Jij en ik” - 16th place, 8 pts

Okay. I had to pause this video and get over some laughter – what is it with people not realizing how their lyrics could be interpreted in other languages? Surrounded with girls, Bill runs up in surprise, points to the audience, and croons, “Cake!” As for the song itself, it’s so 80’s. And then the female drummer winks at you with total honesty. And then Bill grinds against the magenta-dress-wearing backup singer. And then Bill gargles a Dutch lyric. Then he screeches a bit. And then he does the reverse splits. And points some more. And pirouettes. Good luck winning, guys. Now I want cake.

17. IRELAND – The Duskeys, “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” - 11th place, 49 pts

The Irish brought disco schlager to Britain. Fitting! Given what the Irish have accomplished in all the years they’ve been doing this contest, prior and later on, this seems so lame and effortless compared to others. The only thing I can think of is that this music was big at that time in Europe. For what it sets out to accomplish, it’s not the worst thing in the world – I like the harmonics of the voices during the “Here today, gone tomorrow” lyrics. But it has not aged well. And the “la-la-la”s are a cop-out.

18. GERMANY – Nicole, “Ein bisschen Frieden” - 1st place, 161 pts

You know, this is a quite peculiar song to end the series of songs prior with! The order of the songs was always random in these days, so only one could wonder how Nicole would’ve finished if she were placed differently amongst the other tunes. Despite all this, this song rocked the show so hard because everyone felt the need to capitalize on what Bucks Fizz’s win brought to Eurovision; even Britain. Germany stripped it all down and sent a girl with a guitar to center stage, sit down, and sing a song about peace. And it was a great song, too; probably the best folk song ever entered into Eurovision. Definitely deserving of the win; Germany’s first win!

Just another anecdote - Israel and Germany would trade each other the douze points on the night, which was seen by many as a sign of putting past histories aside for the sake of music and peace. If only some of the countries participating today could do such a thing! Ahem, Azerbaijan...

My votes:

12 - Germany 10 - Israel 8 - Portugal 7 - Cyprus 6 - Belgium 5 - Denmark 4 - Norway 3 - Spain 2 - Turkey 1 - Finland 

(Luxembourg and Switzerland come close to scoring, though!) The “Big Fat 0″ award: Austria Honorable Mention: Luxembourg Worst Dressed: Sweden 

And here is the overall count of points thus far:

1st - 26 - Germany (1982) 2nd - 19 - Portugal 3rd - 18 - Greece (1981) 4th - 17 - Belgium 5th - 13 - Ireland (1980) 11 - Denmark 11 - Norway 10 - France 10 - Israel 8 - Luxembourg 8 - United Kingdom 7 - Cyprus 6 - Spain 5 - Turkey 3 - Finland 2 - Sweden

- 50SS

[thegoldandsugar-blog]

AROUND 365



This is the “shameless”  me heading home,in a matatu booming loud crunk and some silly Fetty Wap crysongs( yeaaaah bae…),from a place that took me dosens of courage bundles and self discipline to atleast gather guts to leave ; of course there’s always a bunch of sinners trying to drive your faith into badlands where there are no parents you have to report to, in full detail, as to why you are having bad dreams about coming home late, since God is gracing them with a whole pack of awesomeness, so somehow you get home eleven deep night and your old man goes like “do you want us to lie outside watching the stars, reciting poetry into the thin air?” Ring! Ring! Wake up! Run away from them as first as you can’t since all you do is drink senator cage in a local bar so you got a belly looking like you Swallowed a giant drumstick without chewing but all is good though, Ladies still f-audio censor,  tiiiiiingg!- with you. 

Text Reference  ( Punctuality  - never mistake its power in your peace at home especially when lecturers are on strike and home is one place people  will have to bear with your loud disturbing singing of a weird genre of music for a very long time, like long!) 

Okay. I was about to narrate stories from where I’m from. A friend’s place, as always. Been there for some couple of days if you are using the high timeline (sometimes you wish you could wake up and spend a day just human, your lungs full of fresh air and the liver on vacation in Ibiza but there’s always that call from one your so called ninjas - “i swear this sh*t is lit, last night i was smoked and felt so astronaut."  Then they sum the deal with that notoriously famous phrase "there also a few girls too”. God forbid the things that construction of grammar does to our brains,  all the way to a lame excuse like "my friend’s cousin passed away, im going to console with them tonight". Remember to ask how many times that good friend has  had to kill you to show up at your ‘predicted-to-be-lit’  party with no girl or a bottle of cheap whisky, in contrary with demands and instructions highlighted in the invitation on WhatsApp.A very serious violation of the turn up ratio principles and high accords.  

Now, Now,Now. It was a good night from where i come from, I mean it was considerable damage to the body having spent the whole week sleeping, eating, doing nothing! That "Jack with no play is a dull boy"  philosophy is something i hold so dear to my heart people. So some green leaf combustion to release healthy carbon killing  cancer cells, initiating  some brain rebooting and application updates was going on after a day full of similar  happenings in a location from which i telepoted to this place where i leave fellow sinners going on with the quests for higher clouds. One thing is we didn’t know how we found ourselves here but damn! We’re a bunch of lost warthogs, we don’t remember sh*t and that, is one reason we’re so happy  ( Lord help them see their lives) 

As the routine prescribes it to be, i mean some random confessions about how elevated one feels ; in the skies flying with stokes, delivering babies to fellow men who apparently… ( ladies and gentlemen, the next statement has been written out of utmost respect for all men and if not, my apologies)… Shoot blanks!  Then you feel so amazing and amidst all these good things are stupid moments like "this stash is fine bruh, whom did you buy it from? Especially when you were the same single person in that clique that knows all the sellers in your area and individually went to purchase the magic wands, YOURSELF!   If you were in a serious session then you don’t miss an Einstein moment during which numerous brainstorms are battering your skull, exploding with billions of ideas about the cosmos and the relationship between FIFA 17 and Heaven (sometimes you might fail to grip the difference but brethren! Brethren! ) . Of course it doesn’t go without mentioning the various “facts”  and concrete reasons as to why your extremely silly arguments came to existence, deserving a chunk of minutes set aside for their discussion and clarification. The beat of that EDM track is overwhelming your emotions and you hate your life. Why do you stay in such a cursed continent with black people and elephants which attract more love than the people themselves? You want to live in America, go to some dope college in Dallas, get paid a few dollars per hour( you’re a humble child from Africa,  with an ashy face since most of the vaseline is spent on other vital body checks and balances,  so “a few” will be okay), eat some McDonald’s burgers or Subway cookies  and mess with white boujee babes. This is one of those moments you wonder what your great grandfathers were doing when others were taken up for slavery now their generations living lavish in Beverly Hills. They must have been some lazy bunch i swear. Right now you could be some youth in Atlanta looking like a vintage ghost of Shakes Makena in the super strikers classics, with some gold tooth and a zombie rap style earning a thousand bucks with a name like "Kodak Black" ( may the gods have mercy) . Out of nowhere!  Upto where we are now you can sense the humour in your Hollywood aspirations so you laugh out loud, seconds before your mates join in, till that final time a rush of wisdom strikes one of you and asks what y'all laughing about, then you realize  there was actually no joke but then again, who cares?  The cycle continues.

This is what I’m thinking at that moment, my Einstein moment! What if our world was a just a setting of a game section played by a people of an elite dimension, the real world now. Let’s say like GTA stuff. So each one of us is a Trevor of some sought, your gamer is bad at racing, shooting and even finding locations because unfortunately he got no clue of the map and its purpose. Basically, his “gaming”  skills are on the garbage side of mediocre, lets say it’s a dumb ass potential school dropout trying to spend time away so evening can come and sleep, moral lesson - you’re a game over or busted(dead!) . In short, this type of game is that which was played 10 years ago by the urban kids with PS(long before the numbers) now they took all their old  junk to the countryside so relatives are trying to chase the trend. That’s how bad these imaginations are. I’m proud of myself, honestly. Of all these red-eyed fallen humans staring at me sharing this fiction, anticipating the next part of this  plot like the release of the next shooter episode in those pirate sites, over buffering connection,i think i have the best story! 

Come on now, you and i know that one guy that got  to tell false stories about his uncle and the many ladies who certainly find him a supermodel and can���t resist proclaiming their love all over social media. He’s always recording chest bare videos for his 316 Instagram followers or “with the boys”  captioned pictures, with the many Picsart filters, to his Facebook .Sometimes you’re there in your zone thinking why you tolerate such characters in your outcast living till it hits you that you were not blessed with the sweet slippery tongue to lure in all the pretty girls to your parties that he professionally possesses. He’s always there to save your thirst,as long as he doesn’t pay for any other activity. ( sniper tings, put some hashtags on that). 

Drifting down this plot, this is the best deal of this turnt up business! The ladies. The sweet ladies that accepted to be part of a life saving campaign as far as your boring day is concerned , God bless their tolerance, even I wouldn’t dare to give my number to myself, let alone answering to a "Form call". You can’t believe what we tell you the next day but that part about you pulling some Grrrrrh ! Grrrrh!  to a “rrrrraah”,   lecturing a dab session for the song "panda"  to a girl smiling sheepishly, balancing on wobbly worn out feet asking silly sad questions at the corner is a true story. One in which your vampire qualities are activated so you are frequently seen in dark corners and poorly lit corridors serving as blindspots for the prosperity of your uncouth behaviours inspired by a great deal of moral decay.You somehow want to walk to that girl sitting on the couch and whisper “that’s some fine piece of beef you carry  back there”  but then you realise she’s still on the other side of town and the joke may not have a required reciprocate , enough slaps today, more drugs for her. Now you’ve changed your mind about her, “noo, she’s too rachet bruh, too rachet! Don’t play yourself! ” ( the boys up there are in serious analysis and checks - you can even establish family backgrounds of all your friends by sight alone. Of course these are the same boys that  save the day from the rant of your father) Before processing the next thought, the stomach is up. Dear Munchies, even the ice cubes seem edible : bottomline, this hunger is pure evil with lots of malice! Hunger games catching fire! The moment you come out of the house, dusk has come, an end of a new day, the same day you had promised to show up at home before noon. Change of course now. A few  minutes later, you’re in this mat’ writing this silly story that probably no one  will like even after laughing to it because you are not any lady posting a "#lipgame"  pic with an inspirational quote like, "throw me to the wolves and I’ll come back leading the pack" (why is social media so heartless? It’s like, liking your fellow ninja’s post is gay!) . It’s still the same you caring not to make any close eye contact with other passengers at this point because unfortunately, your eyes can tell it all. You know there are thousands of grammatical mistakes all over this composition but what are edits for? Furthermore this is a good piece, fruits of "the stash" and next time you’re called up yonder, you won’t hesitate. See your life!