#also there are some oddities in the print quality and that makes me think that something w this many subtleties of tone is probably not

[oozeandgoo-art]

Got my Zane/Wake charm from Vograce today! I'm not obsessed with it, so I probably won't be going through with making more.

(1st taken in fluorescent light, 2nd with a flashlight 3rd with a homemade attempt at a lightbox)

I think Vograce's charms just generally look better if they're brighter and have more saturated colors. This doesn't play to their strengths. It does look an awful lot like a film slide, that's just nit compelling me enough personally.

If you're interested in the charms and really really want one, leave a comment or something - I can see about getting a handful made - but this doesn't seem like it'll be worthwhile to go ahead and try to sell multiples of to me lol

Looks cool on my wall of (mostly not made by me) charms though.

[arctichotch]

spencer reid x gn!reader fluff alphabet

feel free to send more requests! 

A = Admiration (what do they absolutely adore about you?)

there is not a single thing about you that spencer doesn’t adore about you tbh but he loves how you love him if that makes sense?? he loves that you’re like one of the first people in his life that he’s met that actually listen to him and don’t interrupt him when he starts spewing information out

B = Body (what is their favorite part of your body?)

he loves your lips tbh he just likes to kiss them and then when you’re not kissing he likes to think about kissing you

C = Cuddling (how do they like to cuddle?)

this man is a mad man for cuddling. he’s like a cuddle addict. any way he can have you securely in his arms is what he likes. but he does particularly enjoy having you tucked into his side with his arm around your shoulders and yours around his waist. he thinks this position is perfect.

D = Dates (what does their ideal date with you look like?)

he likes to go out to some little hole in the wall restaurant where he knows it will be nice and quiet. then after dinner he likes to take you out for a nice walk where the two of you talk about anything and everything

E = Emotions (how do they express emotion around you?)

he tries to be as open as possible with you. spencer being spencer has read a lot about relationships and is well aware of how important communication is in a relationship. he couldn’t bare ever losing you so if something is going on he makes an effort to talk to you about it

F = Family (do they want one? If they do, when?)

spencer would love kids. he has 100% day dreamed about your future together with little kids running around

G = Gifts (how do they feel about gift giving? What are their habits when it comes to this?)

he loves to give meaningful gifts. he remembers early on into your relationship when you got him a first edition print of a book he had been talking about for months and he remembers how he felt like his heart was going to burst. so he definitely tries to give as much as he can to you. he is a king at birthday gifts.

but to him, gifts have to have some kind of meaning. he’s not a materialistic kind of guy.

H = Holding Hands (when/how do they like to hold hands?)

spencer’s hands are *so* big so when you’re holding hands with him his hands completely envelop yours. he likes to always be holding your hands. in the elevator on your way to the bau office? he’s got your hand. walking down the street? he’s got your hand. it makes him feel safe

I = Injury (how would they act if you got hurt?)

spencer would be a total mess. he’s lost so much and can’t comprehend a world without you in it. so yeah he’s a mess. constantly going over statistics in his mind until someone nearly has to slap him out of his own mind. 

J = Jokes (do they like to joke around with or prank you? how?)

if you are shorter than him then he likes to pat you on the head as a joke or hold things above him until you give him a kiss to earn it back.

if you are the same height/taller than him, he likes to sneak up behind you and wrap you in his arms. it always makes you jump a bit but as time has gone on you’ve learned to hear him come.

he also likes to show you his physics magic and wow you with that.

K = Kisses (how do they like to kiss you?)

spencer loves a good spur of the moment kiss. loves to kiss you on the jet when no one else has arrived yet. loves to kiss you just as the elevator doors are about to open. he just loves kissing you. it’s like he needs it as much as he needs to breathe.

L = Love (how do they show you they love you?)

everything spencer does is with his love for you in his mind. dangerous unsub? he will make an effort to keep an eye on you even more than usual. he loves to show you things from his childhood like books he liked to read. he loves making dinner for you and surprising you with things like that.

M = Memory (favorite memory together?)

probably one of your few days off from work when you were both in his apartment cuddled on the couch. you watching tv or reading and him reading a book. he remembers in that moment feeling like everything in his life had finally come together.

N = Nightmare (what is their worst fear?)

losing you. spencer is no stranger to loss but to lose you? he doesn’t think he could ever recover from that

O = Oddity (what is one quirk they have?)

well... i mean it’s spencer. the man is made up of perfect quirks. but probably how excited he gets when reciting one of the numerous facts he has in his big brain.

P = Pet Names (what do they like to call you?)

he calls you by your nickname for the most part but he also sometimes comes up with random nicknames of cute things he sees. like that one week when all he did was call you duck.

you call him spence or babe which always makes him blush.

Q = Quality Time (how do they like to spend time with you?)

he loves reading with you. on the couch or in bed in one of your apartments. could be different books or the same one, either way he loves it. if you’re sharing a book, he obviously reads the page a lot faster than you and in that time while he’s waiting to change the page he loves to watch you. he just loves you.

R = Rhythm (what song reminds you of them?)

falling in love by cigarettes after sex

S = Secrets (how open are they with you?)

as i said in ‘Emotions,’ spencer tries to be as open as possible with you. he doesn’t like secrets because he knows they only lead to negative outcomes.

T = Time (how long did it take you to get together?)

it took a good while for you both to realise that there were feelings there that were more than just best friends. it seems everyone else knew before you. and when you both finally did realise there were feelings there, it took another while before you actually acted on them

U = Upset (how do they act when you’re upset?)

spencer being spencer notices immediately when you feel upset. the smallest things let him know. and he hates it. he never wants you to feel sad so he will do anything he can to help you feel better. a favourite of his is to run you a nice, hot bath and make your favourite dinner. then spend the evening cuddling together. he’ll always try to get you to talk through whatever upset you.

V = Vaunt (what are they proud of? Do they like to show you off?)

spencer is quite modest for a genius. he doesn’t like to flaunt how smart he is, or how young he was getting into the FBI. the only thing he ever shows off is his knowledge of everything but you don’t even think he realises when he does it.

W = Warrior (how do they feel about you fighting? Would they fight for you, beside you, etc?)

he’d fight for you and with you any day. for the rest of your lives together.

X = X-Ray (how well are they able to read you?)

spencer can tell when the slightest things is off with you and he can tell when you are feeling positive. he just knows you so well. he has known you for ages and is very in tune with your feelings.

Y = Yes (how would they propose to you?)

i think he would be nervous which would lead to him spouting off different facts about marriage. “did you know 50% of marriages end in divorce?” and you’ll laugh because where did that come from? then he pulls out a ring. “wanna be in the other 50% with me?”

Z = Zen (what makes them feel calm?)

you. just simply being in your presence makes him feel calm. he feels his heart rate slow and his mind calm down. you are all he needs to feel calm and relaxed.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 31/10/2020 (Ariana Grande, KSI, Little Mix)

I haven’t heard that Ariana Grande album yet as of writing this but the lead single – and title track – “positions” has just debuted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart, her seventh song to hit the top and second this year after “Rain on Me” with Lady Gaga. Hence, that’s today’s #1 and we have a busy and pretty chaotic week of new arrivals. Welcome to REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

A lot of their debuts from last week were completely wiped out on this week’s chart which surprises me, especially for songs I thought would hit it big like “One More Time” by Not3s and AJ Tracey. Our notable dropouts here range from bonafide smash hits like “Roses” by SAINt JHN and remixed by Imanbek, which hit #1, although I always preferred “Swoosh” from the same album, to pretty easy and quick fall outs from songs I’ve reviewed in the past few weeks. We’ve got songs that peaked in the top 10 like “Rover” by S1mba and DTG and “I Dunno” by Dutchavelli, Tion Wayne and Stormzy but otherwise that’s mostly it as a lot of these drop-outs are just songs that didn’t really reach their charting potential or have mostly had their day in streaming, like the surprisingly quick drop for “my ex’s best friend” by Machine Gun Kelly and blackbear, as well as “Destiny” by D-Block Europe, “Tap In” by Saweetie, “FRANCHISE” by Travis Scott, Young Thug and M.I.A., “OK Not to Be OK” by Marshmello and Demi Lovato, “Airplane Mode” by Nines and NSG and even “Outta Time” by Bryson Tiller and Drake. If you’re worried about the loss of MGK’s song being too soon for whatever reason, don’t fret as “forget me too” with Halsey, a much better song, is here at #72, our only returning entry for the week. I might as well run through the biggest gains and falls, those both being last week’s debuts. “Train Wreck” by James Arthur absolutely surged up to #24 whilst “Hold” by Chunkz and Young Filly absolutely purged down to #59. To be fair to the general public, I think I’d rather listen to something from four years ago than that song as well. Anyway, let’s start our new arrivals with a couple really interesting choices...

NEW ARRIVALS

#75 – “Sofia” – Clairo

Produced by Rostam

Clairo is one of those artists where I feel completely out of the loop on, especially with all the recent buzz from TikTok, and I was not checking for that album last year, and whilst I didn’t mind her feature on Wallows’ “Are You Bored Yet”, I’d never been intrigued enough to check out the solo work until I guess here we see it on the chart, which is big for the genre of bedroom pop, which again I know next to nothing about. Now, I like lo-fi indie rock fine, but I’ve never really tried to look into the bedroom pop micro-genre – if anyone has any recommendations, that would be appreciated – so this will pretty much be a first gaze into not just Clairo but the entire scene surrounding her. I’m not a Vampire Weekend fan by any means but Rostam on production just give me hope, even if the mix here is a bit too drowned in reverb and echo to give the guitars any more impact when they really should have, at least I think so, they’re pushed back in a way that makes an already pretty calm, fleeting indie single even more lacking sonically. Clairo sounds great on this instrumentation, admittedly, albeit kind of uninterested, but it really is about that fuzzy distortion in the drop that feels... oddly anti-climactic and seemingly pointless considering how little progression is made before or after it. Maybe this genre just isn’t for me, but I feel myself turned off from how Clairo’s pretty beautiful vocal harmonies are not reflected by the production here, whether it be the stiff percussion, abrupt ending or overall lack of substance. This is kind of disappointing as I really wanted to like this. The song is a pretty vague but longing ballad mostly revolving around her crushes on people she saw in the mind, particularly Sofia Vergara and Sofia Coppola, hence the name, and I think it’s actually really well-written. I especially love how the chorus seems to acknowledge that not only are these crushes clearly out of her reach as a teenage girl just discovering her sexuality but also mentioning how afraid she is to really develop on any of these feelings because of how it’s prejudiced against and in some countries outlawed, but the song easily works as just a confession of love without really realising the statement, so it doesn’t feel forced or unnecessary. Sadly, I guess Rostam had to put his prints on this one, but the song itself isn’t bad at all. Hey, I’m not going to complain about a song where I can look at pictures of Sofia Coppola for “research”.

#74 – “All Girls are the Same” – Juice WRLD

Produced by Nick Mira

It’s so odd and kind of heartbreaking to see the Genius comments for this track where they say Juice is “up next for 2018”. It’s also pretty amusing to see some of these annotations...

God, I love Genius.com. This is a 2017 Juice WRLD track from the late rapper that was released as a single from his debut album, Goodbye & Good Riddance. I don’t really understand why this had a resurgence – again, I’m going to assume TikTok or some kind of remix – but it is funny to see a bitter, immature and sloppily-written song about heartbreak and how “all girls are the same” next to a lesbian love ballad on the chart... and above said ballad because we clearly live in a society. I’m not going to mince words here: this is a pretty bad song, at least in my opinion. All respect to Juice but he’s clearly not on top form here, with an uninterested and badly-mixed vocal delivery over a really dull, jingly trap beat with awful bass mastering. In fact, the whole song is mixed awfully and sounds really muddy which may have been the point but it doesn’t complement Juice at all. The lyrics here are purposefully immature and at times stupid, especially when he compares himself to John Lennon and is so desperate for a rhyme the dude says this unnamed girl is from Colorado. I’m not going to deny some of the lyrics here are kind of haunting now due to tragic circumstances but I still get a chuckle out of the vocoder on his voice after massive empty spaces in both the beat and vocal track that makes the song sound clearly amateurish (to be fair to Juice, he clearly didn’t have access to the best studio equipment but it doesn’t excuse the major-label streaming release sounding this sloppy), as well as that opening line.

Broke my heart, oh, no, you didn’t!

Yeah, I’ll take “Robbery” over this any day, or even “Righteous”. Sorry.

#73 – “Martin & Gina” – Polo G

Produced by Hagan, Lilkdubb and Tahj Money

It seems we have two melancholy trap-rappers from Chicago appear consecutively on the chart. I love those types of oddities. If you don’t know Polo G, you probably should, at least from his hit “Pop Out” with Lil Tjay last year, and this is his most recent hit. I typically find his brand of mournful Auto-Tuned crooning about life on the streets remarkably genuine in comparison to most rappers but also admittedly really boring, at least for now. I can see this guy becoming a lot bigger and better but as of now he releases so much music and the quality and effort seems to fall by the wayside more often than not. In typical 2000s bling-rap fashion, this hardcore street rapper’s biggest hit from the album The GOAT (perhaps a bit early to call there, Mr. G) is a guitar-based R&B love jam for the ladies, except it’s not a sex jam...

Girl, I can’t wait ‘til I get home to f*** the s*** out of you

Okay, well, that’s one line.

Man, I’m tryin’ to get to know you sexually

Okay, but at least he’s trying to get to know her. The song’s lyrics do have a genuine heartfelt sense of love and companionship with his unnamed woman, and some of these lyrics are pretty funny and pleasant, albeit shallow. I love how in the first verse he says that even on her worst days she still looks “kind of cute”, in a way that makes this song more down to Earth than other thugs-need-love-too songs, especially when he acknowledges the troubles in their relationship, which may be undermined by the unfortunate implications that come with that “Martin & Gina” comparison but that’s really not the focus of the song, even if it is the title. He may talk about the shopping sprees now but there is evidence here that Polo G genuinely wants to live his life with this woman, especially when he says he wants them to move out to California and live in a mansion. There’s flexing there for sure but it’s less out of a desire to sound “cooler” than the other rappers or the audience, and more out of a desire to make the most out of this relationship in case, as he knows he might have to, he should “pull the stick out and shoot” to protect her. It helps that this is a damn good song with Polo’s catchy flow in both the verses and that infectious chorus, as well as a really slick guitar lick behind that trap knock. Yeah, this is pretty great. Check it out.

#71 – “Spicy” – Ty Dolla $ign featuring Post Malone

Produced by Ty Dolla $ign, Westen Weiss and damn james!

It seems that Ty Dolla $ign has finally clocked that people like him for his features and not his solo work as he has released his most recent album fittingly named Featuring Ty Dolla $ign, following a trend of recent massive collaborative albums in pop music. This particular album features the likes of Kid Cudi, Kanye West (twice), Anderson .Paak, Nicki Minaj, Big Sean, Future, Young Thug, FKA twigs because, well, sure, and obviously, Post Malone. I haven’t listened to the album yet, I mean it sounds exhausting but I don’t necessarily like what I’ve heard. “Expensive” with Nicki Minaj is soulless, “Ego Death” with Skrillex, Kanye and FKA twigs is chaotically misguided and a massive disappointment, “Track 6” with Kanye, .Paak and Thundercat is way too boring for these four artists, and that’s all I’ve heard, except that “Dr. Sebi” interlude with Young Thug that I thought was actually pretty damn good for a one minute snippet. I did brief through some songs on the album right now as I was writing this and I wasn’t really a fan of any of it, not even the songs with Future and Young Thug, artists I actually really like. The song with Kid Cudi was pretty amazing though, which I pretty much expected, I mean it is Cudi after all and he’s really felt revived this year, even if he feels out of place on a sex song. The serpentwithfeet interlude definitely adds to that song though, and it actually leads into this track with Post Malone. This is their second collaboration after their #1 hit “Psycho”, but it’s a lot less interesting, replacing the serenity and smooth flows with more fast-paced trap skitters, hit-and-miss flows that only make Ty$ sound all that great in the tail-end of his verse. Post’s verse is out of place and feels like a regression for him, with the verse sounding like it was taken straight out of the Stoney sessions. The guys have no chemistry and Post doesn’t even contribute to a final chorus, which feels particularly odd as there’s not a bridge to round any of this out properly as it just transitions awkwardly to the sixth track, titled “Track 6”. At least Ty$ isn’t facing 15 years in jail for cocaine possession now, which is something I brought up a disproportionate amount of times in older episodes of this show, because, well, sure.

#69 – “Whoopty” – CJ

Produced by Pxcoyo

CJ is an “up-and-coming” rapper with only one song that pretty quickly went viral. There’s something fishy about this. The only other song by CJ on Spotify and I assume other streaming services is this CashmoneyAP-produced trap song called “On Me” that is completely garbage. It does sound pretty odd that while he doesn’t sound dissimilar in “Whoopty”, this uninterested Auto-Tuned mumbler took three years to get another song on streaming and now he’s an energetic New York rapper using a beat that was literally uploaded to the producer’s website as a “Pop Smoke type beat” weeks before “Whoopty” was released, which, by the way, was an immediate viral hit on YouTube. Very strange, very unusual but not very worth talking about as the one thing “On Me” and “Whoopty” have in common is lack of quality. Sure, I like the Indian sample but it’s quickly drowned out by the booming 808s and pretty rote drill beat. Somehow, CJ sounds too energetic and excited to the point where he’s out of place on a beat this menacing. He sounds like a joke made by a record label to create some kind of popular generic drill track and it does not help that there’s a single verse, with part of it repeated as a bridge, and two repetitions of the same over-long chorus. When Pop Smoke rapped over beats, he was aggressive, sure, but had a smoky voice and a lot more charisma than this flat tonal sandpaper CJ brings to the table. It’s almost offensive to Pop Smoke’s legacy that this was rapped over his “type beat”.

#57 – “SO DONE” – The Kid LAROI

Produced by Omar Fedi and Khaled Rohaim

I figured I’d have to talk about this guy at some point, well, what better time than in the midst of a lot of mediocre American hip hop, although this isn’t American, rather it’s actually an Aussie at it this time, with this 17-year-old kid propped up by Internet Money and Lyrical Lemonade and mentored by the late Juice WRLD. This kid really likes capital letters, and naturally I listened to his last hit “GO!” with his mentor Juice... and, yeah, it’s not good. That hook is stupidly infectious – and the pre-chorus is actually more so – but his delivery is obnoxious and unconvincing, especially in comparison to Juice on the same song. Man, I wish that entire song was as good as its pre-chorus. Anyway, this is a new song, not taken from his debut mixtape aptly and rather politely titled F*** LOVE. It uses an unorthodox ukulele loop as its main sample but once again I’m not a fan of this guy’s immature delivery. Maybe in a few years this Kid LAROI will sound less like a Kid LAROI and more like a genuine rapper but right now he is just barely keeping on beat with a jangly pop beat that would sound really interested if accentuated by the right rapper but here it doesn’t work at all. I do actually appreciate some of the lyrics here, even if they are repetitive and vague. Hey, at least they’re family-friendly PG clean for the most part so he’ll get that radio push, but it’s not like it’s matters here in the UK. I’m sure this lad is the hottest thing to come from Australia this year... okay, well, maybe the second hottest – but I’m not a fan, even if some of these melodies are promising. In fact, I really like some of his ideas, especially in the chorus, I just think that tragically, Juice could have done them more justice than this Kid LAROI ever could. Sorry.

#47 – “Bad Guy” – Morrisson and Loski

Produced by BKay and Harry James

Duh. Okay, so these are both UK drill rappers who I’m not very familiar with although I’ve heard of Loski before. Morrisson is a complete unknown to me. They’re both from London, as one would expect. Is the song any good? Well, I do like that chopped violin sample but Morrisson is only vaguely convincing when he claims to know Vinnie Jones and to be Stone Cold Steve Austin, and when he mentions getting “white-boy wasted” with a woman sniffing coke, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but that’s actually the point. I mean, the chorus says this:

You need people like me so you can point your f***ing fingers and say, “That’s the bad guy”

The issue here is I’m not convinced. Morrisson’s double-tracked vocals aren’t intimidating or menacing and are mostly overshadowed by a pretty great beat. His delivery is also something I’m not a fan of and while I can’t say he’s uninterested or not putting his all into it, it just sounds weak, especially when pitted against this beat. Loski is here too, but he doesn’t add much to the “bad guy” idea, especially when he starts talking about The Simpsons and Family Guy. Not Mr. Burns or even that angry chicken that fights Peter, just Stewie, Brian, Bart and Homer. Admittedly, “shell out the whip like Mario Kart” is a pretty fun line and I appreciate his flow more than Morrisson’s... but, yeah, I’m not really a fan. I like the concept but it misses the mark on execution.

#44 – “Golden” – Harry Styles

Produced by Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson

So this is the opening track to Styles’ sophomore effort, Fine Line, an album I thought was mildly entertaining pop rock at best and lazy, absolutely worthless trite at worst. I don’t mind Styles’ take on classic 70’s pop and glam rock but I’ve also never found it interesting, and the songs are at times disjointed and at most times just plain boring. I understand I’m probably alone in this but I really disliked this album and I’m not excited that he’s pushing yet another single. The beeping keys that start the song are immediately met with the crash of a drum beat that sounds as flat as Harry’s singing in that obnoxious, sloppy intro refrain. The verse is equally as awkward, with the song lacking in any kind of substance other than that one line of “You’re so golden” which has been overly annotated by fans on Genius to mean a lot more than it does and should. It’s a confession of love but unlike “Sofia”, there’s very little to grab onto in terms of compassion for the singer and I quickly lose interest in what little story there is to the track. The bridge with the high-pitched guitar squealing and squeaky pitch-shifted murmuring is over and done with as slowly as possible and that refrain of nonsense vocalisations just continues without fear or even self-awareness of how annoying it is. This is probably ultimately harmless but it annoys the hell out of me and whilst I predict success for the track, I really hope against it as I absolutely do not like this at all.

#39 – “Teadrops” – Bring Me the Horizon

Produced by Jordan Fish and Oliver Sykes

Yes, that Bring Me that Horizon. Yes, the metalcore band. At least they used to be metalcore and definitely on that heavier side of Kerrang!-core, but what I’m more amazed by is how they continue to ditch the sound and continue to get bigger as they do so. After 14 years, you’d think these guys would stop getting Top 40 hits – hell, the only other hit they had before 2020 was “Drown” – but this is their third this year! I’ll admit I’m not really up to speed on Bring Me the Horizon – I listened to their last record (which was just fine but honestly probably worth listening to for “wonderful life” alone) but not this EP that the singles have been from, and definitely not their older stuff. For the sake of REVIEWING THE CHARTS, however, I did listen to their earlier singles – you can’t say I don’t do much for this show – and I’m overall not really sure on how to feel about this stuff. I still like “Drown” – and always have – but I’ve never been too big on metalcore so I’m actually surprised how much I really enjoyed the Linkin Park rip on “Sleepwalking” (which I’m impressed I remembered the chorus for). I remember liking the practically nightcore track “ouch” and, yeah, it still slaps. Some tracks are very heavy on the electronic, and “Can You Feel My Heart” is reliant on that vocaloid drop, about two years before that became the norm in pop. Just from a skim of their biggest singles, I’m honestly kind of a fan, especially “Throne”, even if I feel like the EDM influences just kind of go nowhere. Also, none of this screams “metalcore” to me but I don’t know, these guys seem to change their style a lot with the only thing staying consistent being Oliver Sykes, and his tone that shifts between nasal pop-punk-style crooning and chopped-up Auto-Tune growling. I talked to a friend about them and they like their earlier stuff mostly, although he “wouldn’t recommend” their debut album to anybody at all. Another friend said he refuses to listen to their music based on the pretentious title of their third record and honestly I think that’s a pretty fair decision. This song sounds like pretty standard BMTH, or at least from what I can gather from the singles and the formula they follow. It starts with a funky and cute, chirpy electronic groove before it’s drowned out by heavier drums and heavy metal guitar riffs, but this time said electronic groove is less integral to the instrumental and the shift to a funkier bassline in the verse might honestly be for the best, although I do love the way the instrumental is chopped up a bit at the end of each repetition of the chorus. It makes the song sound a lot more unique and even if it sounds just as 2012 as their 2012 stuff, I honestly think that’s fine, especially with that abrupt sharp contrast of his raspy yelling over breakbeats quickly followed by some crooning with light piano backing, which may make the song feel messy or structurally disjointed but honestly it works for the chaotic tone of the track and the angst that is presented in the lyrics. Also, although I haven’t evaluated this band since I watched a couple videos on Kerrang!, this feels oddly nostalgic. Huh. Some additional musings: That falsetto Sykes hits in the chorus is great. My friend said that he couldn’t finish the last album they put out which isn’t a good sign but to be fair to them it was an hour-long IDM record, because, well, sure. I’ve written way too much about Bring Me the bloody Horizon at this point so I’ll just move on but I’ll make sure to check out some of their stuff after this.

#37 – “Loading” – Central Cee

Produced by HARGO

Now back to normality, at least I think so. This is another UK drill artist I’ve never heard of. I like this beat, especially that sample of the horns that I’m surprised wasn’t found by crate-digging but it works pretty well under the drill beat; it sounds like a menacing “gangster” song, especially because of how that sample reminds me of 1930s Chicago. I’m not good on my American (or gang) history so that might be nonsense but you know what I mean, right? Black-and-white footage of men in suits gambling whilst women surround them and they all got their money from drug trafficking and they send out hits. Something like that, I don’t know. The song is kind of boring though, this Cee guy has zero charisma and the references to COVID make this immediately dated (not that this song is lyrically all that interesting anyway), and by two minutes the beat has run its course and just starts getting annoying. Yeah, not much to say about this one at all, but it could have been better.

#8 – “Sweet Melody” – Little Mix

Produced by Peoples, MNEK, Morten “Rissi” Ristorp, Oliver Frid and Tayla Parx

I wonder if now that I listened to Bring Me the Horizon for half an hour straight that the last four songs all sound worse, or at least less interesting, in comparison. Well, I doubt that really, I think these songs will just end up being less interesting. I mean, five separate producers on a simple three-minute pop track? This’ll be as market-tested and manufactured as possible, as one would expect from Little Mix. I didn’t mind their last couple promo singles but this song seems to have some actual traction and even a high-budget video behind it and hence it debuted as high as #8. Well, is it any good? Well, it’s no 2013 Bring Me the Horizon, that’s for sure. Jokes aside, the nonsense vocal refrain is kind of awkward and the R&B production here is kind of minimal and just... off, particularly in the first verse and refrain, where the singing and hard 808 is met with only accompaniment from one stray snare that is just... there? The drop doesn’t feel like it has a proper build-up either, and doesn’t even feel like it lives up to that non-existent tension. I do love the harmonies towards the end of the track and the “he would lie, he would cheat over syncopated beats” line is kind of a bar, I suppose, but yeah, this production is awkward and I’m not sure if it really does the girls’ talent justice. I would have preferred something more dramatic and with more of a climax than the skittering hi-hats and vaguely dancehall-inspired bass grooves, but alas, here we are with a pretty mediocre, uninteresting track, which wasn’t exactly unexpected.

#3 – “Really Love” – KSI featuring Craig David and Digital Farm Animals

Produced by Digital Farm Animals and Mojam

Ah, the trio we all didn’t know we wanted but definitely deserved(?): YouTuber KSI, legendary R&B singer Craig David and a couple virtual elephants. KSI is more than a YouTuber or prankster now to be fair to the guy, with songs like “Lighter” he has cemented himself as a genuine pop star and not in the way that songs used to get viral or even back in 2017 with Jake Paul. KSI is taking this stuff seriously and having fun with it, and, hey, he beat up Logan Paul once or twice so I guess I respect the man to some extent. I’m honestly surprised he got Craig David to be on the song with him. I mean KSI may be popular but I never put much thought into his music or even think it’s any good although the song has clearly debuted this high for a reason. Craig David has a janky hook that just plopped onto the track for a chorus and bridge, with pretty generic lyrics about love, which KSI develops on in some oddly specific ways. He’ll buy this woman Amazon Prime – I hope you enjoy the Borat sequel, guys – and she’ll “wreck his balls like Miley”. Classy. Honestly, the song is mostly fine – KSI’s flow is kind of awkward and stiff still but it’s a lot smoother than it usually is and he does deliver a pretty convincing performance here, as does Craig David, who sounds as great as he did 20 years ago over this groovy house instrumental, with a great bassline that really does fit Craig David more than it does KSI. The trap breakdown is pretty well done as well, which surprised me as I assumed the song would lose all momentum afterwards but, no, it keeps on chugging. This is listenable and far from bad but it’s mostly just a serviceable pop tune. I have no issue with this sticking around as it probably will. Now for the big one:

#1 – “positions” – Ariana Grande

Produced by TBHits, Mr. Frank and London on da Track

Man, I’ve just reviewed 12 songs, I do not feel like talking about the biggest and most important one now. Well, maybe it’s not that and instead the fact that I have this conflict with Grande’s music where someone so unbelievably and obviously talented sounds so incredibly disinterested in the songwriting and production, to the point where her performance is irrelevant. Sure, sweetener and thank u, next had their highs but the former is a complete mess and the latter feels so dull and oddly characterless. Again, these albums aren’t all bad but I feel like they’re still so rushed and infuriatingly so, with Grande having very little involvement, or at least it sounds like that in these albums. Regardless of how much she contributes to each record, it always comes out the other end sounding impersonal, so I’m actually glad she dropped the pretence and is now just doing purely sexy R&B stuff. I haven’t listened to the full album yet but with song titles like “34+35”, I can kind of expect what I’m going into here. That said, I’m not really a big fan of the title track and lead single here, although I can understand why it debuted at #1. Firstly, the video where she becomes the President of the United States for practically no reason is great. Secondly, the beat is pretty good and produced by London on da Track, who I’m kind of disappointed didn’t put his producer tag here. It would have at least been kind of funny hearing it transition into Grande’s sweet whispery vocal tone. I like the slick trap percussion, cricket sound effects and that chirpy guitar pluck, and especially those strings in the second pre-chorus which sound genuinely awesome. Ariana’s a great performer but the chorus is kind of weak, especially lyrically – I don’t mind the opening and main line about switching positions, hell, it’s kind of clever, but “I’m in the Olympics the way I’m jumping through hoops”? Really? The bridge is also pretty short and lazy; I feel like it could have actually been done away with or put as an intro and would have worked just as well replacing the second chorus with that final chorus, background whistle notes and all. That said, the song is a solid lead single and I am kind of excited to hear the rest of the album, even if this is at least somewhat of a retread.

Conclusion

What a mixed bag. I’m generally pleased with what we have here though and I am going to give Best of the Week to “Teadrops” by Bring Me the Horizon with an Honourable Mention to Polo G for “Martin & Gina”, although Clairo would have gotten close without Rostam on the boards. There’s nothing all that bad here except “Golden” by Harry Styles which does get an easy Worst of the Week, with a Dishonourable Mention to CJ’s “Whoopty” for just being lazy. Here’s this week’s “spooky” top 10 – it is Halloween after all:

You can follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for political ramblings if you so wish but I wouldn’t recommend it, especially if you like Keir Starmer, but all politics aside, thank you for reading this far and I’ll see you next week.

[sjrresearch]

An Interview with Warwick Kinrade, Wargaming Author and Rules Designer

(This article is credited to Jason Weiser. Jason is a long-time wargamer with published works in the Journal of the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers; Miniature Wargames Magazine; and Wargames, Strategy, and Soldier.)

Warwick Kinrade is a long-time rules designer and author of the award-winning Battlegroup WWII series of miniatures rules. At 49, he is someone who’s made a real splash with many of his rules projects, from Normandy Firefight, Battlegroup WWII (now exclusively available through Plastic Soldier Company) and the Cold War-based derivative, BattleGroup NORTHAG, and now, the “Soldiers Of..” ancient rules (though I hear it’s expanding into Napoleonics!). 

He’s done a lot in the universe of miniatures, and we expect more out of this prolific giant! I wanted to touch base and see what he was up to. 

We’ll talk to his partner, Piers Brand, in the near future!

Jason Weiser: So, how did you get started in writing rules? Was there an “aha” moment, or did you fall into it?

Warwick Kinrade: I have always written games, from age 10 playing D & D, to board games, to writing my own Wild West RPG aged 12, it was something I was always doing for fun. I first got paid to do it as a Games Developer for GW, a job I started in 1996. 

JW: How did Iron Fist Publishing (IFP) come to be? Can you talk about some of your previous works?

WK: IFP was simply a business deal so that Battlegroup would be 50/50 owned by myself and PSC. It came to be at a meeting in a cafe near King’s Cross in London. I had Battlegroup ready to go, and PSC and myself agreed to go halves on costs, etc.  Before that, I’d worked for GW as a writer. The first game I worked on for them was Epic 40,000, then I did lots, but mostly 40K supplements. I wrote the Imperial Armor books for about 6-7 years. 

JW: Can you tell us about Nam ’68?

WK: Yep, it’s a squad-level skirmish game for the Vietnam War. A bit different, in that it is a narrative-driven game, with one player as the umpire/referee and all the others (1-3) as the US platoon. I’ve very much concentrated on making it an anti-insurgency war, all ambushed patrols and search sweeps. Not much in the way of stand-up fights (though some). The VC generally has the upper hand, lurking in wait. It all ties in to its campaign system, a 12-month Tour of Duty for your platoon.  A bit unconventional, as far from a tournament game as you can get. No points values at all.  Not that I’m against points-based systems… just nice to try something different. 

JW: What are your favorite works?

WK I’m proud of all the games I’ve written. Battlegroup is the biggest, but I love the ‘Soldiers of…’ games I’ve done so far. Not surprising really, I only write the games I want to play. Picking is like asking which child you prefer… impossible to say.  

JW: Is there a period of history you want to write rules for but haven’t?

WK: Yep, most of them. I have a pull towards doing early Rome, the Punic Wars. I’d love to do a sci-fi game one day (many plans, none yet to come to fruition). Make it proper good. That’s one for the future.   

JW: Can you tell our readers what goes into rules writing?

WK: I take my advice from Stephen King. If you want to write, read. That would be my first step on any project, get some books and read them, make notes and jot down ideas as you go. Also, for game mechanics, keep an eye on other games, not just miniature ones, but card games and board games too, even computer games. I love an interesting mechanic, a neat way to use dice or counters. Not enough of that in most wargames’ rules. It is very conventional in how rules are structured. I personally favor card-driven rules these days. 

Also, it is more work than you think. It takes time, and you need that time to play lots too. Nothing like the furnace of the tabletop to hone rules. When you’re playing, it’s not to win. It’s to push the rules and try and break them or bend them out of shape. To find oddities or things that don’t feel quite right. Also, if you have 20 good ideas for your game, be prepared to cut about half of them. That’s a hard bit, but you can’t get wedded to anything. Cut it… and save it for another day. 

JW: Has desktop publishing and PDF only supplements changed the face of the hobby. Has it affected the quality of the product we see today?

WK: Well, desktop publishing makes it all possible, but I’m no fan of PDF rulebooks. Useful, but I hate working from PDFs myself. Old school, I like a book, preferably hardback. Wargaming is very much, for most, a cottage industry. Working small is the only way for most. If PDF is all you can do, then do it. 

JW: What are your favorite historical periods, and why?

WK: WWII, Crusades, ACW… but mostly WWII, just because well, it is the largest, most important event in recent human history. A bottomless pit of interesting stuff for gaming, plus loads of tanks! The war was fought with tanks.

JW: You and your partner, Piers Brand, are known advocates of 20mm. Can you tell us more about that?

WK: When I started WWII gaming, it was all there was. 1/76th or 1/72nd kits and some 20mm models. 15mm had not happened, 28mm was almost nothing. There was no choice unless you did micro-armor… and once you’re committed, collecting and painting big armies, lots of terrain etc., then you’re never going to ditch all that work for something else very similar but a bit smaller or larger. 20mm is still the best compromise between detail tank models and table size. They are just the best models going. 

JW: What other hobbies do you pursue to unwind?

WK: I’ve been a re-enactor, Vikings, for 20+ years. Two big hobbies are enough. Like everybody, I watch movies, I especially like hunting down foreign war films and read. I avoid watching junk TV or playing computer games (much). Time thieves… I use the time for painting models, far more relaxing. 

JW: What do you see for the future of historical miniature wargaming?

WK: Big question… the biggest technological change coming must be 3-D printing. Models you can make yourself. Maybe it’ll get good enough to be able to print really nice models, already in base coats for painting, Little khaki men with pink faces and hands and black guns… how great would that be? As the price comes down, I think 3-D printing your own armies and terrain may well be the future for collecting toy soldiers. It is, though, very much a ‘greying’ hobby. Clubs are full of older guys. That slightly worries me. I think computer gaming has become all-powerful for the next generation, it might be the death-knell of our old-fashioned analog hobby. But, hey, I’m going to carry on anyway. 

JW: Anything else you’d like to mention?

WK: Err, I’ll do the quick plug then. For 2021 I’m working on Nam ’68 as mentioned and a new ‘Soldiers of’ title, Soldiers of Napoleon… a huge project, but well in hand thanks to the [COVID-19] lockdown. They’ll be the first horse and musket rules I’ve done, and it’ll be card-driven like the other ‘Soldiers of’ games, but not the same—a new, different game. WIP so far is good fun. 

--

At SJR Research, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse SJR Research’s service on our site at SJR Research.

[moonlight-at-dawn]

in which i clumsily relate ai art to what happened to print

Growing up, my family owned a small printing company. Many details are fuzzy, I spent most of my time in the bindery or upstairs in the offices, as the press room was off limits to us kids because big heavy machinery. But there's a lot I remember about when business was failing.

Business started getting difficult to do. There were companies like Walmart, which would commission a big job then not pay. A printer near ours went out of business because of it. I think they eventually got the money owed by suing, but the damage to the business was done. The news got around, no one else would take Walmart's jobs, but the damage also affected the whole community. A lot of the local presses were more colleagues than rivals. They would often commission parts of a job from each other, based on what their specialties were.

Our specialty was color fidelity, I think. I remember it being a huge deal with us. And I remember the frustration as people stopped appreciating that. Too many places wanted their stuff FAST rather than crisp, clear, and sharp. No bleeding. No mistakes. Clean cuts on the paper. Straight folds. Fully QC'd in house, every error fixed. If you ordered 1000, you got 1000. You didn't have to worry that some percentage wouldn't be usable, you didn't have to plan for receiving a shit product.

Once speed and price became more important than quality and reputation, business started to fail. I was still a young teen when the company was sold off. Another local printer, one that was more of a direct competitor to us, bought us and hired on most everyone. They were a company that was okay with losing quality to speed. Because of that, they were able to expand their business.

Printing in general is having a harder time of business now that "good enough" is more widely available. It's getting harder for them to do business when the quality matters less than convenience and price.

And this brings me to the bullshit with ai art. Lots of people have made this argument more succinctly than I, but I hadn't seen print as an example of what is likely to happen, and I think it's a good comparison to make.

It's already started just like with print, ppl are caring more about speed than quality. Rushing commissions, arguing that it doesn't take 'that much' so shouldn't cost so much. Ppl just advertising their ignorance and expecting to be catered to instead of accepting education. And that being the norm instead of the oddity.

And now AI art is like the printer at the mall, using a printer that's shit by industry standards and can't produce clean colors with fidelity, largely ignoring copyright, just blatantly showing crap print of material they definitely aren't licensed to print.

AI art is theft, and it's not even any good when you remove the human element. And yet it's working, damaging the already struggling art industry by making "good enough" so readily available that soon you might only be able to truly compete by compromising your quality AND your value.

[comicsnsuch]

Quick Hits!

Plunge #2

Published by DC Comics

Written by Joe Hill

Art by Stuart Immonen

Plunge is the latest series in Joe Hill’s line of Hill House comics coming out under DC’s Black Label mature readers imprint. I hear most of the series are great from customers, I’m only reading this one and Basketful of Heads and I will confirm, those that I am reading are indeed great.  

Much like Basketful of Heads, Plunge gives you the Spielberg vibes. The first issue does a Close Encounters of the Third Kind/Raiders/Jaws type intro, showing you amazing things and introducing the core cast, then throwing them all together and getting them into the shit.  It also doesn’t help the Spielberg vibes that I can’t help but imagine Bob Balaban playing one of the characters.   

In this case the shit is the search for the recently resurfaced wreckage of a ship called the Derleth that went missing decades ago. Of course things are not as they seem and the mystery of why the Derleth has reappeared gets it’s hooks into you! The second issue of the series finds our cast of characters on an island looking for possible survivors while discovering all sorts of oddities including a cave with all the digits of Pi carved into the walls! This book makes math fun! 

Joe Hill’s dialogue is a pleasure to read, light, fun, funny and full of character that manages to add to the plot, while not being repetitive. Some of the dialogue in the second issue really gives the proceedings a sense of urgency that can be hard to achieve in print. The story itself draws you in and it feels as if there isn’t a wasted panel in the story. Things are moving along briskly even though the reader still doesn’t have the whole picture. Enough stuff happens issue to issue to keep you satisfied but wanting to come back for more. 

This series also sees Stuart Immonen come out of retirement and it’s a pleasure to see his work again. These pages are dripping in ink, keeping things in shadow and the creep factor high!.  Immonen’s art is just realistic enough to keep things grounded but not so real that any of the creepies seem unbelievable. And the acting the characters do, through facial expressions alone, ::chef’s kiss:: perfection! 

This book is a taut read with gorgeous art. Please, please, please, please go find your self copies of the first two issues! Highly recommended!

White Ash #3

Published by Scout Comics

Written by Charlie Stickney

Art by Conor Hughes

In case you haven’t been reading White Ash, and I have a feeling you haven’t been, it’s the story of Aleck, a young man ready to head off to college and leave his podunk backwater town behind. Before he leaves he has some final goodbyes to make and debts to collect. 

One of those debts being from Alden Thane (I think that’s his name), a local Lex Luthor type. While collecting said debt he meets Thane’s daughter, Lillian. The creative team does a great job establishing a chemistry between Aleck and Lillian and establishing Alden as a dick.

Before Aleck can get out of town there’s an accident at the mine and his father is seriously injured. Aleck thinks it might be the handiwork of an unfamiliar face so he follows him. There’s a conflict and shortly thereafter it’s revealed that everything Aleck knew is wrong! Turns out he’s a dwarf and everyone else in town ,basically, is some type of creature from Norse mythology. 

This issue lays that out in detail, letting the reader know who the good guys are, who the bad guys are and what the status quo has been for the story thus far, tying things together in a way they previously hadn’t been.  It goes a long way to smooth over any faults of the previous two issues.  There’s also bits of humor than landed better with me than previous issues. Maybe it’s because I could stop wondering what was up with everyone. They’re dwarves, duh! Now I know!

Fantasy (Lord of the Rings, etc) type stories or stories leaning heavily on fantasy elements aren’t usually my jam, but I must say this issue was quite good.  Better than the previous two, not that they were bad either, maybe just slightly underwhelming. After reading this issue I can say I am happy I ordered the next few future issues for myself.  Quality always helps the medicine go down.

The writing on this series is solid and the artwork is fun. Charles Stickney has done a great job establishing the character’s personalities through action and dialogue. Connor Hughes is great at body language and he uses a nice thick line helping to accentuate the attitude of the characters. The colors have a great pop to them making the series easy on the eyes. 

This series so far has been anywhere from 5 to 6 out a possible 10, but this issue cranks it up a notch, landing at a solid 7. If you’re curious about it, I encourage you to check it out, you may get more mileage out if then me. I will be reading this through at least the first story arc, maybe longer if things keep better like this. 

Vampirella (2019) #8

Published by Dynamite Entertainment

Written by Christopher Priest

Art by Giovanni Timpano and Ergun Gunduz

Another solid entry in Christopher Priest’s run on Vampirella made more enjoyable by Giovanni Timpano’s guest art. Regular artist Ergun Gunduz draws a few pages but it’s really Timpano’s issue. His art appears to be more traditional and has more depth of field thanks to his use of shadow versus Gunduz’s more controlled,open and I assume mostly digital art. Yes, Timpano’s art is more cheescake-y, but when you read Vampirella, it’s what you sign up for. This issue appears to conclude Vampi and her friend Benny’s vacation abroad as Vampi escapes from the clutches of an alien parasite and then helps Benny escape from a voodoo vampire. At the end of the story they board an airplane, possibly the same one that crashed in the beginning of this series. Good issue, made better by good art. If you haven’t  been keeping up, seek out the issues or buy the trades. One of the better Vampirella comics you could try.

Let me know if you read any of these and agree or disagree with my thoughts.

Until next time!

[dogtoothdesigns]

Literature Review

                                                  Jamie Lewis          

                       Anish Kapoor's 'Cloud Gate' as Pattern Paradigm:

             An Inter-disciplinary Investigation, from Semantics to Cognition.

 “If we work without penetrating more deeply, we are in danger of over-exploiting the same narrow repertoire of expectations”  Cygan 1999. p. 93). 

Introduction

Does a visual pattern need to repeat, have boundaries, geometry, likeness to another object? Or is there possibly another form of order in play that governs all these elements?

The notion that visual pattern must adhere to defined rules to be considered pattern, appears to be nullified by the existence of works which exhibit visual pattern by other means, offering paradigmatic dichotomies between definition and actuality.

Using Anish Kapoor's 'Cloud Gate' as a reference point, this paper will investigate the conceptual and perceptual elements that make up visual pattern.

Initially, a semantic overview of the definitions of visual pattern will be made to address their meaning.

Secondly, the paper will use a practice-based book as framework to build upon the semantic flaws, and will be followed by a study of psychological theory of pattern recognition.

Finally, a summary of the review will be made to discuss the findings and to make any recommendations which may have arisen as result of the investigation. 

Kapoor's 'Cloud Gate' is a creation of seamless polished stainless steel plates and its surface does not have any deliberate pattern imprinted on it, and yet there appears to be a form of pattern occurring due to its reflective and structural properties.  Therefore, I ask the question, is this artwork a visual pattern in itself, and if so what type of pattern is it?

 Definition

According to the Oxford Dictionary (n.d.), visual pattern is defined as “A repeated decorative design”  or “An arrangement or design regularly found in comparable objects”. Farris (2015) critisises this definition as somewhat “cumbersome”.  Artyfactory (n.d.) broadens visual pattern's definition as being “constructed by repeating or echoing the elements of an artwork to communicate a sense of balance, harmony, contrast, rhythm or movement.”

 Literature 1

Murray and Winteringham (2015) have expounded on the word pattern, by adding the suffix -ity to create 'Patternity '.  They believe that this adds the depth of 'quality of being' to the to adjective state of pattern (Murray & Winteringham 2015).  I value this as a more complete definition, as it depicts a greater sense of meaning, by incorporating qualities of form and wholeness like the principles of gestalt theory (Radford & Govier 1991), or, as Edwards (2008) puts it, the “thingness of the thing” (2008, p. 198). This is a maxim appropriate to my research, as I believe that it is the essence of gestalt that gives Kapoor's 'Cloud Gate' such remarkable properties of wholeness and the ability to infer an alternative form of pattern from it.

Their practice-based approach to the study of visual pattern has lead Murray and Winteringham (2015) to achieve a new level of thought in relation to pattern. In the infancy of their design house, they state that they were influenced by the archetypal repetitive shapes and structures found in urban landscapes, but through their 'pattern-focused research', have found new direction, influence and perspective that has ultimately lead them to actively engage pattern (Murray & Winteringham 2015). Murray and Winteringham (2015) also state that they wish to challenge conceptions of pattern definition.

Therefore, this philosophy offers my research the best method for examining 'Cloud Gate', which offers a visual surface pattern so refined it allows the surrounding reality to imbue upon it, repetition, pattern and rhythm, albeit through the of perception of space time.

Murray and Winteringham (2015) follow a research method that takes into account many variables, ranging from nature, the built environment, and historical figures from varying disciplines that have been instrumental to advancing our understanding of pattern.  They state that their fundamental drive is to promote the use of pattern as a language or tool to reconnect the elements in our world.  This, Murray and Winteringham say, “has the power to positively shift the perception of our surroundings” (Murray & Winteringham 2015, p. 44). This is key to my study as it is based upon perceptual shift.

Murray and Winteringham (2015) also highlight that despite the vast history of research on pattern, (how things are organised), focus has now been eclipsed by the study of matter (what things are made of).  They claim that this research has been held by elite specialists and that pattern is now making a resurgence as a tool for advancing human knowledge and understanding.  My research aims to add to the development of the concept of visual pattern. Murray and Winteringham further this understanding with a quote from artist Jim Drain, “Pattern often is a constructive thing, takes a position, has intention, seeks to order or allows for order.” (Murray and Winteringham 2015, p. 32)

It is this sense of construction that informs me that the polished steel form of 'Cloud Gate' can be called pattern.  This is not such a far flung concept when regarding what textile authors Jerstop and Köhlmark  write when discussing quilting, that “new and unexpected patterns are formed depending on your eyes ability to “read together” surfaces with the same value, hue, intensity, or tint.” (1988, p.53). I believe Kapoor has created a big hard-surfaced quilt made up of panels that each exude exactly the same value, hue and intensity of one anther, and collectively this gives life to the new and unexpected visual patterns of the self and surroundings, summarised by Henderson as “One's own body, one's own position in space, one's own relationship to Chicago and the sky is reframed in the loveliest of mirrors.” (Henderson 2006)

The rhythmic, modulating forms of the environment and the self that are reflected on Kapoor's 'Cloud Gate' are indeed pattern like.  To study this relatable aspect of the patterns created by 'Cloud Gate', I was unable to find a better framework provided other than the Murray and Winteringham's philosophy. They offer the greatest scope for a reference framework of visual pattern investigation as they behold pattern as a fundamental cause for multi-disciplinary collaboration, connection and relationship ���in a desire to challenge and engage perception” (Murray & Winteringham 2015, p. 121). For them, the research and investigation of pattern does not need to be “confined to the contents of a test tube, garments on the catwalk, or the print inside an envelope.” (Murray & Winteringham 2015, p. 157).

Murray and Winteringham (2015) have done a great deal to engage and expand the concepts of visual pattern through their research, and yet when they cite their shared fondness for pattern, only refer to repetition, tessellation, periodicity and symmetry.  This list appears to only match the dictionary definition of pattern, so does this mean that the homogeneous form of 'Cloud Gate' cannot be considered pattern?  Intriguingly, Murray and Winteringham (2015) claim they started with only a visual conception of pattern, but today are much more aware of the patterns that may not be visible and lurk below the surface.  Even though I seek to define the visual side of pattern only, it is easily achieved through a reverse engineering of the story and research that they have actively engaged.

The most enduring fundamental that is conveyed by Murray and Winteringham, is one of 'connection' (2015).  Whilst they may not have been the first to cite Bateson's statement that “it is patterns which connect” (1979 cited by McLuhan, 1994. p.19), Murray and Winteringham (2015) use it to good effect in forming a holistic reasoning behind humans deep affiliation with pattern. Our deep relationship with pattern can be explained by overviewing the psychology behind pattern recognition and where this connection comes from.

 Literature 2

Margolis (1987) takes the stance that everything within thought and judgment reduces down to pattern recognition. He furthers this understanding of the all-encompassing aspect of thought to pattern cognition by a manner of methods.  One such method is by discussing the perceptions and judgements that arise from instances where there are inconsistencies of what is actually there or what is logically implied by the presence of an artifact (Margolis 1987).  This is much the case with 'Cloud Gate', as it allows for a rare and unperceived blending of cognition for the audience to interact with themselves and their surroundings in new ways. He expounds upon this by highlighting that if these logical implications can be demonstrated then “it becomes plausible to suppose that what we perceive as our considered judgment could indeed sometimes turn on things we never considered, and perhaps even on things we would not consider it reasonable to consider.” (Margolis 1987, p. 9)

Ultimately, Margolis (1987) commits to the claim that any radically new idea an individual comes upon is part of a series of patterns and relations of cues to patterns that already exist as part of the individuals perceptual repertoire.  He states that even when an idea appears to be completely new and different, it must somehow be born from the knowledge that we already have within our perceptual understanding of patterns.  He furthers by adding that one tenet for altering how an individual can form new patterns from old would be due to “a fortuitous circumstance – some transient oddity of perspective, or some transient sequence that primes a particular response, which allows the individual to be prompted to a pattern that otherwise would not have been seen in this context.” (Margolis 1987, p. 172).  He likens his theory as being “what you know will influence what you think” (Margolis 1987, p. 274).  Therefore, it is my supposition that the pattern created by 'Cloud Gate' is 'relational'.

Looking at another cognitive theory, namely that of Conceptual Blending, Fauconnier and Turner (2002) claim that the perception available to consciousness is the 'effect' of complex interactions between the brain and the environment (Fauconnier & Turner 2002). They elaborate that individuals integrate cause with effect to create emergent meaning. Using a cup as a 'cause' example, they say that the cups 'effect' is its colour, shape, weight and as a such, the effect becomes part of the cause.  Thus, the attributes are now “intrinsically, primitively, and objectively in “the cup”” (Fauconnier & Turner 2002, p. 78).  Now if the cup were a 'Cloud Gate' . . .

They further their theory by explaining that in perception of consciousness it is impossible for us to see beyond the blending of cause and effect.  This theory apparently bolsters that of  Margolis', but does not carry the importance of 'relationship' in its understanding. Nevertheless, it does aid in interpreting 'Cloud Gate's' interaction with the observer.  Between these two cognitive models, and the gestalt form of 'Cloud Gate', I would suggest that its form and 'wholeness', allows for a rare and unperceived blending of cognition for its audience, to be part of the celestial, the immediate environment, themselves, and ultimately their perceptive relationship with it.

Margolis' cognitive theory goes some way to explaining the phenomena that make Kapoor's work so identifiable to the masses that gather to see it – the pattern which it exhibits (in the immediate sense), is one which alludes to their personal pattern or awareness of the reflected self, and links them to the celestial through the reflection of the sky.  “Seeing themselves in the curving space of this omphalos, they are part of a celestial constellation - transformed, transcendent, often in giddy communion.” (Biles 2006).

Therein, the pattern which forms through the experience of 'Cloud Gate' is one of a relational development within our perception and cognition. There is no formal evidence of a repeated decorative design, and yet the interaction is one that most definitely connects the viewer with their repertoire of pattern and aids them in building a relationship with the 'new' elements encountered and perceived.

 Conclusion

This paper has highlighted that pattern in the visual sense is not well represented by the semantic definitions, as there are other processes and phenomena that exist beyond the deliberate and formal creation of a patterned surface. Visual pattern can be based upon repetition, frequency and rhythm, but the true success of a pattern is the value it has in offering the co-relational opportunities between itself and the observer and their repertoire. This relational aspect in turn develops opportunities for us to explore ourselves and comprehend patterns in new and exciting ways.  'Cloud Gate' is the evidence that pattern is indeed relational, and through its seamless, polished wholeness, surpasses the semantic definition and leads the way in an alternative paradigm of thought.

 References

Anon, Pattern [Def. 1, 1.1]. (n.d.). Oxford Dictionaries Online. [Online] Available from: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pattern. [Accessed: 25th November 2018].

 Artyfactory. (n.d.) Pattern as a Visual Element of Art. [Online] Available from: http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/visual-elements/pattern.html. [Accessed: 25th November 2018].

 Biles, J. (2006) Reflections on Chicago's "Cloud Gate". [Online] Available from:  https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/reflections-chicagos-cloud-gate-%E2%80%94-jeremy-biles.[Accessed: 25th November 2018].

 Cygan, W. (1999) A Deeper Examination. In Rowley, S. (ed.) Reinventing Textiles Vol. 1: Tradition & Innovation. Winchester: Telos.

 Edwards, B. (2008) The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. London: Harper Collins.

 Farris, F. A. (n.d.) Patterns are math we love to look at. [Online] Available from: https://theconversation.com/patterns-are-math-we-love-to-look-at-44390. [Accessed: 25th November 2018].

 Fauconnier, G. & Turner. M. (2002) The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and The Mind's Hidden Complexities. New York: Basic Books.

 Henderson, S. (2006) Cloud Gate. [Online] Available from: http://medhum.med.nyu.edu/view/10411. [Accessed: 25th November 2018].

Jerstop, K. & Köhlmark, E. (1988) The Textile Design Book: Understanding and Creating Patterns Using Texture, Shape, And Colour. North Carolina: Lark Books.

 Margolis, H. (1987) Patterns, Thinking and Cognition: A Theory of Judgement. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

 McLuhan, T. C. (1994) The Way of the Earth: Encounters with Nature in Ancient and Contemporary Thought, New York: Touchstone.

 Radford, J. & Govier, E. (1991) A Textbook of Psychology. London: Sheldon Press.

 Bibliography

 Ayensu, S. E. & Whitfield, P. (1981) The Rhythms of Life. London: Marshall Editions Ltd.

 Bothwell, D. & Mayfield, M. (1968) Notan: The Dark-Light Principle of Design. New York: Dover Publications Inc.

 Davis, P. J. & Hersh, R. (1981) The Mathematical Experience. London: Penguin Books.

 Ehrnzweig, A. (1971) The Hidden Order of Art, California: The California Press.

Klarreic, E.  (2013) How to Make Impossible Wallpaper:A tale of forbidden symmetries. [Online] Available from: https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-to-make-impossible-wallpaper-20130305/ [Accessed: 25th November 2018].

 Powers, A. (1999) Nature in Design: The Shapes, Colours and Forms That Have Inspired Visual Invention. London: Conran Octopus Ltd.

 Pye, D. (1978) The Nature and Aesthetics of Design. London: The Herbert Press.

 Stevens, P. S. (1981) Handbook of Regular Patterns: An Introduction to Symmetry on Two Dimensions. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Visscom (2013) Principle of Repetition & Pattern. [Online] Available from:

https://visscom.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/principle-of-repetition-pattern/ [Accessed: 25th November 2018].

 Wikipedia Collaborators (n.d.) Pattern. [Online] Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern. [Accessed: 25th November 2018].

[notarealdisciple]

Nine Surprising Facts About the English Language

  If you read and listen to our Everyday Grammar program each week, you know it has detailed explanations of grammar, sentence structure and language usage. The show provides a lot of information for English learners. Some of you may worry about how you are going to use it all. But you need not worry too much. Today I'll give some reasons you why. I will share nine facts about English that show how strange and wonderful the language can be and may ease some of your doubts. 1. Let me start with this: English is not the official language of the United States. The country, in fact, does not have an official language. While some states have named English, the US central government has made no such declaration. English is, however, the most common language spoken nationwide. Spanish is the second, with more than 40 million speakers. The United States is a nation of immigrants, with a large percentage of citizens for whom English is a second language. 2. Here is another fact: Of the ten most widely spoken languages, English is the only one that does not have a guiding institution to set language standards. That means that while experts like to dictate language rules, they do not have any official or decisive power. So what we know and teach as “official” is really just what we are taught in school and continue to use in everyday situations. There has been debate for centuries over whether a guiding institution is needed for English. But many argue it is not, and that English should remain a “democratic” language.   3. The lack of such an organization is likely one reason that nearly 4,000 new words are added each year to the Oxford English Dictionary, or OED. Such fast growth is also largely the result of technology, which has led to several new words and new uses for old ones. Social media, too, is quickly spreading new words through the general public, which then leads to the words appearing in dictionaries. 4. In addition, many of the words added to the OED in recent years are portmanteaus. A portmanteau is a word made from shortening and combining two other words. A few examples are: "brunch," which combines the words "breakfast" and "lunch"; "motel," which combines the words "motor" and "hotel"; and "carjack," from the words "car" and "hijack." 5. Speaking of dictionaries, the word “set” has the most definitions of any English word, with well over 400 in the OED. The word “run” is a close second, with nearly 400 in the same dictionary. But the growth of machines and technology is causing “run” to grow much faster than “set.” One can run a computer program, for example. Buses also run on roads and trains run on railroad tracks. 6. This next one may shock you: The shortest possible grammatically correct complete sentence in the English language is a word made of just two letters: Go! It is a command, which is a sentence that asks or tells people to do something. In a command, the subject (you) is not spoken or written. Instead, it is simply understood. 7. Our next fact is also a fun little way to test your listening skills. Listen to the following sentence and think about what is unusual or special about it: He believed Caesar could see people seizing the seas. This sentence has seven words with the vowel sound /i:/. There are seven ways in English to spell the /i:/ sound – yes, seven! You will hear more about the oddities of English spelling in a minute. 8. But first, I offer you the opposite idea: one spelling that makes many sounds. The letter combination o-u-g-h can be said several ways. Listen to some examples: /ʌf/ as in enough /aʊ/ as in drought /uː/ as in through /oʊ/ as in although and though /ɑː/ as in bought and thought /ɒ:f/ as in cough and /ʌp/ as in hiccough The word “hiccough” is more commonly spelled h-i-c-c-u-p but both spellings are acceptable. 9. You may be wondering how English spelling got to be so…odd. There are many reasons, some of them historical. One involves William Caxton, an English writer and businessman. Caxton brought the printing press to England in 1476 to produce and sell books. The English language was changing quickly during this time and there was no general agreement on its rules. Caxton tried to establish a standard spelling system, but there were other problems. One mistake he made was to employ workers from what is now Belgium to help with his printing business. The workers’ command of English was weak.   As more printing houses opened in England, each had its own spelling. During that period, typesetters were also paid by each line, so they often spelled words longer on purpose. As you can imagine, keeping a standard system was impossible. Centuries later, in 1828, an American named Noah Webster published an official dictionary of American English whose spellings we still use today. So, now that you’ve learned some surprising – and even funny – things about English, you may find the language less frightening. And hopefully, you will keep a sense of humor as you continue to work at it! I’m Alice Bryant. Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   grammar – n. the set of rules that explain how words are used in a language institution – n. an established organization dictionary – n. a book that lists words in alphabetical order and contains their meanings, forms and pronunciations vowel – n. a letter – such as a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y – in English that represents a sound spell – n. to say, write, or print the letters of word oddity – n. the quality or state of being strange or unusual hiccough – n. a sound in your throat that sometimes happens after you have eaten or drunk too much or too quickly printing press – n. a machine that prints books, magazines, newspapers and other documents in large numbers typesetter – n. a person who arranges words on paper for the purpose of printing them Source: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/nine-surprising-facts-about-the-english-language/4806416.html

[simonhawketts]

I have several Exakta Exa cameras in my collection but this Varex IIa is the first of the ‘top flight’ Exakta models I’ve acquired. The model was produced in a variety of different styles and variations over quite a long time period and the example I own is one of the later variants.

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – front view

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – side view showing flash sync

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – side view showing shutter release

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – back of camera

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – base of camera

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – rewind crank and film cutter

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – film chamber

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – Film Cutter

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – Shutter blinds crinkly

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – Top of camera

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – Fast speed dial, frame counter and film advance

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – Slow speed dial

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – Shutter release with guard

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – Bayonet mount

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – Finder removed

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – Waist Level Finder fitted

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – Waist Level Finder view

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – Waist Level Finder magnifier

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – Front view with waist level finder fitted

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – Waist level finder fitted

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr – Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm f/2

These pictures can be viewed full size here.

My Camera

I bought this camera simply because I’d bought several Exa models and had been impressed with the build quality and style of those cameras. Since the Exa series was a ‘cut down’ cheap model, I thought I’d like to own one of the proper Exakta models and so I bought this, along with the attached Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm f/2 lens, for about £16.

The camera was advertised on eBay as being ‘fully functional’ and when it turned up a couple of days after the end of the auction I confirmed that, generally speaking, that is true. All the shutter speeds are about right, including the slow speeds and the self timer, and the shutter blinds work so as far as I can see without running a film through the camera everything seems right. Another plus is that the mirror is quite good with only a few spots and some dust which will hopefully come off with some careful cleaning.

The viewfinder fitted was an eye level finder which has some dirt and minor scratches, but I also have a waist level finder fitted to my Exa 1 which also fits this camera, so that gives me a more complete set. Since the focusing screen is easily detachable on the Exakta finders, I should be able to clean the eye level finder up.

On the negative side however, the shutter blinds are quite wrinkly and old and although they seem to be light tight, they really should be replaced. Also I think I will probably strip the camera down and clean up the mechanism to remove the old oil and grease which any camera of 60 odd years old will have accumulated.

The cosmetic condition of the camera is very good considering its age – most of the paintwork is intact, the chrome work looks good and the leathers just have a few white spots around the flash sync sockets. With a bit of cleaning and lubrication this camera should be as good as new.

Exakta Varex IIa Description

The Exakta series was a stylish and sophisticated camera system which was also one of the earliest 35mm slr systems made. The Varex IIa model was made for a number of years and had a number of different variants, but most of the changes were cosmetic rather than mechanical. The version I have is one of the later models where the Exakta name plate is a printed black plate in front of the viewfinder.

The basic camera design is a 35mm slr camera with a wide range of shutter speeds, comprehensive flash sync options, a replaceable viewfinder system, replaceable lenses and a distinctive body shape. It is a heavy camera, and feels well made and solid and had a very large number of accessories and lenses made for it over the 40 or so years that the cameras were made.

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The viewfinder is a replaceable system which allows both eye level and waist level finder to be fitted. There is a small lever on the front of the camera which releases the viewfinder so it can be pulled out of the camera body. As well as the standard viewfinders, there were also finders made which included a light meter built into the top although I currently don’t own one of those models.

The viewfinders  are a design which easily allows the focus screen to be removed for cleaning and different focus screens were available which included split image, plain ground glass etc.

The shutter speed setting arrangement, is one of the most sophisticated I’ve seen on a mechanical camera. There are two speed dials, a fast setting dial on the left hand side, which sets the speeds of 1/1000 to 1/25sec and bulb and time settings. Then on the other side, there is a large dial which controls shutter speeds of 1/5, 1/2, 1sec, 2sec, 4sec, 6sec, 8sec, 10sec & 12sec (yes 12 seconds shutter time). Also on this dial is the self timer dial which allows you to dial in shutter delays and these can be applied to any of the pre set times. It is an impressive arrangement of shutter times for a camera which was first made in the 1930s!

One warning about the shutter speed setting – make sure the shutter is cocked before setting the speed. It is possible to damage the mechanism if it is adjusted before the shutter is cocked. Since the mirror is a non-return design it’s probably best to get into a habit of winding the film, composing the picture, setting the exposure and then release the shutter.

Back to the controls; On the same side as the fast shutter speed dial is the film advance lever and the frame counter. Both of these are a bit odd in their operation. The film advance lever has a very long throw of about 300 deg which is quite difficult to do in a hurry. Also, being on the left hand side of the camera means that for anyone who is right handed, it seems to feel a bit odd. The frame counter, which is built into the film advance pillar, is odd because the counter increments when the shutter is fired rather than when the film is advanced.

Talking of the film transport, here is another oddity about the Exakta. There is a removable take up spool in the camera which can be removed and replaced with a standard 35mm film cassette. This allow you to wind film out of a full cassette and into an empty cassette – nothing spectacularly interesting there but what is interesting is that there is a cutter built into the camera which allows you to cut the film and remove the partially exposed film to be developed! On the bottom of the camera, next to the film rewind spool is a small knurled knob, and when it is undone and the attached shaft withdrawn it pulls a blade down the film cutting it just next to the unexposed film cassette. I don’t know of any other camera which had this feature.

For flash sync the Varex IIa supplies three different sockets to provide sync for flash bulbs (M & F) or electronic flash (X) and these are fitted on the front panel of the camera. Also fitted to the front panel is the shutter release button, with a swing over cap which acts as a shutter lock. The reason the release is fitted to the front panel is so that a PAD (pressure activated diaphragm) lens can be used which will close the lens aperture before the shutter is closed.

The lens suppled with the camera is a Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm f/2 lens which has quite a good reputation for sharpness and colour definition. The lens has a slight problem with the shutter which is a bit reluctant to both stop down and open up, which is probably due to oil contamination and should hopefully be reasonably easy to fix.

The Pancolar was one of the many lens units suppled with the camera, but the Exakta bayonet was a very popular lens mount and literally thousands of lenses were made including some very high quality units. As I build up my Exakta collection I hope to add some more of the classic lenses as well as some other body designs.

The next move for this camera is a strip down and clean up of the mechanism and check the condition of the shutter blinds to see if they are ok or if they need to be replaced.

Exakta Varex IIa Specification

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr camera

Extensive mechanical shutter times of 12sec to 1/1000sec

Self timer

Replaceable viewfinder

Exakta bayonet lens mount

Non return mirror design

Film cutter

Film type reminder

Table top stand built into camera

Removable back door

Removable take up spool which can be replaced with empty cassette

Flash sync sockets for type X, M and F flash

Front mounted shutter release with lock

Cable release thread in shutter release

Manually settable frame counter

Long throw film advance

Fitted with 50mm f/2 Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar lens

Body Ser No: 993666

Lens Ser No: 5822826

Manual available on-line here

Exakta Varex IIa 35mm slr camera I have several Exakta Exa cameras in my collection but this Varex IIa is the first of the 'top flight' Exakta models I've acquired.