#and when I heard you can get a postcard and stickers for just playing some games

[xx-justsomeguy-xx]

big guy looming over the line 💪🏼❄️

[lastchancevillagegreen]

Friday, 24 March 2023:

‘Sno Angel Like You + ‘Sno Angel Winging It Howe Gelb (Fire) (released in 2016)

In the ‘90s I bought a few Giant Sand albums, the band from which Howe Gelb made his name.  They never did a lot for me and for that I always felt terrible.  Truth be told, I doubt I tried very hard.  But Gelb was so prolific and he had an endless array of albums that always sounded like they’d be interested.  My brother was/ is a big Giant Sand fan, another reason I always felt I should have tried harder at appreciating Giant Sand.  Their catalog was oft confusing and diverse, with Gelb recording under various names with a multitude of different people (including one of my favorite artists, Lisa Germano, an album I st5ill somehow fail to own). 

When this album came out in 2006 (on the tiny Chicago label Thrill Jockey) it was a revelation.  Howe teams up with The Voices of Praise Gospel Choir and I would say the combination is incongruent but that would mean I know something about Gelb’s music, which I know very little of.  What little I do know of it, he ain’t never sounded like this before.  As an atheist, you might think I would have an aversion to gospel music or anything associating with the genre.  Turns out I have a keen love for religious music (proving once again just how complex people can be) especially old timey religious music of which I seem to have far too many boxes of.  But religion does not figure in this album.  In my write up of this album at year’s end in 2006 (it finished the year at #18 on my Top 50 and it came in at Number Three on my Critical Top Ten and I continued playing it into 2007) I indicated, “the songs do not prescribe to a particular religion or god (nor do they ever mention a particular religion or god by name), rather the album works as a series of songs meant to push us to believe in ourselves and to achieve all that we can.”   The live album, ‘Sno Angel Winging It, originally was packaged with a DVD of the concert.  My brother gave me a CD-R of the live set as I was adverse to buy a DVD with a live album coupled as an after thought (or some such nonsense prevented me from buying the live album). 

In 2014 I bought the Howe Gelb box Little Sand Box on CD which contained eight of Gelb’s solo albums.  I did this predominantly to secure an actual copy of the live set which was now packaged as ‘Sno Angel Like You + ‘Sno Angel Winging It.  This set contains both bonus tracks found on the first LP that are only available as downloads (Get To Leave--Holy and Nail In The Sky--Original) so I’m pleased I’ve kept Little Sand Box, a box I have yet to play outside of the opening track of the first album, Brown Recluse Spider.  I also still have my original Thrill Jockey CD of ‘Sno Angel Like You.

I bought double album impulsively when Fire Records had a sale on bandcamp.  Since their stuff (via bandcamp) is shipped from the UK I rarely buy anything of theirs despite them having a roster of artists I do enjoy.  When I discovered they had this on vinyl paired with the live album (which I must admit sheepishly I have never heard, if I have I certainly do not recall it) I snapped it up!

Above you will find the album cover, the gatefold and then the back of the album.  Fire Records does nice work with their artists and packaging, so below you will see the inner sleeves (front and back followed by the labels for the album which fits inside.  First up, of course, is Record One.  In the photos the record labels almost look void of any imagery but it is there.

Next you will see the front and back of the inner sleeve for Album Two followed by the record labels for both sides.

Next up you will see a close up of the hype sticker on the front of the album. 

This includes, as you saw on the hype, a download card.  Fire does a marvelous job with their download cards, giving you a nice postcard sized card with a front and back.  The artwork here is unique to the album.  Check it out below.

Yes, even though I won’t be using the download since I have the bonus tracks on the double CD version from Little Sand Box, I did void out the usable code.  Don’t want to take money from Gelb’s pocket, you know. 

[ayatakami]

Singer!Reader HCs

feat. Alt MHA bois  Part 2 Here

Pairings: Bakugo x Reader, Sero x Reader, Hawks x Reader, Dabi x Reader, Shoji x Reader, Tokoyami x Reader, Kirshima x Reader Notes: The songs I put at the bottom just imagine them with a fem! singer bc its the overall vibe I went for. There is a part two bc it got pretty long whoops

⇩                                 ⇩                                       ⇩                                             ⇩

Doesn’t openly talk about loving your music or you per se, but owns so much merch of you and your band. I’m talking posters, postcards, albums, shirts, etc. 

Listens to your voice R E LI G I OU SL Y

If he thinks he’s alone then he’ll try to duet some of your songs, convincing himself that you two would make such a great singing duo

UPLOADS DRUM COVERS OF YOUR SONGS AND FREAKS OUT WHEN YOU LIKE/RESPOND TO THEM!!!11

ALWAYS goes to your signings if he has time and when you signed his drumsticks with a heart mans is deceased

Always opts for more of your heavier/faster songs bc this man just needs the fuel to his anger. But on days when he’s really down or feels lonely he listens to your more softer and melodic songs, soaking in your vocals.

Rewatches your music videos and likes every single picture you post. 

Favorite song of yours: Calm Snow - I See Stars

Tells EVERYONE about you and your band, plays your songs on blast and recommends them to everyone. 

Doesn’t really own much posters of you/your band but he does have lots of apparel. (Shirts, beanies, keychains, etc)

LOVES attending your concerts, always gets front row seats to see your pretty smile. 

This dude man, he has pictures of you two on his page from every concert/meet and greet/ signings/etc that he’s ever attended. Like so many you know his name now. 

He’s more drawn to your easy-going, light vocals type songs 

But isn’t afraid to listen to your heavier stuff

Mans STREAMS your music videos and loves making edits of solely you

Favorite song of yours: Silence Speaks - While She Sleeps

SIMPING FOR YOU!!!! HE EVEN HAS A BODY PILLOW OF YOU IM--

Several posters, photos, stickers, albums, you name it he has it

Brings you lots of gifts to each backstage concert bc yk he buys that VIP shit

He will absolutely DIE if he sees pictures of you wearing an expensive necklace he gifted you or any sort of jewelry

Hangs out and talks to you so much that you guys actually become good friends!!

I feel like he would lowkey make fanfics about the two fo you. You cant tell me he wont

Has an ALT ACC WITH THIRSTY EDITS OF YOU!! Calls you his baby bird/dove/songbird/etc

I also feel like Hawks plays guitar or bass and he would def make covers or even collab with you bc yall besties now

Mans has a tiktok account and will def post videos of yall singing together 

Although he’s a really chill guy I feel like he leans more towards your slower songs that hit harder than the others

Favorite song of yours: The Fear Of Letting Go - Too Close To Touch

Being a villian and all, you know he cant come to your concerts/events but he damn well tries to. 

Doesn’t own much merch of yours as he accidentally burnt a poster he had of yours after a certain incident (he felt really bad bc he got mad)

I feel like he would def have a funko-pop or figurine of you on his desk

Loves jamming to your songs (blasting it so loud in his room that its literally shaking in there LMAO)

Watches ALL of your music videos, streams and BUYS YOUR MUSIC TO SUPPORT YOU HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH

Sings along with you omg even tho it hurts to reach your high notes

Thrives off of your more aggressive songs especially the one where he can feel the pain in your voice over whatever subject or whoever you were singing about

Definitely wishes he was that ex you sung about LMAO

Why can I see him punching drywall to your songs bc hes so into it LMAOOOO

Favorite song of yours: Crooked Smile - Too Close To Touch

One of the bois who don’t talk about their love for you super much, but instead is a closeted fan!

Watches your music videos on REPEAT, knows the lyrics to all of your songs

Whenever you smile at the screen or do something cute, he is STRUCK with love

Binge-watches all of your interviews/funny moments/etc, just loves getting to know you and seeing all the sides of you that isn’t the perfect singer that everyone sees

He does attend your concerts/events but he stays in the back for he doesn’t want to scare anyone or you with how he looks like

Why can I see him running an appreciation blog like-

Posting about your cute smile or laugh and he’s internally panicking bc you mentioned his blog in your latest interview saying that seeing all the kind things he posted about you made your day whenever you were down

Prefers the slower, melodic songs or where you’re just messing around

Favorite song of yours: All I wanted - Paramore

Have you SEEN THIS MANS ROOM

Like there is no doubt in my mind that he has posters covering every inch of his wall. Limited edition posters, signed posters, you name it he has it

Doesn’t really talk about you but if he knows his friends also listen to you, then he will def rant about you

“Hey Tokoyami have you heard _’s new song yet-” Man has bags under his eyes bc he streamed that song so many times last night listening to it on repeat. When the music video dropped he shared that shit on all of his social medias.

Def does covers of your songs, it fills him with joy when you repost his covers on your account with a nice message ‘You’re so talented omg!! <3 <3′ 

Also to me he would be the type of guy who posts lyrics in the comments if there isn’t any and would def go into detail about the lyrics meaning and such

Has a jacket full of patches of your band logo and album covers

He’s met you on a few occasions and he’s more than happy to stop and chat with you. Although he doesn’t go into full fan mode with you around, he respects you and instead asks about your day and such

Has no preference on your style, just that its you singing

Favorite song of his: Dance Macabre - Ghost

[partnersatfazbear]

Japan Package

Yeah, another off topic post... I don’t really have anywhere else to put this, though! Maybe you guys can learn more about me. =:3

I’ve always been a collector, especially of things from Japan... COVID has basically killed that for me with EMS taking almost 2 years to return and the skyrocketing prices of goods and shipping. So, with that said, this will be my last big collection post for a very, very long time [in regards to Japanese merch, I am still collecting FNAF!]

Anyone whose read my blog knows I’ve been hyped for Legend of Mana HD Remaster... and I nabbed a few things last minute when it was announced:

A large rabbite plush! This kinda goes with my collection of yellow bunnies, so I splurged since it served more than one interest for me.

Elazul and Pearl from the Square Millennium Collection.I already had these at one point but lost Pearl along the way, so I replaced them.

Some Legend of Mana trading cards (they’re sealed) and Pokemon Gold playing card deck. This will Segway me into my Gold/HeartGold stuff...

Moo-moo milks! The top one holds cold/hot drinks and the bottom one is a metal thermos.

Lyra and co. I waited so long to complete my set for Johto... she was a pretty penny unfortunately.

A bunch of various Gold related items. I don’t know much about them. A keychain, a small toy, and a postcard book. I should probably mention I got these items before the Pokemon Scalping Craze of 2021 took effect...

Pokemon Stadium 2 CIB, Pokemon Gold CIB, some kind of physical Pokemon Heartgold thing (I believe it’s just the download card. I know it isn’t the normal game.) and finally, one of my grails-- a lightly used Johto Gameboy Color w/a cartidge of Gold.

Pokemon Johto themed Pokeballs! This was a premium Bandai exclusive. I got it for the GS ball, NGL. While taking photos, my wife noticed that all of them open... except the GS ball of course! I did get this used so it was missing the dispenser parts and candy, but I didn’t care. I have the stands and belt attatchments--so looking forward to having these when I eventually cosplay Gold/Hibiki/Ethan.

Another grail. I already had the Gold Pokedex and Pokegear. I decided to get the HeartGold Pokedex/Gear. I haven’t tried it out yet!

Since Pokemon relates to Digimon, I’ll post the tiny amount of items I got. I no longer actively collect in this community outside a few unique items that I may want, so this is the end of my Digimon collection for the most part.

Not much to say regarding these. I had an atrocious time getting the shot glass the first time around, so I finally buckled and got it via a proper proxy. Weregarurumon, although a plush I don’t particularly like, was one of the last I needed to complete the line of plushes for the Gabumon line.

I’ve been after the Tsukuda Hobby Misato Vinyl figure for years. I finally snagged her. I’ve always loved this line, but sold most of it a long time ago. I don’t really have a huge collection for Misato, but she was always my favorite and I like this piece to represent her in my collectibles.

Jack from Radiata Stories. This was to complete my Star Ocean Trading Arts set. I also got the remainder of the Valkyrie Profile Trading Arts I was missing, but I didn’t picture them because they were thoroughly wrapped and I don’t want to lose pieces when I move.

My MAIN collection is Star Ocean: the Second Story (and all of it’s iterations). If I ever make an exception to my no major packages importing rule, this would be why. An Amanesis keychain, a calendar and a small pocket book.

Okay, maybe I lied... my MAIN collection is Aerith Gainsborough... I love and adore her; always have!

Aerith photo cards! I guess they were from Skytree? I don’t remember... Also some cards for Star Ocean EX, Pokemon Gold / Silver, and Ayumi Hamasaki.

More Skytree items! These are edible. One is a bottle with hard sugar candy and the others are various suckers w/edible flowers!

It took all I had not to cry when opening the music box... lol

Lastly... I was going through some bad times last October and I really rediscovered my love for Ayumi Hamasaki circa 1999-2001. I really wanted to embrace it and went a little nuts =:p If you haven’t heard her work, I highly recommend it. In fact I think A*BEST is probably my second favorite music album of all time. It’s in my top 3 for sure!

A photobook. Some CDs! Remember how much I love A*BEST? I got the anniversary edition. Included a book, CD/DVD/BluRay combo, a shirt, and a special collectors box. AyuMiX and M~ were replacements because mine are worse for wear nowadays. LoveAPPEARS and the blue CD are new. The blue CD is actually a release BEFORE Ayumi Hamasaki’s first single--it’s pretty rare! I’m excited to hear it!

A keychain, flipflops, and a stationary type set w/a binder, clear file, stickers, ect.

An uncommon Ayu-pan! She is proportional.. as opposed to the chibi design they normally have. And a mousepad! Sold at one of her early concerts!

Vinyl records of her singles: M~ and Endless Sorrow.

A CD single style keychain and a card for Endless Sorrow rounds out the lot.

It’s been an adventure... and I’m really sad to see it end until things settle down again, IF they do...

I wanted to say I have almost all the non essentials packed for my move, so I may be able to post some actual FNAF content in a week or so! =:3 Thank you for checking out the fun with me!

[scummy-writes]

Con Adventures!

--- Day One ---

The first day of con was pretty neat, and the very first thing we did was make our way to the dealers room so we could get to Cheritz's merch booth asap! The line to the room was kind of crazy, and I had never really been made to wait in such a long line for the dealers room before, but it was worth it finally getting to the booth!

(One side of it, I never managed to get a picture of the other side ;×; )

Thankfully the line wasn't too big, and everyone was very kind! I ended up spending....a lot.... but a fun thing the booth did was give you these bags if you bought something! The front and back looked like this:

While in line, I got to meet Mantamints, Mod Zen from Doodlemessenger, and Saeranuu! They were all such sweethearts and so nice, and Saeranuu even gave me a postcard!

So cute!! I was with Crystalsoul16 and Byebi during the con, and so Byebi was where I got the adorable Seven sticker from!

Pretty soon after saying hi and so on, we wondered around the dealers room until it was about time for the autographs to start, and we sat in the pre-line for a while and messed around on our phones while fawning over our bags.

I ran into the V and Yoosung cosplayer then, and got a picture, but right before then the Yoosung had asked if we wanted them to punch V before the picture and I ended up going "nOOOOO!" while laughing a lot. They were funny and kind!

For the autographs line it was really nerve inducing! I've only managed autographs from bands I've enjoyed before, but this had me so nervous, aaa orz Everyone has fun stories, but all I ended up doing was saying "Thank you" 2937947 times like a broken record, because I was too scared to say much else and didn't want to bother them.

They weren't mean, of course, and were incredibly sweet, but....ya know....anxiety. I ended up wearing my RFA badge to get the paper, and I'm so happy I was able the paper! I didn't......really.....bring....anything to sign....outside of that KSHSKDK i was a dumbass.

V's voice actor ended up asking for clarification on how to say my name, but since it's a little difficult he ended up pronouncing it wrong, and....without thinking...i corrected him, and I really regret doing that because he apologized a bit and I had to sit there feeling like a jerk o|-< People get my name wrong all the time at work so I'm used to rolling with it, so I have no idea what possessed me to correct him.

The autograph paper was great because they ended up having the VAs that couldn't come presign it! I'm so happy to be able to get all of them, but I'm also incredibly happy Sujin Ri was able to sign it was well! She looked so happy being asked to sign it!

After that, it was more wandering around the con, and I managed to run into Crystalstellar!! She gave me skeleton washi tape rolls ;v; She remembered I love skellies....

I closed my first day with this beauty:

I know its not MM related, but a quick note- People who can play this machine on extreme and get over 90% completion are insane and terrifying, but amazing to watch! Me and another guy were in line for the machines watching two dudes absolutely ROCK and we ended up talking about how awesome they were at it!

--- Day Two ---

I know everyone wants me to get to the panel stuff asap, probably, but for a little while I didn't even think we were going to make it to the panel! Crystal, Bibi, and I left the hotel early enough to try and get a good spot in line for the panel, but ended up getting stuck in a line for bag checks that wrapped around to the back of the first building.

I'm very, very, very, v e r y, thankful they did bag checks- incredibly thankful, but we waited in line for a while in super hot weather, with folks in full body costumes and such around us, only for them to...barely even check my bag????? The first day I had a small purse, and the woman checked the pockets fast and efficiently, and sent me on my way, but the second day I had a backpack on and the dude completely ignored two pockets?

I even pointed it out to them because they were big enough to like, put dangerous shit in if someone wanted to, and he told me to go ahead anyway? Like....if you're going to have a bag check line so big and make a big deal out of it, why the fuck aren't you actually checking the bags???

Jesus christ. I'm thankful no one wanted to do anything dangerous at the con.

Anyway, we ended up making it to the panel line in good enough time to get good seats, and eventually got in!

Before talking about the panel, I do want to link This Post where Mod Zen from Doodlemessenger recorded the panel from their spot! As of right now the official panel video isn't out, so this is nice for those of you who couldn't come! (Be sure to thank Mod Zen!!)

I don’t know what all to say about the panel, to be honest, especially after linking a video about it, but the person who set up the sound/video and was introducing the game was so funny and sweet. He seemed very nervous, but I felt like he helped give a calm air to the room, you know? He wasn’t afraid to joke around a little and he explained how surprised they were that so many people showed up.

I wasn’t really expecting them to play the opening video, but hearing everyone sing along made me happy ahhh ;;;; I get stupidly emotional over stuff like that ;w; And people actually cheered for Jaehee and Yoosung!!! I was so happy at that too!! I hope Cheritz can see that lots of people love them as well aaaaaa

I did like how they had the VA’s come out to reinact a few key VNS, and I was pretty surprised they had Ray’s VA do That VN, but it was so nice seeing and hearing all of them live, aaa.....aaaaa

I think my favorite parts of the panels were Sujin Ri explaining her thought process with the characters, and then the Va’s talking about how they felt towards their character/others. It was interesting hearing it all, and honestly Sujin Ri talking about how Seven came to be killed me o|-< I just really wanted to give her a hug after that. 

However, when she was talking about Jumin, and confirming he went through something traumatic with his mother, I felt aaah...sad and worried. Of course I’m not sure if she meant his birth mother, or a step mother, but I’m hoping that one theory I had isn’t actually true. It’s one thing to have it as a theory, but it possibly being true really....really....hurts. Not trying to say I hate that being written in, but I just don’t want these characters to have such hardships weeps

Hearing that Rika purposely made Yoosung weaker as well hurt.  aaah o|-< I dont know why I had hoped otherwise, though, when its apparent that she hardly had any sincere relationships of any kind. 

And speaking of, I was very thankful that Sujin Ri said that she had aimed for folks to see V and Rika's relationship as abusive- because it is. That's not me pointing to shippers and trying to mock them, I just mean I'm thankful that she was blunt about that, and that there's a good of how some relationships seem perfect at a glance, but once you pay more attention you can see how abusive some really are.

In my opinion, theres a lot of relationships portrayed as healthy or ideal in most medias, so I'm thankful when some abusive ones arent always shown as the same carbon-copy cutout tropes people often try and show them as- so that people can see abuse takes many shapes and aren't always covered in warning flags.

Ahh, serious topics aside, I also think V's va was....a huge highlight of the panel. He was hilarious, sweet, and, well...the Rika thing killed me akahjwhkwbqjshdkg

A lot of people are probably very upset the panel didn't get to Rika, and also didn't get to a Q&A session, but I hope you all realize that they were trying very hard to cover all the bases. Apparently, the con ended up cutting their time short, but I don't have any links to prove that, it was just what I've heard.

I'm assuming they're probably going to upload the video and maybe have an addition of Rika with talk of her VA (I hooope T_T) and try to answer the online Q&A's in some sort of format.

There's parts of the panel I didn't mention directly, and I want you guys to know that doesn't mean I hated those parts- I loved the whole panel. All of it. Every bit- I just don't see a reason to go over every little bit when I've linked a post with a recording of the panel, aaa... But if you guys wanna ask questions about my thoughts on things, please feel free! I love asks like that.

After the panel we ended up wandering around the artist alley a lot! I felt bad I couldn't snap some pics of another Rika cosplayer (and there was someone dressed as V's mom too!!!!!!!), but I had loads of fun! There were so many more MM cosplayers out on Sat, and it was so cool seeing all of them! I even ran into someone that looked so much like Saeran!! (But my friend took pictures of them, haha, I ended up getting too shy to ask if I could take one).

At the end of the night, I got to play Sushi Go with friends! I talked a little about that in a previous post, but it was so fun!

And...then I snuck to the Miku machines before the game room closed aaaaaaaaa

--- Day Three ---

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Went home.

Dhskjdkd I know some of you are probably like "Whaaaat!" Because there was another autograph signing, and as much as I love Cheritz and the Va's, there was an 8 hr drive ahead of me, and parking in Washington is fucking insane. Me and Crystal decided to head home as early as we could, and I'm glad for that because it was pretty late when we got back orz

I still have a lot to do, like find a proper pillow for my ray emoji case, and to hang up everything I bought, so I'm sorry for this post taking so long orz I'm still exhausted

Thank you for reading!!

[tsunamijenn]

My YOI Nerd Pilgrimage pt. 9.1

Day 4 continued

Ok, so last walk-through. And since I don’t really have new pictures to show you, I figured I would give a more detailed description of the museum as you go, along with the ‘Secret Audio’. And yes, this will include some pictures I’ve already posted previously, but I want this to be all inclusive. Deal with it

(▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿)

Ok. So.

MUSEUM WALK-THROUGH!

The museum was held on the 17th floor of TV Asahi’s Ex Tower.

You go to the back, and go up the escalator, and you’re greeted by a sign showing you where to go.

Inside, you can buy a ticket if you haven’t gotten one already, and then when your time slot comes, you proceed to show your ticket to one of the workers, and they direct you to the elevators. There are 5 total, but only 1 is designated for the Museum. (They all go to the 17th floor, but the others are roped off to prevent museum-goers from hogging the elevators from the people that actually work in the building). Inside is the museum poster and signs showing what all they have for sale in the store at the end and other bonuses. The button even has a special sticker.  Once you get off the elevator, if you turn to your left, you see the cardboard standees of all the YOIxSanrio characters. If you turn to your right, you are greeted by an even larger poster for the museum.

* * That’s the elevator doors in the lobby, the button inside the elevator, and the doors on the 17th floor * *

 As you walk towards the table with your ticket, you pass by a stuffed Makkachin and a screen. Usually, it just shows a picture of the poster and plays History Maker. But if you pet Makka (aka, cover the sensor with your arm aka. that hole in the table) it’ll rotate between all the YOI skaters, not just the GPF ones, and play clips of their songs.

It only lasts a few seconds, before going back to the poster and History Maker, but you can do it over and over as many times as you’d like...or until people behind you get grumpy. I never took it that far.

Then the entry to the museum.

The wall to the left when you walk in is COVERED in pictures of sketches from the show. Similar to the sketches you see if you got the YOI Art Book. Sadly, that wall was labeled as No Photography

(ಥ﹏ಥ)

You take your ticket to the counter (and present your postcard if you already have one). They ask which audio track you’d like, stamp the postcard appropriately, and hand you the handheld audio device. You could also ask for an English guide (which also had written Japanese) if you had any issues understanding the audio itself.

And, if it was your last time (as it was for me) you got a Victor badge to wear, so that the people at collecting everything at the end would know it was your 6th time, and would take you aside for one last special something.

AS FOR THE SECRET AUDIO!

I know some people had said/heard it was Victor/young!Victor (that’s what I had been told), but it's not. It’s literally Victor/Victor, same age. It’s labeled as ‘innocent’ and ‘outward’ at the beginning of the guide, and then ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ throughout the rest. I mean, I get how it could be considered young!Victor, but I don’t think that’s what it was meant to be. He didn’t sound younger, just...happier.

Innocent Victor was spoken in the voice that usually accompanied the exclamations of “Wow! Amazing!” When he’s full of child-like joy and really, truly letting go, being carefree. Just being Victor the person, not Victor Nikiforov, the champion skater.

Outward Victor was the deep, suave, sexy voice. The ‘Yuuri, you seduced me, now I'm going to seduce you' voice.

You enter under the little archway, and there’s a TV on the wall playing scenes from the final episodes where the news is doing overviews of all the skaters participating in the GPF. You turn to your right, and are greeted by the sight of 8 figure skating outfits.

Continued next post (damn Tumblr’s 10 pictures per post rule...)

<-Previous Post - My YOI Nerd Pilgrimage pt. 9 - Day 4

Next Post -> My YOI Nerd Pilgrimage pt. 9.2 - Day 4 continued (Detailed YOI Museum part 2)

Master List of posts

[grapevynerendezvous]

The Sopwith Camel - Sopwith Camel A prime example of how fast things can develop, The Sopwith Camel released their only hit single less than one year after they had started rehearsing as a band. Within a week after founder Peter Kraemer met guitarist Terry MacNeil (later known as Nandi Devam) at Big Little Book Store in San Francisco they had written several songs, including Hello Hello, Frantic Desolation and You Always Tell Me Baby. By the end of 1965 they added three other band members guitarist William Sievers, drummer Norman Mayell, and bassist Bobby Collins who soon gave way to Martin Beard. The band started rehearsals in a former firehouse on Sacramento St. In April they laid down six tracks for a demo recording.

Thanks to Bobby Collins, who had briefly played bass for Kraemer and MacNeil in the beginning, a copy of the demo ended up in the hands of Erik Jacobson. A New York producer with Sweet Reliable Productions, Jacobsen had been responsible for seven top ten hits for The Lovin’ Spoonful in one year. He had also worked with Tim Hardin as well as with The Charlatans, another fledgling SF band. Particularly attracted to Sopwith Camel’s Hello Hello, Jacobsen came to California to meet with them in May. Within the week the band signed a contract with his Sweet Reliable Productions. In late summer he took them into Coast Studio in SF to do the basic track of Hello Hello. The band then relocated to New York City to record the album and while there, signed with Kama Sutra, for which Jacobsen had produced two albums with The Lovin’ Spoonful. The Sopwith Camel was the second San Francisco band of the era to be signed to a label. Recording was done intermittently throughout the Fall while The Sopwith Camel also toured as an opener for The Lovin’ Spoonful. This meant they spent an extended period of time in New York.

Not long after Hello Hello b/w Treadin’ had been released as a single the band returned to San Francisco. After the release of their next single, Postcard From Jamaica b/w Little Orphan Annie, in April 1967. Sopwith Camel went back into Coast Recorders and recorded one more track, The Great Morpheum. In May the eponymous album was released. By this time Hello Hello had gone off the charts and that next single, had not been successful. Considering this, a sticker was placed on the album upon release that said, Remember Hello Hello! In early October a third single, Saga of the Low Down Let Down b/w The Great Morpheum was released but did not chart. It took over five months for the album, Sopwith Camel, to enter the Billboard Top 200 and after two weeks it went off the chart. By this time the band had started slowly disintegrating. 

Hello Hello was not the song one would have expected to be the first Top 40 hit to herald the up-and-coming San Francisco psychedelia music era. It was released in mid-November 1966, b/w Treadin’. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 on Dec. 24 and by January ’67 crested at No.26 on the Top 100,y becoming the first San Francisco band in that era to have a Top 40 hit song. It did very well in some markets across the country: No.2 in San Jose CA, No.3 in San Diego CA, No.4 in San Francisco CA, and Louisville KY, and No.5 in San Antonio TX and Boston MA. It was one of the first songs written by band founder Peter Kraemer and guitarist Terry MacNeil right after the first met. The style harkens back to the days of Vaudeville, which was the primary live music source from the the late 1800’s to the early 1930s. The lyrics are about a simple desire to meet someone, get to know them, to share with them.

Song two of the album, Frantic Desolation, was also one fo the first songs Peter Kraemer and Terry MacNeil wrote together, but , according to MacNeil, they didn’t perform it early on. They decided to record it because they needed songs for the album. It was a distinct shift from the good timey vaudevillian Hello Hello to a distinctly psychedelic sound. The fuzztone guitar played by Terry MacNeil was noted by Elvis Costello to be ‘one of the best examples of psychedelic guitar from the period’. In an interview with the The Psychedelic Guitar MacNeil said that he wanted to reflect the meaning of the words desolation, desperation, in his guitar playing. He sat close to the amp for feed-back and played as weird as he could. In later reincarnations of Sopwith Camel it was regularly played.

William “Willie” Sievers penned The Saga of the Low Down Let Down. This has a good time feel to it musically, but it is about a low down let down none the less.. MacNeil again shines on the all too short, but effective guitar solo. Little Orphan Annie is a musical version of the syndicated newspaper comic strip that first appeared in 1924. Back to the vaudeville era, but with just a hint of the ‘60s hippie chick as well. The tongue-in-cheek performance has a a very winning way about it, with a skillful instrumental interlude featuring twelve-string guitar. One can’t help conjuring up images of Annie and Sandy in this winning “comic strip” tune.

The final two songs on side one each have their own character about them. You Always Tell Me Baby recites a complaint about how the protagonist is being told how to do things by their counterpart. It features flowing harmonies behind the lead vocals and well placed trumpet throughout. The conclusion of the song seems poised for the following song. Maybe in a Dream is basically an instrumental until the final quarter of the song. It has an optimistic feel as guitars and keyboards soar and glide throughout. The most arresting song on the album, Cellophane Woman, starts off side two. It is the other psychedelic number but with a harder, almost punk quality to it. The lyrics, written by Willy Sievers, seem to be an anti-materialism metaphor that doesn’t quite hit it’s mark. Yet the angst is there and the instrumentation takes it over the top right to the finish. Returning to the roots of the album, The Things That I Could Do With You takes it straight  back to the vaudeville era. Again written by Kraemer and MacNeil, this one is a fantasy about all the things someone could be doing together with their girl. Well, not quite that kind of fantasy, unless you let your imagination run wild. It features a nice little harmonium solo. Walk in the Park continues in the vein of old-time vaudeville, only this time going back to the 19th century for inspiration. While very original in many ways, composer Willy Sievers seems to take a cue from British songwriter Harry Dacre’s 1892 “Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two)”. Sievers replaces a ride on a bicycle with a walk in the park. The ragtime-style piano style fits in perfectly as do the background harmonies. On top of all this, the comedic voice-over in the middle is priceless as William, shyly but slyly, asks Daffney to take a walk in the park with him. The Great Morpheum was the last song written and recorded for the album. Like Hello Hello, it was recorded in San Francisco. It was in April 1967, the month before the album release. The band had just recorded four 45-second commercials for Levi Strauss. Peter Kraemer recalls that he and Terry MacNeil went into a smaller studio at Coast Recorders to write the song. Along with guest saxophonist Terry Clements, Martin Beard and Norman Mayell had the basic track cut on the second take. After inclusion in the album it later became the B-side of their third single. The pace of the song slows considerably from the other cuts on the album. It has variation within itself though and the highlight happens when Clements’ saxophone comes to the fore. The song is about a surreal movie at a theater (the Morpheum). I was recently enlightened by none other than Peter Kraemer, that the Great Morpheum is in fact, about the Vietnam War. I agree that, with a bit of thought and understanding, makes perfect sense. Thanks to Peter for pointing this out. Who else would know better than he? The song’s conclusion builds to a dramatic finish, but once again the last note, so to speak, hangs in mid-air. It also leads into the final song.

Postcard From Jamaica begins with a postman ringing a doorbell announcing a mail delivery. It’s a message from a girlfriend who is visiting Jamaica, and an invitation for the reader to take a trip to see her there. As the album had not come out as yet, Postcard From Jamaica b/w Little Orphan Annie was released as second single. The haste to get it out created a scenario as told by Peter Kraemer, "Sopwith Camel was being interviewed by the DJ at a radio studio in Dallas when a guy named Richie, from Cavallo’s (the band’s manager) office, brought the 45 in from New York. When the engineer in the sound booth dropped the tone arm it bounced and skated right off the record. He tried again; it did the same thing. He looked at the band through the double glass and sadly shook his head; the bass was cut too hot and the record wouldn't track. It would play on the more primitive equipment in jukeboxes and became what was called a 'jukebox hit' in some parts of the country and in Canada.”

The album featured poster artist Victor Moscoso’s first great pop-art cover. Essentialy the design already was used for a Matrix poster back in February. The back liner cover had the first infra-red band photo, shot by Jim Marshall.

While Hello Hello wasn’t precisely one of my favorite songs, when I spotted the album at the record store I decided to find out what the rest of it sounded like. I thought it strange that there was a sticker on the cover that said REMEMBER HELLO, HELLO. Of course I remembered it, but at the time I perhaps didn’t completely get that their only hit song had come and gone three or four months before the album hit the market. I immediately enjoyed what I heard though, and quickly added it to my small but growing collection.

I felt that overall, the song-writing, arrangements, originality, vocals and instrumentality were really top-notch. It’s notable that the music was all band-written, not something usually encountered at that time. What struck me most about some of the writing was its’ droll humor. In particular I was quite taken by Little Orphan Annie and Walk in the Park. They are among those songs on the album that harkened back to vaudevillian style, yet worked so well in the renaissance of the ‘60s. I was equally intrigued by Frantic Desolation and Cellophane Woman, both of which explored the more experimental aspects of the period. While I enjoyed the rest of the songs, the final two took me a bit longer to warm up to. I simply didn’t listen to them as much for quite awhile. Eventually though, I began to appreciate the more elaborate arrangement of The Great Morpheum, and the warmth and optimism of Postcard From Jamaica.

The record quickly became one of my favorites. I can still fairly well sing along with most all the songs. It’s unfortunate that, since the album faded so quickly once it finally appeared, not many people really got to hear all Sopwith Camel had to offer. It turns out that by the time of the release the band had started to fall apart due primarily to bickering and, as one band member called it, immaturity. Willy Sievers had announced in November that he intended to leave to start a solo career, but didn’t actually do that until late spring of the next year. The band members still played in other projects, some of which included two or more of them, but things seemed to be over for good. At least for the time being. I missed a golden opportunity to see not only Sopwith Camel, but Buffalo Springfield and The Standells as well in 1967. The event was a tri-school dance that had been put together by a student named Rod Jew at Cubberley High School in Palo Alto. Held at the high school pavilion, the concert was on April 27th, just prior to the Camel’s album release. All the bands had, or were enjoying, big hits. I thought I had lost any opportunity after that but Sopwith Camel was to have more in store.

Another opportunity unexpectedly came up in 1971. After not hearing anything about Sopwith Camel for nearly four years, they resurfaced playing a dance concert at Foothill Community College in Los Altos Hills CA. By this time I was a student there and attended the show in the gym with my girlfriend/future wife. While he was not aware that this event had occurred, based on information obtained through a blog done by music historian Bruno Ceriotti, it appears that four of the original band members had reunited. Hearing them play songs from that first album live was like a dream come true.

Speaking of Bruno Cerotti, through three decades of research he created a day-by-day diary of The Sopwith Camel as well as other bands. Utilizing information from interviews, as well as gathering many visuals, from several individuals and news media sources, it gives far more details than one would would normally expect to encounter. Particularly for a band that had but two albums (not counting re-releases), three singles, one hit song, and lasted less than a decade at their height. He also documented their return to performing from 2009-2016. Finally looking into what Bruno has accomplished I decided to reach out to him and we have become friends. He was quite amazed and excited to hear of the show at Foothill College. He helped me hone in on the year it must of happened and now all we need to do is get a precise date and any other details. It’s good to be interactive.

http://brunoceriotti.weebly.com/the-sopwith-camel.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sopwith_Camel_(band)

https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-sopwith-camel-mw0000117772

website https://www.sopwithcamel.com

Joel Selvin articles https://www.sopwithcamel.com/stories2.html

https://www.sopwithcamel.com/stories4.html

https://sopwithcamel.org/about-the-band/

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sopwith-camel-where-are-they-now-93996/

https://www.sopwithcamel.com/Albums.html

https://vancouversignaturesounds.com/hits/hello-hello-sopwith-camel/

http://therockasteria.blogspot.com/2014/09/sopwith-camel-sopwith-camel-1966-67-us.html

https://www.discogs.com/artist/391236-Sopwith-Camel

https://www.sopwithcamel.com/stories4.html

http://www.rockremnants.com/2013/06/22/song-of-the-week-hello-hello-sopwith-camel/

http://andrewdarlington.blogspot.com/2014/01/

https://www.sopwithcamel.com/Terry.html

https://fictionliberationfront.net/erik_jacobsen.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Jacobsen

Hello Hello https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjYsl__loTw

Frantic Desolation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaxiKL-Rzjk

Saga of the Low Down Let Down https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdcMbtkQxaQ

Little Orphan Annie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-y-afIkukg

You Always Tell Me Baby: Maybe in a Dream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU2Saf1EKlc

Cellophane Woman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_0LxEQnnVI

The Things That I Could Do With You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3-kM0brrXQ

Walk in the Park https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CIG6Xc-GFc

The Great Morpheum; Postcard From Jamaica https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU5e3lcHkx0

LP25

[dokidokivisual]

Last day in Tokyo

Today I decided to use my original Dear My Sister ticket, but in which cinema? I looked at the list of cinemas showing it, and the closest was TOHO Ueno, but in the end I decided to go to Burg 13 in Yokohama, because I always wanted to visit Yokohama and it’s less than an hour from Tokyo on a train. It turned out to be a great idea. I showed up at about 10am and was able to get a great seat for 10:30 showing (the attendance was still pretty good though). I was also able to buy the movie “pamphlet” which is a full-color magazine-like publication which has interviews with the cast and the director, as well as stuff like setting designs, and so on. The main feature is interview with Sakura Ayane/Minase Inori which includes a little photoshoot. The mini-shikishi present was Sharo.

Anyway, the reason why going to Yokohama today was a great idea is because it was one of the few days (and the last day this year) when the local landmark sailing ship Nippon Maru is displayed in full sail! It’s possible to visit the ship too.

It was great to walk around the coast of Yokohama harbor and see all the cool stuff they built there. I particularly liked the views from Osanbashi Pier and ended up watching cruise ships from there until it got dark and the view got even more spectacular!

But then I went back to Akihabara to check if anything’s going on over there. Animate had a promotion where you could buy something and show your used movie ticket, and get a postcard, so I bought the OVA theme song single (even though I have no way to listen to a CD right now). Then I heard Zutto Issho playing as the in-store music and thought it was unusual. And then it hit me: Animate had a special Gochiusa store open in its basement! It had a lot of merch I hadn’t seen before. I bought 3 candy sets for Rabbit House, Ama Usa An and Fleur de Lapin, mostly because of their packaging. There was also a board where you can write a message and attach it using scotch tape. I got lots of stickers/cards for my purchases.

And then I went to Anime Plaza collaboration cafe. They really went all out with this one. Not only every table, and every wall were covered with Gochiusa characters, they also had several TVs showing full episodes of Gochiusa. And there two waitresses dressed as Chino and Sharo (in their work uniforms) respectively.

I ordered Rize’s drink and Chiya’s dessert. The drink was tasty, however it contained more ice cubes than liquid. Chiya’s dessert while authentic to the show was quite difficult to eat because of the random flavors it contains.

Also here’s my loot from yesterday’s Marui Shinjuku Gochiusa store (it was in the same building where I attended stage greeting, so I decided to go shopping there). I had to wait like 20 minutes in a queue to get inside, so I thought that if I go out empty-handed, it would be a waste of time. I got a winter hat, some sort of little bag with zipper lock, a vacuum-compressed cushion (would be easier to transport it out, provided I don’t break the packaging somehow), Cocoa towel and Cocoa carabiner.

And tomorrow I going somewhere else (not Osaka just yet). Stay tuned!

[steamberrystudio]

Friday update!

Friday update 6/9/2017

Hellooooo everyone! Esh here, as usual!

Time for today's Friday update! 

Writing: Still making lots of progress on writing each week. Ewan's route is now 10% complete, as is William's route. Hoping to have Will’s route to at least 25-30% completion by the end of next week (for reasons detailed below).

Our total word count is 395,000 words. =O That's a lot of words!

I'm looking forward to getting deeper into William's back story and I've worked out some new plot elements for him that I'm excited to explore.

He's really different from the rest of the guys personality-wise so it's been an interesting shift for me to work on him. It pushes Nora into a slightly different role than she plays in other routes, which is always fun.

Artwork: I've done some work on sprites this week, as well as finishing up the second YCH wallpaper for one of our backers.

Also have been working on the second backer-designed character! Rayna – it's been interesting working on her because she's so different from my original vision for this character. WIP below...

I've also started sketching out a side character that I'm REALLY looking forward to introducing in William's route – her name is Guess Monroe and she's a bit of a mentor toward him. She is both hilarious and awesome. And while I've completely changed up her physical appearance to account for some of the backer character designs, I really love the direction she's gone and her new look is really going to suit her. >3

I have quite a few sprites that have been in the ‘needs their clothes shaded’ and I’m trying to work on those when I need a break from other things so I can just get them finished and prepped for coding. I was really hoping to have some shiny, new completed backgrounds to show you guys by now but no can do just yet. Our BG artist is hard at work though so I’m hoping...maybe by next week!

Other: We've gotten one finished track from our composer and I’ve heard WIPs of a couple of others. 

I'm really hoping that once we get the improved sprite art coded, and maybe a few more of the new tracks, we can potentially release an update to the demo. I'm contemplating expanding it into the fourth chapter just a bit as well. But I haven't made up my mind on that last bit – so no promises!

Summary:  That's it for this week. I feel like I don't have a whole lot of major stuff to update you guys on this week though we continue to work on Changeling every single day.

I am hoping to touch base with our coder this weekend to see if she can start coding the edited versions of some of our first chapters. We’ll see. It would be fun to have some new screen caps to show off soon! Also, just to warn everyone in advance - my in-laws are coming for a three week visit starting next Saturday. I will continue to work on Changeling as much as I reasonably can while they’re here because three weeks is a long time to just stop working on the project at all. But that said, work, updates and answers to questions may slow down during the time that they’re here. I’ll post a reminder in next week’s update but I wanted to give everyone advance notice. While they’re here, I may slow down writing and spend more time on art and coding. Both of those require less focus so it’s not a big deal if I get interrupted frequently. That’s why I am hoping to really push myself to get a huge chunk of Will’s route complete in the upcoming week.  AND FINALLY: The place we ordered stickers from sent us a LOT of extra sticker sheets. I actually didn’t realize how many extras until I started packing envelops. We may end up trying to sell these if there’s interest (they would be less than $5 with shipping included).  We may also have some extras of postcards and acrylic charms. I want to make sure all rewards arrive to their new homes safely before we clear out any remaining merchandise but I don’t want to leave them sitting around either so... So if you’d be interested, please let us know - if enough people seem interested, we can look into setting up a temporary shop somewhere to handle these. Anyway, that’s all for now, see you next week!

[paharvey99]

No Waitrose October 4

Day 29

You know how last Sunday I made a failed attempt to visit the smallest church in Sussex? Well, today - and look away now if you’re trying to avoid spoilers – I made a successful attempt to visit the smallest church in Sussex.

Ok, the spoiler averse are okay to start reading again from here.

The clocks went back in the night, and parents complaining on social media about children getting up at the wrong time is A Thing, so I was prepared for something bad to happen involving time. What actually happened was that our daughter slept in and we got up happily at the right time. I put this down to just being a bloody great pair of parents.

This Sunday was remarkably similar to last Sunday, in that the person I live with had loads of work to do and so I got to take our daughter out for the whole day, which was ace. The person I live with was not happy about having loads of work to do and not getting to have fun with our daughter, which was fair enough really, but it couldn’t be helped.

I set off in the car with my daughter in the back and a general idea of going back to make a second attempt to visit the smallest church in Sussex. It was still quite early, because of the clocks, and I’d been hoping to time my daughter’s nap with the long bit of driving to the church. If I was going to do that, I needed to do something else for an hour and a bit, so I pulled into the 24 hour Asda and we went to pick up some stuff for tea.

The new Nigella cookbook has a recipe for sausages, apples and onions in it that felt suited to the first day of early nights, so I got some sausages. Nigella calls for Cumberland rings, but Asda doesn’t stock them, as Asda doesn’t stock anything nice whatsoever. I bought my daughter some new tops, as the person I live with had said she needed some new tops, so we found some inoffensive tops in Asda’s otherwise offensively poor range of baby clothes. Seriously, I hate Asda.

Back at the car, the sun was bright and highlighting just how dirty and covered in poo my car actually was, so I decided to take it to the car wash. Asda’s petrol station had a little do it yourself car wash thing, so I checked I had some change (by some miracle I did) and we went and drove round to the car wash bit. There was a man there already washing his car, so I parked up and waited for him to finish. If I was in his situation, I’d have got flustered and hurried up to get out of the way as soon as possible, but this man was not as flappable as I am. He was quite happy to take his time going through all the settings on the car wash to get his car to the exact level of clean he demanded from himself. He was waxing, pressure washing, foaming – everything. We were there about 20 minutes waiting for him to finish.

About 10 minutes in I noticed he had an EU OUT sticker on his bumper, at which point I thought some uncharitable things that I am choosing not to record.

Eventually he buggered off and I got my turn. As soon as I’d put the money in a man pulled up in a car where I had just been parked, waiting for a go on the car wash. I got flustered and hurried up to get out of the way as soon as possible, giving the car only the most cursory of goings over. I hate holding people up, even if it means driving round in a car that is still semi-covered in poo.

No wonder Remain lost.

After that we drove over to Lullington, where the smallest church in Sussex is to be found. My daughter fell asleep on the way, so I parked up and sat for a bit until she woke up. Then we walked up to the church, which is on the top of a hill but completely hidden from view on all sides, weirdly. It really is a very small church; it’s about the size of an average living room inside and it seats about 20 people theatre style, or 10 cabaret style. In truth though, it’s just the zhuzhed-up leftovers of a once much bigger church. You can see the remains of the old walls outside, from when it was a normal-sized church.

This was a bit of a disappointing realisation, but it’s still an interesting place to visit. I signed the visitors book and bought a postcard and set off back to the car.

By this time it was around 12, which is my daughter’s lunchtime, and mine too, I suppose. I drove the mile or so to Alfriston and parked up in the same car park as I had last week, and this time I actually managed to get out of the car, as my daughter was awake.

I put her in the sling and went in search of some lunch. Alfriston has an old post office that serves as a general store, selling plenty of stuff, including freshly-baked gammon and leek pasties, as it turned out, so I got one of those and a bottle of pop and headed off to find somewhere to have a picnic. There’s a big old church at Alfriston on a kind of village green, which is called the Tye, I think, and it has benches all around. We sat on a bench and I fed my daughter a pouch of Ella’s Kitchen Bang Bang Bangers + Mash. She eats real food these days as a rule, but she is teething and not happy about chewing at the moment, so those pouches of mush come in handy. I ate my pasty at the same time and we both got covered in food, just at the point that the church was kicking out and a load of churchgoers walked past and looked a bit horrified by the state of the pair of us.

After lunch, I cleaned us both up and discovered that we were literally 50 yards from a National Trust house I had forgotten existed, Alfriston Clergy House. Being members, it would have been rude not to nip in for a quick look, so we did. It’s a 14th century timber-framed house, mainly famous as the first house the National Trust ever bought, back in 1896. It has a nice garden, but is largely uninteresting otherwise. I bought a Christmas present in the shop from the sale, National Trust shops are good for things like that.

I nipped in a few more shops trying to get some Christmas present inspiration, but the only idea I came up with was to buy my dad a fancy comb. I’m not sure if he uses a comb, but if I bought him a comb that was fancy enough, he might do. I don’t think I’m going to buy him a comb though.

Sensing that it was time to leave Alfriston, we left Alfriston. I drove out of town a different way to usual, heading south past a vineyard and up and up until we emerged, to my surprise, on the top of the South Downs. It was beautifully sunny and I thought it would be a nice place to stop and have a look and then, happily, a car park appeared. The car park was called High and Over car park, which I thought sounded more like a category on X Factor than a car park, but we stopped and followed some signposts to a viewpoint.

The Cuckmere valley was spread out all below us, with Cuckmere Haven off in the middle distance and the sea glinting in the sun. My daughter gave an appreciative “oooh” from her sling as she looked down at the meandering River Cuckmere. I’m not sure she’s ever been that high up before, but she seemed to like it, which is good news.

After that my daughter was tired, so I headed back to the car. I somehow got chatting to a man in the car park who was walking his dog and he was quite taken with my daughter, which might sound creepy but was actually nice. He liked her name, which is good. Her name is Dory, which is short for Dorothy. However, when the car park man asked her name, I said it was Dorothy, as I could see he wouldn’t understand the name Dory. He was an older man, and whenever older people find out her name is Dory they haven’t heard of the name Dory and so think we’ve said Doreen or just get confused. This has resulted in a policy where it’s safer to say she’s called Dorothy to certain audiences, because they understand it.

Anyway he liked the name and revealed that he had named all his daughters after plants, and then reeled off a list of about six names including Ophelia and Cicely, both of which I have never heard of as plants. It made me think he must be either a really enthusiastic gardener or an idiot. I liked him though, so I don’t want to look up whether Ophelia and Cicely are plants or not.

After that I drove home, with the intention that my daughter would sleep most of the way. Unfortunately, this was not her intention, as it turned out. I started singing 10 Green Bottles, which has got her off to sleep in the past, but to no avail. She got bored of the repetition, I think, so I decided to sing something less repetitive. It’s difficult thinking of songs that you know all the words to, until I remembered that I am in a band and I know all the words to most of our songs.

I started singing one of our songs and, as the band isn’t very active anymore, I hadn’t sung it in a while. I enjoyed singing it though, as it’s a good song and I like it, and I got a bit into it. At the end I checked on my daughter and she was fast asleep. Result. It made me think we could remarket the band as a sleeping aid for babies and make an absolute fortune. There’s about 200 vinyl copies of our album hanging about somewhere that need shifting, so it’s got to be worth a pop.

We got home and had a play with the person I live with and told her all we’d been up to, before the inevitable teatime, bathtime, storytime, bedtime ritual kicked in. I then made sausage, apple, onion and potato for tea, which went down quite well. Then we watched an episode of the new series of Stranger Things. I quite enjoyed the first series, but since then I have seen new episodes of Twin Peaks, and in comparison to that Stranger Things just doesn’t cut it anymore.

After that I had a bowl of yoghurt and honey, which the person I live with stole most of. The theft was something of a surprise, as the person I live with doesn’t like yoghurt and honey. This yoghurt theft episode was stranger than anything in Stranger Things, to be honest. More updates as we get them.

Didn’t go to Waitrose.