#because it Is going to be 100 over 80 and also i could just buy a blood pressure machine and do that in my home. then they’ve put aside a 30

[fingertipsmp3]

Playing a game called ‘how long can I put off talking about my various mental problems with a medical professional’. It’s going badly. I recommend no one play this game, 0/5 stars

[trans-elrond]

fantastic rebuttal to "writers don't deserve better pay because the stuff they write is terrible/unoriginal", full thread here

(to explain, the "Unknown" under his name is from a add-on bot detector; it usually can assign a percentage likelihood that a user is a human being and not a bot, but I think the blue check system disrupted the add-on so it says "Unknown" underneath his name now.)

[image id under the read more:

May 7, 2023 tweet thread from Tom Vaughan @/storyandplot

With #WGAStrong rightfully in the spotlight this week, I've seen some less-than-sympathetic comments focusing on the lack of originality in our projects. This is a fair criticism of the system, but not the writers. A quick history of how we got here (thread emoji)

The first thing to understand is that Hollywood has NOT run out of new ideas. The studio’s preference for I.P. has nothing to do with regurgitating ideas and everything to do with MARKETING.

The late 60s-70s is generally considered the artistic high of the studio system. Ironically, many contribute this to corporations buying up the studios! The corporations knew they had no idea how to run a movie studio, so... they put creative people in charge.

This is how you got the run of so many great films the studios would never make today. They also took bigger chances on young, promising talent (the first "film school generation" of filmmakers.)

But with the success of JAWS and STAR WARS, the corporations demanded more of those kinds of hits. The creative folks insisted such things were unpredictable, and the business folks said let's make them less so.

(Sidenote: This was also the same time a completely different phenomenon was happening. A/C was becoming the norm for theatres, making summer movie-going much more attractive.)

Over the next decade, more and more MBAs and marketing people gained influence in the studio system. Being business folks, huge hits were not a creative problem as much as a product/marketing problem.

The 80s is when the “high concept” became pre-eminent because it narrowed a sales pitch to one sentence, a trailer, and a poster. This made everyone a marketing agent for a movie because everyone could explain what it was about!

In the 90s, marketing became just as important as the film itself (reflected in their respective budgets) when Hollywood discovered they could profit from fifty years of pre-existing awareness for old TV shows and movies.

This allowed the marketing department to move away from pitching a movie and convincing you to go see it (lower success rate), to simple “audience awareness” and building anticipation. (higher success rate.)

The audience knew what THE FLINSTONES the movie was. They just needed to know the casting and when it opened. No one needed to have the remake of GODZILLA explained to them. They just needed to know when it opened.

The marketing department prefers AWARNESS over SELLING because awareness is something you can throw money at. Selling is harder, and it’s less predictable. This is why franchises are so valuable.

Whenever someone says, “That’s something I can sell!” It’s usually something that can sell itself. What they mean is, "I just have to let people know about this!"

Hollywoods's reliance on property the audience is already familiar with is 100% because... the audience is already familiar with it. It is easier to market the product and this increases its chances of success.

This focus on I.P. has become so pervasive, many, including executives themselves, have forgotten WHY it's valuable. They'll option an unknown comic BECAUSE it's I.P., forgetting that it's unknown and lacks the main asset of I.P.

Writers do love writing on an I.P. that means something to them. Every Star Wars fan who became a filmmaker would love to work in that universe. But we do not love it more than our own original work. We would always rather work on that.

So when you see another remake, or reboot, or adaptation, and think, "Can't they come up with something new?"

Remember, the answer is yes. Yes, we can. And we want to. You can blame the market or the marketing, but either way, the widespread production of truly original content is just not the studio business model we're in right now. #WGAStrong

end ID.]

[fuck-customers]

Scene: Gas station / Convenience store, post 10 PM so my drawer is being intentionally kept as light as possible. $50 tops. This was also like 2010, just so the prices make more sense loooool inflation, love it Customer: Can you break a $100 for $20 in gas? Me: Not unless you're also buying $60 worth of snacks. Customer, with that dumb look they get when they think they've out smarted you at a game you've been playing for years: Fine. Here, fill 'er up, doc. He hands me the $100 bill, I look out to the only vehicle at the pumps- a motorcycle. Me, very pointedly not taking the $100 bill: Do you have a gas can with you? I'm not sure you could *fit* twenty bucks into just that. Customer: Don't worry about it, just fill her up. Me: So, what, $5? I just told you I couldn't break less than $80 and you're trying to pass off for $5? Customer: You're just gonna have to figure it out, aren't you, sweet cheeks? Me, very much wanting to kill this man but choosing to remain professional: I mean... the best I can do for you is to put this cash on a gift card, which you CAN redeem for gas at any of our stations and you can recharge it when it runs out. Otherwise, I can't help you. Customer: How am I supposed to buy groceries with a gift card to a [Gas Station]? Me: Perhaps you should consider buying groceries first, and then coming back with the smaller change to buy your gas? There's a Malwart right behind us. Customer: How am I supposed to put groceries on my [motorcycle], huh? Me: I dunno, man, I'm just trying to help you out the best I can. Customer: Just sell me a gallon so I can go somewhere with staff who knows what to do. Me: Sure. Do you have $2? Because I can't give you $98 back. Customer, aggressively slamming the 100 on the counter and shoving it at me, then folding his arms like he can intimidate me into having cash to break it: It's legal tender, you HAVE to take it. Me: So we're gonna go the gas card option, or...? Customer, grabs the cash off the counter while cursing me out, then goes out to the pumps and tries to pump without paying. When a customer did that, a notification would pop up on our terminal asking for authorization to pump before paying due to a simply archaic fleet card system (we called it 'freeflowing'). I just kept denying it over and over for like ten minutes before he gave up. Apparently other coworkers had similar experiences with the guy, one of which took out her own wallet and traded his big bill for her emergency stash of 20's. I had to explain to her all the ways that's a TERRIBLE idea. I kind of wonder if that's what he was expecting from me.

Posted by admin Rodney

[fdelopera]

Antisemites are going mask-off. And we Jews see you.

So some shit for brains antisemite sent me this message the other day. This is one of several antisemitic Anons I've gotten recently, but this one is the most blatant.

My first response was to taunt them. I thought of writing something like this:

"Hey, you fucking loser, you forgot the part of your Nazi script where you try to deny that the Holocaust happened. Lame ass motherfucker, you can't even get your own lies right. Next time you try harassing a Jew online, at least try to tow the Nazi party line, you white supremacist. Also, you fucking COWARD, how dare you come to my inbox on Anonymous. If you’re going to tell me you wish I would die in a Nazi gas chamber, at least have the common courtesy to tell me your username so I know who I am blocking."

But then, I thought: No. That's not how to respond. Because that's not what this is about.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. Making fun of a stupid a Nazi by telling them that they forgot to deny the Holocaust when they decided to harass me for being a Jew — that is gallows humor of the darkest kind. But a morbidly glib zinger of a reply doesn’t actually address the real issue here.

The real issue is that a lot of you with antisemitic tendencies have been going completely mask-off the last few weeks, and you have been diving headfirst into Jew-hatred.

You are finally feeling liberated to speak the Jew-hating words that you have been dying to say.

You have been practically champing at the bit to tell a Jew that you wished there would be another Holocaust so you could get rid of all those millions of "bad Jews" that you don’t like, and now you feel liberated to scream those words from the rooftops.

Over the last few weeks, we Jews have been watching you, some of you that we considered to be friends, and we’ve seen many of you turn on us and spit out the most vile, hateful things about us.

And we know exactly what you will be doing when the next Nazi craze spreads like wildfire from country to country, throughout cities and towns.

You like to claim that you would have been punching Nazis in the face during World War II. You like to claim that you would have protected us. Some of you even like to claim that you would have sheltered us, like the heroes who hid Anne Frank.

But we know better.

No. That’s all just romantic bullshit that some of you like to tell yourselves to make yourselves feel important.

In reality, you would have been deciding who is a "good Jew" and who is a "bad Jew." You would have been deciding who you should rat out to the police for a reward. You wouldn’t be protecting us! You would be saying, "I really don't like that Jew. I’m going to go tell the Gestapo about them." Or worse, you would be saying, "Oh, that Jew over there, they’re just an animal. They’re barely human. The Nazis can kill them, I don’t care."

Most of the people who turned against their Jewish neighbors in Nazi occupied Europe weren't monstrous, inhuman beasts. Most of them were people, just like you, who had been conditioned to hate Jews by nearly two thousand years of Christian antisemitism coupled with a targeted campaign of white supremacist propaganda. This widespread antisemitism allowed the Nazis to transform an irrational and enculturated feeling of distrust towards Jews into a feeling of intense hatred, where gentiles demonized Jewish people and blamed "those Jews" for all the bad things that were happening in the world.

And the white supremacists are doing it again. And YOU are falling for their trap. Again!

Don't you get it? This is the oldest trick in the book! Periods of antisemitic violence usually erupt every 70-100 years or so, after most of the Jewish elders who hold the living memory of the last genocide have all passed away. And the Holocaust was 80 years ago. And here we are. Again.

And just like the Christians in Europe who turned on their Jewish neighbors, you are starting to turn on us.

You buy into antisemitic conspiracy theories, just like the white supremacists do.

You stand in the streets, screaming "gas the Jews" and "die Jews die."

You sound like the Proud Boys. You sound like Nazis. Do you even hear yourselves???

You pretend that all Jews are all a monolith and a hive mind, and you try to convince yourselves that we are all a proxy for the fucking Israeli government, which the vast majority of Jews fucking despise. If we could, trust me, most of us would strangle Netanyahu with our bare hands.

You celebrate Jewish deaths because you have convinced yourselves that killing a random Jewish civilian is "just the same" as killing Netanyahu, because you have manipulated yourselves into believing that all Jews are the Israeli government.

And you don't see how fucking STUPID that is!!

Jewish people are no more the Israeli government than YOU are YOUR government.

A people are NOT their government.

According to Tumblr statistics, nearly half of you reading this will be from the US. Shall I blame YOU personally for the actions of the US government? Of course fucking not! And you'd better fucking not blame random Jews for Netanyahu!

And some of you Jew-haters, in pretending that Jews are all a monolith and a hive mind, even say vile, antisemitic shit like, "Looks like the Jews are becoming the Nazis."

You choose those words carefully, twisting the Shoah, our greatest tragedy, into a knife. You try to weaponize the slaughter of our people against us. You try to reduce the 6 million of us who were murdered into a white supremacist meme.

YOU SOUND LIKE THE FUCKERS AT A TRUMP RALLY, FOR FUCKS SAKE. DO YOU EVEN HEAR YOURSELVES???

And you do that to dehumanize us. You do that to feel morally superior. You do that to feel less uncomfortable when you laugh at our deaths.

But we know that WE are not becoming Nazis. But YOU are. The reason you say that shit about us is because YOU are projecting YOUR insecurities onto us.

Because you know that you are slowly, insidiously being coopted by the Nazi ideology of David Duke and Richard Spencer.

And perhaps somewhere deep down, you feel uneasy about it. So you accuse Jews of being a monolith, a hive mind, and then you say stupid antisemitic shit like, "Maybe the Jews are the Nazis after all."

And you say that to yourselves so that you can turn off your empathy and celebrate as you watch us die.

What a disgusting way to try to absolve yourselves of YOUR guilt.

And we Jews are watching you. We’re watching you very carefully. And when the dust settles, you will have found that we have vanished from your life.

Very soon, you won’t see us again.

And no, that won't be because we'll be walking into the gas chambers, as much as you'd like us to, like some historical movie about the Holocaust that you watched when you were a child but turned off halfway through because you just didn't care.

NEVER AGAIN MEANS NEVER AGAIN.

As much as we know that you ENJOY watching our deaths (sanitized, of course, with a blur filter over the video so that you don’t have to feel too guilty about watching us being tortured and murdered), that’s not the reason you won’t be seeing us again.

The reason you won’t be seeing us again is because we will be walking out of YOUR life.

You have lost us as friends, and you might not even know it yet.

We are gone from your life, because we know that we can’t trust you.

We know that when the Nazis come to our community and march down the street hoisting their swastikas and doing their Sieg Heils (I've seen it with my own eyes) … when the Nazis harass us Jews in the street (I've seen it with my own eyes) … when the Nazis SHOOT US DEAD (it happened at a synagogue a block away from my synagogue, and many of those who saw it will never open their eyes again) — we know you won’t help us.

You will shove us into the line of fire.

And we know that you’ll absolve your conscience, so you won’t feel too bad about our deaths. You’ll tell yourselves, “It’s okay. Why should I have protected that one? That one was a bad Jew.”

We Jews see you. We see your hypocrisy on full display.

And we are telling you this:

If you see Jewish civilians being tortured and murdered, no matter what country they are from, and your first response is to CELEBRATE … if your first response is to post memes that say shit like, "The Jews fucked around and found out" … if your first response is to say that mass murdering Jews is "brutal but justified" … if your first response is to behave like a Q-Anon believer or a MAGA-hat wearing Republican and treat all Jews like we're a monolith, a hive mind…

When THAT is your response to seeing a tragedy unfolding, you are a FAILED ally, and a FAILED advocate.

You are an antisemite.

But mostly, you are just a really horrible, shitty person.

And we don’t want you in our life.

[omgthatdress]

Re-living my childhood and working on doing a fashion history spam of the American Girl dolls!

Oh my god I can’t begin to tell you what a huge part of my childhood those dolls were. Before I go on, let me clarify my family’s financial circumstance growing up: I was a pretty solidly middle-class only child. I definitely wasn’t rich, but my mom was willing to spend a lot of money on buying me a shitload of American Girl stuff because A.) she thought they were cool, and B.) they provided a much smarter alternative to Barbies. And when I grew up and got too old for them, I was able to give my stuff over to my younger cousins.

Looking at what the brand has to offer now, it’s pretty clear that the brand has changed over time and that the emphasis has gone from the historical dolls to the modern ones. Honestly, that’s not a 100% terrible thing. I fully embrace change as a part of the universe, and if it’s a part of the survival of the brand, so be it. As long as the historical dolls remain in tact and the brand integrity is respected. And for the most part, until very recent years, it looks like it has been.

Mattel bought the American Girl brand in 1998, and from then on, you can see the brand shifting away from the original five dolls. I’m going to get waaay more into this with the spam, but really, the historical dolls until very recently have actually remained pretty great. If there’s one really broad critique I could give, it’s that the overall color palette skews towards the modern, with a lot of very bright colors and a heavy emphasis on pink, but when taken individually, the pieces remain very accurate.

HERE’S THE THING! In 2016, a new historical girl was released: Maryellen, repping the 1950s. She’s blonde and has blue eyes, following shortly on Julie, who repped the 1970s and also had blonde hair and blue eyes. You can kind of see a theme developing here. The girls from the 30s, 50, 70s, 80s, and 90s are all blonde with blue eyes. You’d think that girls in the 20th century were only blondes. But anyway I’m getting away from the point. Maryellen was released with only TWO books! The fuck?! Maryellen’s collection remained the same very immersive collection that I love about the brand, but clearly, shit’s changing.

The next historical dolls, Nenea (repping Hawaii after Pearl Harbor), Melody (repping Black girls, Motown, and civil rights in the 60s), Courtney (repping blonde hair blue eyed girls with 80s nostalgia and very little historical engagement), Claudie, (Black girl in the 1920s Harlem Renaissance) and Isabelle and Nicki (again blonde girls repping 90s nostalgia with little historical engagement) all only have two books. The brand has LITERALLY been diminished. The books were an equally important part of the playset, not only providing context for the garments and objects you were playing with, providing REAL, often complex lessons about history, making history feel real and relatable, but they fleshed out the girls, their lives, and the worlds they lived in. They made what you were playing with more than just a playset, more than just a dollhouse or Barbie accessories, they were a whole universe for girls to explore.

Like I said at the beginning, I didn’t grow up rich. I definitely had more privilege than others out there, but I still wasn’t the rich kid villain from a 90s kids movie. I had a lot of American Girl shit because my mom saw the value in the brand and was willing to spend a lot of money on it in a way that she wouldn’t be willing to spend a lot of money on Barbies.

Honestly, I don’t know the toy industry, I don’t know what little girls today want out of their dolls. I know that times change, and that what’s beloved in one generation isn’t necessarily going to be carry over to the next. But I find it hard to believe that little girls straight up no longer are interested in history, and that moms no longer want to give their daughters toys that will actually teach them things. I’ve read a lot of articles about how the brand is struggling, and I don’t think it’s a generational divide. Mattel has fucked up the brand, and I am not just saying that out of Boomer toxic nostalgia that says that everything from the past is GOOD, everything today is BAD, and that anything that changes is inherently not only bad but a personal insult. The stuff that made these expensive dolls worth buying just isn’t there.

[crumblinggothicarchitecture]

Swift definitely had a chance to buy her masters just not for the price she wanted. At first she said she didn't know about selling and was caught off guard with this information, but former owner of the label said she did get message about it prior to selling happening, plus her father is/was share holder in that company, so he had to be informed about it. So we already know she's not saying the truth. Most likely she wanted to buy just her masters, but Borchetta did tied deal of label+masters, for which he cannot be really blamed, it makes sense for him to sell it like that, because it gives him better options and price.

Also artists not owning their masters, not being able to buy their masters, someone else buying their masters for profit - those are literally industry standards. For example in the 80s Michael Jackson bought ATV label with entire The Beatles' catalogue actually thanks to McCartney's advice. He bought it for $47.5 million, sold half in the 90s for $95 million and after his death the other half was sold for $750 million. Since buying this deal was basically funding his very expensive lifestyle. Right now just the catalogue of The Beatles is estimated to be worth about $1 billion. It's just business. By buying Big Machine with Swift's masters Scott Brown didn't do anything special or nefarious as Swift tried to portay this. He was just making a deal and soon after sold it again for profit, just that.

Swift felt slighted for not getting what she wanted the way she wanted and figured out that from capitalistic point of view it is a good situation to once again pull out victim card and weaponize her cult fanbase against her "opponents" and against itself's wallets as well, since she knows they're gonna buy anything and everything from her even without playing victim. Lies and greed, pure capitalism.

Yep. 100% agree- especially with that last part. She wants so bad to have the world view her as an innocent victim of circumstances.

It makes no fucking sense. Frankly, she's not stupid, even though I don't believe her to be a creative genius, I admit she is a smart businesswoman. (not an ethical one- though).

I just don't understand how she fools the whole world into thinking she didn't know the deal was going down, and that she was never approached with an offer to buy her own catalouge.

First of all, of course they would approach her- the business world is about money, and anyone doing business with Swift knows she has a lot of money. So, how is it logical to assume they didn't even offer her a chance to purchase the music?

She clearly ran with the narrative that they somehow cheated her out of her own rightful property, because it's the point of view that enables her to rally the fan based against the mean corporate overlords. She carefully crafted it all to look like a personal attack on her, and her music, by playing the "Im just a girl who didn't know any better and got overlooked by the sleazy businessman" card. She knows this will land on people's heartstrings because- lots of people do get screwed over by businessmen. However, those people are not Taylor Swift who has decades of experience- a world-renowned reputation, and God knows how many people working for her. She has all the power she could ever want- and yet wants to make herself look powerless.

It begs the question, why? She requires the image of powerlessness in order to ratify her fanbase into trying to protect her.

Truly- you said it- She wants to make it look like Scott was doing something nefarious, when, in fact, he was just doing his job. Music Industry professionals engaging in multi-million-dollar business deals over some of the most popular music in the world? Color me shocked and appalled.

It's so disingenuous of her to paint the situation like this especially when considering her own economic and social power against that of the other players in this drama.

Now we have to deal with her re-records, which, honestly, some of those "from the vault" tracks should have stayed in the vault.

[sassyfrassboss]

I wasn’t a huge fan of Meghan — didn’t even know who she was when the KP statement came out, even though I had been into Suits the first season — but I fell more in the camp of “Harry seems happy so she must be cool! Let’s support her!”

They announced the engagement and I was still on board. Even told my boss that I’d be taking some time off in the spring (thinking they’d do the royal thing and marry on a Friday). Watched the engagement interview, thought they were cute together, they were having fun with it. Cool, cool, cool. Realized I would be in London two months after the wedding, got super excited, planned to buy some of the memorabilia.

But then they announced they were marrying on a Saturday, for the Americans back home, and it’s starting at 12pm too, for the Americans back home…that’s kinda weird, prioritizing a television broadcast for 300 million strangers over family traditions but you do you, I guess.

Then the perfume ads with the $60K see-through gown that she’s never worn again showed up and I noped out of there faster than a bank robber in a getaway car.

Which is about the same time I discovered the Daily Mail comments section, kept reading about these “three blind mice” on tumblr and fired up the old blog to find out what was going on and found my people. Then they started getting weird too and I found the calmer, more critical-thinky, more rational side of *waves hand at everything* with Plant and Soap, who eventually led me to you, Empress, Honey, Helena, and a few others.

(Also I didn’t buy the H&M memorabilia when I was in London, and I even did the Windsor Castle, KP, and BP staterooms tours. I remember walking into the one of the gift shops and the shelves were so overcrowded with H&M wedding stuff. It was so obvious nothing was moving and no one was buying. One of the shop girls told me that the Royal Collection had overestimated the interest in H&M - the projections were based on Will and Kate’s collections with adjustments for US sales because of Meghan - and the RCT was really scrambling to sell it off so everything was like 80% discounted. Eugenie and Jack got a much smaller order of their collection and was actually selling better than H&M’s, even full priced.)

Then the perfume ads with the $60K see-through gown that she’s never worn again showed up and I noped out of there faster than a bank robber in a getaway car.

You KILLED me with this! DYING laughing. My dog got worried i was laughing so hard hahahaha!

Since I didn't like her straight away but it was hard to find people that felt the way I did at the time I actually googled "people who hate Meghan Markle" and Tumblr popped up. I created a blog (shut that one down and created this one) and the rest is history as you say.

I will say 2017-2018 on here was WILD!

The reason she wanted the US audience was so she could have more "viewers" than William and Catherine did. Had nothing to do with her wanting her fellow Americans to tune in and everything to do with her having to have it bigger and better than Catherine. Hence the massive amounts of memorabilia left over. I bet they demanded more items or the same amount be created as for William and Catherine. Also, remember this was when Harry and Meghan were CONVINCED that they were the STARS of the BRF and everyone else was boiling with jealousy over how amazing Meghan was at her new role and she was the best pre-duchess to ever duchess and all the others were just plain ole jelly. So it stands to reason that Meghan 100% believed her face would outsell Catherine's.

[sundaysplayzone]

Commonly Asked Questions.

I get asked the same 3-5 questions all the time, so I thought I might make this new lil pinned post to help everyone out! But first, I want to thank you all for visiting my blog!

Do you take requests?

No, I do not.

Are your commission open?

Yes currently! Honestly now a days they’re almost always open. You can check them out on my website HERE!

Are you okay with gift art?

Of course! I would be flattered! If you’d like, you can find most of my characters here on toyhouse (I promise to update it soon!)!

How do you get the retro/vhs effects on your art?

I actually made a tutorial on that here! But honestly at the end of the day it’s a lot of “I plug this picture into several different apps and video editing software.” I wish I could give you a simple answer, but there is no easy way to do it that’s the same every time. I rarely if ever do it the same way back to back. Some colors look better when edited in Photoshop, some in Photomosh Pro. I pay almost $100 a month to have access to all of the software I use to make these effects because it’s part of my job. But luckily you can find so many free tutorials and apps out there, you just need to be curious and try new things!

What do you use to draw?

Another vague answer whoo! Sorry, but I use so many things to draw! But usually it’s sketch/ink/color/shade in Paint Tool Sai, and then move it to Photoshop to add the background, effects and details. I also use Procreate and Clip Studio from time to time. When it comes to traditional, it’s usually standard cardstock or a mixed media sketchbook. Then I draw and color with microns, copic pens, jelly rollers/gel pens, prisma colored markers and copic markers. 

Did you draw the backgrounds in your art? And if you use screenshots, where do you get them?

In the majority of my pictures, I use screenshots from old cartoons. I get these screenshots from the shows themselves. My friend is kind enough to set up a program that takes snapshots hundreds of times during the show. Then when the episode is over, they send them to me. I then spend HOURS, going through thousands of images and delete all but the good pieces. A majority of the time they take a lot of editing to be usable. I have to clean them up, remove character and scale the images.

This isn’t always the case however! I do often draw my own backgrounds! If you ever want to know, feel free to ask!

As for the more aesthetic/abstract backgrounds, I make those myself! I spent far too much money buying licenses and rights to use tons of different patterns and vectors. With those, I love recreating authentic backgrounds in the style of those seen in the 80s and 90s!

I see you draw a lot of Transformation/Chubby/(insert common movie trope here). Are you a fetish artist?

No, I am not a fetish artist. Do I draw art that might be someone’s fetish? Do I take commissions from people with a fetish for this subject matter? Yes, of course. But people need to realize, furry characters alone are a kink to some people. For me the difference is in how it’s drawn. And I personally do not draw my art in a way that sexualizes the piece.

I love drawing transformation scenes, people being swallowed by a monster, extra big tummies, but not because it’s something that I find hot. I just like drawing fun scenes. I get bored of just drawing a character standing in place all the time. I like drawing wacky scenes! 

A lot of my love for these come from cartoons. Edmund getting turned into a cat in Rock a Doodle. Hercules getting swallowed by the hydra. Kaa hypnotizing... everyone xD It’s just a story telling tool and sometimes it’s fun to draw! I’m not into hypno but I do like drawing big, colorful eyes. I’m just whatever about tf but I love drawing the swirling magic effects and the character changing from human to animal. It’s just cool to me!

In short, when I draw these things, it’s like I get to draw scenes from cartoons and movies in my style. It’s so wonderful to attempt to emulate some of the effects and details they used in movies from my childhood. It’s not about the hand changing into a paw for me, it’s the magical sparkles and how it’s so bright and vibrant compared to everything else. Where you see it go from hand to paw, that’s what I love drawing about tf art! Or being able to exaggerate the body and make a character look weighty by making them really round. Getting to draw a comically big mouth, giving a fun and interesting perspective shot. I think that stuff is so neat! Because it’s art!

I don’t care if it is someone’s fetish. I’m not drawing it in a way that’s sexual. Heck, it even says I wont in my TOS! Everything is G-PG here in Sunday’s Playzone! I’m not here to make that kind of content. It’s okay if adults have fetishes, and so long as you and others aren’t sexualizing my art, all is well!

[delopsia]

how much of the truck do you think Rhett has replaced over the years? (maybe the better question is what hasnt been replaced at this point) like do you think hes completely rebuilt the transmission and engine? is there a point that he will give up on it? or do you think hes the person that will say that as long as the seat is the same one its the same truck? cuz it isnt going to last forever because that truck is how old and its also been a farm truck all its life. regardless of what state we are all living in now its safe to say that the Wyoming winters have taken a toll on the truck in the form of rust and wear and tear. if he rusts through the frame (a death sentence for vehicles) will he buy the same make in model that has had an easier life and just take his transmission and engine (he just put those in less than 80,000 miles ago god danmit!!) out and put it into the one with the good frame. i think if he ever does throw the towel in on the truck hes going to keep the seat and put it in his room in the house because theres too many memories on that seat for the thruple

I am so happy that someone is asking me about the trucks because I have put so much unnecessary thought and work into them. But Rhett's truck... Jesus Christ, it is the bane of my existence. I cannot figure out what year it is, and it's been driving me up the wall, but I'll admit I've been using this sale listing as a reference.

I'm in trouble if this truck ever sells.

That old truck has close to 225,000 miles on it at this point; it's practically gone everywhere, and for some damn reason, it's still alive and kicking. Had about 100,000 miles when Rhett bought it, and he's driven it to all hell ever since.

He's replaced the front and rear wheel hubs three times now. Had to put in new ball joints, and rust essentially forced him to replace the transmission, fuel, and brake lines after a couple of years. Shortly after that, the transmission failed and forced Rhett to gather a few buddies to help him rebuild it. But it's been a lot of small fixes here and there, the forgettable things that take an afternoon, and that's it.

The old truck was built to last, and even though nobody is 100% sure where it spent its early years, it's been well taken care of. If there's an odd noise or it starts to act out of character, the problem is located and found within the week. It's always best to fix the issue when its small, rather than wait until it gets worse.

Trucks last on the Abbott ranch. Royal's vehicle is older than Rhett's, and it's still alive and kicking! I haven't done a ton of research into what Royal drives, but I think it's an '80s GMC C/K Sierra Classic.

Honorary comparisons.

Nifty how Rhett and his Dad both seem to have Sierra's, lmao.

Regardless, it's an old truck. If Royal's truck can make it, so can Rhett's

Unless it becomes a money pit that can't stand to run for more than a few hours at a time, then Rhett's going to be hanging onto it. He could replace the whole vehicle over the course of time and still believe it's the exact same truck. But if it does fail, he'd likely go with another older-model truck with a bench seat. Maybe not the same make and model, but he'd be happy to bring home another in a different color.

As of the "current time" in the story, the Sierra is living herself a nice little life in the garage. Her Pavement Princess era, if you want me to start sounding cripplingly Gen-Z. Rhett's new work requires a lot of trailer pulling and things that the Sierra just couldn't keep up with, which means a new truck!

In Whispers In The Dark, I vaguely hinted that Rhett left the Sierra in Wyoming for a period of time because he'd bought a new truck after moving out.

This was the truck!

A 2019 Ford F-350 that I picked out back in February and simply never mentioned to anyone 😭 it never made sense to mention the exact make and model, so it got reduced to "Rhett's other truck."

After the Sierra comes home, she gets to become the official date night vehicle, alongside Bob's. It's her only job now!

I haven't mentioned a ton about Bob's truck, but since we're already on the topic, he's got a 2021 Toyota Tundra in the color Midnight Black Metallic. I exclusively picked this truck for him because some models come with a front-row bench seat.

Who would have thought that I'd have so much truck lore 🧍‍♂️

[beehindblueeyes]

Time period: Video Cassettes and other home media

This is possibly my last one for a while. Both because I feel like I’m stepping into territory I’ve already mentioned and because I’m fading interests. If you’re new here… these posts are sort of designed for the people who “can’t do time period” I’m basically giving you some cool common facts about the time so hopefully it’s a bit easier. Im a nitpicky person when It comes to my own stuff but I don’t expect you to be the 100% correct fic person either. All posts of this kind are tagged under time period and writing ref so they should be easy to find :)

This seems like a ‘no duh’ but tvs as they are now simply did not exist. No flat screens. They’re CRT or older. They’re HUGE and bulky but also have a relatively small screen at the same time. As we progressed into the 80s the side panel mainly shrank and the screen grew. (Also see, wood! Wood grain. I keep saying it was everywhere. It was everywhere.)

You may hear parents say “oh when I grew up we had three channels” etc which was mainly true. There was a limited number of Chanel’s for YEARS until cable came around and even then it was more a premium service and it was the late 80s , early 90s when it was more widely adopted.

With these big tvs with limited tvs and sometimes faulty service there’s a lot of myths to come with that. Like if you hit it a few times on top stuff with come back, or bending the bunny ears that you still see in some cartoons. Or ‘hey if we flush all the toilets at once…’ (this one’s more of a kid logic thing but the ritual and oh if I stand like this or do that is the same)

Now we come to video cassettes which is the more common spread name for a VHS tape that was still used well into the 90s. I think it’s a much more recent thing that we started just saying VHS, more common names were: Video cassette, video tapes, tapes, home video etc ;

They also do NOT work like dvds. If it’s re wound it should play from the beginning. They’ll be studio logos and a few adds or trailers and then the movie just starts. No menu! This being said movies were also limited to a time so they could fit on tape (this is one of the reasons old movies rarely go over a hour and a half). If they’re two hours or longer there’s double and sometimes triple tapes (once one ends you have to put in the next)

Be kind, rewind. There’s nothing automatic about it you have to manually or stores will fine you— or whoever watches it next in your house will fucking clobber you. It takes forever! (You don’t know the pain of being a kid in the early 2000s waiting for the little mermaid to finish rewinding).

Also this is purely speculatory on my part but I assume the reason renting tapes was a lot more common was because they were pretty expensive at the time. Like $30 (which is half of a video game today, they used to be like $7) someone who was alive at the time please correct me.

Physical media mania, again self explanatory. No streaming. No touch screen. No iPods. You buy records, cassettes, 8tracks, have a machine that plays them. Stereos — big family ones— were usually 3-4 parts (you see the towers or stacked machines in old movies.) there’s personal portable ones like walkmans or big boombox types.

No smart boards in the class. We see it in the movie. Teacher would have to get a projector, wheel it in and show the slides from a slide machine or one where you can place work over it. (Only the image isn’t half as crisp as in the movie) but writing on the chalkboard and pull down maps were more common. If a movie was being shown they’d wheel in a movie projector and place it down the middle isle of students. There’s no Disney + for your encanto kids

[randomvarious]

Technotronic - "Pump Up the Jam" 1989 House / Hip-House / Eurodance / New Beat / Eurohouse

Here we go, folks; it's the big one. Belgian dance project Technotronic's legendary debut single, 1989's "Pump Up the Jam," is, whether you like it or not, one of the most important songs in the history of music. And that's because it was the *very first* house track to ever *massively* cross over onto the American pop charts, managing to peak at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, while also dominating many other charts across the globe as well. And in retrospect, as far as the music itself went, it wasn't really anything all that new; but for people who were completely unaware of the underground house tracks that had been pumping out of Chicago since the mid-80s, this song sounded like it could have been shot out of a cannon from Neptune, before incidentally puncturing our very own troposphere. Like, do you know what the #1 song in all of America was when this thing hit its eventual peak in January of 1990? Michael Bolton's "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You." So, imagine getting bludgeoned by that literal one-two punch on your contemporary hit radio station in the dead of winter thirty-three years ago. Nothing like that had *ever* happened before.

Now, yesterday I got into Technotronic's biggest ever controversy, which was that the lycra-clad girl in the iconically curious and candy-colored music video, who was the same person that appeared exclusively in the group's album art, and who also even went on TV multiple times to perform the group's lone hit herself, was actually a lip-syncing model named Felly who didn't even speak any English. But I'm not going to be relitigating much of that in this post today.

What I am going to be doing, however, is digging into how this track itself came to be made, because there really is quite a long and interesting backstory to it, and it doesn't even begin with anyone who was actually in Technotronic.

See, the tale of how "Pump Up the Jam" first came to fruition actually starts in Chicago in 1988, with this house track here by the legendary Farley "Jackmaster" Funk called "The Acid Life." Trip on this tune and you'll immediately hear where Technotronic derived one of the most recognizable intros in the history of contemporary music from:

The rippling rhythm of the acid bass pulsations? And the idea to set them between incessantly rattling, pressure-cooked hi-hats too? All of this was actually Farley's invention. Crazy, right?

Now, as far as I can tell, Farley was never officially credited on any of Technotronic's own records as a songwriter for "Pump Up the Jam," but according to a very informative Google-Translated Belgian article I was able to find, he still did end up receiving gains from it 🤘.

But this was really just a starting point for the song. After its first few bars, producer Jo Bogaert would end up taking his tune in a very different direction from that of Farley's. And the first sign was the little taste of string synth that he gave that would later go on to define a piece of Technotronic's own sound.

Now, Jo Bogaert had already become something of a successful musician in Belgium before he'd ever even met the other members of Technotronic. He was a pioneer of this genre that was pretty much only popular in Belgium called new beat, with a trio of hits between '87 and '88 that were released under the moniker of Nux Nemo: "Hiroshima," "Chinatown," and "Asian Fair."

But at a certain point, his productions would end up seeing diminishing returns from the record-buying public, and, as a result, his own label, Clip Records, had found itself struggling too. Bogaert had another idea though, and it was fueled by Farley "Jackmaster" Funk's "Acid Life." He, like so many other European musicians, had a dream of actually breaking big in America. And he would end up using part of an American record to actually do it.

So, with his near-reproduction of the open from "The Acid Life" to kick off his own tune, he ended up cobbling together a similar pair of raw, absolute stompers and pressing them to a 12-inch. Both tracks sampled some dialogue from Eddie Murphy's Delirious set, and under the alias of Pro 24's, Bogaert would title this record...wait for it... "Technotronic."

And these two tunes would end up serving as the blueprint for what would later become "Pump Up the Jam."

Now, "Technotronic" didn't do too badly in Belgium, but the CEO at one of the country's biggest labels, ARS Records, thought that it could maybe become a much bigger hit if Bogaert had agreed to make some changes to it. There was a fusion genre that set party rap lyrics to house beats that was gaining popularity in other countries called hip-house, and he thought Bogaert's song could be retooled into a smash if he followed that formula.

But creating a hip-house record would require the talents of a rapper, and Bogaert didn't seem to personally know any. However, he had heard from someone about this sixteen year-old biracial girl originally from Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) named Ya Kid K, who was in a crew called Fresh Beat Productions, and who also had her heart set on recording an album. And as Ya Kid K likes to half-jokingly put it herself, she also happened to be the *only* female black MC in all of Belgium at that time too 😅.

So Bogaert sent out demos to some Belgian rappers and, fortunately, Ya Kid K ended up answering his call. She would take about fifteen minutes to write some inanely hooky lines over his track and then it would take another twenty minutes to record the whole thing itself. The first words out of her mouth ended up being "pump up the jam," so that's what they decided to call their song. They could've called it something like "Make My Day" instead, given how many times that that line was repeated, but M/A/R/R/S had a pretty big hit in "Pump Up the Volume" a couple years prior too, so Bogaert and Ya Kid K were probably trying to chase some of that tune's glory as well.

Bogaert would then release the record on his own Clip label under the name of Technotronik and take it to ARS. And upon hearing it, they were very impressed, but they also said that if they were to pick up the record, the vocalist would also have to be the star, and Ya Kid K didn't want to be in a music video or on an album cover. So, without her knowledge, they went and enlisted Felly to fill those roles instead.

ARS then released the record, and a bunch of labels in other countries picked it up too, and then, miraculously, this song was everywhere. Finally, there was this throbbingly weird and super catchy house tune with a very boisterous vocal that was awkwardly commanding us all to have a good time on the dancefloor; and it came equipped with rap lyrics that you could easily anthemically chant and a beat that you could seriously dance your ass off to as well, as Felly and some other kid would put on display for us in the music video themselves. Clearly, ARS was onto something with their vision for this earworm.

Now, were there better produced house tracks out there than this one in 1989 and 1990? Unquestionably. But because it happened to be unleashed upon a public that was largely unaware of house music altogether, this is the one that just so happened to really break down the barrier that was continually keeping house separate from pop.

And not long after "Pump Up the Jam" conquered, Madonna would drop "Vogue," a song that really managed to successfully mesh pop with house, and even featured a spoken-word rap on it too. It's not to say that Madonna was directly influenced by "Pump Up the Jam" to cut her own house track, but the extremely wide acceptance of Technotronic's debut single over the prior handful of months appeared to lay the groundwork for "Vogue" to then subsequently reign as the undisputed song of the summer for 1990. The door for dance music to finally make its return to the American mainstream for the first time since disco had died had finally been opened, and this unexpected triumph from Belgium seems to be the one that really kickstarted the whole trend. Jo Bogaert's dream of making a big American hit had come true, and Madonna, who loved working out to "Pump Up the Jam" herself, would take his group on her Blonde Ambition world tour as the opening act, with Ya Kid K as Technotronic's rightful frontwoman.

More fun videos here.

[teamfreewill2pointo]

I'm sorry, but could you break down the maths of cons for me?

I did a rough count of seat numbers and came up with 700.

I read elsewhere that J2 got the same for a convention as their salary, which was rumoured to be 175k.

I also read that actors kept the autograph and photo money.

There are a fair few actors at a convention, who need to be paid and have their travel.

There doesn't seem to be enough money in it.

Would you mind breaking down the revenue streams and who gets what?

also, is it me or are the venues getting smaller. I only see these on YouTube and the older stages seem much bigger.

Thank you....and merry Christmas.

J2 have a base fee of 300k each, which means they don't show up unless guaranteed that amount by the con organizers.

They get that money through a percentage of ticket sales, photo ops, autos, and m&gs.

The number of tickets sold depends on the con. Some sell a lot more than others. I don't know the percentages they get, but I know it's more for ops/autos/m&gs than tickets.

When guestimating their photo fees, let's say it's 50% (it's way higher) at almost $200 a pop for their solos and selling 300, that's at least $100x300=30k just for their solos. They used to sell out every con. Now that they are appearing on both Saturday and Sunday, CE will sell more photo ops if they have the time to fit it into the schedule. So not selling out at recent cons doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't selling 300. It could mean that they are selling 300, but there's an extra 50 available because J2 have the time to do it now.

I don't know the current numbers for the various ops, although I am very curious. If you go to the op table to buy more ops, you can peep the current number of tickets sold, but only if ops are still available to be sold. You can also sit in the theater and see how many numbers are called for each group. I know that J2 is the biggest money maker and usually goes over 300 sold if they have the time in the schedule.

If they sell 20 m&g seats at $500 each, that's 10k. I dunno the percentage they keep, but probably over 50% and they split the J2.

The autos are usually rolled into gold. I have no idea how many of those sell when sold individually.

In addition to the assigned seats with numbers, there are also GA seats. These seats are not assigned and there's no way to know online how many are sold unless you have access to Creation's data. If you go there in person, you can count them.

If I recall correctly (I haven't been to a con in months, and I wasn't counting the seats when I was there), the GA setup was equivalent to or greater than the other sections combined. Now, this doesn't mean that every seat was filled, but based on the cons that I've attended, I estimate that they sell at least half GA for every assigned seat. It also varied from con to con, with some cons having more GA sections.

For NJ con, there's over $325k in gold, $57k in silver, $47k for copper and $35k for preferred single day sold so far. That's $464k not including GA. GA weekend is $249. Fri is $70, Sat $80, and Sunday $100. There's a lot more people on Sundays and I don't know what percentage of people in the theater on Sunday only bought tickets for that day.

If your estimate of 700 seats is correct and we say GA was half that and everyone in GA bought Sunday only tickets, we're looking at 35k for GA, but that's a huge underestimate.

There's also the auction for VIP and the cast gets a cut of that.

I know they were concerned about Burbank and worried that they would lose money on it. It's interesting that they dropped the gold so much for SFcon.

300k/con is a really high price and the reason that you typically don't see both Js at conventions outside the US.

[mywheelieweirdlife]

This is a scream into the void that I would love to give the Australian Government right now for a thousand reasons that I'm not mentioning...

But I had a terrifying episode about a month ago where it looked like I had a stroke.

I went and did the testing and haven't been back to my GP.

Why? Because the water bill came on top of other expenses and I lost my medical funds and no longer could afford to spend $75+ to see my gp.

I could barely afford the $12 for my meds.

Oh and you know what else is super fun?

They're about to up the cost to see my gp again.

Australia wide, it's now going up to over $100 to see your gp.

(And they wonder why the ER is flooded with 'non-emergency' cases.)

But I am literally going to have to search my ass off for a cheaper and closer gp or hilariously, switch entirely over to the private clinic that's cheaper but further away and realistically gives me better care tbh.

But it's exhausting. It's exhausting looking at my budget every month going 'fuck I overspent on food again, but if I didn't buy these very specific things I would be a fuckton sicker' and questioning what's worth it.

I end up spending at least $102 every time I have a general appointment and spending $80-90 for my private ones. Including meds.

Like, at this point, it going up another $30 when the cost of living is rising so fast we can't keep up as is and I am not making income yet and am terrified that I won't make enough fast enough anyway when it does start coming in because I am dreadful at sales and it's a job that I fuvking hate but is a good portion of my job…

I'm just exhausted and bordering on mental health crisis just from financial stress alone. It's so hard and just so stressful and shit.

Also, fuck the liberal party, the Labour Party needs to pull their shit together, and shout out to the greens for actually doing something politically when Dutton is being a racist ableist pig and Bill Shorten is going down a eugenics route.

Honestly, these old white abled bodied privileged white assholes in parliament are making me lose my shit more and more every day and I would like to remind everyone that calling your local members and being a voice that is loud and stubborn in both public and private makes a world of difference and we have to fight together.

[2wheels1bite]

Postcards from my past

Come on, come on take a little ride with me You just might trip over some of your own memories, eventually?

I had moved out of my parents' house 2 days after HS graduation, my 1st place was this studio in Lowell, then I decided to move up in the world and got this 2-room place in the center of Fitchburg MA

It was the summer of 1985.

One night I discovered this little door in the ceiling of a closet in the bedroom. It contained drop downstairs to the roof. As far as I could tell it was the only access to the flat roof. The building is still there, it's now part of the Fitchburg Art Museum, corner of Elm and Academy streets. Back in the 80s Elm Street in "the burg" was not the best place to live, my friends at the time nicknamed my place Nightmare on Elm.

Across the street was the Post office and bank parking lot. That's where I would park my 1960 Ford F100 Pick-up and my 1980 Suzuki GS450S. I couldn't see the lot from the two windows I had but if I went up to the roof, I could see all around the building. I spent many nights up there. I don't remember being worried that someone would steal my truck or bike, but I would often go up at night just to check out the lot, and then lay on a folding beach chair my mom gave me, many nights just lying there looking up at the stars enjoying the cool night air.

That little twin cylinder Suzuki was my 2nd motorcycle, my 1st one that I purchased myself. Bike number one was given to me as payment for helping my brother-in-law work one summer. The Suzuki was black with gold mag wheel and a little bikini fairing over the headlight. Even though it was the same size as my 1st bike (450) it felt like a completely bike, my first introduction to a cafe racer style bike.

I was 18-year-old, living on my own and riding my motorcycle as much as possible. I had a few buddies at the time that also rode, but they were also into playing golf and other activities. Slowly as the summer months went on I found myself riding more solo trips then with my buddies. Now keep in mind this was 1985, way before cell phones, gps devices and other gadgets that make exploring so much easier today.

I had paper maps and motorcycle/travel magazines and books. I also had this strong desire to just get out and find places, it's been something I've expressed in my stories in the past, its just who I am. I would load up my backpack with a bologna sandwich some Wachusett chips and a coke, strap it to the back seat and click that little black Suzuki in gear and go. It was a new way to discover and explore. I spent many days riding around central and Western MA finding roads like Mohawk Trail, Route 116 and even took that black and gold bike up Route 100 in Vermont. Then I would wander back to Fitchburg and sit up on the roof on Elm Street and fall asleep under the bright stars.

It was such an amazing summer.

Fast forward to this past weekend and the Old School is Cool 1st Sunday of the month ride to eat in West Boylston. Seeing some cool old bikes and chatting with riding buddies has become such a fun way to spend a few hours once a month. There was a 1991 CBR250RR there, a nice clean RZ350 and several Honda CB's.

Then I saw it, a postcard from my past! A 1980 GS450S, and S! You see the S version of Suzuki's GS line was pretty rare, even back in 1980 it was rare. Most GS were the Standard L models. This one wasn't the black model but that didn't matter. Somehow, I didn't see it pull in, so I wasn't sure who rode it in. I found this table of gentlemen around my age and went up and said, "who's on that GS450?" Probably a little too enthusiastically too, because the owner said, its mine and it's for sale! Want to take it for a ride was his next comment!

Talk about a time machine!

You might be wondering, Jim did you buy from him?

To be continued.....

[jodilin65]

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1988 Without saying a word, I called Kevin to see if he’d say anything. He did. He said, “So, you’re gonna move to the Hamden East condos, huh?”

This is in response to my mentioning that during my little phone games. Anyway, the little asshole sounded nervous as all hell, breathing heavily.

Ma called this morning at 9:30 to say Daddy was fine and that they were able to do a triple bypass on him.

I was pissed last night cuz Tammy went down there without me, but Philip said if God forbid anything happens he’ll take me down to Florida. Uncle Marty was pissed at Ma cuz she never called him about dad. They found out by me cuz yesterday I tried to reach Tammy in Salem and I found out through Bill’s parents.

I almost missed Ma’s call last night cuz Crystal keeps turning off the ringer on my pink phone and forgetting to turn it on again, so this morning I told Crystal not to shut the ringer off if she couldn’t remember to turn it back on.

At 2:30, I have to see Dr. Franklin. I’ll walk there. In fact, I’ll start walking now.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1988 Today is my usual appointment with Rose at 3:00 but I doubt Community Care is open today because it’s Washington’s birthday. I called PCS and they said the buses are running.

I also called Emily, but she was a bitch cuz she just woke up so I didn’t even waste my time talking to her.

Crystal is still asleep as I thought she’d be. She goes to sleep late like I used to.

It looks like she did get fired from McDonald’s. I don’t think she ever gave a damn about the job and I don’t think she wants to work. What with all the money she owes her old landlord for rent, the gas company, the phone company, the electric company - she’s up shit’s creek. All I know is I better get my rent money.

I guess she’s never gonna get the garbage bags she said she’d get. Looks like I’m gonna have to get them, but the bitch is gonna pay me back. She’s gonna buy her share of household needs and do her share of chores or she can pack her shit and go.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1988 I’m so pissed at myself! I bought 2 packs of cigarettes. It seems I can never quit. I’m so pissed! I can’t breathe, and I wanted to save the money.

Tuesday I must remember to go to my sign language class. I was so pissed off at myself for forgetting last week. Nervioso was so jealous he couldn’t take me to my classes. I haven’t seen him in 4 days and I never felt better.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1988 Crystal came home early with a bad ulcer. She said she went to the ER. She can’t work tomorrow or the day after. I hope she doesn’t get fired.

I have smoked only 4 cigarettes today, but it pisses me off that I just can’t cut it out for good.

Got some books in the mail today. I was pissed that they sent me a book I already have. I wonder when I’ll get my books for getting Crystal in as a member.

Later…

I didn’t do too much today but tomorrow I am going to go down to welfare to pick up my photo ID. I’m also going to call the bank to see if my other check came and pick up a few things at Food Mart.

Crystal is listening to the radio now. Earlier I was teaching her some signs.

It’s been quite pleasant not seeing Nervioso for a few days. I really want nothing more to do with him.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1988 Today I woke up at 9am. I went to get that Nicorette gum the doctor gave me a prescription for yesterday to try to help me quit smoking. He said my lungs were so bad and that I needed to quit. I think I’ve had 9 cigarettes altogether today, but a few hours ago I became deadly determined. I’m only 22, so it’s now or never. Better to get it over with and to have smoked for 8 years rather than for 40. Besides, singers shouldn’t smoke, and I could save $80 - $100 a month.

Later…

Just a little while ago the urge to smoke was quite bad but I didn’t touch it! I chewed the gum.

I’m so damn pissed, though. I forgot all about my sign class tonight!

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1988 I’m downtown now and I have been for almost 4 hours. At 9am, I walked down here and went to SIS, my bank. It looks like I have gotten my checks. Thank God!

Afterward, I went to Friendly’s, then saw Rose. Personally, I think she sucks!

I’m now on Chestnut St. waiting to see the doctor. What much can he do? I need to quit smoking, but it is just so damn hard!

The nurse just weighed me at 118 pounds. I’m so fat! I sure as hell hope I lose it this spring like I usually do.

[immortal-elements]

So I know y'all don't like NFT's, I don't either, fuck em. But, can I share with y'all perhaps the funniest use-case for them that is either the biggest nothing burger, a massive grift, or the coolest shit ever?

Like, pure and utter tinfoil hat time, incredibly longwinded explanation of financial crime and the grassroots movement to punish it, but I love shit like this, and this last week has been fascinating for fiscal speculation.

Ok, so backstory. Wu-Tang clan made an album that was never released to the public, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. It was sold at auction for an egregious amount of money to Martin Shkreli. Yes, that Martin Shkreli. It was then seized by the US Department of Justice after Shkreli jacked up the price of insulin and other life saving drugs. Afterwards, it was bought by an NFT company, PleasrDAO. They are currently in possession of it, and by court order they cannot legally sell it for 100 years. However they are teasing that they will release this to the public, not sell it, but they haven't specified how, (but, doesn't take a genius to figure out, probably as some sort of NFT).

Now, completely side tangent that is going to get way too long. In order for any of this to make sense, you must see the bigger picture. GameStop stock has been going crazy in the last few years. I'm sure that some of you remember the time Reddit broke the economy and made a bunch of billionaires cry. When it was found out that hedge funds had counterfeited and diluted the supply of gamestop shares by 240%? (Meaning that every single share that gamestop ever issued was sold short not just once, but twice and then some! Imagine selling the same thing to 3 different people? Imagine how rich you could be if you could sell things you no longer have possession of as many times as you want? That's the reality that banks live in, this is why fractional reserve banking needs to die.)

Well, that never stopped, it's just been swept under the rug. The current theory is that after they shut off retail's ability to buy shares, and broadcast to the entire world "show's over, nothing to see here!", they doubled down on the bad bet. The reason for doing this is because, and I truly believe this is the case, had they let it run then several of the biggest wall street players would go bankrupt. They wanted to sweep it under the rug and kick the can in the hopes that the dumb money on reddit would lose interest. They didn't. Reddit has spent the last 3 years accruing more and more shares. You have the winning hand and your opponent is trying to convince you that you've lost? You say "ok buddy", and go for the kill. As it stands, approximately 25% of the company is owned by a single subreddit, and they've found ways to remove shares from the system entirely, locking them up in their own names. The goal is, once every single share is locked up in direct registration, and wall street is still trading it like nothing is out of the ordinary, Gamestop has a very strong legal case against wall street fraudulence.

The SEC report on the events of January 2021 in fact support this theory, saying that it was retail buying sentiment that caused the spike from $20 to $483, and not short sellers closing. The thousands of articles saying "forget gamestop" for years after we were told that supposedly the show was over also seems to reinforce this, Streisand effect, y'know? In the last couple weeks, it's gone absolutely nuts, spiking from $10 up to $80, then back down to about $20. (mind you, adjusting for the stock split gamestop had a while back, to put it into perspective of the january 2021 events, that's basically $40 up to $320, down to $80. stock splits are weird, but basically every share is worth 1/4th as much, but now there are 4 times as many shares).

Plus, I'm way more willing to believe that the uber rich banks are lying, greedy, cheating fucks than I am to believe that they repurchased and delivered every single share of the company over twice over.

Now, 3 years later on down the line, GameStop has filed paperwork that would allow them to issue various dividends. Normally, when a company issues a dividend to its shareholders, it is in the form of cash or cash equivalents, or more shares of their company. However, in this new era of digital currencies being accepted into finance at large, NFTs are trying to make headway, (again, for better or for worse). And as such, I think that an NFT dividend could be the kill shot.

Here's why: NFTs whole gimmick is that they are non-fungible, and thus entirely unique, and cannot be duplicated. And that NFT could be anything. Yeah, the JPEGs and the monkeys were dumb, but that's not the only use case. Making an NFT that acts as a key to something else, like, say, an album, would be entirely possible. Since they couldn't be reasonably duplicated, if GameStop were to issue an NFT dividend, making one key to this album for every single share they've ever issued, then every short seller must deliver on that NFT for every share they've sold short or counterfeited. Which, since they are non-fungible, they can't. This forces one of two things. They MUST close their short position, OR they MUST go and buy those NFT's in order to deliver them. Ok, but what's the wu-tang and gamestop connection? Despite the fact that Gamestop dipped it's toes into the NFT market by creating it's own wallet and marketplace, aside from the trail of breadcrumbs that both gamestop and PleasrDAO have seemingly left that I won't be getting into, the biggest clue is on PleasrDAO's website in the code itself. The javascript code on the website ping's Plaid's API. Plaid is used to connect to your brokerages/banks to verify holdings. Why does this website check specifically for gamestop holdings?

Now, time for the world's largest grain of salt. Occam's razer would say "Because NFT fucks have been dickriding the grassroots market reform movement of Gamestop in order to shill out their shitcoins", and by and large I am willing to say this, but there is a small piece of me that wants to believe.

Wu-Tang's most famous song, C.R.E.A.M., is about how Cash Rules Everything Around Me, it's about wealth inequality and how the poorest people are forced to resort to desperate measures to make ends meet. It's about the hopelessness of a capitalist system that traps people into crime and poverty just to stay alive. I want to believe that the album that was hoarded by one of the greediest fuckers on the planet will get distributed to the people as a giant "fuck you, pay me" to all the other greediest fucks on the planet. Cash truly does rule everything around us, dolla dolla bill y'all.