#ben dougan

[kralikincisulugoz]

KAPICILAR KRALI

Sen hiç neredeyse birinci olan adamın hikayesini duydun mu? Neredeyse başaran, az kalsın şampiyon olan takımı? Duydun mu böyle bir hikaye? Duymadın, yok çünkü. En iyilerin hikayesi olur. Ödül kazananındır. Şampiyonun marşı okunur, şarkılar ona yazılır.

İşte tüm bu sebeplerden dolayı koşmak zorundayım. Asla duramam, durup dinlenemem. Serin sulara ayağımı sokup aşk şiirleri okuyamam. En iyisi olmak zorundayım. Bu yola girdiysem, bunun sebeplerini de sorgulayamam. Süreç... her şeyim. Sonuç... sürece sadık bir orospu, orada beni bekliyor. Kapıları açmaya devam ettiğim müddetçe bir gün elbette karşıma çıkacak. Ben sadece o kapıdan o kapıya koşmak zorundayım. -Neden peki neden? -Sorgulayamam dedim ya, dev böyle dedi çünkü, ben sadece koşacağım...

[davalynbaker]

Shady as F*ck [Season 1, Ep. 5]

To recap: In the previous episode, Issa found herself back in Daniel’s face despite successfully avoiding him after an awkward encounter. Lawrence is finding emotional solace in Tasha the bank teller. And I feel like it’s my duty as a citizen of the United States to remind y’all that Molly is dating Jidenna.

This episode was written by Ben Dougan and directed by Melina Matsoukas.

Issa panics about the students knowing about her “Broken Pussy” rap at open mic night. This is the catalyst for her reuniting with Daniel. I think the build-up to get Issa back alone with Daniel was a clunky transition but kids making a meme out of you rapping “Broken Pussy” is embarrassing. So we’ll go with it.

Issa spends the entire day worried about her boss finding out about it. She talks with Lawrence previously, who assures her that the kids won’t remember it. Memes are a dime a dozen. And if you spend any time on any social media platform, you’ll find yourself going along with the extremely fast pace of memeing people. Either way, these bad-ass kids don’t forget it.

Issa takes refuge in Molly to use her fancy attorney skills but this becomes a moment where Molly inserts herself back into Jered’s life to inquire about who could possibly have uploaded the video. Molly’s just using Issa’s plight as an excuse to speak to an ex that clearly she still has feelings for.

I have to say, this was the moment I found myself asking if Molly and Issa were actually as close as the show was trying to convince us but I digress…

Although Molly is calling up Jered, she’s in the middle of a situationship with Chris (aka Jidenna) and trying very hard to make an unofficial thing official. Through a very awkward exchange of talking but not out loud, Molly invites Chris to an engagement party. From what I can assume, they spent the weekend together after having their first date?

We’re only five episodes in but Molly is very desperate for this particular type of relationship that’s honestly headed nowhere. Her obsession with the man being perfect on paper is actually backfiring on her. Also, men are just dumb. And Molly’s giving them way too much.

While Molly is rekindling her friendship with Jered, Issa is now venting about her “Broken Pussy” problem with Daniel. He promises that he’ll take care of it for her...which is an empty promise to be fair because nobody is doing a modicum of the research required to find who could have shared the picture. He asks her to drop her off at the studio and they end up spending the entire day together. Issa refuses to speak up and say no to Daniel because she simply does not want to. That’s the truth of it. She kept walking around and following behind because that is exactly what she wanted to do. No amounts of freestyle rap in the car or the staff bathroom are going to ever fix that.

Lawrence has lunch with Chad who tells him that he’s getting married. It seems out of the blue because it is and because Chad is the type of man that does not hesitate to do things he feels may be the right choice, even if they might be wrong. Anyway, he asks Lawrence about Issa and marriage and Lawrence says that he’s trying to get his shit together. Chad actually offers some decent advice because he feels like Lawrence is shuffling his feet. If he really wants to be with Issa on paper they could just “get their shit together - together.”

Later on, Tasha the bank teller comes to flirt with Lawrence who politely rejects her advances but feels pretty good about himself knowing that a baddie was throwing it at him. Tasha the Bank Teller IS a baddie.

Molly spends her day getting ready for her coworker’s engagement party while Chris aka Jidenna doesn’t seem invested in actually going. Later at the party though, he swoops in to save the day. Molly is swooning by now because he claims the title of “boyfriend” but later admits that he definitely did not mean that when Molly asked him if he was serious.

The conversation basically went:

Molly: Why did you say that if you didn’t mean it? Chris: Because you needed a win.

I would never let a man, let alone a light-skin one disrespect me like this! But whatever, Molly was pushing up on him to make something out of nothing but he didn’t actually speak up and tell her not to rush into things so this isn’t entirely Molly’s fault. Sometimes, people can smell the desperation and continue to stick around despite that. It’s unhealthy and I never understood doing it as an excuse of not wanting to hurt someone’s feelings because eventually, that will happen. That’s just life. The band aid still pulls the skin no matter how fast or slow you do it.

Hurt, Molly tells him to leave and spends the rest of the night getting drunk. Instead of calling Issa, she goes to Jered’s house for some pity sex. Jered ain’t buying it and puts her ass on the couch to sleep. Jered is really too good for the Insecure universe. Shout out to Jered watching an episode of 'Conjugal Visits' with a nice cameo from Leah A. Williams who played Dolores 'Sister Mary' Clarence on The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.

At Daniel’s studio, Issa attempts to head out but Daniel asks her to stay and have a drink. She stays. Hmm. They reminisce a little bit. Daniel then encourages Issa to rap in the booth. It’s met with hesitation but eventually, she does and finds complete solace in it. The best thing about Daniel is that he really does bring out the best in Issa but also the absolute worst. As we eventually see.

They talk about the hows and whys of why a relationship never came to be and this leads to them being booty-butt naked in his studio having sex. Issa had to have seen this coming, no matter WHAT she says in the future episodes. Whatever the case may be… she’s done it now.

Issa goes into the bathroom to clean up and gets post-nut clarity. Yes girl, you are a dirty ass cheater! One of my favorite songs (St. Beauty’s “Borders”) plays as she has the walk of supreme shame. I mean, she cheated. That shit’s shameful.

My final thought is a controversial one, I liked that the episode ended with Issa cheating. Mainly because I love mess but also because so often, we don’t see female characters make terrible ass decisions like this. As someone who is working on a novel where the female protagonist cheats on her spouse, I really spent years fighting with the decision because I was afraid of how readers would receive her.

It can’t be stated enough that genuinely written characters are like real people. They fuck up. They make really bad choices that come to bite them in the ass later. It was a risky choice, I’m sure but I think Issa Rae and the writers room did something really good here. It speaks about Issa as a person and her relationship with Lawrence, which is honestly still going nowhere at this point. And her inability to listen (based on Molly’s advice falling on deaf ears) when she wants to do something even if it’s a bad decision. It builds characters. And yes, even when the character chooses not to listen to good advice.

Plus, she got hers. And I’ll cheer for that.

Not the cheating though.

[nofatclips]

Summer Nights by SIAMÉS (featuring Barbie Williams) from the upcoming album Home - Directed & Animated by Rudo Co.

[igazikutya]

Zajok a nappaliból – Traxelektor 2021 02

A Skinny Puppy nevű egészpályás világszatírában főszereplő első Kevin, Kevin Crompton alias cEvin Key várva várt szólóalbuma február 19-én bújt elő a kulisszák mögül. Az underground elektronika egyik legnagyobb ütemfelelősének szomorúan nézem fészbúk oldalát, amint évről-évre februárban és augusztusban tömör szívszaggató emlékposztokban tiszteleg a vancouveri Subconscious érát túlvilágira cserélő alkotótársairól, az 1995-ben elhunyt Dwayne R. Goettelről és a 2019-ben eltávozott Phil Westernről. (a naptári möbiusz, hogy Dwayne egy februári napon született és egy augusztusin halt meg, Phil pedig fordítva) Szóval nem lesz már Download, és már Genesis P-Orridge se fog beugrani, hogy felmormogjon a stúdióban valami köldökremegtető ezoipari nembientódát, és persze, hogy Goettel szintizsenije már rég nincs, ám Phil Western mégiscsak afféle kötőanyaga volt ennek az alkotói körnek. Így ez a mostani cEvin Key szóló igazából nem is annyira szóló, mint inkább egy download lemez, hiszen cEvin maradt egyedül a DL. És úgy is indul a Resonance, a nyitó Thirteen bármely utóbbi downloadon lehetne. Azért ezt a magányt ellensúlyozandó, hívott maga mellé vendégjátékosokat: Edvard KaSpel (The Legendary Pink Dots), IAMX (Chris Corner, Snekaer Pimps) Traz Damji (The Humble Brothers), a torokénekes Soriah és Otto Von Schirach (harmadik szemfeszegető a Bermuda-háromszögből) személyében. Sőt a Resonance-t valójában cEvin Key és a Subconscious Electronic Orchestra jegyzi (mint a ’98-as Music for Cats-t is), ami az én megfejtésem szerint a stúdióban lévő hangszerek és fent említettek szellemeinek kollaborációja.

Már régóta esedékes volt egy szerzői Clouds album, a harmadik. Igazságtalan vagyok, hiszen tavaly sorra jöttek a banda Arkiv kiadványai (1-3), de azok bármilyen ütősek is voltak, retrospektív válogatások maradtak. És azt hiszem egy korszak lezárásai is lehettek, egyfajta alkotói raktárkisöprés, a The Parallel pedig  egy új fejezet nyitánya. Múlt héten sikerült 2-3 nap alatt lepörgetnem az Expanse sorozat negyedik évadát, és adja magát gondolat, hogy jajj, de nézném azt a sci-fit, aminek a Parallel a soundtrack-je, ti is imádnátok! A skót duó egyik értékes jellemvonása, hogy a rájuk jellemző hangzás az albumon átívelő műfaji sokszínűségre van ráfeszítve, miközben egészében nézve egy industrial/ idm/ techno albumot hallunk, az néha tört, néha egyenes és pöröly, esetleg dark trance és downtemp, vagy ambient – ez a fajta egységbe foglalt sokszínűség az elektronika klasszikus korszakára (és annak ikonikus kiadványaira) volt nagyon jellemző. Az album digitális kiadványához újfent mellékeltek a srácok egy pdf-et, mely tartalmazza a teljes grafikai dizájnt, ugyanis a Clouds lemezek minden felvételéhez más borító van hozzárendelve. A lemezt végig belengi valamiféle archaikus fantasy töltet (miközben továbbra is ül a sci-fi párhuzam is). Amúgy az egyik csókát Calum Macleod-nak hívják (társa Liam Robertson), hú ez messze vezet, mélygarázs, filmzene, kardrabeáta, nemröhög, fejrevigyáz!

Keresztény Madár barátunk önnön újjászületéséről szóló hangosfilmje tölgyválasszal kezdődik (When You Can't Go Clubbing Anymore And Have To Dance With Oaks). A hosszas izoláció következtében történt mentális borulás eredményeképp berlini lakásában fákkal táncoló Cristian elméje avatari zuhanásba kezd, a formák szétesnek hullámokra, a gondolatok ízekké és illatokká párolognak, vizet szürcsöl és oxigént lélegez kifelé, a szoba szertefoszlik, lelke magasba száll, elméje kitisztul és egy nagyon snájdig cserép kaktuszként materializálódik a Heizkraftwerk Berlin-Mitte hőerőmű egyik irodájának ablakában, ami pont a bezárt Tresorra néz. Konstatálva a bárminemű küzdelem hiábavalóságát és a bármennyi erőbevitellel elért ugyanaz csak formájában más eredmény megvalósulását, felenged benne a szabadság iránti vágy és a saját ágyában ébred. A német technoszcéna egyik legkevésbé értett zsenije Cristian Vogel 1993 óta üti a vasat, és bár kezdetben elég sarkos, karcos hangzás jellemezte, azon művek mélyén is ott figyelt az agyas matek, a kis fekete keretes szemüveges könyvelőnek álcázott ritmusmanipulátor géniusza. Az évek folyamán elképesztő sok formában bolyongta körbe saját univerzumát, a Rebirth of Wonky a 25. sorlemeze, nem beszélve a sok kollaborációról (Supercollider!), pszeudóról. Azért ez a lemez most, mintha valami csúcsa lenne a vogeli időpiramisnak, mintha több kísérleti irány, amik eljutottak valameddig, talán ideiglenesen el is haltak, most összeértek volna ebben a multidimenzionális absztraktban. Itt végletek állnak egymás kezét fogva, táncolhatatlan dancetémák, eggyé huzagolt töredékek csusszannak nedves csigacsendben a sötét végtelenekbe, amiket a ritmika köré rendezett vogeli dubok nyitnak meg számukra. Őszintén mondom, lenyűgöz ennek a palinak az elméje, újjáteremtésének történetében annyira sűrű fluidot hozott össze, mint a sztartrekes vörösanyag neonfény nélkül, a három perc hatnak, a tíz huszonötnek tűnik. Ez egy nagyon sokszor hallgatós lemez, ami sokadikra is képes újabb rétegeit megmutatni, ugyanis elemei a megfigyelés hatására újrarendeződnek. Kvantumban-fogantatás.

Brian Dougans és Garry Cobain duója, az örökéletűnek tűnő The Future Sound of London nevű intézmény a leíró ambient szentségének földi helytartója. Nem létezik olyan kísérlet, amely ennyire komplexen képes lett volna megzenésíteni a környezetet, és ezt a hagyományt a vadonatúj Music For 3 Books albumukon is hallhatjuk, annyi pontosítással, hogy ez a lemez az „environment-sound” és az 1995-ös ISDN hangulata között van valahol. Az FSOL idén már 31 éves pályafutással a háta mögött zenél, az album is tükröz némi érettséget, de a bőrruhába dinósodott rokkerek rutinját felejtsük el gyorsan, ugyanis  ez az elektronika gond nélkül illeszkedik bele 2021 zeneiségébe.  

Oliver Ho industrial-noise-techno projektje, a Broken English Club elérkezett White Rats sorozatának harmadik részéhez, és azt hiszem ez lett a legerősebb a háromból, nagyon egyben van, feszes,  energikus és tartalmas.  Írtam már sok mindent a paliról korábban, nem is rizsálnék róla, inkább itt egy kisfilm az alkotóról az alkotótól:

Andreas Tilliander egyszer már megmentett egy bulit számomra, és ezt soha nem felejtem el neki, amikor is a Richie Hawtin presents Enter.London elnevezésű csalódást keltő rendezvény egyik szerény, mégis kellemes pislákoló fénypontjaként live act-elt 2015 tavaszán a Tobacco Dockban. A svéd úrember nem véletlen volt egy Richie Hawtin buli fellépője, a kevesek egyikének számít, aki képes az acid-dub-techno műfajt mindenféle erőlködés nélkül élvezetesen előadni, és abszolút nem probléma számára az élőben varázslás sem. Rolandokkal táncoló Andrásunk hosszú utat járt be. A 2013-as TM404 szűken koncepcionált albuma után eljutott a sikerrel és élőzésekkel járó technora gyorsulás kanyaraiba is, majd megpróbálta Echologist-tel (Brendon Moellerrel) duóban távolítani magát az eredetileg hasznos, de idővel kinőtt hangzásbéli elképzeléstől, hogy aztán most a Syra-val egy lecsupaszított, szobazenévé visszalassult, tillianderesen intelligens zenei ösvényen barangolhassunk, ahol azért találunk néha rohanós részeket is (Rymdeko). A Syra remek megerősítés is, miszerint nem elhamarkodott a TM404-t Plastikman neve mellett emlegetni, és talán az album közepén hallható „1998” track részéről is egy link abba a plastikman-i korszakba, amikor az Artifacts és Consumed született.

És a végére egy kijövés: sose szerettem igazán a Depeche Mode-ot, és ha valakit választani kellett volna belőlük, akkor az az Alain Wilder géniusza (Recoil), és bár hallgattam elégszer DM albumokat, frászt kaptam sokszor a Martin Gore ömlengéseitől, nem elvitatva szerepét, tudását, blablabla... „Ne mondd, hogy szeretsz, ez így nem jó!” És akkor itt ez a Third Chimpanzee című EP, amiről 3 tracket válogattam be a Traxelektorba, mert olyan, amilyen a DM brand soha nem volt, és sajnos nem is lett. Hát igen srácok, a biznisz ugye

Megjelenések:

Adam Pits - Piston Pump [2021, X-Kalay][EP] Anatolian Weapons - Mantili [2021, Kame House][S] Broken English Club - White Rats III [2021, L.I.E.S.][LP]

cEvin Key - Resonance [2021, Sub-Conscious Communications][LP] Clouds - The Parallel [2021, The Parallel][LP] Cristian Vogel - Rebirth Of Wonky [2021, Endless Process][LP] Future Sound Of London, The - Music For 3 Books [2021, Self-released][LP] Jensen Interceptor - Master Control Program [2021, Unknown To The Unknown][EP] Martin Gore - The Third Chimpanzee [2021, Mute][EP]

Moist 96 - S-T [2021, L.I.E.S.][LP] Slam - Final Conflict [2021, Soma][EP]

Thorofon · Eva 3 - La Théorie du Diable [2021, Ant-Zen][S] TM404 - Syra [2021, Kontra-Musik][LP] VA - Dalmata Daniel x EXILES x Farbwechsel [2021, Farbwechsel][4LP-Comp]

Traxelektor:

Spotify playlist (66/83, 5:59/7:03) Aktuális fülbemászók: Új Látásmód Fúzió - A lehetőségek távlatai Anatolian Weapons - Mantili

Traxelektor 2021 02

214 - Alpenglow [Exposure To Winds, 20:20 Vision] Adam Pits - Kino der Toten [Piston Pump, X-Kalay] Adam Pits - Piston Pump [Piston Pump, X-Kalay]

Anatolian Weapons - Mantili [Mantili, Kame House] Anatolian Weapons - To The Stars [Mantili, Kame House] Arnaud Rebotini - Shiny Black Leather [Shiny Black Leather, Mannequin]

Automat - Slacid [Acid Avengers 017, Acid Avengers] Broken English Club - Alone In The Hunt [White Rats III, L.I.E.S.] Broken English Club - Lord of The Flies [White Rats III, L.I.E.S.] Broken English Club - Shadows and Tall Trees [White Rats III, L.I.E.S.] Broken English Club - The Kill [White Rats III, L.I.E.S.] Broken English Club - They Burned The Villages [White Rats III, L.I.E.S.] cEvin Key - Orange Dragonfly [Resonance, Sub-Conscious Communications] cEvin Key - Resonance [Resonance, Sub-Conscious Communications] cEvin Key - Thirteen [Resonance, Sub-Conscious Communications] cEvin Key with Edward KaSpel - Night Flower [Resonance, Sub-Conscious Communications] Clouds - An t-Samhain [The Parallel, The Parallel] Clouds - Cernunnos [The Parallel, The Parallel] Clouds - Geistinh [The Parallel, The Parallel] Clouds - Kriegerin an Shadow [The Parallel, The Parallel] Clouds - Oakzeit [The Parallel, The Parallel] Clouds - Orcadian Dialect [The Parallel, The Parallel] Cristian Vogel - Acido Amigo [Rebirth Of Wonky, Endless Process] Cristian Vogel - Peace La Roche [Rebirth Of Wonky, Endless Process] Cristian Vogel - The All Clear [Rebirth Of Wonky, Endless Process] Cristian Vogel - Thuja [Rebirth Of Wonky, Endless Process] CT Kidobó - miskolc Beat [VA - Dalmata Daniel x EXILES x Farbwechsel,Farbwechsel] CT Kidobó & SVR101 - キメるコカコーラ[VA - Dalmata Daniel x EXILES x Farbwechsel,Farbwechsel]

Developer - Nothing But Trouble [Archive 012, Developer Archive] Developer - Still Fuckable [Archive 012, Developer Archive] DJ Deeon & Jensen Interceptor - Sweat [Master Control Program, Unknown To The Unknown] Ena - Adaptation [One Draw, Nullpunkt] Eva-3 - Théorie- Redux [La Théorie du Diable, Ant-Zen] Granite Mask - EC Rivals [Time Elapsed, Opal Tapes] Granite Mask - Turn Around [Time Elapsed, Opal Tapes]

ICR - Neurosis of Waiting [VA - Dalmata Daniel x EXILES x Farbwechsel,Farbwechsel] Imre Kiss - Sällhet [VA - Dalmata Daniel x EXILES x Farbwechsel,Farbwechsel] Interstellar Funk & Robert Valera - Devil's Juice [Devil's Juice, Artificial Dance] Interstellar Funk & Robert Valera - Klangin [Devil's Juice, Artificial Dance] Interstellar Funk & Robert Valera - Northsea [Devil's Juice, Artificial Dance]

Jensen Interceptor - Ridin' [Master Control Program, Unknown To The Unknown] Maks Et Sipowicz - Signal Ffp [VA - Dalmata Daniel x EXILES x Farbwechsel,Farbwechsel]

Mala Herba - Comber [Demonologia, aufnahme + wiedergabe] Mala Herba - Dawaj [Demonologia, aufnahme + wiedergabe] Mala Herba - Kupaly [Demonologia, aufnahme + wiedergabe]

Martin Gore - Capuchin [The Third Chimpanzee, Mute] Martin Gore - Howler [The Third Chimpanzee, Mute] Martin Gore - Vervet [The Third Chimpanzee, Mute] Mike Nylons - Anger Management [VA - Dalmata Daniel x EXILES x Farbwechsel,Farbwechsel] Moist 96 - 1996 [S-T, L.I.E.S.] Moist 96 - Carjul [S-T, L.I.E.S.] Moist 96 - TGK [S-T, L.I.E.S.]

Normal Tamas - Sub [VA - Dalmata Daniel x EXILES x Farbwechsel,Farbwechsel] Norwell - Broken Symmetry [VA - Dalmata Daniel x EXILES x Farbwechsel,Farbwechsel] Om Unit - Bristol Theme [Acid Dub Studies, Self-Released] Om Unit - Celestial Envoy [Acid Dub Studies, Self-Released]

Panoramic Barrier - Éjszakai Kiránduló [VA - Dalmata Daniel x EXILES x Farbwechsel,Farbwechsel] Prefuse 73 - Remembering the Past Through This Riot Pt.2 [The Failing Institute of Drums & Other Percussion, Self-Released] Prefuse 73 - Taped Up Low Hum [The Failing Institute of Drums & Other Percussion, Self-Released] Prefuse 73 - The Man & Who He Really Is Pt.4 [The Failing Institute of Drums & Other Percussion, Self-Released] Sematic4 feat Microbeat - Kutyakutatóűrállomás [VA - Dalmata Daniel x EXILES x Farbwechsel,Farbwechsel] Shcuro - Obsession [Acid Avengers 017, Acid Avengers]

Slam - Cosmo Disko [Final Conflict, Soma] Slam - Pyrrhic [Final Conflict, Soma] Tarotplane - Panther Walk [Horizontology, 12th Isle] Tarotplane - Ritual Believer [Horizontology, 12th Isle]

The Bug - Red Rhythms - Memorial Version [Red Rhythms Vol​.​2, Self-released] The Bug - Red Rhythms - No Version [Red Rhythms Vol​.​1, Self-released] The Bug - Red Rhythms - One Dog Version [Red Rhythms Vol​.​1, Self-released]

The Future Sound Of London - Magnify Within The Thought [Music For 3 Books, Self-released] The Future Sound Of London - Replace I With You [Music For 3 Books, Self-released] The Future Sound Of London - Skylines [Music For 3 Books, Self-released] The Future Sound Of London - Take Umbrage [Music For 3 Books, Self-released] The Future Sound Of London - The Whispering Masses [Music For 3 Books, Self-released] The Future Sound Of London - Turbulent Haze [Music For 3 Books, Self-released] Thorofon - Devil's Share [La Théorie du Diable, Ant-Zen]

TM404 - 1998 [Syra, Kontra-Musik] TM404 - Oxfor [Syra, Kontra-Musik] TM404 - Roofto [Syra, Kontra-Musik] TM404 - Rymdeko [Syra, Kontra-Musik] Új Látásmód Fúzió - A lehetőségek távlatai [VA - Dalmata Daniel x EXILES x Farbwechsel,Farbwechsel] Volruptus & Jensen Interceptor - Alien Realm [Big Bang Energy, Sweaty] Volruptus & Jensen Interceptor - End of the Human Race [Big Bang Energy, Sweaty]

[fromthedust]

SAXAPHONIC

4-color serigraph (silkscreen print) on Arches paper - 15″ x 22½″

edition of 8

synesthesia: Benny Carter/Ben Webster/Coleman Hawkins playing sax . . . 

[yasbxxgie]

We saw two of the writers, Ben Dougan — he’s a white guy — and he was with Dayna Lynne North, a black woman, and they were having lunch together outside one day. We gave them a hard time and pretended like they were having an affair. He’s married. Then someone came up with the name: Dougan — Due — and her last name is North — Due North. And we were like, Oh, forbidden love affair. Then it just turned into, we should make this a slave show. And it just grew from there. We made a logo, which is a heart with chains. Then Natasha Rothwell, who plays Kelli on the show, and Ben Cory Jones wrote the episodes. Natasha wrote way too many things. They wrote like 30 pages, eight-to-ten episodes. [We were like] that’s more than you write for Insecure!

Issa Rae Vulture: Due North Was Inspired by a Joke About Two Insecure Writers Having an Affair

[televisionpromos]

Insecure 3x03 "Backwards-Like" Promo - Issa is inspired while recruiting at a job fair with Frieda. Later, she treats Daniel to a thank-you dinner as she remains hopeful about their future. Molly starts her dream job at a black-owned law firm. Written by Ben Dougan; directed by Mo Marable.

[ahundred-andathousandmore]

Day 8: Doune, Stirling & Back Home!

Day 1: Culross & Inverness

Day 2: Loch Ness, Culloden, Dunrobin Castle & John O’ Groats

Day 3: John O’Groats, Castle Mey & More

Day 4: Dunnet, Ullapool, Isle of Skye

Day 5: Isle of Skye

Day 6: Eilean Donan Castle, Ben Nevis & Fort William

Day 7: Glenfinnan Viaduct, Glencoe, Inveraray & Oban

Ok, FINALLY posting about the last day of our Highlands trip (two weeks after getting home, whoops!)

We left a rainy Oban and drove to Doune Castle, which if you don’t know is Castle Leoch in Outlander! Much of the Castle is in ruins, but you can still do a tour of the castle and the grounds, which I would recommend as an Outlander fan FOR SURE. Sam Heughan actually narrates part of the audio guide, SWOON. You get a lot of cool behind the scenes info on how they filmed, which I found really interesting. Also Monty Python was filmed there blah blah blah, clearly I had one interest and one interest only in visiting!! 

None of the internal scenes at Leoch were filmed inside the castle, but rather rooms were reproduced exactly on the sound stage in Cumbernauld

I believe in episode 2, although don’t quote me, Claire walks along the top of the castle and looks down on the grounds (she sees Dougan playing with his son); this was filmed up there, yikes!)

The front of the Castle not only was the entrance to Castle Leoch, but they turned it into something else for filming as well... but because it’s been two weeks I have completely forgotten what. Sorry!

I bought a souvenir there, too, like a giant nerd

I’m such a dork SOS... also this shirt makes like no sense but whatevs

Then we drove to Stirling for lunch. There’s a lovely castle in Stirling, as well as a pretty cool Victorian Graveyard, the Wallce Monument, etc., but I’ve done just about all of that before and we were all anxious to get home, so we just had a quick bite in a pub before heading back to Edinburgh. 

Views from the Stirling Castle carpark

And then we were home! It was the most amazing trip, I feel so incredibly lucky to get to call this beautiful country my home. As fun as it was, I was ready to get back home to my son.

He was less enthused about our reunion.

If you have any questions about traveling in Scotland, where we stayed, what we ate, what I’d recommend, etc please feel free to comment or message me!! 

[statelytrees]

Planting mini-forests in eastern Pennsylvania

Planting mini-forests in eastern Pennsylvania

Collaborative summary of a project undertaken by Esther Cisneros-Ramos, Tessa Dougan, Lauren Hagerty, Isabella Jacavone, Louise Bugbee, Ben Felzer, and Bob Booth Development of forest and agricultural land is likely unavoidable in some regions. There is a clear need to advance our understanding of ways to minimize the negative impacts of this development on wildlife and ecosystem services. For…

[lesser-known-composers]

Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki - Conductus Funebris: IV. Salve Regina ·

The Sixteen ·  · Eamonn Dougan · Charlotte Mobbs · Martha McLorinan · Jeremy Budd · Ben Davies

[mediaevalmusereads]

The Highwayman. By Kerrigan Byrne. St. Martin’s, 2015.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Part of a Series? Yes, Victorian Rebels #1

Summary: Dorian Blackwell, the Blackheart of Ben More, is a ruthless villain. Scarred and hard-hearted, Dorian is one of London’s wealthiest, most influential men who will stop at nothing to wreak vengeance on those who’ve wronged him…and will fight to the death to seize what he wants. The lovely, still innocent widow Farah Leigh Mackenzie is no exception—and soon Dorian whisks the beautiful lass away to his sanctuary in the wild Highlands… But Farah is no one’s puppet. She possesses a powerful secret—one that threatens her very life. When being held captive by Dorian proves to be the only way to keep Farah safe from those who would see her dead, Dorian makes Farah a scandalous proposition: marry him for protection in exchange for using her secret to help him exact revenge on his enemies. But what the Blackheart of Ben More never could have imagined is that Farah has terms of her own, igniting a tempestuous desire that consumes them both. Could it be that the woman he captured is the only one who can touch the black heart he’d long thought dead?

***Full review under the cut.***

Content Warnings: graphic sexual content, violence, blood, misogynistic language, rape threats, mention of childhood sexual assault and abuse

Overview: I picked up this book after seeing a gush review over on YouTube, and I must say, I’m a little torn. On the one hand, I think Byrne writes some addictive stories. There were some juicy gems in this book, and I really liked the creativity put into reconciling the heroine’s sexual desire with the hero’s hang-ups regarding physical touch. On the other, there was a lot about this book that walked the line between comfort and discomfort for me, personally. If you’re a fan of romances with dark, brooding male heroes, you might like this. As for me, I was a little put off by the hero’s edginess, and there were a lot of missed opportunities that I think Byrne could have seized on to make this book stand out. Thus, only 3 stars from me.

Writing: Byrne’s prose is quick and easy to get through with sentences that flow well and balance telling and showing. I don’t have much to criticize about the writing, and I think Byrne’s style is appropriate for the genre. There aren’t many humorous moments in this book, but honestly, for all the darkness and dourness of the plot, Byrne avoided coming off as too depressing. I particularly think she has a talent for writing touching, bold declarations of love and emotion, and I rather enjoyed the moments when our heroine was talking about overcoming the past and looking toward the light.

If I had to be nitpicky, I will say that I think the title is misleading. Our hero isn’t a highwayman, though he was one at some point. We don’t see him do any highway robbery, however, so I think a more apt title would have been appropriate.

Plot: The non-romance plot of this book follows Farah MacKenzie, a clerk at Scotland Yard who is kidnapped by Dorian Blackwell, one of the richest and most notorious criminals in England. Farah is kidnapped so that Blackwell can make a proposition: he knows about her secret identity, so he offers to help her regain her family fortune and status in return for a seat in the peerage. To do that, they have to marry. Farah initially hesitates, but counters Dorian’s proposal with one of her own: after they marry, they must conceive a child so that her family holdings will not be in danger of passing to a distant relative.

Making this all the more complicated is the fact that Farah is a widow. As a child, she lived in an orphanage and met a Scottish boy there named Dougan MacKenzie. They secretly married before Dougan was arrested and shipped off to prison, and Dorian knew Dougan before the latter’s untimely death. So, there’s a lot of painful history that Farah and Dorian share - if nothing else, then by proxy.

I initially thought the set up was weird, in part because the book opens with Farah and Dougan at the orphanage. Farah is 8 while Dougan is 11 or 12, and they “marry” in an unofficial Scottish hand-tying ceremony only 2 years later. Personally, I find these child love stories a little squick-ish. I don’t find them romantic, and even if everything is done in total innocence (for example, the children share a strong non-romantic emotional bond and “marry” only because they think it’s a good way to protect Farah from the lecherous priest that’s pursuing her), I don’t feel super comfortable reading it. That’s just my personal preference, though.

My other criticism about the plot was that I think there was a huge missed opportunity for Byrne to explore things like law vs crime or critique the idea of Victorian morality (and how they thought hard prison labor was reformative). Farah works for 10 years as a clerk for Scotland Yard, and it doesn’t seem like she shares any of their values or sees the world much differently from her criminal husband. Also, for someone who has worked at Scotland Yard for so long, Farah brings very little insider knowledge or skills to the plot, which is a shame. I would have liked a little more tension between Dorian and Farah due to their different experiences on either side of the law rather than what we got: a lot of tension because Dorian was a self-proclaimed demon with no soul. I think it would have made for a lot of interesting character growth, as well as more of commentary on how the prison system can be cruel, even if capital punishment is off the table.

I also think that Farah got over the kidnapping way too quickly and she discarded the emotions of Chief Inspector Morley, her close friend who asks for permission to court her just before she is taken by Dorian. It felt too much like Farah had no backbone when it came to Dorian’s behavior; though she challenges him in some ways, she completely excuses some of his worst tendencies, and it seems like Dorian’s trauma is used as a shield against real criticism. While I do think it’s ok to include trauma in historical romance, I am not personally a fan of characters who act so poorly due to trauma that they have little to no redeeming qualities. Dorian, in my opinion, is just that (more in the “Characters” section below).

Characters: Farah, our heroine, is somewhat easy to like in that she extends a lot of kindness to people who are either overlooked or who society deems “aren’t worth it.” I liked that she cared about Dougan when he was being beaten in the orphanage, and I liked that she cared about low level criminals (like Gemma the prostitute) and hardened thugs (like Dorian’s team of assassins and sharp shooters). However, I think Farah was compassionate to a fault; she didn’t really hold Dorian accountable for his actions, and I personally found it frustrating. Farah also seems somewhat naive for someone who worked for Scotland Yard for so long. There’s a minor subplot in which Farah asks Dorian to help Gemma get away from her pimp, and when they finally locate Gemma on the docks, she seems hurt and perplexed that Gemma is initially hesitant to accept help. I would have thought that Farah would have at least understood why some criminals do what they do, but it doesn’t seem like her experience at the Yard was very useful or informed her character.

Dorian, our hero, is really hard for me to like. On the one hand, I feel for him. He is hella traumatized, and I understood why he tries to keep Farah at a distance. On the other hand, trauma is no excuse for treating people poorly, and Dorian is always doing that. He hurts Farah (emotionally) more times than I can count, and he has zero regard for her feelings or desires until the last 15% of the novel. Dorian is also incredibly violent and possessive, qualities which I don’t find very becoming in a hero.

Supporting characters were a little more fun to read. There was Murdoch, Dorian’s second-in-command, who wasn’t afraid to call Dorian on his BS and who treated Farah like a close friend. There was also Morley, the Chief Inspector who wanted to court Farah at the beginning of the novel, and honestly, I found him to be way more likeable and charming. I half wished he was the love interest instead. There was also “Frank” the thug/cook, who was sweet in his own way, and Gemma the prostitute, who could have been more involved, but served her purpose and showcased some of Farah’s compassion for others.

The only character I didn’t really like was Warrington - Farah’s father’s onetime solicitor and antagonist of the novel. Warrington is trying to get at Farah’s fortune, and he’s largely off page until the end. When Dorian first kidnaps Farah, he reveals to her that he had to do so in part because Warrington was planning to assassinate her. I would have rather have had a scene of that attempted assassination with Dorian swooping in. Being told about it rings a little hollow and doesn’t make Warrington feel like a real threat.

Romance: While I appreciated the way Farah and Dorian were bound together over their shared trauma, I ultimately didn’t like them together as a couple. Farah’s role seemed to solely be the light in Dorian’s dark life, and she was tasked with healing or fixing him by accepting whatever he threw at her (until maybe the last 80% of the book). Dorian, for his part, treated Farah horribly by not only ignoring her emotions and desires, but insisting on being in control of every situation and being murderously possessive. In my opinion, Dorian had no redeeming qualities, so it was difficult what Farah saw in him other than a broken man that she wanted to fix.

On a positive note, I do think that Byrne presented an interesting conundrum in their sexual interactions. Dorian is so traumatized that he cannot abide human touch, nor can he stand people “reaching” for him. However, Farah has made it a condition of their marriage that Dorian give her a child. While some of their sex scenes toes the line of what made me comfortable, I do think that Byrne did a good job building anticipation and getting creative with the sex scenes, and they kept my interest because I wasn’t quite sure how the couple was going to work through Dorian’s hang ups.

That being said, both of them seemed to test each other’s limits and push the boundaries of consent, but I don’t think Byrne wrote non-consensual scenes. Just ones where I wasn’t sure what to think. There are moments when Dorian wants to keep going with their sexual activities and he does so while saying and thinking things that clearly show he’s only interested in his own pleasure. Likewise, at the end of the novel, there’s a sex scene where Farah continues to push Dorian on his emotional limits, which she does via touch even when he says no. It’s in pursuit of trying to prevent Dorian from running away from difficult emotions, but I personally thought it was too much too soon.

TL;DR: The Highwayman has some clever moments and poses an interesting problem in the form of reconciling trauma with ambition. However, the lack of a likeable hero and a heroine with too much compassion made this book a middling read for me, though I wouldn’t say no to exploring more books from this author.

[pizzamanteachings]

This post is basically songs that make me think of these characters (I might do more characters as time goes on) but it was a nice little thing and I hope someone enjoys it, and I will make sure to put a link for every song.

Dean-

The Promise- Chris Cornell (Dean to Sam)

The Great Pretender- The Platters

Misery Chain- Chris Cornell

Two drink minimum- Chris Cornell

Drinking for 11- Mad Caddies

The Wanderer- Dion and The Belmonts

Fast Car- Tracy Chapman

Come back- Pearl Jam (Dean singing about Cas after the cas’ death)

(I Was) Born to Cry- Dion

Castiel-

If I could Fly- One direction

A thousand years- Christina Perry

Like a Stone- Audioslave

This Little Light of Mine- Guy Carawan

Earth Angel- the Penguins (Dean to Cas)

Scar Upon the Sky- Chris Cornell

Fallen Angel- Three Days Grace (Dean to Cas)

Fallen Angel- Gabrielle

Sam-

Night Moves- Bob Segar

Animal I Have Become- Three Days Grace

Heat Of The Moment- Asia

The Promise- Chris Cornell (Sam to Dean)

Our Time in the Universe- Chris Cornell

Lonely Teenager- Dion

December, 1963 (Oh what a night)-  Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons

Lucifer-

Playing with fire- the Rolling Stones

Sympathy for the Devil- The Rolling Stones

Paint it,Black-The Rolling Stones

Shout at the Devil- Mötley crüe

Father Of Mine- Everclear (This is his unofficial theme song in which he sings this to Chuck, no one can tell/convince me otherwise.)

Rowena-

Witchcraft- Frank Sinatra

Witchy Woman- The Eagles

Black Magic Woman- Santana

Gabriel-

Heat of the Moment- Asia

Sugar Sugar- The Archies

Lollipop- The Chordettes

Tuesday’s Gone- Lynyrd Skynyrd (Gabe singing about SAM)

Candy Girl- New Edition

Chuck-

Fare Thee Well (Dink’s song)- Oscar Isaac. (Obviously)

Heaven Beside You- Alice in Chains

Is their Life on Mars?-David Bowie

Other songs that I can’t pin to a certain character but it fits:

Say Hello 2 Heaven- Temple Of The Dog

Simple Man- Lynyrd Skynyrd

Furious Angels- Rob Dougan (I was thinking Dean talking about Sam or vice versa)

Preaching to the end of the world- Chris Cornell

For What It’s Worth- Buffalo Springfield

The Pretender- Foo Fighters

Chain Gang- Sam Cook (when Sam and Dean go to Jail) (-which time lol)

Stand By Me- Ben E. King

These Boots are made for walking- Nancy Sinatra (I forgot who I put this next to in my original paper)

Knocking on Heavens door- Guns N’ Roses

Jesus Christ Pose- Soundgarden

Long Cool Woman- The Hollies

The Iconic songs:

Carry on my wayward son- Kansas

Highway to Hell- AC/DC

Back in Black- AC/DC

Eye of the Tiger- Survivor

Bad Moon Rising- Creedence Clearwater Revival

Fell on Black Days- Soundgarden

Rock of Ages- Def Leppard

A Well Respected Man- The Kinks

Heat of the Moment- Asia

Wanted Dead or Alive- Bon Jovi

Back on the Road Again- REO Speedwagon

Thunderstruck- AC/DC

Superstition- Beck Bogert & Appice

[katscratching]

Kathryn’s poem ���Lullaby for the Sicker Sister’ appears in Issue 5 of Stilts Journal. Edited by Emily O’Grady and Ella Jeffrey, the issue also features poetry by Jennifer Maiden, @jbruinstroop, Judith Bishop, Liam Ferney, Lucy Dougan, @PipCSmith , Ben Walter, Simon Hall, Rachel Mead, @juliemaclean2, Rachel Mead and Luke Beesley.

[yasbxxgie]

The Story Behind Insecure’s Primetime Soap Parody: ‘What If There Was an Empire-Underground?’

[...] in the world of HBO’s Insecure, Due North is must-see TV. A soap set in the pre–Civil War South, it stars Regina Hall as a slave named Ninny, Scott Foley as the master she’s in love with, and there’s even a consumptive child watching everything from the shadows.

So far, we’ve seen a few glimpses of Due North in the background of Insecure’s second season, but there’s a lot more coming. “When we first sat down, we wrote 13 full episodes,” Natasha Rothwell, one of the two Insecure writers tasked with developing the show-within-a-show, told Vulture. “In the coming episodes, you’ll see Insecure the show progress, but you’ll also see Due North, the show-within-the-show, progress,” said Ben Cory Jones, the other Insecure writer behind the project.

Due North started out as a writers-room joke about a fictional romance between their Insecure co-workers, Ben Dougan and Dayna North. Simultaneously, while breaking stories for Insecure’s second season, the writers started putting together scenes where the characters were watching TV, partially inspired by their own obsessions with shows like Big Little Lies, The Americans, and Stranger Things. “Because of the great successes of shows like Empire on Fox and Underground,” Jones said. “We were like, ‘What if there was an Empire-Underground?”

By the time they reached table reads, they wrote the characters’ reactions to the show, but not the show itself. When those character reactions killed — Chad shouts, “Oh bitch, let the bitch read!” when a master catches a slave reading, for instance — showrunner Prentice Penny assigned Rothwell and Jones the duty of actually making Due North.

With HBO’s support, Due North was produced much like an actual show, with its own dining room and slave-quarter sets, a director in Pete Chatmon, and a top-flight cast in Hall and Foley. The two actors were Rothwell and Jones’s first choices for the project, though they never expected to get them. Luckily, both were fans of Insecure and they connected to the Due North satire, which sends up both the tropes of prime-time dramas and the ways people talk about the antebellum South. “It’s a comical take on it, but it is a look at the power structures that were set up during slavery,” Jones said. “That show would probably never happen on real network TV, but because we have this playground on the show within the show, we felt like we could play it off.”

You might also see Due North as a parody of a Shonda Rhimes show that Shonda hasn’t actually written yet, and in this, it feels like a kindred spirit to Defamation, the send-up of Scandal that appeared in Netflix’s Dear White People. Rothwell and Jones said they didn’t look at what other series had done, but were nevertheless flattered by the comparison. “We’re truly proud to be in the company of Dear White People, who do a show within a show, and Atlanta when they did their commercial episode,” Jones said. “I always thought that black shows are challenging the paradigm of what a half-hour comedy has to be, so we love to be in the company of both of those shows.”

So, what’s coming next on Due North? The show-within-a-show will serve up some serious relationship drama, a “Real Housewives moment,” and a character who’s always eating pie for no discernible reason. “It feels so subversive and it’s naughty to approach this topic of history with this irreverent tone,” Rothwell said, “I think that’s really fun for the characters of Insecure to watch and it was sure as hell fun to write.”

[iamthatboi]

The Counselor from Guy Bauer on Vimeo.

At a crisis center in late 1971, a freshly minted counselor on the late shift takes his first call: a suicidal teenager whose parents won’t let her come home for Christmas. The call exposes truths about each that lead to a surprising conclusion.

CREDITS

directed by : Guy Bauer written by: Katie Fetting

Ted..............Miles Fisher Jackie.........Taylor Bostwick Ann.............Megan Skord

co-executive producers: Katie Fetting, Miles Fisher, Matthew Rivera director of photography: Matthew Rivera assistant director: Emily Barber camera operator: Mason Adams first assistant camera: Alan Dembek gaffer: Brenton Oechsle key grip: Joel Pearish edited by: Anthony Casanova colorist: Matthew Phillips sound design: Grant Stakenas visual effects: Drew Krehel producers: Amanda Smith, Jocelyn Negron on-set sound: Bob Packo production design: Sara Engel art director: Gina Flammio dolly grip: Chad Gilchrist second assistant camera: Drew Krehel script supervisor: Anthony Casanova make up/hair: Jaycie Kurfess, Layanna Wilkerson production assistant: Steven Smith rigging grip: Collin Schroeder grip truck: Ben McBurnett graphic design: Dougan Khim special thanks to: Elmhurst Park District, Jennifer Bauer, Keslow Camera

GUY BAUER PRODUCTIONS guybauerproductions.com/ facebook.com/guybauerproductions

Official Selection: Sedona International Film Festival, North Hollywood Cinefest, SF Indiefest, St. Louis International Film Festival, Fort Myers Film Festival, Green Bay Film Festival