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thechanelmuse · 2 years ago

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Juneteenth is a Black American holiday.

We call Juneteenth many things: Black Independence Day, Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, Jubilee Day. We celebrate and honor our ancestors.

December 31 is recognized as Watch Night or Freedom’s Eve in Black American churches because it marks the day our enslaved ancestors were awaiting news of their freedom going into 1863. On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. But all of the ancestors wouldn’t be freed until June 19, 1865 for those in Galveston, Texas and even January 23, 1866 for those in New Jersey (the last slave state). (It’s also worth noting that our people under the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations wouldn’t be freed until April 28, 1866 and June 14, 1866 for those under the Cherokee Nation by way of the Treaties.)

Since 1866, Black Americans in Texas have been commemorating the emancipation of our people by way of reading the Emancipation Proclamation and coming together to have parades, free festivities, and later on pageants. Thereafter, it spread to select states as an annual day of commemoration of our people in our homeland.

Here’s a short silent video filmed during the 1925 Juneteenth celebration in Beaumont, Texas:

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(It’s also worth noting that the Mascogos tribe in Coahuila, Mexico celebrate Juneteenth over there as well. Quick history lesson: A total of 305,326 Africans were shipped to the US to be enslaved alongside of American Indians who were already or would become enslaved as prisoners of war, as well as those who stayed behind refusing to leave and walk the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. In the United States, you were either enslaved under the English territories, the Dutch, the French, the Spanish, or under the Nations of what would called the Five “Civilized” Native American Tribes: Cherokee, Creek (Muscogee), Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminoles. Mascogos descend from the Seminoles who escaped slavery during the Seminole Wars, or the Gullah Wars that lasted for more than 100 years if you will, and then settled at El Nacimiento in 1852.)

We largely wave our red, white and blue flags on Juneteenth. These are the only colors that represent Juneteenth. But sometimes you may see others wave our Black American Heritage flag (red, black, and gold).

Juneteenth is a day of respect. It has nothing to do with Africa, diversity, inclusion, immigration, your Pan-African flag, your cashapps, nor your commerce businesses. It is not a day of “what about” isms. It is not a day to tap into your inner colonizer and attempt to wipe out our existence. That is ethnocide and anti-Black American. If you can’t attend a Black American (centered) event that’s filled with education on the day, our music, our food and other centered activities because it’s not centered around yours…that is a you problem. Respect our day for what and whom it stands for in our homeland.

Juneteenth flag creator: “Boston Ben” Haith

It was created in 1997. The red, white and blue colors represent the American flag. The five-point star represents the Lone State (Texas). The white burst around the star represents a nova, the beginning of a new star. The new beginning for Black Americans.

Black American Heritage Flag creators: Melvin Charles & Gleason T. Jackson

It was created in 1967, our Civil Rights era. The color black represents the ethnic pride for who we are. Red represents the blood shed for freedom, equality, justice and human dignity. Gold fig wreath represents intellect, prosperity, and peace. The sword represents the strength and authority exhibited by a Black culture that made many contributions to the world in mathematics, art, medicine, and physical science, heralding the contributions that Black Americans would make in these and other fields.

SN: While we’re talking about flags, I should note that Grace Wisher, a 13-year-old free Black girl from Baltimore helped stitched the Star Spangled flag, which would inspire the national anthem during her six years of service to Mary Pickersgill. I ain’t even gon hold you. I never looked too far into it, but she prob sewed that whole American flag her damn self. They love lying about history here until you start unearthing them old documents.

In conclusion, Juneteenth is a Black American holiday. Respect us and our ancestors.

#juneteenth #juneteenth flag #black american history #black american culture #ben haith #black american heritage flag #melvin charles #gleason t jackson #grace wisher #american flag #mascogos #juneteenth 2023

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ladymunson · 1 year ago

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Mile High 18+

Fic summary: You Spot the most gorgeous man you’ve ever seen in the business class lounge at the airport and then he happens to be on the same flight as you. Things are about to get very interesting.

A/N: This is a short one shot Drabble, there will be no additional parts. No use of y/n. No minors, shoo!

Warnings: strangers to lovers, SMUT 18+, mutual public masturbation, public nudity, airplane bathroom, unprotected sex (wrap it up!) cream pie.

Word count: 1244

I do NOT give permission for my work to be copied, translated or posted to any other platform.

Support content creators by hitting that reblog tab.

You arrive at Boston Logan airport an hour earlier than you need to, and spend time in the lounge after checking in. It’s mid evening so they offer you a glass of wine, business class sure has its perks. You take a seat at the bar and sip on your wine as people come in and out of the lounge. While waiting for your flight to be called, something catches your eye. He enters the lounge and stops, standing over by the door, his expensive suit opening up as he stretches revealing his tight and broad shoulders. He’s fucking gorgeous! And possibly the sexiest man you’ve ever laid eyes on. His beard full and luscious, his eyes a sparkling blue matching his tie.

He looks around the lounge and stops when he sees you. The top button of your white blouse is open, he catches a glimpse of cleavage, his eyes widen as he continues staring at you.

Your black skirt was short enough to reveal your thighs and he looks at your legs, the black stilettos on your feet... Hunger in his eyes. You both eye fuck each other across the lounge, he keeps his distance and doesn’t approach, at which you quickly glance down at his left hand that is holding a briefcase. He’s not wearing a wedding ring.

The flight is called so you pick up your handbag and head towards the door, brushing past him. Making sure there was a little contact. You can feel the electricity as you touched, had he felt it too? Doesn't matter you think to yourself, because you won't see him again.

You board the plane, the flight attendant pointing you the the right direction. After settling in your seat, you feel someone was standing next to you, you think it might be the flight attendant. But it isn’t... It’s him.

He smiles at you, and you return his smile.

The flight attendants go through the preflight routine which you’ve seen many times before, so you concentrate on the book you’re reading.

As the plane takes off, the rumbling of the engines starts to turn me on. A dampness in you underwear causing you to shift. You haven’t realised, but you’ve been caressing your collarbone and the contours of your breasts (you do that sometimes when you’re thinking about sex). But he’s noticed and been staring at you.

He looks a little uncomfortable; you look around to see if you can figure out why.

Then you see it...

The hard on he had been trying to conceal with his copy of 'The Boston Herald’.

You look him in the eye, and smile. A boldness building within you, so you kick off your shoes and rearrange yourself into a more comfortable position with your legs crossed. So, he can see your black lacy French panties. You pull the gusset of them side to side gently, enjoying the friction against your pussy.

His hand disappears underneath the paper and you hear the sound of a zipper.

He was stroking himself under there, and you couldn't see.

You pull your panties to one side...

For a few seconds you just let him look at your Pussy, wet and pulsing, aching for his touch but having to make do with your own.

You begin to rub your clit, gently at first but soon that wasn't enough. You raise an eyebrow, challenging him.

He lifts up the paper to show you his cock, it’s large and thick and looks like it could give you immense pleasure. His hand works up and down on his shaft, as you work mine on your Pussy. Doing this in such a public setting is so naughty but so exciting, it’s heightening the pleasure you’re feeling.

You’re seconds away from coming; he must've sensed it cos he snatches you hand away and transfers it to his cock...

When your fingers close around his warm skin, you hear him moan.

Then he throws your hand away, zips himself up, and moves out of the chair.

Why?

Disappointment must've shown on your face because he winks and nods towards the lavatory door.

You can’t follow straight away; you don’t even bother to put your shoes on when you get out of your seat and walk down the gangway towards the lavatory.

You knock lightly on the door, the door folds to one side and a strong arm pulls you in...

He’s got his pants down round his ankles, his beautiful dick standing to attention before you.

He pulls you close and kisses you, urgent and probing around in your mouth.

He sits down on the lavatory seat and pulls you towards him; he rolls your panties over your hips, and you step out of them.

You part your legs so they are either side of his lap and lift your skirt so he can see how wet you are....

You lower yourself down onto his cock, letting the head rest against your dripping cunt for a moment. You had meant to hover, teasing him but you can’t. You desperately need him inside you.

You lower yourself down, letting his cock prise open your wetness and penetrate you. Filling you up, giving you what you need.

You lift yourself and begin to pound your Pussy onto his cock, hard and fast.

He bites your hard swollen nipples through your blouse, which sends thrills through you...

One hand on the mirror steadying yourself as you bounce up and down on his cock. Your other hand on his shoulder.

You kiss again. His hands on your hips, guiding you up and down, beads of sweat rolling down your forehead.

He starts rubbing your clit making you moan, you started squeezing your cunt around his cock, making him groan as he starts to shake...

You can feel your orgasm getting closer and closer, and from the look on his face he isn’t far off either.

"The plane will begin its descent in ten minutes, please return to your seats" came over the tannoy. It was now or never, you grind your pussy down hard onto him, his pubic hair tickling your clit and triggering your orgasm..

You come hard; the contractions of your cunt sets off his climax. You come together, his cock filling your pussy with hot white cum. He lets out a long moan, your head buried in his shoulder, muffling your screams of pleasure.

You take a moment to catch your breath before you stand up and he helps clean you up and rearrange your skirt down, gives you a quick kiss and shoves you out of the bathroom into the corridor.

Walking in a straight line after such an intense orgasm is a challenge but you manage to get back to your seat. By the time you check your make-up and straightened your blouse he was back in the seat next to you.

When you disembark the plane, he walks straight past you and gets into a car that’s waiting for him.

'There he goes' you think 'The best fuck of my life.'

You smooth your skirt down and stop, feeling something, so you reach into the pocket of your skirt and pull out a business card, Andrew Barber; Assistant District Attorney. His cell phone number is written on the back, along with the hotel he was staying at and room number.

'I know what I'm doing tonight' you think to yourself smiling.

THE END

Tags: @cevansbaby-dove @patzammit

#andy barber #andy barber x female reader #andy barber smut #andy barber x reader #ladymunson

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beardedmrbean · 5 days ago

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A 139-year-old Massachusetts paper was slated to publish its last editition Wednesday, after it agreed to a $1.1 million settlement in a defamation case filed by the mayor of the city of Everett, who accused the publication of falsifying quotes as part of a brutal smear campaign.

“What the Everett Leader Herald, its owner, and its publisher and editor did to my family and me — publishing article after article, accusation after accusation about me that they knew were false, that they knew they had no basis for, for the avowed purpose of destroying my reputation to serve their own personal financial interest — wasn’t just dishonest. It was corrupt,�� Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria said at a press conference after the settlement.

The settlement, announced Monday, ended a defamation suit originally filed in 2021, in which DeMaria accused the Leader Herald’s publisher and editor, Joshua Resnek, and owner, Mathew Philbin, of regularly putting out articles they knew to be false.

The pieces dubbed the mayor “Kickback Carlo” and accused him of taking bribes and committing extortion.

In the course of the suit, Resnek admitted to working to “drop bombs” on the mayor by writing false stories ahead of a mayoral primary.

The complaint alleged the men went after DeMaria in retaliation for the mayor not supporing Philbin’s business interests.

“Each week, 52 times a year, I invent the Leader Herald … The mayor is my enemy … It takes me two days away from important writing every week to create this s***,” Resnek wrote in one email included in court documents, according to Boston.com.

The Independent has contacted Resnek for comment.

He apologized for his conduct last year, saying he was “embarrassed.”

The Independent was unable to contact Philbin for comment.

With the demise of the Leader Herald, which began printing in 1885, the city is down to two local news publications.

“It will be very hard to find either local paper writing anything that isn’t pro-mayor or pro-administration,” Everett resident Paula Sterite told WGBH this week. “We’re stuck with propaganda.”

Observers said the case was a textbook example of defamation, which relies on showing an individual had “actual malice” in deliberately spreading false information that damages someone’s reputation.

“You will not find a clearer example of actual malice,” Northeastern journalist professor Dan Kennedy wrote in a recent blog post.

DeMaria’s attorney said he worries the newspaper’s fabrications will further harm Americans’ trust in journalism. “I, like other people, note the lack of trust that Americans have in the media, wrongly or rightly or both,” Jeff Robbins told the Boston Globe. “This is the kind of set of facts which really does damage to journalists who work their tails off to do the right thing.”

#nunyas news

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annieqattheperipheral · 4 months ago

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hockey according to Johnny Hockey. the crazy stats, awards and achievements. never underestimate.

...

He was 5-foot-6, 137 pounds when the Calgary Flames selected him in the fourth round (No. 104) in the 2011 NHL Draft. Among the 211 players taken that year, he was tied for the shortest. He was the lightest by 13 pounds.

...

His coach -- Jim Montgomery, then of Dubuque of the United States Hockey League, now of the Boston Bruins -- told the Calgary Herald after the draft that it was “a brave pick.”

Gaudreau told the newspaper that his team had allowed fans to watch tryouts the previous year.

“My mom was sitting in the stands behind these two older guys who thought they knew a whole bunch about hockey,” Gaudreau said then. “They were like, ‘Ah, look at that little kid! He’s never going to make it!’ And my mom was getting so mad.”

Even last season, his 11th in the NHL, Gaudreau, all grown up, was all of 5-9, 163. Among the 1,022 players who appeared in the League, only 15 were shorter. Only five were lighter.

...

Gaudreau was the USHL rookie of the year and helped Dubuque win the Clark Cup in 2010-11. The next season, he led NCAA freshmen with 44 points (21 goals, 23 assists) in 44 games, was most valuable player of the Beanpot tournament and helped Boston College win a national title.

...

Gaudreau led the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship in goals (seven in seven games) and helped the United States win gold, while leading the NCAA in points per game (1.45), helping Boston College win the Beanpot again and being named Hockey East player of the year as a sophomore.

He came back to Boston College for his junior year instead of going pro.

One of the main reasons: to play with Matthew.

Gaudreau won the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA’s top player after leading the nation in goals (36), assists (44) and points (80) in 40 games, and he signed with Calgary the same day, April 11, 2014. Two days later, he made his NHL debut and scored on his first shot.

...

Gaudreau never played a game in the minors. In 2014-15, he tied for the rookie lead with 64 points (24 goals, 40 assists) in 80 games and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy, which goes to the NHL rookie of the year. Two years later, he won the Lady Byng Trophy, which goes to the player voted to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct and playing ability. He had 61 points (18 goals, 43 assists) in 72 games with only four penalty minutes.

Two years after that, he finished fourth in the voting for the Hart Trophy, which goes to the NHL most valuable player.

And three years after that, he set NHL career highs in goals (40), assists (75) and points (115) in 82 games, tying for second in the NHL in scoring and earning another fourth place in the Hart voting. He scored from a bad angle in overtime of Game 7 of the Western Conference First Round against the Dallas Stars, sending the Flames to the second round for the first time in seven years

...

Gaudreau ranks fifth in Flames history in assists (399) and points (609).

...

The little guy leaves a huge hole.

#just a rundown of Johnny Hockey being amazing #rip #johnny gaudreau #matty gaudreau #matthew gaudreau #calgary flames #team usa #ushl #boston college #bc hockey #columbus blue jackets #ncaa hockey #hobey baker #hobey baker award #lady byng trophy #usa hockey

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prettyoddfever · 23 days ago

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"SWEAR TO SHAKE IT UP."

(I'm going to dump some points in this post that I can link to elsewhere)

Ryan might have gone through a lot of phases and changed as a person over the years, but that didn’t alter the very basic ideas of what he wanted out of a band and how he approached things. (So his end goals didn’t change much… but the means to accomplish them absolutely did). Ryan wanted to push boundaries, do something different, shake things up, challenge listeners, create something real that was authentic to who he was at that moment in time, and keep experimenting instead of settling into a rut of what was comfortable/familiar. He had zero interest in following a crowd, catering to listeners, or trying to be likable. Ryan talked a lot about these views & goals in the early Fever era in a way that was almost defiant.

Here are some posts with more comments about AFYCSO & Pretty. Odd... I’ll leave a few of Ryan’s quotes here:

to AbsolutePunk.net in fall 2005: “If I could do anything to change the scene it would be to wake everyone up.”

to Big Cheese in early 2006: “Years back, bands were a lot better. Nowadays, I don’t know what happened. There’s this lack of effort to be different. We just want to open people’s eyes a little bit, and if we fail? What are you gonna do. Fuck it.” (obviously he romanticized the olden days even more as time went on).

in early 2006: “It’s always been our intention to write songs that haven’t already been written a thousand times by hundreds of other bands and to really push ourselves. Maybe we can wake kids up and get them listening to more sincere music.”

Nylon asked Ryan in spring 2006 how he would sum up his band in one line and Ryan said “it was our goal to open people’s eyes and change what’s going on.”

to MTV in September 2006: ”I feel like everything on the radio is kind of safe right now.”

in a Danish interview in October 2006: “But if you don’t gamble, you end up being boring or nothing at all. And we do not want to be a safe band, neither with our songs nor our shows.”

to the Miami Herald in late 2006: “We’re trying to do things to make a difference in what rock music is seen as right now.”

what Ryan said here in December 2006 is a good example of what he talked a lot about for both albums.

in this June 2007 interview Ryan was asked where he wants to end up and he said “It’s hard to say at this point. I never thought we’d get this far. I think the biggest challenge for [us as] artists these days is making great music that’s challenging for us and for people to hear.”

this piece that Ryan wrote for NME in summer 2008.

Neither Spencer nor Ryan were very subtle in early Fever era about their disdain for the modern music scene and the people who they thought were faking it (the kind of stuff that I Constantly Thank God for Esteban addressed). They both had incredibly strong opinions. My favorite description of the guys was an article in The Boston Phoenix that said “Panic are incredibly ambitious, surprisingly cynical, and mildly ruthless.”

I thought that their arrogance and defiant attitudes helped them succeed in 2006 when they had the chance. So many people were criticizing them, but Ryan, Brendon, & Spencer (and eventually Jon) were able to stand their ground together and work incredibly hard so they could actually perform at the levels where their rapidly accelerating popularity brought them. Ryan also talked a lot about how he didn’t want to write songs that were catchy or would sell… he wanted to write what he liked. Ryan had the ability to just keep moving forward & doing whatever he liked, regardless of what other people were saying about it. And that approach worked really well in 2005-2006 when the guys were on the same page for what they wanted to do.

THEY GO ALL IN

I thought one of P!ATD’s biggest strengths right from the start was their incredibly strong creative vision and how they were willing to take major risks in order to do whatever felt the most authentic to them at the time (which was true for both albums). They didn’t have some rigid plan for their whole look or sound… they said they just wanted to do whatever felt honest at that point. Even if that meant trying to trash the first part of AFYCSO in the studio when they decided they didn't want to follow that sound anymore lol (bless Matt Squire for stepping in).

Spencer told the Hartford Courant in spring 2008 that “We just know what we like and what we don’t like. We do exactly what we like, so we feel like it’s our band.” I thought all four guys had a noticeable need to feel a sense of ownership in the band & do something that they completely believed in.

I agreed with what their booking agent told Pollstar in summer 2006: “What amazes me about them is that they have such a strong opinion of how they want to be presented – visually, musically, everything. I don’t find that with a lot of bands.” They cared about how they were presented on every single level… their videos, live shows, website, etc. They picked a direction and then completely went for it in every aspect.

So they showed from the beginning that if they were going to head in a certain direction, they weren’t going to do it halfway. They didn’t seem like they’d ever be happy with anything less than their full effort. The guys also cared about what the band did to the point where they actually invested the majority of their own incomes from the 2006 summer tour right back into the shows. On a similar note – when Kerrang asked teenage Brendon how he would spend a million pounds if he couldn’t give any away, Brendon replied that he’d put it all into the production value of a huge, dramatic show. So not only did he love doing that kind of performance, but he was really personally invested.

We could see by 2008 that all four guys needed to be fully & personally invested in what the band was doing in order to be happy. They needed to go all in. Music meant so much to each band member that it seemed like it was a personal part of them. It's understandable why any rejection of each other’s ideas would’ve struck so deep.

Brent was the only member who could have passively drifted along with whatever the other guys decided to do. Ryan, Spencer, Brendon, and Jon all had strong opinions, lots of big ideas, and were heavily invested in their careers. Music meant a lot to them. This setup was a huge asset when they were all working towards the same goal in the Fever era, but it also looked like a recipe for conflict because obviously all four guys wouldn’t always have the same interests & goals as they grew. Ryan told MTV right after the split that “it got to the point where there might have been too many cooks in the kitchen.”

RYAN WANTED TO KEEP REINVENTING THE BAND

Ryan seemed to be one of those people who will create something awesome but then tear it down & rebuild it an entirely different way in order to challenge himself and keep things interesting. The whole band made a lot of comments over the years about how they wanted to try new things so they didn’t get bored, but the way Ryan talked about it was a bit different… as though continually pushing the boundaries was at the foundation of what he needed from a band. In 2008 Ryan told Rock Sound a story about his childhood that revealed the same restless creativity & curiosity that a lot of fans were noticing (in a good way):

“When I got a new guitar I decided to take the old one apart to see what was inside and never figured out how put it back together again. I used to take a lot of stuff apart when I was younger and stopped once I realized that when I took something apart it was broken and couldn’t be fixed.”

I’m not referencing much post-split stuff since I’m just trying to describe what we were seeing at the time. However, I really like this quote from Rob Mathes to Alt Press in 2011 because he knew Ryan well, and both guys seemed to understand & respect each other:

“Ryan Ross is a tremendous artist but a very restless soul. He wants to continually push himself. It’s very John Lennon-esque – burn the house you just lived in only to build a new one and then burn that one. Certain artists are that way: They want to set up shop and leave town. I think [Urie and Smith] missed what they had.”

In spring 2008 Ryan said that “Panic at the Disco is not defined yet. We’re barely started… who knows where we’re gonna go.” Ryan and Jon focused more in interviews that year on how Panic at the Disco didn’t have an established concept of their specific sound, as though they really didn’t want to be trapped with expectations or limits.

Experimenting and reinventing the band(s) worked really well in the early years when the guys didn’t have enough experience to know the specifics of what they wanted from a band beyond doing “something new” (I’m including The Summer League in this since Brendon was part of that for a bit before they totally switched gears to create P!ATD together). But obviously the guys would eventually be able to identify what made them happiest after a couple years of playing different types of shows & music.

THEY WERE AN INEXPERIENCED BAND WHO HAD TO FIGURE OUT THEIR SOUND/IMAGE AS THEY WENT

The band wasn’t sure what they wanted to sound like at first, which is why AFYCSO was split into two halves. Their sound was continuously evolving as they grew up. By summer 2005 Ryan was more into movie soundtracks, and that theatrical orchestration worked really well with the kinds of music that Spencer & Brendon were into. In the early days I think it was actually super helpful that they had somewhat different taste in music because they could build off each other as they figured out wtf they wanted to try next. This interview quote from Brendon to Hearts & Sleeves in early 2006 sums up a lot of what the band said on that topic:

“The way it comes out I guess is just a product of everybody in the band having huge similarities in music but we also listen to a lot of different stuff. For example Spencer listens to Fleetwood Mac and then will jump over and listen to Arcade Fire. I listen to the same stuff but then Iʼll listen to Journey more or some pop stuff. Or Ryan listens to movie scores or theatrical stuff. A lot of that was Ryan would pop up and be like ‘I think it could do this’ and Iʼd be like ‘whoah’ and Iʼd add some pop to it. Itʼs just a mix of different combinations of where we come from. Having only written maybe two songs together we didn’t know what direction we wanted to go with the band or how we wanted to sound.”

The band had no established image, sound, or fanbase when they were signed, so they were able to figure out the first album as they went. Their situation was drastically different while they were writing the second album, but it sounded like they still weren’t sure what they wanted to do by summer 2007 (after the cabin album wasn’t working out). All four guys talked about not knowing which direction to go in, but here’s a quote from Spencer to the Hartford Courant in 2008: "We didn’t really know what we were trying to do… I think we really went to some of these bands that I had listened to growing up.” Just because they went with a certain direction in July 2007 doesn’t mean that there’s anything strange about the fact that they weren’t on the same page a year later for what they wanted to do with the third album. Look at how the first It’s Time to Dance demo in fall 2004 was so different from what the band wanted to do by the time they got to the studio in summer 2005. I’d argue that Build God had more in common with the cabin album than the demos from fall 2004.

Basically, they didn’t stick with one specific style for either AFYCSO or Pretty. Odd. because they wanted to be free to experiment and try whatever seemed interesting at the time. They were constantly evolving. Letting the sound of the band be that fluid was a strength in the early years, but it seemed like it could also evolve into a source of conflict as the guys gradually got a stronger sense of what they each liked & wanted.

side note: in 2008 Brendon, Jon, and Spencer still had some of the same main interests that they had when they joined the band. Jon still loved the Beatles and Bob Dylan. Spencer still talked about liking the Beatles, Queen, & the Killers. Brendon still loved Queen, Journey, the Beatles, and show tunes (here’s something Ryan had to say about that). Ryan was the one whose tastes changed the most as he discovered more & more.

THE BAND CHANGED A LOT EACH SEASON

They seriously felt like a new band every few months… and that’s not even considering them as people. Just look at where the band was at the end of each year:

end of 2003: The Summer League was preparing to record some demos. They hadn’t met Brendon yet.

end of 2004: Panic! at the Disco was unofficially signed by Pete Wentz and needed to write an album now. They had still never played a live show as that band.

end of 2005: AFYCSO was out and P!ATD had already finished two national tours supporting other bands + a string of headlining shows. They were finally out of their van, were preparing for their first national tv performance and first international tour (supporting The Academy Is…), and were dreaming of what they could possibly do with their own headlining tours.

end of 2006: The Fever era was done. P!ATD ended the year by headlining NBC’s New Year’s Eve show in Times Square. The entire Moulin Rouge / circus whirlwind was over (along with the peak of the pre-split fame & hype). 2006 was intense.

end of 2007: they were almost done recording Pretty. Odd. and we were getting glimpses of what the next era might look like. (2007 felt like its own long era btw).

end of 2008: the Pretty. Odd. era had already ended. It went for less than a year, but seems like it should be broken up into 2-3 phases since the band changed so much in 2008.

Pre-split P!ATD only performed together for less than 4 years and they changed a lot even on a monthly basis. A performance from spring 2006 only reflects that one season (and honestly, the guys grew/changed a lot just between late March & mid-April alone). January 2006 was incredibly different from fall 2005... so summer 2005 when they recorded AFYCSO was like a whole other era by comparison.

I remember feeling like P!ATD had been 5 different bands during just the Fever era alone because of how much the band changed as they grew. They evolved a lot during the other years as well, which is why you can’t look at interviews from the Pretty. Odd. era as though those are some kind of context for the season when the band split. That’s like looking at interviews from late 2006 where the band was gearing up for the NRWC tour and then saying that something seems fishy because their statements about wanting to put on a dramatic show don’t line up with what you’re seeing from the band half a year later when they kept things really low-key, ditched the makeup, and actually wore jeans. The band members are complex real-life people who were constantly growing & changing... especially Ryan.

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misfitwashere · 3 months ago

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Friends,

Trump called attention to the discrepancy between his height (reportedly 6-foot-3) and Kamala Harris’s (5-7½ in heels), insisting that no accommodation be made to appear closer in size.

“No boxes or artificial lifts will be allowed to stand on during my upcoming debate with Comrade Kamala Harris,” he wrote, adding that such accommodations would be “a form of cheating.” There’s no evidence Harris has sought such things.

Nicholas Rule, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto who researches social perception and cognition, said Harris’s shorter height will be irrelevant tonight because she exudes “Tall Energy,” which he defined as “the confidence that comes from being above average height.”

I am 4-feet-10. At my highest, I was 4-feet-11. I doubt I have “Tall energy.” But if I were on the stage tonight with Donald Trump, I’d demolish him.

To be sure, when it comes to choosing leaders, our society is exceptionally heightist.

When I ran for the Democratic nomination for governor of Massachusetts in 2002, it seemed that the only attribute reporters wanted to cover was my height. Regardless of what I said in my speeches, the Boston Globe ran photos of me standing on boxes so I could see over the podium. The right-wing Boston Herald ran a headline on its front page charging “Short People Are Furious with Reich” because I had joked about my height on the campaign trail.

None of it helped me with that election. But I didn’t lose because of my height. I lost because I was a lousy campaigner.

Research shows that voters do prefer taller candidates. A paper published in 2013 by psychologists at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands analyzed the results of American presidential elections dating back to 1789. They found that taller candidates received more votes than shorter ones in roughly two-thirds of all elections. And the taller the candidates were relative to their opponents, the greater the average margin of their victory.

Among presidents who have sought a second term, winners have been two inches taller, on average, than losers. The authors conclude that height may explain as much as 15 percent of the variation in election outcomes.

It’s similar in the private sector. A survey of the heights of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies showed they were on average six feet tall -- about 2.5 inches taller than the average American man.

Why are we so heightist? Probably because of some genetic trigger in our brain that told early humans they needed the protection of very big men. Other things being equal, large males are more to be feared and they live longer. An impulse to defer to them, or prefer them as mates, makes evolutionary sense.

In Size Matters, Stephen S. Hall writes that in the eighteenth-century Frederick William of Prussia paid huge sums to recruit giant soldiers from around the world, thereby giving tangible value to matters of inches, and revealing “the desirability of height for the first time in a large, post-medieval society.”

But hey, I’m okay with giant soldiers, big security guards, and massive CEOs. I don’t care if I lack “Tall energy.” I’m fortunate to have grown up (or at least grown upward) in a society that values brains at least as much as brawn.

Kamala will win tonight, and she’ll go on to win the election in 55 days — not because of her “Tall energy,” but because she’s smarter, tougher, and better in every way than her large, stupid, decrepit opponent.

#robert reich

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fictionadventurer · 2 years ago

Text

@aheartundercrossfire I couldn't resist the flash fiction opportunities this presented.

"I haven't prepared you enough for this meeting."

Ellie jumped, not so much because of the words, but because of the sound of them. At university, Sam had always displayed a proper Bostonian accent, but ever since they'd gone through customs, his drawl had been growing stronger. Now that they'd arrived at the Royal Ranch House, it was impossible to forget that he was really a prince of Texas.

And she was about to meet the king.

Ellie tried to laugh it off. "I might be a republican girl, but I can handle myself around royalty. I met the princess of California when she gave that speech on campus, remember?"

"Texas," Sam said cautiously, "isn't like other monarchies."

He unlocked a cabinet on the wall of the waiting room and held out a gunbelt toward Ellie. Two ivory-handled pistols sat within the holsters.

"You'd better wear this," Sam said.

Ellie reeled back. "Excuse me?"

"My dad's a stickler for protocol. Visitors have to be armed in the presence of the king."

"What kind of rule is that?"

Sam raised a what-did-I-tell-you eyebrow. "A Texas one." He held out the gunbelt. "I can help you put it--"

"Are you insane? I'm not wearing a gun!"

"Then you're not meeting the king."

"You're making that up!"

Sam sighed. "Refusing to wear arms shows you don't respect the king as a fighter. I want you to make a good first impression."

"I've never even touched a gun before."

Sam winced. "Do not say that where my dad can hear you." He fumbled with with weapons. "Look, they're not even loaded. It's just for the look of it. We're running out of--"

The doors flew open, and a herald announced the entrance of the king.

A short man with a pair of bushy side whiskers burst into the room, wearing what Ellie could only assume was Texan royal regalia. In the flurry of motion, Ellie couldn't make out much more than denim, a pair of elaborately tooled leather boots, and a truly enormous cowboy hat.

King Houston IV swept Ellie's hand into a crushing handshake. "There she is!" He pumped Ellie's hand so hard that her joints hurt. "Sam finally brought a girl home!"

Meeting the princess of California had been nothing like this. Ellie stammered, "Pleased to meet you, your majesty."

"Pleasure's mine! You're quite a looker. Sam sure knows how to pick 'em."

The king stepped back to get a better look and suddenly fell silent. "Who let you in here without a weapon?"

"I..."

Sam stepped up. "It's my fault, Dad. I..."

Ellie found her voice. "Sam said I could greet you with a proper Texas weapon, but I took too long admiring those pistols. No one makes a gun like Texas does."

The king's smile returned. "She's got a brain, too! You know, I had my doubts about Sam bringing home a Boston girl, but if you've got respect for Texas, it'll take you a long way." He started toward the door. "Come on in, and we'll get to know each other over a drink."

He rushed out of the room like a small whirlwind, leaving Ellie and Sam standing breathless behind him.

Sam gave Ellie a grateful look. "Good job."

Ellie smiled. "I told you I know how to handle royalty."

#adventures in writing #hallmark #this is not the silliest thing i've ever written but it might be up there #i could have looked things up to put in more details #but i can't justify putting any more work into this than i already have #it was fun though

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