#deaf jay walker | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

digitalrevolutions · 9 months ago

Text

Accessibility, Universal Design, and Inter-Community Advocacy

I enjoyed the readings on accessibility and design, but I didn’t expect to learn much I didn’t already know—in retrospect, a deeply arrogant thought. I want to start by recording NC State University’s Principles For Universal Design (that is, design in which accessibility is an important part of the process, not an afterthought or a grudging addition:

“Equitable Use: The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities.

Flexibility in Use: The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.

Simple and Intuitive Use: Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user's experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level.

Perceptible Information: The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user's sensory abilities.

Tolerance for Error: The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.

Low Physical Effort: The design can be used efficiently and comfortably and with a minimum of fatigue.

Size and Space for Approach and Use: Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use regardless of user's body size, posture, or mobility (qtd. Dolmadge 13).”

To these, Jay Dolmadge adds an emphasis on assuming ability, demonstrating respect, and negotiating with the disabled people who will use your spaces to respond to their needs (14). These are all things I found self-evident, though appreciated. And yet, I initially dismissed our readings on caption design out of hand. Sure, it’s a neat thought experiment, but why would anyone want captions that did anything but convey information and get out of the way, allowing them to focus on the show (what a mentor of mine used to call writing for looking ‘through’, not looking ‘at’)? Certainly that’s what I want out of my captions, which I use frequently due to auditory processing issues.

Sean Zedneck’s “Designing Captions: Disruptive Experiments With Typography, Color, Icons, and Effects” was revelatory. Two moments in particular really stood out to me. The first, when Zedneck introduces the concept of meta captioning, or captioning media such as TVs, videos, etc within TV shows and movies:

“Meta captioning is disruptive. It highlights the mode of communication (as well as the primary stakeholders: deaf and hard of hearing viewers) over the meanings that are communicated through this mode. Meta captioning disrupts the very idea that captioning is always or simply about specific linguistic meanings [emphasis added].”

This concept immediately and powerfully resonated with me, as I remembered being sixteen years old, holding a Target catalog, and finding myself brought almost to tears by the image of a little girl using a gray walker with red handles, the same one I had had at her age, and smiling at the camera in her fairy costume and leaning her weight on her walker in a way I recognized. For the first time ever, someone like me was on a piece of junk mail. I was part of the ordinary landscape of media that surrounded me.

Reading Zedneck’s piece, I thought that metacaptioning must be like that—the sense that you and your lived experiences are mundane, a part of the fabric of society, not only recognized but widely recognized enough to show up in something we normally barely notice, that isn’t meant for widespread publicity. Moreover, the concept was a stark reminder that the background noise of a movie or TV show—something I wouldn’t normally think of as significant—is still a part of the experience of that piece of media that everyone deserves access to.

I was also struck when Zedneck, musing about how to caption the countdown of a bomb, says

“A beep is not a number. If equal access for all is the professed (but misunderstood) goal of captioning, then we have failed to provide access to the timer's beeping when we turn beeps into numbers. Indeed, by providing full access to the time remaining on the clock (instead of only partial and incomplete glimpses of the phone screen), we could actually be decreasing the amount of tension that viewers are expected to experience. How much time is remaining? I can't see the timer on his phone! Did it just say 01:37? A timer in the lower right removes doubt as it compromises the scene's dramatic tension. Perhaps an EKG wave or a countdown timer is not necessary or sufficiently helpful in these examples.”

It had never occurred to me before that the goal of captioning is (or should be) not simply to preserve the sense of what is happening or being said in a scene, but to preserve the tension and narrative resonance of the scene. Stories are and have always been so important to me, but I had never thought deeply before about what it would mean to tell stories in ways that offer full access to different groups of people (as Zedneck wisely reminds us, it’s not as simple as ‘access for all’. We would have to tell this story in a different way for someone with low vision). This set of readings has encouraged me to think more creatively about access to my work in the classroom and to the media I create when I’m just ‘playing around’, as well as serving as a reminder of the importance of not speaking over other disabled people’s experiences.

#week 8 #dolmage #zdenek #designing captions: disruptive experiments #mapping composition—inviting disability in the front door

0 notes

chasingmemoriesofficial · 10 months ago

Text

Next Ninja, we have Cole! I'm doing these in age order not time of recruitment or height.

Big and muscular just like you'd expect, but with a surprising amount of scars. Cole's grandparents took him from his dad (who has actually been doing a good job at being a single parent despite being a struggling musician) and it turns out they hated his powers and they hated his father for having them (Lou is the EM in Chasing Memories, not Cole's mom) so Cole wasn't treated very well by them.

He eventually ran away after he overheard his grandparents talk about selling him to Project Oracle (a villain group in this AU). Cole eventually found his way to the circus and was taken in by the ringmaster, Archimicarus Killow (yes, THAT Killow, from season 8; he's been repurposed as a circus ringmaster).

CM!Cole was born blind in one eye (that milky colored one) and deaf in the opposite ear (he's wearing a hearing aid, if you couldn't tell). The most prominent scars he has are on his wrists, where his grandparents put power dampening cuffs on him. They dug into his skin, which had started growing OVER the cuffs by the time he got to the circus. It was not fun getting them removed.

Before he was taken, though, Cole was childhood friends with Jay. They met through Cole's godfather, Lou's (remaining) childhood friend Cyrus who'd also befriended the Walkers (three guesses who Cyrus is).

When they met again at the circus (Wu took Jay and Zane so they could have some fun) Cole was wary of Zane's intentions towards Jay, only to slowly learn that Zane is a genuinely good person who cares about Jay and has started to care about Cole too.

Bonus: Cole didn't know his powers were more than superstrength until after coming to the Monastery.

#ninjago #chasing memories au #fanfic #character design #disability representation

1 note · View note

fisherrprince · 2 years ago

Text

really loud drum n bass

#my art #ninjago #jay walker #cole brookstone #THE BEAT IS: shara ishvalda remix by duplEx #also i think ed and edna would love this. they're going deaf and the vibrations make the sand go BRRRRRRRRR

880 notes · View notes

mcfanely · 4 years ago

Text

"I just happened to not have my hearing aids in."

"You took them out."

"What-? Pft, no."

"You do it all the time!"

"Sorry, what? I can't hear you, I don't have my hearing aids in."

"I can see them!"

Power move.

Deaf Cole anyone?

#ninjago #lego ninjago #lego #cole #cole ninjago #cole brookstone #jay #jay walker #jay ninjago #kai #mcfanely draws #mcfanely aus #mcfanely #deaf Cole #hard of hearing #Deaf AU

113 notes · View notes

educated-dumbass · 3 years ago

Text

Physical Disability/ Chronic Illness Book Masterlist

Quick Key:

🌻= found on Readanybook for free

🍄= I’ve read and recommend

🥀= on my tbr list

Fantasy:

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (Hemophilia) (Loss of certain mental faculties due to injury) 🌻

One for All by Lillie Lainoff (POTS) 🍄

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (Reading disability) (Character that uses a cane) 🍄🌻

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo (Reading disability) (Character that uses a cane) 🍄🌻

The Moth Girl by Heather Kamins (Fantasy chronic illness) 🥀

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (Cerebral Palsy)

Graphic Novels:

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker (hard of hearing mc) 🥀

The Degenerates by J. Albert Mann (Clubfoot)(Down Syndrome) 🥀

Mis(h)adra by Iasmin Omar Ata (Epilepsy) 🥀

Historical Fiction:

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (Clubfoot) 🌻🥀

The Reckless Kind by Carly Heath (deafness)

Literary Fiction:

Unbroken: 13 stories starring disabled teens written by an assortment of disabled creators edited by Marieke Nijkamp (Wheelchair User)(Unspecified Mental Illness) (Blind MC) (Anxiety) (Chronic Pain) (Schizophrenia) (MC with a Cane) (Bipolar II) (IBS) (Cerebral Palsy) (Autistic MC) 🍄

Turning by Joy L. Smith (Wheel Chair user) (Spinal injury) (Stutter) (Brain Injury) 🥀

Electricity by Ray Robinson (Epilepsy)

Horror:

The Call by Peadar O'guilin (disability as a result of complications from having polio as a child) 🥀

Mystery:

Silent Fear by Lance Morcan (Deaf MC’s) 🥀

Russian Dolls by Cristelle Comby (Blind MC)

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly (amputee)🌻🥀

Poetry:

A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman (below the knee amputation as a result of a car accident) 🍄🌻

Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca (Mother with Leukemia)

Romance:

The War Within (character in wheelchair) 🍄🌻

Wild and Crooked by Leah Thomas (cerebral palsy)

Long Macchiatos and Monsters by Alison Evans (MC with prosthetic limb)

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (Chronic Pain)

Science Fiction:

Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi (character with chronic immune deficiency) (character with prosthetics)

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (uses a cane and a wheelchair due to foot binding) 🍄

Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis (epilepsy? Kinda) (Amputee MC) 🌻🥀

184 notes · View notes

lilywily143 · 3 years ago

Text

Fuck I love this!!

Hope you lose that block!

new headcanon that jay is slightly deaf because one of the projects he built earlier blew up and he knows asl

new fic idea following that the ninja have to learn asl to be more silent in missions and nobody knew that jay was slightly deaf and he ends up teaching them

#Lego Ninjago #Jay Walker #Now if he was slightly deaf #What situations could he be in where he didn't hear someone...?#And the others don't catch on somehow??

18 notes · View notes

boneboughs · 2 years ago

Photo

// WHERE IT BEGAN // HEADCANONS // APPEARANCE // SEASON ONE //

“A lie that’s painted gold. a petty façade you’ve kept up for so long.”

Have you seen WISTERIA ADDLER around Faerune? They’re a WEREWOLF who REJECTS the Unseelie Queen’s reign. People have heard they’re CONFIDENT, INTELLIGENT & DRIVEN but can also be BLUNT, STUBBORN & VENGEFUL. We’ll see where they fall when the revolution arrives, but until then they can be found working as a TAILOR.

WISTERIA AT A GLANCE

Name: Wisteria Amos Addler Nee Pendleton Aliases: Wis, Pidge (among only Sixth members), Big Man, Bossman, ‘Jay’ Age: 28 (June 6th) Affiliations: Wild Sixth Remnants, The Bloodboughs Pack, Faerune City Council (Formerly), Mystic River Pack (Formerly) Occupation: Tailor/Jeweler Gender/Pronouns: Trans man, He/Him Sexuality: Pansexual Panromantic Species: Werewolf (Arctic Wolf) Common Scents: Eagle brand cigarettes, Citrus fruits, Wisteria and Cherry Blossom florals, faint musk and light cologne Quirks: ears, nose and lip pierced, heavy tattoos, black dyed hair (naturally blonde). Hard of hearing in his right ear with a cochlear implant, deaf on the left, Missing his right pinkie and left leg below the knee. A single, sharpened steel fang implant on the left of his mouth, longer than a natural canine tooth- more like that of a wolf. His prosthetic limb is a charmed, rough carved portion of seeming amethyst stone that operates with his body as if never removed in the first place, a portion of the stone is embedded in the remaining flesh and bone of his leg, making it unremovable. It shifts alongside him in wolf/human form, bearing a row of spines in ascending length as it moves up his Wolf-form’s outer thigh. Markektable/Trade Skills: A tailor by trade now, Wisteria trades in his art- clothing and jewelry as well as his services performing alterations and similar tasks in return for goods/services. Serving predominantly the Unseelie Court and its members, he is not reserved to them specifically- but comes by his steeper prices honestly due to his usual clientele.

AND WHAT HAS BECOME OF YOU?

Surely she didn’t expect him to go quietly into the night. Removed from his position as a councilman by force, Wisteria’s burgeoning consideration of leaving the position was quickly and soundly snapped in two. If he was going to relinquish power in the city, it was going to be to somebody he saw deserving- not some pompous, ancient Fae convinced she had some claim over a city fought and won centuries ago, but now he’d been robbed of the choice, and unemployed by force. The few improvements he’d been allowed to set into motion resolutely put to bed, and his people, the werewolves, demoted to second class citizens among Opal’s rule. But unlike he had so many times before, Wisteria did not dive headlong into resistance, into revenge. With the shift in power, an opportunity. The Death Echoes, the gang that had taken eight people in the explosion at the clubhouse over half a decade prior, now forced to dissolve- his own soon to follow. So instead of requiring any kind of force, Wisteria chose a show of goodwill.

The Wild Sixth dissolves, and alongside this, those in the Bloodboughs with a history of inter-pack violence and more staunch anti-hybrid beliefs resolutely forced out after a few more months of futile effort to make them see reason or seek change. Having already ousted those responsible for the death of Lucas Walker’s brother- two of whom holding position as seconds before being removed- This reduction of his numbers has made leading the pack a more manageable task for Wisteria and his remaining three ‘underbosses’, brought down from the mid-hundreds to around sixty to seventy members. This change was a point of contention for many, but the change has come out largely positive- The pack better connected and largely neutral in the opinions of others, where once negative. Wisteria has found more time to spend among the wolves he leads, improving what he can on the smaller scale without the assistance of any sort of leadership position over the city as a whole.

He works willingly with the Unseelie, ‘anything to ease the transition’ he insisted, and while his opinion surely didn’t start so kind, reluctant, angry, and lost for the first couple months, it surely seems on the surface as if he’s chosen to embrace the new rule and the opportunity to perhaps be a man known on the merit of his talents and position as an alpha, instead of the Head of the Sixth. In the transitional period, he opens a Courturier shop and takes his position as the head, and currently only tailor, contracting his work out to those who circle the newly in place court- eventually catching the eye of the queen herself- and receiving requests from the new highest power in Faerune- Tasks that Wisteria fills dutifully, with a moth pinned to the shoulder of his shirt and an opal moon hung from it’s base, a display of loyalty to the crown.

It’s a shame for the fae, perhaps, that this is all a farce.

Beneath his bright eyed, plucky willingness to create beautiful, one of a kind garments and listen to the lament of every courtier who passes in for a measuring or fitting, lies a seething hatred for their vapid personalities and willingness to treat him like nothing more than the help, the coldsteel fang in his mouth sharp and hungry to spill blood or secrets, whichever dirties the streets quicker with the shattered remains of the crown that now holds him hostage. The Sixth never dissolved, simply changed names, faces, and displays, working in subtlety and secret. No longer emboldened by their leader’s position in the government their clubhouse sits quiet and unused, the colors of the Sixth, once proudly worn on the back of all their members sit retired in the backs of closets in favor of dark clothing and stealth. Fae of the Sixth taking position as Courtiers or runners- vampires, werewolves, and hybrids working within the grassroots clan and pack movements picking up speed in the power vacuum, and familiar members putting the disregard for animals being present to gather information- it’s a network of listening ears now, a sleeping giant waiting once more to take any step necessary to protect everyone in the city- not the whims of the Unseelie- should the need arise.

But it’s not simply his business and leadership that’s changed, and for Wisteria, the personal life changes have been far more positive. Finally having accepted that he and Jill Abbott were dancing around feelings far greater than those of friends alone, they’ve been dating since September of 2022, and moved in together not long after that, sharing a high-end penthouse apartment closer to Wisteria’s new place of work- and separated from the aches and pains of the house he’d once sought to call home with his husband. With a new dog (Eloquently named Puppy, by his girlfriend) and the ever-present company of Property Tax the Ferret, They’ve settled into some semblance of domestic bliss, and while they argue here and there, most fights are settled before they grow too heated, and Wisteria looks forward to returns to the home they share and time with Jill whenever he leaves for work or the pack meetinghouse, even if it’s simply spent with her laid in the floor of his home workshop, listening to music and discussing their day before turning in for the night.

He remains close with his friends, though his loyalist façade may have troubled some of them at first, he tends to keep talk of the crown to himself, and his displayed loyalty only obvious when working at the Courturier. He’s taken to spending a substantial amount of time around a man named Rolo, in the recent months, as well as a young woman calling herself Rusulka- neither of whom seem to be placeable as any sort of supernatural at first glance...

#Her Season's Song;#Uncomfortably Numb;#Season 2;

5 notes · View notes

timbertumbr · 3 years ago

Note

Can I get a jay love letter I like anime,dragons,reptiles,drawing but I'm not good,tarantulas,sweets,video games, memes,dark humor. I am very kind but I care more about others than I do myself. I have bad anxiety. I tend to overthink about everything. I love to sing especially country music but I am tone deaf.

"Hey there! Gosh, where do I start? Well, I'm also a big fan of dragons considering I had one! Er- they're technically still here but in a bigger form. And technically dragons are big reptiles that fly and breathe... fire? Ice? I'm not sure anymore...

Oh! You like games too? Maybe you could come over and play with us sometime! Maybe you can show me one of your favorite animes as well. Maybe go to Laughy's for Kareoke where you can sing to your heart's content, who knows!

Dark humor you say? I tend to dive into that territory when, you know, I'm freaking out over dying or something. It's especially great in meme format.

Glad to see there are still some kind people in the world, ya know, with all the villains we encounter hehe... Remember to take care of yourself as well, okay? You can't be there for others if you're not in a good state, physically, mentally, or emotionally.

Anxiety is a constant battle between yourself and your own mind, it's tough, but you've gotten this far and I'm proud that you have. Overthinking can be part of it, and it can definitely get those gears turning for better or for worse. You battle one of humanity's greatest foes, our own mind every day, and still have the energy to continue moving forward. Sure, you may not have the energy some days but that's okay, as long as you do what makes you happy.

Alright, hopefully, this helps you out! Oh, and even if your drawings may seem bad to you now, they may not to someone else. And everyone says practice makes perfect, which it does. You can go at your own pace and remember to have fun!

-Stay safe, Jay Walker,"

Credit to @beauty-in-ferality for the Love Letter Idea! ^^

#This is my first time writing anything like this #I hope it's okay! ^^#Jay #jay walker #Jay Love letter event #Jay Walker Love letter event #Ninjago #ninjago masters of spinjitzu

6 notes · View notes

dear-indies · 4 years ago

Note

hi!! could you please help me find a male fc in his early 20s with red hair?? thank you so much!!!

Ginger:

Luke Newberry (1990)

Sean Berdy (1993) deaf - has bipolar disorder.

Cameron Monaghan (1993)

Nakamoto Yuta (1995) Japanese.

Takada Kenta (1995) Japanese.

K.O. / Nguyễn Thái Sơn (1995) Vietnamese.

Shison Jun (1995) Japanese.

Tanaka Juri (1995) Japanese.

Jack Kilmer (1995)

Roberto Sipos (1996)

Elliott Jay Brown (1996) Black British.

Ralph Souffrant (1996) Afro-Haitian.

Iwahashi Genki (1996) Japanese.

Leon Seidel (1996)

Yoshino Hokuto (1997) Japanese.

Kai Alexander (1997)

Lục Huy (1997) Vietnamese.

Jake Austin Walker (1997)

Louis Hofmann (1997)

Abe Aran (1997) Japanese.

Nishime Shun (1998) Japanese.

Justin Tinucci (1999)

Gytis Gedvilas (1999)

Tucker Albrizzi (2000)

Red:

Nakamoto Yuta (1995) Japanese.

K.O. / Nguyễn Thái Sơn (1995) Vietnamese.

Go Tae-seob / Holland (1996) Korean - gay.

WinWin (1997) Chinese.

Yoshino Hokuto (1997) Japanese.

Lục Huy (1997) Vietnamese.

Hasegawa Makoto (1998) Japanese.

Cai Xukun (1998) Chinese.

Gun Napat Na Ranong (1998) Thai.

Taiki / taiki_jp (?) Japanese - gay.

The older people have younger resources / roles!

#fc help #rph #rpc #Anonymous

2 notes · View notes

nostalgicnoise · 4 years ago

Text

Hippie Sabotage- Trust Nobody

Hippie Sabotage- Stay High

Hippie Sabotage - Riding Solo (Njomza remix)

Hippie Sabotage- Your Soul

Hippie Sabotage- Drifter

Flume ft. Tove Love- Say It (Illenium remix)

ODESZA- A Moment Apart

Troyboi- O.G.

Troyboi ft. Diplo and Nina Sky- After Hours

Troyboi- Ili

Troyboi- Back to the Wall

Stooki Sound x Mr. Carmack- Uppers

Meg Myers- Desire (Hucci remix)

Hucci and Stooki Sound- Ball so Hard

Hucci-Forbidden Fruit (remix)

Flosstradamus ft. Travis Porter- Drop Top

Oshi- State of Flux

Mura Masa- Lotus Eater

FKJ ft. Tom Bailey- Drops

FKJ ft. Masego- Tadow

Masego- Veg Out

Flosstradamus ft. Casino- Mosh Pit

20syl ft. ODDISSEE- Ongoing Things

20syl ft. Rita J- Voices

Hermitude ft. Mataya and Young Tapz- The Buzz

Gramatik- Just Jammin

Paris Stelor- Booty Swing

Petit Biscuit- Palms

Glass Animals- Gooey

Cherub- Doses and Mimosas

Kodaline- Brother

Seafret- Wildfire

Dan Croll- From Nowhere

Rick and Morty Dubstep

Ratatat- Creme on Chrome

Big Wild- When I Get There

Space Jesus and Dirt Monkey- Sofa Surfin (Liquid Stranger remix)

GETTER- Something New

Liquid Stranger- Don’t Stop

Juice Wrld ft. Marshmello- Come and Go

ZHU- Good Life

ZHU- Faded

M83- Midnight City

Jai Wolf-The World is Ours

Chet Faker- No Diggity

Pretty Lights- Finally Moving

Bassnector- Reaching Out

Griz and Big Gigantic- Good Times Roll

Griz- Smash the Funk

Galimatias- Ocean Floor Kisses

Sam Feldt ft. Rani- Post Malone

Pretty Lights- One Day They’ll Know

Blackmill- Spirit of Life

The Xx- Intro

Marian Hill- Down

San Holo- We Rise

Oiki- Groove

Hermitude ft. Yeo-Searchlight

Dennis Lloyd- GFY

Big Wild ft. Yuna- Empty Room

ZHU and Skrillex and THEY- Working For It

Marshmello-Alone

Lindsey Stirling- Aurora

Alan Walker- Sing Me to Sleep

DEAF KEV- Invincible

Marshmello- Home

Marshmello and Slushii- Twinbow

Lund- Broken

5 notes · View notes

deadcactuswalking · 5 years ago

Text

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 13th October 2019

This was a pretty important week, as while we only had around four debuts, there’s finally some more shake-up in the top 20, which had been pretty stagnant for a while, and two new arrivals entering directly in the top 20 so without further ado, let’s review the charts.

Top 10

Still at the top for its second week this week is “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I, also entering at #96 in the US, which is expected as I’ve been predicting a crossover for weeks, but I did not expect this to be such a global hit in all honesty, mostly since the song felt too low-key to just not be a European indie fluke hit. I suppose I really have no idea what becomes a hit or not in 2019.

Our first new arrival is at number-two, with Travis Scott’s lead-off single, “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM”. The song debuted at #1 in the US, but here it’s just barely been kept at the runner-up spot, and I don’t mind either way, because while “Dance Monkey” may be a lot more distinct, both of the songs are very middling in terms of quality. This is Scott’s ninth ever UK Top 40 hit, sixth Top 20 and his third Top 10 hit. In fact, its debut at #2 made it trump “Zeze” with Kodak Black and Offset (peaked at #7) as Travis Scott’s highest-peaking song in the UK. How on Earth it did that is for me to talk about later, so for now let’s move on, as I don’t see this sticking.

Since there are no massively dramatic changes in the top 10 other than the debut of “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM”, most songs here are just down one space, including “Ride It” by Regard featuring Jay Sean to number-three.

AJ Tracey’s “Ladbroke Grove” is also down one spot this week to number-four.

Interestingly, up one position this week is “Circles” by Post Malone, which I’m going to say now, will become a #1 hit near Christmas if not sooner.

Kygo and the late Whitney Houston continue the trend of brief descent as “Higher Love” is down a spot to number-six.

Joel Corry’s “Sorry” featuring uncredited vocals from Hayley Mays hasn’t moved since last week at number-seven.

Up six spaces from last week and entering the top 10 for the first time is “Outnumbered” by Dermot Kennedy at number-eight, becoming Kennedy’s first top 10 hit and this success should have been obvious from the start of its chart run, although personally I’m not a fan.

Dominic Fike’s “3 Nights” is down a spot to number-nine.

And finally, rounding off the top 10 are Young T & Bugsey featuring Aitch with “Strike a Pose”, also falling a singular space this week.

Climbers

Our climbers here are pretty sparse, mostly affecting songs that debuted last week. Aitch gets his fifth UK Top 20 hit as “Buss Down” featuring ZieZie (It’s his first) is up five to #20 thanks to the release of the video. Outside of the top 20, “South of the Border” by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B experiences a pretty uncommon climb of 16 spaces to #24 off of the debut, although that doesn’t mean it’s of any quality, of course, as this is probably the worst song on the tone-deaf Ed Sheeran collaborations project. Hopping off of that success is Camila Cabello’s solo work, as for whatever reason, “Liar” is up eight positions to #27 this week. Also increasing off of its debut last week is “Turn Me On” by Riton, Oliver Heldens and Vula, moving up eight spaces to #29, and that’s all.

Fallers

While we had some pretty big climbers, they really do not compare with the impact of the fallers this week, with enough quantity but the songs themselves are genuine smash hits for the most part, although I still feel like we could have easily had some more notable drops here. “Bruises” by Lewis Capaldi is down five to #16 off of the re-entry, “Taste (Make it Shake)” by Aitch suffers streaming cuts (see: dumb UK chart rules that admittedly keep the chart constantly fluctuating and interesting) down a whopping 22 spaces, landing at #26, “Senorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello is down six to #30, “Beautiful People” by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid is thankfully down six to #34, “Playing for Keeps” by D-Block Europe featuring Dave has floundered entirely off of the debut, down 16 spaces to #37, and finally, “Harder” by Jax Jones featuring Bebe Rexha is down seven spots to #39.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

It seems like for a while, we’ll just have Post Malone songs dropping out and exchanging themselves for... other Post Malone songs. This week, “Goodbyes” featuring Young Thug dropped out from #23 and “Sunflower” with Swae Lee from the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack dropped out from #31, in exchange for other Post Malone songs outside of the top 40 to re-enter (“Take What You Want” and “Saint-Tropez”). Other drop-outs include “Nookie” by D-Block Europe featuring Lil Baby out from #30 and “boyfriend” by Social House featuring Ariana Grande out from #34, but there are no returning entries (in the top 40), so it’s time to talk about the new arrivals.

NEW ARRIVALS

#38 – “Graveyard” – Halsey

Produced by Jon Bellion, Ojivolta, Louis Bell and the Monsters and the Strangerz – Peaked at #11 in Belgium and #44 in the US

Halsey’s album release has been pretty messy but to be fair to her and her team, I’d have no idea what to do after how globally massive “Without Me” was, as I don’t think Halsey would have wanted to continue down an R&B-pop lane... and clearly, she didn’t, as her next single, released months after, was “Nightmare”, a pop punk belter that pretty much nobody liked and it underperformed heavily, which is unfortunate as I actually quite enjoyed that song. Now Halsey’s back with a safer, more accessible single from her upcoming album Manic, set to release in 2020, and promoted by a livestream of her painting the album cover, for whatever reason, and, well, we’ll see how it holds up to her hit singles from other album eras, including “New Americana” and... “Bad at Love”... okay, so if this isn’t terrible, I’m marking a pretty great improvement on Halsey’s part. Regardless, this is her eighth UK Top 40 hit and... why does this need seven writers again? Five of those writers are confirmed producers, but Halsey and her co-writers seem to be out to damage her singer-songwriter/indie queen image, signifying perhaps that this new album will be more of a traditional pop record. Okay, I’m not going to lie, I’m pretending to be interested in whatever Halsey’s doing, I’m just excited to listen to this because I love Jon Bellion. I always forget he exists, but whenever he produces a new single or comes out with a fantastic album out of nowhere like last year’s Glory Sound Prep, I’m pleasantly surprised. You can definitely tell “Graveyard” is a Bellion production, albeit it does feel his maximalist style has been watered-down to fit Halsey’s cynical songwriting. The sweet guitar is definitely reminiscent of Bellion, but it’s chopped in an EDM-like fashion, and the bouncy synths are actually pretty cute surrounding Halsey’s... well, they sure are vocals. The tropical percussion sounds pretty cheap and the loop ends abruptly, with the vocals and synths occasionally clipping in the mix, which doesn’t really make much sense here, and in the chorus, Halsey punches in a line so blatantly that it is a painful, slightly off-beat jerk towards the next line. It’s probably the most incompetent production I’ve ever heard on a Halsey song, which is surprising for a song with five producers. You’d think someone noticed that during the process but that happens not to be the case... but it’s in the chorus, guys! Surely, you’d want the hook to not sound awkward and have, you know, any impact. It’s not a bad song, and it’s not like I had that high expectations, but somehow I’m still disappointed. Bellion can do better. Not sure about the other six songwriters, though.

Also, that bridge is absolutely pathetic, like come on, you didn’t even try.

#25 – “Playing Games” – Summer Walker

Extended version features Bryson Tiller – Produced by London on tha Track – Peaked at #16 in the US

Bryson Tiller isn’t credited on any of the British chart info, but his extended version is what’s getting the most plays, his verse is in the music video, Wikipedia credits him and the album adding this extended remix with Bryson Tiller is the only reason it’s even close to this high so let’s talk about Summer Walker. I mean, yeah, I like SZA too. Summer Walker to me seems like the amalgamation of all of the better female R&B singers to come before her that are in her same lane, in fact, some of the males as well. She’s like Khalid had a child with Jhené Aiko out of wedlock, but Jhene wants a DNA test as that child might have actually been with the Weeknd or another suspected dad, 6LACK. I don’t usually mind Summer Walker but I’m just frustrated with her. Ever since her debut mixtape Last Day of Summer dropped, I have been waiting for a single from her that doesn’t completely flout her talent, but it has yet to come, and when I like a song from her, it’s mostly because it has a sweet guest spot from someone else who knows how to play to their strengths, like Usher who has a placement on “Come Thru”, which probably should have been the lead single if I’m honest. Over It, Summer Walker’s debut album, was released last week to a lot of success, especially in the US, where it had the biggest ever streaming week for a female R&B project, and it featured an extended version of an already incredibly disappointing single released after she picked up a lot of traction with “Girls Need Love”, propelled by a Drake remix (It’s probably one of Summer’s best songs). “Playing Games” is one of the worst songs I think I have ever heard that reached the US Top 20, but it’s December in two months. List season is very much upon us. I don’t want to waste my energy. This will definitely still get Worst of the Week, but I don’t want to talk about it and spoil anything for the Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 2019 list, as this will be pretty high on it.

#19 – “10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber

Produced by Dan Smyers – Peaked at #2 in Canada and #4 in the US

Country music doesn’t appear on the UK charts often, it really doesn’t, but it’s had a pretty great year in terms of popularity, with so many of these random country songs that would have never peaked at higher than #30 in any other year are getting in the top 20, to the point where I’m worried I’ll have to start educating myself on the genre in case there’s ever a British country boom. “Whiskey Glasses” by Morgan Wallen, “The Git Up” by Blanco Brown, “God’s Country” by Blake Shelton, “Beer Never Broke My Heart” by Luke Combs, just to name a few. Is “Old Town Road” a product of this sudden surge in country’s popularity or is it a catalyst? I’ll leave that to thinkpieces and video essays to find out because I don’t care and I don’t know a damn thing about country, I just know I love this song, and I can’t exactly figure out why. Dan + Shay are a country music duo and arguably the biggest country band right now, with massive sleeper hits like “Speechless” and especially “Tequila” which was on the Hot 100 for about a year if not more yet it never peaked higher than #21, still making the Year-End top 40 for 2018, and I didn’t mind that song either but mostly because it was very far away from what I felt was actually country... it’s safe to say that “Tequila” now sounds like it comes straight from Roger Miller because “10,000 Hours” is about as country as strawberry ice cream is healthy. I mean, it has the right components to fill that quota, but it does not make use of them in a way that fulfils the criteria, and more often than not, completely dismisses them to focus on quality. This is basically a boy band song. It starts with a lush guitar sprinkled over a barely audible drowned-out drum break, with Dan and/or Shay singing in their traditional high-pitched tone with a pretty much non-existent country twang through a pretty quick first verse. Once that chorus hits, I fell in love with this song. It’s so cheesy, it’s so melodramatic, yet it works incredibly well because it feels like a genuine declaration of love and dedication towards each artists’ respective wives, and yes, you could say that it’s corny or saccharine, and I’d fully agree with you, but that’s why it’s worth listening to. Dan’s voice especially sounds pretty great for this type of song, and the vocalising in the post-chorus is pretty sweet, though I expected it to either run into Justin’s verse a bit more fluidly or go off into a bridge on its own, but it never really does, which is disappointing. Justin’s verse, as most of his verses are nowadays, is hilarious, with a punch-in that sounds like a line was completely replaced with the “Did you get your middle name from your grandma?” line, which has an oddly creepy inflection that is not helped by Justin’s huskier Auto-Tuned drawl, but his cooing and harmonisations otherwise work, especially in the pre-chorus. I also love how the drums come in for the chorus. The bridge is great on its own (albeit slightly awkward, which has its charm), but I’d appreciate it being expanded and having more harmony with Dan + Shay and Justin. Dan shines especially in the final chorus though, and the song ends with just a bunch of vocal riffing, which is pretty fitting for what’s essentially a wedding song. I love this song, but that might just be because it’s essentially a Christmas song in spirit and a Backstreet Boys song in execution. Oh, and did you know this is the most-streamed country song ever? That’s pretty crazy.

#2 – “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” – Travis Scott

Produced by OZ, Nik D and Mike Dean - Peaked at #1 in the US

I have spent hours trying to find out why “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” by Travis Scott debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. I listened the song once and was perplexed. Okay, first of all, let’s talk about the song, it’s not bad at all, in fact, I’d argue it’s pretty decent. I like the eerie vocal sample with a pretty speedy Latin guitar. Travis doesn’t say anything of interest and his oddly-mixed ad-libs are pretty fun, especially in the chorus, but it does seem a tad rushed overall. The verses and chorus very smoothly transition to each other, but the mixing is really shoddy at times, I feel like it’s mostly bass mastering that make this hard to listen to. It also has a pretty odd falsetto part at the end, but the outro is probably the best part of the song, with the pretty epic distorted synth layers and aggressive drums just piling on top of each other, with lyrics that are incomprehensible on top of them. So why is this #1 on the Hot 100? Well, okay, so let’s go through each idea.

The outro’s lyrics are incomprehensible, and Travis himself sold merch that claimed the outro was not for “decoding” and he told his fans to “just vibe”. Surely, that made some people that wouldn’t normally listen pretty curious. Rap Genius transcribers would have tried to listen to that outro and hence the song on loop for hours, just for Travis to literally delete it and annotate the outro saying that there shouldn’t be any lyrics or decoding, pretty much confirming that he’s saying nonsense words.

The song is about Travis’ ex-fiancé Kylie Jenner, who had reportedly separated two days prior to the release of the single. Kylie Jenner also promoted the single when playing a demo of the song in an April video about some kind of eyebrow product. There’s a lot of drama to unfold there and Travis does briefly mention Kylie, not by name, in lyrics. Kylie would later be seen at a party with Tyga.

From May to August, Travis teased the song several times by playing it at live shows. There was originally going to be a Lil Baby feature that was played at an August show.

Travis released an incredibly wacky, funny music video with a lot of vivid colours and interesting concepts to accompany the single release.

Travis released merch bundles where you could buy a digital single for free essentially if you buy a hoodie or something, most of the clothing having direct relations to the song and its lyrics. There were also several different physical versions released, including a CD, vinyl record and cassette tape. These bundles and merch are probably the reason it debuted so high all things considered, but do physical merch sales really drive a song to #1? Travis does not have near enough a pull in the UK to get a top 10 hit on his own, so I imagine the physical sales really drove this up to the #2 spot, as well as the merch bundles. This means that Travis now has a second #1 in the US to his name pretty much purely because of merchandise. It did not have radio support at all despite monstrous streaming and without the merch and physical sales, it would have debuted in the top 10 easily, top five probably, but definitely would not have dethroned the much more stable and balanced song in all platforms, “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo. Also, I know there are a lot of Travis Scott fans and they are all very dedicated people, but even they can tell this was probably made in a day, right? It’s just “BUTTERFLY EFFECT” again, but it’s not even by the same producer, so Murda Beatz pretty much had his beat ripped off for some throwaway single that somehow got to #1. Surely, to buy a physical copy, you need to care enough about the song. The music video was pretty great, fair enough, and Kardashian drama does bring a lot of publicity, but I do not see how in any way this song is captivating enough to be documented as a #1 debut. The song had essentially been leaked in its entirety – plus a Lil Baby verse that could have made it even bigger – at live shows. You have to be interested in the song enough to care about the lyrics, and I can’t find anything here that resonates. Billboard’s merch rules need some re-evaluation, man. It’s an okay song though, pretty disposable.

Conclusion

I’m not as angry at “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” as it looks, the song’s tolerable, so Travis Scott isn’t even getting a Dishonourable Mention, in fact the Best and Worst of the Week fall out easily. Summer Walker and I guess Bryson Tiller get Worst of the Week for “Playing Games” (More on that song in a couple months) and Best of the Week goes to Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber for “10,000 Hours”, which is a really stupid song but it’s so fun. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more musical ramblings and I’ll see you next week!

0 notes

tabloidtoc · 5 years ago

Text

National Examiner, July 1

Cover: Who Hates Who in Hollywood

Page 2: Behind the scenes of Pillow Talk with Doris Day and Rock Hudson

Page 4: Social Animals -- Photographers capture the natural world’s amazing interactions

Page 6: 7 sunny facts to brighten your summer

Page 7: Make yourself irresistible with a love spell, how to break up without breaking down

Page 8: Dream Doctor

Page 9: Alex Trebek’s miracle cancer cure is prayer

Page 10: Teacher Finn Lanning adopting homeless student so he can get a kidney

Page 11: Your Health -- Your pillow is a hotbed of germs, top 5 dental don’t

Page 12: Gone with the Wind shocking secrets and scandals

Page 14: Dear Tony

Page 15: Eating a cup of blueberries each day slashes the risk of heart disease by around 15 percent

Page 16: 10 easy reasons to say something nice

Page 17: How to form a real apology

Page 18: For his final day on the job mail carrier Floyd Martin received an unexpected love letter -- an entire Georgia neighborhood turned out to throw him a special-delivery party along his route

Page 20: Cover Story -- Who Hates Who in Hollywood -- George Clooney vs. Russell Crowe, Whoopi Goldberg vs. Rosie O’Donnell, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson vs. Vin Diesel, Angelina Jolie vs. Amal Clooney, Taylor Swift vs. Katy Perry

Page 21: Julia Roberts vs. Nick Nolte, David Letterman vs. Jay Leno, Gwyneth Paltrow vs. Martha Stewart, Orlando Bloom vs. Justin Bieber, Jennifer Aniston vs. Chelsea Handler, Shannen Doherty vs. Alyssa Milano

Page 22: When a six-year-old became the first deaf student to attend her Maine school her new classmates wanted to make sure she felt at home so the entire school learned sign language

Page 24: 48-year-old preschool teacher and mom of three Perry Shoemaker from Virginia has qualified for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials after just six weeks of coaching

Page 25: When a Georgia mom walked into a Home Depot with a super-long list of parts for making her son a walker she got a super surprise -- they told her to take the toddler for ice cream while they put it together themselves and wouldn’t take any money for it

Page 26: The Good Doctor

Page 28: Just smelling a pie satisfies cravings without the calories

Page 30: True Crime

Page 44: Eyes on the Stars -- Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, Miranda Lambert’s marriage to Brendan McLoughlin, Hugh Grant jokes he’s come to the end of his reign as the king of rom-coms because he’s gotten too old and ugly and fat, Robert De Niro’s estranged wife Grace Hightower estimates he’s worth $500 million and she’s entitled to half, NSYNC’s Joey Fatone and soon-to-be ex Kelly Baldwin are on the road to a peaceful split after agreeing to abide by the 2004 prenup, Chris Hemsworth is ready for a break from acting because he wants to spend time with his kids

Page 45: Celine Dion, Steve and Marjorie Harvey, Carrie Underwood, Reese Witherspoon is raring to reprise her role of Elle Woods in the upcoming Legally Blonde 3, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and husband Jionni Lavalle welcomed baby #3 son Angelo, Dolly Parton sleeps with a full face of makeup, the case of missing Mouseketeer Dennis Day has come to a sad end as his body was discovered, blind item

Page 46: South Carolina third-grader Katie Stagliano who grew a monster cabbage weighing almost as much as she did was inspired to go on to help feed thousands of hungry people across the nation

Page 47: Iconic pay phones find new life as whimsical works of art

#tabloid #hollywood

0 notes

xxxkyyxxx-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Never enough-chapter one part II.

“What did you say? Sorry, this perfection before me took my attention.” She stopped for a minute and continued. “I mean, not before me, because how could he possibly be here? That would be awesome. I would be the happiest girl on the planet!” She screamed in her joy. “Oh, that's what I wanted to tell you. Are you ready for the news? “ I just nodded, because I wanted to get over with it. “Okay, but are you sure you're ready? Can you handle the news?” “Yes, Lana. I can.” My voice snapped, but she didn’t notice it. “So, I was sitting in the cafeteria, scrolling down my Facebook feed, and watching this cute video about this dog. The dog was trying to jump into a pool, but the pool was too small for it, and the dog always jumped from the edge of the pool, and fell back to the ground. It was hilarious! You should see it. Wait, I'm gonna find it for you!” She started looking for the video, but I stopped her. “Lana, please. Get to the point. I’ve seen the video. “ “Oh okay. So, I was doing some stuff on Facebook, when a post appeared about Jay Walker. It said that he was coming to our town! Can you believe this? Is this for real? And the best part is, that he is going to be at the same school as us! Isn't it fantastic? “ she started jumping again. I had no idea, who she was talking about. “Who is Jay Walker ?” I asked her. Lana stopped what she was doing, and she was standing there frozen. Her eyes were scorching. “Do you mean, that you don't know Jay Walker ? Are you for real, Tara ?” She screamed. “Where do you live? In a cage? I seriously don't believe it! How come you’re my best friend?” She slapped my left arm and I hissed. “Lana! That hurts. Yeez, calm down.” I tried to haul her over the coals, but I was talking to deaf ears. “How can you live with such little knowledge about celebrities? That's aggravating.” She murmured. “We should definitely see some videos, you should read some fanfics about him.” Her voice was excited. “We have one day to prepare you, Tara!” I just shook my head in disagreement. I didn't care about this boy. I didn't want to know things about him. I had enough problems to deal with. If I had wanted to know more about him, I would have looked into him.

0 notes

cover32-yahoopartner-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Back off our Delanie

Back off “our” Delanie

Well, I was trying to avoid writing about the national anthem stuff, but apparently I must. This is my opinion and not necessarily that of Cover32 or Yahoo.

During a speech at the United States Air Force Academy, Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria said, “The appropriate response … for a horrible idea is a better idea.”

I don’t think Colin Kaepernick had a good idea when he sat during the national anthem.

Former Green Beret, and former Seattle Seahawks long snapper, Nate Boyer met with Kaepernick. (What follows is an excerpt from CBSSports)

“We sorta came to a middle ground where he would take a knee alongside his teammates,” Boyer says. “Soldiers take a knee in front of a fallen brother’s grave, you know, to show respect. When we’re on a patrol, you know, and we go into a security halt, we take a knee, and we pull security.”

Asked by Gumbel if Kap was “receptive” to his ideas, Boyer described him as “very receptive.”

“Very receptive. He said, ‘I think that would be– I think– I think that would be really powerful,'” Boyer recalls. “And, you know, he asked me to do it with him. And I said, ‘Look, I’ll stand next to you. I gotta stand though. I gotta stand with my hand on my heart. That’s just– that’s just what I do and where I’m from.'”

When Kaepernick changed his protest to be down on his knee, that changed it some for me. I am, generally, OK with a respectful peaceful protest. That’s an American exercising their freedom of expression.

What I couldn’t relate to and I still have an issue with is this- Any NFL player can call, email, text, or tweet a TV Station or newspaper and hold a press conference. I was raised to believe that bringing any attention away from the flag (usually due to misbehavior) is disrespectful to your country. Why didn’t he just call a press conference and air his views then?

Kaepernick didn’t call me (who am I?) to see what I thought he should do. He did what he thought best. That’s also his choice, not mine.

I don’t like “my time” being interrupted. It’s not just Kaepernick, but picketers in the street, “holy rollers” waving signs, loud parades, and public chants all annoy me. I want my routine. I want to go to the store or go to work and have it be a typical experience. I’m not “anti-anything” except getting to work late.

Most people voicing public displeasure do so at times when they will get enough attention. They need people to listen and possibly people to join their cause.

As you can see, those voicing displeasure and I have a fundamental problem here.

So what’s the solution?

Let’s go back to the initial quote, “The appropriate response … for a horrible idea is a better idea. ” I’m not saying either idea is horrible, but let’s stick with this logic. A better idea here is respect and perspective.

Kaepernick respected the public outcry and the pleas from a Green Beret and he began to kneel. That was his better idea. For me, the better idea is to respect Kaepernick’s right to express himself and realize that he needs a public forum in order to get people to support his cause.

As you know, other NFL players began to kneel. They had their own protests or issues that they were kneeling for. All of this mushroomed into 2017, which brought many more kneelers than in 2016.

I became “good with it” when Kaepernick was doing it. Not happy, but I understood that I should respect his freedom of expression. His life in America is probably nothing like mine, so our viewpoints are probably largely different. The 2017 NFL protesters just brought more of the same feelings. I can respect their freedoms just as well as I can respect Kaepernick’s.

Last Saturday, Donald Trump spoke. The President of the United States explained how some NFL players should be fired for not standing at attention during the national anthem. All I thought then was a selfish thought- “hey that’s how I was brought up too.”

Last Sunday, NFL teams showed their displeasure by “taking a page out of Kaepernick’s book.” Many teams had players kneel during the national anthem. Some players were locked arm-in-arm with other players and/or coaches and/or owners. They were offering a protest with a bonus display of solidarity.

Did I agree with it? No, I just wanted to watch the game. Then I go on twitter looking for football updates and every football reporter is sharing thoughts and pictures of these protests. My routine was interrupted again. Again though, I respected their right to express themselves.

Again- Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria said, “The appropriate response … for a horrible idea is a better idea.”

On September 10, the Cleveland Browns played a video about unity while they were side by side with police officers, members of the US military, and firefighters. Members of the USO held a large flag on the field during the anthem. Browns players did kneel. They were also arm in arm, showing solidarity or brotherhood. Here is an image from last week’s game:

Proud of the Browns players for making a statement of unity during the anthem pic.twitter.com/DiuHSR2mRA

— Damon Kecman (@DownWithDamon) September 24, 2017

All of that is certainly a better idea. I love our military, our police, our fire department, and our football players. For them to be arm-n-arm, it was a nice visual.

Is it proper? I don’t know. If the military, police, and fire department were supportive of it, I assume so. It’s like above; if a Green Beret is alright with Kaepernick taking a knee, I ought to be.

Some teams didn’t go onto the field. The Titans were one of them. The Titans had some members of the 101st Airborne present for the game. During the national anthem, some members of the Marines held a large American flag.

Essentially, the Titans were trying to be impartial; trying to not take a side here.

Remember learning about the Revolutionary War in school. The USA fighting for its independence from the rule of the Queen? Last weekend, the Jaguars played the Ravens in London. Many NFL players knelt during the US national anthem, but yet stood at attention during the UK’s anthem, “God Save the Queen.”

Isn’t that ironic? You would think that would be the major twist this week, but nope. The big news involved the Titans.

Titans tight end Delanie Walker suddenly took center stage on this issue.

The Titans have a wonderful relationship with the military. The Titans trained this past offseason with the 101st Airborne and developed a connection between the soldiers and the players. The Titans visited their base and the soldiers visited the Titans. They each did the other’s workout routine. This wonderful relationship even grew another offshoot where the players’ wives and female Titans staff went to workout with some soldiers. When the Titans are running charity events, sometimes the soldiers are there to help too. Delanie Walker went on a tour with the USO to meet soldiers during this past offseason. He brought some joy and support to them during their grueling tours fighting for our freedoms. The Titans relationship with the military is wonderful.

Titans fans challenged their favorite players by saying they would not attend games. The Titans organizing to have the Marines present seems to have been ignored. Their history with the 101st also seems to have been ignored. Most of the rants stated that the Titans were disrespecting the military by staying in the locker room.

In a virtual response, Walker said this to an interviewer this past week:

“First off, I’m going to say this: We’re not disrespecting the military, the men, and women who served. That’s not what it’s all about. If you look at most of the guys in here; I’ve been to the USO. I support our troops. It’s not about that. It’s about equal rights and everyone is trying to show that we all care about each other. And the fans that don’t want to come to the games, OK, bye. I mean if you feel that’s something where we’re disrespecting you, don’t come to the games. You don’t have to. No one is telling you to come to the game. It’s your freedom and your choice to do that.”

Later this week, Walker and his family’s lives were threatened.

Walker is a super generous soul and a real fun interview to listen to. He is often in the public eye using his Tuesday off to do some good for others. There was one story shared recently about Walker helping to raise money for cancer research and to help a sweet little girl that has cancer. He was present for the Turkey drives around Thanksgiving. He is often charitable. Walker is a good man.

The context of the threat was not released. By definition, a threat is a harmful act of retribution.

This is not where we want to be as Titans fans.

We, as Americans, do not want to be in a position where we harm those that aren’t present for the national anthem. It wasn’t even mandatory for NFL players to be present for the national anthem until 2009.

I am going to “butcher” Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria’s speech below. The … inside quotes is me skipping some parts. He was speaking of a racist incident at the United States Airforce Academy. What he said though rings true for me. I am going to use his words as my message to Titans fans and specifically anyone threatening Delanie or any other Titans:

“If you’re outraged, then you’re in the right place. That kind of behavior has no place You should be outraged. … I would be naive, and we all would be naive, to think that everything is perfect here. We would be naive to think that we shouldn’t discuss this topic. We would also be tone-deaf not to think about the backdrop of what’s going on in our country. Things like Charlottesville and Ferguson, the protests in the NFL. That’s why we have a better idea. ….It’s about our diversity and it’s about the power of our diversity. The power of the 4000 of you (USAFA students) …the power of us as a diverse group. The power that we come from all walks of life. That we come from all parts of this country. That we come from all races. We come from all backgrounds, gender, all makeup, all upbringing. The power of that diversity comes together and makes us that much more powerful. That’s a much better idea than small thinking and horrible ideas. We have an opportunity here to think about what we are… no one can take away our values. No one can write on a board and question our values. No one can take that away from us. So just in case you’re unclear on where I stand on this topic, I’m going to leave you with my most important thought today. If you can’t treat someone with dignity and respect, then you need to get out. If you can’t treat someone from another gender, whether that’s a man or a woman, with dignity and respect, then you need to get out. If you need to demean someone in any way, then you need to get out. And if you can’t treat someone from another race or with different colored skin with dignity and respect, then you need to get out. …So that we all have the moral courage together,… this is our institution. If you need this, then use my words. Talk about this. Share this. If you can’t treat someone with dignity and respect, then get out.”

Us Titans fans have always had a more the merrier mindset. We welcome new fans every year. Recently, we welcomed millions of new fans that used to be fans of the St. Louis Rams. This is not that. Threats cross a line from rational discussion to become irrational behavior. So to all the millions of Titans fans, I say, “Titan Up!” To those few that are threatening Delanie and his family, “Get out!” We don’t want you in our fan-base. Get out!

He is the favorite player of many of us. He is OUR Delanie.

To those upset and still rational? Let’s discuss it. The presence and involvement of the military surely “throws a monkey wrench” at theories that the Titans are disrespecting the flag and consequently the military. Let’s discuss respecting people’s freedom of expression and the flag. It’s challenging to discuss them both at the same time.

Please let me leave you with this quote by Deepak Chopra:

“A belief is a thought that’s true for you.”

He did not say, “true for everyone.”

I love you Titans fans, thank you for your support.

AROUND COVER32 Bradford ruled out for third straight week

Week 4 power rankings Top ten remaining free agents

The most important reason to admire Alejandro Villanueva

Fantasy: Week 4 QB streamers

#_lmsid:a0Vd000000DIJnLEAX #_uuid:4b76829a-df36-37a9-9f1a-3ea0404aa3ec #_revsp:cover32_362 #_author:Brian Moore

0 notes