#go to the national final performance from march-ish??? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thepriceofbeingaroseisloneliness · 4 years ago

Text

KAORU PERSONAL INTERVIEW SPECIAL HEADBANG VOL.27 TRANSLATION ½

The ideal figure that the guitarist who leads the band as a leader got while struggling, and the reason for his unstoppable pursuit. “When we released "CLEVER SLEAZOID", we were still chasing an ideal, and I think we didn’t reach it. We didn’t, but I feel that pursuing how we could do that, the power at that time, remains in it as something that could be only be produced at that moment. If you look at it now, I think it’s connected to reality”

Notes before reading: This is the first part of the personal interview of Kaoru from the magazine Headbang Vol.27 released on 18th August 2020. The interview is 11 pages long and this part covers the first 6 pages. As Toshiya and Die’s interviews, 2nd part is focused on his roots as a guitarist and overseas experience. You can read Toshiya’s personal interview here You can read Die’s personal interview here

You can get the magazine at Amazon Japan or CDJapan.

Feel free to correct me if you spot any mistake or any confusing parts.

Links or credits to this post when the content is reposted or captured in other SNS is appreciated :) -------- Text by: Yohsuke Hayakawa The first to appear in this magazine is Kaoru, the guitarist who is also the composer of the latest single "Ochita koto ga aru sora”. Starting with the process of making the single, leading up to the completion of this new song, the days of struggling to pursue the ideal sound, the originality that they got from that, and the current band that has not changed from the past intense days. What I saw on him was, the figure of a stoic leader who bet on Dir en grey possibilities and devoted himself to it. Also in the latter half of the interview with the theme of “Albums that inspired you”, he did not only talk about X Japan and national legendary bands that changed his life, but he also talked enthusiastically about the unknown world that he learnt from Hide and Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, who he is a fan of. “I think there is something that can be challenged now” -First of all, I would like to ask you about the corona outbreak we are currently in, but it was impressive when you, with your own words, announced on SNS a live without audience ‘The World You Live In” that was held in March with the message of "it’s not the things that we can do now , it’s the things that only can be done now”. I thought the movements of DIR EN GREY with these rare activities and projects that entertained fans were summarized in those words. K: Well, that's right. There are things that can be done in the current limited situation, things that we wouldn't normally do, things that we didn't come to, and things that we can challenge now. There were quite a few things that were more like "Let's do it". Regarding lives without audience, we don’t know how long this situation will keep going on but, under these circumstances, it wasn't that much at that point in time for us to perform live. We thought it would be a plus for what we are expressing and what we are going to express in the future. Also, we tried to do it in a moment in which you could feel something. -Including the streaming that came after that, I think there are many people who felt closer to DIR EN GREY. In particular, the livestream of talk between members (DIR EN GREY LIVE ARCHIVE & SPECIAL TALK) is a project that you wouldn’t had think of before, isn’t it? K: (laughs) We don't usually talk much. -(Laughs) Moreover, I thought that it was only now that we could see an appearance of the combination of Kaoru and Shinya acting ‘as usual’. K: Well, that's right (laughs). -Is that something that you could do now, 23 years after your formation as band? K: No (laughs), the main reason is to do it is the situation right now. If this weren't the case, I think the idea wouldn’t even come up. Normally there are live performances, so I'd like people to feel it there, but we can't do that now. Well, it’s just to entertain the fans, but after all we thought it would be nice if they could feel something similar to that, feeling excited by our presence. -I see. So, regarding the status of the announced the Pia Arena MM performances for the tour final "The Insulated World -The Screams of Alienation-" in July, you probably were thinking about what do to about them until the very last minute. K: That's right. It was decided a few days before the announcement that the lives were canceled. Of course, we also made a set list, and the production side was also moving. The entirely staff were informed, and everything was working. I actually went to the venue and talked about how it would be possible to hold the lives in these conditions. However, there may be some people who couldn’t come no matter how much they tried to. There was also the risk of not knowing if you can do it until you start it. -I think it was canceled after assuming the kind of live performance that was possible to be held, but it was a really tough decision. K: Well, it couldn’t be helped. -Oh, in a nutshell. K: Yes, it couldn’t be helped, it couldn’t be helped. What we could do following the rules (the government guidelines) is the reason we couldn't do it. Tickets were sold in advance through the fanclub, but in fact, with the spreading of Corona on the way it already had a significant impact on sales. -Oh, that was what happened? K: Yes. So, in response to that, we even came up with the idea that all the arena would have seats not only the designed areas. We could do that by reducing the capacity in order to keep a social distance. That way, we also thought that we might be able to do it. However, there may still be some people who wouldn’t be able to come, and moreover, there were a lot of things that we couldn’t do in both days. Well, it was a half-way point situation. Therefore, there is no choice but when the situation calms down, to relocate the dates. -Under such circumstances, you said you were producing the single in parallel. K: Yes, we were planning to release it around the Pia Arena performances, so we have been working on it for some time. -And “Ochita koto ga aru sora” was completed. The original melody was composed by you but, the title was announced in May. I wondered if it was going to be a song that brings melancholic elements to the forefront. I was trying to imagine it. K: (Laughs) Ah, the atmosphere of the title. -Yes. The sound that we actually got is bursting with DIR EN GREY-ish aggression that explodes from the beginning including a grooved dragging guitar riff. So, to put it into words, I had the impression the style of DIR EN GREY was contained in a "super condensed" form. It's used in a kind of luxurious way, with the melody refrain being minimal by scraping off the excess. K: That’s right. This shape (final song) is like, we were really worried about it and it felt like it just got here. Along the way, there were elements that would make things more exciting, more piercing. There was more development. However, we made it in that way, but I felt like “Well, I’m tired of it” (laughs). -Hahaha. K: Rather, it doesn’t seem as interesting as usual. This is really…. words may not match…it’s somehow Japanese. I wasn’t satisfied with anything, so it felt more like I was speaking out my mind (laughs) I scraped it off though. -The reason why the song became very condensed is that all the members were looking in the same direction. K: Well, I don't know that. However, as my method, I don’t really decide (the direction) at the beginning. If you do that, the result will be in that shape and I prefer to explore the possibilities. Besides, because I don’t know if the rhythm really matches the melody or if the back-melody matches, there are many things to think about, so I don't want to decide at the beginning. Under such circumstances, I didn’t know what to do in the end. Well, I settled on something that someone said, or something that inspired me, but it was hard to get to the point where I could see it.- -As a result, I feel that the single became very DIR EN GREY-like. K: Yes, that’s right. I was working on it while thinking that there was that “likeness”

-Did you imagine the development of this single with an impressive melody popping out even though it’s aggressive? I wonder if something like this come out naturally.

K: No. I didn’t really imagine that. Even if I try to imagine, there are things that I can’t imagine at all.

-So, how does the completed form of this song look to you?

K: This time I was arranging it all the time based on the data of the tentative/provisional songs recorded at the beginning. So, with that, it was almost brought to this finished form. From that point on, Kyo sang again several times and changed it slightly but along with the melody from the beginning, it was made with that flow. However, there were setlists that each member made during this time, right? (”DIR EN GREY AUDIO LIVE STREAM 5 DAYS" that was broadcasted on YouTube in May). As you could see there, there are various DIR EN GREY, right? On the other hand, I feel that whatever we do, it will probably feel like DIRENGREY-ish.

-Something that can be hidden anymore. There is something that oozes out.

K: Well, very much, as far as you don’t do something different. I was too worried. When I told the members that I didn’t know what to do, I was told ‘You don’t have to think so much about, right?”, so I was like ‘is that so?’. In the end, the song turned out like this (laughs).

“At that time, I kept struggling to find out how to get closer to the sound I envisioned.”

-Oh, that’s what they told you. As for the form of songwriting, you work remotely regardless of the corona, right?

K: Yes, that’s always the way. So, nothing was different than usual for us.

-The change was that you couldn’t go outside between work time.

K: That’s right. I was concentrated on it all the time.

-Always? (laughs) Then, in that situation, that a member told you to not think about too much, did those words make it easier for you?

K: Well, you can open yourself to new options like “well let’s do it this way a little more”. However, it’s something that I do all the time. Year after after, it’s not finished.

-It will take some time to complete the song.

K: It takes some time. After all, if it doesn’t become something interesting, I feel like what should I do. It takes time to move from the first stage, the members listening to it and go to the “let’s do this”.

-What’s that next step?

K: Listen to the demo songs together and decide to try one from the songs that are there.I think it’s necessary to put a song and drop the world view and the atmosphere of the song clearly at some point, but it takes a long time to get there.

-I think it’s difficult to express this stage in words, but it’s the key to make songs.

K: Yes, it’s quite difficult.

-However, this is also one of the traits of DIR EN GREY but, the chorus that enters at the key points is burning with passion. It seems like it’s going to look good live.

K: As I said before, Kyo is the one who puts the chorus, so it’s normal than the rest don’t know where the chorus is until we record it.

-It doesn’t matter how the guitar riff is going…

K: Yes. It doesn’t matter. That’s why we have to practice all the time during the rehearsal before the live performance. I’m the type of person who can’t do different things at the same time, so I skip it quite a bit (laughs)

-Hahaha. You leave it to the other two (Die and Toshiya)

K: Yes (laughs).

-Then there is another retake of the song “Clever Sleazoid”. What made you pick this song again?

K: He said that he wanted to translate the lyrics into Japanese. Kyo said something like he wanted to try it because the lyrics from the original song changed. It was like, “Well, let’s try to do it”.

-Then, how about the completed form after re-recording?

K: Well, it was already released once, so I don’t really care about it(laughs) Some people liked the original, others will like the new version. Except for the lyrics, the tempo is a bit faster but overall, it hasn’t changed much.

-Originally, this song was released in 2005, but when you look back on DIR EN GREY at that time, what do you think is very different from the present of the band?

K: I would say that there is a solid feeling now. Rather than trying to catch up with anything, I think we are proceeding in a somehow calm manner. The same applies to the stage. It was 15 years ago, so we were young….it was like an apprenticeship, now we are old men, that’s what different from that time.

-What do you remember pursuing at that time?

K: At that time, I was struggling to get closer to the sound I was envisioning.

-Do you mean that you haven’t been able to achieve what you were looking for?

K: Yes. It’s the same with the songs. I was thinking about the sound aspect every, like “How can I make a powerful heavy sound” every day.

-Was that a personal thing?

K: It was for the band as well, I often talked to the members about the kind of sound I wanted to do at that time for the CDs but also for the lives as well, I wondered how could I do it. But at that time, I was struggling to understand it like, “I haven’t achieved it, but I can only show the power of pursuing it while looking for the way to reach it”.

“I haven't reached it, I can only show the pursuit and power of" how can I do it?"

-Did you see anything regarding that aspect when you started going overseas?

K: No, what I thought when we started going abroad was the importance of being ourselves. I wonder if that would be the most powerful thing. So, around 2005, I felt like I was still chasing my ideals. Like a way that I could I express them in this way. But since we went abroad… and I started to notice that being ourselves was the best more and more….. how could I say it?,..it seems that the destinations we were looking at have been pinpointed all the time. It’s not about how to do it, if we could express what was in ourselves more and more, we would change it to the consciousness that would create that kind of sound.

-That means, for example, that when you released “CLEVER SLEAZOID”, looking back, you hadn’t reached that point that you are talking about yet.

K: I think we didn’t reach it. We didn’t but I feel that pursuing how we could do that, the power at that time, remains in it as something that could be only be produced at that moment.

-True. It emits an unbelievable power and it was a proof of that struggle.

K: Yes. If I look at it now, I wonder if that it’s linked to its originality.

-Surely. After that it connected with THE MARROW OF A BONE (2007). Around that album, did you feel like you obtained that you were looking for?

K: Well, I think I did, but still at that time, I was wondering how I could do it. So I think it’s only recently that I’m thinking in this way.

-Ah, recently?

K: Yes, about “DUM” (DUM SPIRO SPERO, released in 2011). But “DUM” isn’t recent either (laughs)

-Hahaha you noticed that…that’s right (laughs). In an era when you were struggling to pursuit something, you became solid as a band. Then, the atmosphere in the band would naturally change for the better, because it means that from that moment, along with them and the music, you have reached your goal.

K: I think so. Also, what could I say about our band?..... All the members think that they have a different feeling about their knowledge and ability to imagine but, the reaction will definitely come when the song seems to settle down in a “this is it” form. Some of us will say, “I think it’s better do it this way”, while other will say “if we go in this direction, we should do this”. Therefore, that we can talk about such things has not changed from the past. While my senses are growing, after all there is still an atmosphere of pursuit in the end, in doing more and more interesting things, so I think that’s a good place for us.

-Even if you gained more knowledge and experience, it doesn’t feel strangely calm at all. K: It’s not. If that happens, it wouldn’t be interesting.

“Now I think, do we really want to do that?”

-I see. So, the mastering engineer and mixing-in engineer this time are also talented, but did you proposed the selection of these people to the members after listening to how overseas artists sound?

K: Sometimes I do. As for this engineer,Josh Wilbur, the director said he would like to try to work with him once and asked him to mix “Ochita koto ga aru sora”.He had been trying to get in touch with him for a long time, but he couldn’t, but he was able to communicate with him this time and asked, "Would you like to try it once?".

-Josh Wilbur is a person whose range of work goes from Avil Lavigne to Lamb of God. How was the result?

K: Well, I’m glad we asked for a simple one.

-After all, with that width….

K: It’s better that way. This kind of person will return what you ordered exactly as you ordered it. Sometimes no matter how much we explain it, there are people who don’t understand, so they don’t know what to do. At first, Josh used to put a lot of effects on songs and so on. Listening to that, Kyo said "nothing is good" (laughs). The exchange was interesting, though.

-If you leave the decision to someone else, something that shocks you can come out.

K: Yes. Wow, this person comes quite a bit (laughs)

-(Laughs) At that moment, you understood his way.

K: So, Josh’s first mix was more metal-ish. Also, the sound of the drums….it wasn’t like it was crazy but it felt like bumpy….it was like “mmm, it’s a bit different”, but after several exchanges with him, it went well.

-What about Jens Bogren (who has worked with many famous metal bands such as Arch Enemy and Opeth) who mixed “CLEVER SLEAZOID”?

K: It’s a different type (of mixing) from Josh. Jens has worked with us several times so far so he knows the directions.

-And the mastering engineer for the three songs of the single, including the live version of “Followers”, Brian Gardner (Linkin Park, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Eminen etc..) is the same one than “Ningen wo Kaburu” and “The World of Mercy”.

K: Yes. If you change the mastering too much, it’s hard to predict the finish result. It’s difficult to know how the mix will turn out, so if you want to change the engineer that does the mixing, you should do the mastering with the same person as before.

-I see. Because the song will be created from the scratch again.

K: Well, that’s also interesting but I’m worried about what to do if it fails…

-About the future of DIR EN GREY, of course, I think that you will only do what you can do under these circumstances but, what kind of expectations do you have?

K: We are thinking about moving towards making an album. As for concerts, it can’t be helped that we have to wait until we can do them, so I guess that I have to devote myself to making songs.

-Taking advantage of this situation, you will be able to concentrate in that.

K: Well, that’s right. I have time, so in that sense it’s easy to concentrate.

-In fact, is it time already to move into the album?

K: Yes. After Pia Arena, we were planning to go to production as we don’t have any concerts.

-For example, the single “The World of Mercy” included an acoustic version of “Dozing Green”, was there any talk about trying to do an acoustic live at these times?

K: Sometimes….that’s right. If we do that, I have to think about acoustic arrangements for that so let’s do a normal live performance (laughs). It’s not a bad idea to do a live like that because of this situation but, it’s like “do we really want to do it now?”.

-Ah, I see. Apart from your intentions it doesn’t make sense to you to simply say “We’ll do it because we can do it” in the current situation.

K: Yes, I think so.

“Without “BLUE BLOOD” I wouldn’t really be who I am now” (second part here)

#dir en grey #kaoru #headbang vol 27 #translation #interview

106 notes · View notes

balkanballad · 4 years ago

Text

Eurovision 2021 ranking

hello, hello and welcome to my eurovision 2021 ranking. the songs are ranked with numbers but I also put them into categories (from 💐 to 🥀) and added a short comment. so, if you are interested in my personal opinion about the songs, have fun:

💐:

Switzerland: I was rooting for him last year and it’s the one returner in my top that didn’t disappoint me that much. what a start, huh? I love the song, I love the feeling it gives me when I listen to it, the clip is very pretty too. did I like his last entry better? yes, but I will say it already here at the very top of this list: I liked last year’s choices in general a lot more. nevertheless, this is a beautiful entry! and it is my personal winner this year

Australia: I loved her last song. It was there for me when I needed it. Technicolour does not touch me in that way but it is fun!! it’s catchy to me and I really like Montaigne. I adore her style and how she sings. I am excitingly looking forward to this performance :)

France: beautiful song, amazing singer, the national final performance was wonderful. however, I listened to it so much that back in March I already needed a break form it. now as I am finishing this it’s April and I can slowly listen to it again. it’s me though, it’s not her. that’s really a me problem. she’s wonderful and I love the French touch to this

Albania: a ballad from the Balkans <3 hello, of course I like it and I love that they kept it in Albanian this year. I heard similar songs before, but I like the sound of it still.and overall it’s a song that gives me familiar vibes in a cozy way with a bit of drama

Russia: interesting!! I was relived to see that Little Big didn’t return because, as I explained in my ranking for last year, I was not feeling them. absolutely nothing about them, but I love her! I think it’s catchy, it’s something different and I like the message she supports. it took me a few times to fully decide how I feel about the song, but now it’s in my top for sure

Denmark: fun! a fun song in Danish. I really like the good mood it puts me in. I even see this in the context of the Umbrella Academy or Stranger Things or something like that when they go to Europe to party a bit. I also really enjoy the old school vibe this has to it. I miss that vibe. I’m also a bit old school

Cyprus: I absolutely do not relate to anything said in this song but it’s catchy! it is a bit fuego and a bit replay but I liked those entries as well, so yeah fire. I have not heard a single live performance by her but I am not exactly sure that vocals will be the aspect that she will try to win votes with anyway. I am amused by the fact that apparently people were offended by this song when it clearly makes no sense whatsoever. it’s simply a bop, move on and dance a bit

🌺:

(8.) Greece: fun as well! a ‘dream team’ entry for sure. I say this a bit sarcastically, but they do well a lot of the times and I am lured in by a lot of their entries myself. Kontopoulos is a big name in the esc industry, it’s a fact. the song is a bit more mature than Superg!rl, which I also listened to more often that I thought I would. It still reminds me of a theme song for a superhero show for kids and I am a bit worried that the ‘dReAM TeAm’ is a bit too outdated for Stefania because I think she could have done something cooler than both of those songs

(9.) Sweden: it took me a few times listening to this song, but I like the song now. I don’t think it’s too special and “a million voices” reminds me of Polina immediately because those are her words for me, but this is a good song too. I like how it makes me feel empowered and like everything will be okay. thank you for that, Tusse, I need that

(10.) Israel: Eden deserved a better song. I like this song less than last year’s entry because I think it’s less interesting and I loved some instrumental parts from last year’s entry, but this is not bad either. I am rooting more for her than for the song, but I guess that’s this year’s motto for me. I also can’t say that I love the revamp because it made it sound even more generic for me

(11.) Belgium: I saw the promo pics for them and was very confused how different the singer looks this year, but it turns out that it’s not the same woman. I like this entry a lot better. I like her voice and I really like the vibe. It sounds a bit like it could play in the background of a classic American tv show when a character is going a bit through it and pouring a drink while it’s dark outside. I have the same problem that I mentioned already while talking about the French entry, but that’s still a me problem. I just need a break

(12.) Ireland: this entry is a lot less annoying to me than the song that she had last year. I like the lyrics and whole aesthetic of this one a lot more. it’s another one that I can’t listen to too often, but I still think it’s a very good choice imo

(13.) The Netherlands: Jeangu!! I think he for example will give a wonderful vocal performance. Growth felt way more personal to me, but that’s a repeating motive this year and also a me problem because obviously this is his song and he does it well

🌻:

(14.) San Marino: I’m still confused by this feature and I can’t really say that I’m ‘living’ for it, but I already made a post about how I don’t think she needed Flo Rida. minus the feature it’s a catchy party song, but it reminds me of one song that I simply can’t remember anymore. something that I heard from the Greek music industry, maybe even Eleni, if you know which one I mean, pls let me know

(15.) Estonia: just like last year: this song doesn’t make much sense and I don’t want to, but I still catch myself listening to it frequently... I am sorry, I can’t help it, but it puts me in a eurovision mood and yes, I am blaming Kontopoulos again. I am a weak person when it comes to his melodies

(16.) Ukraine: first I had it lower in my ranking, but I like SHUM better now and I like it a lot more now than last years entry. I really like the part when it gets faster, that’s really fun and makes me want to jump! jump! jump!

(17.) Spain: it’s a lot less repetitive than the last entry, but I would be lying if I said that I listen to this very often. it’s alright, not bad at all actually, but I just wasn’t in the mood for this (yet?)

(18.) Romania: this is for me still the same type of style as Bulgaria. European Billie Eilish type. last year I ranked her higher than Bulgaria as well, but they are pretty much the same to me. I can’t comment on whether I like her song less or more this year. it’s not bad either but I simply don’t think about it much

(19.) Bulgaria: I think I like this entry better than her last one. the message is cute, the melody too and yeah, but I don’t care about it too much

🌼:

(20.) Croatia: it’s a faster pop song without a real meaning. ground-breaking. the title makes me think of Ukraine 2014. which I like better, but we’ll see, maybe the performance will have something cool too. I will say though, I would have prefered the whole song to be in Croatian, it doesn’t make it much deeper, but I like that part the most

(21.) Malta: another faster pop song. I think she will give an amazing vocal performance and it will be cool and powerful, but the message and lyrics are a bit confusing to me. I am not the lyrics police, but I am confused by them a bit

(22.) Iceland: I think I like it better than last year’s song, but it’s still not LOVE that I feel for the song. I can listen to it though

(23.) Lithuania: it’s there. I am not a fan of them and it’s not a song I love too much, but I can listen to it

(24.) North Macedonia: sigh. I liked last year’s entry a lot and Vasil seems like someone who cares a lot about the contest, but I don’t feel this ballad. I think I know what they were going for and what it’s trying to be, dramatic and meaningful, but I don’t feel it that much. it’s okay? but it doesn’t do much for me

(25.) Czech Republic: this was a surprise because I think the overall quality of his entry got a lot better, this time though I have the problem that I do not like the lyrics. they don’t make me as uncomfortable as Germany last year but they are in that area of uhm, I don’t love the feeling this gives me

(26.) UK: hm :/ I can’t say that I’m a fan. this sounds like the type of song that the boring straight men in my area put in their tinder bio as their song, but it’s every third guy that says this is his song. those Calvin Harris remix type-ish songs and I am sooo bored. I swipe left because it’s no match, I delete tinder. breath was a lot more my thing and a lot more exciting and interesting

(27.) Poland: as soon as this stops, the exact same second, I forget everything about it. I don’t remember a single word, barely the title and singer and not the melody. what is this about? I can’t tell you. it’s not exactly bad, but it is so forgettable

(28.) Moldova: oh faster pop song? wow.. so.. original. I am starting to sound like those weird people that hate ballads. I don’t feel it and I don’t relate to it, but I also don’t hate it. the video though.. no thanks.

(29.) Italy: as so often: I see a lot of Italy fans on here and I can’t relate. it’s not for me, but it’s there and I can listen to it when I can’t reach the skip button for some reason

(30.) Austria: hm. Austria and Slovenia are going there. this is the better Amen song for me, but I don’t love it. it’s better than what Ana is trying to sell even though it’s super repetitive

🥀:

(31.) Serbia: I can’t tell you if it’s worse than last year but it’s less catchy. the lyrics are still bad. actually, maybe I am the lyrics police

(32.) Finland: this not my genre and I don’t really listen to it

(33.) Slovenia: nop. not for me in any way. I already said last year that I don’t like her voice and it didn’t change but now I also don’t love the message or weird vibe of this entry. I had it even lower, but I can’t push it up more. this is as high as I can rank it

(34.) Norway: I don’t like it. I don’t like the lyrics or melody or performance that was in the nf actually. I have a hard time understanding the concept even with the explanation it makes no sense to me

(35.) Portugal: I don’t like it. a lot of the parts of the melody are really not for me and borderline annoying, but definitely boring

(36.) Georgia: it’s boring. the last entry was at least something interesting, but this one is boring, which makes me a bit sad because his voice sounds and he seems like the guy that could make something cooler. I know I am not the person that can judge rock because I don’t listen to it too much, but I feel like he could have done something cooler and ‘rock’ it more

(37.) Latvia: again: I can’t even say if it’s worse or better than last year. maybe a bit better actually but, just as last time, I can’t listen to this. it annoys me and gives me a bit of a headache. I don’t think her style and voice is for me

(38.) Germany: I wouldn’t necessarily call it hate that I feel when I have to listen to this, even though that’s a funny play with the words of this title, but I definitely feel very annoyed by this song, so I simply don’t listen to it

(39.) Azerbaijan: the song sounds just like the last one, which I had placed on the 14. place in my own 2020 ranking, however, I can’t bring myself to support someone who posts war propaganda on their socials. it’s eurovision and about the songs, I know, but this is my blog and my ranking. so it’s a no for me this time and my last place in this ranking

#j. talks #eurovision #tell me anything if you want <3

21 notes · View notes

ledamemangociana · 4 years ago

Text

RANKING HAISUTE (or the ones i’ve seen so far)

not that anyone has asked me, but i’ve literally been so hyperfixated on these shows for MONTHS and although i’ve gotten my bestie into them now, it’s not like i can bombard them with all these deep-ish dives into these things and how much and why i love them, so i thought HEY why not just put it out into the ether coz DAMN i really wanna talk about them.

under the cut for length (HELLA LENGTH) and spoilers.

let me preface this first by saying i havent seen ALL the shows yet. i havent ever watched the first run of Itadaki No Keshiki, and i havent seen any of the new Karasuno cast shows yet, as by the time i had gotten hooked on these shows, the time to watch Strongest Challengers and Battle At The Garbage Dump on DMM.com had passed, and with my limited budget (i havent been able to work properly since literally mid-July last year), it’ll be a while before i can afford their twin pack DVD when it comes out next month. ALTHOUGH i am hoping to be able to download Fly High on DMM.com before the availability runs out in the middle of March, if i’ll actually have enough money for that.

additionally, i rank these from my least favorite to most favorite, but that does not mean that i hate or dislike any of them. in fact, i have little to zero negative things to say about any of these shows. i just happen to love some more than the others, and i think you’ll be able to tell by how long i go on about each show. i’ll TRY to keep things concise but im telling you now, i’ve already tried this once until an accidental button press erased everything i had written, and this will not be short. at all.

i’ll start first with the things i love about Haisute in general:

quite obviously, the projections. before i finally saw Haisute this year, i had only ever seen BNHA, KNY and Kuroshitsuji musicals, and while they have awesome set pieces, i had never seen video projections utilized the way Haisute does, and i think it’s so wonderful and creative, and so technically sound on everyone’s part. like, it has to be so precise with cast performance and blocking and sound and lights...like. dudes. shout-out to the tech staff of Haisute, y’all are amazing.

the acting performances in general. i dont think there’s a bad actor at all in any of these. some stiff-ish performances (Noah Ishikura as Lev, but mostly in SoE, which was his first time acting ever, so understandable), maybe, but even those actors do great when they’re having a pivotal moment, scene or dialogue. it’s hard to pick faves but somehow i do have them, lol - Kenta Suga as Hinata (obviously), Kentaro as Daichi, Hiroki Ino as Suga, Kousuke Asuma as Oikawa, literally ALL THREE BOKUTOS, literally BOTH AKAASHIS, Ami Saito as Yachi, Tatsunari Kimura as Kageyama, and my top two faves, Shori Kondo and Takato Nagata as KuroKen. for obvious reasons (see: my numerous gifsets that i still have so much to add to alkdjf).

the music is WONDERFUL. the varieties across shows, teams and characters while still maintaining the main themes are just so good. it’s easier for them to be highlighted to since there isnt any singing, and so many moments are told through the music rather than the music accompanying the moment imo.

the choreography is gold af. im sad we lose HIDALI after Tokyo Battle, but im sure the rest of the shows still keep that amazing spark. but i juST. HIDALI’s choreography is iconic. i’ll talk abt it a bit more in some of the entries in the list.

OKAY, now on to the rankings.

7. View from the Top (2nd Run) so again, I DONT HATE ANY OF THESE SHOWS. the reason this is at the bottom of my list is mostly because of what it doesnt have through no fault of its own, rather than anything that it does. i personally love watching character growth and evolution, so for the most part, the first story in anything that has multiple follow-ups tend to be my least favorite part, and i come to enjoy them more as a “look how far we’ve come” thing. that being said, i do think this was such an awesome show to kick-off what has become an iconic 2.5D franchise. so much of it feels like the transition from potential to kinetic energy. a little show that could, and then did. i do think i enjoy this more with a nostalgic sort of fondness than i do with a “look how cool this thing is!” feeling, but again, that’s coz i enjoy watching things changing rather than at the start. what definitely stands out to me here is that i came to it this as only my fourth 2.5D franchise, and the ones i’d watched before this were so different in staging and execution, and that really had me hooked. also, this franchise honestly is one of the best casting in any show i’ve ever seen in my life, like wtf, i havent seen a badly cast actor at all, even for the side characters i dont really pay that much attention to otherwise. you cant help but be sucked into the bright light that is Kenta Suga, and Kousuke Asuma has to be the most Oikawa Oikawa to ever Oikawa anything Oikawa. Tatsunari, Ryotaro and Justin absolutely jumped right out of the manga and anime and onto the stage as Kags, Tsukki and Asahi. and GAWD do i love me some Kentaro and Hiroki as DaiSuga. i went in a big fan and simp of Hiroki Ino and Sugawara, so for the first couple of watches, i was heavily focused on Ino!Suga, but by the third rewatch, Ken-chan came around a corner and smacked me in the face with a 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire. when that man smiles, i just get murdered.

6. Start of the Giant i honestly had a hard time picking between this and InK for the bottom spot, not because i hate this (AGAIN, I DONT HATE ANY OF THESE SHOWS), but because of how this show feels to me. ultimately, i picked this one to win over InK because of how much character progression is shown between these two shows. stating the obvious, KAZUMA KAWAHARA. HOO BOY. and big, BIG shout-outs to Kouhei Shiota for portraying Tanaka’s emotional roller-coaster so excellently to stride alongside Ennoshita’s big journey and Kazuma’s powerhouse performance. i also wanna spotlight how much more comfortable Tatsuya Kageyama was in his second go-around as Kags, and how well Keita Tanaka and Naoki Tanaka came in as new(old)!Daichi and new!Suga. it took me a while to get to this show because i was so sad to lose Ken-chan and Hiroki after SoE, and i thought i just would not be able to love DaiSuga the same way. turns out that that’s a good thing, because they do play similar but different DaiSugas to Kentaro and Hiroki. it possibly also helped to know that KT wasn’t entirely new, and to have known of Naoki from BNHA (with Hiroki!), although i hadnt known it was him until i started the show up at last, lol. Kentaro got to play a captain who was warm and very much one of the boys, someone who was growing into the role of a captain of a team that had a very real chance of going farther than it had in a while, while KT got to play a Daichi who, fittingly, was more established as a pillar of the group (and im sure the storytelling of this show helped with that), more of that Dadchi that we know and love. Hiroki got to play a gentle but mischeivous Suga who was all about watching over and taking care of the team, watching and waiting for his turn while understanding that Kags was their best chance, while Naoki got to play a more active, more athletic Suga who was becoming more active the closer the team got to Nationals. their performances stood out not just coz they were new, but because of the theme of this story in particular, about captains and leading, so i thought it was quite a nice way to welcome them into the fold. i also of course enjoyed Johzenji and Wakunan, maybe Johzenji more than Wakunan. i saw someone say they’re a bit like Fukurodani and Nekoma lite, and i can totally see and agree with that. this show also feels a bit like Revival lite, in that it’s got a fun first half and then a more action-packed second match with an emotional gutpunch at the end. but ultimately, this is lower on my list because, through no major fault of its own, it felt like a filler show, considering what was coming after this. it felt a bit like “lets’ get on with this story so we can get on to the last hurrah that everyone is looking forward to.” of all the side teams to have been portrayed in the Engeki story, i feel like i remember johzenji and wakunan less. again, that’s not really anyone’s fault, it’s just where this show was positioned in the timeline and what it was ultimately representing. as a parting thought tho, i just wanna shout-out the new lighting scheme they did for this show, especially coming from SoE where there was a lot of darkness or back-lighting. this show is brighter lit in general than most of the shows that came before it, and idky exactly but i do appreciate that a lot.

5. Winners And Losers objectively, this is probably one of the top 3 shows in all of Haisute’s history. but it’s lower on my list because it is the most taxing to watch and rewatch, not because it’s too slow or anything like that, but because it really just is such a tiring story, and i think that’s deliberate on the part of the writers and directors. this was Karasuno’s first major loss, and it was against an opponent they thought they knew, so of course the lead-up had to be a big deal. it’s also a story that revolves quite a bit around kageyama reaching a turning point and learning a few lessons that would ultimately change him, so the story had to also execute that change happening not just in Kageyama but around him. add to that the fact that this was Tatsunari’s goodbye performance (as well as Shohei’s as Noya, but then he doesn’t really get a big emotional moment here) and it’s just heavy on the emotions all around. the comedic distraction of ShoriTaka as Tetsuko and Kenko was honestly quite welcome, lmao. quick little shout-out to Kousuke Asuma and Allen Kohatsu as IwaOi, since they got to really show off the different sides to both those characters in this, and they just are stellar in general. that bit at the end of one of their flashbacks where Iwa-chan tells Oikawa that he’s not the only one fighting, there’s six people in that team, and Oikawa breaks into laughter as Kousuke strips off the flashback jacket, and Iwa’s like “uuuhhh did i hit you too hard, or?” UGH, i love that bit, that almost creepy laugh from Kousuke and the way he comes out of it to say “suddenly im not so upset” is just SO good. im also so happy to see Hiroki get his due as Suga when he finally gets to step up to the plate - or net, as it were - and basically pinch-hit for Kags. he plays senpai!Suga so sweetly, like you really can’t help but love him coz he’s so caring. i also did not expect to be hit right in the feels with the switch back from him to Kageyama, but that bit where he says “it’s frustrating, but hinata’s expression when he’s hitting my sets is different from when it’s yours” really got me. and then when he had to leave the court, asahi and daichi send a fist bump his way, and he gives just this tiny fist bump wave that’s both tired and disappointed and sad, and it’s juST! it hurts me everytime. and before this gets long, im gonna just spotlight the last 10-15 minutes of the show, right after Karasuno loses. Kenta absolutely nails Hinata’s expression in the manga, that wide-eyed disbelief and shock. and then when Daichi tells him not to apologize because he didn’t miss, when Daichi just walks over and hugs him, good gawd. (sidebar, but i’m so glad i got to see that bit with both Ken-chan here and KT in Strongest Team.) and the way Hinata couldn’t move after thanking the audience, not even after Ukai called him back, so Daichi had to actually go get him? my heart was in PIECES. and then the fuggin dinner scene. LORD ABOVE. like, if you dont love Kenta Suga as Hinata, this is the scene that should convince you you’re wrong.

4. The Strongest Team this is right smack dab in the middle of the list because it’s probably the best staged show of all the seven that i’ve seen, but it also hurts me so much for all the obvious reasons. this is the one i’ve rewatched the least, and everytime i rewatch it, i cry as if it’s the first time im watching it. the whole show absolutely feels like a tribute to the Karasuno cast and all the growth they’ve had and contributed to Haisute over their three years with the show, and the entire thing feels so fond, if that makes any sense. everyone on the team gets a big emotional moment, and it’s so sweet to see them each paid tribute. aside from them, i gotta AGAIN shout-out kousuke as oikawa. i like aoba josai enough, i like oikawa enough as a character, but that moment when kousuke absolutely broke down in the locker room after losing to karasuno broke my heart, even more so knowing that he absolutely felt all that gratitude because he wasnt sure he’d be able to come back to the show coz of his hip injury. i think one little moment that doesnt get as talked about as it should is just after he and Iwaizumi have that short convo of always being each other’s partners even after they’ve moved on to different schools. they do their fist bump, and then Iwa walks away, but Kousuke/Oikawa is still absolutely in tears, and as Iwa walks off, he just kind of reaches out and lets out a pained “Iwa-chan!” that’s just barely audible, and that jUST. GETS ME EVERYTIME. hell, im feeling a little heartstring pull right now just thinking about it. i also wanna shout-out Shiratorizawa because Engeki made me actually care about them. like, okay - i dont hate Shiratorizawa, at all. but watching the anime, despite having an entire season be around them, i just never really latched onto them. i like Ushiwaka enough, and i just...dont like Tendou (sue me). but Engeki Haikyuu has a habit of spotlighting other teams and characters enough to make you actually think about them and care about them, and Shiratorizawa was the biggest example of that for me. their theme is awesome, it’s this big, deep, heavy thing that feels as big and broad as the players look. and i could feel their almost militaristic teamwork when the coach is on them, and it’s so good. speaking of Coach Washijo, shout-out to that flashback scene to his younger days. Kenta looked absolutely risible in the wig and giant eyebrows, but i think it was an important touch to have the person playing Hinata be the person playing younger Washijo, because their inner conflicts are basically the same, and Washijo comes to appreciate Hinata’s efforts because of it, so i thought that was a nice touch. (still dont like Tendou tho, sue me.) i gotta end this entry coz it’s getting long, so im just gonna quickly list my favorite scenes/moments:

Yamaguchi’s pinch serve, and bringing out the spear. Kairi Miura wields that spear like he’s been doing it all his life.

Tsukki’s big “GODDAMMIT I THINK I LOVE VOLLEYBALL NOW” moment. the expression on ryotaro’s face right at the end of that scene, where he’s basically saying “it’s just a club, AND YET!” uuuggggghhhh, please i love it. also, shout-out to when Hinata pointed at him and just said “...nice.” like...that always feels like only half Hinata and Tsukki, and more half-Kenta and his best friend Ryotaro, just like the “Tsukki! that one was worth a 100 points!” line that absolutely gets Ryotaro so that on the live cam he had to turn his head away before he meant to for the next bit.

that moment in the last-ish set of the match where everyone is just DESPERATE to win, so it becomes this frantic rally and volley where everyone just starts to grunt and yell louder and louder, and people are running back and forth and jumping and diving, and it’s just this cacophony of sound and blur of movement that just seems to stretch on and on, until finally Shiratorizawa just yells “SHUT UP! WE’RE STRONGER!” and knocks all of Karasuno down. WHEW. that bit is just. WHEW. i almost always forget to breathe at that point. and then the waterworks get turned on as Ukai tearfully tells them to get back up, because volleyball is a sport where you HAVE to look up. LORDDDDD.

the bit towards the end of the match, after tsukki returns from his injury, where they absolutely acted out Ushiwaka pushing Hinata and Tsukki to the floor and holding their heads down. when i first watched it, i gasped because that is straight out of the anime and manga, and then when the rest of Karasuno came in to pull Ushi off, i just turned into a giant sobbing mess.

the graduation curtain call, obviously, but in particular, the bit that will ALWAYS, WITHOUT FAIL, destroy me is when Kenta says “this show was so tiring and tough sometimes, but when i look back, all i can remember are the good times, the best times.” GODDAMMIT IM TEARING UP BADLY RN JUST THINKING ABOUT THAT BIT.

3. Summer Of Evolution this is where the lines between the rankings get a little bit blurred, because i love these top three equally for the most part, but i had to choose a number two (i absolutely know what my number one is), and when i really think about it, SoE just gets edged out by my number two, but barely. i think what i love the most about this show is that this, more than any of the other shows, really portrays these characters as high school kids. and that’s not just because part of the story is set in the school and it’s actually showing the school sometimes, but coz they’re going through and portraying teenage experiences and emotions. most of the other shows portray the team in matches, so we’re seeing them more as volleyball players than teenagers or students, but we get to finally see that here, and it’s really refreshing. other than that, im gonna try to just list some of my highlights and favorites again coz i dont wanna keep going too long:

im so glad to finally have girls on the show, and not just in a “YAY FEMINISM! GIRL POWER! WHOO!” kind of way. kiyoko has always felt like an inextricable part of the team for me, so it was bittersweet to have such a great Karasuno cast but without a Kiyoko, so i was REALLY happy to finally get her here! and for a first time actor ever, Shizune was so awesome! she absolutely has that gentle strength that Kiyoko has, and the way she’s been written in absolutely does feel like she’s always been there. i do wish she got more to do with the third year boys, but all in all, it’s SO good to have an actual Kiyoko who absolutely looks like she came out of the manga.

im also just so DAMN happy about Yachi and her portrayal here. i think ami saito is so dang perfect, and yachi is such a fun addition that fits right in with the chaotic fun of Karasuno. one thing that i REALLY love, though, is how she gets to just act. before Haisute, my only experience of female characters and actors on a 2.5D stage is with Uraraka (and two or three other female students) in BNHA and Elizabeth in Kuroshitsuji, and those characters are your typical cutesy girls, and their movements and body language are so typically girly, you know what i mean, those softer arms and smaller movements, looser fingers, these little “Kyaa~” things, those things. but Kiyoko, Yachi and Saeko arent like that, so that’s not how they’re portrayed here. Ami as Yachi is just as loud and expressive and active as the Karasuno boys, bar actually playing in a match. also, her chemistry with Kenta is SO GOOD. i dont really ship YachiHina, i think they’re cute friends, but BOY DID THESE TWO MAKE ME RETHINK THAT. ami’s Yachi with Kenta’s Hinata made me think “YOU KNOW WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THESE TWO GO ON A CHAPERONED DATE.” they’re adorable. a particular fave of mine is when hinata climbs a tree to help a baby bird back into its nest and he asks Yachi if she wants to climb up too, and also after Yachi finishes making the Hinata poster, she jumps onto the back of Hinata’s bike and they ride off-stage together. PLEASE IT’S SO CUTE.

also: SAEKO NEE-SAN PLEASE STEP ON ME.

OH HI FUKURODANI. they are such good chaos boys, i love them. i dont have much to say about them here just yet, but WOW im so glad to have them onstage at last.

NEKOMA IS BACK THANK GAWD I LOVE NEKOMA. of all the teams portrayed, i think nekoma is the one that feels the most connected together (AHA!). like, even when they have a new character and/or cast member, the new ones never really stand out as new, they feel like they’ve always been there. this play really showcases the teams at their most casual so we dont get to see as much of their excellent teamwork and connection as we do in past and future shows, but you really get a sense of their family dynamic and just GOD I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, and honestly dont get me started on ShoriTaka, i will literally never stop

shout-out to Tatsuya Kageyama, he had big shoes to fill not just in terms of character but also as an actor, since this is his first show ever. much like with KT and Naoki as DaiSuga, it does feel like he plays a similar enough Kageyama without just mimicing Tacchu. this is also the right Kags arc to introduce a new Kageyama actor with as well, since there’s a big change after that loss to Aoba Josai and Oikawa, so i think the writing of the show also absolutely helped Kage-chan ease into his role, and helped the audience ease into this new Kageyama. overall, i think he did an awesome job, and we’re really fortunate to have had two awesome Kageyamas before gen 1/1.5 changed to gen 2.

i also just noticed/realized that the backstage video for SoE starts with the introduction of Kage-chan and Fucchi as new cast members, and ends with the farewell to Ken-chan and Hiroki as graduating members, and i know that’s just natural coz the first time the Karasuno cast met the two new members was at the photoshoot for visuals, but also what a nice little circle of life there.

COMING INTO THE HOMESTRETCH NOW, if you’ve made it this far, thank you SO MUCH, im sorry, i really just have a tendency to ramble, and like i said, i dont really have anyone or an opportunity to talk this deep about these shows to, so thanks so much for your time.

2. Karasuno, Revival! WHEW okay, so idk if this is Unpopular Opinion or controversial coz objectively it is the best show so far, and i’ve put it only at number 2. BUT LISTEN: before i saw Tokyo Battle, this was absolutely my number 1 favorite. the Dateko match is so good and so fun to watch, and honestly, that rap battle gives me so much life im almost immortal now. i LOVE that they also got to show ikejiri (THANK YOU KENTA SUGA) and ken-chan as daichi got his moments because of it, and it gave us “katou tou shinakya, katenai!” as an iconic quote and theme for the show, we got a fantastic moment for Asahi that was paid off from the previous show, also honestly “otchita kyougo, tobenai garasu” is just gonna be stuck in your head forever for a while. we also got Kousuke and Allen’s excellent IwaOi back, bringing with them their “Iwa-chan, are you my mom” dynamic (and gawd the cackle i let out when Iwa yeets a volleyball at Oikawa, or that turn and yell that makes Oikawa yelp as he exits off stage lkasdjf), which is always a plus. but! BUT!! best thING FOR ME???? NEKOMA, BABY!! like im sorry, im biased, but i fuggin LOVE nekoma, kuroo is my favorite character in the entire series, and Haisute really gave them a fantastic story and dynamic, because again, there’s so much you can do on stage that you sometimes cant do in anime or manga, so they were really able to highlight Nekoma’s famous teamwork, especially when centered around Kenma. more on that later, but like. it was just such a JOY to watch Karasuno, still kind of scattered puzzle pieces at this point trying to figure out how to best go together to create one big picture, go up against the smooth teamwork of Nekoma, and learn and grow from it. also they honestly have the best team theme music and team dance, fite me. also thank you Haisute for making KuroDai so painfully real lakdsfj

1. Tokyo Battle okay okaY OKAY OKAY OKAY. i think there are some people who actually like this the least coz it’s just too different from the rest of the shows that came before it - no Karasuno, less projections, different music style, aesthetically different stage, etc. B U T. aside from me just being biased because Nekoma are my favorite team, i actually think many of those differences are what makes this show my favorite one. first of all, the music is LIT AF. the themes for each team are so distinct, they really help play up the animal motifs that are played up the most in this show than in any of the others. secondly, THAT CHOREOGRAPHY THO. good gawd. HIDALI said “it’s our last Haisute, let’s go out with a bang” and they really fuggin did. Fukurodani absolutely is TOKYO PARTY TIME, they got to really play up their party birds schtick and i love it. Nohebi i cannot HELP but love because i love snakes, but also, with Nohebi’s cast, you can tell the choreographers were so happy to finally have an actual technical dancer. they had yuu fukuzawa doing the most and then some in playing up the snake theme, and it’s literally so hypnotic to watch his pops, locks and isolations. he’s also just such an AWESOME daisho, and it helps that nohebi are written to be cunning and sneaky. i also love that he and Kuroo seem to actually have a lot of untold history, and i kind of wish we could get a bit more elaboration on that, coz Yuu’s and Shori’s chemistry as frenemy team captains is SO GOOD. and then of course. NEKOMA, BABY!! so okay. kenma absolutely should be the lead of this show, and he is, BUT he’s also, to a certain extent, inextricable from Kuroo and the rest of the team, so that you dont always get that feeling of Kenma being in the spotlight the same way Hinata is (for understandable reasons since Nekoma arent even really the main characters of the story as a whole), and i think that’s important because, again, Nekoma is all about that teamwork and connection. like, Kenma is the lead because he thinks for Nekoma, and Nekoma acts accordingly, instead of how it is usually where the story is showing Hinata’s perspective alone. it also feels like that in terms of the actors. like, technically Takato is zachou, and he is, but also several times in the curtain call speeches, the cast members refer to or mention both Takato and Shori together. even Takato says that when he had spoken to Kenta about how nervous he was about taking up the zachou mantle from him, Kenta had said “if it’s you and shori, you’ll be fine.” they are a unit, and it really comes across in their portrayals of Kuroo and Kenma as well, and even if you love nothing else about this show, you literally cannot help but love that about them. i think the show does a great job revolving the Nekoma team dynamic around that too without making it the ONLY thing that keeps Nekoma together. the star of the show is absolutely the theme of “connection” (more than the other theme of promises), and if you’ve seen the show and you dont cry at the “Tsunage” section as Nekoma wins the match against Nohebi, then are you really watching the show lmao.

OKAY OKAY I’VE REALLY RAMBLED ON, and if you made it all the way here, THANK YOU AND IM SORRY. but also, there’s still a lot of things i wanna talk about that i didnt talk about here coz im mostly a scatterbrain and live half my life radiating BDE - Bokuto Dumbass Energy. so if you’re also ridiculously obsessed with these shows and wanna talk about it, my inbox is open. someone come hyperfixate with me while i make SO MANY MORE GIFSETS OHMYGOD ALL THE GIFSETS geezas crust when i get to Tokyo Battle i will be insufferable.

#engeki haikyuu #haikyuu #haisute #hyper projection engeki haikyuu #haikyuu stage play #long post #REALLY LONG POST IM SO SORRY #Mango Goes To Jail #NO REALLY IT'S LONG

23 notes · View notes

davidardiansyah · 5 years ago

Text

2019: A Year in Kpop

Dickens once wrote in his novel, A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of the times, it was the worst of the times”. This phrase aptly sums up the year of 2019 for Kpop - a moniker for Korean Pop. Some called 2019 the best year for Kpop in this decade while others called it the worst year of Kpop.

In my last review, I wrote how 2018 was a big year for Kpop as it wrecked havoc much of the western world like a storm. And as expected, in year 2019, Kpop is just getting even bigger and gaining more momentum outside its safe haven of South Korea and the larger Asian continent in general. Known for its dedicated and strong fanbases, Kpop industry has become a commodity. The soft power of Kpop — and the corollary fashion and beauty industry — catapults the South Korean economy, racking in billions of dollars back into the country, especially with the success of the global acts like BTS and BlackPink. Suddenly, everyone wants a bit of Kpop. The western media were scurrying to appeal and sign on with Kpop acts such as BTS, BlackPink, Monster X, Ateez, TXT and SuperM to name a few. 2019 saw Kpop acts appear in many American TV shows and music festivals, as well as performing concerts in many cities. In all, it is safe to say that Kpop has taken ground in America.

To begin, 2019 is a year of BTS. A year ago I also said 2018 was the year of BTS. I told my friend that BTS has such an amazing year in 2018. To that, my friend replied: BTS hasn’t even reached their peak yet. I was a little skeptical back then. How much bigger would they get? Oh boy I was wrong. 2019 is a huge year for BTS — and even huge might be an understatement. For those who are still unaware, they are the biggest boyband in the world right now. A short for Bangtan Sonyeondan or literally Bulletproof Boyscouts, BTS broke many records and took home countless of awards this year with the release of Map of the Soul: Persona. The album takes inspiration from Jung’s thesis in psychology of the same name: Map of the Soul. Following Persona, fans are expecting that Shadow and Ego could be the next releases. For the first time since the Beatles, they had three number one album in Billboard 200 within a year. This year, the septet completed their world stadium tour and sold millions of seats, with historic performance in Wembley London and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. However, for me, it is the performance for the MMA stage that left strong impression, especially so the solo performances.

Moreover, their single Boy-with-Luv, a collaboration with Halsey, is named the song of the year in Korean year end music awards, broke the Youtube records, and last but not least loved by many. Boy-with-Luv (Korean name: A Poem for Small Things) is a catchy pop-song with bubbly and cheerful tones complementing the visuals.The B-side tracks also shine with Mikrokosmos being the feel-good song and Make it Right, composed by Ed Sheeran, as your mainstream chill-pop song. Home is my personal favourite with its jazz and R&B textures, followed by Jamais Vu for its interesting musicality. The album ends with Dionysus, a hard-hitting hip-hop of old school Bangtan.

If the Kpop boy group is dominated by BTS, one could said BlackPink is the counterpart for the girl group. BlackPink released its most anticipated comeback yet with Kill This Love which top many charts. Kill This Love was briefly named the most viewed MV in YouTube, only to be sidelined by BTS’ Boy-with-Luv just a week after. Kill This Love is a marching-band style hip hop song that is a typical of BlackPink hard-banging repertoire. This comeback pulled through YG amidst the scandals embroiling their senior group Big Bang and YG’s executives. Some might even call BlackPink as a saviour for YG. However, fans lamented for the lack of supports for BlackPink, arguably the sole powerhouse of YG right now, with Kill This Love remains but another mini album. To date, BlackPink, a three-year old group has not released a full album yet. In this album, Don’t Know What To Do is my personal favourite, followed by Kick It and Ddu Du Ddu Du remix. Admittedly, Ddu Du Ddu Du was the most successful BlackPink release ever, with the MV crossing the 1B stream in YouTube this year. BlackPink too went for a successful world tour and was featured in Coachella this year.

Now that we have cleared the big acts of 2019, let us sails through the rest of the Kpop acts. Older and senior groups like EXO and Super Junior made comebacks this year as well with Obsession and Super Clap respectively. With the members starting military services, remaining active EXO members such as Baekhyun and Chen releasing solo songs and Chanyeol and Sehun as duo. In addition to individual EXO members having busy schedule, it is no wonder and expected that we will only getting only one comeback each year. The following year we may expect more solo activities or subunits as well, especially with more members serving the military. Meanwhile, Super Junior is finally coming back as a full group, with Ryeowook and Kyuhyun ending their military service.

It is worth mentioning that Seventeen, another rising star in Kpop is having a big year in 2019 with three releases, Home, Hit and Fear. Of those, Home catapults Seventeen to greater height earlier in the year. In my opinion, Home appeals to larger audience, while Hit is a banger and Fear just okay. Seventeen, known for their amazing vocals and dance synchronisation, is going for world tour in 2020. We can expect big thing from Seventeen. Meanwhile, MonstaX has a bumpy year in 2019. Embroiled with controversies, MonstaX saw Wonho leaving the group in the second half of the year, shocking fans both in Korea and internationally. This was a major setback given 2018 had been a big year for MonstaX. They were featured in many American shows as well as making cameo in Bare Bears series. We can only hope Wonho and the rest of MonstaX members are are coping well through this unfortunate incident. Alligator and Follow were two major releases from MonstaX this year. Both are arguably typical MonstaX sounds. Other acts like Got7, Nuest, Winner, NCT also make comebacks, but are lacking the hypes compared to Seventeen and MonstaX. Perhaps, NCT 127 who are riding into their popularity in America is worth a special mention. However, Superhuman isn’t as powerful as Regular or Simon Says. NCT dream meanwhile, cameback with Boom Boom, which surprised me with catchy chorus.

In the girl group scenes, Twice has a good year as well. I mean when will Twice not have a good year right? This nation-loved girl group has two major releases with Fancy and Feel Special. Fancy is another Twice-ish song, loved by many and doing well in charts, but pales against Boy-with-Luv and internationally against Kill This Love. In fact, all these songs were released back to back. 2019 is indeed a year fandom war. Besides BlackPink and Twice, Red Velvet made three comebacks with Zimzalabim, Umpah Umpah and Psycho. The first two were the ‘Red’ sound while Psycho ‘Velvet’. To be honest, Psycho trumps them all. Befitting the name, the soft yet piercing high pitch sound is the unique signature of this song. It’s new and fresh. Similar concept to Peek-a-Boo and Bad Boy, Psycho is a must-listen. Unfortunately, Wendy, one of the members suffered injury during the year end music festival and I wish for a swift recovery for her.

Mamamoo was another big girl group that dominated 2019. Riding on the rising popularity in 2018 with their four seasons’ albums, Mamamoo had a comeback with Gogobebe and Hip. Both songs earned high spots in Korean major charts. One of the members, Hwasa also had a successful solo career with Twit, a catchy song laced with flute textures. Other acts such as GFriend, AOA and APink also made comebacks among others. APink, being a senior group among the rest, is worth mentioning for their comeback %%. If you haven’t listen to it, please do. %% was definitely a good song to start 2019.

In the rookie scene, Tomorrow by Together, the new Bighit boy group and the junior group to BTS had an amazing year with two major releases, Crown (Korean: One Day Horns Grew Out of my Head) being the debut song and Run Away (Korean: I Will Wait for You At Platform 9 3/4), their first comeback. Crown is the fun and bubbly pop song with Run Away delivering emo-rock style. We give a round of applaud to TXT (the short form — Bighit with its naming sense) for fresh sounds, setting them apart from the senior group BTS. ITZY, the new JYP girl group also had successful debut year. If TXT is called global Global Super Rookie, ITZY is the Monster Rookie for stellar performance in Korean charts and abroad especially wth Dalla Dalla — though not my kind of sound. One special mention is Oneus with Lit, a banger with Korean inspired sound — think of BTS’ Idol.

The budding acts like Ateez and (G)Idle both have two comebacks this year. The former with Wave, a tropical house sound and Wonderland, a marching band-inspired sound, while the latter, continuing the Latin vibes with Senorita and Lion. Everglow also had successful comeback with releases such as Bon Bon Chocolat and Adios. Both are good catchy summer songs, with Adios being another marching band-inspired sound. It seems that 2020 will see the trend shift to this style of music. Meanwhile, Pentagon made a comeback with Humph!. This was the first comeback after EDawn left the group earlier. Humph! continues to deliver the signature sound of Pentagon, with its minimal layers of instruments.

The solo scene is dominated by Chung Ha, with successful releases such as Gotta Go at the start of the year and Snapping the second half. Chung Ha overshadowed Sunmi, who made a comeback with Lalalay. Lalalay is unique for its retro high-pitch eastern inspired instrumental sound. Big acts like IU and Taeyeon also made huge comebacks this year. IU’s Love Poem and Blueming performed well in charts as usual. Taeyeon had two releases, one at the start of the year with Four Seasons and one at the end of the year with Spark. Both songs did well. In the R&B scene, Heize released We Don’t Talk Together, composed by BTS’ Suga. The song is laden thick with emotions coupled with melancholic instrumental and visual. It seems that females dominated the solo scene, even in the OSTs scenes, with songs from Hotel del Luna blocking the charts. Of which, Heize’s Can You See My Heart?, Taeyeon’s A Poem About You and Paul Kim’s Goodbye are my personal favourites. Correction, Paul Kim is perhaps the only male act worth mentioning here who had a successful year with Me after You, Goodbye and Every Day Every Moment (a 2018’s release!).

In the duo scene, Bolbbagan4 and AKMU had an amazing 2019. Being digital Monster, Bolbbagan4’s releases are loved by Koreans. This year, the duo cameback with Workaholic. Meanwhile, AKMU is finally making a comeback after Lee Chan Hyuk’s release from military service with How Can I Love the Heartbreak, You Are the One I Love. Both songs earned them Perfect-All-Kill (PAK) in Korean charts (after the new system). The other PAK worth mentioning are IU’s Love Poem and Blueming as well as BTS’ Boy-with-Luv — the only PAK with the old system, arguably harder to achieve. Congratulation to all winners.

The band scene saw the rise of Jannabi, the indie band with retro sound. For Lovers Who Hesitate is an ode to the nineties, with its warm and tender retro sound. It’s also worth mentioning that the vocalist of Jannabi has charming and swoon-worthy vocals. Although the band faced some bumpy road that ended up with one member leaving the team, Jannabi is an act to watch for. N-Flying also had a successful start of 2019 with Rooftop. Originally the song didn’t do well in the chart but slowly rising and top the rank eventually, making them a rising newcomer in this industry. That leaves us with mature group like Day6 who has had stable releases over the years. This year Day6 releases Sweet Chaos, an alternative-rock bop.

While 2019 was a good year for many acts, 2019 also saw the rear side of Kpop. I won’t go through them in detail but it’s good to reflect on these series of events and hopefully do better in the next decade. To begin, 2019 is marred by the Burning Sun prostitution and drugs scandal that led to Seungri quitting Big Bang and Yang Hyun Suk leaving YG. Following this, the Jung Joon Young’s scandal on the sharing of explicit content in KakaoTalk, a Korean messaging platform, caused many acts to retire from the entertainment industry and brought others into the spotlight. The floodgate didn’t just stop there, B.I., the leader of iKon was also reported to have purchased drugs some years ago. B.I. left iKon, who had a successful 2018. The end of the year, we also learnt that the Produce 101 series were rigged with briberies and vote manipulations. The producers reportedly picked the final line-ups prior to nation-producers’ final voting counts. That is why also X1 and IZ-one had tough year in 2019, despite both of them having good releases prior to the exposé. I wonder how their future will look like? Lastly, Park Kyung exposed some artists for suspicion of sajaegi, or chart manipulation, that sparked a nationwide discussion. In fact, the issue of sajaegi had been raised up multiple times in the recent years but seemed to have blown-up more this year, with many artists stand in solidarity against sajaegi and fairer system.

Before we end, allow us too a moment of silence. 2019 saw the passing of fx’s Sulli and Kara’s Hara, victims of malicious commenters and haters. It seems we didn’t learn from the passing of Jonghyun two years ago. While we are deeply mourning for the loss, I hope they are now in better place, happy and resting in peace.

In short, 2019 is indeed the best year of Kpop — and the worst at the same time. However, as previously said by Jang Geu Rae of Misaeng: when a project fails, it means we never planned properly, but we shouldn’t throw away the lessons from this failed project, we should learn from the setbacks and plan for better future. Echoing RM’s speech in Golden Disk Awards, we hope that Kpop artists will continue to work hard, produce good musics and be rewarded fairly. Let us hope for better Kpop scene in the new decade.

Happy New Year.

#MyGratitude

2 notes · View notes

dailydaveeddiggs · 7 years ago

Photo

Today, thanks to “Hamilton,” Diggs, 35, may be the more established half of the “Blindspotting” duo, but that wasn’t the case when he moved back to Oakland after earning his theater degree from Brown. Though four years younger, Casal had already made a name for himself on the Bay Area spoken-word scene, from which he was plucked to appear on HBO’s “Def Poetry.”

Casal had set up a recording studio with the aim of finding other musicians to collaborate with, reaching out to Diggs on the strength of a demo CD the rapper had recorded in his college dorm room. The friendship took hold almost immediately: That first night, they created a few songs, which led to albums, live performances (with a group they dubbed the Getback) and countless sketches and online videos.

“Rafael was the most famous person I knew,” Diggs recalls. “He had really tapped into the YouTube audience pretty early.”

Casal’s videos caught the attention of Jess Calder (then Jess Wu). The young producer, partnered in Snoot with her husband, Keith Calder, had seen a couple of his spoken-word performances and was struck by both Casal’s charisma and the fact that he appeared to be a natural-born storyteller.

“In my mind, anyone who can tell a great story can definitely translate that to film,” explains the producer, who contacted Casal and proposed they meet for coffee. She asked if he’d ever thought about writing a screenplay.

“I’d thought about theater a lot, [but at that age] you’re trying to get $5 for something at McDonald’s. A movie is millions of dollars away,” says Casal. But he was definitely intrigued, and began fleshing out a character that was loosely autobiographical. Things started to click about a year and a half later, when the Snoot duo asked Casal to perform at a screening of their documentary “Thunder Soul” at a January 2009 presidential inauguration event in Washington, D.C. Casal couldn’t make it but suggested they book Diggs in his place.

“Daveed came and did like 15 minutes of freestyle at the event and kind of blew our minds,” recalls Keith Calder. “We were immediately like, ‘Rafael, the movie’s gotta be about the two of you!’”

And from that moment forward, “Blindspotting” became the story of two friends of different races forced to consider the world from one another’s viewpoints, all set against the rapidly changing Bay Area backdrop.

Casal hails from Berkeley, the city directly north of Diggs’ Oakland. But they both attended Berkeley High School and later split a four-bedroom house with two other friends for $1,200. “I can’t even imagine what that place would cost now,” Casal says.

Gentrification, fueled by the tech boom, has transformed the neighborhoods they once knew. “Seventh Street is just a BART station and a post office now, but in the ’30s and ’40s, that was one of the jazz and blues centers of the world,” Diggs says. The last of the local music venues, Esther’s Orbit Room (where Diggs’ brother had been a bartender), finally shut down in 2010. His mother and father (also born in Oakland) both had to move, priced out by the newcomers.

Though not a musical in the conventional sense, “Blindspotting” was born out of a desire to translate spoken-word poetry into cinema. “There are versions where it was damn near a poem the whole time,” Diggs says.

From 2009 onward, he and Casal worked on the script together, huddling over the same laptop since they had only a single licensed copy of Final Draft between them.

“We were trying to find a recipe for a world where verse could exist without it feeling like there’s a deliberate shift every time it goes into a number,” Casal explains. “The Bay Area is known for slang and for turn of phrase. It’s the evolution of pimp culture, so heightened language is already very prevalent in the way people relate to each other.”

For the next several years, Diggs and Casal spent their time driving up and down Interstate 5 between the Bay Area and Los Angeles, parking out front of wherever Snoot headquarters happened to be at the time and sleeping in their car if needed. They wrote draft after draft of “Blindspotting,” pitching the changes to the Calders while using Snoot’s facilities to work on music videos and other projects.

“I’ve always felt like our offices were a place where they should feel safe to create art,” says Jess Calder.

Before Diggs and Casal could complete a shooting version of the script, they were pulled away by other professional opportunities. Casal went off to teach verse-driven theater at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for three years. And, for Diggs, “Hamilton” happened.

“The thing about this business is you never know if something’s a break,” says Diggs. “I met Lin-Manuel Miranda because of a clerical error.” Diggs showed up for the same substitute teaching job as one of Miranda’s friends, Anthony Veneziale, who was also a rapper. They hit it off, and Veneziale invited Diggs to freestyle with his group, of which Miranda was a member. Later, when it came time to do an early reading of “Hamilton,” Miranda remembered Diggs and his rapid-fire delivery. “I was invited because I have this particular skill set that allows me to learn a lot of things very quickly,” recalls Diggs, who had just five days to memorize the show’s most demanding part. “I assumed they would replace me because they had plenty of Broadway performers to choose from.”

Except that Miranda didn’t replace Diggs, who spent nearly a year and a half with the production. “Before leaving ��Hamilton,’ I made this comment to one of my agents,” Diggs recalls. “I was ready to go, but scared that I wouldn’t make any money again, and he said, ‘Don’t worry about that,’ and promptly booked my life with all these things.”

The day after his last “Hamilton” performance in mid-2016, Diggs found himself shooting the movie “Wonder,” starring Julia Roberts. The following week, he began working on ABC’s “Black-ish.” That was swiftly followed by a recurring role on “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” which had to be juggled amid a long-planned national tour with his experimental rap group, Clipping.

Into the midst of this whirlwind came the moment for which Diggs and Casal had long been waiting. Last March, the Snoot producers told them they had the greenlight to make “Blindspotting,” provided the duo could get their script in shape to shoot in June.

“What if I move to L.A. in two days and I write it for a month?” Casal recalls asking — and that’s exactly what he did, undertaking a page-one overhaul while Diggs’ fledgling screen career kept him busy.

“I was on airplanes every other day,” says Diggs, “so really the only through line were these midnight phone calls from Rafael to talk about this thing we’d been talking about for a decade.”

Excited about the prospect of finally making the movie, Diggs kept a rare 25-day window open in June for the shoot. Casal managed to get the rewrite done in four weeks. Reaching out to another old friend, they brought in director López Estrada, who immediately began pre-production.

The project’s Oakland focus attracted some production talent whom the producers normally couldn’t afford, including DP Robby Baumgartner, who had worked in the lighting department for Spike Lee, Paul Thomas Anderson and Alejandro González Iñárritu, and who brought the lighting crew from “Moonlight” aboard.

“We suddenly had this amazing team of people from the Bay Area,” says Diggs. “Doing something with your friends at a high level, that’s a dream.”

After production wrapped, Snoot submitted a rough cut to Sundance, which recommended the music-driven film for a Dolby Family Sound Fellowship. “Blindspotting” is one of two 2018 Sundance selections to have earned the generous post-production grant, making it possible for the filmmakers to upgrade their mix in time for its festival debut. (Past recipients of the grant include “Mudbound” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”)

Thanks to the grant, Diggs, Casal and other members of the production team — including López Estrada and the Calders — spent late December camped out on the Paramount Pictures lot on the same Technicolor stage where Michael Bay mixes his “Transformers” films.

On the same day of Variety’s visit, Diggs and Casal wrote a short piece of original music to replace a few seconds of temp score. Since they came up with the cue themselves, that means they can later expand it into a full-blown song for the soundtrack.

It’s the kind of on-the-fly challenge that has fueled the duo’s creative partnership for more than a decade — though “Blindspotting” is the first time they’ve been able to combine their writing, performance and musical talents to such a degree.

“As an artist, the only thing you ever want to do is something that requires every part of yourself,” Diggs says. “And it is so rare when that happens.” (x)

LOVE the insight as to how this all came together.

#daveed diggs #rafael casal #blindspotting #sundance #sundance film festival #2018 sundance film festival #variety #jess calder

97 notes · View notes

autoirishlitdiscourses · 4 years ago

Text

Discourse of Sunday, 21 March 2021

None of this coming week. You did a solid understanding of topics whose relationship is a clear line between some line that intersects several of these ways, and I'll accommodate you if you recall, is a series of archaic softhearted misplaced sympathies that are close to ten-digit student ID codes, for instance. Etc. What We Lost 5 p. It would have been balanced a bit more. —Even if you are on task, as is any selection from Ulysses this Wednesday. In a lot of things would, I think that there are a very sophisticated level. But you've been up in front of the three F's, but you took full advantage of it individually. But that you have a section you have any more I could have been balanced a bit in the course as a threat to order, civilization, rational thought, although I'm perhaps more flexible, is that you propose to read it closely more than 100% in section next week 13 November 2013 discussion of Calypso, p. On a related note, you have to pick options on GOLD; d it's YOUR JOB to make your work. If you have any questions, OK? Based on notes provided by TA Christopher Walker and the overall goal is to let the class and get your main ideas. 4% of your perspective and talking, and that you're capable of this audio or video recording online, for instance, you don't have a good day, because in my margin notes and underlining, should you be absent from lecture on Thursday, but are not allowed to disclose. After all, very few students this quarter. It would have helped to practice just a tiny bit over, and may very well be quite a good job last week due to the performance history of Ulysses, is a penalty to that but it's not necessary to try to force a discussion of When You Are Old. The Young Covey, Rosie Redmond? Reminder: 4pm today is for your paper is going to be on campus never quarter. So, with strong evidence that supports your larger-scale, but you still have plenty of examples, but that's the case in the storyline.

Your writing is quite a nice job dealing with it? Final Exams At the moment. Discussion Section Guidelines handout, which involves speculations about whether you're technically meeting the discussion that allowed people to talk about it. You are perfectly capable of doing so by 10 a. It would have helped to have in section, and what you'll be reciting as soon as possible when you sense that my 6 pm section on 27 November is National Novel Writing Month: A more in section. Here's a breakdown on how much is cuing off of his lecture pace rather than treating them as choices made as a group means that an A does, anyway. 4 I will be paying attention to the word that might make you feel that you should try to force a discussion leader for the final and with your score on the section website in a way that is related to the rest of your paper to support it. Etc. Something I should say this not because you will leave me with a passage that is formatted correctly. Thanks for being such a fine line about how movement, leisure, power cords fray, hard drives crash, printers break or run out of lecture on Tuesday night, and your material, although if you have missed for purposes of your own complex and, provided that you saw as important about this, but if you are reciting that week and also correlated strongly with how they relate to the text, you know, too, needs more focus in order to see Dexter as admirable, and some legends. 420-22, p. I promise that I'm closer to your discussion topics will be worth 50 points 10% of your performance and incorporate a ballpark estimate of participation/attendance based entirely upon attendance I won't figure participation in until the end of the whole class really was close to ten pages long; this can be hard to get various grades.

I'd say that I hope you're doing, though, you did eight IDs instead of at a different segment later in this range do not overlap with yours, by the time that you occasionally seem to have gone beyond. Then, I'd post a slightly modified version of your plans by Friday evening if you have thought it; but you are welcome to adapt it, and you accomplished a lot of important concepts for the quarter for anything, but you did so effectively. 17 October vocabulary quiz on John Synge's play The Playboy of the quarter, especially at the beginning of the rhythm of Bloom's thoughts in your order of preference, and it's not necessary and if you have disclosed any part at all by Patrick Kavanagh, On Raglan Road: Personally, I think that, just make snap judgments that you deserve it. I think reasons. My worst grades as an allegory; the Irish?

The name of Robert Peel; cf.

I'm assuming that you made constant insightful, meaningful contributions to discussion: that you need another copy of an A-for the sake of being perfectly clear that this will count as a last resort are constantly hungry; c divorce is essentially impossible in Ireland and Irish Currency. Grammar and usage errors, etc. Let me know. Let me know if you have several print copies left, but an issue of hasty writing and polished work. There are a couple of suggestions that might be rephrased as what parallels do you analyze your points because it has to be unable to turn into a larger-scale course concerns and did an excellent job an impassioned delivery. I've ended up collecting multiple documents on my way to get back to you earlier I looked at them again and they looked strange, so I'm sympathetic—but that one of the most likely way to find it productive to save question 2, below. Strange feeling it would have helped to get back to you. You might think about what possibilities for discussion, because it's easier for me. I'm sorry to take the paper and I appreciate that you're talking more effectively to the group may help you to be one of the religion, and I will be able to avoid them, and below 103 to drop into the discussion. One of the musical adaptation; other than misogynistic. Overall, you may want to but I'm not entirely sure that you're going through miscellaneous papers last week week. I have some very intriguing suggestions that might serve as a useful alternative view that may not have your paper you had thought closely about the topics you've picked. He did mention Yeats and nationalism? I mean is that one of the passage you want to, I'll try hard to let it motivate other people uncomfortable enough that they didn't cover but that it would have helped to practice just a tiny bit over, and you did a very good ideas in a paper that you wanted to make his slide show available to, and I'll see you in section. Yes! I hope that you get at this point, you can which specific part of the assignment write-up of the others suffered? Note that this is simply hasty editing and/or social construction of this audio or visual recording itself in the meantime or have a midterm to correct for the course of the word potato. This is much less polite and responsive to early questions didn't get the other hand, I think this aspect of this work for you is yours. Right now, it's likely to give the rest of the performance has completed. I think that you must at least a preliminary selection of the rather thin time slice that Joyce gives us of their own knowledge is a good idea and so forth. The Covey 6 p.

You had a very good job of making your teaching practices visible I post every slideshow I develop, so although there's no overlap in terms of line count, stanza breaks, or it may be most helpful at this point is that your crazy life is not inevitably the case that 16 June 1904 is unusual for her youthful desire with a disability and require special accommodations, DSP will communicate with the play. Thank you. If you have a number of important themes as the professor has not yet worked out your major: The hat scene in/Ulysses Seen/graphic novel or for your material very effectively and provided that it's necessarily the best option for you on time. Feel better soon. Think about what you want to do a solid and quite enjoyed having you in lecture, during my office and I think that your paper's structure would pay off in analytical terms; but you handled this well enough in section, so that you had a good place to close-reading exercise of your plans. Engaging in close readings.

However, this is Michelle Juergen's The Economics of Hookup Culture, which involves speculations about whether you're thinking about it. Only my mother and some broader course concerns and did an excellent winter break! This is only one of two pairs reciting from Godot for the final to drop into lecture mode.

62. Sounds like a reasonable guess is that you should be able to pick one option from section the most basic issues if you go back through the section that is genuinely smarter than her grade actually reflects, and you generally knew just how much you knew about the difference that you made changed the last chance to do, in my opinion to earn exactly 7. Have a good presence in front of the fact that you should have read episodes 5 Lotus Eaters, starting on page 240 of the Flies, and is entirely understandable, but you handled yourself and your analytical exploration of Digging and other works, OK?

It'll just need to include these types of documents in addition to giving you the opportunity to demonstrate this and provided a good weekend! You're very welcome. From there, and on all parts of the professor's miss three sections results in automatic course failure. Go above and beyond the length requirements. Hi! Let me know. Your do a different time. A characteristic of personality and identity that has sounded good to me like the one he'd used in a more luggage than you expect. I think that giving texts, and this is, your attention should primarily be on campus tomorrow afternoon. My intent was not announced last week. Note that other people to talk sometimes, and had a low-ish rooms available, that one thing, most of your recitation from Calypso, p.

#Irish literature #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Python #Markov chains

0 notes

jafreitag · 4 years ago

Text

Grateful Dead Monthly: World Music Theater – Tinley Park, IL 7/23/90

On Monday, July 23, 1990, the Grateful Dead played a concert at the World Music Theater in Tinley Park, Illinois. It was keyboardist Brent Myland’s final show before he died at his California home three days later from a speedball overdose.

The World Music Theater was/is an outdoor venue in Chicago’s near southwest suburbs. It was later renamed the New World Music Theater, the Tweeter Center, and the First Midwest Bank Ampitheater; it’s currently named the Hollywood Casino Ampitheater and owned by Live Nation. I’ve been there several times, and don’t have anything complementary to say about it. It’s corporate and characterless. The pavilion is ok, but strictly policed, and the lawn is massive, but view-obstructed by skyboxes built down from the roof, which also muffle the sound. Lot scenes outside are strictly prohibited, and concessions inside are nightmarish (as in, you could miss an entire set waiting for an overpriced beverage).

The World opened on June 2, 1990 with a Cher concert and soon hosted Kiss (Hot in the Shade tour), David Bowie (Sound + Vision greatest hits tour), and Depeche Mode (World Violation tour) before the Dead and hordes of ‘heads descended in late July for a three-night run. I attended the second night, 7/22/90. Before gametime, ticketless fans charged up the hill (check out the photo above) from the parking lot and vaulted the chain-link fence, only to be quickly and heavily tackled by security. Torrential rain then turned the new-ish sod into a literal mudslide – a buddy and I, both huddled under garbage bags, spent the entire night dodging folks running from behind and sliding by on their bellies. There was a bad vibe to that place (still is), and the band didn’t help with a dull playlist and uninspired playing. Easily, the worst GD show that I ever saw. I was glad when it was over, and afterwards stopped paying attention to them for nearly fifteen years.

born_crosseyed echoed some of those sentiments in his Live Music Archive review of 7/23, saying “Tinley Park sucked. There was a balcony built into the ampitheater building which acted like a sound baffle, causing the sound inside the building to bounce around all over the place. It sounded awful. The lawn sounded much better but was SO overcrowded that I could barely breathe, let alone move around.”

ECM suggested that we feature 7/23 as a tribute to Brent. I asked him for some comments about the show, and about keyboardist’s tenure with the band. Here’s his typically well-considered insight:

Last show of summer tour. Started in Bonner Springs, Kansas and ended in Chicago, IL. Some sheds (Bonner Springs, Deer Creek, Tinley Park), some small stadiums (Cardinal and Carter-Finley), and some big stadiums (Three Rivers, RFK, Foxboro, and Rich). Mostly a pretty solid tour, even if it didn’t reach the heights of the Spring East Coast tour. The band was still playing at a pretty high level. But the song selection was lacking. The band played 4 out of 9 songs from their “newish” album Built To Last.

The first set starts with solid but nothing to write home about performances of Cold Rain and Snow, Picasso Moon, Never Trust a Woman (the final version), and Stagger Lee. There is an unusual and promising Bob Weir Trifecta to close the first set – Cassidy, Truckin’ > Smokestack Lightnin’. The latter two songs were very rare in the first set, and Smokestack was pretty rare itself – it was only played about three times a year since 1985, and this was the first of only two performances in 1990. The jam between Truckin’ and Smokestack has a very distinct Nobody’s Fault But Mine quote – another rarity (last time played was in 1985). Smokestack is quite strong actually. However, only two Jerry songs in the first set (Cold Rain and Stagger Lee). Was Jerry losing his voice? It was the last show of the summer tour. Maybe the acoustics were bad and Jerry couldn’t hear himself? Was he tour weary and ready to go home? East Coast summer tours were notoriously hot and humid.

Opening the second set with Victim or the Crime > Foolish Heart after doing the exact same thing at Bonner Springs (7/4), RFK (7/12), and Deer Creek (7/19) was probably not what the die-hards who came out on a Monday night for the tour closer had hoped for. Again, the performance is solid, but standard. Women Are Smarter follows, and Brent certainly shines, but this is not the kind of song with mind-bending jams that most fans are seeking. The crashing chords of Terrapin are majestic but there is no big jam as there was at Landover (3/15), Albany (3/24), and Shoreline (6/16) – or even Pittsburgh (7/8) and Deer Creek (7/18). This almost felt like a “we’re outta here” Terrapin, as did the final post-Space songs. Breaking tradition, the band ditches the usual tour closing encore Brokedown Palace in favor of The Weight, a new cover that the band debuted at Nassau on March 28th. This is only the seventh performance. Each band member takes a verse which makes it a bit more special. Almost prophetically, Brent takes the verse “I gotta go but my friends can stick around.” It’s the last lyric he will sing with the Grateful Dead as he died three days later on July 26, 1990 at the young age of 38.

Ed sent some pics of this show’s entry in the Taper’s Compendium.

And he also sent this personal reflection on Brent’s tenure with the band:

I see a lot of love for Brent on my 31daysofdead Instagram account these days, and it warms my heart – not only because it is well deserved, but because it was not always that way, unfortunately. It may come as a surprise to many that there was a lot of hate for Brent during the 1980s. I think much of it had to do with the band’s sound and jam style in the 70s vs. the 80s. It was all too easy to point to the change in keyboard players to account for these differences. This turned into the inevitable and unfair comparison of Keith vs. Brent.

Brent could not shake the stigma of being the “new” guy, which is quite ironic because he held the keyboard seat longer than any member of the Grateful Dead. Moreover, many fans hated the sounds Brent chose for his electric piano and the songs he composed, complaining that they were “too cheesy.” Brent was quiet and sensitive and didn’t handle this well. He felt compelled to prove himself. In addition, he had problems at home in his personal life. He wore his heart on his sleeve. Sometimes he revealed just how tortured he was in his performances, as he famously did at the Berkeley Community Theatre on April 21, 1986.

I had heard of Brent’s substance abuse issues through tour gossip but had dismissed it as “just alcohol.” A specific rumor I heard was that he was going into rehab after the New Year’s run in 1989. However, that never happened and Brent’s playing during that run and the subsequent Spring tour was nothing less than stellar. As a result, I tended not to believe the rumors. That’s why Brent’s sudden death at the young age of 37 came as such a surprise to me. It was even more stunning that his death was due to a drug overdose from a speedball. It didn’t seem real to me. I had just seen three shows on the Summer 1990 tour – Bonner Springs, Louisville and Foxboro. All of them were strong shows and at no point did I have any reason to feel concerned about Brent’s health as I did about Jerry’s health during the Summer of ’86. Hell, we were always worried about Jerry. Nobody had their eye on Brent, the quiet one. I was shocked and devastated when I learned of Brent’s death. I never saw it coming. It was so tragic and so sad for him, his family, the band and all of the fans.

To me, the Brent haters had him all wrong. I am a piano player and I am here to say that the man had amazing keyboard chops. If you can’t get past his “cheesy” keyboard sounds, then you only need to listen to his beautiful work on the grand piano during the acoustic sets at the Warfield and Radio City Music Hall in the fall of 1980 to appreciate just how skilled he was. In addition, he had total command over a B-3 organ and played monster solos that blew the roof off of most venues. If you listen to the way the Dead played blues songs in the 70s vs. the 80s, there is no comparison whatsoever. Also, Brent’s soulful voice made him sound like Greg Allman sometimes. And, his high harmonies made the band sound like a choir of angels on things like the bridge section in Wharf Rat – particularly during the 1979-80 era.

Probably best of all is the musical connection that Jerry had with Brent. If you watch videos from the late 1980’s you will see a wide grin on Jerry’s face whenever he and Brent connected – and it happened quite often. Many believe that Jerry, who looked quite healthy after recovering from a diabetic coma in1986, relapsed into drug addiction shortly after Brent’s death, which resulted in his own death only five years later. It is certainly quite plausible, making Brent’s death all the more tragic. I have a great fondness for the Brent years and feel so fortunate that I was able to see him perform many times. Thank you, Brent.

And thank you, Ed.

You can transport to the Charlie Miller remaster of the soundboard recording of 7/23/90 on the LMA HERE.

Rest in peace.

More soon.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2P24p5H via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

0 notes

theliberaltony · 5 years ago

Link

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to a special edition of FiveThirtyEight’s politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

sarahf (Sarah Frostenson, politics editor): Sen. Bernie Sanders objectively did not have a good Super Tuesday. He won just three states outright (Colorado, Utah and Vermont) and across the board, he underperformed expectations.

He does seem on track to win delegate-rich California — but because so many voters mail in their ballots, it’ll be weeks before we know the final vote there.

But at this point, it does seem as if Sanders hasn’t succeeded in turning out the voters he needs to win, and now some are arguing that to find a path to the nomination, he has to stop running as an insurgent. So is it time for Sanders to adopt a new strategy?

nrakich (Nathaniel Rakich, elections analyst): I’m not sure I accept the premise of that argument? Obviously, being an insurgent is a core part of Sanders’s identity. And a lot of the party is attracted to that. (He is still averaging almost 30 percent in national polls!) But, of course, that doesn’t preclude him from doing some things to reach out to new voters.

For example, a majority of voters in Super Tuesday exit polls said they supported Sanders’s key policies of Medicare for All and free college — but, paradoxically, a plurality of voters in many states said they wanted to return to former President Barack Obama’s policies. And perhaps as a nod to that, Sanders released an ad today featuring Obama saying nice things about him.

ameliatd (Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, senior writer): So, with the big caveat that we do need to wait and see how Sanders performed in California, which is where he put a lot of resources, it does seem like his choice to bank on voters who don’t normally turn out in high numbers (especially young people) backfired.

In some states, the share of young voters who turned out was actually lower than it was in 2016. That is not a good sign for Sanders.

But I don’t know if his “insurgency” is to blame.

perry (Perry Bacon Jr., senior writer): To me, that Obama commercial feels like a bit of an admission of failure. Wouldn’t the time to run a commercial saying “Obama loves me” be in the run-up to a bunch of primaries in the heavily black Deep South, not afterward?

nrakich: I don’t know if I buy the argument that Sanders screwed up by not being more aggressively conciliatory before Super Tuesday.

The events of Sunday and Monday — the party clearly deciding on former Vice President Joe Biden, and multiple establishment politicians giving up their personal ambitions to do so — were extraordinary.

And would have been very difficult to predict.

A week ago, I ran a table titled “Sanders is forecasted to rack up wins on Super Tuesday“!

I think that until basically Monday, when it was too late, Sanders was totally justified in thinking that divided opposition would allow him to win Super Tuesday if he just stuck to his usual schtick.

perry: I agree with that.

ameliatd: But there was probably some hubris on Sanders’s part in assuming that he could rely mainly on low-turnout voters’ excitement about him.

sarahf: Wait, aren’t you inherently arguing, Nathaniel, that Sanders still needed to pivot at some point?

nrakich: Yeah, maybe, Sarah, but really I’m just saying Sanders has so far made perfectly rational strategic decisions with the information he had.

And now that he has the new information of his loss on Super Tuesday, the timing of this Obama ad makes sense.

ameliatd: I’ll disagree with that a little, Nathaniel — I think Sanders could have done more to reach out to people who are not in his core base once he started doing well in the early states. And maybe being conciliatory could have helped. Or at least he could have, like, not doubled down on his comments praising Fidel Castro last week.

sarahf: I guess the counterargument, though, is: Did a tweet like this ever make sense for Sanders?

I've got news for the Republican establishment. I've got news for the Democratic establishment. They can't stop us.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 22, 2020

It’s weird and it’s complicated and, as you said earlier, Nathaniel, part of Sanders’s appeal is that he is a political outsider and isn’t afraid to call the establishment out. But he’s also not running as an underdog this year, and he’s trying to win the Democratic nomination, so at some point, you have to win … some Democrats. Right?

perry: My view is that Sanders’s losses in Minnesota and the Northeast were related to the consolidation of the establishment. He had no control over that. It was surprising, as Nathaniel said.

The total blowouts in the South were not shocking — but I do think running an ad about how Obama loves him would have been most useful before a lot of the South voted. So we will agree to disagree on that!

But Sarah, I think that tweet was fine and is being overblown.

Sanders’s appeal in the general election is partly based on running as an outsider to both parties.

nrakich: Yeah, tweets are overrated. Only about a fifth of Americans are even on Twitter!

perry: Voters don’t think they are in the establishment either.

nrakich: And I guess I would point out that Sanders has tried to make inroads with voters he wasn’t strong with in 2016. We’ve written about this: Sanders invested a lot in Latino outreach in Nevada and California, and he has improved his numbers with black voters to an impressive degree.

ameliatd: OK, so a lot of things moved very quickly and somewhat unpredictably in the past few days, and none of those things were helpful to Sanders. What should he do now? Again with the caveat that we don’t know what happened in California, it does seem like Sanders has to start appealing to some non-young Democrats.

sarahf: Right, next Tuesday six more states vote: Idaho, Michigan, North Dakota, Washington, Missouri and Mississippi.

So does Sanders pivot now? Will he do a bit better with at least some of those states no matter what? (Three of them are at least sorta kinda in the West, which is where Sanders is supposed to be strongest.)

nrakich: That’s actually a pretty good group of states for Sanders. Sanders is strong in Western states (I think North Dakota kinda counts as culturally Western). And he scored a shocking win in Michigan last cycle, which many Democrats there probably remember.

However, Missouri and Mississippi, as Southern (or Southern-ish) states with significant black populations, definitely do feel like Biden states. Also, next week we’ll get the results of the Democrats Abroad primary, which should be good for Sanders.

ameliatd: I would assume that Bloomberg getting out of the race will be helpful to Biden in Michigan, though.

nrakich: Yeah, that’s going to be the barnburner of the evening. It’s the closest of next week’s races per our forecast (as of Tuesday morning), and it’s also worth the most delegates of any state voting next Tuesday.

perry: Sanders has a bunch of blocs where he is weak: 1. older black voters; 2. college-educated white women; 3. basically anyone over age 45.

And I don’t see how easy it is for him to pivot to win these groups, because his whole campaign is about shaking things up, and these might be groups that are resistant to big change.

ameliatd: There was one very consistent aspect of Sanders’s voters last night (and in the first four states) — he gets more support from men than women. That is going to be hard for him to change.

sarahf: So this is from The Washington Post’s analysis of Super Tuesday exit polls, and as Perry says — aside from really young voters, really liberal voters and Hispanic voters — Sanders really does have a bunch of blocs where he is weak.

So he has to at least start trying to win some of these voters from Biden, right? Or is there an argument to be made that Sanders should double down on his current strategy?

One thing we talked about on the live blog is that if it’s a two-person race by March 15, that could be bad for Biden and good for Sanders, just considering their skills as debaters.

perry: Is Sanders good at debates? (Conceding that Biden is fairly bad at them.)

sarahf: Sanders is more reliable, I’d say.

ameliatd: The problem is that without high turnout among his core groups, how can Sanders stay the course and win? I keep coming back to the fact that young voters have not been turning out in high numbers. That was a big part of his strategic bet, and it just doesn’t seem to be paying off.

nrakich: Not to, like, invalidate this entire chat, but I’m not sure this debate is even relevant. I think Sanders will double down on his current strategy, because it’s just who he is. He is a progressive insurgent bomb-thrower, and he has been remarkably consistent about it throughout his career.

perry: I agree with that Nathaniel.

In fact, Sanders does too. He tweeted this on Wednesday:

This campaign is different. We have received 8.7 million contributions from over 1.9 million donors.

We don't hold high-dollar fundraisers. We don't have a super PAC spending millions of dollars on TV ads. We don't have a single billionaire donor.

We have the people.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 4, 2020

ameliatd: One possibility, I guess, is that Biden’s sudden surge could galvanize Sanders supporters and convince them to turn out in higher numbers.

perry: But Nathaniel, are you suggesting that Sanders can’t pivot or won’t pivot?

He did get better on racial issues and outreach to black voters and Latino voters from 2016 to 2020. So he can do better outreach to women and older people? Yes, right?

nrakich: Yeah, that’s a good point, Perry.

Maybe the distinction is that his rhetoric won’t change, but maybe the strategy of his campaign operation will?

ameliatd: But again, I keep coming back to the groups where Sanders is weak. It’s not obvious to me that Warren supporters who see the writing on the wall for their candidate will throw their support to Sanders. And that’s a problem for him.

perry: Amelia, I agree — right now, I don’t think Warren supporters are going in bulk to Sanders if she drops out.

His first move should be trying to get her to endorse him enthusiastically, and I have no idea how that will happen.

ameliatd: What would it mean for the strategy of his campaign operation to change without his rhetoric changing, Nathaniel? I don’t want to sound too down on Sanders, but part of his brand is his rhetorical consistency. How does he change his campaign’s outreach without changing how he talks about his candidacy?

Getting a Warren endorsement would be a big deal, Perry, I agree. Maybe Sanders’s mistake was not being more conciliatory to Warren.

perry: Well, the Obama ad was a shift. Sanders thinks Obama was too centrist as president, but he did run the ad. So I think Sanders can adapt.

nrakich: Right, I think that’s a great example. Lots of people might see that ad and think, “Sanders is trying to reach out to me.” Meanwhile, at rallies, Sanders can keep delivering his usual applause lines.

perry: I think reaching older voters is hard because my sense is they are wary of free college and debt forgiveness (“I paid for college myself, why can’t this generation, etc.”)

The socialist label is hard too, as is the perception that Biden is electable and next in line.

nrakich: Yeah, I feel like the canary in the coal mine will be if Sanders ever begins to deemphasize the “socialism” label.

I feel like he probably won’t. But IMO that is a big obstacle for him winning over both older Democrats in the primary and swing voters in the general.

perry: He should downplay or recast the socialism hat immediately. Give a big speech about how he is a liberal Democrat and that “socialism” is not a big part of his political identity.

ameliatd: I’ve also felt just kind of a sense of exhaustion from the voters I’ve talked to. The idea that Biden was finally getting it together seemed like a relief to a lot of people I spoke with over the weekend and on Monday.

That’s a difficult sentiment to quantify, of course, but I wonder how many Democrats really have an appetite for a knock-down, drag-out fight between Biden and Sanders at this point.

perry: I think that’s right, Amelia.

The group in the party that wants a fight might just be the 30 percent of voters already with Sanders.

sarahf: Right, and as you said earlier, Perry, if his whole campaign’s message is about shaking things up, that might not be an attractive message for a lot of these voters if they’re resistant to big change. Buttigieg had tried to attack him on this front in some of the debates, and I think maybe that’s the biggest problem with a Sanders pivot. He can’t really back down from that message of systemic change.

ameliatd: Also, I wonder if Biden has benefited from Bloomberg being in the race, if only by making him seem a little more liberal and palatable.

perry: I’ve been fairly down on Sanders in this chat. What does his comeback look like? The race has flipped a bunch of times. Surely it can flip again.

nrakich: Exactly.

Maybe Biden is in for another scrutiny cycle now.

Maybe Sanders gets some momentum from some of the good states he has coming up.

Maybe Warren drops out and endorses him.

Or maybe she stays in and her delegates are what Sanders needs to get a majority at a contested convention!

Sanders-Warren unity ticket, anyone?

ameliatd: Part of his comeback has to hinge on doing really well in California, which could still happen. I’ve been critical of Sanders’s outreach campaign in this chat, but he was smart about how he approached that state. And we won’t know the full results there for a while.

nrakich: That’s a great point, Amelia. If California is strong enough for him, it’s still possible that Sanders will be the delegate leader after Super Tuesday!

ameliatd: And I don’t know, maybe his supporters were taking him for granted on Super Tuesday and they get really motivated in the next round of states.

I do agree with you, Perry, that this race has turned around so many times that it feels dangerous to assume everything is settling into place for Biden.

sarahf: Right, we are entering a new phase of the race. The field isn’t as crowded, and to some extent it’s a two-person race now, which will change both Biden’s and Sanders’s strategy. The race can definitely flip again, and I do think Sanders will pivot in some way moving forward. The Obama ad is evidence of this even if its timing felt off.

Biden “won” Super Tuesday, but we’ve still got a ways to go. And Sanders is still very much in this race.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #A FiveThirtyEight Chat

0 notes

shemakesmusic-uk · 5 years ago

Photo

Getting to Know...

Voodoo Bandits.

Voodoo Bandits are a four-piece indie-rock/surf-pop band from the Isle of Man. Blending their influencing genres, the band carves out a sound that is upbeat, energetic, vibrant and unbelievably catchy.

In March 2019, Voodoo Bandits released their debut single ‘Sink Below’ – a fresh tune with tight overdriven riffs of an indie-surf style. Soon after, the group enhanced their sound with the electrifying and explosive track ‘Ride The Wave’. New single 'Psych Beach' is premiering here on SMM and with no signs of backing down, Voodoo Bandits are set to bring their infectious tunes to the UK (and beyond).

We spoke to bass player Charlotte about the bands origins, influences, new single 'Psych Beach' and more. Read the Q&A below.

Hi Charlotte! Who are Voodoo Bandits?

"Hello! We are (or at least we’d like to think we are) an Indie Rock/Surf Pop 4-piece from the mythical Isle of Man. I met Ben back during the very early stages of the band, and after turbulent times with various members coming and going, a spot opened up and I happened to be arguably the most convenient option to step in on bass. At the time, I’d barely been playing a month with absolutely no knowledge or experience in musical instruments or theory so I have to admit this has been both an exciting and often very challenging journey! It was a bit of a leap into the unknown at first but I do love a good creative project and the band seemed like a fantastic opportunity to get involved with and help towards making us a stronger, more focused unit.

"As for our name, legend has it, it was thought up by an ex band member who I shan’t name, we did consider changing it as part of our rebrand at the beginning of 2019 however it was a tough decision thinking up new names and we were working on tight deadlines so we just stuck with it."

Who or what has the biggest influence on your sound as a band and you personally as a bassist?

"As a band, I would say our influences in regards to our sound vary and do often change as we’re constantly seeking new ideas and looking to take inspiration from both new and established artists so it’s hard to pin point a particular influence but we do tend to lean towards a similar sound to Circa Waves first album Young Chasers combined with whichever artist/s we’re particularly interested in at the time we write a song.

"Personally for me, I’d have to say Paul McCartney is my biggest influence in terms of playing bass, I love his style but then again who doesn’t!"

Voodoo Bandits have just releases new single 'Psych Beach'. What can you tell us about the track?

"'Psych Beach' overall is a bright track, with a bouncy beat and a catchy chorus. It’s a little different in comparison to our previous two singles but it carries our usual energy and vibe. We didn’t have the smoothest time with it at the studio as it’s taken a while to get it to a good standard, and as a result the inevitable self doubt has kicked in a smidge so we’re super keen to hear some pleasant feedback to revive our faith in it and of course we’re hoping our fans will enjoy it and be enticed enough to want to hear more from us."

You have a gig coming up next month in Manchester and it's your first show over here in England. You must be so excited! What can we expect from a Voodoo Bandit's live show?

"We’re all really looking forward to playing in Manchester, we played in Glasgow and Edinburgh last month which really gave us a flavour of how our songs translate in front of a live audience as we don’t often get to showcase our own stuff on the Isle of Man with it mostly being about playing hours of cover songs so we’ve come away from that feeling nicely prepared for Manchester. You can expect lots of energy and fun from our live shows along with a strong chance of a snapped guitar string from our lead guitarist who we believe holds the world record for the most snapped strings whilst playing live, and then to top it off, at the end of our set we play what we like to call the ‘Manx National Anthem’ which is really just a mix of dance classics shaped into a 5 mins-ish medley, it’s pretty unique and it always works a treat at getting the crowd going."

Finally, what else is next for Voodoo Bandits?

"Good question! Ideally we’d like to release a handful of singles over 2020, we’re also hoping to pop over to the UK regularly to perform around the North West to begin with and then I guess we’ll see where the wind takes us. This next year is really about spreading our sound and attracting more fans and potential partners who would like to work with us whether that’s a promoter, a fellow artist or a label. We’re only just getting started so expect much more from us over the coming months!"

‘Psych Beach’ is out now.

#getting to know #voodoo bandits #psych beach

0 notes

p0cketdiary-blog · 5 years ago

Text

My concert experience! [Pt. 3.1]

Hello jello~ I promise that this will really be the FINAL part. Without further ado, let’s jump back into it!

So, when the whole holding area thing was announced, we were close to giving up on our hard-earn tickets obtained from our *yet another BTS song title pun* Blood, Sweat and Tears due to the thought of needing to queue for SO long. The news blew up and everyone else were complaining regarding how illogical it was. Worst was also not being able to bring along your own water bottle so everyone had to queue for over 30 minutes to get 1 bottle of water as they only had ONE stall available for hundreds of us. It was honestly such a bad experience all in all. But things took a great turn-ish afterwards, I would say!

We were stuck in the holding area for a good 45-50 minutes. Luckily ARMYs were nice enough to arrange ourselves based on our queue numbers and the staffs put us in rows according to gate numbers. Soon after, we were finally being transferred to the National Stadium and my, did we look like a group of ants marching home. It took quite a while to finally get to our supposed gate - wherein we will need to queue AGAIN in order to get our tickets scanned and receive our wristbands. This — was when we finally get to step foot into the National Stadium and see the stage up close. All the hours, for this very moment!!

We were told not to run and instead walk in a proper line to our designated standing pen, but of course - everyone lost their minds and speed-walked. Most of them were rushing to get closer to the main stage, but we decided to stay around the most extended stage as we know they do most of their choreographies there and would often walk around the said area. There was still about 3 hours (yes, more waiting) to go before the show begins, so everyone just stood around. A lot tried to occupy or save a spot for themselves for when the show starts by placing their bags on the ground and then sitting next to it.

That was fine by me, but what annoyed me the most was a (foreign) lady who was about 6 feet tall, would not stop pushing me (a poor 5 footer) backwards. It was to the point where my back was arched, and due to our language barriers - she just would not stop. I said to myself, “great! Not only will I not be able to see anything even with the 5 cm boost from my shoes, my spine will also break in the process.” I was mentally preparing myself to have the worst night - as all I saw was the lady’s blonde hair.

Amazingly enough we met a Singaporean ARMY who got separated from her friends 2 rows in front of us (we were 6 rows away from the barricade) also due to the blonde lady blocking her way. We then made a deal (haha) with them saying that we will let her through and they will help bring us 3 forward (though I was the only short one among all of them including my sister and cousin). They agreed since they felt really bad for my unfortunate height gene. One of the girls reached out her hand as if she was offering a handshake - and so I responded but little did I know she was pulling me towards her and people had no choice but to let me through (lol).

Yay! I am now 4 rows away from barricade. Suddenly the lights went off and everyone started pushing - the force was going towards the main stage (as usual) and I was slowly being moved again (to 2 rows away from barricade). Then a few seconds later, the opening starts playing and AT LAST, the concert has begun! For the first 3 songs I was still stuck behind 2 rows, but in a blink of an eye - I felt my arm dangling over the barricade and my feet on top of a platform. I was so shocked to be brought all the way to the front and exactly right in front of where the extended stage ends. Thank God for Physics!

Everything was a blur and it happened so fast. I honestly could not even remember if they performed the entire setlist. Either way, I’ll insert photos and clips (if Tumblr allows? - kidding, I can only insert up to 10.. that sucks) below! Just a heads up, one of the members Jungkook (yes, the one Sir Chester mentioned in class while we were all casually reading his Twitter timeline) walked over to my area - like he was literally a few centimeters or meters (I don’t know) in front of me. That was one of the perks of getting barricade. I am so thankful to have been brought a bit closer by our new friends, but we should really thank the force of gravity (for making it possible for me to be pushed to the most front)

The highlight of the entire show however (honestly, everything should be considered as a highlight lol) would be my bias Jimin singing a snippet of his first self-produced solo song “Promise” a.k.a 약속 (yaksok) for us - which made the night even more special to me!

0 notes

womenofcolor15 · 5 years ago

Text

VIDEO: Malik Yoba Throws F-Bomb Laced Fit & Storms Out Of Interview After Being Asked About Accusations Of Sex With Underaged Trans Women

Malik Yoba lost his whole sh-- during an interview with a media outlet Wednesday while he was on his "I'm a cis man who am trans attracted" tour. Now, the very group he's been claiming to be standing up for over the last several weeks is questioning whether his motives and education are valid. Video of his f-bomb laced tirade inside.

Malik Yoba was finally confronted about those allegations from multiple trans women that he solicited sex from them and others while they were underaged. We shared earlier this month about the stories Mariah Lopez had about having sex with him allegedly while she was underaged. She was a sex worker.

For whatever reason, media outlets haven't really brought these allegations up to him, despite the fact many in the trans community have spoken out about how the timing of him being so vocally pro-trans is quite, interesting. He started speaking out around the same time that the allegations were made, so folks wonder if this was his way of diverting attention or protecting his image.

So when Malik made his way to The Root the week to discuss his participation in Thursday's upcoming Trans National Visibility March, one journalist, Terrell Starr, questioned him about it. And ish went VERY left.

I asked Malik Yoba about concerns that his motives to support trans causes were seen as insincere & allegations he solicited sex from a minor performing survival sex work. He stormed off the set cursing and throwing our equipment to the floor. FULL VIDEO: https://t.co/2e0zPa9Sv1

— Terrell J. Starr (@Russian_Starr) September 25, 2019

Mariah Lopez,34, says Yoba paid her for sex when she was 13 and 16 while performing survival sex work. A trans woman, Ja'nese Bussey, collaborated Lopez's claims to me in an interview. Bussey, also told me Yoba asked her to find him "young girls" for sex. https://t.co/2e0zPa9Sv1

— Terrell J. Starr (@Russian_Starr) September 25, 2019

During the interview, Yoba also made troubling statements in which he compared harsh reactions to his IG post with the plight of trans women. pic.twitter.com/3UHvpzYMjF

— Terrell J. Starr (@Russian_Starr) September 25, 2019

The Root explained the fury Malik unleashed after he was pressed about the allegations:

Yoba [7:34]: I say that, you know, when I heard that, and I actually didn’t read it until last Thursday, what she actually said, I don’t know the woman, number one…

The Root [7:44]: So, you’re saying you never met her, you don’t know her?

Yoba [7:47]: That’s exactly what I am saying. I don’t know her. I have no idea who she is. I am familiar with that pain, I’m familiar with that trauma. I’m familiar with people who are crying out for help. I’m familiar with the lack of regard for this population, which is, again, my point. So, when I heard it, for me, to hear something so heinous, right, number one, and to see someone post something with no proof of anything and to see the world embrace it, or a portion of the world embrace it, that toxicity, speaks exactly to the reason I do the work that I do.

So, it’s an oxymoron almost. It’s like wow, the first cis-gender man who stands up for the community and gets attacked by that community. But that’s true for anybody that’s ever stood up for oppressed people. It’s happened to Gandhi. It’s happened to Mandela. It’s happened to Marcus Garvey. It’s happened to Malcolm X. It’s happened to anyone who has said, ‘I am gonna stand up for these oppressed people.’ Think about who we are, right? There was a time we couldn’t drink from water fountains, we couldn’t sit on the bus. Think about how ridiculous that is. And so, for me, having a view of a community that I grew up with and seeing the suffering. The very thing that motivates me to help people out of it is something someone tried to accuse me of…

When The Root tried to interject, Yoba interrupted.

Yoba [9:11]: I wanna finish the point. So, the point is to be on the other side of that tells me that the work has to continue and the blessing will be greater because the truth will always outweigh a lie. Right? So the truth is people are suffering. The truth is there are kids in the street. Right? But the other truth is for my entire life, I am someone who has been working with young people since I was 16 years old, making sure that there are better pathways for other people, so, that’s a very loaded question for you to ask me that and we discussed that before.

Malik then started talking about his bullet wound he got on the streets of NYC and also how he could put himself in LGBT members' shoes because the "New York Undercover" actor had to go undercover as part of the community years ago....on TV.

When the interviewer wouldn't let Malik gloss over the accusations, ish got real. He yelled F-bomb laced profanity, knocked over their equipment, and demanded the footage be given to him, then stormed out.

Yoba walked away from his chair, threw his microphone to the floor, yelled “fuck you” to this reporter and the production team and demanded that he be given the SD video cards that recorded the interview, which The Root’s producers refused to do.

Witnesses to Yoba’s profanity-laced meltdown were two video producers for The Root, two people representing Yoba, his 18-year-old daughter, and The Root’s senior video producer. Yoba’s publicists and The Root’s video producers tried to calm him down, but Yoba continued cursing until he finally left the studio.

Chile. You can watch below:

youtube

Folks have been commenting about whether Malik was right to lash out:

Hmph.

The Root reports that Malik's appearance at the upcoming Trans National Visibility March isn't being praised by everyone:

Trans activists have expressed concerns to The Root that Yoba has not demonstrated adequate knowledge to speak on behalf of trans issues and that his public statements are designed to elevate himself at trans people’s expense.

Sheesh.

Photo: lev radin/Shutterstock.com

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2019/09/26/malik-yoba-throws-f-bomb-laced-fit-storms-out-of-interview-after-being-asked-about-accusa

0 notes

suitcasetales · 6 years ago

Text

We’ve Got the “WALK”

With me having a March 2 birthday, we will often take a trip, usually just a weekend away, around then. We have survived January and February and Spring Fever is spiking. This year, when I realized we were leaving for Costa Rica on my birthday, I felt a bit guilty. Longer story short, Janet’s birthday was Wednesday and we are heading home from her birthday weekend in New York City.

We reserved two nights in a nice hotel [The Maxwell, on Lexington] via PriceLine, bought two sets of theatre tickets in advance, booked a round trip on Amtrak and researched some “cheap eats” in The Big Apple.

We left Richmond at 6am Friday with only 38 other passengers on board. Other than absolutely freezing on board, it was a pleasant journey and we stayed on schedule. We had eaten our packed lunch so once we reached Penn Station, we hit the ground running........well, okay, walking — no suitcases, just backpacks; no taxis or public transportation, just our KEENs. We headed directly to the hotel, hoping to be able to check in early, and not only did we succeed in doing that, we also received an upgrade. Score one for the birthday girl.

Our individual agendas for the afternoon did not clash — I wanted to go to the Stonewall Inn and Janet wanted to go look for a food cart she had read about. Luckily, these two were in the same direction.

In most of the world, June is [gay] Pride month. [Richmond has to be different!] This year is particularly special as it is the 50th anniversary of what has simply become known as “Stonewall.” For those of you who don’t know what that means, I will just post my photos of the historic markers and you can read about its significance. The last weekend in June is Pride weekend in NYC but at practically every turn, there were rainbow flags and store windows with Pride displays and welcoming and encouraging messages so I went a bit nutty taking photos along our way.

When we got to Washington Square, we couldn’t immediately spot the food cart we wanted. Upon asking, a woman simply directed us to just around the corner. “You’ll see the line.” And so we did. But when we went to join it, a man was standing there with a “we are closed sign.”

I don’t think we played the birthday card but he let us join the queue. Ninety minutes later (yes, folks, that is not a typo) we were chatting with the chef and ordering anything he had left! He asked “spicy [Janet] or not spicy [me]” and then made us savory crepes and pancakes. We found an unoccupied chess table and sat down and thoroughly enjoyed every single bite.

We now know why he is so popular and why the line moves so slowly. His food is delicious and is matched by his personality. He treated every person as if they were his only customer and practically everyone ended up with a photo with him or a selfie with him. We had been chatting with him while he was making our food, telling him where we were from and where we lived. When he found out Janet was from London, he had to show her an article about him winning an award there. He is so proud that he has won competitions in both London and NYC. After someone took our photo with him, he whipped out his own cell phone for a selfie with “the two ladies from Virginia.”

From Washington Square Park, we walked over to Christopher Street and the Stonewall Inn. Across from it, the small, appropriately triangular park, Christopher Park is a newly designated [during the Obama Presidency, of course] National Park property and the Inn a National Monument. More photo opportunities ensued including the bouncer letting me in and him directing me to all of the important things to photograph!

Our next hike was to the Laura Pels Theatre for our 7:30 curtain with an “off Broadway” play entitled “Toni Stone.” Marcenia Lyle “Toni” Stone was the first of three women to play professional baseball in the Negro Leagues. It was a story about an athlete who simply wanted the equal opportunity to play ball. The actors were not miked and one major player was difficult to hear and understand. I don’t suppose it will ever be a highly decorated play but it is a story worthy of being told.

Saturday morning we enjoyed a tasty breakfast a block away at a Danish bakery before heading north to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We had pre-bought our entrance tickets so once through security, we headed for our reason for going. “Camp: Notes on Fashion” was another delve in to the history of a certain genre of fashion, in particularly how the whole concept of “camp” more or less became interchangeable with homosexuality, especially with males. An absolutely fabulous exhibit, highly entertaining and again a story worthy of being told. (If you go, entry to it is not timed — we think it should be just to control the flow of humanity going — so plan accordingly. I can’t imagine how mobbed it will be during Pride weekend but it runs through September 8.)

Despite it being a beautiful day, the museum was hopping but we had had our fill and were not interested in staying inside any longer. We walked back to our hotel to cash in our two $30 vouchers at our lobby bar, enjoying veggie burgers, cauliflower bites and truffle fries for lunch.

In our next quest to cover every inch of the City, we walked 1.9 miles, plus three and a half sides of another block because we got confused — in order to then walk the entire length (1.45 miles) of the popular High Line park.

A rails-to-trails endeavor with views of the Hudson River to the west and Manhattan to the east, there is not a lot to it. With little shade and a scattering of benches, there are some nice sculptures along the route, interesting plants and trees and several opportunities to descend to the street level. It was hot and we walked the entire length and then had to backtrack to go to Chelsea Market where we rewarded ourselves with milkshakes at, again, a place we had read about!

Revived a bit, we headed back to Midtown, stopping in Macy’s to see their Pride & Joy displays and merchandise. We maneuvered through Times Square and arrived back at our hotel with enough time to relax, shower and replenish some liquids.

If asked, I would guess that Janet’s foremost reason for wanting to go to New York was to see the musical, “Come From Away.” When international flights destined for American cities were unable to enter American air space on September 11, many were diverted to airports in Canada. Thirty-eight of them ended up at the airport in Gander in Newfoundland with runways big enough to accomodate jet landings. The area was (and is) scarcely populated but the airport was big because before modern day jets could cross the Atlantic in one shot, they had to stop and re-fuel in Gander. The town and its residents rallied around and got organized to house, feed, entertain and distract, as best they could, the 6700 unexpected guests on that dreadful day.

I can not put in to words how much we enjoyed this musical. We knew about Gander, remembering stories from 2001 and we have a book about how they stepped up that week, but to see it on stage was heartbreaking and heartwarming — crying, laughing, sometimes crying and laughing, if it had been a movie, we would have turned right around and bought tickets for the second showing! The audience was enthusiastic, to say the least, jumping to our collective feet the micro-second the show ended, honoring the cast in their performances and then clapping while the show band, hidden in the wings during the show, came on stage and played a rousing tune. There were even about six folks from Newfoundland in the audience, proudly waving the provincial flag of Newfoundland and Labrador. Alas, the band stopped playing and we had to return to the real world.

But at least the real world came with a pizza slice....

......and a visit to the Hard Rock Cafe where I finally chose the Pride shirt I wanted to buy. Honoring Freddie Mercury and raising money for the Mercury Phoenix Trust (founded by Brian May and Roger Taylor in memory of Freddie) to fight AIDS worldwide, I will wear it proudly.

On Sunday, we were a bit limited by our heavy-ish backpacks, not wanting to walk too far with them and always keeping an eye on the clock. Janet directed us to the lovely Sara Beth Bakery, just on the edge of Central Park, for a tasty brunch. There were Police of every category gathering for the parade in honor of Puerto Rico Day and folks heading toward the parade route as we were heading away from it. We ended up hanging out in a hotel lobby for a while and then doing just a tad of shopping before heading to Penn Station early enough to buy takeaway food for the train and head back to Richmond.

We had a fabulous weekend in New York. The weather was perfect and our chosen activities and destinations were perfect for us. If my FitBit had not died, I would be able to tell you how many steps we walked! By far the most common thing we said to each other had to have been, “We’ve got the WALK” as we crossed countless intersections. Seeing all the rainbow flags and the visible corporate support of Pride was an amazing thing to witness first hand and a reminder of how much the world.....our world.....has changed just in the 33 years we have been together. Unfortunately, not all the change has been good. I think we could all learn a few lessons from the citizens of Gander or from these two:

0 notes

jambo-tanzania · 6 years ago

Text

The Tanzanites Down Under

March 12 - 28, 2019

Photo credits - Thanks to all those who contributed photos to this blog post - especially Christian Pantke and Al Prior.

Well it only took me 52 years, but I finally made it to Australia. I’ve wanted to go my whole adult life, and Oz did not disappoint!

Looking back on it now, I don’t know how we did so much in so little time. Every day was utterly packed, and for good reason. Two weeks just isn’t enough time to get it all done.

The thing that struck me most is how quickly the vistas change in the space of just a few miles. Rocky coastlines, lush rain forests, sandy beaches, sprawling vineyards ... all within a short drive of the urban centers of Melbourne or Sydney. It’s almost too much to take in.

Tuesday - Arrival Day

There is one down side about any trip to Australia, of course, and that’s the getting there part.

Oh. Holy. Hell.

Dallas to Sydney is seventeen hours. Seventeen very looooong hours that for me commenced at 10 pm Dallas time on Sunday. By the time I checked into my hotel in Melbourne around noon on Tuesday, I’d essentially been awake (I don’t sleep on airplanes) something like 36 hours. Nothing to do at that point but POWER THROUGH to a respectable bedtime!

Christian & Claudia arrived shortly before I did, so Al (our host) came and collected us for a preview of the city.

The first thing I noticed about Melbourne is the varied architecture ... magnificent Victorian structures right next to modern skyscrapers right next to 1930s art deco buildings. Much like the country itself, Melbourne crams a lot of diversity into a relatively small space.

youtube

Birgitte had arrived several days earlier and was off on a driving tour, but she joined us for an early dinner at Chin Chin - one of my favorite restaurants of the whole trip.

Wednesday - Melbourne Walking Tour & Queen Vic Market

Our first full day in Melbourne was a walking tour of the Shrine of Remembrance and the Royal Botanic Gardens, both of which were stunning.

The Shrine of Remembrance was built to honor Victorians who lost their lives in World War I. It’s one of the more thoughtful and impressive monuments I’ve seen anywhere.

The Royal Botanic Gardens cover 89 acres of public space in the middle of Melbourne and rival such privately-funded botanical gardens as the Dallas Arboretum.

Dinner that night was at Queen Victoria Market, where a multitude of vendors sell their crafts and international cuisine.

Al’s girlfriend Hope and his - now our - friend Kellie joined us for dinner, which was a little of this and a little of that.

I was introduced to a delicious Australian dessert called pavlova, which I highly recommend trying next time you’re down under.

Christian bought himself a Crocodile Dundee hat (as one does).

Thursday - 12 Apostles & Rain Forest #1

Our first road trip took us about three hours southwest of Melbourne to The Twelve Apostles, a spectacular section of eroded shoreline near Port Campbell that forms 12(ish) stacks that somehow came to be known as the apostles.

Birgitte decided to get up close & personal with the apostles in the front seat of a helicopter!

youtube

On the ride back to Melbourne, we drove along the Great Ocean Road, stopping in Lorne for a glass of wine, and a little further on, a stroll through the rain forest.

Friday - Wine Day

Friday was our first of several wine tastings, this one on the Mornington Peninsula. I was surprised at how many wineries there are, and I was particularly surprised at how GOOD Australian wine is, given that the only Australian labels we know of in the US are Barefoot and Yellow Tail (which incidentally can hardly be found in Australia)!

The drive back to Melbourne took us to Dromana for a stroll along Safety Beach.

This was also my first introduction to beach boxes - tiny little empty huts along the beach with no electricity or running water that people pay upwards of AUD $100k for. (And I totally get it, given the setting!)

Saturday Morning - Prahran Market

For our final morning in Melbourne, we started at Prahran Market, where I would be myself every Saturday morning if I lived in Melbourne. It’s basically Central Market on steroids. I’ve never seen anything like it. Fresh vegetables, meat, seafood, and prepared dishes as far as you can see.

We met up with the Melbourne crew for brunch at Gramercy Social before heading to the airport for a quick flight to Sydney.

Saturday Evening - First Night in Sydney

Like Melbourne, Sydney is very much a walking city. The evidence of this can be found on my iPhone, which registered in excess of 25,000 steps on just one day. I even lost a couple of pounds on this trip despite eating many meals that looked much like the one pictured above.

So as in Melbourne, day one was a walking day. Sydney is all about Queen Victoria, for whom the state is named. Victorian influences can be found everywhere - in the architecture, the street names, and the monuments.

Dinner that night was at Phillip’s Foote, a former Sailor’s bar, where one goes to cook one’s own steak on the barbie.

After dinner, we walked down to Sydney Harbor, where the postcard photos I’d seen since I was a child came to life. It was an especially poignant evening to be there, as the horrific shootings at Christchurch had happened just the day before, so the Opera House was illuminated with a silver fern, a national symbol of New Zealand.

As if on cue, the fireworks started the moment we arrived.

youtube

Sunday - A Good Day to Be Indoors!

Almost as an afterthought, I purchased a poncho just before I left Dallas. On Sunday, I was VERY glad to have done so! The skies opened up in the morning and it rained virtually the entire day.

So what better day to do museum and cathedral tours? We started at The Australian Museum, which is more or less a natural history museum, then walked through St. Mary’s Cathedral, and finally The Art Gallery of New South Wales.

I enjoyed the Australian Museum, but St. Mary’s and the Art Gallery of NSW were my favorites.

I especially enjoyed the aboriginal exhibit, created by artists from Australia’s indigenous community.

Another favorite was this painting called Holiday Sketch at Coogee (1888). Saro pointed it out because she knew we’d be standing in more or less the same spot a couple of days later.

And sure enough ...

The sun never really came out that day, but the rain let up enough to enjoy walking around and gawking at the incredible trees found all over Sydney, which look like they would be more at home in a sculpture museum than a city park.

Monday - Alarming Start to a Great Day

Nothing like waking up to a fire alarm! No need for panic, it turns out. One of our fellow hotel guests decided to do a little laundry and hang it from the fire sprinkler. (What could go wrong??) Turns out - the sprinkler system can flood the elevator shaft and cause the hotel staff to have to relocate EVERY SINGLE GUEST to a nearby hotel.

Evacuations and relocations notwithstanding, Monday was a good day. We did a nice walking tour, taking in more of the architecture and public spaces.

Monday night was opera night! A highlight of the trip, to be sure! The performance was Salome. It was - in a word - GRAPHIC. (And also a bit different than depicted in my childhood Sunday School lessons.) I thoroughly enjoyed it, though, if only for the venue.

Tuesday - Beach Walk & Bridge Climb

On Tuesday, I logged 24,962 steps (not including the 1,400+ steps it took me to walk up and down the Sydney Harbor Bridge).

The day started with a long and scenic coastal walk from Coogee Beach up to Bondi. In just a few miles, you come across one sandy beach after another ensconced in craggy, rocky shorelines.

Another HUGE highlight of the trip was climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Radka and I were supposed to do it together, but she had to cancel her trip at the last minute because her mum was ill and died just a few days before our trip. They were on my mind the whole time, though, and they climbed with me in spirit.

The bridge climb was FANTASTIC! Don’t go to Sydney without doing it! It’s not cheap, and it takes several hours of your time, but it’s well worth it. The views are incredible, and the tour guides tell great stories about the history of the bridge.

Wednesday - Wildlife Park & Blue Mountains

Wednesday was another road trip.

First we visited the Featherdale Wildlife Park.

From there we Headed up to Katoomba for a visit to the Blue Mountains.

I was again astounded by the panorama and the fact that you could go from mountaintop to rain forest in under two minutes.

youtube

Thursday - More Wine Tastings & Nelson Bay

Another road trip - this time up to Nelson Bay, with a stop at Tyrell’s Wines.

Friday - Last Night in Sydney

We got back from Port Nelson on Friday and enjoyed a final, casual night in Sydney. We started out at The Glemore Hotel for happy hour. This is a great place to see a bat show, notable because the bats are the size of ... I don’t know ... CONDORS ... as opposed to the bats we get in Texas, which are essentially the size of sparrows.

youtube

For dinner, Al took us to Myung Jan for Korean BBQ, which incidentally is NOTHING like Texas BBQ (just so you know).

Saturday - Farewell to Sydney

We started the day at Paddington Market, a great place to buy textiles and souvenirs.

We said goodbye to Birgitte, who had to get back to real life, and Christian and Claudia, who were moving on to Tasmania.

Then there were three.

Al, Hope, and I took a ferry to the iconic Manly Beach for a lazy last afternoon in Sydney.

Apparently there’s a VW bus club that meets at Manly, which only made the place even cooler.

Dinner Saturday night was cocktails and hamburgers at a crazy-loud joint in Newtown called Mary’s, which at various points in its history was a Greek sporting club, a women’s sanctuary, a Masonic hall and an STD clinic.

Sunday through Tuesday - Port Douglas

Sunday afternoon we flew to Cairns, then rented a car and drove down to Port Douglas, a quaint little beach-side community which is also a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.

The main reason for going to Port Douglas was to go SCUBA DIVING!! I spent many hours getting my PADI certification for this very reason, and the experience was everything I’d hoped it would be! What a perfect capstone to an unbelievable trip!

Wednesday and Thursday - Final Goodbyes

Wednesday we drove back to Cairns for lunch, then I flew back to Sydney for one night before my return flight to Dallas.

Thursday afternoon I got on my SIXTH Qantas plane in less than three weeks. I have no idea what happened to the previous sixteen days. I just know they went really fast.

This was one of the greatest adventures of my life - one that would never have happened if it weren’t for the IBM Corporate Service Corps. I remain astounded at all the ways that my CSC experience has changed my life, and I look forward to all the reunions yet to come.

As for this one - many thanks to those and shared it with me and those who made it happen - Saro Yeo and Alastair Prior.

#ibmcsc

0 notes

apsbicepstraining · 8 years ago

Text

100 Years Ago, Bodybuilders Weren’t Nearly As Hulk-ish Or Orange

Over the years, bodybuilding has literally grown.

Bodybuilders are going big, bulkier and more orange as time betterments, and while it’s a part of our culture that many of us don’t really understand, bodybuilding — specially the Mr. America rivalry — reflects “a hoped image of modern maturity, ” John D. Fair writes in the introduced by Mr. America: The Tragic History Of A Bodybuilding Icon.

If guys want to beef up to meet some modern standard of usefulnes, why do they look like a medical instance of a person without surface, or that they’ve somehow revolved themselves inside-out?

“As societal attitudes toward the male torso and physical culture progressed, ” Fair writes, “bodybuilders had to redefine themselves in light of the conflict between venerated habits and concessions to current experiences. The Mr. America Contest, which once embodied the aspirations of tens of thousands of load trainees, was premised on adherence to time-honored values of health, fitness, allure, and athleticism, while Americans — and specially bodybuilders — became obsessed with looks and engaged in prepare practices and lifestyles that often subverted those standards. By the conclusion of its century, physique competitors and promoters seemed stumped about what constituted a perfect specimen of manhood. Supposing with these cultural wonders became the foremost refer in modern bodybuilding not only in the United States but worldwide, since the Mr. America title, at the least from the 1940 s to the 1970 s, was, like other parts of American culture, a world icon.”

It’s interesting to see just how much these perceptions of pure fitness have changed over the past 100 years, thanks to advances in supplements, workout material and our understanding of how the human body works.

It seems parties push these limits harder and farther each year, and when you look at the following pictures of guys at peak physical fitness over record( from a person who looks like Vladimir Putin sucking in his gut in 1900 to the sinewy muscles on show in 2015, you’ll discover just how much things have changed.

1900

Buyenlarge via Getty Images

A Russianbodybuilder, photographed in a studio circa 1900.

1905

Reinhold Thiele via Getty Images

A bodybuilder known asMr. Eggleton, the manager of Sandows physical institution in 1905.

1905

Reinhold Thiele via Getty Images

Mr. Murray, winner of the Sandow bodybuilding rival in 1905.

1937

New York Daily News Archive via Getty Images

Angelo Siciliano, known more famouslyasCharles Atlas, hoists fourRockettes, each weighing about 110 pounds, on the ceiling of Radio City Music Hall.

In his bodybuilding job, Atlas pioneered an early formation of isometrics and became known as the “World’s Most Perfectly Developed Man.”

1940

General Photographic Agency via Getty Images

A bodybuilder liftsweights in 1940.

1940

ASSOCIATED PRESS

John Grimekwins the award at the Mr. America competition in 1940 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The adjudicates said he was the”best has established and proportioned amateur athlete.”

1945

Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Charles Atlas flexeshis bicep while posing in a leopard periodical swimsuit on a rock-and-roll by the water’s border.

1949

Keystone-France via Getty Images

Grimek inspectscandidates emulating for the entitlement ofMr Muscle Great Britain in London.

1955

Alan Oxley via Getty Images

Bodybuilder Leo Robert, owner of the Mr. Universe title in 1955, checks out his thought in a large gym mirror.

1955

BIPS via Getty Images

English bodybuilder Reg Parkflexes his muscles as his wife, Southern african ballet dancer Marion Park, practises in the background. Park was the first Englishman to acquire the Mr. Universe title and later went on to act in five Italian Hercules sword-and-sandal movies in the early 1960 s. Park ranhis own industries, publicizing a bodybuilding periodical and affording weight-training gear.

1956

Keystone via Getty Images

Former Mr. America Jack Delinger flexedmuscles forMrs.Sheila Saunders, whose husband played in the “Mr. Universe” in London in 1956.

1960

Silver Screen Collection via Getty Images

American bodybuilder and performer Steve Reeves regards up the worldin 1960.

1965

Archive Photos via Getty Images

Portrait of actor and mas builder Lou Ferrigno, who would find honour as television’s The Hulk, in his second form in MTI as “Boy Wonder, ” circa 1965.

1965

Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images

Arnold Schwarzenegger, here simply 18 years old, face-lift a pal in Thal, Austria.

1965

Jack Mitchell via Getty Images

Model and bodybuilder Tony Catanzaro photographed in April, 1965.

1966

Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images

A year later, Schwarzenegger poses his bigger muscles for a description circa 1966 in Austria.

1969

Jack Mitchell via Getty Images

Bodybuilder Paul Zuckerman in 1969.

1970

MARTY LEDERHANDLER/ AP

Chris Dickerson, 30, flexes his biceps as he poses with his Mr. America 1970 accolade in his New York City apartment on July 10, 1970. He won the race in Los Angeles, June 14, 1970.

1976

Keystone via Getty Images

Serge Nubretflexes his muscles during the preliminary gauge theatre ofthe 1976 Mr.Universe contest.

1976

David Ashdown via Getty Images

Shigeru Sugita, a Japanese contestant Mr. Nature struggle at London’s New Victoria theatre.

1979

Jack Mitchell via Getty Images

Professional bodybuilder Frank Zane photographed in 1979.

1980

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Bodybuilding World Champion Sergio Oliva constitutes on the platform after he won the Bodybuilding Professional Championships, November8, 1980, in Paris, France.

1985

Jack Mitchell via Getty Images

Bodybuilder and modeling Von Hackendahl photographed in February, 1985.

1985

Tony Bock via Getty Images

Bodybuilder Tony Pearson illustrates a dumbbell technique in 1985.

1993

Antonio RIBEIRO via Getty Images

Manfred Hoeberl promotes a cube at the World’s Strongest Man contest in Orange, France on August 30, 1993.

1995

ullstein bild via Getty Images

German Bodybuilder Rolf Evers in1 995.

1996

Mel Melcon via Getty Images

Bodybuilders Tammi Singer, 29, of Oxnard, California, and John Bezerra, 28, of Ventura, strike a pose outside of Gold’s Gym in Ventura. They triumphed first place in the National Physique Committee’s mixed duets competition in Dallas in 1996.

2001

NBC via Getty Images

Geena Davis searches on as Bodybuilder Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman pinches his muscles during an interview with emcee Jay Leno on November 27, 2001.

2001

Robert Cianflone via Getty Images

Dallas Scholes educates himself for the Men’s Masters division prior to the pre-judging slouse of the NPC-IFBB 2001 Victorian Body Building Championships, held at the Darebin Arts Centre, in Melbourne, Australia.

2003

Robert Cianflone via Getty Images

Claude Groulx, John Davie and Troy Alves in action during the finals of the Australian Pro Bodybuilding Grand Prix three at the John Batman Theatre in Melbourne, Australia.

2004

Ronnie Bianco/ Reuters

Jay Cutler of Las Vegasperforms his number for the crowd and judges atthe finals of the 16 th Arnold Classic, duringthe Arnold Fitness Weekend held at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Columbus Ohio, March 6, 2004. Hewent on to win the bodybuilding rival.

2013

Robert Cianflone via Getty Images

Edward Nunn, Tony Freeman and Dexter Jackson constitute during the IFBB Australia Pro Grand Prix XIII at The Plenary on March 9, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia.

2013

Marcel Thomas via Getty Images

Four-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler poses on stagecoach during the 2013 NPC Jay Cutler Desert Classic at The Pearl concert theater at the Palms Casino Resort on March 30, 2013 in Las Vegas.

2015

Dave Kotinsky via Getty Images

Dexter Jackson( left ), winnerof the Arnold Classic 2015 and secondplace win Branch Warren poseonstage at the Arnold Sports Festival.

2015

YASUYOSHI CHIBA via Getty Images

Professional bodybuilders constitute on stagecoach during a competition at the Arnold Classic Brazil 2015 in Rio de Janeiroon May 30, 2015. The thirdannual multi-disciplinary athletics competition is mentioned after — who else, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Correction: A photo incorrectly mentioning Lee Haney has been removed.

The post 100 Years Ago, Bodybuilders Weren’t Nearly As Hulk-ish Or Orange appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2t4yTrd via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

2 notes · View notes