#i have had this concert on dvd for several years and it is very near and dear to me

[tabooi]

Rabbit in the 10 year anniversary concert <3 <3 <3

Support the band by buying the full concert video here!!!

[ayla-221bee]

The Five Times Greg Made Breakfast -Chapter 2. Pancakes.

link to Chapter one - Coffee https://hogwartsjaguar97.tumblr.com/post/623567298016559104/the-five-times-greg-made-breakfast-chapter-one

@piemakerfrom

. Pancakes and berry coulis.

It was the soft rustle of the sheets and the shift in the bed that roused Greg out of sleep. He had been resting his head on something warm and soft before it had been replaced with pillows that were softer and plusher than his own.

It was with great reluctance that Greg opened up his eyes, he wanted nothing more than five more minutes in the realm of sleep. He pulled the duvet over his head and groaned once he realised that he was not in his own bed and that he had potentially made a huge mistake. He did not even have the excuse of being drunk to even somewhat justify what happened.

“Morning,”  Greg offered, his voice somewhat muffled from the duvet.

“Good morning,” Mycroft replied from the other side of the bed, dressed in a tartan dressing gown that clashed somewhat with his pyjamas. “ How are you this morning?”

Greg shifted in the bed and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m fine,” he offered. “How are you?”

“I think that it will rain today,” Mycroft offered somewhat awkwardly. “Did you sleep...alright?”

Greg could practically see the elephant walk into the room and settle itself by the wardrobe. Mycroft was acting far too professional for the situation than he should have been. He stood awkwardly by the bed and rambled on about the postal service, the history of stamps and how he used to collect them.

Greg let him ramble on for ten minutes, it was much preferable to the heavy and uncomfortable silence that pressed down in them in the occasional lull of Mycroft’s monologue about the types of stamps. He hardly had anything to contribute to this ungodly hour of the morning without several coffees in his system.

Greg forced himself out of bed and accepted the blue dressing gown that Mycroft had handed to him from the wardrobe. He forced himself to be more cheerful than he felt and he tried to ignore the pressing feeling that the two of them had made a massive mistake last night.

“Why don’t I go and make us some breakfast?” Greg offered, wrapping the dressing gown tightly around his middle. “Fancy anything in particular?”

Mycroft made a non-committal noise. “Do you have food in your dungeon of a kitchen? More than just biscuits?”

Mycroft snorted and folded his arms across his chest. “I have more than biscuits, you did bring flour and milk when you came over last night. You were insistent on buying food.”

“It was the least that I could do,” Greg shrugged. “You are putting me up for a few days while my flat gets sorted out.”

“My brother did put one of those ghastly experiments of his in your home. I doubt that would ever apologise for it,” Mycroft sighed. “The smell was horrid enough to potentially end relations between my brother and Scotland Yard, I cannot let that happen.”

The corner of Greg’s mouth involuntarily twitched upwards and he let out a soft chuckle. “I can assure you that your brother has done worst things and I am still on good terms with him,” he said. “You kidnapped me and interrogated me in a warehouse and now we are good mates.”

Mycroft gave him a tight smile that did not reach his eyes. “Do you mind if I use the shower?” he asked even though he was in his own home.

“I’ll make breakfast, I’m sure that I can find something to make from what I put in the dungeon last night,” Greg said. “Sure that there isn’t anything you fancy?”

“I normally just have tea…” Mycroft murmured.

Greg sighed and wished that things were not suddenly so awkward between them. Mycroft could hardly look at him without a somewhat guilty and sheepish expression on his face. Greg wondered if they had ruined thier friendship from a silly mistake, mates didn’t usually sleep in the same bed and kiss another.

“I’ll go and make breakfast then,” Greg said, somewhat stunted. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

Mycroft nodded and made his way to en-suit, the silence that followed closing door was deafening. Greg stood in the room for a moment until he heard the shower run and glared at the imaginary elephant that watched him in the corner of the room.

He walked into Mycroft’s guest bedroom that he was meant to have slept in last night and dressed before he made his way into  Mycroft’s dungeonesque kitchen.

He cringed at the evidence of the night before, the half-finished Thai take away, the wine glasses, and the Hot Fuzz DVD that was lying on the living room table. The crime scene of a potentially ruined friendship.

Greg was somewhat surprised that Mycroft had had kitchen equipment other than his depressing fridge, a kettle, and a cupboard full of mugs.  He had not expected to see any pots and pans in the cupboard, but he knew that they were rarely used.

He opened up the recently filled cupboards and pulled out the bag of flour. He found a bag of frozen berries that were stashed in the back of the freezer.

Pancakes seemed like a suitable breakfast for a morning such as this.  Greg rarely bothered with breakfast himself. He tended to have coffee and doughnuts in the office and he hardly ate anything fancier than bacon sandwiches on his days off. He felt the need to make something more inspiring for breakfast, he was a guest and pancakes would hopefully act as an olive branch.

He sighed as flour covered his old The Clash shirt from a concert from years ago when he poured it into a bowl.  He could never cook or bake without getting covered in flour, it seemed near impossible for him to do so, even when he wore an apron.

He could hear the shower running and Greg thought that he could hear Mycroft singing quietly to himself. He wondered if Mycroft would still be alright with him staying over for a few days or if he should get a hotel to save any awkwardness and to help spare their friendship.

He had a thing for Mycroft for years but behaved himself, he knew that Mycroft would never be interested in anything. He had been convinced that Mycroft was married for the first two years that they had known another with the ring that he wore and he kept things professional.

He had been pleasantly surprised when Mycroft revealed that his ring was to stop dignitaries and assistants from trying to flirt with him and to save himself and them embarrassment in the workplace. He had been somewhat more hopeful about something happening between himself and Mycroft after that.

Greg had been somewhat hopeful about his chances with Mycroft but didn’t force anything to happen. He had tried to flirt countless times and he had asked Mycroft out, Mycroft never seemed to pick up on his signs or he acted purposely oblivious to his flirtations.

Greg had been fine with that, he was happy just being friends even if he had the feeling that there was something...more between them.

What happened last night was evidence of Greg’s belief.

He heard the shower switch off and he made a large mug of tea and left it on the kitchen table as a peace offering for Mycroft.

“What are you making?” Mycroft asked once he made his way into the kitchen and settled into the table. He was dressed more casually than usual, a nice shirt and jumper on instead of his usual attire of a three-piece suit. He had nowhere to be today, he had a day off from the office and they had been talking about going out for lunch today.

“It’s just some pancakes,” Greg said, flipping a pancake on the pan. “I’ve got a berry coulis on the go as well.”

“I’m sure that they will be scrumptious,” Mycroft murmured with a small smile. “I am always impressed with your cooking.”

Greg pulled out a tea towel to wipe his hands and smiled to himself as he found several bars of expensive chocolate hidden in the drawer. “I rarely get the time to cook so I like to impress when I do,” he said. “ Besides, someone needs to get a good home-cooked meal or two in you. You would live on tea if you could.”

He could practically hear the gears in Mycroft’s head turn, probably thinking about what happened the night before. He wondered if Mycroft regretted it, it was difficult to read his expression.

As much as Greg wanted to talk about it, he knew that Mycroft would be reluctant to do it. He knew that Mycroft was far too  British to talk about things especially when it dealt with feelings. He knew that Mycroft had about two hundred years of British emotional repression in him.

He placed the plate of pancakes in front of Mycroft and smiled when Mycroft practically covered them in the sauce. As much as he wanted to tease him for his sweet tooth, Greg could not bring himself to do so.

“Last night…” Greg said, trying to address the ever-growing elephant in the room.

He wanted to ignore it but he knew that it would be impossible to do so. It would make their friendship awkward and stunted and it would be impossible to go around blissfully ignoring it without tripping up on the trunk.

“We do not need to talk about it,” Mycroft briskly replied, cutting his pancakes into small pieces. “It was a mistake.”

Greg sighed and gripped the spatula with more force than needed as if it was the only thing that kept him present.  “It wasn’t a mistake for me. Was it a mistake for you?”

Mycroft took a long minute to reply, he deliberately took a mouthful of pancake to give him more time to gather his thoughts.   “I am not sure...”

“I’m fine with us just being friends,” Greg said. “ I am not wanting things to be awkward between us...You are my best mate.”

“You are my closest friend,” Mycroft replied firmly.

“What do you want to do?” Greg asked.

“I am not sure...”

“I am more than happy to just be friends,” Greg said with a reassuring smile. “I would hate to lose you.”

Mycroft did not say anything for a very long time. Greg could practically hear the individual drops of rain hitting the kitchen window and each thought going through Mycroft’s head.

“What if... I want to be more than just friends?”  Mycroft finally managed to utter out, his voice hardly above a whisper.

Greg opened up his mouth to reply but no words  came out  as he realised that his pancake starting to burn.

---

Currently doing prompt fics and any suggestions for breakfast foods are welcome!   @piemaker-from-gallifrey

Chapter three:https://archiveofourown.org/works/25128382/chapters/61563904

[daggerzine]

You Gotta Lose? Hell, Some Of Us Ain’t Dead Yet by Mary Leary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0fz3FVBlOE

NRBQ has done so many amazing songs. I never thought much about “Roll Call,” from Tiddlywinks - for one thing, it has a lighter, almost Billy Joel sound that’s more about latter day Terry Adams style than what I think of as the classic Q. Yet just as Adams’ work has grown on me, this track has made its way into my consciousness. The lyrics speak to me more in 2020 than they did when Tiddlywinks was released in 1980, before the D.C.-area music scene had lost Robert Goldstein (Urban Verbs), Kevin MacDonald (brilliant visual artist and scene stalwart who helped me design and layout [The] Infiltrator), Danny Gatton disciple/guitar maverick Evan Johns, bassist Michael Maye from the original H-Bombs, Rick Dreyfuss (Half Japanese/Chumps/Shakemore), Libby Hatch and Michael Mariotte  (Tru Fax and the Insaniacs), Sally Be/Berg - REM/Egoslavia/SHE/Robert Palmer), Nurses member Marc Halpern (heroin, 1982), Lorenzo (Pee- Wee) Jones (Tiny Desk Unit) and hybrid rocker Jim Altman (HIV, 1990s).  Goldstein, Dreyfuss, Maye and MacDonald succumbed to cancer, while Evan Johns’ deterioration followed years of touring, hard drinking and pushing himself past the limit.

(Top to bottom: Tommy Keene, Kevin MacDonald, Susan Mumford)

Those named above have been joined by Tommy Keene (the Rage/the Razz/solo/Paul Westerberg/Matthew Sweet - cardiac arrest at the age of 59; 2017), TDU’s Susan Mumford (cancer, 2018), David Byers (Psychotics/H.R./Bad Brains), and Skip Groff (Yesterday and Today/ Limp Records/Dischord - seizure, 2019).  This is just an imperfect/incomplete naming of D.C.-area losses - I’m sure journalists from other cities could make lists. A horde of New Wave and early alternative musicians have died within the past few years. Whether through the stress of hard living/poverty, substance abuse, cancer or Covid-19, we’re seeing artists pass much earlier than I, anyway, expected them to.

(Top to bottom: Fred "Freak” Smith, Michael Maye with Evan Johns, Tru Fax and the Insaniacs)

We’re already past the loss of all the original Ramones. All the Cramps less Poison Ivy. Joe Strummer. Robert Quine. Hilly Kristal. Lou Reed. As of July, 2020, since 2018 we’ve also lost Andy Gill, Ivan Kral, Genesis P-Orridge, Adam Schlesinger, Danny Mihm, Ric Ocasek, Daniel Johnston, Kim Shattuck, Lorna Doom, Mark Hollis, Keith Flint, Ranking Roger, Mark E. Smith, Glenn Branca, Randy Rampage, Hardy Fox, Pete Shelley, Matthew Seligman, Bill Rieflin, Dave Greenfield, Florian Schneider,  Ian Dury, Benjamin Orr, Kirsty McColl and David Roback.

(Top to bottom: Sally Be/Berg, Ranking Roger, Danny Mihm)

Talking about the deaths of talented, gifted creatives is a helluva way to start a column. But here we are. Older performers don’t always get the attention afforded newer, so the rest of this piece shares and celebrates artists from the original New Wave/punk scenes who are still around and active. Many are from the D.C.-area cornucopia I know best, while others have just come to my attention, or seem especially noteworthy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MED9_XK_JVQ

The Zeros’ Javier Escovedo has been steadily emitting tasty Americana-ish rock while occasionally dropping some Zeros sturm-’n’-drang - most recently with Munster Records single “In The Spotlight” and a track on Burger Records’ Quarantunes compilation. Quarantunes is a seven-album affair featuring 140 alternative/punk performers old and new, all of whom wrote songs between March-April 2020. A cursory listen to Volume 2 reveals the recorded version of a good night at a very wild bar, with Zeros still handily kicking ass of all ages.

https://velvetmonkeys.bandcamp.com/album/legacy-of-success?fbclid=IwAR0lJyS0YDE4e3o7LJiITEtw1lhBWMkUX47Vuag1Lf9fs2QozJJKD1lwkes

Velvet Monkeys/B.A.L.L. player and Sonic Youth/Teenage Fanclub producer Don Fleming reports, “We’ve put out new tracks ‘Theories of Rummanetics’ and ‘Legacy of Success.’ Jay has written a few ‘modules’ and Malcolm and I are having fun doing the music,” adding, “I play some electric six string on the new Rob Moss album - it’s fun to be on, with lots of guitar slingers from the DC daze.”

Yup, Rob Moss of Skin-Tight Skin has solicited contributions from Fleming and from Marshall Keith (Slickee Boys), along with a pile of talent including Stuart Casson (Psychotics/Dove/Meatmen), Franz Stahl (Foo Fighters/Scream), Billy Loosigian (Nervous Eaters, the Boom-Boom Band), Nels Cline (Wilco) and Saul Koll (the guy who made guitars for Henry Kaiser and Lee Ranaldo). The set is called We’ve Come Back To Rock ‘n’ Roll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdIB8a_0Q4c

Chumps/Workdogs/Jam Messengers player Rob Kennedy apparently has too much energy to throw in the towel - he’s kept recording, performing and making various sorts of lo-fi, DIY mischief that never loses that fresh, ‘70s feeling. Jam Messengers released Night And Day on vinyl in 2017. One of my fave Kennedy tracks, “A Low Down Dirty Shame” speaks to this moment as well as any.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-CRBEGVLE4

Former Tiny Desk Unit/Fuji’s Navy/Rhoda & the Bad Seeds members Bob Boilen, Kevin Lay, Michael Barron and Bob Harvey have released a new Danger Painters joint, Thank Speak Love This Record. Lay joked, “I have a voice made for Morse Code” before revealing his recent work with Rhoda and the Bad Seeds material, released June 30 as Live at Nightclub 9:30. Boilen continues to introduce artists both vital and obscure via Tiny Desk Concerts and All Songs Considered/NPR.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejQ1GajwfB0

I’ve seen David Arnson play recently and can attest to his proclivity for unfettered growth via Insect Surfers, the instrumental group that originally had some trouble establishing cred. with younger D.C. punks. The Surfers’ most recent release was Living Fossils (2019). Arnson celebrated the band’s 40 years of existence with a European tour in 2019.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SkIuWIZVkM

Jad Fair says, “Half Japanese will have a new album released in November on Fire Records.” Jad’s art was recently featured at the Hiromart Gallery/Tokyo, while David has created a Facebook page where fans can pick up his colorful images for, well, mere bags o’ shells, as far as we can see -  https://www.facebook.com/David-Fair-Painting-107055447700859/

Despite health issues for several members, Bad Brains has collaborated with Element to make BB themed skate wear https://www.elementbrand.com/mens-collection-bad-brains/ and added some killer live tracks to its YouTube channel.  

Former WGTB programmers John Paige and Steve Lorber have been presenting Rock Continuum on WOWD-LP FM 94.3 since 2017.

Mike Stax continues to give excellent motivation for hunting down a pair of Beatle boots - Munster released the Loons’ 7” EP, A Dream In Jade Green, last year. The latest issue of Ugly Things, said by Stax to be heavily focused on the Pretty Things’ Phil May, was reported in early July to be nearing publication.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6jSc7gEAv0

Razz (the) Documentary will tell the story of how an uncommonly combustible rock band - especially with the Bill Craig/Abaad Behram line-up - helped spread the Flamin’ Groovies gospel while throwing down oddly compelling originals and taking the two-guitar thing up several notches - the producers are purportedly seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Whether anyone can ever recreate the experience of being in an altered state via obsessive, sometimes conversational repetition of certain chords, anchored by Ted Nicely rethinking just what can be done with a bass guitar, given girth by Doug Tull’s intuitive drumming; with Mike Reidy the heat-seeking missile somewhere near the center... well, I doubt it. ‘Cause at this point you’re feeling no pain and it’s not about drinking; there is no room for anything but water - the beer will be knocked over when you’re this busy matching David Arnson’s other-side-of-the-front-line’s leaps into joydum while PCP’d out yahoos from the sticks learn the hard way that hugging Marshall amps can lead to lifelong repercussions. There (in case nothing I want to say about [the] Razz makes it into the film) - I’ve said it.

Discussions among old friends have confirmed that I’m not alone in being happily surprised at this development - we never expected our actions - which led to the hardcore explosion that’s received a lot more attention... would ever make it into any history book. Yet coverage of many of the D.C.-area musicians featured in this piece also comes with Punk The Capitol, A History of D.C. Punk and Hardcore, 1976-1983. Spring 2021 is the projected date for streaming/DVD release.

Ivan Julian came back from a scary 2015 bout with cancer to do a show in New York in 2016. The cancer has returned. Friends have organized a GoFundMe to raise money for surgery and basic needs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDB_3by-xkI

The Shakemore fest also refuses to fade, promising “eight hours of streaming steaming video” on August 1. Sounds will be provided by R. Stevie Moore, Velvet Monkeys, Tav Falco’s Panther Burns, Half Japanese, Johnny Spampinato, Weird Paul and the Chumps, among many, many others.

Despite having played at CBGB and other alternative venues in 1979, at the height of the New Wave, Gary Wilson’s work is so distinctive, he’s rarely been included with any musical genre other than the oft-vague “experimental” category. Folks were too unmoored by his visceral performances to get behind him. Wilson’s 14th album, Tormented, was released by Cleopatra in February.

Paul Collins recently published a book that he wrote with Chuck Nolan; I Don’t Fit In: My Wild Ride Through the Punk and Power Pop Trenches with the Nerves and the Beat (Hozac Books).

As “Heath,” Michael Layne Heath, a journalist who contributed to (the) Infiltrator and many other ‘zines, published My Week Beats Your Year: Encounters with Lou Reed in May (Hat & Beard Press).

In April, X released its first album in 35 years; Alphabetland.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ1I-laItPI

As exciting for me as any of the above is Richard Hell with the Heartbreakers’ 2019 release of Yonkers Demo 1976. Hell’s “You Gotta Lose” is one of my picks for best punk/new wave singles of all time. The Heartbreakers version is, predictably, messier than the Robert Quine guitar-spiked classic. Its more excessive charms are growing on me...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48QnsysCN_A

This piece could go on and on - compiling it has been exhausting. The best part has been the response to my social media call for any info I didn’t have re: the D.C.-centric scene I left for New York in 1983. Musicians anxious to keep their compadres’ names alive have hammered that post with 138 comments to date. Urban Verbs percussionist Danny Frankel, who’s played with a colorful spread of artists including Beck, Marianne Faithful, Lou Reed, John Cale and k.d. Lang, made a point of being sure I knew about the passing of Marc Halpern, a source of obvious pain. People were worried I wouldn’t mention John Stabb (Government Issue - 2016), rockabilly player Billy Hancock (2018), Fred “Freak” Smith (Strange Boutique/Beefeater - murdered in Los Angeles, 2017), John Hansen (Slickee Boys - 2010), record store owner/Wasp Records starter/music supporter Bill Asp, Jimmy Barnett of The Killer Bees, and David Byers.

One of the hardest for me to write about is Chris Morse, whose 1984 passing from a drug overdose wrenched so many - I managed to get an obituary into, I think, The New York Rocker (that physical trek was part of a long-ago blur; a very hot day of traipsing over steaming concrete in a narrow-skirted dress to deliver the copy). Chris popped up in my dreams for years - one “visitation” pushed me to write a poem about it in the ‘90s. Morse, who played in Rhoda & The Bad Seeds and worked as a doorman at The Pyramid after moving to NYC in the early ‘80s, was on one of the Urban Verbs’ early flyers. I’m on another.

(Top to bottom: Me in an early Verbs flyer/photo shot at the Atlantis; Chris Morse on another Verbs flyer)

I ended up getting so burnt out on the responsibility of populating this sad roll call, I’ve started a memorial page for them all on Facebook. The nature of truly alternative music is such that many of its lights still fail to fill the pages of major publications. Many of these lights gave a great deal of their lives, if not everything, for the art they believed in. It’s good to remember them, and those heady early days. It’s good to enjoy what we still can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA3IfK76mmI

[goofygoldengirl]

Ok Everyone I’m On A Roll Today

I’m gonna give you a proper explanation as to why we’ll never get a Led Zeppelin movie.

Buckle up cause this is gonna get long. 

We, as classic rock fans live in an age of reminiscence. We take out our records, cds, mp3s and sit back, relax, and think of the glory days that we’ve never experienced if we’re under the age of 50. Even though we’re decently mainstream, The Queen movie Bohemian Rhapsody took interest in classic rock to new heights. It was critically acclaimed, Rami Malek won an oscar, and fans of other bands of the 60s-80s stirred with anticipation for the day they would get their band in the limelight. A fan, like myself, and many others, knowing that 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of Led Zeppelin’s (also referred here as LZ) creation (although they officially got together in 1968) perhaps are wondering if they are going to get a surprise biopic announcement in the near future.

However, I have come to crush everybody’s dreams. The answer is never as long as the remaining band members are still alive. Now before y’all get out your pitchforks, let’s focus our attention to the most important member of this debate: guitarist James Patrick Page, also known as Jimmy Page, Pagey, and Jimmurs back in the deviantart LZ community in 2010.

Although Led Zeppelin arose from the planning and careful selection of the higher ups at Atlantic Records (mostly manager Peter Grant although Jimmy was the one who went out to find members) Led Zeppelin, is Jimmy Page’s masterpiece, his opus magnum, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought of his band to be like one of his children, perhaps his favorite. Understandably, he was devastated when the band broke up after drummer John Bonham’s death from alcohol poisoning, and everybody knows he wants the band to be back together in some shape or form. This of course sparked a feud with singer Robert Plant, who also understandably was doing well in his solo career and wanted to move on. Depending on who you talk to, it’s never really been officially resolved despite the 2007 concert and Robert’s final declaration that he will never do anything Led Zeppelin related ever again, Jimmy has focused on other matters such as remixing LZ albums and releasing concert dvds. In addition to that, there are several other matters worth pointing out. In the past, and even to this day, it was extremely difficult to get ahold of LZ songs to use in tv and movie soundtracks because Jimmy, unofficially “in charge” of LZ music distribution is overprotective of how his music is used (probably stemming from LZ’s hatred of concert bootleggers but that’s a different story). We also have a long history of lawsuits that accuse LZ of plagiarism and ripoffs stemming from the 70s, that have taken a hit to LZ’s musical reputation. Looking at Jimmy’s defensive stance over the band’s music and public image, we segway to our next question.

Can a Led Zeppelin movie give an authentic and enjoyable experience for audiences?

We know from the nearly ten year saga to create a Queen movie that there was a lot of contention between the remaining band members and directors over portrayal of the members’ personal lives within Queen, and Queen pushing for a more family friendly image. In the end, the movie earned a PG 13 rating, an acceptable negotiation for both parties, and a good rating to draw in an audience. Assuming that using this model will bring in the most amount of money and recognition for future biopic movies, we shall apply it to the band Led Zeppelin.

A PG 13 rated Led Zeppelin movie would be impossible to do. No offense to Queen (they’re my second favorite band behind Zep so I’m allowed to say this) but they are tame compared to the antics that Led Zeppelin got up to back in their heyday. We’re talking about what you imagine when you think of the rock n roll lifestyle. Loud music, jet setting, partying all night, sex, drugs, trashing hotel rooms, groupies, more drugs, more sex, getting trashed at the club, pump it up baby a whole hecka lotta YOW times10! Led Zeppelin were a bunch of party animal freaks (Bassist John Paul Jones is debatable but there was New Orleans)and well you could attempt to focus directly on the music, but a lot of the music in the later years ties into that crazy rock n roll lifestyle (Sick Again from Physical Graffiti and For Your Life from Presence) and Jimmy Page’s descent into heroin addiction and John Bonham’s gradual and tragic deterioration from years of alcohol abuse had a profound affect on how the band members got along during the In Through The Outdoor sessions and is the reason why it still has a very mixed reception and is ranked low on favorite LZ albums.

A rated R movie could work, you may say. I mean look at the Doors movie. Yeah but even though The Doors got trippy and Jim Morrison was a character man, a Led Zeppelin rated R movie would be a very hard rated R. Again, this goes back to all the tour commotion, where especially in the early years, a lot of sordid stuff happened. And I know you’re thinking, I can live watching a couple of sex scenes. Oh sweet summer child who has not gone through the threshold of transitioning from a Led Zeppelin fan who strictly listens to their music to searching out their history, inspiration, stories from the countless biographies out there, we are talking about some fucked up stuff that I am not gonna even talk about in this post for fear of invoking the wrath of the tumblr flag gods, and that the more sensitive leaning people might consider to be NC17 stuff. And there is a difference between detailing this information in a niche book that only diehard fans will pick up, and putting it in a movie intended for everybody and no shit sherlock you will get controversy. 

And you may ask, who are the subjects of such controversial tales? Basically everybody, although as we said JPJ falls into bassists are usually boring category, Robert Plant had a pretty good amount of moments because no shit he was hot back then and who wouldn’t go wild over him. And our main offenders of depravity and strife? John Bonham, Jimmy Page, and special mention to tour manager (and subject of much controversy within the Led Zeppelin fandom itself) Richard Cole. And if based on director’s tendencies to capture the authentic even if it involves shock content, the depictions of these three men will garner a lot of attention. While John Bonham is dead and cannot speak for himself, the other two can. Based on Richard Cole’s tell all contributions to the classic 1980s publication that detailed LZ’s rise and fall, Hammer of The Gods, he’ll probably just pop up out of the woodworks and bask in the next 15 minutes of fame. But Jimmy? James Patrick I will do anything to keep Led Zeppelin’s reputation in a good light Page? Oh he’ll have a field day alright. And it’s not just bracing ourselves for the inevitable telling directors what they can and cannot put in, it’s also opening the huge, sticky, labeled with a giant TRIGGER WARNING can of worms what exactly Jimmy was doing that would be so controversial both then and now. Now, I know that everyone in the Led Zeppelin fandom knows what I’m about to say, probably some in the classic rock fandom in general who knows things here and there, too, but this is for everybody who doesn’t know. Jimmy Page in the 1970s dated teenage girls. And to clarify, I’m not talking about that gray line that people debate about of 18 technically signaling adult years, yet is still a vulnerable age, I’m talking about girls, minors, who were14-16 when he was nearly or in his 30s. And the relationship that is the most documented (Lori Maddox for the LZ fans reading) oh my god, it is just messed up. Like basically stalked and kidnapped her so they could meet, and in the relationship locked her up in hotel rooms while he was in concerts messed up. You might say it was the 70s, they just turned a blind eye well honey it’s 2019, and a topic as dicey as a grown ass man going after children is not gonna be ignored in this day and age where people are starting to pay more attention to issues like these. I know that if a director decides to devote a segment of that movie to that part of Jimmy’s past (and present if you think about him going out with 20 something year old women when he’s in his 70s) it will basically destroy his own reputation. Which is very, very much intertwined with Led Zeppelin’s. So if he takes a hit, LZ does too, and he cannot afford to let that happen. And if this means having to decline an offer for a biopic in order to preserve a sliver of integrity that is just dangling by a thread as old news becomes common knowledge, so be it. 

Oh yeah the christians will probably get wound up again about LZ being satanic or some shit due to Alestier Crowley and the whole playing Stairway to Heaven backwards thing but hey they’re irrelevant to this discussion

So the TLDR: We’re never getting a Led Zeppelin movie. Reputation is everything to Jimmy Page and a movie that goes into some hardcore detail about band “shenanigans” will serve us a whopping discourse for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, that will get the movie, and the band slammed hard. 

[nomediaplay]

If Tumblr shuts down, where do you go?

Most likely nowhere. In my good-bye note on onehallyu I said I might decide to answer questions somewhere. Then I regged this tumblr, but after a while decided to not do that as I wrote in the first post on this page. But with my usual “luck” in timing, Jessica left SNSD just some days later so I ‘had’ to post a bit.

supermofficial.*com/#events weren’t you bragging SM never forces their artists to do free events             

Sigh. All artists of course have to do promotional events for new releases. And this is even some new group. And not just artists. If an author has a new book coming out, he’ll have to be on TV shows to promote it. If there’s a musical, the cast need to promote it on TV etc. Heck even the very top star Hollywood actors have to go all around the world and be on TV shows and events to promote their new movies.

What I’ve complained about is how many shitty idol companies make their celebrities constantly do lots of promotion for free, and also especially when they use very big established celebrities for events to which fans get “free tickets” by buying CDs.

What would happen to Taeyeon’s music if she were to leave SM? Would she still be able to perform these songs or she’d literally have to start anew?

She (and anyone else) can continue to perform her music however she wants, but she (presumably) can’t make new recordings without SM’s permission. Look here: when it comes to music, there are 2 different types of intellectual property rights:

The first is for, so to say, the ‘creation/invention’ of the song, and belongs to the composers/songwriters.

The second is the copyright of a specific recording. This typically belongs to a record label. That’s literally what record labels do: they organize the recording of music, then market and sell copies of that recording. And the record label will typically sign deals with songwriters, producers and singers to make a recording from which these get a royalty % cut of the total sales of that recording.

Anyone can perform whatever song anywhere without needing anyone’s consent. But if you do it for commercial purposes you need to pay the songwriters. This is handled by collective agreements and organizations such as ASCAP in the US, JASRAC in Japan and KOMCA in Korea which work to collect money for song usage and distribute it to the songwriters.

But to make a new recording of the song (for commercial purposes) you need explicit permission of the songwriters. However, whenever any record label signed a contract for a recording to start with, that agreement would typically stipulate that the record label now has the right to determine who can make new recordings of the song.

So, surely, if you’re a fan of a kpop group, you must have experienced that members of the groups have performed covers of other songs in concerts (because they can perform whatever song they want) - but if there’s a DVD release of the concert some of those covers might be missing (because record labels have refused the right to make recordings of the song).

What does it mean for an idol to have a lot of copyrighted songs, like the ones on those lists?

Per the above answer: it means he/she is listed as one of the ‘creators/inventors’ of a song as composer and/or lyricist. So whenever that song is used for any commercial purpose (such as played on TV, played on radio, performed by at any concert/event, etc) he/she will get paid some money.

However, as I’ve said countless of times before: for any really successful artists the payments from songwriting are really small compared the very big money they can get paid in other ways, particularly from performing at concerts and from doing CF/endorsement deals.

Also, I’d like to point out that it’s difficult to know how much an artist really have contributed to creating a song. Sometimes I get the feeling that YG lists whatever people that happened to sit next to Teddy while he composed a song. And it’s well known that many big western artists throughout history have demanded to be credited as songwriters even though they didn’t actually contribute anything at all.

Does Jessica have the right to use Girls’ Generation’s name to promote herself? Other girls who left SM - left the group as well (at least for now) but they all still use GG’s name when promoting their new projects. OT8 stans believe GG should never be mentioned anywhere near Jessica but I don’t think their situations are that different actually? but maybe I’m wrong?

I doubt that there are any legal constraints, but really, your question is strange because she’d be laughed at if she went around saying she was still an SNSD member. Any ‘group’ in society is defined by how the members of the group recognize each other as part of the group. The other 8 members have made it quite clear that they define SNSD as 8 members without Jessica, so it would be ridiculous for her to call herself as SNSD. Of course, she could if she want have journalists write news-articles calling her ex-SNSD Jessica and she could do interviews talking about her time in SNSD etc. I’m not sure if that would help her or not.

How so many bands and solo acts in japan are able to survive for a long time even though they don’t have good digital or physical sales?

But the Japanse music sales have been completely fucked up for the last 15 years as I’ve ranted about plenty of times before.

Can those bands and solo acts actually sell decent amounts of concert tickets in Japan? If yes, they’re living a good life no matter what their music sales are.

what is more important for a company, the success of their newer groups or their established artists? sorry if it’s a dumb question

Err, it’s not entirely black and white. But for a company to make really big profits (as in money for the owners of the company) it’s most important to get a new group to become really big really fast. This is partly about how new groups are on worse contracts and partly about how fans of these new fresh trendy groups spend huge money on buying albums and streaming like maniacs etc which are things from which the company gets most of the money (unlike for example concerts).

But it’s not all about contracts. Several of these smaller companies have absolutely horrible contracts. That doesn’t mean the companies make any profit. Because their acts simply aren’t successful enough. They spend so much money on everything from music videos to stage outfits and make up to road managers and security guards so there’s no money left.

And so on the flip side, for most of the normal employees who work in these companies to sort everything from music videos to stage outfits and make up to road managers and security guards, it’s really just important to have successful acts period (no matter if new or old) in order to make sure they get paid safely.

It is true that GD alone bring as much money as blackpink?

Per above: yes, GD alone would generate much more revenue than Blackpink. But they are both profitable in the sense that they generate much more money than what’s spent on music videos, outfits and managers etc. And obviously Blackpink has a much worse contracts than GD, so after splitting profits per their contracts YG probably makes bigger profits on Blackpink than GD.

Why do you think YG did a fanmeting in seoul for blackpink instead of another concert?      

Well, considering the amount of negativity YG has ended up in recently:

I thought it had been well established that much of the audience at their previous Korean concert was in fact not paying for tickets, but people who had been given tickets through corporate sponsorship of the concert. In this current situation, there’s probably not a single company willing to sponsor a concert.

Secondly, even with regards to that fans actually would pay to go, I think it’s likely that media would have put out critical articles about YG doing concerts in this situation. By calling it a fan-meeting they’re pretty much making it impossible for journalists to write such negative articles.

Did that super junior member really leave because he got married or there is something more to it?

As I’ve always expressed: save humanity - disband Super Junior.

So no I really have no idea about what they’re doing. But I used to say some 7 years ago that there will probably be a Super Show 10. And we’re soon there. Because members seem to be aware of their own short-comings and their joint success and are OK with doing group activities.

But it was my understanding that this member not only didn’t really contribute with anything to the group, but that he also really pissed off the few fans he had with his actions (such as drawing symbols for his girlfriend when signing autographs for fans).

Is Mnet bigger than SM and YG?

If you just mean Mnet as in the cable-TV channel, the answer is that SM/YG are bigger. But this question is not straight forward to answer. First off it’s difficult to define what one mean with ‘bigger’ company:

By profit? By market cap (value)? By number of employees? By revenue?

My take would be to in most cases (such as this) go by revenue as the most relevant measure of ‘big’ company.

Secondly, in Asia in general and in Korea in particular they have this horrible habit of building conglomerates and interlinked companies. And it just runs in their culture/society. Both SM and YG were new small independent startups initially. But look at them now. They have used all the profits they’ve made over time to start all kinds of businesses very vaguely related to their core businesses and invested in a myriad of other companies and started to become big conglomerates in entertainment.

And Mnet goes way back and to the very top. Mnet is just one cable-TV-channel. The actual company here is CJ ENM. CJ ENM also has a lot of other cable-TV-channels and a huge home-shopping-channel. CJ ENM are also very big in for example producing musicals and concerts in Korea. CJ ENM once upon a time also almost had a monopoly on music distribution in Korea, but nowadays the music distribution business (now called Stone Music Entertainment) is far from the leading distributor. CJ ENM is also the biggest producer of Korean TV dramas and films. That was spun off into a separate company (Studio Dragon) but CJ ENM own like 75% of that company still. CJ ENM has also spun off its music streaming business (but they own like 15% of Genie Music) and its gaming business (but they own like 25% of Netmarble). So CJ ENM is a very big and powerful company in the Korean entertainment industry and much bigger than SM and YG.

And CJ ENM is in turn owned by and part of the CJ Group. The CJ Group also own a whole lot of other companies primarily into food production, restaurant chains and entertainment. Most known to kpop fans is probably that they also own the biggest cinema chain in Korea, but the main businesses are food related.

And CJ Group was in turn part of the absolutely gigantic Samsung chaebol group. CJ was one of the parts of the Samsung chaebol that was split off around 1990 following the death of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul. It’s a separate group now, but basically, CJ Group is run by 2 siblings who are grandchildren of Lee Byung-chul. Other parts of the former Samsung chaebol are run by other relatives of Lee Byung-chul.

(PS, Lee Byung-chul had TEN children who in turned had a lot of grand children, hence why his gigantic corporate empire is nowadays a bit of a drama mess)

[oldnintendonerd]

Tis the season... to be hunting

Aw yes! Here we are folks. Yard sale season. You know what that means. Actual finds. Spring cleaning has come and gone! People are now having Yard Sales, and donating to thrift stores. We are already chock full for this post, so sit back and relax, I have pictures of everything, and it is a long one.

First up is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for Playstation - Found 2018.04.20 at Goodwill

I have never played this game, and have no intention of playing this game. Hate to start out o a bit of a negative note, but Harry Potter is of no interest to me. It was $0.99, so with tax, $1.06 out the door. Strictly resale bait. Anything I can sell for about seven to eight times what I paid for it, I’ll always pick it up.

Next up, you are witnessing the very first yard sale I was able to get to this season. It was literally within walking distance of my house. I happened to see the sign on the way out to get breakfast on the morning of April 21st. It was so convenient I really had no thoughts of actually finding anything. But of course I stopped anyway and lo and behold... three very nice condition PS2 games. Nothing earth shattering, but I’ve been wanting to try the Ratchet and Clank games for a while. Now is my chance.

Ratchet and Clank - PS2 - Found on 2018.04.21 at a yard sale

As you can see from the masking tape price tag, it was only $0.50. Those are my kinds of prices, especially for clean, well taken care of games. It is complete and in great condition.

It has instructions/poster. Which are in A condition, as well as a solid A disc, and A case. I will be looking forward to checking out this game in the near future. Not sure when, but soon. Especially since the lot came with an additional Ratchet and Clank game...

Ratchet and Clank Going Commando - PS2 - Found on 2018.04.21 at a yard sale

Another one in pristine condition for being as old as it is. Same ratings accross the board as it’s prequel. Could not ask for much more. Solid games for a very good price at this sale.

Once again, just minty fresh, and complete with instructions/poster. Definitely going in the collection, right along with Ratchet and Clank.

The third one they had may go in a bundle or be trade bait, I am not a big Star Wars, or Lego movie/game fan, don’t get me wrong, I love Legos. I just always thought the games and movies were hoakie and kinda blah. But, for $0.50, its hard to really pass up any title. I may have bought freakin Madden games for that price just to have extra cases or bundle fodder.

Lego Star Wars The Video Game - PS2 - Found on 2018.04.21 at a yard sale

Once again, just immaculate condition. A’s accross the board. There were kids at the sale, but I cannot imagine this was ever handled by them, I have a feeling the homeowner was also the PS2 owner. There were no other games or consoles out. Which is strange. Who puts out just three PS2 games. However, being the first sale, and so dumbstruck was I that I even found something, I broke my very first rule. I forgot to ask about more games. So I’m not sure if they would have had any more, or be willing to part with them if they had. Dropped the ball there, it won’t happen again.

An item that is a little off topic from the usual blog content, I also picked up a really nice Sony dual tape deck for $1 at the same sale, it says “turns on but won’t play”,  I immediately figured it needed belts. I opened it up and it does in fact need belts. They are snapped and gooey, wrapped around the flywheels and gears. I have ordered a set and I can’t wait to get those in and fix it up, and listen to all my old cassettes. Maybe even turn a few of them into MP3. Not traditional music Cassettes, these are recording I made when I was a kid, and even live concerts i recorded off of the radio back in the early 90′s. Can’t replace those. So backing up to digital would be very nice.

Well. Since that is not related to the normal content of this blog we’ll just stop talking about that one right there. Though if you don’t mind seeing a few things here and there outside of gaming for finds, I’m happy to toss one in here and there. Leave a comment if you feel one way or the other on that topic. Here is a pickup recap photo with the tape deck in it for fun anyway.

Moving quickly on, or this will be a mile long and you will be here all day reading this post. I think it may get to be a mile long anyway. Sorry about that.

A couple days later I popped back into a Goodwill and found a game I never could get to play on any of my machines at the time it came out. I think I had a demo, and it absolutely destroyed both my rigs at the time. It was unplayable. It is old enough to be on 5 CD ROM discs, no DVD ROMs here! In a nice condition double disc jewel case I found...

Far Cry - PC - Found 2018.04.23 at Goodwill

I picked it up and thought, there has to be a missing disc, or they are all scratched to hell. But nope, every disc was accounted for, and they were in immaculate condition. Ubisoft releases patches for their older games, and after a quick Google search in the store, it appears there is one that will allow this to work on Windows 10. So I bought it. $1.06 out the door from the CD bin. I haven’t tried it yet, and even if it doesn’t work, that’s a cool piece to have.

Next up is another one I had a long time ago, not valuable or rare or anything, but was a good game that I enjoyed playing in the early 2000′s.

Fable - XBox - Found 2018.05.03 at Goodwill

This was in a little rougher condition than I’d have liked, but it might still play. See the scratches on the disc below.

Worst case I can get it resurfaced for like $2. The scratches do not have a “catch” to them when you run your fingernail over them, which is a good sign. They will likely buff right out and it’ll be good as new. Unfortunately that would put it up to a total cost of $5.21 since this guy cost $3.21, and with a value at only $7.36 it doesn’t really make it much of a bargain. But I can live with that if it is added to my collection in working order.

Still a couple bucks under retail, and if I’m lucky, I won’t have to resurface it, making it even closer to a bargain at about half price. So disc is about a C. The case has a small crack, placing it at about a C+, and there is some wear on the manual. The manual though is not falling apart so it stays in the B’s with a B-. Some days later I found a minty “Platinum Hits” edition of Fable at another Goodwill, but the case was empty. I took it to the counter to ask if I could have the case, and they said no, unless I wanted to pay $3 for it. Bummer.

I don’t know why all of a sudden most of the Goodwills in the area are keeping people from taking empty cases. The one closest to my house still lets me take them if I get the right employee/manager on at the time, but the others still won’t let me take them without paying at least a little bit for them. At least they don’t want full price. Maybe they are getting a good deal on recycle material or something. It’s irritating though, glad I got the cases I did throughout last year while I had the chance.

Anyway, moving on.

This was actually the same store and trip that I found the empty Fable case. The game section had close to zero games in it, and I was about to leave (and see if the cashier would give me the Fable case) when I decided to eyeball the toy section in case some controllers or other accessories got tossed over there. For some reason three PS2 games were sitting on the shelf. Two of them were of no interest and were not valuable enough to even buy at $3. But, this one I was interested in playing. I had Defender of the Future on the Dreamcast a LONG time ago. That version is a lot more valuable than this one now of course. By about double, but if it is the same game, I’m in.

Ecco The Dolphin Defender of the Future - PS2 - Found 2018.05.06 at Goodwill

Another very good condition case and disc. Id put the case at an A-, you can see some wear on the outer plastic. Disc is a solid A, as is the manual.

I was always mesmerized playing this game on the DC, how fluid, and realistic the movements of the dolphin were through the water. If this one is as good as the DC, and plays the same, it will stay in the collection as well.

Side bonus to this one, the clerk only charged me the DVD price of $1.99, instead of the video game price of $2.99. Score! I’ll take any small discounts I can get. That $1 could be a GameCube game at a yard sale or something.

The very next day I wound up at another Goodwill and noticed a Wii bundle in the showcase. It was marked $49.99. I noticed there wasn’t a power cable, video cable, or sensor bar sitting with it, which was making me start to shy away from it. It did have several games with it, along with a first party Classic Controller, which I could use, I don’t have one, and have been on the look out for one. Additionally it had two first party nunchucks. I need nunchucks, I only have one first party nunchuck. As far as stuff that did not help the value, there was a Wii balance Board and it also had two third party controllers with it. Which were junk. Additionally it was missing flaps. So I felt at the top end, I was willing to pay maybe $25. The store manager noticed me looking at it and immediately apologized for there not being a sensor bar, power or AV cables with it. He said he usually tries to get them complete before they are put out, he wasn’t sure why this one was out, and it was definitely priced as though it was complete, so he dropped the price to $30 right there. Okay, now we are getting somewhere, but another $5 off would be better.

I said thank you, I appreciate that, that does compensate mostly for the missing cables, though I have a couple other concerns. The GameCube controller port covers are missing, and the two Wiimote controllers it has are absolute junk. How about $25? He didn’t even think about it, he immediately said yes, and dug it out of the showcase to bring it over to the register for me. I wish I’d offered $20 first now. Worst case he comes back with $25 and we end up there anyway.

Wii Bundle - Found 2018.05.07 at Goodwill

I looked closer at the games while he ran around behind the counter for a few moments, then helped a couple other employees with something, and they are all in extremely good condition. Of the games in the bundle, I am interested in adding Mario Galaxy, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz to my collection. So I will do close ups on those below. The rest are in almost as good condition and I’d like to sell off as a bundle, and get close to or more than I paid here for it. Sonic was in the DVD / Games bin and cost an additional $3.21 to get that as it was obviously not part of the Wii bundle. It was also in immaculate condition. So I couldn’t pass it by. I included it in the picture because it was all the same purchase. As he was ringing me up, and because he was so eager to get me going, I almost thought maybe he knew something was wrong with it. But when tested, it booted right up and reads discs OK. Likely it was just busy in there and he was looking to get the transaction taken care of and me on my way.

As for the games themselves, well, have a gander.

Sonic Mega Collection Plus - PS2

I have been playing Sonic games almost as long as Mario games. Maybe less by perhaps 4 or 5 years. While not as near and dear to my heart, I do hold them up as quality games. I owned a Genesis/32X/Sega CD monstrosity for a number of years and played Sonic 2, Sonic CD, and Knuckles Chaotix a lot in my later teen years. I also had a Game Gear with a Sonic game, and this title proclaims to have Game Gear titles on it as well. So I’m looking forward to that.

Super Mario Galaxy - Wii

What can I say about this find? Freaking. Perfect. Condition. Perfect. Like someone took the cellophane off, and brought it to Goodwill. So crispy. I absolutely LOVE finding games in this condition. It is nearly flawless. Close to crystal clear outer art sleeve.

Manual is an solid A, one tiny dent there in the lower right-ish corner prevented the A+, but otherwise looks like its never even been touched. So happy to have this one in the collection finally. I never owned it, even having owned a Wii since at least 2008, I’ve never played it until recently. Looking forward to giving it a proper spin.

Donkey Kong Country Returns - Wii

Wow. Just. Wow. Immaculate. It astounds me that something this old can be in this good of condition coming into a Goodwill. This game was released when? November 2010 according to Wikipedia. So it could be anywhere from roughly six to eight years old or so depending on when this copy was actually manufactured and bought. This belonged to someone who either didn’t care at all, or hated the game the first time it was played, set it on a shelf and it was forgotten until donated, or it was loved and well taken care of. Considering it was donated, I’m going to wager a guess on the former scenario as the most likely.

The crispiest of manuals. A+. Just look at that. Did anyone EVER play either of these games!? I love it. Disc is A+, not a mark on it, flawless. Case is a solid A as well, very clear jacket, no dings, dents, cracks or chips.

The game itself to play is quite good as well, good play control, the visuals are on par with the DKC series, and is updated into the “New Super Mario Bros Wii” style, by rendering everything then fixing the camera in position to create a side scrolling platformer that can be smoothly zoomed in and out, as well as create pseudo parallax scrolling by placing layers of rendered backgrounds behind the area in which you are playing. Backgrounds become the play field in this game as well. I’m enjoying it so far.

I dig this game a great deal, and will also be giving this a proper play through sooner than later.

The condition of most of these finds this month has been stellar so far. Super crispy and clean games. The exception to this is the following game.

Super monkey Ball Banana Blitz - Wii

Really good shape for the most part though, the only blemish on this game is the sticker. GAH! At least we can get that off of there with relative ease, the blog post from a while back I did shows my technique for this. It is very effective and uses nothing more than a damp cloth and packing tape. No goo gone required. So case is an A-. I do however, find the two stickers inside to be rather amusing. They appear to be actual Chiquita banana stickers, with Monkey Ball characters on them, so I think those will stay. It adds to it in my opinion. Manual is A+, very crispy. Disc is a solid A as well.

This game isn’t great because of the controls in my opinion. I much prefer the GameCube games, but my son is a big fan of the series and played the original and the second one on our Wii with a GameCube controller pretty regularly. He has tried this one, and was not as thrilled with it because he cannot use the controller easily, it is all motion/tilt control. But I can see him trying again when he understands the control better. Hes still only three, he will pick it up I’m sure.

Side tangent for a second, does anyone else hate certain games on the Wii because of the controller options? Or rather, severe lack there of? Taking a series like Monkey Ball, or Metroid Prime, that originated on the GameCube, and then make it so you HAVE to use a control scheme that incorporates the new Wiimote motion control. It infuriates me. How hard would it have been to allow fans of the series that played the games on the GameCube to plug in their favorite controller, and seamlessly pick up the game using the same control scheme they know and love. It was simply left out of the game entirely. A big middle finger from Nintendo. Nope, you have to use our new way, we innovated this new motion control platform, and we are going to force you to use it in EVERY game. Plugging in a GameCube controller to a game series that is a continuation FROM THE GAMECUBE should at least be an OPTION. Another example, a game like Twilight Princess, where it was actually a GameCube game ported to the Wii. Not just a series continued from the GameCube. But an actual GameCube game. The original control scheme with a GameCube controller should be an OPTION. But it isn’t. They even mirrored the entire game just so Link would carry the sword in his right hand to match up with 99% of people’s “sword hand”. Really? Oi.

Speaking of Zelda...

*grumble grumble*

Moving on.

To round out this month’s finds I have two more to go. First is a small find from Goodwill. A single game, but, it is on a system that I just do not see games for in Goodwills around here. Gamecube. Nothing spectacular by any stretch, but I had to grab it considering it was GameCube.

Medal of Honor Frontline - GameCube - Found 2018.05.09 at Goodwill

Relatively good shape, I’d give the case a B. Manual is an A, very crispy. Disc is a solid B, a few light scratches, but no question it will play. It will go in the collection for now, but might not stay forever, FPS games and I do not generally get along on consoles.

Still happy to get it, of course it ran the standard $3.21, it only weighs in at a little over $5 on pricecharting though. Oh well. A GameCube game is a GameCube game these days.

Last but certainly not least, my final yard sale find of the month is a Glacier Game Boy Advance, with Pokemon Red version included.

Game Boy Advance with Pokemon Red - found 2018.05.11 at a yard sale.

I’ve only ever owned an original Game Boy DMG-01. I played Tetris, Revenge of the Gator, Metroid II, TMNT, Mega Man, Super Mario Land and other games for hours as a kid growing up in the late 80′s and early 90′s. The GBA was released after I’d become an adult, and portable gaming was lower on my priority list at that time. I was doing less riding in cars on road trips because I was now the driver on road trips. I had a girlfriend/wife or friends to talk to on those trips in any case, so even if I wasn’t driving, it wasn’t like I was bored off my ass in the back seat while we drove to another family vacation. Or sitting in school or something. I had a job. Way less free time.

So, having never owned some of them when they were new, I am down to get my hands on a few of these portables at this point. If nothing else, I can give them to my son to play with on some family road trips!

I saw this one in a picture in a Cragslist ad, the person’s ad for the Sale had photos. It was on a table along with a TI-84 Plus and an Apple TV. No price tags were on any of it in the photos. I’d hoped to get all three for a steal, and flip the Apple TV and calculator for a profit to help fund the collection. My hope was about $10 for the Apple TV, $15 for the Calculator at most, and perhaps $10 for the GBA. I arrived at the sale only a minute or two after it was scheduled to start. Of course there was already a swarm of people and I thought “damn, I’m sure it’s gone by now.” However it was not gone, as you can see from the picture, marked at $20. Double what I was hoping for. Probably why it was in still there. A glacier GBA is only worth about $25 according to Pricecharting, and I would also assume that price assumes the battery cover is present. This one does not include the battery cover. So I asked the guy if the price was flexible. He said he could go $15. I pointed out it was missing the battery cover and that I was hoping for $10. He said he hadn’t noticed the battery cover, and in that case he could go as low as $12. Knowing Pokemon Red had to be at least a ten dollar bill, I bought it.

As you can see it works fine. I figure this could also be a unit I will take thrifting with me to test GB, GBC, and GBA games right in the store before buying them. Will be handy.

Incidentally the TI-84 was marked at $40, they are only worth about $50 to $60, and this one was a little rough. The Apple TV was marked at $30. But only worth $40 to $50. If I could have gotten them for the prices I was hoping for, I may have picked them up, but given the price he wanted for the GBA, I don’t think I could get him that low, so I didn’t bother even making an offer. The only item I was really after was the GBA, and I think I got a good enough deal on that.

That wraps this post up for a little more than about the last month of hunting. A lot of stuff this time around, the season is just starting to hit stride. Hopefully this continues. The finds have already been fairly good.

So now down to the official business. We had $57.46 at the end of the last posting.

Harry Potter was $1.06, that takes us to $56.40. Ratchet and Clank, Ratchet and Clank Going Commando, and Lego Star Wars were 50 cents each, taking us to $54.90.

Then we found Far Cry, another $1.06 takes us to $53.84, and Fable at $3.21 takes us to $50.36. Ecco the Dolphin Defender of the Future was only $2.13, but that still drops us to $48.50.

That takes care of most of the one off stuff and brings us to the Wii bundle with Sonic Mega Collection Plus. All of it was $30.08 out the door. A little ouch compared to what we have available for funds. But a good deal for what I got. That shrunk the total to $18.42. But it was worth it, those games were in stunning condition. Plus, I should be able to eventually make back every penny on the leftovers. Assuming I'll run across some cables at some point. A Wii bundle with the games that were left, the Wii Fit Board, the controllers, nunchucks, and all the cables should fetch at least $30 - $40.

The last one off game was Medal of Honor Frontline for the GameCube. It ran $3.21. Taking us down to $15.21. Only just enough to bring home the last item, the Glacier Game Boy Advance with Pokemon Red Edition. That $12 brings us down to what I believe is a record low. $3.21.

Ironically, just enough money to buy ONE game at a Goodwill without going negative if one turns up.

Not to fret though, I have a small pile of items I will be listing very directly, which should refill our till so we can move into peak Yard Sale season fully armed.

Slated to hit eBay soon are: Pokemon Red Sealed copy of Wii Fit Plus Sealed copy of Wii Play A copy of Dragonball Revenge of King Piccolo The Lot of 007 Games from last post.

I might list the entire 007 lot for something between $12.99 and $17.99 buy it now with free shipping. I feel like that should move fairly quick, but we'll have to see what's going for what price as I'm listing it all to really choose final pricing.

That’s all for now, happy hunting to my few readers! I love you all.

2018.06.02

[ellie-valsin]

Loved it.  Loved it.  Loved it.

Yeah, so.  When we were in Moscow in October, I at last got to see my first “French” musical, and it wasn’t even in French.  :3  I’ve had this thing on my radar for a while, and I was giddy excited when it turned out that it would be playing while we were in Russia after all.  It was everything I hoped for and more.

I think we all kinda know what I mean when I say “French musical”.....I mean a nice, big, gooey helping of campy joy served up hot, complete with lots of belting, anachronistic pleather costumes, and gratuitous interpretive dancing in the background of every scene.  Like Broadway as filtered through a Backstreet Boys concert.  And by that definition, Anna Karenina: The Musical is probably the most French thing the Russians have made in a while.

And it was awesome.

First off, I should note that this musical, like the 2012 movie, was not really intended for those not already familiar with the story going into it.  It was so impressionistic at parts and skipped so many of the plot points that the uninitiated could be forgiven for not giving a shit about what’s going on with these characters.  If you’ve read the book first, though (as pretty much all Russians have, I imagine), you’d be able to follow just fine, though some of the plot abridgments might piss you off.  Didn’t piss me off, though, because not only am I not much of a purist about this book, but I was just enjoying the craziness of this thing so much that I couldn’t spare a moment to be snobbishly outraged.  I mean, I’m watching Levin groan out an angsty baritone solo about getting rejected and swallowing sadness, accompanied by a liberal dose of whiny electric guitar in the background.  How am I not going to go along with this...?

I should add that it helps that Russian musical theatre performers are incredibly talented...more than most French ones, IMO.  (Just my preference for “Broadway” type voices over poppy “Nouvelle Star” type voices in musical theatre...)  I was especially impressed by the actors playing Vronsky and Kitty in this, not to mention Anna herself...and the role of Anna in this is like the Elphaba of Russian musicals, a beast requiring a killer high belt in addition to a solid high and low range.  I live near NYC and see several Broadway shows a year, and I’d say any performer in this show could fit right into a Broadway-caliber production.  Even the distinguished gentleman playing Karenin just went ahead and belted his face off...!  It goes without saying that the Russians have all the classically-influenced areas covered, too: so the dancers have ballet training and are amazing, and did I mention there’s even an aria for an opera diva?  That’s probably what I thought set this apart the most from the French musicals--this is clearly influenced by that style of musical, but it sounds distinctly Russian in musical stylings throughout.  Not like balalaika-stereotypical-Russian-folk-music stuff, but just...Russian.  Hard to explain, easy to hear.  Chords and modes, maybe?  I don’t know, just my uneducated impression.  Even if it were sung in a different language, I feel like the musical language is still firmly Russian.  The show will be getting a Korean production in January, and I’m very curious to see if that’ll sound odd, to have that “Russian-ish” score not sung in Russian...

My one complaint is that there’s no cast recording available on CD.  Instead they have this Apple app that lets you listen to the music while choosing which performers you want to hear (since Russian musicals, like Asian ones, are double cast).  That’s cool and all, and I’ve enjoyed playing around with the different casts, but man, it sucks that I needed to get a Russian iTunes account just to get this cast recording and that I have to log into it just to hear this one show.  So, um, maybe a CD for the rest of the world who doesn’t have Russian iTunes...?  Or a DVD, I’d accept that, too.......  <:)

In short, thumbs up, even for the goofy parts (ahem, everything with the steampunk train peeps and with Betsy), and I can’t wait to one day see a “French musical” in a language I actually understand.  ;)

(P.S., next time somebody makes an Anna Karenina adaptation, can we just cut to the chase and do the plotline everybody really came to see?  We can call it “Anna Karenina: Levin’s Story.”)

[projectalbum]

Art is Resistance. 149. “With Teeth” (Halo 19), 150. “Year Zero” (Halo 24), 151. “Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D” (Halo 25), 152. “Ghosts I-IV” (Halo 26), 153. “The Slip” (Halo 27) by Nine Inch Nails

The 6-year gap between Nine Inch Nails studio albums saw the Internet become truly ascendant in popular culture, for better and worse.

Napster took a bite from the music industry and was put down like a mad dog. The Pirate Bay first unfurled its flag. Radio play and music videos were still the main avenue for displaying the wares of major label musicians to the general public, and success was still measured in units of CDs sold, but more and more people were becoming hip to the underground access provided by a DSL modem.

But the power of the Web to empower artists and connect them to their fans still evaded most of the recording industry; honchos and artists alike were largely clueless. Trent Reznor, the big ol’ nerd, was a notable exception. Posting on early message boards on Prodigy, embracing torrents, creating an online gateway for the band’s fans, leaking material from the archives, experimenting with an optional-pay release, even being an early adopter of Twitter— it was a white-hot fiber optic cable running through the life of the band. While this technological engagement didn’t always translate into sales (The Fragile was considered a financial disappointment), it was a 21st century incarnation of the connection between what the artist creates and how the audience consumes it, internalizes it, and hopefully finds some emotional release in it.

This uneasy alliance between organic emotion and technological chilliness is reflected in this era of Nine Inch Nails’ aesthetic, both musically and through the packaging. Where Downward Spiral and Fragile dealt in decaying earth tones, the releases starting with 2005’s reemergent With Teeth (#149) are shades of blue, black, ghost white, and slate gray, dirtied up by belching factory smoke, or distorted by broken pixels and lines of computer code. The songs are likewise colored by pulsating synth accents, digital distortion, hums and drones and beats. The instrumental stems for Reznor’s compositions were offered up to remixers both professional and amateur, so that even the boundary of artist and audience member became liminal. He had his carefully constructed versions of “The Hand That Feeds” and “Only,” but suggested that there were infinite alternate permutations to be created at the click of a button. For the once angry, brooding Prince of Industrial Rock, it was downright egalitarian.

“All The Love In The World,” a title that might suggest a big-hearted power ballad on a cornier band’s track list, is in Reznor’s hands an electronica-inflected paranoid dirge. Where crunchy guitars would have provided the backbone in the past, here woozy piano figures are the main melodic backup to the vocal, before shifting into driving major chords to signal minute 3’s complete tonal transformation. With its layers of harmonizing Trents, it’s completely unlike anything else in the band’s repertoire, but it was the perfect next course to stimulate my appetite. And then Dave Grohl’s superhuman drumming on “You Know What You Are?” kicked me through the door. The wailing chorus presented an aggressive musical release for me that I’d never had access to before.

“Right Where It Belongs,” the keyboard-driven closing track, is spooky and introspective, and one of the best songs in NiN’s catalogue. A stripped-down, electric piano and vocal version, originally exclusive to the Japanese release but eventually uploaded by Reznor to his website, captures that dark night of the soul uncertainty even better. This recording made its way into the end credits of my senior thesis film, at the point where it was obvious it wasn’t going to go anywhere and that I should at least put copyrighted stuff I liked into it. I also set a live version against grainy deleted footage from Pink Floyd - The Wall, a mashup I figure ol’ Trent would appreciate (the idea was to then do the reverse, matching “Hey You” to the visuals cut together for NiN’s stage show, but the result wasn’t as compelling).

I don’t have any supporting evidence, but Year Zero (#150) may well have been the first time I ever plunked down money for a physical copy of a NiN CD. Also lacking sufficient empirical backup: I’m convinced this speculative fiction about an increasingly plausible American dystopia represents some of Reznor’s strongest songwriting. Inhabiting characters like a brainwashed foot soldier, an underground Resistance fighter, a religiously-inflamed demagogue, even a judgmental alien intelligence, he moves away from the diary page introspection that could occasionally curdle into lyrics of questionable taste (Sorry, please don’t slip on all the tears I’ve made you cry).

The release of the album was notably attached to a labyrinthine “Alternate Reality Game” campaign, with in-character websites, USB drives hidden at concerts, and music videos with secret messages, adding plot strands and world building to the lyrics. (I missed the boat on all that, but the work that the same marketing company did for The Dark Knight was sure something to experience.) All of which would be near-impenetrable, if the actual music wasn’t so compelling. You don’t have to read the wiki pages to feel the apocalyptic beats and glitchy cacophony of “HYPERPOWER!,” “The Good Soldier,” and to pump your fist to the chorus of “Survivalism.” “I got my propaganda / I got revisionism” hits harder in a time, 10 years on from the album’s release, in which the most powerful voices in the U.S. government disregard reality on the reg, occasionally try to downplay the Holocaust. “Capital G,” a gleefully sociopathic near-rap by the forces of greed, could soundtrack one of Paul Ryan’s dead-eyed workout photoshoots.

“In This Twilight” and “Zero Sum” are the shattering two-part coda, in which the squabbling remnants of humanity face the end, whether by divine intervention or nuclear fire. The first juxtaposes crunchy, distorted percussion and fuzzed-out bass with perhaps the most perversely light and melodic vocal performance Reznor has ever delivered. He’s singing about encroaching extinction, but in a blissed-out religious reverie, optimistic for the afterlife. The character at the center of the closing track is not so sure: this is the End of this ridiculous human experiment, and we’ve brought oblivion on ourselves. “Shame on us / For all we have done / And all we ever were.” There’s the Nine Inch Nails nihilism we know and love!

Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D (#151) filters the previous album through Hip-Hop and EDM, to uneven effect. The collection of remixes never quite sustains the highs established by the first two tracks: Saul Williams’ fiery rap verses turn the instrumental “HYPERPOWER!” into a polemic against a legacy of American violence, “Gunshots by Computer,” while modwheelmood frees the vocals of “The Great Destroyer” from the squealing synth breakdown and creates a whole new paranoid anthem. While it’s also interesting to hear the Kronos Quartet reinterpret “Another Version of the Truth,” the rest is largely skippable. The physical set includes a DVD with the multitracks for the original Year Zero recordings, so you too can fuck with the raw materials! (I’ve been trying to remix things for years, and I’m awful at it, but it’s fun to hear the individual instrumentation.)

After freeing himself lyrically from his old methodology, the next release from Reznor eschewed words and melody completely. Ghosts I-IV (#152) is nearly 2 hours of ambient experimentation, a precursor to the Oscar-winning film scores with Atticus Ross (a few tracks were literally reworked for The Social Network, and several others continue to be licensed for film and documentaries). The buzzsaw distortions, dark piano chords, oddly organic synthesizers, and industrial beats identify it as a NiN record even in the absence of vocals. Though good luck recommending your favorite tracks, with titles like “26 Ghosts III” and “09 Ghosts I” not exactly sticking in the memory.

The Slip (#153), originally released free of charge, is more of a return-to-form. Arguably too familiar— it’s essentially With Teeth Part 2, but leaner and meaner. It’s not held in especially high regard, but it was there right at the outset of my fandom, and as such I continue to have a soft spot for it. I even bought the physical copy after years of listening to the decent quality MP3’s. “Discipline,” with its uncommonly funky bass line and high hat-favoring drum beat, is my number 1 “trying to sneak it onto a party playlist but not very successfully” NiN song. Along with the following track, “Echoplex,” the dark dance floor vibe is a preview of the sound Reznor and co would explore with How To Destroy Angels. “Lights in the Sky,” “Corona Radiata,” and “The Four of Us are Dying” create a kind of suite, insinuating and ethereal. I can understand if you bow out of that middle, 7-minute-and-33-second, ambient track before the library sample of fighting cats kicks in. But “LITS” is Reznor’s sparsest, prettiest piano lament, announcing the eminent “retirement” of Nine Inch Nails as a touring/recording entity.

Wave goodbye. They’ll be back.

[azulblue9]

PRINCE'S BIGGEST FAN WAS A 93-YEAR-OLD CLEVELAND WOMAN & SHE HAD THE MEMORABILIA TO PROVE IT

By ANNIE ZALESKI

Editor's note: After this story was filed, Mary Boyer passed away at the age of 93.

Mary Boyer can remember the exact moment she became a Prince fan. It was July 1984 -- weeks after the release of his groundbreaking LP, Purple Rain -- and a friend invited her to see Prince's ambitious movie of the same name. Incredibly, Boyer was the only person her friend could find to tag along to the theater.

"As soon as [Prince] came on [the screen], my heart just went [makes whooshing noise], and I said, 'I know this guy. I just know him,'" recalls Boyer today. "By the end of the film, that was my guy."

Boyer was no teenager experiencing her first taste of idol worship. At the time she saw Purple Rain, she was 60 years old.

"I DIDN'T INTEND TO BE A COLLECTOR, BUT IF I WENT TO A STORE AND THERE WAS SOMETHING THERE WITH PRINCE, I JUST COULDN'T LEAVE IT."

Buying that movie ticket unwittingly changed her life, transforming her into one of Prince's biggest fans. Over the next few decades, the mother of seven saw the Purple One 25 times, in far-flung locales such as New York, Detroit, Chicago, Canada, and his home base of Minneapolis. In her sprawling house in Cleveland, Boyer even had a dedicated Prince room -- with walls painted purple, of course -- crammed full of memorabilia related to the icon. Photos, magazines, vinyl, posters, CDs, pins, laminates, promo swag -- you name it, chances are Boyer had it. At the peak of her collecting, she had 300 different posters, 100 different T-shirts, and more than 1,200 unique albums in every format.

"I didn't intend to be a collector, but if I went to a store and there was something there with Prince, I just couldn't leave it there," she says. "I bought it, and pretty soon, I had quite a bit of stuff." After her kids moved out, all of that "stuff" found a home in one of their old bedrooms.

"We painted it a light purple, and I just started filling it up." She laughs. "I loved everything I put in there. I was very, very happy with it."

Now 93, Boyer is sitting in the living room of her apartment on the outskirts of Downtown Lakewood. The space is cozy, filled with cherished art, knickknacks, and photos she's picked up over the years. Boyer is fond of collecting things besides Prince-related items -- miniatures, as well as Egyptian and Oriental art, are interests of hers -- although she's downsized her belongings considerably. In the spring, she moved from that giant old house into this current, more compact space.

Scattered here and there, however, are references to her devotion to Prince. A coffee mug featuring variations of his visage is within arm's reach, near a photo book filled with Prince photos. A glossy, soft-glow snap of late-era Prince stares up from behind glass on the top of a nearby desk; a business card from the long-closed, Minneapolis-based New Power Generation, the Prince-owned retail store, is also tucked away. In a nearby hallway is a media rack with several shelves of Prince bootleg DVDs, while in her bedroom is a panoramic photo of the Prince room at its most impressive, along with some of the meaningful tokens she kept -- including a cardboard Purple Rain die-cut stand-up and a healthy selection of framed photos of all sizes, spanning the artist's entire career.

"Take a look around you, at least you got friends"

Also visiting this steamy Friday afternoon in August is Dennis Roszkowski, a photographer and long-time Prince fan from Westland, Michigan, who often visits Boyer and helps out at a local library's events. The pair met in 1989 because of their shared Prince fandom -- an organized, meticulous person, he once cataloged Boyer's memorabilia so she knew what she had -- and remain close friends.

Boyer amassed her Prince collection by visiting local record stores, where she would sometimes find promo vinyl dumped by radio DJs, or by attending record conventions. Employees came to recognize her and her obsession, and would sometimes save special items for her, such as a life-sized cardboard stand-up of Prince circa the 1991 LP Diamonds and Pearls.

In the mid- to late-'90s, Boyer and Roszkowski would also attend regional Prince Fests -- more or less gatherings of diehards to celebrate the artist -- and sell duplicate albums, as well as trade for things she didn't have.

THEY SAW PRINCE FOUR TIMES IN 75 HOURS.

Along with others from the fan community, the pair also attended many Prince concerts and special events: the week-long Prince Celebration at his studio/compound Paisley Park in 2000, appearances at his one-time Minneapolis nightclub, Glam Slam. At one point in 1993, they even saw Prince four times in 75 hours.

Boyer often expressed her admiration for Prince in more direct ways. "She would send letters to Paisley Park for years, and she would send little gifts to Prince," Roszkowski says. "And she would enclose a checklist with a self-addressed stamped envelope [that] said, 'Did Prince see this?' and 'Did he like it?' and they would check off 'Yes, he liked it,' and send it back. She had this connection with them."

Boyer and Roszkowski say that one-time Prince manager Gilbert Davidson and half-brother Duane Nelson (who handled security) were aware of her fandom, and always treated her kindly and with respect when they crossed paths. Although Boyer once had the chance to get a behind-the-scenes tour of Paisley Park and attended shows there, she never actually met and had one-on-one time with Prince. The closest personal experience she had was at an April 1993 after-show at Chicago's Metro, when the artist pulled her up onstage during the first encore.

"He was doing his show, and all of a sudden, towards the end, he said, 'Turn the lights on,'" Boyer recalls. "He said, 'Whose grandma is that down there? We gotta get her up here and have her shake her doodle!' or something like that." Boyer laughs. "And then he sang this song 'Johnny' -- it's a little risqué, shall we say. And I know he did it to see if it would embarrass me a little. Then during the song, I was supposed to sing this 'oh-oh-oh-oh' [part], and I didn't do it very good.

"And he gives me that look," Boyer continues, referencing the sassy, quasi-exasperated glance for which Prince was known. "I hit him on his arm, and he had me do it again, and I did it. And he just laughed and then gave me a big, big hug. And I was so happy. I just wanted him to know that I really liked him. It wasn't that I had to be seeing him all the time. But you know how you want somebody to know that…"

They mean a lot to you?

"Yeah," she says. "That was a high moment in my life."

"I only want to see you in the Purple Rain"

Born in Fargo, North Dakota, Boyer and her family moved to Lakewood when she was a toddler. She grew up there and went to Lakewood High School, which is where she met her late husband, Jim. She was a member of a sorority; he was a member of a fraternity. One afternoon, the pair happened to see each other at a local ice cream store.

"I was in there talking to some guy, and Jim came in," Boyer recalls. "And the guy said to him, 'Do you have a date for the Friday night dance?' And he goes, 'No.' [The other guy] says, 'Why don't you take Mary? She's a lot of fun.' And he says, 'Do you want to go?' And I said, 'Yeah.' Because he was real cute."

Music entered her life after the couple started having children. Her second-oldest son, Wink -- who "was a hippie, shall we say," Boyer says -- introduced her to Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow. That LP changed everything. From there, Boyer started embracing the then-new music of the day, such as Leon Russell and the Rolling Stones. She also started going to shows, among them, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Elton John, and David Bowie's first US concert. 

"I was the cool house," Boyer says with a laugh. "That's probably why it was easy for me to get into Prince. It wasn't like it was strange, because I was used to going to concerts. We did go to a lot of concerts, and my kids, of course, thought I was a 'cool' mother."

Jim was also 100% supportive of Mary's Prince fandom, which may have surprised some. "[People would say], 'How come it doesn't bother you?'" Boyer says. "[And he said] 'I'd rather have her doing that than sitting around crocheting something.' He liked the idea that I had young friends, because he didn't like to do a lot, except play golf. He didn't have to entertain me, because I was doing my own entertaining."

Incredibly, however, in recent years, Boyer has sold off and otherwise given away a large portion of her Prince memorabilia. Even stranger, "it didn't bother me at all," she says. In part that's because she's been preoccupied dealing with health issues, and uses oxygen as she gets around. ("I hate it," she says vehemently about that.) But Boyer also has the remarkable personality trait where she's able to switch gears and hobbies on a dime -- and never look back.

"I have this kind of a life where every 10 years, I changed," she explains. "Until I was in my, say, 40s, I was a mother, and never went anywhere. In my 40s, my husband and I started to go out square dancing. We did what they call challenge, so that you had to go to workshops and stuff. When I hit my 50s, I went to [local community college] Tri-C and took classes in astrology, and I became an astrologer. I was that for 10 years -- doing readings. And then I went to a Prince movie -- that changed that, and then I gradually stopped doing official astrology things.

"Every time I changed, I dropped the other thing almost completely," Boyer says. "That must be why when I was ready, getting tired of everything I had -- why I was able to do it."

"And no regrets," adds Roszkowski. "You brought your favorite things here."

"Life is just a party, and parties weren't meant to last"

In an odd coincidence, Roszkowski was helping Boyer move out of her house and into her apartment on the same day news broke that Prince had passed away. He recalls that his hands were shaking as he set up his laptop to read more about the news. "Mary looked at me and said, 'What's wrong?'" Roszkowski says. "And I said, 'Mary, Prince just died.' And I just remember her saying, 'I always thought that I would be in heaven before Prince.'" In the background, Boyer chuckles slightly.

The mood in the apartment turns reflective, as Roszkowski ruminates on the reactions he and Boyer received from people they had met because of his music. "The amazing thing about that day, is that all Prince fans that we know, we just started hearing from people we hadn't heard from in years," he says. "Every Prince fan can tell the same story: they know where they were when they heard, and how they were feeling. Everybody's phone just blew up -- people started calling, sending text messages. 'Oh my god, have you heard the news?' It was such a surreal moment.

"We relied on phone calls that we were getting from friends," he adds. "And consoling each other, and trying to figure out, 'Wow. What's the world like without Prince?' Because you just can't believe it.'"

Roszkowski's thoughts summarize the unique impact of music fandom: people bond over their love of a certain artist or band -- seeing shows together, chatting online, sharing stories, maybe swapping bootlegs -- and seamlessly translate this connection into real-life, deep friendships. The Prince fandom is especially dedicated, however. In fact, Roszkowski says it was "meant to be" that he and Boyer happened to be in the same city on the day of Prince's death, as it was symbolic of the treasured connections facilitated by his art and music.

"WHAT'S THE WORLD LIKE WITHOUT PRINCE?"

"His concerts were unlike anything you saw," Roszkowski says. "You'd go there, and there was just a whole mixture of people -- ages and races -- and everybody just got together and had a wonderful time. It seemed like the Prince world was a great melting pot of people. You wished the whole world could be together having a good time, and peaceful.

"That's not what the world's like, in many respects. It is if you look for it; you can find it. And we found it with Prince. There was a connection with him that brought us all together, and we always talked about, 'Wow. Look at what we did -- together.' Just my friendship with Mary, between the two of us, what we've done, is fantastic. I'm grateful for it every day."

Boyer quietly chimes in. "I have to say, I've had a very happy life," she says. "When I was being the mom in my 30s, I loved it; when I was square dancing, I loved it. When I was in astrology, I loved it. When I [was into] Prince, I loved it."

And Boyer has her own take as to why there is such an intangible (but enduring) bond between Prince fans. It's not complicated -- but it's a theory that's as playful and laconic as the Purple One himself. 

"We're all smart," she simply says, with a laugh. "As my daughter said, 'Mom, I’m glad you're smart enough to know [Prince] was a genius.'" 

Mary Boyer ~ R.I.P. 

Source:

https://www.thrillist.com/lifestyle/cleveland/mary-boyer-lakewood-prince-memorabilia-collection

[smallpoem]

ramble: being nonbinary, mental health, university, moving out, life

very long personal ramble under the cut so feel free to ignore

these weeks right now are the last real free weeks of my life and yet i feel like there is so much on my plate my head is constantly full of worries and things i need to do and things i need to remember i can hardly breathe my depression and anxiety are really bad and i spend most days doing nothing, just trying to distract myself and get through the day, and every night my insomnia keeps me awake until 4 am i feel more uncomfortable and trapped and unhappy in my body every day, i came close to just chopping my hair off with a pair of crafting scissors several times i do really want to get it cut but im terrified of hair dressers, i hate them, and my mum has been pressuring me to get my hair cut for years, so now i feel like it wouldn’t be my own decision even if it is, i feel manipulated, it would feel like giving up, and i hate that, but i need to get it cut or im going to have a breakdown dysphoria, anxiety, depression are a constant state for me and im so exhausted, im so tired, i can’t do this anymore i hate my birth name, it’s like a slap to my face whenever anyone calls me that, and yet im terrified of coming out (“hello im nonbinary and my name is kieran, kier for short, please call me that” why is that so hard?) i really, really need a binder but i can’t figure out which size is right for me and anxiety won’t let me ask for help im isolating myself in my room and i hate it but i can’t handle being around people (like my mum who i live with), i feel trapped in my own home, i barely eat bc my anxiety is so bad i can’t leave my room i need to get out of here, i need my own space i want to move out and i did finally tell my mum about it and although she said she was hurt at first (which ?? why does everything i do hurt you mum im trying to take care of myself and get better, you always tell me to talk to you and to speak my mind and that it’s okay to be upset, but when i do you’re hurt and make me feel guilty, why?!), she is supportive of me now and she even started making plans for how she’s going to use my room when i don’t live in it anymore, which is good i think it helps that i want to stay in the same house, just get my own little flat here, i think that really helps her, but tbh it worries me i do want to stay here not for her but bc i love this place, i have lived here for 14 years and i love it and it’s my home, but im scared that im still gonna feel trapped by my mum’s presence and that she’s not going to be able to stay out of my business that sounds harsh but i just, she’s so incredibly overprotective, she does everything for me to the point that im scared to try and do something by myself bc it could hurt her feelings, and then she turns around and complains about how dependent i am on her, but when i try to be independent she makes me feel guilty for that too i need to get away from that so really what’s keeping me going, my silver lining, is the thought that im going to move into my own space in the near future, near being relative bc it’s probably still going to take almost a year (how will i survive like this for that long?) but that also brings more worries with it, mostly money related im obviously going to have to get a job to pay rent and provide for myself, which is not going to be easy as a mentally ill university student what kind of job am i going to get, how much will i have to work, how much will i earn, how much will it drain me? how, how will i get through the job interviews with my anxiety as it is? will i be able to afford keeping any of my hobbies or will i have to stop collecting albums, stop going to cons and concerts, stop dancing? regarding concerts, there’s another thing that stresses me out we’ve been planning to go to korea to see shinee early next year before they start enlisting, and while i really want to go, i also really don’t have the money and im scared i won’t be able to save enough in time, and i feel like no one is taking me seriously about this i don’t want to be indebted to my friends and i don’t want to ruin their plans and i don’t want to be left behind either and i feel guilty every time i spend money bc the concert is hanging over my head like a dark cloud that’s getting heavier with every cent i spend but i also know myself and i know that not treating myself to anything would make me really unhappy as shitty and materialistic as this may sound, buying albums, guild wars gems, and going to concerts makes me happy, and often it’s the only happy thing i have in a whole month there’s another event a friend and i are planning to attend, a book fair, which was my idea and i really want to go but i still haven’t gotten my shit together and bought tickets or planned how we’ll get there etc bc i feel so bad about spending that money and i feel like a hypocrite bc i bought a dvd and the guild wars expansion but those are easier bc i don’t have to plan anything what paralyses me about the book fair isn’t the tickets themselves, it’s the additional costs for transport and possibly a hostel, that’s so much money it just looms over my head terrifying me of spending it even though i’ll have to and don’t get me wrong i love my friends but one of them earns significantly more money than i do and still encourages me to spend mine, brushing off every time i mention being worried, and i fall for it too, i listen to them and spend the money and then feel horrible about it, why am i like this then university itself - on the one hand i am so happy and excited to start, on the other hand im terrified i don’t know how to handle my gender situation there - i know i can’t bear being called by my birth name, but i don’t know how to deal with that - should i send an email to every professor before the semester starts, which is terrifying and almost impossible bc again, anxiety or should i just say that i prefer kieran or kier over my birth name without an explanation? that way i wouldn’t have to come out but it’d also mean being gendered female which will not help my dysphoria either there’s an lgbt+ student group that i want to join but im terrified of that too, i want to go so bad but i’ll have to do that alone and that’s so hard it’s so hard idk how i’ll manage to do it im also just terrified of the future in general bc i have no idea what the f im doing with my life i will study korean language, culture, and history which is awesome, and i do know that i love language and translating, but i have no clue how and where i’d want to work, and i also don’t know if it’s gonna be enough if that makes sense? i really love translating but if there’s one thing i love more it’s creating, and im scared im going to be unhappy just translating other people’s creative work without directly being part of a creation process myself but i also know im not good enough at art or writing or graphic design im not good enough at anything there are so many things that i love and that im decent at but im not really good at anything and it’s so frustrating im so scared of the future and of failure and of making myself unhappy, i wish i had one thing i was good at and loved and knew i wanted to do so i could have a plan but im just swimming in a river of uncertainty and it’s terrifying everything is terrifying and im so tired of constantly being scared another thing that worries and stresses me out is my body and the constant pain im in my knees have been hurting for years but it’s all my joints now and all the doctor ever tells me is “you need to work out more” but it hurts then im also planning to go to a gynecologist bc i can’t handle the cramps anymore it hurts so much i just want to cry thinking about it and i can’t take it anymore for the longest time i have hated the thought of birth control bc i don’t want to mess with my body but at this point i’d do almost anything to make the pain stop and im hoping that birth control will help my skin too bc i hate my skin i hate it so much i wish no one would ever look at me bc i feel so ugly and disgusting and if i cut my hair off i’ll have nothing to hide behind and i don’t think i can handle that i just want to feel okay in my body and not constantly be in pain but doctors appointments are so scary and exhausting and everything is too much there’s more but i lost track of what i was going to say and tbh if i wrote down all of my worries this would never end im just. so tired and scared and tired of being scared

[daveywankenobie]

It’s been a little while since I felt like writing a post and this has been for a variety of reasons. Firstly there have been a couple of days where frankly I have been struggling a bit under the weight of a rather downbeat mood.

There are a couple of reasons for me feeling a tiny bit blue – but neither of them are serious and both pale into insignificance in the great scheme of things. However, in my experience (when it comes to emotional states) how you feel has very little to do with reality and is often just temporary perception.

mine would have me believe that (in certain respects) I’ve not been doing as well as I could or should have recently and that because of this I’m less than successful in life than I would like to be.

The weather hasn’t really helped my frame of mind – and when I’ve tried to do things to that will bring positivity and order to my life – such as make my environment a tidy and positive one – it’s dragged me down even further.

Summer can’t come back soon enough in my opinion.

I’m already sick of the inclement weather we’re enduring lately. Davey doesn’t do cold weather any more. His bones ache in lower temperatures and his hands quickly get cold without gloves or central heating.

Lord knows I’ve tried to be outdoorsy. Truthfully though I’ve not been ‘feeling it’ for a week or so and the damp, windy world outside my window has been a tough sell.

Despite it’s inaugural haircut of 2019 my back garden remains rather miserable looking at the moment.

I’m very much looking forward to the return of green leaves and that odd yellow ball in the sky that makes it blossom and generally look a little more inviting.

I’ve discussed planting herbs this year with a friend – since he’s pointed out that I’d probably use these a lot in my frequent cooking – but this will require significant clearing and weeding of my borders to do so.

That’s something to work on in the near future – but on a day like the one above I only just managed to get the job done and take a picture before the heavens opened and the world filled once more filled with puddles and mud.

Since many days recently have been too grim to venture out very far at all I’ve also been tackling another task that I’ve been putting off for way too long.

Clutter.

We all carry so much needless crap from place to place throughout our lives in the name of sentimentality that sometimes we have to step back and ask ourselves why the items that adorn our walls, fill our cupboards and populate our shelves are there in the first place.

What purpose do they serve any more and do they bring any joy or happiness?

Many things we hold on to do not. They just sit there staring lazily back at us day after day after day after day with absolutely no identifiable purpose…

In my case one of my Achilles heels has been books.

From an early age I was taught to revere these and treat them with care.

Books contain wisdom, they’re important, and only troglodytes or Nazis dispose of them.

I’ve held on to legions of these since my degree years and I can’t remember opening a single one again since the time their related essays rolled off the press and into my tutor’s pigeon to be marked.

I finished my degree before the millennium…

Whilst leafing through one rather yellowed and dusty tome related to Arthurian literature (Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain – a great bedtime read for those crippled by insomnia) I couldn’t help but notice a bookmark, dating back (roughly) to the last time I paid it any interest.

UCI cinemas haven’t existed for around a decade and a half (they were slowly merged with Odeon cinemas in the early 2000’s). This Solihull outlet in particular was bulldozed to make way for a car dealership in 2005/6 (link).

The film it showed (Chain Reaction link) is so old that at the time Keanu Reeves was still best known for Bill & Ted’s excellent adventure and Morgan Freeman still had (some) dark hair.

So I had to ask myself why I was holding onto a book (and many other similar ones) that I hadn’t opened for 27 years?

Well the truth is that I didn’t need to – so I cleared out every book that had no current value to me, taking them to a charity shop along with a number of other items secreted around my house.

Bit by bit I spent a few days getting rid of a past that I no longer inhabit and haven’t for a very long time. 

This only slightly lifted my mood however.

There are some things I can’t bring myself to dispose of – despite not using them very much any more so instead I tried to bring order to their chaos. Films and video games are something that these days take up way more space in my home than they currently account for in my very much more active life.

I decided therefore to pack away much of my old console game back catalogue and combine my DVD & Blu-Ray collection in alphabetical order.

This supremely satisfying task took many hours – but now every film I possess is not only easily available but in the correct order.

Sigh.

An alphabetised shelving unit is a thing of beauty.

Not even this act of neat freakery completely lifted my mood however and shortly after scratching this particular itch I found myself binge eating cottage cheese, apples and plums.

My post diamond target weight in eating has been (ahem) problematic – and despite trying hard to be good with a number of very on plan meals I’ve over indulged a bit more over the last two weeks than I should have.

I will admit to a bit of excessive relaxation that now has to be addressed by once more losing a few pounds.

I do wish that I didn’t have a tendency to deal with mood dips like this.

The behaviours they invariably give rise to are not only non-productive but now I also have to face my partner after such episodes (of which there have been several) when I feel like I’ve let myself down a lot – and admit that I’m not coping he way I feel that I should have.

People may laugh when I write that I’m overeating cottage cheese and fruit – but I can report that I have conclusive proof that it’s supremely possible to gain weight with healthy food.

If you eat too much of anything you’ll fill out.

It’s a fact.

The only real bonus is it’s not crap food full of empty calories and in the great scheme of things it’s doing way less damage than pizza, kebabs or chips ever caused in the past.

As well as dealing with the usual self loathing related to over indulging I now also have to continually remind myself that my related (habitual and well practiced) behaviour patterns are of no help in a relationship whatsoever.

I am no longer just a single guy who can metaphorically stomp back to his man cave, retreat from the world and bury his head in a video game.

Neither do I want to if I’m honest – because it’s never really worked for me in the past.

This means that for the first time in twenty odd years I’ve been going through a low patch – but also trying to share my more vulnerable elements openly with the person that I care about.

It’s tough though when you’re not feeling in the least bit lovable – what you really want early on in a relationship is to show yourself at your absolute best.

It’s early days and you want to come across as an emotional cripple.

I’m an honest person for better or worse now though and regardless of it being inconvenient I made a commitment to myself three years ago to be honest about who I am and how I feel about myself with everyone – and that goes double for people that I care deeply about.

Radio silence does no-one any good and instead I’ve tried to broadcast on all frequencies whenever possible – accepting help and welcoming a different points of view.

In the past I’d have simply buried myself (alone) in a TV box set or a lengthy video game.

When I look for another way I’m often pulled into positive spaces – such as a Dodgy (link) concert at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, which is definitely outside my normal comfort zone.

Via my partner’s taste in music I’ve slowly begun to get into this band (some of their tracks I love) and when she suggested we go together, rather than umming or arring about whether or not I’d like it I just said ‘yes.’

‘Yes’.

It’s way more powerful and positive than ‘no’ – which means that your perspective never alters, and your mood or opinions never change.

In contrast ‘yes’ means opening yourself up to new experiences and potentially enjoying something that you normally wouldn’t have had a chance to.

Even if you don’t get pleasure from it (which I very much did) the act of doing something new alone can totally lift you out of your malaise and enable new thoughts and feelings.

In my case when I say ‘yes’ and headed off to London with my girlfriend I got to see a truly awesome group of musicians (and a couple of OK support acts – Terrorvision and Babybird) at the top of their game and experience the joy of dancing the night away alongside someone that I love to be with.

So as I type I’m in a much better head space.

My fellow traveller has managed to stop me turning tiny problems into a complete crisis, helped me reign in my excessive eating, enabled me to see things with a fresh perspective, and just reminded me that it’s OK to not be 100% all of the time.

It’s nice to be reminded that someone wants to be there for you as much as you want to be there for them in return – and that you’re able to lean into them when you don’t feel capable of standing tall on your own.

So – it’s all about perception.

A bad mood might not seem like it has any value when it hits, but it’s still a valuable emotion and it’s there for a reason.

We can’t be 100% happy all the time, and there’s a value being vulnerable.

In doing so we can allow other people to show that they care, reminding us that we’re not alone in life, and that occasionally downbeat assessments of the world around us are simply a passing phase.

Honesty and truth are the only ways forward.

Internalising things did no-none any good in the history of ever – and my new life is continued proof of that. The more I welcome change and the more I share it the easier and more pleasurable it becomes.

Unexpectedly it’s led me from an existence where I was closed off and alone to singing the lyrics of Grassman aloud whilst swaying in time to an all encompassing wall of sound in my partner’s arms.

Lean into people internet.

They won’t let you down.

Davey

Leaning into Grassman It's been a little while since I felt like writing a post and this has been for a variety of reasons.  1,917 more words

[fixxofvixx]

HEALING RAVI - CHAPTER FOUR

Hello~~~~ *waves*

I hope you all are having a lovely week so far.

Here’s the next chapter for Ravi! I hope you enjoy it! Next up will be a chapter for Daeguni~

Side note: I told myself I wasn’t going to but I became weak and bought the Elysium concert dvd……I blame MWave for having signed copies for sale 😥

Now I can get Taekwoon back in my head for his story!

🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺

JiYoon took a deep breath as she stood outside of a large brick building. It looked old by the way the grey brick was slowly cracking around the edges. Rising from the cracked asphalt like a set for a horror film more than a prison. The windows were grungy and covered in grime. Certainly, it would make it difficult to see in or out. She wondered exactly how many hybrids were housed in this horrid location. Of course, there were also regular humans in there as well. Regardless of the number, however, there were two in particular that she really wished she didn’t have to see today–or ever.

A hand gently touched her shoulder and she slinked away from it, startled.

“I’m sorry.” She followed the hand until it reached the side of its owner. Kim Wonshik. He had insisted that he come with her. His face had been determined and she hadn’t had the courage to refuse. He had stated that he was not going to let her step with a mile of that son of a bitch unless he was there. He had been pulled in by her so fast so, naturally, he was fiercely protective already. He was hoping for something more with her but he wasn’t sure how she felt. He knew she wasn’t ready for any emotional attachment but he already decided that he would care for her as much as she would let him.

She watched as his face fell, knowing he had forgotten that you didn’t like to be touched. He couldn’t help his nature, she knew that. He was always hugging his bandmates or showing some type of affection. She wished that she could be that free. She wished that she didn’t automatically flinch when a hand got too close. She didn’t blame him. She understood that he had no ill intentions so she tried her best not to react when he moved too fast or touched her accidentally.

“It’s okay.” She smiled up at him. “I just wasn’t paying attention.”

He gave her a half-smile, indicating that he understood. And he did. Wonshik was very patient with her and she appreciated that so much. She felt much safer when he was near her. She couldn’t explain it. Perhaps it was simply his wolf nature.

A man stepped out of a large steel door and walked towards them. She tensed and Wonshik noticed.

“That’s Jimin’s uncle. He was the one that arrested HaeJeong and MinJeong.” Wonshik leaned in close and she could feel his breath on her neck. Goosebumps appeared on her arms and her heart quickened. He straightened and she took a deep breath, focusing on the man approaching them.

“Hello JiYoon, thank you for coming. I know you didn’t want to have to do this. I’m JaePil, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The older man smiled and bowed. JiYoon returned the gesture, silently relieved that he hadn’t tried to shake her hand. He bowed again towards Wonshik and they exchanged greetings as well. “Follow me and we can get this over with and put it behind us.”

The concept of this time in her life being left behind was a nice thought. Perhaps she could lead a semi-normal life after this.

She followed after JaePil, looking over her shoulder to make sure that Wonshik was behind her. Sure enough, he was right on her heels giving her a small grin. She knew he was on edge. Neither one of you knew what to expect.

JiYoon followed JaePil through the large metal doors that revealed a long hallway with several doors on either side. Halfway down the hallway, he stopped and opened a plain white door. Inside was a simple desk and a few metal chairs. It closely resembled a typical interrogation room but had obviously not been used in a while.

“The first thing I need for you to do, JiYoon, is make an official statement. I need you to write down as much as you can about what happened. All the way from the very beginning.” JaePil placed some paper and a pen down on the table and turned to her.

“The entire four years?” Panic swelled in her chest as her mind began to run through what her life had been in those years.

“Not every detail but as much as you can. We need to be able to slap them with as many charges as possible so they can’t get out any time soon. I especially need you to write about the kidnapping, holding you against your will, and the sexual assaults. Those will hold the most weight against them.”

She lowered her head and nodded. She was fighting with her emotions and trying to control them. She didn’t want to write everything down and relive it all. On the other hand, she couldn’t risk having those two out on the streets where they could hurt more people. She was also struggling with the fact that Wonshik was in the room and would be witness to all of this. She didn’t want him to carry the burden of knowing the horrors that she had been through.

“After that is taken care of we need you to officially identify them as your attackers.” JaePil mentioned quietly, knowing it would be difficult for her.

JiYoon almost lost control of her knees at that point. Her eyes widened and a slight tremble started in her stomach.

“I-I have to s-see them?” Her voice was small and barely audible.

“Just for a moment. We will be there with you, right Wonshik?” JaePil looked at the wolf for help.

“Of course. I wont leave your side for a second. They wont touch you, I promise you that.” Wonshik’s deep voice reached her and she settled slightly. She didn’t know JaePil or this place. But she trusted Wonshik. She needed to stop cowering. She needed to stop being afraid of everything. Maybe, just maybe, this would be the first step.

She sat down at the table without a word and began writing. She was at least thankful that she didn’t have to voice her story to someone. This was silent and only slightly less painful. The officer had left to prepare the inmates for the identification portion of this trip. Wonshik stayed silent the entire time, offering quiet support.

When she was finished, almost forty-five minutes later, she felt mentally drained. Reliving those moments and actually putting them down to paper hurt more than she thought it would. However, it also felt like a release. She tried to consider this a chapter in her life that was coming to a close.

When the papers were handed over, JaePil led them to another room. This one was larger with no windows and only two chairs. He had explained that this room was the only one available that would be large enough to keep them separated. The officer then led her to stand at the far corner of the room while he brought HaeJeong and MinJeong in. Wonshik stood behind her, tense but ready if needed. When the door opened again, she held her breath. MinJeong entered first, head down, walking straight to the chair and sitting down. HaeJeong was different. He walked in, head held high and smiling. When he noticed JiYoon he stopped.

“Aww, JaePil, I’m so touched! You brought my favorite toy! C'mere, JiJi and give us a hug! I’ve missed you.” He started towards that side of the room but JaePil caught his arm and pulled him over to the chair, forcibly shoving him down in it.

The nickname that he had used caused her to feel nauseous. She still heard that in her sleep. Almost instinctively she backed up a step. She could feel the body heat coming from Wonshik. Knowing that he was behind her gave her the strength not to crumble.

“Oh, you brought a guard doggie, too! How sweet! I remember you~. Tell me, pup, have you had her yet? If not, I can give you some suggestions on what she likes. Man, does she scream! Aw, now don’t get angry. I’m trying to help you!”

JiYoon turned to see that Wonshik’s eyes had turned red already. What worried her more was the tinges of black that hovered around the edge of his irises. She could feel the electricity of his anger rolling off of him. Thankfully, JaePil stepped up to change the subject.

“Enough. We need to settle this and go our separate ways. JiYoon, I’m going to ask you a few questions. I have a voice recorder for evidence purposes. I need you to speak clearly so we can hear everything later, okay?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good. Now, JiYoon, as stated in your testimony, a man kidnapped you from the orphanage in which you resided four years ago, right after you turned 18, correct?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Is that man here? And if he is will you point to him and voice which chair he is in?”

“Yes, he’s here. The one sitting in the left chair, closest to the door.” JiYoon watched as HaeJeong’s expression went from carefree and jovial to dark and menacing. She had seen the change before. He was going to snap soon. She only hoped that it would be much later, after she was gone.

“Good, thank you. Next charge. JiYoon, as also stated in your testimony, the same man that kidnapped you, forced you to perform sexual acts with him as well as physically abusing you. As before, if that man is here will you point him out?”

JiYoon took a deep breath and tried to keep the tears from falling. She swallowed, her throat going dry.

“Yes, he is here. The same man from before, sitting in the left chair closest to the door.”

“Very well. Officially, with these charges and the victim’s testimony we will seek life imprisonment for Lee HaeJeong. As for Kim MinJeong,who acted as an accomplice, we will seek the same charge once we receive testimony from another victim. This concludes the session of charges.” JaePil spoke into the recorder before pressing a button to save it and placed it in his pocket. He walked over and reached for MinJeong first. Once he was to his feet, all hell broke loose. MinJeong grabbed JaePil and slammed his head against the wall and held it there. He tried to struggle but the blow to the head had disoriented him.

“You filthy slut! I’m going to kill you for putting me in here!” HaeJeong lunged for JiYoon but never made it.

JiYoon braced for the blow that would come from the snake hybrid but it never came. When she opened her eyes all she saw was Wonshik’s back. He had pulled her back into the corner and he was fighting with HaeJeong.

Wonshik held HaeJeong’s fist in his large hand and began to twist it at a odd angle. The snake knelt to the floor in an effort to relieve the pain. Soon, she heard a sickening crack as HaeJeong’s wrist broke. He screamed in agony but came at Wonshik full force. The blow HaeJeong was able to land pushed Wonshik back against JiYoon. She huddled in the corner as much as she could but Wonshik’s back was flush against her chest. She was effectively trapped and she was having trouble breathing. She tried to remind herself that this was Wonshik and he was protecting her. That the proximity of his body was not intended to be an attack.

Wonshik gained the upper hand again and slammed his fist into the HaeJeong’s jaw.

“You fucking mutt! I’ll slit your throat first and have you bleed out while fuck her senseless! Then, I’ll kill her slowly until they wont recognize the body! Who the hell do you think you are?! You all ruined my life!”

Wonshik’s growl echoed throughout the room. JiYoon even slunk into the corner further after she heard it.

“You son of a bitch! Do you actually think you’ll get past me? You have no idea who you are fucking with. I’m a wolf, you dumb fuck. What makes you think your power surpasses mine? You’re so far down the food chain I almost feel sorry for you. The only thing keeping me from tearing you apart right now is the knowledge that you will rot in here. You’ll be here knowing that your carefully laid plans were destroyed by a boy band. My only wish for you is that you’ll have to go through the same pain you put JiYoon through everytime you drop the soap in there.”

“You motherfucker!” HaeJeong screamed as he took off for Wonshik again. Before he could reach him, Wonshik shifted his body, shot his leg out, and launched HaeJeong into the wall. The snake slowly fell to the floor, unconscious.

Wonshik started over towards MinJeong but the officer had already gained the upperhand. With the threats extinguished, Wonshik turned to JiYoon. He took a step towards her but stopped when she backed herself into the corner again. He raised his hands in surrender. She was looking at his eyes and he realized that they must still be red. Willing himself to calm down, he closed his eyes. When he felt the change and they were blue again he opened them. Wonshik was relieved so see that she had relaxed a bit. However, he could tell that she was still shaking.

“Let’s get you out of here, okay? Hyung, we’re finished right?”

“Yeah, you guys take off. I’ll take care of these dumbasses.” He offered a smile that indicated that he was sorry about what had happened. Wonshik nodded in acceptance.

JiYoon slowly made her way to the door, keeping her eyes on HaeJeong the whole time. It was as if she was waiting for him to suddenly wake up and come after her again. Wonshik opened the door for her but made no move to touch her. If it was up to him, he would have picked her up and ran out of this hellhole with her. He hated seeing the look of fear on her face.

When she reached the van, she barely made it into the seat in the middle when her knees collapsed and all but fell into the cushion. Wonshik reached for her arm to steady her but stopped only a centimeter from it. God, he wanted to touch her. But, he didn’t think he could take it if she avoided him because of it.

She finally settled herself into the seat as the manager started the van to head back to the dorms. She had noticed Wonshik’s reluctance to touch her. She felt guilty. But, she also felt at a loss.

So what if he did?

She wondered if she slowly allowed herself to break free and have a little courage, would she be happier? Whenever she felt someone come in contact with her skin she was transported back to that godforsaken room that had been her personal hell for fpur years. But she didn’t want that anymore. Seeing HaeJeong fighting with Wonshik and losing to hom had given her a different perspective. She had never been able to overpower him. But Wonshik had succeed almost effortlessly. She was safe with him. He was caring and gentle. And she had touched him before when she’d healed him. It had been hard to hold herself together but she didn’t break. She looked down at his hand and noticed that there was blood along his knuckles. She remember the crack she had heard when he had hit HaeJeong. He had to be in pain. She didn’t want to be the cause of pain for someone.

Before she could talk herself out of it she reached for his right hand. She had to turn towards his slightly to reach it and was able to catch his reaction. This time he flinched. It was odd to see someone react the way she usually did. She almost smiled. Just moments ago he was a badass wolf hybrid ready to tear down the house. But now, he was calm and shy.

“What are you doing?” His voice was low but she caught the surprise in it.

“You’re bleeding.” She held his hand in hers much like she had the first time. However, this would be easier since nothing was broken.

He didn’t say anything else. He simply allowed her to do whatever she wanted. He was afraid that if he said anything, she would pull away.

She had healed his hand in a matter of moments but she didn’t release it from her hold. His hand was warm and large as it laid in hers. She didn’t have the courage to look at him but she silently prayed that he wouldn’t remove his hand.

Does he think I’m odd? Maybe I should let go.

She almost did but Wonshik flexed his hand ever so slightly over hers. He was holding her hand now, but just barely. Warmth spread from her hand, up her arm, and straight to her heart. The feeling amazed her. She didn’t feel afraid.

But, Wonshik couldn’t breathe properly. JiYoon was still beside him, holding his hand. He looked at her face but couldn’t read her expression. He held himself deathly still lest he scared her somehow by moving.

“Thank you for coming with me today. I….don’t want to think about what might have happened if you weren’t there.” A small smile appeared on her face. She curled her hand around his slowly. It was an innocent action but it meant the world to her.

“I’ll be anywhere you need me to be.” He whispered.

She thought for a moment. It was something she had considered before but didn’t dare to ask. But now she felt that she needed to.

“Wonshik? Can you help me with something?”

“Of course, whatever you need.” He kept his voice calm. However, inside he was jumping for joy. She wanted his help. He didn’t care if it was just lifting some heavy boxes for her, he was there.

JiYoon looked up at him and studied his face for a moment. Whatever she needed to say, she was struggling with it. He gave her a reassuring smile that he would be patient.

“Help me not to be afraid. I have no idea how to fix…me. I don’t want to be like this forever.” Tears formed in her eyes. “I want to be normal like everyone else.”

Wonshik slowly raised his free hand to her cheek and gently brushed the tear away that had escaped from her eyes.

“You are normal, sweetie. You are a good person that bad things happened to. I promise that I will do everything in my power to erase your memory of those years. I can’t promise that there is an easy fix but you will forget. You just might have to trust me a little bit, though. Can you do that?”

“Yeah, I think so.” She hoped so.

“Good. For now, you just need to sit back and relax. You’ve had a long day. When we get back, I’ll show you my studio and we can work on that trust a little bit.”

[ai-da-ice]

ai-da-ice in Japan: Settling In

[For all of you who have had questions about my trip to Japan thus far or just want to know what it’s like living here, I’ve decided to start a little journal of my experiences here :D If you’re here for the music, don’t worry– I pretty much am, too. The content will definitely include J-pop/Da-iCE related things and goodies!]

Week 1: Arriving, Lost in Shibuya, Da-iCE Shopping in Harajuku

This summer I went to see Da-iCE in San Jose, California with a layover in Texas, which took seven hours. That was the longest flight I’d ever been on, and it had seemed incredibly long at the time, especially since I was really antsy and eager to see the boys. Well, that flight had absolutely nothing on my trip to Japan, which was 5 hours to San Francisco, 2 hours to Vancouver, then 10 hours to Tokyo + layover waiting time. Luckily, unlike my San Jose flight, there was free entertainment provided on the flight to Tokyo–I watched the excellent animated movie “Your Name”–as well as yummy dinner service. Plus, I actually managed to get some sleep this time, though not particularly comfortable sleep.

I left Ohio at 7:00 am on the 28th and arrived in Tokyo on the 29th at 6:30 JST PM. Sounds impressive, but of course that factors in all the time zone changes that happened along the way. Needless to say, I was dead tired by time I arrived. I was so out of it that I didn’t even freak out when the airline told me my suitcase with all my clothes and bedding hadn’t arrived with the plane. I was just like “Whatever, they’ll take care of it, just get me to the nearest bed.”

It was too late to check into my apartment, so I took a taxi to a nearby hostel. It was a pretty neat setup with sleep pods that look tiny but were surprisingly cozy. I was on an all girls floor, and everyone I shared the space with was nice and quiet. So if you ever go to Japan and don’t want to pay for a hotel, I highly recommend trying one of these hostels out. I can’t say I slept soundly the whole night, but that’s more because my body was confused about why I wasn’t living in Eastern Standard Time anymore. The next few days were more of the same as I put up with waves of jet lag.

Anyways, after my one night in a sleep pod, I took another taxi to my apartment. On this adventure, I learned several things: 1) Street names are incredibly uncommon in Japan. Addresses are numbered by the “block number” and “building number,” but are not necessarily given names. This was not a happy realization for me, since I get lost even when there are street names 2) Because of this, Japanese taxi drivers may need your assistance in finding your building if they don’t have reliable GPS, but most don’t speak English. Cue to my taxi driver being unable to find my apartment, me being unable to help him, me having no phone service to call for help, and me finally being awake enough to panic. Luckily, we managed to find it after some roaming. 3) The taxi drivers are nice and fair otherwise. During the time we got lost, the taxi driver didn’t charge me since he said it wasn’t my fault. Thank you, sir!

So, I checked in to my apartment, where I am sharing a divided-by-partitions and semi-private room with 3 other girls. It’s on the small side, but cozy. Since my phone was locked to North America, and I couldn’t set up my internet without getting a router, I was a little freaked out about venturing out to the no-named streets without direction back up. Luckily, I was paying attention to the layout of my neighborhood when we were lost, and was able to find my way to the main street to get myself some bento and familiarize myself with some of the nearby stores.

When I was done with that, I was ready to pass out to sleep. Unfortunately, my lost suitcase hit me right about then. I did have pajamas in my carry on, but no bedding or day clothes to wear the next day. I had to sleep on my mattress with only a tiny fleece blanket and a neck pillow. Not comfortable. At all.

The next day, thank god, my suitcase arrived for me. After unpacking, I registered my address at the ward office, a must-do if you’re a non-tourist in Japan. I couldn’t get a Japanese cell phone without doing so, and it serves as a substitute for a driver’s license, and is also easier than constantly using a passport for an ID. I also found a wireless hotspot for my laptop so I could research where I could go get a cell phone to use in Japan. There are a few phone companies with customer service in English, and the most promising was a SoftBank in Shibuya. Since I wanted to go there anyways to see Tower Records and visit the Da-iCE promotion at SPINNS, I decided to go the next day.

Naturally, I was anxious about going to an unfamiliar area with unnamed roads without GPS, and it went about as badly as I expected. Getting to Shibuya Station was easy, but there were a gazillion SoftBank locations marked in Shibuya. It was just as I was stepping out of the station and about to freak out that I saw Da-iCE's banner and was able to calm down. 

 I couldn't find any of the SoftBanks I was looking for, but did manage to find Tower Records. I hunted down the Da-iCE section and roamed a bit, but was so anxious about the cell phone situation that I didn't enjoy myself as much as I normally would. I went back out into Shibuya and spent about two hours getting lost and finding the wrong SoftBanks before finally finding the one with English staff. My poor leg muscles were throbbing. 

 A few hours later, I had my cell phone and GPS! No more getting lost! It was the last day of Da-iCE's Harajuku promos, so I hauled tail over there. I didn't have time to explore Harajuku as much as I would have liked, but made it to SPINNS on time to get swag and some fashionable Da-iCE clothes. After getting my phone, everything in my life became so much easier.

A post shared by Julie (@ai_da_ice) on Jan 31, 2017 at 3:59am PST

Week 2: Training, Odaiba, and Settling In

During my second week, I was mainly busy completing my work training, but I also had my first Da-iCE event at Odaiba’s Venus Fort Mall. You can read about that here, but I would also like to add a little bit about Odaiba and Venus Fort. Odaiba is an artificial island on Tokyo Bay that is mainly filled with commercial shopping centers and ports. You can see the Rainbow Bridge from the island, and also they have this really cool and HUGE Gundam inhabiting the Diver City area. And I mean HUGE.

The Venus Fort mall itself was lux~ury. Definitely way cooler than my hometown mall.

Settling in to Tokyo was surprisingly easy for me. I had big-city living experience having spent several years in New York, and Tokyo is like the politer, cleaner version of New York, minus the convenience of named streets. As a foreigner, there are some snags. The general population doesn’t speak English much, and my blonde-curly self sticks out like a sore thumb, and I don’t necessarily want everyone noticing me when I do embarrassing things like trip (often) or get lost (very often) or have to fight the wind for control of my hair (almost every second). However, I’ve managed pretty well thus far with my limited Japanese, and with my GPS, I can find my way around just fine. Convenient stores are everywhere, and where I live in Shinjuku is near major shopping districts. It’s not too difficult to find the things you need. If you’re visiting the Tokyo area without much knowledge of Japanese, I would recommend learning shopping terms and etiquette the most, since that’s probably where you’ll need it the most frequently.

Week 3: Work and Exploring Shinjuku Gyoen, Akihabara, and Korea Town

Lest anyone think I’m just here to see Da-iCE and get lost, my third week here was mostly spent working. BUT, on my two days off (Wednesday and Thursday), I decided to explore some areas I was interested in. I love taking nature walks, so first stop was Shinjuku National Gyoen, one of the biggest parks in the Shinjuku area. It’s best during spring according to the locals, but my winter stroll around the massive park was lovely. There’s a little bit of everything-- traditional gardens, greenhouses, lakes, old tea houses, small shrines, and various kinds of trees, though most were bare while I was there. There was a lot to see even though it wasn’t peak season, so if you also like spending a little quality time with nature, it’s highly recommended.

After getting my fill of the park, I headed to Otaku paradise, Akihabara. If you’re not sure what otaku stuff there is to do there, don’t worry. Just take two steps into the heart of the city and you’ll quickly find anime stores, gaming arcades, hobby shops, maid cafes, and more moe girl pictures than you can handle.

I selected the popular anime/manga/etc store “Animate” for the majority of my wanderings, which took quite a bit of time because there were tons of floors. Pretty much anything you could possibly want is in Animate, and if not the first Animate you find, then in one of the many other Animate shops in the area. There’s manga of all genres, merch of all kinds (key rings, body pillows, wall scrolls, cell phone covers, pins, buttons, figures, literally everything), OSTs and Drama CDs, collectibles and magazines for seiyuu fans, art books, yaoi, yuri, doujinshi, DVDs, and on and on and on. Heavily merchandised franchises like Love Live! or Uta no Prince-sama have the merch advantage, but if you hunt around enough, you’re sure to find something from your show of choice.

After resisting several impulse buys, I moved along to TRIO, an idol shop. If you’re into Johnny’s and Hello Project and the AKB48 + spinoffs, this is your kingdom. From photo cards to concert booklets to uchiwa of your ichiban/oshimen to lightsticks to fanzines, this place had it all. I was mostly on the male idol side, and there was so much Johnny’s stuff that I, a KAT-TUN fan, had to restrain myself every other second from grabbing everything. It frustrates me to no end that almost all of the stuff there isn’t available in some online form for international fans to purchase. There were so many amazing things that I wish I could take all international Johnny’s lovers there and watch them flip.

AAA also had a pretty sizable selection there, but there weren’t many other non-Johnny’s group represented on the male idol side. They did have some Da-iCE CDs though, and their most recent photobook.

The next day, I hit Korea Town near the Shin-Okubo station. If you love K-pop, this is pretty much heaven. EVERYTHING idol related you could want is here. Albums, DVDs, posters, lightsticks, key rings, hats, hoodies, pillows, fan books, concert photos, stickers, standees, bags, magazines, photobooks, EVERYTHING. Since my favorite group, TVXQ, is super popular in Japan, I was in heaven, and I finally broke down and decided to start spending money. There was a super good deal on small posters at one shop, 100 yen per poster, so I wound up getting 9...mostly TVXQ, but also VIXX, Bigbang’s TOP, and GOT7.

After checking out every single K-idol store in the vicinity (and there were A LOT), I went back to Tower Records in Shibuya to blow more money on music

A post shared by Julie (@ai_da_ice) on Feb 15, 2017 at 7:37pm PST

While I’m here in Japan, I want to keep building my J-pop collection without having to worry about the evils of shipping! I mainly want to work on FlowBack and X4 at the moment, but I would also love to get my hands on some Ebidan group DVDs, as well as check out some boy groups whose music was difficult to access overseas like XOX. I wound up getting 2 FlowBack CDs, “Shake the World” and “Come a Long Way” (I really wanted “Heartbreaker,” but the DVD version wasn’t in, unfortunately), as well as X4′s “Funk, Dunk, Punk”. Lastly, I got one of my fave K-pop groups 100%’s Japanese debut.

Goodbye, sweet money. I’m not even showing off all 9 posters here...

So, after all that, my legs are dying! I enjoyed my day-off exploring, so tomorrow it’s back to work!

[ecotone99]

[MS] One of my strangest cases

My name is Police Chief Brian Morrison. I started as a patrol officer in 1978 and retired in February of 2020. I was the police chief of a small beach town on the East Coast of Florida. Orange Grove Island was the name of the city. It was North of Daytona Beach (between Daytona Beach and St. Augustine) but a quiet town for the most part. The town didn't allow for large condos or building above four stories high to be built. That kept the town character rather quaint.

I was married back in the 1980's and then divorced. I have two grown children and three grandchildren. I remarried back in 1990. Sadly my second wife Sally died in 2004. Totally unexpected. For the past several years I've dated a woman who lives in Penscola. We have a long distance relationship. Because of Covid-19, we talked on the computer or on the phone. Haven't seen her since March. My kids like her which is good.

Since the early 1980's, some anonymous person has sent a variety of audio tapes, VCR tapes and DVD tapes with a note saying that crimes has been committed and stuff that was being sent was connected. They were sent to several law enforcement agencies up and down the Eastern Seaboard of Florida. Most of the people on the tapes couldn't be identified.

Now that I'm retired and Covid-19 has basically confined me to my house, I decided to take a second look at these audio tapes, VCR and DVD tapes. Several agencies threw away these audio tapes, VCR tapes and DVD recordings. My uncle kept them and gave them to me shortly after he retired. He really didn't know to make of them as no actual crime was spoken of or recorded. I had heard some of the recordings when he first got them back in the day.

Most of the audio tapes are of private conversations of citizens about very mundane things. A few of the conversations I recognized the voices. One of them was rather amusing. It was the first audio tape that was sent in April of 1982. Clara Matthews was about 80 years old in 1982. She was at her home which was right on the beach talking with her best friend Florence Gray about an orchestra concert that Orange Grove College put on. Her grandson played the clarinet in the Orchestra.

For those who don't know, Orange Grove college is a private Episcopalian college. About 1, 000 students, many of whom are in the orchestra. Robert Hall is Clara Matthew's grandson. I knew him as we attended the same high school, Orange Grove High.

"I really enjoyed going with you to the concert Clara. Robert did so well."

"I know he did very well. I know that he was pretending not to look at me but I know he was."

"Well, Clara you were whispering to me rather loudly during the performance."

"I wasn't that loud, Florence, I mean really."

I had to laugh when I would think of their conversations. Their voices carried. I lived next door from Clara, so I often heard the conversations that she had with Florence. The two women passed on decades ago.

Robert Hall played the clarinet and he recently retired from the Kansas City Orchestra after many years playing there.

The family had a good reputation. I tried to figure out what crime was committed. Maybe the person didn't like classical music, didn't like how Robert played the clarinet or maybe the person was jealous of Robert. I remember my uncle saying this.

We both laughed about this one but it was wasting the time and resources of the law enforcement agencies. Because it was labeled evidence of possible crime, the agencies that got it had to investigate to see if this was the case. It was nearly 10 years before the law enforcement agencies realized that other agencies were getting the same thing.

One of the VCR tapes which was made back in 1989 was leaked to a tabloid magazine who had a field day with it. Everyone knew that Monica Snowden was probably going to make it big as an actress. She had talent and was in many local plays. Rock Star Kevin Press had gone to the little dinner theater in 1984 and had seen Monica perform in the play Snow White. She had just graduated from high school but didn't know what to do with her life.

She ended up being a dancer in several music videos and they got married two weeks after her 18th birthday. Kevin was 26 years old. The marriage lasted 5 years and produced twin daughters. The video recording was secretly done. Kevin and Monica were separating and they were at her grandmother's home talking. Both were sitting at a table across from each other. Both were quite upset with each other.

"I'm going to tell everyone in your family's church what you did Monica. Do 'want me to do that? You weren't some sweet innocent virgin when we got married. I tell them that we sleep together before we were married. I'm sure they already know this, but they pretend like they don't.

"You know Kevin, I don't care if you do. I'm sure they already know that. You told everyone on nationwide TV about it."

That I do remember. My then wife Karen liked to watch one of the late night shows and Kevin made a comment about it. Monica couldn't stop laughing but I could tell she was mortified. A couple of weeks later, they split up due to his cheating.

They argued about his cheating. Kevin blamed her for his cheating. She wasn't having any of it and they had a rather heated but surprisingly civil discussion about it (they didn't cuss each other out or call each other names). It was Monica that happened to notice people on the beach had gathered and had listened to most of their arguing. She went back into the house as did Kevin.

Someone had called concerned about a verbal argument between them. When I responded to the call, Kevin was still at the house. I've been to many domestic disturbances. I asked the usual questions and determined it was a verbal dispute and there was no violence.

Everyone had to put their two cents in after this VCR tape was released. It wasn't aired on TV but people got copies of it. The tape didn't include me going into the house but did include me talking to Kevin in front of the house.

Two days later, Kevin called me on the phone as I had left my business card. He was upset about the VCR tape. I already knew about it because it had been sent to our agency by a concerned citizen. I decided not to tell him this.

"What about the people that gathered on the beach near Monica's grandmother's home when you were arguing? One of them could have filmed you. It wouldn't be too difficult and secondly you were out in a public where you could be filmed from a public place. I know that they weren't locals. I have no idea who they were."

I found out later from Monica that they had tried to find out who had sent out this VCR tape and were never able to do so. Technically this wasn't a crime as the person who did it didn't come on the property to film them.

Monica became an actress and did many TV shows and movie. A lot of the movies were family type movies as Monica was one who would not do R rated movies. She married a guy who played the drums in a progressive Christian rock band. This was probably more her style. She had three more children.

The VCR tapes like the audio tapes were of being doing mundane things. Most of the people I had no idea who they were. Again no criminal activity. The DVD's were the same except for one. The tape didn't involve criminal activity but involved some very upset people about a change in their college status. This involved Monica's twin daughters.

2016

Both daughters Stephanie and Vicky were art teachers at an arts and drama college in Maine. The school had been struggling financially and was being bought by a religious college known to be very conservative. The art school had been secular and basically the facility and the students weren't subject to being censored or told what they could or couldn't do. The college then would decide who they would hire. None of the facility or students knew this, so it was a shock.

A week later - Party at the art school

Stephanie and Vicky were talking about losing their jobs. The twins were very different. Stephanie marched to the beat of her own drummer. She had done art for various promotions of heavy metal bands. When her father had gone on tour during the summer, she had played the guitar. She often dressed like a woman who would be or hung up with a heavily metal band. Her art work was very edgy at times.

Vicky dressed more classically. Her art work was more conventional, not anything that would be controversial but the religious group found fault with her work.

Neither one of them was surprised when they heard they had been fired. In fact the religious group had fired the entire art staff as they didn't fit into their vision of the college. None of the 350 students were accepted into the college because they refused to sign a college student code.

At the party they had talked about this. Monica was at the party as was her father Kevin.

One of the students was sobbing.

"Stephanie, Vicky, I'm going to miss you."

"It's okay, Sally, It's okay. I'm going to hate to leave."

"Well, guys, I will be on tour with my dad playing the guitar in his band. I also will be doing the art work for the T-shirts for his band. My sister Vicky will be at her art gallery."

Everyone clapped and cheered. Then people went off in their own areas.

"You know Stephanie, you were really good when that radio host attacked your personally."said Monica.

"Mom, I know that he wanted me to get upset, cuss him out (he would have loved it if I did that) but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of it. "

"Oh, why didn't you, Stephanie. You're good at cussing.." said Kevin.

"Yea, I am. I'm already been called out by two pastors for having a mouth like a sailor. I cussed even more just to rattle them. Vicky also joined in. Poor mom, I'm embarrassed her.""

"Not really, I knew it was coming but Vicky I was rather surprised."

'Stephanie's a bad influence on me, what can I say?"

The rest of the tape showed clips from Stephanie touring with her father's band. A male voice was condemning her and the rest of the group at the art school.

I heard that Stephanie just laugh at it but Vicky was quite upset about it. Monica and Kevin had no comment. This one was put on youtube and quickly went viral.

That was the last audio tape, VCR tape and DVD that I received. About ten years ago the other agencies that were getting these tapes told me that they were going to trash them as no crimes were committed.

I never caught who was doing this. Again no crimes were committed so what was the motive of this person? The tapes were never mailed from the same place. All over the country. We had a few residences who were world travelers but they were older people.

Did this person think it was funny what they were doing? Were they taunting law enforcement? On one of the tapes, the voice which was altered had said that they got no money from this and weren't the person who released the tapes to the public.

I really believe that the person who was doing this had died. It's one case I will never solve.

submitted by /u/baronesslucy [link] [comments] via Blogger https://ift.tt/30G8fqi

[fnchometheater-blog]

Simple Guide to Home Theater Systems

A home theater system is an entertainment system that allows you to experience cinema quality movies and sporting events in your own home. Systems can be however large you wish, but because of technological advancements, many home theater specialists can integrate them into your home automation system for ease of use by anyone. In short, the essence of a Home Theater systems is a screen, the surround sound system, and a devices to play it back be they a DVD player or signal receiver with anything beyond that being a matter of quality, quantity, size, and budget.

The Components:

The "Big" Screen

The first thing to consider for a home or business installing a Home Theater is to decide on what kind of screen you wish, with the standard choices being plasma, LCD or projector. Plasma screens currently deliver a high quality picture while taking up relatively little space and benefit from having their prices dropping each month. LCD screens are of near equal high quality, though usually suffer from the negative of being smaller. Projectors deliver the highest level images in conjunction with the largest screen, but they usually face the negative of requiring more maintenance in the form of changing your projector lamp annually depending on how often you use it and whether such a system is inside your home or outside around a pool or deck area. Custom Media Room Installation in Houston

The Theater-Quality Sound System

The sound system that will surround you can range from an inexpensive set to a collection of individual high quality speakers. It is usually recommended by home theater experts that you should try to acquire the best quality system you can afford so that the sound quality is best matched to the ever improving picture quality. At the very least, most systems should have five speakers - two at the back, two at the front and all four working in harmony with a sub-woofer, thought nine is now becoming the industry norm.

The Various Play-Back Devices Available

The playback device is most likely to be the DVD player, or even a gaming system or HD Cable Box or Satellite. It is usually the case that selecting a player that has progressive scanning capabilities will provide you with the best quality picture. It goes without saying that you could opt for a DVD recorder if you would like the additional ability to recording programs from television or your gaming system. Media Room Installation in Spring TX

Designing the System that Best Meets Your Needs:

Selecting the Best Room in your Home or Business

Home Theaters work best when they are used in a single specific-purpose room, but I have also installed systems around pool areas and outside on large-area decks. If inside, the room you select should obviously allow for as little natural light as possible. To protect from sound absorption or unnatural bounces, your room should be carpeted and it corners should be bereft of crannies and gaps to stop sound from bouncing around to produce an "echo" or muffled effect.

Typically, home theater experts work with architects if the system will be part of a new home in the building stages; but, it can just as easily set up in existing facility. Custom Media Room Installation in Spring TX

Automating the System for Ease of Use

The very best home theater experts have a showroom that can allow you to see first-hand the advancement in automation technology in regard to automating your home theater system to a degree that you will be able to control all aspects from the one remote control (perhaps even as an App in your phone) or from a wall-mounted panel. Automation is not limited to the home theater as you can also choose to automate the lights so that they dim or turn off when the home theater is operating. Similarly, automating your home entertainment systems also gives you the ability to play music in several different rooms at once for the complete concert hall experience. While it is less expensive to install wiring for your automation when you are already involved in renovations or building your home, wiring can be installed after-the-fact through retrofitting though that often suffers from the negative of being more expensive and obtrusive.

How Much Can Someone Expect to Spend

Installations of state-of-the-art home theater systems inside and out some of the most luxurious homes in the country have become common place with such systems becoming a luxury addition equivalent to what pools were years ago. That said, home theaters are limited only by what you can imagine and can range from very affordable to expensive, depending on where you are installing it, what you are installing, and what you want as your finished product or experience. An easy good-to-go system that you plug in and watch without any design considerations can be had for around one thousand dollars whereas a custom integrated home theater system can cost much more depending on the demands you place on the screen and the sound system and whether it is around a pool area or on a deck or inside your home or business. While a do-it-yourself approach might seem best, if you truly want to have the total home theater experience you may wish to consider consulting a specialist or doing more research.

View More:- Custom Home Theater Room in Spring TX