#i just got the 3rd copy last night with my last event tickets of the day so this 3rd box was fresh at 500/500

[4giorno]

HELLO ? i fucking sniped the 4th copy of ichiros event card from the 3rd box wtf??????

[christianmenatwork]

Lay Hold-Selah50-CMAW141

S

Before I get into Something that's on my heart today, I want to share something with you.

I seriously considered these past 2 weeks changing this podcast to one that you need to pay for to listen to, through Patreon or Glow which partners with Libsyn the media host I use. 

I've been praying for a while now that God would confirm with me that I should continue doing the podcast and that he would also show me a way I could continue to produce it in a way that it would pay for itself as well as pay me something for the time I put into it.  I'm trying to be a good steward of my personal resources and make sure that the time I put into the podcast is worth, because there's an opportunity cost with every choice we make.  I have a full-time job but outside that job I spend on average 10 hours per episode, or 40 hours every month, which of course takes from time I could be spending with my family and other things at home.  I have very low operating expenses for this podcast, about $500 per year, for 3 reasons.  The first reason is I do everything.  I don't do any outsourcing of the steps needed to plan, produce, edit and release episodes.  The second reason my operating expenses are low is that I don't pay myself and never have.  The third reason is that I don't spend any money on promotion or really anything other than producing episodes.  I'm not complaining, I love doing this podcast, but I've come to a point where I need to find a way to produce some revenue.

This past week was, I believe an answer to prayer.  I received an order from a man named Jeremy for my book Jesus is at Work - Having Joy and Purpose at Your Current Job.  As some of you know, I wrote and published this book through Tate Publishing.  I had to pay $5,000 to Tate for their publishing and for the initial purchase of books.  They didn't do really anything to sell the book and then the company went bankrupt and the leaders were arrested for fraud.  You can Google this to confirm what I'm saying.  The result is that I have a bunch of copies of my book sitting in my closet which aren't doing anyone any good and I'd love to sell them.

If you appreciate the content on this podcast and have been blessed by it and want to support what I'm doing, please buy my book Jesus is at Work.  Look it up on Amazon.com and you'll see it on sale for $15 from Spirit Led Men.  That's me a 3rd party seller.  If you buy it, I'll mail it to you and I'll get paid.  In the future, I'll have some other ways you can support this podcast, but for now if you could do that it would help me and you will be blessed by the book as well.

  Lay Hold!

 Phil 3:12-14 "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Strongs G2638 katalambano "

to lay hold of so as to make one's own, to obtain, attain to, to make one's own, to take into one's self, appropriate

to seize upon, take possession of"

Last night watched Season 2 Episode 6 of "The Chosen" where Mary Magdalene did what Baptists would call back sliding.  She was redeemed by Jesus but felt unworthy and went back to her old life of sin and wickedness before being sought out by 2 disciples and brought back to Jesus.

  It reminded me of something I learned this past year that salvation has 3 parts 1) Redemption 2) Sanctification 3) Glorification.  Redemption occurs when we're born again.  Glorification won't occur until our bodies are made perfect after we die or Jesus returns.  Sanctification is what you might call "the messy middle".

  It also reminds me of another great passage from Philippians, chapter 2:11-13 where Paul says "12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."

  So in this messy middle we call the life of a Christian, or more specifically for our podcast the life of a Christian man in the workplace, we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, which for me means that we should take this very seriously and realize how incredibly important it is.  God's will is NOT for us to sit back with confidence that our ticket to heaven has been bought and we should just live our life as we choose knowing we'll eventually be with Jesus in Heaven. 

  Verse 14 says " Do all things without [d]complaining and disputing,[e] 15 that you may become blameless and [f]harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,"

  Blameless does not mean perfect but rather that we are pursuing perfect obedience to God.

  In John 17:3 Jesus says "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

  Sanctification is the adventure of a lifetime, not a holding pattern until we die.  It IS eternal life, knowing God now, here, while we are on earth.

  Both the Phillipians passages I've ready illustrate so well the mysterious way that God is actively involved in our lives, in our sanctification, while still expecting that we play a role in the process as well.  We are to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of us.  We are to work out our salvation because God works in us both to will and to do for our good pleasure.  Do I fully comprehend that, no.  Am I blown away by how cool it is, YES.  We don't do good to be saved.  We do good because we are saved.  And remember salvation is redemption, sanctification, and glorification.

  Now I'd like to read to you the First Light devotion I got from Pastor Brian Biggers this morning that inspired me to talk about this topic for this Selah Episode.  By the way, if you haven't signed up for his devotion I recommend you do it right away.  For one thing, he just sent out an email last week indicating the church he's pastor of, Lambs Chapel, is seeking a new senior pastor because he's retiring, so go to tlcalive.com, go to the bottom where it says connect, and click on "First Light"

  "I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me."

    How I love this verse and the truth that it conveys! The words "lay hold" are "arrested" in our modern vernacular. I have been arrested a few times (none recently) and I assure you it can be a rather forceful event! The Bible states here that Jesus "arrested" those of us that follow Him. Just as a policeman pursues a criminal to arrest him Jesus pursued us relentlessly to make us His. "Arresters" don't ask, and they don't take no for an answer. How thankful I am that He pursued me and "arrested" me for Himself! But, notice the rest. This verse states that He "arrested" me for something, and I am to "arrest" that which He "arrested" me for. What is it that He "arrested" me for? Heaven? Absolutely! But what about now? His Word reveals the treasury of what He has promised when I am in His family. Holy Spirit power to live, love, be at peace, have hope in my heart, live joyously regardless of circumstances among other great gifts. He promises a life of adventure as I experience His activity in me and around me. He has promised great relationships that He has planned for me. The catalog of faith benefits is almost endless! Obvious question? If He has promised all this great stuff as a result of my "arrest" by Him, where is it? I am willing to be blessed, but I don't see the goods! Go back and read the rest of the verse. You will see that His promised blessings are not automatic, nor do they fall like ripe cherries on me as a believer. What does it say? I must "press on" and "lay hold" of what my heart longs for. A passive religious attitude will leave you blessingless! (it’s a word) I hear aggression in this great Word! I hear a man saying, "if Christ died to bless me then I will go after it until I get it". I may not know how but He don't lie, and I am not going to give up on what He has promised. Do not settle (hate that word) for a less that abundant life when He died to give you something much better! Have you resigned to "getting by"? May I appeal to you from scripture? Do you not think that He who created everything beautiful from the sunset to the coastal plain to the bluebird to the smile of a newborn cannot create a beautiful life? Quit wishing and go fishing! Quit existing and start dreaming again! Decide to "lay hold" of what He died to purchase for you!

      Father, forgive me for living so “little” after you planned so big. I want everything I was “arrested” for! Lead me as I press on to lay hold of your promises. Every single one of them!

E

  L

He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, But he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough!

Proverbs 28:19 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2028:19&version=NKJV

    A

Ben LaCorte

Paul in Athens started with what they believed, and then pointed out the hole in their beliefs and filled it in with the true Gospel

  H

John Shirey

Tips - it's like gardening and weeding, do a little bit often rather than putting it off

Check out this episode!

[dominicrowespom]

MD6311 Major Project Evaluation

Background, Concept and Ideas

At the beginning of third year Ben and I came into this project with the intention of making a 13 track semi conceptual album based around seasons, having three songs for each season starting in Autumn ending in Summer. The hope was that it would propel ‘Two to a Room’ from an unknown name into exciting duo, the songs naturally being influenced by the music we listen to. 9 months later we’ve created a 12 track conceptual alternative hip hop album based around the same thing we originally intended, released 3 singles with 3 music videos, have a combined total of of just over 4000 steams on Spotify as well as an active following on Instagram.

Hip hop is traditionally known as a raw and honest genre of music, many artists have detailed the entirety of their life experiences onto their music in a very purposeful way. We have taken hip hop and altered it so that it applies and relates to the experience of uni students. It gives a voice to the people who are struggling during this period of life where everything seems a bit uncertain.

Some of our influences include:

Cosmo

King Krule

Loyle Carner

Rejjie Snow

JJ

Easy Life

Bakar

Many a time we’d find ourselves listening to one of their songs and being inspired by the way they’d mixed a bass line or how they added interesting/unique sounds and sections. We’re probably on the whole most similar to Bakar, however we bring our own style.

Audiences and Markets

Before deciding an audience and an artist identity we simply began playing and making music. We had a general basis as a band, having played a couple of shows under the same name in first year. Two to a Room somewhat subsided second year giving us a completely fresh start in third year, new music, new social media pages and a new image. We created personable tracks some light and some dark sounding, both instrumentally and lyrically quite downtrodden. While creating the album this helped us realise our sound, we were making the music of and relating to University students, depressed, drinking, smoking and in search for some sort of love and placeholder in this world. We continuously found ourselves adding Trippy elements to our music creating a stoner induced drug fuelled aesthetic.

The album is aimed at 16 to 24 year olds, teens and young adult transitioning into adulthood and the working world, getting by smoking spliffs and drinking a lot. For this reason we decided it would be best to push everything onto every streaming platforms though ‘distrokid’, an independent digital music distribution service. Through stats on (https://www.ifpi.org/news/IFPI-releases-2018-music-consumer-insight-report) I found that 86% of us listen to music through on-demand streaming. Young music consumers are most engaged streamers, with 57% of 16-24 year olds using a paid audio streaming service. This makes it the perfect place for our audience to find our music. We intend to release 10-50 exclusive copies of our album on CD due to peoples love of exclusivity and giveaways.

Our work is best understood sat back in a comfortable environment, where you can digest every word and feeling we were attempting to portray. There are hints of what our style, vibe and thought process is throughout our Instagram and music videos. The album can be related to if you’ve ever; gone on a night out, worked a dead end job or if you’ve ever just felt a bit stuck in life, so everyone. The reason it’s aimed at uni students is because they’re most likely to feel the entirety of emotions and lifestyle that we’ve displayed on our record.

There’s definitely already songs for sad people and a community for alternative hip hop but because our music experiments with so many different sounds and genres it’s hard to pigeonhole us into one that is preexisting. However the Cheltenham’s hip hop scene is the community closest to us, diverse in the artists and sonics that it holds. We’be home from hoping to get a foot in with the Cheltenham crowd, to wanting to unite it further and push it forward, there’s a lot of talent here.

Our only competition is ourselves, and that’s not the answer this evaluation requires but its the truth. If we solely see ourselves as the ones to beat and the ones to better taking influences from all sorts of places, we have no need to be in competition with anyone. I’d rather do the opposite and bring everyone so no one has competitors, just allies.

Promotional Strategies

Our journey for the public began at the start of October, our first Instagram upload being posted on the 3rd. We released a demo shortly after, mixed and mastered by ourselves to show our audience what we were about stylistically and aesthetically. For a demo it did far better than expected, accumulating close to 100 views in it’s first week, in time surpassing that. This gave us confidence to continue doing what we’d already set out to do. We kept our Instagram relatively busy, using photos taken by 1st year student Curtis, We then released our first single to all major streaming platforms mixed and mastered by Beau Peep. At the time none of this process had fully gone as we had planned, the song was released later than intended, videographers dropped out/couldn’t film for us and the B-side wasn’t mastered the desired way. In hindsight this moment was a good learning curve for future releases, we discovered the importance of planning properly and having everything set way in advance. It was also successful in how it was received, getting over 1000 listens in it’s first month.

In the time before our first and second single we wanted to keep our audiences attention so we decided to come up with a potential series idea named ‘In the Living Room’ airing our first episode on the 9th of January 2019. The idea was to do an acoustic set up, similar to The Tiny Desk concert, but in our living room. It was so that we could have a place to display the raw version of our music and potentially other artists as it’s something we’d found that a lot of music listeners enjoy hearing their favourite songs in a different setting sounding a little different.

We next turned our attentions towards Astronaut, we had the song finished and ready to release mid-January so we decided to begin a promotional campaign, doing a photoshoot a with friend of ours, third year student David Richards. We showed Ben Sanders the song, he enjoyed it and asked if he could do the visuals for it. We gladly accepted as it seemed like he was very keen, it took a few months to shoot it leaving a small amount of time to edit the video. In the meantime we uploaded several rows of promotional pictures to our Instagram building the excitement for the video. The video was eventually released in a hurry, and was still a little below the standard we were aiming for. As it was uploaded a little later than first anticipated it gave us less time to promote the album as a whole. But because we’d been promoting astronaut for so long we leaned into theme with a few more photos from another friend and third year student ‘Ryan Free’ who helped us reflect the feeling of the album being spaced out in a very concrete environment creating that juxtaposition in his photo by having us wear astronaut costumes in a fancy, old fashioned looking restaurant

We recorded the video for our third and final single a month before releasing the album so we could use it as part of the promotion cycle once the album was released. We organised for ‘drreproductions’ to shoot it for us and they agreed to get it shot in what turned out to be a very busy April. We played 2 gigs in the run up to the album launch while finishing the mastering of the album and organising both music videos. We hosted an album Launch at Smokey Joes on the 8th of May bringing in acts, photographers and videographers from uni to create a communal experience where we’re all helping each other. The laugh went very successfully, we were able to gain a profit from the night as well as a couple of new fans. At the time of writing our Instagram sits at 230 followers, the album has been streamed 3250 times

Evaluation

The album itself was successful. We released a 12 track solid body of work that will most definitely propel us into better things. There are a couple of standout tracks, Cruisn, Black Mould and Streets and Towns truly showcasing our maturity in terms of songwriting and storytelling. There were several songs that were dropped from the album and there were some last minute additions. ‘Hitting the Mark’ was one of the late attendees because we found the voice note on my phone from a few months prior while looking for vocal snippets to add to the album. Every new addition had to fit the tone of the project so it was difficult at times getting the order of tracks right, but eventually we settled on one that we both thought told our story best.

The album launch was a slightly stressful but very fun event. It took us several months to sort out, booking the venue in February but doing most of the leg work in April. We charged £2 at the door, over 60 people bought a ticket which helped us gain a profit from the night. The atmosphere was good the whole night, Toby Catt opening the evening, Beau Peep got the crowds arms moving, Real Triggz and KingOBithy brought the hype, local acts JPDL and Yogi Beats got everyone dancing and we were blessed to end the night.

In this major project we delivered what we set out to do and have surpassed it. We have the intention to continue as a duo past uni and bring this work with us. We have 2 festivals to play in the summer, the rest only the future knows.

[aoimori]

02.26.2017 MERRY Morning Live @ Holiday Shinjuku

So Merry had a morning show in Shinjuku. Doors at 7:30am, show at 8:00am. (They also had a fanclub only show that night too, report is over here)   As you can probably imagine, it was incredible and just such a Merry thing to experience. Here is my report including VIDEO EVIDENCE of a little something called radio calisthenics with Gara.

PLEASE ENJOY 👏👏👏👏👏

PRE SHOW

I’m amazed that this even happened. But I guess if anyone is going to do a show at 8am, it’s Merry. They actually started a little late but I had a feeling they would lol. It was an interesting feeling standing outside of this tiny tiny venue so early in the morning, in Kabukicho, with a bunch of other fans. I loved it 

Before the show started they were playing rain sounds with their own rain-themed songs mixed in. Reminded me of Shinjuku Blues! 

I was in front of Yuu for this show, started about 5 rows back and ended up in 3rd.

MORNING EXERCISES !?!?

While we were waiting there was suddenly an announcement over the speakers. Small venues like this generally don’t play that generic pre-performance announcement (honjitsu wa) that lists the rules of the venue etc. So it wasn’t that. It was Gara. 

He very politely told us that we were going to do rajio taisou (radio calisthenics - the kind that old people do in the park in the morning lol). He asked if we had a little bit of space to move around in, with mixed responses, so he said even if you don’t have space it’s okay lol. Today’s calisthenics will be led by… Super Merrys’ MAMURASAKI (aka Gara)

So Gara/Mamurasaku comes out wearing his Tenga shirt and rabbit head mask, the music/instructions come on, and we all followed his lead and did calisthenics together at like 8am in a tiny livehouse in Kabukicho…

There’s actually video of all of this (looks like it was livestreamed) so I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you all watch it and have this experience. It was wild. I laughed so much lol. We actually tried our best to follow him!!

THIS VIDEO: https://twitter.com/merry_official/status/835628885647597568

Please enjoy his antics

After he walked off stage he got back on the announcements and asked us to wait a liiittle while longer

THE SICKEST SETLIST

SE: Merry March Oriental BL Circus Charlie TOP

Lost generation Atama ga zakuro Zetsubou Jiishiki kajougata deku ningen Tick tack Heijitsu no onna Kasa to ame stupidxcupid Carnival Japanese modernist Chiyodasen democracy

Encore Touzasareta rakuen Happy life Violet harenchi Kasa to ame (acoustic)

THIS SHOW !!!!!!

I thought that since this was a morning show that they would either A) do calmer songs/acoustics or B) go abnormally hard.  

After the SE they immediately came on stage and exploded into Oriental BL Circus. Clearly B was the correct prediction lol

Yuu looked REALLY CUTE. He had his hair styled all crazy to look like bedhead and had heavy black makeup under his eyes to look like he had extreme dark circles from not sleeping. He walked out with this big grin like he was proud of his look

(from his twitter)

Oriental BL Circus is always really fun and I love the call and response parts in the beginning (I finally learned all the words HA) But it was also a REALLY EXTREME way to start a show in the morning – Gara and Yuu yelling, all of us yelling back lol

I GOT TO HEAR CHARLIE LIVE!!! AAA!!! It’s so so so so so fun and super high energy from start to finish. And so is TOP!! Seriously this show was HYPEEE from the very beginning.

Thennnn atama ga zakuro is actually the first Merry song I ever heard and TO THINK I GOT TO HEAR IT LIVE!?

Also lord help me all I did was watch Gara perform this song and I feel full of sin. Actually during this entire show he was a little nastier than usual lol. Putting his mic between his legs multiple times and enjoying himself, having REAL QUALITY MOMENTS up against his mic stand… he is committed to realism tbqh. IS THIS HOW YOU ARE IN THE MORNING ? ? ? 

ANYWAY. I also got to hear Tick Tack for the first time!! What an old song!! It’s so nice live, everyone was swaying back and forth. And I’m going to love Heijitsu no onna until the day I die, so. You can probably guess what I have to say about that. Gara putting on lipstick and rubbing it off with the back of his hand with the saddest smile…

I just wanna say right now that I LOVE KASA TO AME. If for some reason you haven’t listened to it, please go do it right now. Both versions are great. I own 5 copies of this single. Listen to it. Buy it. LOVE IT.

I forgot my towel for the morning show so I had to participate in Carnival without one for the first time!! Carnival, Japanese modernist and Chiyodasen are ALWAYS fun though. They just kept hitting us with JAMS.

During one song (don’t remember which) when Yuu had a speaking part he ended up just making comments about the show instead of following the lyrics, it was pretty funny lol

I love Touzasareta rakuen live. The vibe is just so good? Gara said something about this being an older song but it has the kind of energy they want to have as they work toward Hibiya Yaon

And then Happy life gets me EVERY TIME. Gara sang the last line without his mic. I’m always really impressed by how he expresses such raw emotion. He just puts it ALL out there as strongly as he physically can, every time. He had the biggest smile right after this song. Like really genuine. Have I mentioned... that I love this band...??

During Violet harenchi Gara and Yuu were back to back in the center of the stage!!! Yuu was in the center and Gara saw him and immediately rushed over. Yuu also likes to go sit on Gara’s desk lol. Later Tetsu was standing in front of me on a monitor and Yuu came over and was standing against his leg and it was REALLY CUTE. Tetsu is an actual mountain btw

(from gara’s blog)

MC CONTENT BECAUSE MERRY ALWAYS DELIVERS 

Gara and Yuu both said good morning to us a few times (and said wow, saying good morning at a live house feels good huh…)

Gara asked each member what they did the night before...

Nero: so worried that he’d oversleep and get a call from the band on stage asking where he was that he could barely sleep at all

Tetsu: eating meat (this is all he said lol, at first Gara didn’t understand him)

Kenichi: Hesitant to answer, but… said he went to Mankitsu (a manga café?) Gara asked what he was reading and Kenichi was just silent… so Gara asked AGAIN and Kenichi still said nothing LOL

Yuu: Nothing out of the ordinary. He went home, then took the first train in the morning to the venue. Gara said he was sorry he asked

Gara: Didn’t sleep at all because if he slept and then woke up in the morning before the show his voice wouldn’t be in good condition.  He said he actually went home the night before just… never slept lol . ((He posted on his blog about eating mcdonalds actually... but are any of us really surprised by this??))

He made an extended bandoman joke that continued into the next show... something about introducing himself as “bandoman A” from a tabloid story about a celebrity having an affair. But then said instead of having an affair he actually wants to be served by blonde foreign women... and if the tabloids come to him for an interview, he’ll tell everything.

I feel like I missed something here lol but he said he’d better stop talking about this because there were foreigners in the audience (me?? the most blonde foreigner of all?? lol) 

The singing MC was set to the beginning of Kasa to ame (it used to be heijitsu no onna). So each member would start playing as Gara introduced them and did a really short mini solo. Merry has the best MCs.

Gara said that this morning live felt really good so if we liked it, please tweet them, and they’ll show the tweets to their company, and then maybe they can do more events like this. They are always trying to get us to promo them to someone lol

He also wants to do a 24 hour show. The rest of the band did not seem into this idea. He said everyone could have their own little space where they could sit or stand, bring a TV or something, leave and come back whenever they pleased, etc. The band would work in shifts sometimes so someone could sleep. Or go to the onsen. But Nero couldn’t come with them (tattoos) so he’d just have to watch while they rest of them relax. POOR NERO.

They were talking about where they’d be in 20 years? Gara said he’ll still be singing but he might need to sit down… and need someone to help hold him steady as he walked… and to whisper the lyrics in his ear, and tap him on the shoulder when a new song started lol. Yuu just called him an ojiichan

Gara turned the page of his setlist with his foot and it was cute

Between songs Gara said all of us that came to a show this early in the morning must be ACTUALLY crazy. TRUE. During an MC he also told us that we all must be a little atama ga okashii nee… crazy/touched in the head lol. ALSO TRUE.

(@merry_official)

DOKUDOKU TIME!!!!!!!! SPECIAL EVENT FEAT GARA

The band had a dokudoku campaign for this tour. The idea was to create more Merry chuudokusha (addicts) so at each show a certain member was tasked with doing something fun. Giving things away, taking pictures with fans, etc. Gara was in charge of this show.

He gave away his tenga shirt (signed) which he had also worn during the radio taisou spectacle. He was giving it away on behalf of Mamurasaki, of course.

So before the encore he came on stage and said it was dokudoku time, but then found out that the staff still hadn’t collected all the ticket stubs for him to choose one winner from. So he stalled for a while and just talked about random stuff, asked us if we had any questions, and then would occasionally look back to the staff and be like STILL??? STILL NOTHING? Awkward and angry and adorable lol

One of his topics of conversation was his tenga shirt. He read it out loud and explained it lol. He also said that he received an egg type one from a fan for Valentines day, but he still hasn’t used it. He’s thinking about using it in March for White Day…

Eventually staff brought an envelope to him and he chose a winner. While he was looking at the stubs he said these aren’t all Core tickets… they’re not Core tickets~ in this cute irritated singsong voice lol. Anyway he picked one stub and gave away the shirt. Then he gave away the paper Mamurasaki signed (he said it looked like Mamurasaki had written “iwai/celebrate” wrong and crossed it out and wrote it again… and now it looks like it says “Nero”).

Since he didn’t have a photo to give away too, he decided to do something special. So he turned around and went to find his lipstick that he uses during Heijitsu no onna, came back to the front and put some on. And then kissed the paper. And then chose someone to give it to. He understands a fan’s heart so well…

(@merry_official) 

AFTER THE SET

After the show I was watching all the members throwing things to the crowd. I think I was watching Gara in the center of the stage when I decided to turn around and face forward again and SUDDEN TETSU RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES!! He was standing up on one of the monitors looking down at us. HE IS HUGE. SUCH A TOWERING MOUNTAIN!! But so kind lol

Gara was standing on a monitor and then jumped up to his desk and did the LONGEST HEADSTAND + FOOT CLAPPING COMBO I HAVE EVER SEEN. He was up there FOREVER. We were all watching and clapping but then gradually starting to think like… Gara… Gara are you okay… GET DOWN FROM THERE GARA!!!

He was SO INTO this entire show lol. The mood was SO good. Maybe the band + the fans were kind of overcompensating for the fact that it was such a strange hour, but we all went REAL HARD.

I then left the show not knowing what time it was, went to Starbucks for breakfast (apparently Gara handed out sandwiches!! But I didn’t know / didn’t see anything even though I waited in the venue for a long time), then went to Shimokita where I spent the rest of the day until the CORE SHOW. Which was really fun, but then turned emotional...

I will never forget this show though 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[be21zh]

Feb 15, 2018

last night too beautiful to miss, that I lingered in front of computer lately around 11am. in mid night dreamt my once colleagues, a technician deputy director with 2 once and life long students who moved department with him to forge their territory. I dreamt they researched logic, one of my university subject majoring philosophy, to calculate their profit and loss. lunar spring festival eve is today. before it all my projected tasks done smoothly, esp renew our beautiful domains 3rd times or 4 times. first time aided by my nephew to migrate from godaddy to dynadot for cheaper price of renewal, then asked help from my elder brother to renew most endangered one, woz.fm, before its price increase month later. 3rd renewal carried last Wednesday as planned long time after new registrar dynadot offers facility to renew more years among zuo.center and others, aided by February salary released earlier than usual from QRRS, my once and long term employer. now all zhone domains sustained after year 2022. that's wonderful task accomplished in lunar 2017. now I intended enrolling foremost task, renewal of zho.io, which allow more 5 years to subscript on platform of dynadot. with the investment, all zhone domain ownership will extend to 2025, or so. I hope it is a rewarding investment, even under possible seizure dangerous PRC tyrant dwelt around thousand times. God, dad, how I contented with my intelligent properties after these sweating year buffeted by poverty and baseless. zhone portal also gathering audience, adsense earning turns more regular even far from profitable. dad God, my pension can be meaningless, esp in debt mounting PRC government as well as dark perspective of administrative deficit, but can I survive the ruin of tumor of ghost communism CCP's reign? can I survive peace and protected interest my building Empire even in its early phrase while with my heart and sweat? I still have near 40,000 CNY credit debt to Chinese banks, one of them, ccb, threatened to law sue last week. dad God, where I can assure my establishment cyberspace under holy warranty, as burnout disease of CCP and tyranny PRC into ash before its arson trying cling to us? dad God, direct me in paved lane to safe breakthrough before smothering dying hard PRC collapse fatally. my lunar 2018 can be more energetic with safety of capitalism in PRC in fact, whose on stage last surge sucking partisan and bureaucratic cadres shamelessly seize the ultramost from sick society, prey of civilian. yesterday I ate 4 box of instant noodles my younger brother sent from southern China, his small mill. they are quite tasty. when I went jogging routinely, I obviously felt dragging belly, and heart pumping heavier. dad, God, in my life I missed delicacy so much, even larger amount of beautiful girl souls, but I was remained slim and healthier appetite so far. God, guide me toward my new family, where my 2nd child can glorifies my earth life. bring me sooner my Royal China, bring Asoh Yukiko, my Crown Queen from Japan, for joy matters more. grant us sooner approach the anxious free peak where our domains consolidate like the world map, well recognized and vivid as atmosphere.

Feb 10, 2018

dreamt in my hometown preparing to return university, or just enrolled by university. my elder brother and my mom prepared me package and anxious about train ticket. I had seven or eight files need to unpack, to answer a quiz, in which explains a Chinese word, all family happy 阖家欢乐. I myself relentless, doubting first settle 2nd or the first tour's booking, for the destiny needs 2 transference. today likely first day of lunar spring festival in PRC and my fasting period: dorm canteen in vacation now, likely till 2 weeks or 3 later to resume. my younger brother sent 4 parcels from his southern China of ready food which quite relieves my anxious budget for the holiday. last night the dorm canteen also treated me with a more delicious dinner, includes pork and squid. there were lots of hopelessly stupid Chinese aside road burning fake money for their passed relatives on way my jogging after dinner. I had to cover my eyes with sleeves still got dirt in eyes. these week busy with overcoming obstacle harsher PRC surveillance imposed. I also prepared my son woz new opener wifi for his coming party with his cousins from his mom's relatives visiting the lunar holiday. PRC dog system closely watched it: when I print a board of wifi confidential in a local small print house, soon 2 men likely cops join the shop till my left. when I deleted my backup image online of the board, my internet shut down at once for more than 6 hours, till now my usual vpn had problem to connect. review the stupid holiday I feel more convinced that's a absurd event of Chinese culture: it boosts blind trifle celebration, hatred against neighbor and social harmony. human fed by God's mercy, rather than foolish harvest which lunar spring festival signalizes. spring festival at its best encourages laziness and paralyzing of society, running norm of civilization, fear of scattered corporation. in the week I also received poverty aid from QRRS, my once and long time employer, 300 CNY in cash and 500 into debit card. it helps me relieve debt burden to dorm canteen, alipay credit including installment. now my only curiosity is my younger brother's promised gift to renew our 2 dearer domains. if I can deposit 100 CNY in my ABC and Bankcomm debit account for remaining their alive, I will regretless starting lunar new year. recent night I also research alternative chromebook, now that my acer chromebook will reach its end of life in google support term. I want to equip woz an ultra convertible chromebook, with google play embedded. then I can convert my retired one into a linux notebook. the plan is faultless, hopefully after my installment with alipay credit finished and ready for new one. God, dad, feed me in the enduring lunar holiday as homeless. bring me sooner my Royal China, and Asoh Yukiko for real celebration season. grant us 2 rich meals in holiday when I fetch my son to dine out. help me reach end of spring festival sooner, risk free. thx, dad God.

Jan 22, 2018

dreamt of holiday at my hometown. we visited our relatives in neighbor village, where I was bitten by ants. they painlessly gathered herds all over my body. my brother-in-laws, sisters help me after I showered to check if I was cleaned, around a camp fire before leaving the village. some neighbor kids also watched. they put on me so many clothes that I took off many time to assure sanity. the ants' bites likely drained bloods, no pains at all, their size is smaller. I was a bit in panic. Last week too beautiful to miss. My son visited my dorm last Friday, when we worked together trying fix his problem with eclipse C++ compiling. His mom arranged him learning programming lesson, which likely just sending him some slideshow. I tried to introduce him ubuntu & eclipse. But I seldom had expertise on eclipse. So I have to put more efforts to ensure my son's interest as well as familiarity with the IDE, till he really works with the tool, leaving his windows counterpart, dev c++ as his teacher adopted, no where. We almost fix compiling until my son tried more on his own programming codes then compiling errors missing component, which clueless for us. So next day I searched web for more tutorial ebooks to download. I in fact gained some copies of pirated ebooks, and I prepared reader on my son's ubuntu aiming to his reference readily. God dad, help my son find his joy in programming, and persistent on doing his things right & joyful. In the same night my son ported in my dorm, my salary released, ￥4276, such a surprise that we both glad. With it I renewed woz's domain, woga.me to its maximal years godaddy allows. Next day, ie. Sunday, I reset & setup again our google home mini, for unsatisfied by restriction non-English user inherits within google home app. This time I got online chat aid from google, which assured me none GPS discrimination but just Language determines user interface and more choices within, say voice matching, optional voice male or female. We finally got human voice option, more voice commands available after switched to English on our nexus. Its such a huge success that we both glorified. We then dined in downtown hotel restaurant where we absent for 3 weekends, partially their service less attracting. But this time we fed well, porks delicious and enough. In salon I offered ￥20 as tips for wonderful service there, and last time they resumed my missing renewal there, as gratitude. After shower in public spa, I found our cyber shopping, an amazon China parcel due to arrive last Wednesday delayed so far, arrived. Another order, 2 cushions from taobao.com arrived same day. My son was brought by his mom to check his eyesight, so I brought 2 parcels lately around 6pm to visit my son again. My son looking out for the rechargeable batteries badly and we cheer up with the new stock of batteries. Its such a nice day that in the night I gave up episodes watching as reconciliation upon PRC surveillance heavily blocking online from shifting away poor PRC domestic culture products. Dad God, this blessing morning what can compare with your mercy in my situation? Dad God, bring me sooner my Royal China for final solution upon coming crisis in the world. Bring me my Crown Queen from Japan, Asoh Yukiko, for our offspring healthy & strong sanity.

[kissus]

oh yeah last night i used my monthly summon tickets and got my 3rd copy of SAlter so now she has NP3 and i’m still Karna-less. no Arjuna or Karna for Rose, just 2 SAlters, Fran, and Marie again.

they better be in the paid/guaranteed gacha sometime in the next year or two. i would shell out for a better chance of getting them, i really would. 

also every single copy of SAlter i’ve gotten so far has sparked from a silver to a gold card, i’m not even exaggerating. even in the 10 roll she sparked from silver. thanks Artoria for one thing i guess. she’ll be good for the upcoming event. 

[concerthopperblog]

Did you attend this year’s Shaky Beats Music Festival? Tell us what you thought. 

Well we have placed a second, successful year of the Shaky Beats Music Festival in the record books. Let me tell you that this was a great weekend full of fantastic artists and some superb vendors located throughout Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta, Ga. This year boasted a big three of GRiZ (Friday), Kaskade (Saturday), and The Chainsmokers (Sunday) as the main headliners for this weekend. Some other great artists that stacked this incredible lineup included; Bonobo (Live), Mutemath (Live DJ set), The Knocks (DJ set), RL Grime, Zeds Dead, Gramatik, Girl Talk, and Galantis. And that was just the tip of the iceberg… there were a ton of artists that made some major impacts with their performances at this year’s Shaky Beats. And just like last year’s set up, there are three (3) stages to shaowcase these artists: the Peachtree Stage (main stage), Piedmont Stage (second tier stage), and the Ponce de Leon Stage (used mainly for lesser known acts due to its size capacity).

Shaky Beats Music Festival (2017).

Shaky Beats Music Festival (2017).

Friday started out a little rainy and then added in some chill for good measure. But even this kind of weather could not dampen the mood thanks to some amazing performances by Alison Wonderland, The Knocks (DJ set), RL Grime, GRiZ and my personal favorite… Bonobo (Live). Not to over-shadow any of the aforementioned artists but for me, it was the day for Bonobo to rule after his live performance on the Piedmont Stage. If you have not had a chance to see him perform with a band, then please do yourself some good and make this happen when he comes near your town. It was really nice having Bonobo’s set nestled firmly between RL Grime and GRiZ’s set… this I was not hating one bit. GRiZ ended the night on a bang giving everyone in the crowd exactly what they wanted. We had to stay far back because the area closer to the stage was jam packed full of people dancing the night away. Other sets worth mentioning from Day 1 of the Shaky Beats Music Festival that got the crowd dancing and very engaged: Boombox Cartel, Snails, Alison Wonderland, and Ganja White Night.

Bonobo (Live) performing at the Shaky Beats Music Festival (2017).

Bonobo (Live) performing at the Shaky Beats Music Festival (2017).

Saturday continued to stay a little cloudy but at least the weather was not as cold and chilly as it was the previous day. For this Concerthopper, Saturday’s lineup consisted of a lot of new discoveries like Kaiydo, Ephwurd, Joyryde, and Modern Measure mixed in with some familiar names such as; Illenium, Mija, Gramatik, Galantis, Flosstradamus, and Kaskade (who had the honor of closing out Saturday’s festivities). I was really impressed with Kaiydo and his ability to flow during his set. In a time when most hip hop is weighed heavily with Trap influences, Kaiydo proves that an MC can still gain popularity based on his skills as an MC and lyricist. I would have to say that between Mija and Kaskade, I am torn between whose set was my favorite for Saturday. Production wise, Kaskade stole the show with fireworks, steam cannons, and confetti being shot out during his set. But that cannot discredit the raw energy and emotion that permeated from Mija’s incredible, jam packed set at the Ponce de Leon Stage (which incidentally is the smaller stage of the three).

Kaiydo performing at the Shaky Beats Music Festival (2017).

Mija performing at the Shaky Beats Music Festival (2017).

Kaskade closing out Day 2 at the Shaky Beats Music Festival (2017).

When Sunday arrived, it was just like any other Sunday during a busy, festival weekend… the saddest day since it is the last day of the festival. No one likes to see the last day come because then you wonder where did Friday and Saturday go? After checking out of my hotel, I decided to go downtown a few hours earlier than I planned and make it inside the park right around time to see the second artist, Echos, perform. Like the day before, there was a few new discoveries to take in during the day, such as: Echos, Little Dragon, Rezz, and Vanic. Mix in some artists that I was excited to check out (Girl Talk, Zeds Dead, and Mute Math) and you have a recipe for an amazing close out day to the 2nd Annual Shaky Beats Music Festival. Personally, there is a tie between two artists that blew me away during Sunday: Little Dragon and Mute Math (DJ set). Mute Math’s set was earlier in the day and created such a dance party over at the Piedmont Stage that it set the tone for the rest of the day for many festival goers.

Lexi Norton of the band Echos performing at the Shaky Beats Music Festival (2017).

Yukimi Nagano of the band Little Dragon performing at the Shaky Beats Music Festival (2017).

Mute Math (DJ set) performing at the Shaky Beats Music Festival (2017).

Just like last year’s event, this year’s Shaky Beats was well organized from beginning to end with everyone in attendance smiling wide and laughing carefree every day. This is a testament of the hard work and dedication that the organizers of this festival (and the following week’s Shaky Knees Music Festival which is held in the same location) put in when they curate a festival. I cannot explain enough how good it feels to have so much confidence in the organizers of this festival! In the time when festivals pop up across the country at an alarming rate, some are not properly prepared or organized and this leads to some issues that can lead to a ‘bad taste in the mouth’ of many festival goers. There is one point that I do feel that needs to be made concerning the lineup for this year’s Shaky Beats Music Festival… we need more hip hop and a few more actual bands that can bring the dance/funk in next year’s lineup.

Who do you want to make the 2018 edition of the Shaky Beats Music Festival? Tell us. 

Unlike the 2016 lineup which featured Nas and A$AP Ferg, this year’s lineup did not bring a major hip hop star to the stage to perform. And also, last year Cherub, Chromeo, ! ! ! (Pronounced “chek chek chek”), STRFKR, and Yeasayer came to perform at Shaky Beats. What set these bands apart were their ability to make people dance and party with the availability of a band… not just DJ and a laptop. I feel very confident that next year’s lineup will be even bigger than the first two years of this festival. With that being said, is it too early to start debating who should be on next year’s Shaky Beats lineup? I mean who wouldn’t want maybe say Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Pretty Lights (Live), Cut Copy, STS9, Lotus, and/or The Floozies to make next year’s lineup? I know this concerthopper would love it! Who do you want to make the 3rd Annual Shaky Beats Music Festival in 2018? We would like to hear what you think!

Bonobo (Live) performing at this year’s Shaky Beats Music Festival (2017). 

You can view more pictures from this incredible weekend online over on our official Facebook page (Day 1, Day 2, & Day 3). We have a really, busy few months upcoming and we are very excited for what’s in store for our entire audience. ‘Like’ our page and stay up to date in 2017 on all music related events/festivals such as; A Perfect Circle, The Sword, Shaky Knees, Papa Joe’s BanjoBQue (featuring The Avett Brothers & Greensky Bluegrass), Umphrey’s McGee: Returns to Augusta, Bonnaroo, Electric Forest (First weekend), Sloss Music & Arts Festival, Sturgill Simpson: Live in Charlotte, and My Morning Jacket with Gary Clark, Jr: Live in Charlotte by following us on all social media formats: Concerthopper on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  Also, you can follow my personal concert hopping (@xerxes_fotographia) on Facebook and Instagram. Remember don’t think about it, just buy the damn ticket! As always, hope to see you at a show or festival soon!

And the Beat continues… A look back at the 2nd Annual Shaky Beats Music Festival. Well we have placed a second, successful year of the Shaky Beats Music Festival in the record books.