#i used to obsess over multiple bands at once with one being king

[rragnaroks]

im going to see panic at the disco in 7 weeks and im very carefully trying to time when to start listening to their stuff again, so that when the hyperfixation hopefully hits i'll be smack dab in the middle of it during the gig

...and then fall out boy goes and drops a fucking banger and i wanna vibrate out of my skin with the force of the obsession taking root. my whole arms are shaking

[paulisded]

The Ledge #547: Best Albums of 2022

Once again, this obsessive mind spent weeks and weeks overthinking this year's list. Notes were taken. Records were spread out all over the living room. iTunes searches revealed some forgotten gems. But I can once again say that this was a fabulous year for music, as evidenced by this countdown show. Veteran bands made comebacks. New bands made big splashes. Multiple genres revealed new life. It's a great time for music geeks. So here is my list of the year's 40 best records (although I only aired 30):

1. Superchunk, Wild Loneliness. Few bands are as consistent as Superchunk. You pretty much know what you’re going to get with each and every album, and they always deliver. Yes, this one is a bit more subdued than what you may be used to from them, but the songs are every bit as strong as anything they’ve ever put out. 

2. UltraBomb, Time To Burn. This is my kind of super group. Husker Du bassist Greg Norton, Mahones guitarist Finny McConnell, and UK Subs drummer Jamie Oliver spent exactly four days writing and recording this bristling collection of rousing punk-ish anthems.

3. Spiritualized, Everything Was Beautiful. Jason Pierce is the king of orchestral space rock, mainly due to his ability to absorb pretty much any sort of influence, from free jazz to 60s pop, into something that sounds like nothing that has come before.

4. Wet Leg, Wet Lag. I hesitated to check this record out due to its pre-release hype. For once, however, the hype was deserved. If you enjoyed the alternative pop of Elastica two decades ago you should find this record quite a fun ride.

5. Miss Georgia Peach, Aloha From Kentucky. This collaboration between Beebe Gallini leader Miss Georgia Peach and the members of Nashville Pussy is the rawkin’ country/soul record we’ve been dying to hear for many years. 

6. Hoodoo Gurus, Chariot Of The Gods. One of the great comebacks of 2022, our favorite Australians marked their 40th anniversary (give or take a year) with a record that proudly stands next to their college radio classics of the 80s.

7. Kevin Morby, This Is a Photograph. The latest album by one of our era’s best songwriters was inspired by a scary family moment involving his father, which led him to not only look back at his childhood but also reexamine the present. 

8. Ty Segall, “Hello Hi”. After the synth and guitar grime of last year’s Harmonizer, Segall’s main instrument of choice on this record is his acoustic guitar. That’s not to say this is a quiet album. The patented Segall noise is still present, but maybe not as utilized.

9. Dry Cleaning, Stumpwork. The story is that leader Florence Shaw always keeps a notebook with her, and jots down any interesting lines she happens to overhear. She then collates these lines into lyrics that she talk-sings to the rest of the band’s post-punk influenced racket. It shouldn’t work but it’s pretty fabulous. 

10. Wilco, Cruel Country. The year began with Wilco reconvening for some tentative rehearsing and recording. Suddenly they had 21 finished tracks that sort of harken back to the days of A.M. and Being There. 

11. More Kicks, Punch Drunk. This was actually a great year for power pop, and the second album by this London-based trio was the best of the bunch. 

12. Built To Spill, When The Wind Forgets Your Name. It’s always interesting when veteran bands find new wrinkles to their old sound. This record on first listen does sound like every other Built To Spill record but it’s also a bit weirder than what we’ve come to expect.

13. Brad Marino, Basement Beat. Brad Marino recently found a little spare time, which he utilized as an exercise to write some “Ramonescore” songs. Yet this resulting album is not full of Ramones copycat songs. These are Brad Marino songs, and he’s always had a knack for writing short, catchy rockers.  

14. Fontaines D.C., Skinty Fia. The Irish post-punkers expand their sound on their explosive third album.

15. Osees, A Foul Form. A recent tour that culminated in an encore barrage of Black Flag covers appears to be the main influence on this noisy, almost hardcore record. 

16. Uni Boys, Do it All Next Week. This is my new band of the year. Power pop works best to these ears when the emphasis is on the “power”, and this band is almost a modern-day Exploding Hearts.

17. Elvis Costello, The Boy Named If. Apparently, last year’s weird tribute record that saw Spanish vocalists sing over the original This Year’s Model tracks influenced Costello and his band to return to the amphetamine rush of his classic Attractions albums.

18. Archers Of Loaf, Reason In Decline. The long-awaited return of this 90s favorite may not include any individual songs that have the immediacy of their original classics, but their first record in 24 years stands strongly next to the rest of their catalog.

19. Viagra Boys, Cave World. These Swedes prove that post-punk can include a sense of humor.

20. Drive-By Truckers, Welcome 2 Club XIII. After a couple of political-themed albums, this time the Truckers take an introspective look back to their formative years of the early 90s.

21. Kiwi Jr., Chopper. Why fix something that’s not broken? This Toronto band’s first two records featured amazing jangle-pop tunes, and they don’t veer too far away from what worked on those albums.

22. Yard Act, The Overload. Imagine if The Fall were led by someone who wasn’t an angry curmudgeon. A version of The Fall where the lyrical jokes were funny to all and not just the curmudgeon. That’s sort of what we have with Yard Act.

23. The Black Lips, Apocalypse Love. You never know what you’re going to get with the Black Lips, and that is still true on their 10th album. Country vocals, disco beats, garage-y guitars, mariachi horns. That’s all here and more, and sometimes all on the same track.

24. Spoon, Lucifer On The Sofa. After a couple of records that have leaned more and more towards electronics, Spoon returns with what is possibly their loudest record to date. 

25. Night Shop, Forever Night. Night Shop leader Justin Sullivan began his career as the drummer in the Kevin Morby-led The Babies (along with Morby’s first four solo albums) and it’s pretty obvious that they share similar tastes and influences. 

26. Kurt Vile, (Watch My Moves). I remember reading a Kurt Vile review around the time this album came out that described his songs as “slow motion anthems”. I can’t improve on that.

27. The Speedways, Talk Of The Town. More fabulous London-based power pop, and again with the emphasis on “power”. Almost any of these songs could have been on those Rhino Records’ D.I.Y. compilations that documented the late 70s power pop phenomenon. 

28. Green/Blue, Offering. Three veteran Minneapolis musicians come together to create music that could have been released on Twin/Tone back in the 80s yet fits with modern indie rock.

29. Alex G, God Save The Animals. Seriously, the title of this record accurately describes the contents, as on song after song Alex Giannascoli sings about our non-human friends.

30. New Rocket Union, Twin Cities Breakdown. High octane, balls to the wall Minneapolis rock and roll. 

31. Guided By Voices, Tremblers And Goggles By Rank. It was a relatively quiet year for Robert Pollard and company, as they only put out two new albums (along with a couple of reissues). This one is arguably the better of the two, as it’s a little bit more hard hitting and also isn’t afraid to expand not only the sound but the length of the songs.

32. El Camino Acid, Sunset Motel. Good old garage rock with a side of power pop influences. 

33. Brian Jonestown Massacre, Fire Doesn’t Grow On Trees. There was a time that I felt that I only needed one BJM album. Yes, most of their music follows a similar template but there are reasons to treasure all 19(!) albums. Something about this one does feel different, and I don’t think it’s just because there are some new players backing him up.

34. Dehd, Blue Skies. Pitchfork, a site I normally avoid, called this record a continuation of the road trip sound of their previous record, Flowers of Devotion, and oddly I sort of get it. 

35. Dropkick Murphys, This Machine Still Kills Fascists. With lead singer Al Barr taking a hiatus to care for his ill mother, the rest of the band reconvened with a satchel of (mostly) unrecorded Woody Guthrie tunes and quickly banged out this acoustic masterpiece.

36. Schizophonics, Hold It. A modern day mix of the pure rock and roll of Little Richard, The Stooges, and The Sonics, among a zillion others. What a reminder of what rock and roll was and should be.

37. Afghan Whigs, How Do You Burn? The Whigs’ first album in five years carries on the moody, haunted feel that has always been the perfect setting for leader Greg Dulli’s vocals. 

38. Tijuana Panthers, Halfway To Eighty. These veteran indie rockers have greatly evolved over the years, having started as a surf-rock band. Their sixth full-length still has a trace here and there of their surf roots, but there’s also elements of punk and garage that makes if possibly their most varied release to date. 

39. The Gabbard Brothers, The Gabbard Brothers. Formerly of Ohio indie rockers Buffalo Killers, Zachary and Andrew Gabbard’s current project sort of updates the laid back sounds of 70s AM radio. Yet there’s enough energy behind the songs that these songs can in no way be described as “yacht rock”. 

40. New Brutarians, Hysteria. Any band whose influences are listed as including the likes of Johnny Thunders, Alex Chilton, Lou Reed, and Leonard Cohen is a must for my collection, and Adam Turkel and Christina Wright’s lofi/glam/garage/protopunk packs a huge punch that more than lives up to expectations.

I would love it if every listener bought at least one record I played on either of these shows. These great artists deserve to be compensated for their hard work, and every purchase surely helps not only pay their bills but fund their next set of wonderful songs. And if you buy these records directly from the artist or label, please let them know you heard these tunes on The Ledge! Let them know who is giving them promotion! You can find this show at almost any podcast site, including iTunes and Stitcher...or

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW!

(Note: Tracks from the above list were aired in reverse, "countdown" order.)

1. New Rocket Union, Twin Cities Breakdown

2. Alex G, Runner

3. Green/Blue, Talking To Myself

4. The Speedways, Secret Secrets

5. Kurt Vile, Flyin (like a fast train)

6. Night Shop, Forever Night

7. Spoon, The Hardest Cut

8. The Black Lips, Lost Angel

9. Yard Act, The Overload

10. Kiwi Jr., Unspeakable Things

11. Drive-By Truckers, The Driver

12. Viagra Boys, Punk Rock Loser

13. Archers of Loaf, Saturation and Light

14. Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Farewell, OK

15. Uni Boys, Downtown

16. Osees, Frock Block

17. Fontaines D.C., Roman Holiday

18. Brad Marino, Brain Gone Dead

19. Built To Spill, Comes a Day

20. More Kicks, In Love

21. Wilco, Tired of Taking It Out on You

22. Dry Cleaning, Anna Calls From The Arctic

23. Ty Segall, Hello, Hi

24. Kevin Morby, Rock Bottom

25. Hoodoo Gurus, Hang With The Girls

26. Miss Georgia Peach, Back Side of Dallas

27. Wet Leg,��Chaise Longue

28. Spiritualized, Best Thing You Never Had (The D Song)

29. UltraBomb,Fear Your Gods

30. Superchunk, Endless Summer

[citrus-cactus]

I saw @vidramon do this meme and thought it would be interesting, so here goes!

Five games that shaped me as a gamer, in no particular order, and under the cut to spare your dash!

1. Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation)

I have spent SO many hours playing and replaying FFVII Original that I’m sure I would wince to know the exact amount. It is my gold standard for JRPGs against which all other JRPGs are judged (particularly those that come from SquareEnix). The plot, the characters, the mechanics, the graphics, the soundtrack, the translation flubs... I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH!!! FFIX is a close second in terms of a quality game that I have played multiple times and try to be as completionist as possible, but nothing, NOTHING can hold a candle to The Entire Reason I Wanted a PlayStation and Was Overjoyed the Day My Parents Said We Could Get One. My sister and I also have a LOT of in-jokes from playing it, and fun fact: we legit SCREAMED IN TERROR the first time we fought Jenova because there was a storm going on outside and some VERY well-timed thunder and lightning. You can’t make this stuff up. Everything about it was a formative gaming experience, 10/10 XD

2. Kirby’s Adventure (NES)

The first game I became OBSESSED with beating. I played a lot of Super Mario Bros. 1 & 3 and while I could get far in them, I was not as good as either of my friends who played them and thus never felt the need to beat them by myself (besides, once you’ve experienced the joy of Goomba’s Shoe in SMB3, what even is the point of playing any further? XD). But Kirby... MAN, it was just so fun and approachable and COLORFUL the whole way through. My parents rented it for us first and since the game has save states, I got to start on Stage 6 (out of 7), and it seemed like there were so many secrets and fun things to unlock, even though I don’t think we made it to that stage’s boss fight (MetaKnight, he’ll WRECK YA!) before we had to return it. But we did eventually buy it and play it to 100% several times, and it’s still one of my favorite platformers. The powers are all so fun. UFO IS THE BEST!!!!

3. Sly Cooper 2: Band of Thieves (PS2)

My then-boyfriend, now-husband and I bonded so hard over the whole Sly Cooper series, but SC2 was the best of the bunch: exploring the hub worlds, finding EVERY LAST BOTTLE, helping each other out on the more difficult(/frustrating) levels, picking pockets, earning all the money for upgrades, enjoying PARAGLIDE, loving the dialog (“Greasy-sweet!”), the characters, BENTLEY BEING THE BEST, etc. etc. It’s eight heist movies rolled into one, it improves on the original in every way, the characters are GREAT, it’s just... so great T^T

(image technically from Sly 3, but still IT’S THE GANG!!! I LOVE THEM!!!!)

4. King’s Quest VI (PC)

Another game my sister and I spent HOURS playing and replaying, even though we were never able to figure out the “short” ending :o Long or bust, baby! Technically we played KQ7 first (and I still really like it because WOMEN PROTAGONISTS), but KQ6 is SO!!!!! Good. It’s hilarious, the puzzles aren’t *too* frustrating (we did NOT call the Sierra Help Line for this one, unlike KQ7... aah, bless my mom for that several-dollar phone call), the fact that you GO TO THE UNDERWORLD AT ONE POINT (I felt SO SMART when I solved the Gate’s riddle, lol!). I love the backgrounds, Robby Benson’s voice, the narrator, the duuuuuuumb jokes when you die... even if you hate Sierra’s mentality of “kill the player at every turn and/or let them create unwinnable states for themselves”, KQ6 is still an INCREDIBLY GOOD adventure game that is 100% worth playing, especially if you are into 90′s power ballads (GIRL IN THE TOOOOOOOWER, I’M REEEEEACHING OUT, PLEASE TEEEEELL ME WHAT TO DOOOOO). Thank you, I’ll see myself out ^_^

5. Pokemon X (Nintendo 3DS)

The first Pokemon game I played, and still my favorite! Probably because everything was so NEW. I didn’t understand types! I didn’t understand... well, most of the mechanics that I’m sure everyone else internalized a long time ago and takes for granted. My friend Opallene was witnessing all of my n00bishness and I’m sure I was hilarious! :D But there were outfits! And haircuts! And Pokemon-Amie! AND CLEMONT AND BONNE. AND SKIDDO. It sent me around town getting various mythical Pokemon promo codes and down the path of buying Pokemon game several years in a row (Alpha Sapphire, Let’s Go Pikachu, Sun, Ultra Moon, and Sword, several of which I never finished, oops!). I think I am over it now, but man, playing that first Pokemon game was a POWERFUL experience. I finally understood what I had been missing out on since 1997! NOW I’M JUST LIKE ASH (I am not anything like Ash XD).

The end! Don’t want to tag right now, but feel free to do it if y’wanna!

[mollyscribbles]

Owl House rewatch thoughts

* Hard to say from what little we see of her, but I think Luz' mom might have been less worried about her daughter reading fantasy and more about the "multiple incidents of bringing uncontained live animals and explosives to school" thing.

* If Eda considers Luz' Azura book as being only useful as kindling, it means she's not inclined to view human books as something she can make snails on.  Considering how unique her portal to the human realm is treated, where did Amity get her Azura books?  I've seen people suggest the author travels between realms, but if that were the case, Amity would've been able to get the latest volume from a local store rather than needing to borrow Luz' copy.

* Suggestions for other species that escaped from the Boiling Isles: the platypus and peacock mantis shrimp.

* "Weak nerd arms" ok really identifying with Luz here.

* Really love this take on Chosen One stories.  Because yes, there is an appeal in being told you're special, you're unique in the best possible way, but ultimately this is a story about people who aren't "special" so much as outcasts who do their best with the situation they're in.  Which is something that a lot more people can aspire to be.

* The fact that this was a set scheme(as the multiple fake maps would indicate) rather than a trap specifically designed for Luz indicates that even people who've spent their lives on the Boiling Isles would be drawn to the idea of being a magical chosen one. I bet Amity's not the only one to have an interest in fantasy literature around here.

* Oh wow Amity's first appearance outside the credits is . . . something.  It's easy to forget just how far she grew in one season.

* Eda's not a *bad* teacher, so much as she has yet to learn that teaching requires expanding on a concept you introduce and explaining your reasoning.  "Here is what you can learn from tasting snow" instead of just "here, taste these different kinds of snow"

* Hm.  For someone who despairs at the concept of the school teaching blind obedience, her teaching style kinda relies on it.  Bit of a hypocrite there, Eda.

* Gonna be honest, the first time I watched this and King mentioned Eda sneaking a drink of elixir, I thought it was going to turn out to be a magic-looking flask.

* It seems slightly odd that King's apparently known Eda for a while but didn't have any idea of the curse.  Maybe she was just REALLY good about keeping up with her elixirs pre-series.

* Really like the metaphor for a chronic illness that's kept under control by medication.

* If the Emperor's Coven provides access to all forms of magic, you'd think others aspiring for a spot would be permitted a multi-track education at Hexside.  That might be why none of them seem to be that impressive at magic when they're supposed to be the "best of the best" -- even if they have *access* to all forms of magic, they've only had training in one specific field during the bulk of their education.

* lbr, Lilith's cheating was worse because at least Eda told Luz what she was doing.

* You'd think Willow and Gus might have caught on that Luz didn't have permission for them to come over when she told them to hide from Eda.

* It's nice that Eda realizes raising a kid with a "screw the rules" mindset will result in a kid who breaks her rules sometimes.  Cleaning up the mess she caused is really the correct punishment for Luz; directly dealing with the consequences of her actions but otherwise considering it a lesson learned.

* Reading to kids in the library is an A+ way to shift Amity from "Jerk" to "Jerk with a heart of gold" territory.

* Prediction: At some point, Luz will return to the human world (probably only briefly but Eda won't know at the time) and Eda will come across the "Coping with empty nest syndrome" book Luz got her from the library.  She'll cry.  King will cry.  Hooty will cry.  Every viewer will cry.

* Pretty sure that, given what the world is like, if any of them ended up questioned about their actions during the body swap episode, they could just say "Oh yeah I was body swapped that day. What'd I get up to?" and everyone would consider this a perfectly logical explanation for them acting out-of-character.

* HC that Hexside is fully aware some illusion-track students skip class by having an illusion of themselves attend in their place, but they figure a student maintaining a decent replica of themselves for the duration of the class period requires enough effort to count as a form of class participation, so they just let everyone think they're getting away with it.

* Gus and Willow are really ride-or-die friends.  Always nice to have.

* Probably some of the mystery appeal will be gone from the Human Appreciation Society once a legit human is just attending classes on a regular basis; being able to get definitive answers to questions rather than spending your time speculating would cut back on the draw.

* I love all the details they include on this show -- a lot of other shows would just stick in scribbles while panning past pictures instead of writing out all of Eda's incident reports.

* The pallisman is a neat concept; sort of like a mix of a wand and a familiar, a magical control that will have opinions of its own.

* Given Bat Queen apparently has enough of, um, a biological aspect to have kids, I wonder if that means Owlbert is capable of laying eggs.  Or having eggs with another owl/pallisman if the male pronouns are anything to go by.

* I mean even Phineas and Ferb didn't question Perry laying an egg when he uses male pronouns so could go either way in terms of what Disney would allow.

* Reading the book fair signs, it looks like sci-fi is a popular genre in the Boiling Isles.  Makes sense, since what we'd consider Fantasy would be more contemporary/urban fantasy to them.

* Getting the vibe that someone on staff had a less-than-amicable experience co-writing with a friend to inspire this one. And/or experience with shitty contracts.

* The Hexside requirements also required knowledge of basic runes, but given Luz apparently had no issue with that I'm guessing she just picked those up offscreen.

* "I've seen worse" is the ideal admissions response tbh.  Like . . . she pulled off the required spells and the headmaster has seen decades of students' awkward first attempts.  It probably counts as a good day when no one's admissions test resulted in needing to bring in someone from the Construction Track to repair the building.

* It's very reminiscent of D&D that the majority of the cast has the response of "This is clearly a trap.  Let's check it out!"

* You'd think that carnival fortune tellers wouldn't have the same appeal in a world where it's something you study at school.  Unless it's viewed the same way as those "magic" shows they have sometimes where the tricks all involve chemical reactions.

* Kinda surprised a school that teaches kids fire spells doesn't have some kind of fire suppression system in place.

* Hrm.  Guessing the mind guardian went back and undid their own damage offscreen; otherwise they'd have had to go re-do the repairs before leaving.

* Good they had the wifi and charging cable coming through the portal to explain why Luz' phone still has service and the battery's not long dead.

* Luz, how have you survived this long with your instinct for pushing buttons.  The same as the rest of humanity in a world full of buttons, I suppose.

* Probably if they thought about it, the best criteria for picking Grom royalty would be less who's the most skilled at magic and more who has the most low-key fears. . . . nvm, having a Stay-Puft incident would cause them to reasonably scrap that approach.  Maybe appointing someone who obsesses over grades would have better odds of producing a relatively-simple-to-combat exam paper.

* I'm thinking the letters are written by Eda, who doesn't intend anything sinister by it so much as being the type to cover her bases when pulling off a scam and realizing Luz' mother would need some evidence to indicate her daughter was safely at camp.

* The band-aids clearly have some healing spell built-in, considering they've been used to heal inanimate objects.

* someone on the writing staff has a long-standing rant about Quidditch they've been holding back on.

* I know that normally the humor in the cut from "she's finally growing up." to Luz planning the heist would be that she's doing something that sensible adults would consider to be a bad idea, but if Eda saw her just then she'd wipe away a tear of pride and go "Her first self-planned heist! They grow up so fast!"

* Eda's the one who talks about cheating at stuff, but Lilith has a habit of playing *dirty*.

* I would like to say I appreciate them going with a more serious credit sequence because it was disconcerting with Star Vs when a dark ending was followed by "I THINK EARTH'S A REALLY GREAT PLACE"

* Lilith may have made a 30-years-late attempt to redeem herself, but I really don't trust her.  I don't quite want her dead, but she DID spend decades trying to force her sister to join the Emperor's Coven as a prerequisite for curing her curse.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #389

“i’m well aware i’m a danger to myself  /  are you aware i’m a danger to others?”

How much do you weigh? Yeah, we're starting off on a bad foot. If you are outside, what are you most likely doing? Putting Roman's used litter in the trash. Do you think you can love someone without trusting them? Hm... I guess you could love them, but it'd be a complicated situation. What’s your opinion on people who go hunting for sport? If it's purely for sport, from the very bottom of my heart, fuck you. Do you have a fairly fast or slow internet connection? I'd say it's decently fast. Have you ever been someplace tropical? Yeah, Florida. My grandma lived there. Are you sensitive to caffeine? No. It does like... nothing to me. How do you usually get around? My mom's car. Have you ever been accused of being too clingy? No actually, but I know I kinda am. What do you think about Kim Kardashian? I don't have an opinion of her. Can you speak any French? No. Favorite yogurt flavor? The only yogurt I've been liking lately is cookies and cream to add a different texture, because otherwise, I don't like its natural texture very much??? Idk man, my taste buds are wild. How much money do you have in your wallet right now? Just like $5. What bottled water brand do you like? Essentia. Your favorite way to eat chocolate? As chocolate bars, probably. How often do you listen to country music? Like, never. Linkin Park or Avenged Sevenfold? Linkin Park. Last surgery you had? Pilonidal cyst removal. Have you ever played guitar? I briefly took classes for it in high school, yes. Best I got to was playing some of the intro to "Crazy Train." I enjoyed it, but not enough to be consistent and really learn. Is there someone in your life whose career/life choices you find immoral/unethical? Have you ever told that person your views? Do you find it difficult to support them (emotionally or otherwise) because of their choices? I don't think so? What trait do you feel you lack that you wish you possessed? Independence and confidence would be nice... Have you ever considered writing your memoirs? No. Do you find it difficult to stay invested in online relationships? God no. I love my online friends. Half of 'em more than "irl" ones. Are you the type of person who pays close attention to the release dates of movies, music, etc., and will, for example, go see a movie or buy an album on the date it is released? If so, when is the last time you did so? I have to be VERY invested in it to care THAT much. It happened most recently when Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty premiered. Do you have any stickers on your laptop? No. Would you rather have a job for which you had to go in early in the morning or one you had to stay late into the evening at? Early in the morning. I'm in a better mood in the morning. Do you use any apps to track your health or medications? I have a calorie-counting app, as well as one to track my period. Whose opinions/recommendations do you value most? My mom's, best friend's, and psychiatrist's. If you could’ve been at any historical event, which would you have liked to witness firsthand? I don't really know. Maybe the very first Pride event? Is there something that you really want to do but are afraid of doing? If so, why are you afraid of doing it? Ride a rollercoaster, for one. I know I never will, though. I'm too afraid of throwing up, but even more realistically, I fear passing out before of the twisting and turning and just standing up makes me very dizzy. My blood pressure is STUPID low. What is something society “expects” you to do that you don’t want to do and/or don’t plan on doing? Have kids. That's a big 'ole fat no from me. Have Jehovah's Witnesses ever come to your door? Twice at least. Are you well-known by people in your area? No. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis? No, thank Christ. It sounds terrifying. What's your favourite type of bird? Barn owls. Melanistic ones, to be exact. Stunning. What tv show(s) have you been watching currently? I'm only keeping up with Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty. Have you ever dated a smoker? For less than a day. Do you share a middle name with any of your siblings? Yes. Have you ever been a member in a band? No. Besides the school band. Can you cry on command? If so, have you ever used it to your advantage? No. Do you have separate emails for personal and business? No. Have you ever missed a flight? Yes. Have you ever seen a lunar eclipse? Multiple times. Have you ever taken a ride in a convertible? I think once with my brother. Why did you last need to use a band-aid? I'unno. What fruit do you eat most often? Apples. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? My ma. Has someone ever tried to start an argument with you over Facebook? What happened? A few times. I don't feel like thinking over this. Have you ever had an unusual type of milk (eg. oat, rice, almond)? I've tried almond milk, and I hated it. If you could experience life as a Disney princess for a week, which princess would you pick and why? uhhhhhh idk When you’re at home, do you spend most of your time in your room? I'm essentially always in my room. If you like to sleep in late, have your parents ever told you off for doing so? No. Do you find piercings attractive? Yep. Do you like potato chips? Loooove 'em. What’s the most stalker-like/creepy thing you’ve ever done? If you don’t think you’ve done anything like that, what’s the most stalker-like thing someone’s done to you? Nothing beyond checking Jason's Facebook sometimes after the breakup, I think. Even that though I wouldn't recommend doing. You're just going to get yourself hurt. Stay away from exes' profiles. Do you think it’s a double standard that a woman can hit a man and expect to get away with it, but if a man hits a woman it’s assault? Yep. I don't give a fuck what's in your pants, you don't hit anybody unless you're fighting to defend yourself. What’s your favorite old Disney movie and favorite new Disney movie? I mean... define "old." I'll go with The Lion King for old, and for new, uh... Finding Dory, probs. Name something “trendy” or popular that you dislike. I don't really know what IS trendy right now... Is Snapchat still "in?" Because I've never gotten that. “Dirty talk” in the bedroom…love it, like it, don’t care, dislike it, or hate it? I think I'm kinda neutral about it? Like I mean it also depends on exactly what is said. I prefer more loving talk, though. What is/are your favorite type(s) of ethnic food, and what’s your favorite food within that type? I'm a basic fatass that likes American cuisine most, aha... Like give me a cheeseburger and I'm happy lmao. How would you describe your relationship with your hair over the years? I love it more now at a short length than I ever did long. When it was long and I was in my deepest depression, I was awful about brushing it. It would get so knotted. Like looking back, it nearly makes me shiver. I HIGHLY recommend cutting your hair for anyone who struggles with selfcare. How do you feel about your SO daily/regularly checking up on a couple of his exes on social media? I'm single, but hypothetically, if you're checking an ex's page nearly every day, I would not be okay with that. I'm totally fine with exes remaining friends and just cordially talking now and again, but that's it. It's a respect thing. Do you prefer your guy to wear cologne or not? I personally like cologne if it's not overwhelming. I really don't care if you wear it or not, though. Ladies, how important is it to you that your SO wears/would wear a wedding ring? This survey is so heteronormative. But anyway, unless there was an issue like it not fitting, I'd want my spouse to wear their ring. What was the turning point that led you to decide for or against having children? There are a lot of reasons I don't want kids. I'm too selfish with my "me" time, I stress out too easily, I don't want to dedicate my life to keeping another person alive and fed and happy, I have bad genes... I could go on and on. I just wouldn't be a good, "present" enough mom. I am much more interested in ensuring *I* am okay. Is having your “dream” wedding really that important to have? Not at all. I mean I want a smooth and memorable wedding, but I'm not obsessed with it being perfect. Do you consider it cheating if your SO goes to a strip club and then doesn’t tell you? That's certainly not cheating, but I wouldn't like it. Being secretive about anything in a relationship is unhealthy, imo. I'd be hurt and also very insecure because I wouldn't feel like "enough." How old is too old for trick-or-treating? Honestly? I don't think you ever are. Like come on, does it REALLY matter? Let people have fun. I don't do it because of societal standards, but I would if I didn't care about being judged. Do you sleep with your arms over or under the covers? It depends on the temperature, but I normally wake up with them under. Do you own any t-shirts of your favorite band? I have an Ozzy one stored somewhere, but it doesn't fit me now. There was another I really liked too, but that one is WAY too small now. Fries or onion rings? Fries. I'm not a fan of onion rings. True/False: you’ve had an odd dream this week. Story of my life. I had one last night where I kept dying in different ways, and I actually felt the pain, like drowning in magma. Do you find tattoo sleeves attractive? YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Do you like carving pumpkins? Yeah. What’s an animal you want to have as a pet but can’t? My mom has absolutely forbidden me to get a tarantula (uh, many tarantulas in my case) until I move out, lol. That doesn't stop me from checking Craigslist like every day. ;_; Have your parents ever caught you drinking? "Caught," no. Any time I've drunk, I've had permission or was a legal adult by then. How would you react if your celebrity crush came to your door? First be humiliated at my appearance and then absolutely pass out lmao. Has your mom/dad ever walked in on you kissing or anything more with someone? No, thank fuck. The person you have a crush on is drunk and goes to kiss you, you know they don’t realize what they’re doing, but do you kiss anyways? If I know it's something they wouldn't do sober, absolutely not. What would you prefer to get from a guy/girl: flowers, a hand written poem, a picture he drew of you or a nice night out? Any would be lovely, but the poem would appeal most to me because of the amount of thought that goes into poetry. Do you any shirts with any kind of images of food on them? What? I don't think so, no. Which holiday is the most fun to decorate for? Halloween. What was the first website you had an email account on? Yahoo. Have you ever written a fanfic? No. Tattoos or piercings? Both are grand, but tats win. What’s the last gross movie/show/video you saw? I saw this picture of a snake split open that had eaten another snake. Would you rather live in a huuuge house or a little cozy one? Lil cozy one! I don't want more space than is needed for cleaning reasons, as well as price. Do you have a tutor for anything? No. Who’s the best kisser you know? Jason was. Has anyone ever threatened you with a knife? No. I'd like it to stay that way. (If you’re a girl) Has anyone ever called you "shortie" instead of girl? Ew, no. Do you have a deep voice? For a woman, yes. Do you play games with boys/girls, like 'hard to get’? Hi, I'm an adult. Is there a Sonic where you live? YES. It's my fave fast-food place. What do you like on your pizza? I have three go-tos depending on my mood: Pepperoni, jalapenos, or meat lovers.

[grimelords]

My August playlist is finished and while it does unfortunately begin with Tool it also has two of Elvis’ gospel songs on it so please believe me when I say it takes a turn! Everything you could ever want over three hours of music from 70s christian hippie cult music to a funky remix of Also Sprach Zarathustra to Ante Up.

If you’re interested in getting these emailed to you instead of having them mysteriously appear and clog up your dash, I’ve started a tinyletter you can subscrine to at tinyletter.com/grimelords

but in the meantime,

listen here

Lateralus - Tool: Tool is on streaming now and they've got a new album out and so it's a very nice time to reinterrogate a band that meant a lot to teenaged me that i have almost completely exorcised from my life since. What's interesting firstly is how much better it is to consume their music digitally than it ever was in any physical format. They apparently resisted making it available for so long for nebulous reasons of artistic control and intention, wanting a say in how their music is listened to - they design these long and overwrought albums to be experienced as a whole. My contention is that as a whole album, start-to-finish, is one of the worst ways to listen to this band. Tool have maybe 12 great songs across four albums and every single album is around 70-80 minutes, pushing the limit of the CD. Which means for every great song there's at least two ambient interludes, Bill Hicks samples, 90s alt comedy bits (Die Eir Von Satan is just menacing music and a menacing voice reading out a weed cookie recipe in german, now that's what I call comedy) that really add nothing to the experience of the album on a casual listen. Being actually able to listen to these songs on their own, and playlist them and pull them apart from the mire is so refreshing and makes experiencing this extremely exhausting band actually pleasant for once. That's not to say ambient interludes and sketches and whatever aren't worth it, I absolutely love that shit and a lot of my favourite albums are absolutely chock full of that sort of thing - just like, don't make me do it every time. Their new album seems to reflect this at least a little bit, with the more overarching themes and arcs of the previous albums replaced by more singular and self-contained long songs interspersed with dedicated 2 minute interlude tracks. The runtime blows out to an hour and a half unrestrained by physical limits but it seems to contain more actual music and less funny than any other Tool album which is a welcome change. I'm still lukewarm on the album itself, it seems to just be a complete rehashing of the ideas on 10,000 Days (to the point of almost note-for-note repetition of some old riffs and themes) which is a bit disappointing considering how long they've apparently been working on it. I'll give it more time because Tool albums always unfold over multiple listens but for now they kind of just sound like the dad-rock version of a once extremely edgy 90s band - which I guess they are now so that makes sense. As for Lateralus, I think it's their best song. The perfect combination of Joe Rogan spirit science woo-woo sacred geometry fibonacci sequence 'open your mind' bullshit and good old fashioned riffs, it's the best of both halves of Tool and great starting point if you've never listened to this band and are interested in becoming insufferable.

Mars For The Rich - King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard: This album is so good and it's finally converted me to being a full time King Gizz guy so look out for a lot more of that in the future. It's a thrash metal concept album about ecological collapse forcing the rich to flee to mars and the poor to flee to venus where they lose their minds and fly into the fire. I spent a little while the other day obsessing over the insane vocal leap in this absolutely incredible song when he jumps down an 11th on 'mars for the riiiiiiich' somehow effortlessly.

Pattern Walks - Cloud Nothings: The interplay between Cloud Nothings second and third albums is something I think about a lot. Attack On Memory is a visceral experience of depression and living in your own head where Here And Nowhere Else is about being able to finally move past it, and living with it. There's a good quote from the singer on the Genius page for this song where he says "It was almost a response to “Wasted Days” on the last record. It ends with “I thought I would be more than this” over and over and this one ends with “I thought” over a beautiful bit of music which is an easy way to explain the way I was thinking when I was writing this record. I wasn’t as depressed as I was when I was making the last album. Before, I felt like nobody liked the band and I was doing it for three years. I was not in a good place. Now, I had more time to think about why I felt that way. It’s a positive song."

M.E. - Metz: Metz put out a B-sides and rarities album a couple of weeks ago and then they put out this Gary Numan cover on it's own for some reason. It's very very good! I love just putting a generally harder edge on it without taking anything away from the spirit of the original. I also, somehow, didn't realise that Where's Your Head At by Basement Jaxx was a Gary Numan sample until I heard this cover so we're all learning every day.

The Ocean And The  Sun - The Sound Of Animals Fighting: Here's what's good: having the last third of your song just be a monotone voice reading from a CrimethInc anarchist zine over swirling guitar ambience. The drums are so good in this, Chris Tsagakis makes me want to muscle through the ska and listen to RX Bandits more, he’s just that good. The extremely crunchy part in the chorus especially, it switches through like three different distortions and sounds absolutely great. I’m a big fan of anyone that can make a very straightforward groove like the main one here really work just by absolutely leaning into it.

Uzbekistan - The Sound Of Animals Fighting: Uzbekistan is the most out-there and wild song on this album which was sort of mostly a way back into post-hardcore for TSOAF after Lover, The Lord Has Left Us.. which was perhaps a little too-out there for most. (seven minute closing track of a guy singing John Cage's Experimental Music essay over formless tabla and mandolin). The drums alone in this are worth it. The way they transition in and out of the super distorted electronic parts is so good. This song fortunately also has a section where someone recites poetry over electronic noise and a second voice whispers 'who holds your strings? wake up..." over the top near the end. I will love and defend dum-dum pretentious music until the day I die.

Gangsta - Tune-Yards: I love Tune-Yards and I'm incredibly interested in the way she interrogates whiteness. It's a complicated thing to get into in this playlist post but when she first turned up, a lot of people assumed she was african american just by the sound of her voice and music - it reaches and pulls from a lot of african music in a very postmodern sort of way and when people found out she was white, straight, cis and from New England it kind of felt like a betrayal for some people. On her 2018 album I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life she digs into it a lot in a way that becomes almost uncomfortable for what is ostensibly a pop album. An NPR article about it at the time said "Ever the student, the Smith-educated Garbus, who writes most of Tune-Yards' lyrics, designed an anti-racist curriculum for herself. She attended a six-month anti-racist workshop at the East Bay Meditation Center. She read the work of noted anti-racist educator Tim Wise and explored the activism of Standing Up for Racial Justice, a nationwide, progressive activism network dedicated to "moving white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority.". That's a lot. This song, Gangsta, from her 2011 album when all the hype was fresh feels like a pretty early look into the mindset she'd later fully fledge out of interrogating white identity and cultural appropriation while also participating in it. The lyrics are simple but they get to a simple point, "What's a boy to do if he'll never be a rasta?" is basically making the same point as Ras Trent by The Lonely Island except it's asking where else does Ras Trent fit? Can a white guy participate in anything like that in a way that's not cultural appropriation, and how can a culture like that participate in the larger world without being appropriated? It's 2013 tumblr discourse but it's still churning for a reason I suppose.

Ante Up (feat. Busta Rhymes, Teflon & Remi Martin) - M.O.P: An all time great Violence Song, in the same genre as Knuck If Ya Buck and X Gon Give It To Ya. Opening with "'this shit feel like a whole entire world collapsed" is such an insane way to open a song but the absolute whirlwind of threats that follows makes it feel warranted. "Fuck hip-hop, rip pockets, snatch jewels" is sooo good. I don't even care about this song I am just straight up robbing you. The absolute power in the rhythm of the overlapping getemGETEMgetem hitemHITEMhitem part is just so, so strong. It's like a VR experience of being fucking robbed.

Awake (feat. JPEGMAFIA) - Tkay Maidza: It seems like Tkay is finally nailing down her sound and she’s absolutely killing it. She’s been through a few different styles since she started out and now she’s really hit on something that’s very distinctly her with this and her other new song Flexin and I cannot wait for the album.

Big Head - Ms. Jade: Ms Jade had one album in 2002 and then basically disappeared which is a shame because she's got a very interesting approach. The star of the show is as usual, Timbaland. The man is a singular voice somehow making the tabla and a wikiwiki noise his signature sound. I love the drone of the raps interspersed with the vocal spikes and I love the chorus as the gospel vocals surge up from underneath. This whole song is just completely bizzare in its construction in a way that works perfectly and feels strangely.

Titanium 2 Step - Battles: Battles are finally back and I’m fucking bouncing off the walls. They’re a two piece now and it does not seem to have slowed them down at all which is very exciting. I can’t think of any band that has ever continued with only half of their original members and also moved forward radically every time. Everything about this song is great: the super strength drums, the hypercolour guitar and the vocals that are just screaming absolutely whatever you like whenever you like. It feels closest to Ice Cream, and Gloss Drop in general more than La Di Da Di but i’m so excited to see how the new album sounds - and how they adapt their old material live now that there’s only two of them.

Dancing Is The Best Revenge - !!!: I’ve never actively listened to !!! for no good reason, but plenty of times in my life I’ve heard a song playing and been like damn what the FUCK is THIS?! and it always turns out to be !!!. This is yet another example.

Skitzo Dancer (Justice Remix) - Scenario Rock: The first clap in this is one of the best sounds ever. Right after 'so you think you've seen and heard it all' everything drops out of the mix for this one very comedy clap and it makes me smile every time. The rhythm of the Disco!... Disco! Disco! part near the end is one of those things that's just always playing in the back of my mind, which as far as constant reminders go it's not the worst. I've also over the last week or so been a big fan of this 11 year old youtube video I found of some guy covering the bass on this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0DLAUaV3f8

16:56 - Danger: Danger had a new album this year that I don't think I gave enough attention to because I relistened and it's very good. He spends the majority of it refining his original sound but it's such a distinct and original niche that it works out great. The songs are so densely layered and frankly just sound so beautiful! Which is a strange thing to say about 80s inspired electro but it just does. The strings and timpani in this about halfway through are just a gift as well, I love it.

Also Sprach Zarathustra - Deodato: As part of my ‘thinking about Elvis’ I was looking up a live album of his called Aloha From Hawaii Via Sattelite which has a very good cover which doubles as an illustration of how my proposed international peacekeeping satellite will function, projecting an immense Elvis themed blanket of darkness over ‘troublemaker’ regions to immerse them in an eternal freezing night until they’ve settled down. Anyway his entrance music for this this concert in Hawaii is Also Sprach Zarathustra, which is a very very funny thing to do and I think gives an appropriate measure of his status at the time. When I told my girlfriend about this she directed me to this bonkers jazz funk version of it by Deodato which deservingly won a grammy in 1974 for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

Hollywood Forever Cemetary Sings - Father John Misty: I’ve resisted listening to Father John Misty for a long time because he just seems like a real asshole. A big brain man genius that saw what Lana Del Rey was doing and thought “what if.. me?”. But I can’t deny this song, it’s absolutely magical and as far as songs about fucking in a cemetery go it’s definitely one of the most singable.

Remember / Medicine Man - Yma Sumac: In reading about the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and who was buried there, I learned about Yma Sumac. Yma Sumac was a Peruvian soprano with one of the most incredible voices I've ever heard who was an absolutely huge deal in the 50s when Americans were clamouring for the exotic, real or imagined. She made extremely good mambo music and claimed to be descended from the last Incan emperor. Her popularity faded after the 50s and then for an unknown reson in 1971, ten years since her last album, she made this rock album. It is insane. It's the best example of 'voice as an instrument' that I've ever heard. She is making every kind of sound possible with a human voice and her range seems completely limitless. She's just as comfortable in a piercingly high whistle register as she is in deep guttural growls. About 2 minutes into Remember she just straight up jumps four octaves in a row just to flex. She also sings in a way in the second verse of Medicine Man that I've never heard before that sounds like she's blowing out her cheeks and then singing with her mouth almost closed. It's absolutey bizzare and I love it so much.

This Thing - King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard: Listening to the other album that King Gizzard put out this year is really making me appreciate how much of 180 Infest The Rats Nest was for them. This album is basically a Black Keys album of groovy fun songs about fishing for fishies with fantastic harmonica work and it makes it look even more like they just snapped when they did the next one.

The Warrior (feat. Patty Smyth) - Scandal: I've been very passively watching GLOW since the second half of season 2 and now I'm very passively watching season 3 and this song was the opening credits theme for the first episode. It fucking rocks I don't know why they don't just make it the theme song all the time. This sort of 80s hard-rock pop is very good when it's good and extremely bad when it's bad and I wonder if we'll ever see any sort of revival of it once 80s nostalgia nostalgia takes hold in 2030. Being a singer named Patty Smyth is very funny also. She's billed as a feature even though she was in the band because she left to try a solo career as soon as it was released, possibly even before. She is also John McEnroe's wife I just found out. What a life.

A Girl Called Johnny - The Waterboys: I found this song because I was googling to see if it's possibly to get a random album from spotify and instead foumd a guy on rateyourmusic who was generating random rym album pages and then listening to whatever came up if it was on spotify - which seems just as good. This was one of the albums he talked about and he seemed to like it so I listened and I did as well. Sometimes the best way to find new music is throw dice on the internet and see what comes up.

New Year's Eve - City Calm Down: The new City Calm Down is one hundred percent great and I have such admiration for them for making a complete left turn with their sound and sounding like a completely different band since their last album but being equally as great in both forms. It's very inspiring and it's also the second song of the month I've heard for the first time while walking around Richmond that's mentioned Richmond. Very spooky.

Cruel Summer - Taylor Swift: It's fucked up how good Lover is when ME! and You Need To Calm Down were so bad. It feels like they changed direction at the last minute and changed the tracklist dramatically because those two songs seem sort of wildly out of place, along with London Boy. It's so uneven it's basically two albums in one but when it's good it's extremely good. This song is fucking powerful. The way she straight up screams "he looks so pretty like a devil"? Amazing. What a crazy thing to shout. If you're interested I also resequenced Lover and took London Boy off it and it's a far better album in my opinion https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3LN1uAhp8BS8Ms4bgmHiVP

Kelly - Van She: I have no idea why but this is in the opening paragraph of Van She's wiki page: "Their label introduced them as a "new band from Sydney fresh on ideas, fresher than Flavor Flav, fresh like coriander, fresher than the Fresh Prince, fresher than fresh eggs."[2] Despite these claims, the band began with a sound very much rooted in the 1980s, heavy on synthesizer." which really makes me laugh. Van She had a very specific mid-2000s indietronica thing going that was really good as this song proves but they also did a bunch of remixes under the name Van She Tech that are very out there and completely different to the main band. Their remix of UFO by Sneaky Sound System I'm sure I've yelled about in these posts before, it's absolutely phenomenal. Anyway I guess what I'm saying is get you a band that can do both.

Shadow - Wild Nothing: Somehow I missed Wild Nothing back when they were a big thing and only listened to them this month. I listened to this whole album while I was doing housework and when it finished I though 'that was nice' and could not remember a single thing about it. That's the beauty of shoegaze! I had to listen to it about five more times for it to stick and now I'm getting more and more out of it every time, I love it.

Heaven's On Fire - The Radio Dept.: Years ago when I was having a major 'depressive episode' for about a fucking year I listened to this album Constantly and as a result for a very long time I couldn't listen to it without inviting megawatts of bad vibes back into my brain. Thankfully through hard work and time passing it appears I've fully healed my assosciations with this album which is fantastic news because it is delightful start to finish and worth getting obsessed with again.

Crystalised - The xx: It's nice to see news articles posted almost every day about which albums are turning ten years old. It makes me feel one million years old and viewing the world from a television in my hermit's cave. It feels hard to overstate just how much quiet influence the xx have had over the music landscape since 2009. Without The xx we don't have Royals and without Royals we don't have You Need To Calm Down, so. Something beautiful of theirs that I think is sad hasn't caught on in the intervening years is the idea of writing romantic duets when duets had been out of fashion for so long. They wrote a whole album of them and continue to! There's a beautiful contextual depth to it, in that it's two queer people singing not exactly to each other but with each other. In an interview they've called it 'singing past each other' which is a very nice way to put it.

Aspirin - Tropical Fuck Storm: I really appreciate the continual development of the guitars in Tropical Fuck Storm where they sound so pencil-necked and reedy in these angular little melodies and then sometimes explode into thick cacophanous howls, but what's especially good is in songs like this when they don't explode and instead just sort of sprout tendrils and crawl around each other. They're really drilling down on a very singular and very unsettling sound and I really love it. It is also a very interesting feeling to be walking around Richmond listening to this album for the first time and having him mention Richmond. Spooky even.

Pasta - Angie McMahon: "My bedroom is a disaster / my dog has got kidney failure" is an all-time great opening lyric for me. I love the way this song kicks up from the doldrums, like forcing yourself to do something just so you've done something today. Angie McMahon is so great and I'm getting more and more out of her album every time.

If I Had A Hammer - Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash: The way this song is performed here is so fucking cool. The guitar tone, June's voice and the general energy of it is just absolutely electric. It feels like Highway 61 Bob Dylan where it's still folk but it's got this massive power in it. The solo fucking rips in that very old fashioned way and when it finishes and that riff comes back in by itself it's just great.

Elvis Presley Blues - Gillian Welch: I was thinking about this song because I too was thinking about Elvis. I thought for a long time that the lyrics to this were ‘didn’t he die?’ and not ‘day that he died’ and I think I prefer mine more. Idly thinking about Elvis like ���whatever happened to that guy? Must be old now. Wait, didn't he die? No way to know I suppose.”

Everything Is Free - Sylvan Esso: Rolling Stone had a very good article and interview about how this song about napster has had a resurgence and remained relevant through the streaming era which is a very good read. I love the original and really this version is very similar except for the one key difference where they really dig into the anger and frustration at the heart of it in the 'fucking sing it yourself' line.  https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/gillian-welch-everything-is-free-courtney-barnett-father-john-misty-725135/

It's Nice To Have A Friend - Taylor Swift: This is the strangest song on Lover and one of the best, I absolutely love it. It's a very old fashioned kind of Taylor Swift Love Story type song but it also has a a fucking trumpet reveille in the middle, so that really spices it up a bit. I also keep accidentally listening to this backwards - there's a few phrases like when she sings 'it's nice to have a friend' where the 'friend' lands on the offbeat but is accented like it should be ON the beat and because of the way the music is in this where it's just the steady pulse it's hard to tell whether the chime is supposed to be on the beat or on the offbeat. It feels like it sort of slides back and forth throughout the song depending on what everything else is doing around it. I don't know if that's intentional or not but it's a very interesting effect. This song is also, in my estimation, about a woman and is detailing a fantasy Taylor Swift is having where she can come out to the world with no fuss and enjoy a simple fairytale love story as a gay woman.

Psalm 42 / Chant For Pentecost - The Trees Community: I have a mental list of albums I google every few months to see if they've been added to streaming and by the grace of god one of them finally has been. Years ago I used to listen to this almost every night to fall asleep and I think it brainwashed me slightly in a delightful way, and now I finally have it back again! This is proper hippie music: a bunch of long haired new york christians who drove around the country in the early 70s in a school bus playing their elaborate and beautiful music for anyone who wanted to hear it. The multilayered, multi-movement construction of these songs is completely entrancing to me. It's not a hollow beauty, but one that brings new meaning to old words in the way they stretch and snap and waver throughout the song, moving past each other and through each other as it moves forward. I absolutey love it. Chant For Pentecost is a good illustration of the other side of them, a short song that starts sweet and turns almost maniacal. There's a wild-eyed feeling to the harmonies and the way this melody sits on a single tone for such long stretches before the frankly scary conclusion.

In My Father's House / Working On The Building - Elvis Presley: The backing vocals in these, and especially the bass vocals are so incredible. The way they work in the second verse of Working On The Building is so great, Elvis is the lead vocal but the middle harmony and somehow it just works perfectly. The harmonies is In My Father's House are amazing. The bass solo is mind blowing and the part about halfway through where Elvis swallows the mic and says "jesus died upon the cross [VRRMER] sorrow" is very funny. It's got it all.

The Greatest - Lana Del Rey: Norman Fucking Rockwell is an absolute masterpiece and this is the best song on it. Lana has always had a knack for this apocalyptic feeling but this is a whole other level.  https://www.stereogum.com/2056565/lana-del-rey-norman-fucking-rockwell-review/franchises/premature-evaluation/ The Stereogum writeup for this album was really great, and really nailed my opinion of her whole character thing as well, but he described this song as her version of that video that Ted Turner commissioned for CNN to play at the end of the world and it's really a perfect description. The part at the end where she says 'Kanye West is blonde and gone' is so chilling to me. Like Kanye losing the plot makes sense because he's only a few months ahead of the rest of us. He’s been a thought and culture leader for so long and it only makes sense that he’s spun off into space in these last days before it all wraps up.

listen here

[phveniix]

✧ · ˚ . reece king? nah, that’s just phoenix “nix” campbell. you know, they’re the twenty-five year-old musician from manchester… still doesn’t ring a bell ? come on, dude ! they’re all over ME.MIAMI’S homepage. it’s impossible for them to stay off of it because of the fact that they’re super pretentious & spacey. they’re not all bad though, ‘cause they can be intelligent & personable too ! you can totally tell they’re a libra… it’s almost scary. look, if you want to remember them, just think of clothes that always smell like weed and cigarettes, organized chaos in a bedroom, and a 3am drive with the music turned up , and you’ll be golden. ( he/him, cismale. ) 

hello babies !! it me lainie back from the dead now that the semester is over n i’m so excited to bring u my brand new bby boy. the intro got kind of long so at the bottom (before the connection ideas) u can find a tl;dr :’)

tws for drug use/abuse and mental illness

background

nix grew up in hardcore suburbia in manchester, england. his parents were just sort of……….basic parents? attentive and loving but with issues of their own. he inherited anxiety and depressive disorders from both of them so his childhood was rough not because his parents didn’t try to be there for him (he had a lot of issues with his dad though) but bc his mental illnesses just made it hard to be a teenager (harder than usual fdhgsjsj). it led to a lot of drug abuse when he was in high school, and he was one of those kids where he was like really smart and did exceptionally well when he went to class so his teachers and his parents got on his case about it but he just wasn’t in the state of mind for giving a shit about school.

he and his friends got up to a lot of shit even when he was not in one of his depressive episodes just bc like it was boring suburbia and they had nothing better to do than drive around smoking weed and drinking beer. on the side nix was starting to get into pills and his friends were like *eyes emoji* but they were 16/17 so they didn’t rly know what to do about it ydgfuhjsa

he spent some time in an adolescent psychiatric ward of a hospital while he was in high school bc his parents were like okay something needs to be done !! and it didn’t really help. he did graduate high school, but it literally just took getting older and learning to deal with his mental shit to stop abusing drugs eventually. which did not happen fast

at 18 he went to New York by himself to attend NYU for music but dropped out in his second year when the band he and one of his friends had gotten together started getting actual attention on two eps they’d put out. his parents weren’t THRILLED bc they wanted him to have a degree (and they’d literally helped him pay for going to another country specifically for school purposes) but they were like really excited about the success so in that regard they were Cool with it. what they weren’t Cool with was how the shows and the lifestyle were conducive to his drug habits, of which they were very much aware (from all the way back in manchester) despite his trying to hide it and lie about.

so when he was 20 the band finally dropped their debut album and it was wildly successful and nix rly grew to have a toxic relationship with the career itself and the fame that came with it. the depression and anxiety were always still there and those random episodes he’d have on top of the pressure of doing shows and wanting to connect with his fanbase was what ultimately led him to doing harder drugs than pills, and it turned into a full on addiction. they almost broke up as a band a few times, his friend he started it with threatened to kick him out once, and there were multiple instances of him tweeting or saying insane shit while he was fucked up and then having to delete it later and pretend it never happened yguhkjksa

it was when they were in the middle of writing their second album (when he was 21) that nix finally hit rock bottom and checked himself into rehab (with the help of casey). he was there for three months, got sober, and for the first time he actually stayed that way a while.

so they finished the second album, it was just as successful, and by the time he was 23 they had a rly solid fan base and some international recognition and nix was still sober and things were relatively Good. he moved to miami when casey did bc he was like ok why tf not lmao and the whole ass band came to miami to start working on their third album. i imagine he dated a bit in this time, probably had one really healthy relationship for a while, and it was probably that relationship that got destroyed when he finally relapsed at 24 during an especially bad depressive episode that coincided with a big show for a festival. it was rly obvious he was high but it didn’t cause a scene or anything, people were just like hell yeah we’re all high it’s a festival lmao yeruhw but his friends and gf afterwards were like ??? hello !!! really ???!! so that was a thing again for a good 5 or 6 months until, once again, he hit a rly scary rock bottom and had to go to rehab.

and he got clean. again. and it stuck, again. he’s currently still clean and he and his band are working on their third album again yeet

personality

so nix is like…..a sensitive soul eryguhsja like yes he’s rly sarcastic and dry and can unintentionally come off as pretentious but he’s very personable and outgoing and just rly enjoys talking to people and like?? engaging in human interaction. when his anxiety gets really bad he’ll withdraw a lot and it’ll be really obvious and the same goes for the depression. when he’s having episodes, it’s like rly clear bc he’ll be moody and irritable and start reverting to bad habits

his favorite thing in the world is writing music bc he loves expressing his emotions and he feels like he does it best that way. so it’s also like rly meaningful to him when people like his music bc it’s like validation of himself and who he is yk

pansexual king

used to sleep around a lot and had an unhealthy relationship with that too especially when he was on drugs. now he like still enjoys it but doesn’t go out looking for it usually and would in general prefer a relationship probably ?? we’ll see

his aesthetic is p much thrifty clothes, big shirts, band tees, jeans and converse, the no sleep bags under his eyes a little too skinny for comfort look, small heavy metal boy even tho his music is lowkey soft, smelling like cigarettes and weed all the time

he’s so obsessed with the idea of love and human connection and shit like that. he’s always analyzing people and relationships (even ones that aren’t his own) and the world and being pretentious xisbdjskdb but like genuinely he just has a really oddly optimistic romanticized view of humanity and the world for someone who’s dealt w so much shit

also like he can come off like i don’t give a shit what anyone thinks!!!! but he actually cares so so much about what everyone thinks and even he will admit that djsbdkwndj

tl;dr born in manchester, england, moved to the states to go to nyu for music, dropped out when his band (the dead lights) started making it big, has had drug problems most of his life, been in and out of rehab, currently clean and working on the band’s third album. pretentious and can come off as a smartass but is actually v personable and kind and is obsessed with the idea of love and tends to romanticize absolutely everything from relationships to the world to literally other people’s relationships

connection ideas

if there’s a 1975 song that fits ur muse or one of ur muse’s relationships??? lmk bc nix will write it about them/their relationship !! a lot of his songs are stories abt other people he finds interesting

his band thank u !!! guitar, keyboard, drums, backing vocals, the works. one of them would be the one who started the band w him while he was at nyu and they’d be rly close and maybe live together

the girl he was dating when he relapsed the second time in miami !! up to plotting how it ended tbh

ok like bad influences who were maybe people he was friends with when he was doing drugs?? who like lowkey try to get him back into it??

and good influences ofc of all kinds!

smoking buddies/a weed dealer

unrequited things on both ends please please please i REALLY want him to have a thing for someone in a relationship who he can’t have but wants so badly

enemies ofc bc I’m angsty!!! Maybe people who think he’s a pretentious wannabe poser try-hard

also ex friends possibly either bc they couldn’t handle him at his worst OR bc he cut them off bc like nix will do that if he doesn’t like someone’s vibe

I don’t think he does many collabs on his own albums (possibly some random singles tho???) but gimme things where he featured on other people’s music

[solecize]

REPLY 2009 ⠀ ⠀⠀.⠀⠀.⠀⠀.⠀(or: 2009, year of us) — 001.

now playing: forever young by got7

summary: ten years ago, we found ourselves at a turning point in pop culture as the decade began to close. this was the year that brought the world obama, the death of michael jackson, and the highest grossing film of all time, avatar. however, in south korea, something big was brewing as well and it started off with infectious lyrics, colourful costumes, and sensational dance moves: kpop. the korean wave that started to build several years ago begins to find its footing in the international limelight in 2009. this was the golden era of kpop. this was the time of sorry, sorry. the debut of quite possibly the most different and groundbreaking girl group in korean entertainment, 2NE1. the rise of shinee, one of the most consistent boy bands of this era and beyond. the throne of bigbang would remain steady with their ventures into japan. and of course… snsd’s gee that would solidify their place as the nation’s girl group and overtake their male counterparts. nothing can touch this legendary age.meanwhile, in the very city that milled and churned out these stars, eight teenagers were also coming to a certain close in 2009. youth was suddenly running out like grains of a darkened hourglass, as everything and everyone brought tension into their lives. where was the next step on their path? high school is nothing more than a cruel halfway point between childhood and adulthood, but this group of friends made the most out of it. after all, this is the youngest that they’ll ever be. this age is the time where hopes rise higher than ever, where love burns the most passionately, and the desire for freedom expands the furthest. in 2009, we follow these teenagers’ stories to the background music of the opening chapters of kpop’s greatest legacies.but, ten years later at their high school reunion, where do we find them.

or highschool!got7, dancecrew!got7, coming of age, school reunion angst, reader x ?

PRESENT DAY (1)

The familiar smell of textbook induced tears and broken hearts filled my lungs like a smokey, forgotten haze as I remained in an entranced stare towards my old high school building. No other place had such a vile, but hexing scent. Jinyoung tugged me out of his car when I didn’t move, too mesmerized by the scenery that I’d thought I left at the very back of my mind when I threw my cap in the air for the very last time ten years ago. In 2009. However, finding my feet meeting the ugly concrete of the parking lot, I realized that it was always going to be somehow lingering, bothering me like an itch that I cannot reach, when I let out a shocked breath of air.

“So, we meet again,” I mumbled, as if reuniting with an old foe—wasn’t that was high school was for anybody?

Jinyoung’s lips stretched out into a wide grin and I could practically see the memories in his head doing a full flashback reel. “Nothing’s really changed, huh?”

With a glance to my phone screen, I couldn’t help but shoot a glare towards my brother when I noticed the time. “Dude, we’re early. And not like early enough to get to the hors d’oeuvre before anyone else, but as in the parking lot is almost empty early.”

He’d always been the punctual one between the two of us and it was like that since we were born. I usually wouldn’t have a problem with that, unless of course, I would be forced to become punctual as well. Being the less sociable and more restless one, it wasn’t enjoyable at all. Jinyoung only shrugged after taking a glance around us and too, noticed the lack of vehicles in the parking lot. The event was supposed to start at 6:00, but it was only 5:00.

“Who cares? It gives us more time to explore.” He rubbed his hands together in excitement, as he started to walk away. I called out his name in irritation, but he only raised up his arm and with a click and beep, locked the car doors in response.

Since graduating, there was no reason for me to return back to Haerin. Not even alumni events or my fiance’s occasional commitments to the school. If only he was able to make it, I wasn’t even sure of that. I opened my mouth to complain about his lack of presence, but remembered that I’d been doing it the entire car ride to the school, until Jinyoung begged me to “shut up before I do it with my foot” and that “he’ll be here soon, don’t worry.”

Strolling closer to the building, after a half-assed jog to keep up with my brother, it didn’t even feel like I’d left. I’d spent so many years on this campus and went through an entire rollercoaster, especially during my final year. Everything seemed to come flooding back in at once.

There was some muffled chatter coming from inside, indicating that there were indeed people inside. I was met with disappointment when I saw some teenagers at the front, who seemed to be busy with setting up a sign-in table adorned with ribbon. Beside it, there were large balloons that represented the words “CLASS OF 09” in the classic school colours of silver and maroon. They dressed in the usual Haerin attire of polyester uniform and all black shoes, I realized they were current students that were probably volunteers.

One boy with the name tag that read Woojin looked up at Jinyoung and widened his eyes in surprise, nudging his fellow volunteer. “O-Oh! Hello. We weren’t expecting the attendees until six—” I gave an I-told-you-so look to my brother, who pretended not to see it.

“Here’s a button! There isn’t really anyone here yet, though, so. . “ The girl next to him, her name tag indicating that she was called Ryujin. She handed the two of us a little button pin that read “HAERIN CLASS OF 2009 TEN YEAR REUNION.” I smiled and thanked her, as she showed us where to sign in.

As Jinyoung and I did so in silence, I felt as if we were being watched. I looked up and noticed a third volunteer, a boy who was putting up a banner on the front doors and eyeing us at the same time. When our eyes met, he raised his eyebrows.

“U-Um, excuse me. You guys don’t happen to be the Park siblings, do you? Part of the founders of the school dance crew?”

Jinyoung’s head snapped up, clearly surprised by the recognition. “Yeah! Well, this one wasn’t a founder, but that’s us. You know who we are?”

MARCH 2009 (2)

“Well, if you don’t want to join choir, that’s fine. There’s definitely way more options, anyway. Uh, chess club, baseball, the school newspaper—”

Spring rolled around faster than I’d expected and soon enough, I was buttoning up my uniform shirt and putting on my backpack for my final year of high school. I’d always imagined what it’d be like to finally become a senior since I was little, watching the dramas and movies about teenage life. When it finally hit me, I didn’t even feel the blow. The end of my childhood creeped up on me without me even knowing it. Yesterday felt like swing sets and multiplication tables as homework and today was suddenly university applications.

It was the year 2009, the first decade of the 21st century coming to a close. It was the year of blue avatars and Zac Efron, where everyone had A Feeling thanks to the Black Eyed Peas, and everyone was nose deep into the world of Facebook. Every American teen star wanted to have tantrums in front of the whole world. Whether you liked to admit it or not, you definitely over accessorized in 2009 with ugly hats, chunky belts and layered necklaces. Everyone hated Lady Gaga, wanted to be her, or were confused by her. Not to mention, everyone was obsessed with the sparkly vampire kids from Twilight.

Meanwhile in Korea, BIGBANG, DBSK, and Super Junior were the kings of kpop, but it seemed as though Girls Generation were looking to become royalty in their own right, with Gee��having just come out. It was all we fucking heard over the school break, that was for sure. Though it may not sound so long ago, looking back, the events of 2009 feel like a lifetime ago. I was closing the chapter on my high school life, but this would be my most eventful one yet.

“Is the dance crew any good?”

I looked at my best friend as if he just grew three heads and a tail. We were walking along the halls and he suddenly stopped to look at one of the flyers that the crew obnoxiously posted on almost every surface in the building. He was looking at the bottom, below the dancer figure that was way too cool to represent the crew, where the auditions were being held.

Youngjae turned to me and when he saw the expression on my face, his smile faltered. “What? Hey, wait up!” I began to walk away, having better things to do than look at the crew’s flyers. “Isn’t your brother on the crew?”

“Yeah, says he needs something to do in his freetime or whatever. I don’t know if you wanna join, though…” I trailed off.

It wasn’t like I had some sort of vendetta against the crew, I just believed that Youngjae could be better off pursuing other things. Reading off the school handbook that held the school teams and clubs, I wanted to help him out. I wouldn’t have imagined that he’d even be interested in dancing after the fiasco that was his stint as an idol trainee, but he managed to prove me wrong. Looking into his eyes, I could see that he was genuinely interested, though.

He asked, “Why, is there something wrong with them?”

“No, it’s not like that. I mean, they’re pretty okay, they’re more like a club since they aren’t really competition people.” I shrugged. “I just don’t know if you’d …fit in with those kind of people.”

I clearly didn’t want Youngjae to join the crew. He had the talent for it and already knew Jinyoung, so there was a good chance that he’d pass auditions. I said that I didn’t have a vendetta, but after breaking up with Mark, I wasn’t sure how I felt about my best friend hanging around him and my brother, considering I used to have to fight for Youngjae’s attention when we were kids.

Youngjae was confused at that. I had to nudge my head towards the front foyer, where some of those very members were gathering. It was four of them, lounging around, probably catching up with each other as if they didn’t spend every waking moment as a unit during the break and playing catch with Jinyoung’s student ID while blasting Chris Brown from one of the three’s boombox. Between the ruckus causing Jackson and Bambam with the wannabe DBSK haircut was their apparent crew leader, Im Jaebum.

Upon watching them for a few moments, he came to a conclusion. “So, they’re delinquents or something?”

I thought of my book smart brother and reserved Mark, even the laidback Yugyeom. “What? No. Individually, they’re quite the personalities and they’re all fine, but as a collective,” I paused looking to string together the appropriate words, “they’re not quite respected around here. Students think their dance crew is a joke and girls just want to throw themselves on the boys because they’re good looking.”

I had my fair share of having to reject the fragile hearts of girls that confessed to Jinyoung on his behalf. It was embarrassing, having to do it. Having seen them dance in action one or two times, I’m sure they weren’t terrible, but I wasn’t sure why anybody would want to join them since all they did 90% of the time was fool around.

“I take it that you’re not auditioning, then.”

Jumping at the voice that seemed to appear out of nowhere, sounds of scribbling granite was heard behind me. I turned around and was met with the face of Jackson Wang, the usual power forward of the school basketball team. He’d made his way here without me noticing. Rumours spread towards the end of the last school year that he was the top candidate to be this year’s captain. He had a bright red mechanical pencil out, writing his name onto the sign-up sheets for basketball tryouts, as if he even had to try out.

Smiling shamelessly, I replied, “I’m no dancer anymore. I was going to do basketball this year again, but—” I raised up my left hand, showing off the cast that adorned the area. It was all thanks to an unfortunate accident when playing basketball with Jinyoung the week prior, the Jinyoung who couldn’t do sports if his life depended on it and ended up hurting me in the process.

The Hong Kong native sucked in a sharp breath. “That’s terrible, man. What’s the team going to do without you?” he teased, which somewhat offended me. I hadn’t been a Jackson-esque star on the girls’ team, but I was a first string player and played a decent amount to be considered important.

“Like I said, you should join volleyball  after basketball season ends! You’re tall and you hit hard, so you’d make the cut for sure,” Youngjae chimed in and it was at this moment that Jackson noticed the other male, searching for familiarity in his face, but found none.

I decided to step in. “Jackson, this is Youngjae. He transferred from Hanlim. And Youngjae,” I watched the two attempt to exchange a handshake, with Jackson going for a fist bump, but failed when the other decided to be a little bit more formal, “this is Jackson. He’s on my brother’s dance crew.”

“Hanlim? The arts school? You’re lucky to have a cutie like her showing you around,” Jackson winked in my direction, but I ignored it. He was naturally a flirtatious guy and I was immune to such mannerisms at this point, even though I’d tease back at some times. It wasn’t one of those times. Just the subject of basketball brought irritation to my senses, as I’d been looking forward to the season as a senior for the longest time.

Youngjae grew uncomfortable at the mention of his old school and chose to ignore it. “How many members is the dance crew looking for?”

“One.”

At that, Youngjae let out a sound of shock and sputter. “O-One? Why only one?”

“We usually only perform as seven and our seventh got into a huge argument with Jaebum. Chairs were thrown.” Jackson whispered the last part into the other’s ear in an ominous manner and looked around as if someone was watching them. “And because Jaebum is our leader, he has final say on everything and he wanted Wooyoung out.”

“So, he threw his usual hissy fit because he didn’t get along with someone?” I said dryly. I didn’t know Jaebum that well, but I knew him well enough to see how exactly he ran the crew.

He chuckled at what I said, not denying it, and turned back to Youngjae. “You got any previous experience?”

“If you could call it that.”

Attempting to cut in, I could see exactly what Jackson was trying to do. He cocked his head to the side, looking at me up and down. I knew well enough that Jackson wasn’t checking me out, it was some unconscious habit that he had. “I didn’t see you hanging around Jinyoung or the house over the break, did I? Where were you?”

“Stop trying to change the subject! I was working and visited my grandparents for a bit without him. Don’t you dare try to recr—”

Youngjae slyly slid Jackson his number on a piece of paper. I’m interested, he mouthed behind my head, which I only noticed when Jackson nodded in response.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Before I knew it, phone numbers were being exchanged and further info and tips were being provided by Jackson to him. After the basketball player left, I gaped at Youngjae, who I’d just spent time warning him about the crew. He only looked at me with the innocence that only Choi Youngjae could successfully feign.

“What? Hey, do you think I should audition with Gee?” He looked genuinely excited and that was something that I couldn’t deny. ���It is 2009, after all. A whole new year, new opportunities.”

[drumie]

Salutatory Speech.

So as Salutatorian, I was told I would have to write a speech focused on the history... I find that a bit challenging, but here it goes.

A very long time ago, the universe did not exist. There was infinite mass and density, and said universe couldn’t take it, so there was a boom. A big bang of sorts…

Then in the late 90’s and early 2000’s we were born. One of us, in fact, was born on this very day. I want to wish Alicia Hernandez a happy birthday. (sing alicia happy birthday)

So we were born. Our worries were few, but substantial. Two of my personal struggles included catching the next spongebob episode and drinking chocolate milk too fast.

We started pre-school. My only memory from there is getting sick on one too many pigs in a blanket. We met some of our first friends here. Simple times.

2004 - Facebook was created.

2005 - Youtube was created.

Then we started Elementary school. I was at east ridge. Our worries here included getting the last breakfast pizza that was left over because “adam wasn’t here and he would want me to have it.” They included  obsessively cramming for spelling tests, memorizing multiplication facts,  and taking our first TAKS test. TAKS test. Feel old yet?

2006 - Twitter was created

We moved onto 4th grade at SIS… The turf wars began. And for the folks that don’t know, there were two different elementary schools that brought up Kindergarten through 3rd grade. And then these two schools would feed into SIS, Sweetwater Intermediate School. This was our world now. Where we came from defined a person… were you from east ridge, or were you from south east? And I’m ending the beef now, East Ridge was the better of the two. Only kidding! It didn’t matter. There were good things from both schools. I’m just glad that hating and judging people from where they’re from is only something 4th and 5th graders do.

I digress. We’d rack up AR Points ca ching! We’d party like the year we were born… Flamingo fling. Not many worries, but we were still in a hurry, learning about history and Martin Luther King. And those days remained romanticized because again, our biggest concerns only included passing a TAKS test and… our first puberty class.

2010 - Instagram was created

Speaking of puberty, here came middle school. Oh my God. Puberty was like Everyone telling you to look both ways before crossing the street to watch for cars and then a falcon swoops down from the sky and attacks you. Folks I thought that was it for us. As soon as coach Huskey said “Let’s go hit that creek” I recall thinking to myself “yeah I’m going to die in the next few hours.” I found my passion: Band. I also found what I thought was my passion: Football. I remember one day Kiante hit me and I was like “I don’t think I like this very much.” Life got real. Technology took off. We all got phones, social media, iPads. Remember how cool we thought we looked with all of our decent selfies  camwow retro logo in the bottom left? Instagram, Snapchat, facebook, tumblr (lowkey though), Jokebox, iFunny, Youtube, and for the first time, We stopped going to older people for help and we got online and googled it. We were the pioneer generation that was raised by technology. Surrounded by information in the times of our lives when we needed it the most. We began to comprehend the different weights of life. As a middle schooler I pulled a few all-nighters to finish projects and homework… I may or may not have procrastinated on. Our priority list was fine tuned. School and extracurricular were up there now. But memes, relationships, and social media were among them as well.

2012 - Vine was created

Then came High School. lots of smells in high school have you noticed that? The big room smells like shredded tires and hard work and dedication with a hint of Trent tears scattered here and there. You could always tell when bunsen burners were on because the science hall always smelled unpleasant. And Mrs. Melendez’s room when she would burn those Orange Buttercream Scenses that smell like fruity pebbles oh my god.

Smells like the big room, bunsen burners, teen spirit, and those scense’s are the things I think I’ll remember the most.

I learned a few important things in my time in High school that I’d like to share with you.

Freshman year I learned that if you’re unhappy in your situation, you have the ability to change it. Whether it be relationships, extracurricular, or any aspect of life, you can change it. I also learned that social media can be a cruel blackhole, that can distort views, reputations, and relationships. Even more so today. Tread carefully.

Sophomore year, I learned the true value of hard work thanks to Mrs. Judith Brentz. She taught us many valuable lessons, the most important being “how to use our heads for something more than keeping your ears apart.” I also got my first B… Thanks Mrs. Mac. I also got my second B… Thanks Mrs. Brentz. I also learned how to rid my life of toxic people, and for the first time I began to see the world for what it really was. All the variables, and the factors that can play into what, when, why, and how we think the things we think.

Junior year was the toughest for me. Between band, Round 2 of Brentz for chem 2, Coach Mayes, Work, and family…. It taught me that you can’t do everything you want to, and at the same time get enough sleep. I also learned that it’s healthy to rock the boat every now and then. You’ll either get humbled, humble someone else, or if conditions are just right, a healthy mix of the two.

I also learned probably the most important lesson I’ve learned thus far. This applies to everyone listening, Teachers, families, current students, etc. If you don’t get anything about my longwinded speech, please hear this.

My junior year, I stopped worrying about grades, and I started doing the best I could to learn and retain everything that was being taught to me. Numbers are just Numbers. But what we should understand is that we have the world’s most powerful computer between our ears, and once we start using it, we become unstoppable. There are people that will disagree with what I’m about to say, but stop trying ace tests. Stop trying to do the bare minimum to get by. Learn and retain the information, and those good grades will come. I guarantee it. And class of 2018, it’s not too late to apply to your lives. Whether you’re going to college or not, this is a fundamental principle that can be applied across the board, and I encourage you to do so.

Alright back to jokes.

My senior year I learned lots. Like how you can overcook a TV Dinner and still get food poisoning, ruining your chance for perfect attendance that year. Once I started seeing colleges I started learning how a world that I thought was so big is about a whole lot bigger. I learned that if you fall asleep exactly 47 minutes before the first bell, you’ll wake up and be in a sour mood the entire day. I learned that once people figure out that you’re doing a speech at graduation, everyone wants a shout out. I also learned that you can market shoutouts and get a headstart on paying tuition by selling them for a dollar a piece. I also learned that I should've thought of that sooner and not just the night before I gave the speech. Nobody bought shoutouts. (this was what was originally written, but nick gomez bought a shoutout lol)

But our priority list is strict now. When we have to be where and with who? Some of us are paying bills, we have to worry about finances, college tuition, student loans, our next meal, car payments, gas money, textbooks, toothpaste, medical, dental, water, electrical, internet, phone bills. Oh my God I thought I wanted to be an adult but this isn’t what I meant. Of course, those are all things we should be concerned about.

I for one have my priorities just a little bit different

My biggest worries are still catching the latest episode of spongebob and drinking chocolate milk at the right speed.

So welcome. I hope you enjoy tonight's ceremonies. I’m going to wrap this up with a few thank yous, and we’ll get on with it.

Thank you God, for the many blessings you’ve laid upon my life as well as the blessings you’ve given my friends and family. I know I tick you off sometimes, so, I just ask that you’ll bear with me. I’m still learning

Thank you to my dad. You’ve taught me a lot. The most memorable being the wisdom you passed on from my grandmother in heaven… To never take life too seriously.

Thanks momma. You make me laugh like no one else can. And you get me the way no one else can. You can bet everything you say I’m gonna steal and make it my own. I love you.

Marlee, you’re the only one that gets me emotional anymore. I’m so proud of you. I once described you to a friend as a little packet of sunshine that grew arms, legs, and a face, and now you just walk around spreading happiness and joy. I’m glad you made your own path and didn’t follow in my footsteps. I know you’ll continue to make me proud with everything that you do.

Band - Thank you for giving me a place I belong. I’m odd, and yall were okay with it. Without you, I wouldn’t be standing up here.

Directors - Thanks for making me feel at home. I still cant wait to call yall by yall’s first names here in about an hour.

Teachers and Administrators - Thank you for bearing with me. I know I was a thorn in yall’s side from time to time with scandalous assignments and requests. And Mrs. Reyes and Mrs. Little… I made it.

(With the exception of what’s bolded, the other shoutouts made were ad-libbed and did not have a concrete order. I recall thanking other teachers, friends, and family, and shouting out nick gomez, lauren rodriguez, and trini and bell.)

And last but not least, I’d like to thank Jeff Stein and Richard Ferguson for keeping me on their staff after numerous hiccups on 96.7 FM, 1240 AM, KXOX. Good times, great country. For the job opportunity you’ve given me, you helped ease the financial stress that comes from being a poor high schooler, and a soon to be college student. I cant thank you enough.

And in closing. Heed this warning, everyone listening.

We are strong.

We are persistent.

We are mustangs.

We will go on.

We will succeed.

We will prosper.

We are coming.

We are graduating

We are the Class of 2018.

Thank you, and God Bless.

“Salutations” //Trent(on) Hicks. May 25, 2018

[jumpingpools]

KDramas, A review

Hi friends, I watch a lot of kdramas so I thought i would review them if anyone was interested in watching some. (These are my opinions plz don’t destroy me)

She Was Pretty

Main girl used to be pretty and knew a fat boi when they were younger. They meet up later in life when she is ugly and he’s hot, so she has her hot bff pretend to be her to meet him. Things get complicated. Love triangles everywhere.

Took like 9 fucking episodes to get main girl to not act like an idiot. Plot line and main girl was kinda annoying. Couldn’t finish it. Decent but not my fave.

Chicago Typewriter

The plot alternates between modern day and the 1930s when Korea was colonized by Japan. It follows a group of liberation fighters in the 1930s, and in modern time a famous/grouchy writer, his number one fan and a hot ghost from the past. The modern day group is the reincarnation of the freedom fighter group. Travel through time with them as they discover their past together and how they died.

WOW this one was amazing. Has a lot of literary references, especially with Stephen King. Discusses the nuances of what it means to be a writer. Discusses plagiarism, censorship, mental health and freedom. Has a love triangle, but the love plot isn’t exactly the whole plot of the story. Main girl is kind of a call back to the other characters of the right thing to do and represents many things throughout the show. A must watch.

Weightlifting Fairy

YAS QUEEN! A girl struggles with society’s ideals of what makes a woman beautiful, her career as a weightlifter, and a one-sided love affair. REALLY REALLY cute romance. A very healthy romantic relationship. A must watch. SO CUTE. SO GOOD. WATCH IT.

The Man in our House

Vastly underrated. Main gurl comes home after her mother dies to find a dude younger than her saying he was married to her mom and owns the house/property. She must figure out his intentions. Cute story about redemption, grief, supporting loved ones and romance. Has action moments, romance and legal elements.

Kill Me, Heal Me

A man struggling with dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality disorder) tries to keep his mental health struggles a secret and meets a cute/smart Lady who happens to be a psychiatrist and has her help him. The history between these characters and personalities are more complex than any of them can imagine.

OMG this drama gave me so many feels. It made me laugh out loud and cry for days. It talks about mental health in a beautiful and intelligent way. All the little things in this drama matter and come back later on. Mystery, mental health, family, and love are the major themes of this one. A MUST WATCH.

Fight My Way

A group of four friends slowly realize that they haven’t fought hard enough to realize their dreams, and work towards their life goals even though they are older now. Inspirational and cute. Some moments are a little annoying but a solid ok drama.

You’re All Surrounded

Follows a group of detectives solving an old case that has to do with one of the detective’s dark childhood (mom got murdered in front of him). Great. Unpredictable in the best way. Keeps you on your toes. Cute romance. (The main girl is homeless???) but it’s chill. Would watch again. A solid drama. Crime thriller, romance, melodrama.

Hyde Jekyll, Me

Another dissociative identity disorder one. Kill me heal me is better. A rich Boi was traumatized as a kid and has DID. A cute GURL falls in love with one of his personalities. Mystery, romance and such. I’d give it a 5 out of 10. I did cry.

Bromance

(Taiwanese) Dear baby Jesus this one was so cheesy and awful but I LOVE IT. Gender bender. Gurl has to pretend to be a boi and falls in love with her friend-bro (a rich BOI). But rich Boi isn’t a jerk in this one (surprising right? His fam is nice too). The side character plot story is REALLY REALLY good. Like they should have been their own show. Bff of rich boi falls in love with a girl with cancer in remission, you can see where this is going… Gender bender, cute, so cheesy that you’ll laugh, gets you with the feels, romance.

Absolute Boyfriend

(Taiwanese) HOLY HELL THIS ONE IS BAD. Like so bad. Gurl makes a robot boyfriend as a joke but ends up actually receiving the robot boyfriend. Neighbor boi is in love with her. She has to hide the fact that robot boyfriend is a robot. It’s bad fam. I still cried at the end though. If you’re looking for a gawd awful drama to watch to make you laugh at how bad it is, watch this one… but also I did cry…

Coffee Prince

Oh man. Genderbender. Poor Gurl pretends to be a boi to get jobs that pay better (I feel you gurl), ends up working with a rich BOI in an all-male coffee shop. Rich BOI falls in love with male her and has a panic attack. Lots of love triangles. The beginning is slow, but worth it to get to the good stuff. Cheesy but really enjoyed this one. SOBBED LIKE A BABY at one point. Worth it watching.

(did i mention the main boi is in goblin??)

Secret Garden

Jerky rich Boi and stunt woman Gurl switch bodies. Gurl is a badass bitch I love her. Takes a while to get to the main plot. Love triangles (what drama doesn’t have one). A solid drama. Cute.

Descendants of the Sun

OMG SO SO SO GOOD. My absolute favorite!!! Doctor Lady and Special operations military Boi fall in love. Often separated b/c of their jobs. Both end up in a (fictional) war-torn place called Erk. Very seriously discusses what it means to be/the morality of a soldier and a doctor. CRIED SO HARD OMG. This drama will change your life. Really well made, writing was amazing. OST is amazing! One of those dramas where the little things come back later on. Everything has purpose and meaning. The two main characters got married in real life!!! 10/10. SO good.

(the main boi legit broke his arm during filming)

Boys over Flowers

Why has everyone seen this one? This is a trash can disguised as a drama. Cheesy, stupid plots, poor communication between the characters that makes you want to scream at them. Yet I couldn’t stop watching it??

Four rich BOIs are the rich SKOOL hot bullies. Poor Gurl comes and ~changes everything~. Leader of the Bois is a jerk-face and of course they fall in love. Love triangles of course. A trash can. An actual trash can. Strangely really long. You must have will power to make it to the end. Watch it, it is a rite of passage.

To the Beautiful You

Korean Hana Kimi for those familiar with the books. Doesn’t follow the books super well but still really good. (So much better than the mess that was the Japanese and Taiwanese versions). It’s really cute and lovely just like the books. Min Ho from Shinee is Sano. He’s a cutie.

Gurl pretends to be a boi and goes to an all bois (college I think? might be high school) to meet her high jumping idol. They end up being roommates and then good friends (and maybe more????). Love triangles. The real OG genderbender. Gay panics. Gay acceptance. An aloof doctor. A cute dog. One of my faves. Plz watch.

You’re Beautiful

Both the Taiwanese and the Korean versions are literally the same scene for scene line for line so just pick one. Gender bender, love triangles. A nun (yes a fucking NUN) Gurl has to pretend to be her twin brother in a band with 3 bois. Can she keep her secret? Will she fall in love with the jerk leader boi and not the other nice boi? Watch to find out. Not the best. Cheesy. Watch if you have nothing else to do or want to laugh at something. Entertaining though.

Moon River

I had such high hopes for this one but it was more of a trash can than Boys over Flowers. Basically the same plot as Boys over Flowers. SO SO BAD. A few redeeming scenes. Not even bad in the way that it’s funny to watch, just bad. Don’t waste your time. I couldn’t even finish this one. 3/10 don’t watch.

Crossing Hero

(Taiwanese) I had a Jiro Wang phase and he directed this one. It’s quirky and cheesy and terrible but I love it. Main boi travels through time to modern day. The two side heroes follow after him into modern day and don’t know how to cope with modern day. The squad gets involved with a reporter and a detective and solve a ~huge~ crime plot. Jiro, our main BOI, just stops showing up in his own drama like halfway through it?? and the side characters become the main characters, which is weird but fine b/c they’re cool.

Horrendously cheesy. Weird. But still good, especially once Jiro stops showing up. Wouldn’t put it anywhere near the top of the To Watch List though. Watch it if you want something totally out of the ordinary.

Oh my Ghostess!

A young virgin ghost possess the body of an extremely shy chef girl to try to bang the head chef and go to Nirvana. The main Gurl getting possessed can actually see ghosts so things get complicated. What happens when main Gurl and main ghost gurl both get the feels for head chef? Will ghost gurl figure out how she died?

Has mystery/crime thriller, spoopy/supernatural, sweet, romance, family, grief and friendship element/themes. Thought this one would be bad but was really surprised at how good it was. Solid drama.

Bring it on Ghost! / Let’s Fight Ghost!

A friend-less boi can see ghosts and fights off ghosts for people for money. Meets a cute high schooler ghost that ends up helping him. Gains two weird ghost obsessed friends (against his will). Will the budding romance between a living boi and a cute ghost gurl ever work out?

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon

YAS QUEEN! A gurl born with super strength is wary of losing her powers and hides them. A serial kidnapper/killer with a creepy baby mask. Crime and mystery drama. A really cute drama. A sweet romance, funny mixed with some sad, decently feministic drama. Great. Watch it.

Suspicious Partner

A lawyer gurl is framed for murdering her ex. A cute prosecutor is caught between doing what is right and trying to not get fired. An unlikely alliance/romance between two people who understand how it feels to be cheated on. Discussion about when the justice system fails, at what point and extent should you take matters into your own hands. Crime thriller, mystery, revenge, law and justice, heartbreak, romance and forgiveness.This one is full of twists and turns. Really good one! Watch it!

ok fam, that’s all of my reviews! Thanks for reading!!!

[ewanreviewin]

  Song: “Slide” by LPX

In <100 Words: Cheating a bit since this came out the end of last year, but I didn’t listen until the EP. “Slide” almost feels like a MS MR single if you didn’t know that Lizzy was doing her own thing these days, with its powerful drums and – so far at least – fairly clear vocals (on the verses). THEN Lizzy starts to belt about the lack of warning her heart gave regarding heartbreak. THEN she and her band bust into the incredible, dancey chorus. You’ll be screaming along with Lizzy by the end of the bridge.

Fave Lyric: “The sweetest love in life cuts you like a knife, ripping your insides, leaves you paralyzed.”

I Also Recommend: “Tightrope” has been and still is my favorite LPX track so far with the absolute shredding of that guitar. “Red Queen” is my favorite “new” song from the EP.

The EP Overall: It’s quite a banger of an EP and really makes me excited to see what the LPX project has to give in the form of a full-length album.

What This Sound Like: My heartbreak coming to life and screaming at me, with sick guitars playing in the background.

Song: “My My My” by Troye Sivan

In <100 Words: Writing a good love song is actually a super underrated skill. As is creating a great pop song. Troye Sivan, luckily, has the ability to handle both under his belt. “My My My” is so unabashedly happy. Troye sings to his lover to just let go and enjoy the moment of being in love – and in a world where love has so much pressure put on it, why don’t you?! Bring on the album, baby.

Fave Lyric: “Now let’s stop running from love.”

The Video: It’s sexy. It’s pretty. It’s gay. Come on – how can you not love it.

What This Sound Like: Running through a field at night as a rainbow – somehow – appears in the sky.

Song: “Supernatural” by BØRNS

In <100 Words: This is a bit of an underrated song from Blue Madonna. I am obsessed with the multiple drum play going on (I even hear bongos) and the strings in the post-chorus. There’s even a theremin solo in the bridge. Hell. YES. Lyrically, “Supernatural” falls on the second half of the album (right after the interlude actually) where Mr. Born seems to be over the heartbreak and is moving into a more introspective view of his previous relationship. It’s all dreamy and just lovely.

Fave Lyric: “Is it love or am I fooling around trying to find the truth?”

I Also Recommend: “Faded Heart” still holds up quite well, the witty and bright, yet bitter and cold “Second Night of Summer,” the rock-tinged “We Don’t Care,” and the empowering “I Don’t Want U Back.” I’d include the interlude, “Tension,” but it’s ONLY AN INTERLUDE!

The Album Overall: I’m really happy that he went down a route that was less energetic and… polished as Dopamine, even though I really enjoy that record too. It’s a great follow-up, though at the same time I feel like he’s yet to achieve his full potential. I have a feeling that will come with the next record.

What This Sound Like: A montage of going to the mall, but on an alien planet, but everyone’s happy.

Song: “After the Storm” by Kali Uchis (feat. Tyler the Creator & Bootsy Collins)

In <100 Words: Kali expands her resume a little by venturing into the deep funk of “After the Storm.” Tyler name drops his newest record & the Disney deer Bambi in his mellow & very fitting verse. Kali sounds great on the track too – singing very sexy & empowering lyrics as she likely speaks to herself in a mirror. The highlight of the track is easily the production. The bass is excellent & the groove slows down a bit towards the end before picking right back up & leaving you wanting more once the track draws to a close.

Fave Lyric: “So you gotta be careful baby, and look both ways before you cross my mind.”

What This Sound Like: Laying in silk sheets dressed in your softest robe.

Song: “King for a Day” by Anderson East

In <100 Words: This song is quite cheeky and I didn’t realize! The opener for Encore is actually a “let’s-get-it-on” song because I’d rather hook up once than be strung along as an unrequited love for a long time. You would not think that’s what Anderson is singing about when you first listen to “King for a Day.” Tinged with some elevating trumpets in the bridge/end of the song & very traditional guitar/drum pairing, the instrumental of this track is quite infectious.

Fave Lyric: “Even if your heart can’t look away, even if our love can’t stay together, I’d rather be king for a day than a fool forever.”

I Also Recommend: The scandalous & energetic “Girlfriend,” “Surrender” which sounds like that “rollin! rollin!” song, the sweet but also jamming with the guitar “Sorry You’re Sick,” and my favorite mid/lower tempo track “This Too Shall Last.”

The Album Overall: It’s quite good Americana/blue-eyed soul music!

What This Sound Like: Wrangling cattle on the ranch as the sun is high in the sky.

Song: “Kissing Tree” by The Spencer Lee Band

In <100 Words: Whoa, WHERE did this song come from? “Kissing Tree” opens up for a while as just an acoustic guitar and a back and forth from higher pitched vocals to, who I guess is the main singer. The song builds up more and more with a few strings, and then a NASTY bass line once we get to the second verse. Lyrically, it’s probably what you’d expect from a song called “Kissing Tree,” but some lines in particular are quite clever. All the instruments being released from their cages in the bridge – oh yeah, favorite bit.

Fave Lyric: “Shake you like a leaf, break me off a piece, I got everything I need under the kissing tree.”

What This Sound Like: Unsurprisingly, like sitting on a tree & making out with someone.

Song: “Disappear” by Tonight Alive (feat. Lynn Gunn)

In <100 Words: In case you didn’t know, Lynn Gunn is the front woman of the awesome band PVRIS. She doesn’t hijack the “Disappear,” but rather she gives the track a little more fire to make it that highlight from Underworld. The song is liberating, fun, and also a bit detached.

Fave Lyric: “Why does it feel like home when I’m lonely?”

I Also Recommend: “Last Light” is one of the softer moments on the record that’s really needed. “Burning On” is another fun, upbeat banger, and the punk rock “Temple.”

The Album Overall: Jenna’s vocals are awesome on this record, but I can’t help but feel the sounds of the album have kinda been done before.

What This Sound Like: Getting out of your comfort zone to do something that you enjoy, by yourself.

Song: “Lottery” by Jade Bird

In <100 Words: What a great melody on this song, especially on the chorus. “Lottery” almost feels hippie/Woodstock ready with the soft guitar moments & jangling tambourine. However, the lyrics add a cool contrast to this, being filled with number-talk. Plus, her voice is lovely – like birds singing almost. Seriously, can I talk about the chorus again? The ending line has been stuck in my head for days now.

Fave Lyric: “You used to say that love is a game, but you got your numbers and you’re betting on me.”

What This Sound Like: Spending your time with a loved one in nature instead of spending your money inside a casino.

Song: “Bite My Tongue” by The Academic

In <100 Words: It can feel good to speak your mind, but sometimes it’s better to just sit down and shut up. “Bite My Tongue” seems to touch on the short-term joy (or potentially, in the end, long-term joy) of not holding back and also deciding to keep quiet for the sake of “not raining on your parade.” Meanwhile, this the band playing probably makes this the most upbeat track on the record – and it sounds great, especially on the chorus.

Fave Lyric: “My dear, what have we become? … So I’ll just bite my tongue.”

I Also Recommend: The track that directly follows this, “Fake ID,” sounds like going out for the night – kicking off the track with the opening of a door. “Permanent Vacation” and “Television” are two more upbeat bangers. I also enjoy “Different.”

The Album Overall: It’s a quick listen at 35 minutes, and while the songs on the record may feel too similar to each other, the pacing & length of the songs don’t tire you out at all. All-in-all, a good debut!

What This Sound Like: Driving with the top down by the beach.

Song: “Perfect” by Andreas Moss

In <100 Words: Andreas has a silky sweet voice that sounds best over non-distracting music. “Perfect” does a good job of this by having, essentially, just an acoustic guitar in the verses/bridge and a fairly subdued worbly bass in the chorus. If anything the shaking bass in the chorus pairs perfectly (lol) as Andreas hits the high notes in a swoon to the listener who “doesn’t have to be perfect” and is “worth it to me.” It really does take someone else to see the beauty in yourself when all you see are flaws.

Fave Lyric: “These are the moments when I see you – the purest form of you bleeding through.”

What This Sound Like: Blushing.

Song: “Stay Off My Mind” by Skott

In <100 Words: Immediately, you’ll hear “I’m thinking of you!” in some sort of ethereal, potentially self-sampling outburst that will catch your ear. The production kicks in as “Stay Off My Mind” enters the first verse with chirpy drums, guitar, and piano. Skott seems to throw in some autotune into the mix, which makes her sound pointedly distant from the listener who she wants out of her mind. The one moment of a back & forth of “still on my mind” in the chorus is really pretty. Lyrically, it’s more heart-wrenching than you’d expect – being about the death of a close friend. Damn.

Fave Lyric: “I’m left with the silence – there’s something about it, I don’t know, I don’t mind just sitting here alone.”

I Also Recommend: Snappy & groovy “In the Mood.”

The EP Overall: Because it’s so short I don’t have too strong of an opinion one way or another, but the two aforementioned tracks get me very excited to see what a full record would look like.

What This Sound Like: Wandering a city, with nothing to distract you from thinking about thoughts you were trying to avoid.

Week of January 12, 2018 Song: "Slide" by LPX In <100 Words: Cheating a bit since this came out the end of last year, but I didn't listen until the EP.

[trevorbailey61]

Robert Plant & The Sensational Space Shifters

Civic Hall, Wolverhampton

Monday 20th November 2017

It is a dull and drizzly Monday evening and in Cardiff Deep Purple are about to take to the stage at the 7,500 capacity Motorpoint Arena as part of what we are told will be their farewell tour. With Jon Lord sadly passing away in 2012 and Richie Blackmore seemingly content to spend the rest of his days playing madrigals, this current incarnation of the band is as close as it is possible to get to the classic early 70s line-up and they even managed to get themselves into a studio to record a some new songs. Few, however, even amongst their most die-hard fans will want to hear them, instead they go for “Smoke on the Water”, “Speed King”, “Black Night”, the heavy rock based prog that became their signature. Despite forming earlier, sounding different and working their way through multiple line-ups, Deep Purple never seemed to escape from the shadow of the behemoth that was Led Zeppelin. Both had songs that helped to define their genre and era but Led Zeppelin’s were more memorable, both had the riffs but Page’s were the ones that were more instantly recognisable, both had charismatic singers but Plant’s bare chested image was always the more striking, both were bigger in America than in their homeland but Led Zeppelin were immense. Even now as the Purps take their last celebratory victory procession, the response is; yes, filling these arenas is impressive but just think what Zep would do.

That they don’t is down to Robert Plant. The journey that he has taken since the demise of Led Zeppelin is one of the most curious but ultimately most inspiring of any of the 70s rock legends and even as he approaches his 70th birthday there is little to indicate that his exploration is anywhere nearing its end. What that makes this all the more remarkable is that even during the final days of Zeppelin, Plant seemed to have lost his instincts, his feel for the music, his judgement, even his dress sense. I missed out on the opportunity to see Zeppelin during their reign, I was far to young to catch them in their early days and by the time my concert going had started, they were mostly absent as they preferred instead the huge money spinning American tours to those at home. I could have seen them at Knebworth but chose a family holiday instead, a decision I have long since regretted but Plant has always maintained that those concerts should have been cancelled due to how poorly prepared they were. Maybe then the thought of how good it could have been is better than the memories of how it actually was. With Page a junkie and Bonham drinking himself to his early death, the onus was on Plant to put together their final album, “In Through the Out Door”, which, smothered in synths as it was, gave an indiction of the direction in which he would be heading as a solo artist. This was the era of massive albums, the final throw before music became digitalised, and with the technology available to produce a bright clean pop sound many 70s veterans found a way to make the biggest selling album of their career. Bowie had “Let’s Dance”, Springsteen “Born in the USA”, Phil Collins “No Jacket Required” but despite respectable sales, particularly for the single “Big Log”, Plant never threatened to eclipse his former band.

Ironically, it may have been a brief reunion with Page that finally convinced Plant how misguided this had been. Together they had taken early Zeppelin away from being the purely heavy rock act that most of their pale imitators were by introducing at first the acoustic feel of English folk music and later African rhythms, Indian instrumentation and melodies and a host of other sounds that would later be referred to as World Music. This reunion led to “No Quarter”, an album that included a number of rearranged Zeppelin songs which would have convinced him of two things; firstly how shallow and undemanding much of his recent music had been and secondly that he could rework Zeppelin songs in a way that would still hold his interest. Thus began his restless musical exploration, taking in the North African sounds that he had explored with Page as well as journeys into the remotest backwaters of American folk. The sounds he created were often quieter, more delicate and intricate than the bombast of Zeppelin and required him to find new voices to tell their stories; the bravado and swagger would soon be a thing of the past, replaced by something more subtle and nuanced. He collaborated with people who would challenge him, Alison Krauss, Patty Griffin, producers T Bone Burnett and Buddy Miller and a host of crack American session players, even briefly relocating to Austin in the process. His musical quest, however, is built on a strong sense of place and returning home allowed him to reconnect with the band he first worked before his American sojourn. The Sensational Space Shifters have developed into a formidable outfit, allowing him to realise the songs that have come from such a disparate range of sources. While over 7000 filed into an arena in Cardiff, less than half that number made their way through the oppressive security at the Civic Hall and most, I am sure, wouldn’t have been too put out had he not included a single Zeppelin song; we understand what he is doing and we are here just as much for the new songs as the old ones.

There were, of course, some Zeppelin songs but these were mostly played without the deconstruction and reshaping that he has applied on previous tours. A gentle acoustic strumming accompanied “That’s The Way”, still magical, and “Gallows Pole” as on the album although the latter did gain a harder edge towards the end. “Whole Lotta Love”, as so often his final song, had its usual swagger which tonight was enhanced by the violin of Seth Lakeman who, as well as his support slot, had added some wonderful textures throughout the set.  The first encore “What Is and What Should Never Be” built from its quiet and delicate verses to release the power of its chorus. The exception was “Misty Mountain Hop”, so different from the recorded version it it was only the words that gave it away. Plant added some context about how is was an attempt to recapture the collective spirit as the ideals of the Woodstock generation were fading but its reworking lacked the insight he has previously shown when he turns to his back catalogue. The best of the Zeppelin songs, however, was the wonderfully lyrical interpretation of “Babe I’m Going to Leave You” illuminated by Skin Tyson’s expressive acoustic guitar and Plant for once releasing the full power of his voice.

The last time I saw Plant was just after the release of his previous album, “Lullaby …. and the Ceaseless Roar”, a highly personal album made shortly after he returned from his exile in Texas. His sense of displacement is captured in the song, “Turn It Up”; “I'm lost inside America; I’m turning inside out; I’m turning into someone else” neatly expressing his disconnection from his surroundings. Appearing early, its stuttering rhythm gives a sense of someone struggling outside of their familiar surroundings. From this album he also includes “Rainbow”, a wonderful hymn to the rugged highlands of North Wales that inspired his excursion into traditional folk in his Zeppelin days, and his reworking of “Little Maggie”, illuminated as ever by Justin Adams’ exquisite finger picking. Where previously the disorientating drone of Juldeh Camara’s ritti had helped to create the mood of the songs, that is now done by Lakeman’s violin. In tone, his most recent album, “Carry Fire” shares many similarities with its predecessor suggesting his return home has also seen some tempering of his musical wanderlust. Whilst there may be a consistency in the sound, however, “Carry Fire” feels a lot less personal, being more settled has allowed him to observe the world around him and you get the feeling that he is not too impressed with what he sees. Opener “New World” sounds like a rebuke of the “Immigrant Song”, rather than heroic warriors, the destructive will of the settlers overwhelms the land, “The great white father’s word is law”. The theme of immigration also informs the title track, its wonderfully inventive arrangement and thoughtful lyrics providing a compelling highlight. Here he takes the perspective of the pressures that cause people to leave their homeland in search of a better, or more likely, safer life and their lack of comprehension of the hostility shown to them. It is rare for Plant to be this overtly political but the sincerity and emotion conveyed makes it incredibly moving. Similarly with  “Bones of Saints”, performed as the middle of three encores, which covers how arms from Britain and other western nations are used in the atrocities carried out around the world, in particular at this moment in Yemen. It is a theme that Plant doesn’t shirk from in his introduction, overcoming his tendency to ramble to make his point clearly and directly. “The May Queen” is the lightest of the songs from “Carry Fire”, a repetitive, hypnotic trance whose folk origins are enhanced by Lakeman’s fiery violin. He also includes “All the Kings Horses” from “The Mighty Rearranger”, the first album to feature the musicians who were to become the Sensational Space Shifters, and a beautifully tender “Please Read the Letter” from his collaboration with Alison Krauss.

A dull, drizzly evening and in Wolverhampton the the audience are filing out through the limited number of exits that seem to be open. Filled to its capacity, the hall had been crowded leading to some tetchiness as people struggled to gain a view. The heat from all these bodies made it obsessively hot which, despite its recent refurbishment, the Civic’s air conditioning failed to moderate. Added to that a near septuagenarian rock star had decided that we really wanted to hear his new stuff. There were so many reasons, then, why it should have gone wrong but it didn’t and what we saw was a truly inspiring performance from an artist who is still at the very top of his game. One striking thing was just how quiet and receptive the audience were, the response to each song was as enthusiastic as Plant’s reputation requires but during the songs people were there to listen, quite something in a venue that is usually notable for the volume of its background chatter. The post gig euphoria is not the best time to make comparisons with previous shows but having had chance to reflect since, I have found few reasons to doubt my initial reaction as to this being one of the best shows I have seen him do. The template for how rock stars gracefully age is still in the process of being written but there are few who manage to do it whilst still remaining important and relevant. Plant’s travels, both physical and musical, may now be a little more limited in their scope but his music remains both intriguing and important.

[whatthekpopofficial]

10 Reasons Why We're Ready For Super Junior's Comeback

While legendary Kpop groups like TVXQ were hailed as the "gods of Kpop" and BIGBANG simply dubbed "The Kings," there was one group in particular that took Kpop to a new level in Asia and opened doors across the world for the Hallyu Wave to truly take over. That's right— we're talking about none other than the original Kings of Kpop themselves, Super Junior! After debuting in 2005, Super Junior shot to true international fame with their mega hit "Sorry Sorry" in early 2009. They have won an astonishing total of 18 Golden Disc Awards, 13 MAMAs (plus an 19 additional nominations!), two U.S. Teen Choice Awards, and multiple MTV awards. Over the course of their career, the group has racked up a total of 155 international awards, 206 nominations, and almost 60 Korean music show trophies. In addition, they were the first boy band from SMTOWN to reach 100 million views on YouTube— a rare occurrence in those days— and have since gone on to become the first and only SMTOWN group to have an exclusive sub-label formed for their activities. After forming the first sub-unit in Kpop history, the group went on to form four more. They also have a total of five members as soloists under Label SJ. That being said, it seems obvious that these guys are true legends! Unfortunately, over the past two years during their hiatus, a lot of new fans have joined the Kpop community and are, therefore, not too familiar with Super Junior. With their comeback less than one month away, here's 10 reasons why everyone should be pumped for their 12th anniversary album!

1- Their Quirky Sense Of Humor

Super Junior has always been hilarious. In fact, it's just one of the reasons why fans love them. That's why it was a classic Suju move to make "Mamacita," their 2014 title track and comeback MV, totally quirky, goofy, and hilarious. To keep fans from getting too distracted with their zany antics, however, they made sure to look amazing, show off their classic dance skills, and deliver another addictive song that had people singing "Hey Mamacita!" for months. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_krT35dgDM

2- Vocals From Heaven

SMTOWN is known for recruiting wonderful vocalists and then training them extremely well to polish up their voices and make them some of the strongest ones in the industry. Super Junior's vocal line is no exception to this rule, and although main vocalists Kyuhyun and Ryeowook are currently serving in the military, powerhouse singer Yesung is still present and ready to bless our ears. Not only that, people like Leeteuk and Heechul, sub-vocalists with their own gorgeous vocals, will get a bigger chance to shine this time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYsWFSboh0M

3- Crisp, Fun Dances

Super Junior was one of the first modern Kpop groups to take a large amount of members and incorporate highly-synchronized dance routines throughout the whole track or MV. As such, they quickly became famous for being one of everyone's favorite "dance bands." Over the years, they've certainly proved their talents and are now just able to focus on creating fun, entertaining dances that suit their songs. Super Junior's experience has made them confident in their skills and it shows in the clean, crisp dances they pull off effortlessly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzujUrSZihc

4- Ballads, Ballads, Ballads!

Although the public will always know Super Junior primarily for their dance songs, true fans know where the group's real talent (and preferences) lie. Each album since debut has gifted fans with incredible ballads that not only show off their tremendous vocal talent but their emotional singing as well. Many of the ballads have been written by the members themselves, showing just how much the group loves to slow things down. "Don't Leave Me" is a true fan-favorite and was written by Siwon for Super Junior's 2014 album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeYW0AfOQqA

5- The Original Variety-Dols

What gained Super Junior so many fans at first was their relatable sense of humor that made them perfect for variety shows. Even before their music became such a massive hit, variety shows couldn't get enough of these entertaining idols, even leading people to dub them the "variety-dols." Despite many of the members like Heechul and Leeteuk still being some of the most in-demand Kpop idols on variety, we miss the days when we saw the entire group make appearances on shows like "Radio Star" and more. Therefore, we're thrilled to know their comeback will bring them on TV once more! Until then, check out one of our favorite examples of their classic variety humor when Sungmin and Kangin had this hilarious interaction on "Intimate Note." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANWBRTVFYBg

6- The Start of Super Show 7

With every new album that Super Junior releases, a new world tour is held. That means this comeback doesn't just herald the return of the Kings of Kpop, it also signifies that a new tour is in the not-too-distant future. Rumor has it that their concert dates for SS7 in Osaka and Tokyo are already set, leading fans to anticipate the official announcement of their tour after the comeback. Their shows aren't just popular, however, they are truly epic, with most fans touting their stage presence and charisma as the best in the business. Perhaps that's why Super Junior became the first Kpop group to ever hold 100 solo concerts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7Azc3zpbzw

7-  Songs That Never Get Old

As a longtime Kpop fan, I know I'm biased when I think back to what I consider the best era of Kpop. However, one thing that is undeniable is the fact that many of the songs today are easily forgotten. In what many people term the golden age of Kpop, groups like BIGBANG, Super Junior, and 2NE1 were busy cranking out hits that are still some of fans' most favorite tracks today. In fact, despite "Sorry Sorry" being released eight years ago, it's not unusual for people to humorously apologize in Korea by accompanying their words with Super Junior's trademark dance and song. What unforgettable song will Super Junior have in store for fans next? We can only wait until November 6th to find out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6QA3m58DQw

8- They Love To Have Fun

Super Junior loves to have fun, and they never try to hide the fact. Their fun-loving attitude might lead some people to think they're not serious about music, but that couldn't be further from the truth! Whether it's by rocking out onstage or just hanging out together and teasing Yesung (like in their new reality show "SJ Returns"), Super Junior is always laughing and having a good time— endearing them even more to their fans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUoGJJQYTKA

9- They Have No Shame (Thankfully!)

The members of Super Junior have no shame when it comes to fan service! It seems like every comeback brings more crazy antics, every live show brings more laughter, every variety show reveals more embarrassing stories, and every concert brings more hysterical stages. From Sungmin performing as HyunA to Heechul winning their "Miss SJ" beauty pageant, it's obvious these guys will stop at nothing to make things entertaining. Case in point? This Beyonce-Lady Gaga performance in Paris. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLWzb2wZpf4

10- Their Genuine Sense Of Brotherhood

SJ debuted 12 years ago, but they trained together even longer than that. That means most of the members have now been together for approximately half their lives. Through tragic losses of parents to bone-shattering accidents that nearly stole the lives of members, these loyal guys have been with each other through thick and thin. They have stated that they are now real brothers, and their genuine love for each other is truly evident in everything they do. Perhaps the biggest joy of watching Super Junior each comeback is not in observing their growth as artists or even laughing at their entertaining personalities. Perhaps the real reason fans so eagerly wait their new album is just because it's a true joy to root for these guys who obviously love each other so much and have enjoyed every minute of working together for the past 12 years.

ELF first met Super Junior as impossibly young trainees who dreamed of making it big one day. Now, they have gone on to become one of the biggest names in Kpop and one of the most influential artists of their time. As such, it's no wonder that every comeback is looked forward to by both fans and non-fans alike. Are you excited for Super Junior's comeback? What kind of concept do you hope they will tackle this time? Let us know in the comment section below! lee1086 is the director of What The Kpop and an unapologetically biased Super Junior fan. While not obsessing over Lee Donghae, watching Kai's dance videos, or trying to decide if her SHINee bias is Taemin or Key, she is busy watching K-dramas or hanging out with her family and friends. In preparation of this SJ comeback, she has been saving money for months... all while wearing her "I bleed Sapphire Blue" t-shirt of course. Media: As Credited Read the full article

[sevmeyinkimseyifazla-blog]

A Fool-Proof Formula for Easy SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO), a subset of internet marketing, is the process of enhancing the volume and quality associated with traffic to a web web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search outcomes. UX is now being focused simply by many among the core SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION strategies, and it definitely performs an important part in maintaining your articles in top rating because lesser bounce rate offers a very positive impact upon SEO of the website. The first keywords in order to Google are guide to SEO intended for 2018” or SEO guide 2018”. Where I train you about content marketing, long-tail keywords, and Shopify SEO technique. Among the particular misconception about SEO is that will it will depend on creating the number of keywords a specific time. Your SEO web page title is the title that will is displayed on the internet search outcomes. For the local SEO content strategy in order to be successful focusing on your own local audience and providing genuine value towards the people within your local area is crucial not just to local brand name recognition, prominence, and relevance yet also higher pagerank, increased reliability and overall improved user encounter and conversions. Google, much to the shock of every SEO pro, is usually not obsessed with making the lives harder, but rather, will be obsessed with providing their customers with the best user knowledge possible.

These links will help a person rank in the Google-maps, plus will also work to assist your business website show upward in the organic search outcomes, if you have your on-page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (what you do and where) set up correctly. With all that said…SEO continues to be all about content plus links. The SEO content composing strategies are implementing new key phrases, that could make a even more conventional tone. Strengthening the particular brand of a company is definitely also one of the best SEO trends for 2018. Therefore, Backlink is one the particular nearly all significant in the list associated with ‘SEO trends 2018'. The greatest way to get ahead associated with the personalisation is to create sure that your SEO excellent enough to rank highly around the traditional ranking system. Keep in mind that will likes and shares and remarks on social media posts that will connect to you will count with regard to SEO purposes as backlinks. I would just like in order to add that now link getting SEO techniques are becoming even more popularity than the traditional one way link. Rank high or at the desired position zero for local SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is extremely advantageous for regional businesses, large and small. The particular benefits of SEO and research engine marketing are enormous. As much since things change online, they stay the same and content is definitely still king when it arrives to SEO. So while the particular Web is divided into HTTP and HTTPS websites, SEOs plus marketers are facing two typical issues with passing the referral information. Giving up cigarettes logged in, go to SEO Toolkit » Keyword Research » Keyword Overview. Fortunately generally there are a wealth of superb resources online including my SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION course online, which has already been set up to assist little business owners start the trip to learning how to develop their business online. For too long, SEOs have relied on simple techniques made to produce links within the short run. This visually engaging infographic is definitely a simple tutorial on several important SEO Techniques and Methods for 2017 which you may easily use for those on-site SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION elements such as blogging, Wp and title tags, meta explanations and many more.

SEO Wise Links can automatically link key phrases and phrases in your content and comments with corresponding content, pages, categories and tags upon your blog. Search engine marketing strategies and SEO best methods that were once effective final year may not be helpful today. Because of this, SEOs increasingly adopt sped up mobile pages and optimize the particular user experience for mobile: through page load time for a person to navigation, information architecture, plus design. Get into your competitor's URL into the particular SEMRush search bar and you will be provided with a checklist of SEO keywords, along along with their rankings and traffic. Your own SEO strategy should think regarding how people consume visual articles and the enhancements in just how search engines like google come back results. Content is key yet content alone is no much longer king; content, context, and importance will drive performance of content material and digital marketing, and SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is part however, not full package. Though it's not really certain that social media marketing links straight support SEO delete word, solid social media presence indirectly provide many benefits to brands. These SEO Tendencies of 2018 are ruling the particular digital world. The particular better you get at SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, the more traffic - plus much more leads - you aren't likely to attract as time passes. Cloacking is the kind of black hat SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, used to present the content material on the webpage to the particular search engine spiders, it provide a different content that the particular user browse in search. They can program a negative SEO attack, delivering a lot of spammy hyperlinks to your website. Many web-content creators concentrate on optimizing various aspect associated with their SEO in areas like as local search, academic research, image search, video search, plus news search among others, which usually involves the information seen simply by search engines, as well because, website visitors. There are various free equipment such as Pro Rank System and SEO Book Rank Band which will help you discover potential longtail keywords. Making use of an SEO advertising campaign can allow you to boost your own rankings via popular search terms that can in turn generate more visitors to your site. I just began concentrating on perfect on-page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION techniques, I did some errors within my previous articles which We have to update now, We never used my keyword within first 100 words in just about all my articles and not focused on LSI keywords. Furthermore important to understand that will SEO is already changing plus as we move towards the particular year 2018 only focusing upon organic opportunities should not end up being your ultimate goal, instead along with the evolution search engines right now there are multiple opportunities to boost your site rankings. When you talk about search ranking in SEO, you're talking about the position of the content on search results pages (SERPs). Simply by following the SEO best methods, an online marketer can spot content on top of some other similar topics. In 2018, SEO entrepreneurs need to up their sport and shift their focus over and above rank and towards revenue. In the particular future, SEOers will have in order to write more for the internet user, which the search motors will begin to mimic. Research Engine Optimization popularly referred in order to by the acronym SEO is definitely really a technique of immediate marketing employed to rank the webpage on top leads in order to increase the number of the particular visitors on website. My predictions intended for SEO in 2018 is that will we are going to keep on to see Google devalue web pages with keyword stuffing and slim content. Technical optimization: all associated with the behind-the-scenes engineering that SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION pros do to make this easier for search engines such as google to find a web site SEO 2019 PDF. SEO tendencies continue to emerge, but 2018 is a great revolution in SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION just because a lot associated with new game-changing technologies will develop fully in this time and SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION optimization will get a much better yet new shape. Although personally We are usually not a fan of tone of voice search, but a high percent of people are extremely for up-to-date on-page SEO optimization, add functions such as voice search, e-mail plug-ins such as ability associated with users to just click upon the email and send this, call plug-ins as well as other modes associated with communication such as Skype. Naturally, the tendencies in SEO strategies vary significantly and rather rapidly, making this essential for marketers to maintain track from the necessary adjustments that need to be developed to improve user experience. Their full thoughts are usually catalogued in our annual e-book The eBook, titled ‘The Greatest Explained SEO in 2018: fifty Insiders on the Future associated with Search, ' provides detailed information about from GDRP to Amazon . com Alexa. 2018 is just about all about getting the victory, exactly where the SEO success will not really depend on how you handle and optimize your website regarding Google, rather, Google will today search for the technical specifications, which are simple but should. The particular user experience reaches the primary of your SEO strategy. It will become helpful if you share a few on-page SEO tips and exactly how to perform a keyword study. Is actually important that you think associated with your SEO strategy and targets if you map out all associated with your other internet marketing programs, as they can help enhance your engine optimization with small to no extra effort, apart from some creative thinking. For this reason, whenever building links, SEOs focus not really on building any links. It also helps in quicker indexing, which supports boost your own search ranking and drive even more traffic to your website plus as such, if you would like to ace the SEO video game in 2018 then implementation associated with AMP is very important. Which was the description but if we follow the particular SEO Trends then it is usually considered to be among the particular ranking factors. In the digital marketing and advertising world, naturally, this fast-growing trend means that marketers must create new ways to tailor their particular SEO strategies to optimize with regard to voice search. It's furthermore important to realize that SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is not the only method to show on top associated with search engines. Semantic Lookup: Further fortifying the value of this sort of articles creation strategy, as well because the SEO advantages it may translate into, it's essential in order to comprehend Google's recent focus upon something many known as semantic search.

In this particular post, I would like in order to highlight on 10 SEO tendencies (Old & New) that may help you gain a competing advantage and improve SERPs within 2018. Search engine optimization (SEO) is usually about making small modifications in order to parts of your website. The particular 10 SEO tools we contributed above can help achieve higher rankings in 2017. SEO-ers will have to realize traditional marketing concepts like the particular 4Ps, the client journey, plus how the website supports the particular entire business goals. This is a good industry term that refers in order to agencies and consultants that bring out search engine optimization procedure on behalf of their customers, and by employees who execute SEO services in-house. Including your own target keyword within the article title is a good SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION practice. As mobile queries are all about context, manufacturers should provide the best probable results for every question, whilst local SEO is going in order to become even more popular. But if jooxie is looking for a bigger pattern it's that SEO and precisely what we call real marketing” will continue to blur the particular lines together as the work of an SEO becomes that will of a traditional marketer : having to comprehend the consumer, the competitors, the marketplace simply because well as the implementation part. For years, hyperlinks have been the trust indication for search engines — one particular which SEOs spent the almost all time on optimizing (and frequently manipulating). This is the major factor for all associated with us, and we can discover why this is a large one of the SEO tendencies in 2018. Companies need to devise their SEO strategies whilst considering the users of most such devices. I guarantee that even though you're experienced with SEO, you will find a trick or two in this post that can help your blog or wordpress site climb higher on Google. In 2018, local SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION makreting will focus more upon mobile-first with Google using cellular pages as the primary catalog for search engine results.

Daily information and insights about internet marketing, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and paid search. Lookup engine optimization, commonly referred in order to as SEO, is the procedure of maximizing visibility by obtaining a website to appear higher on unpaid, organic results. Nearby upgrade your SEO Strategy plus just go with the present and traditional methods, it may be critical to boosting your own site ranking in search outcomes. In order in order to make the content of the particular business website more visible upon the internet and attract visitors, it is mandatory that a single seeks the services of expert SEO services. If we appear at the Google search outcomes, it shows at least one particular video result in the SERP, which always came from Youtube . com (although it also a component of Google service), but movie marketing should be considered being a prominent strategy for SEO 2018. The SEO Book Key phrase Suggestion Tool aggregates search information and offers volumes, related conditions, and more. While normally you try in order to only go after high power sites and prevent links through low quality domains for anxiety of Penguin, when it arrives to local SEO, local relevance has much more weight compared to authority. Users don't want to wait for a web page so in case your webpage is slow within 2018, ignore SEO and your own bounce rate will down. A sensible strategy with regard to SEO would still appear in order to be to reduce Googlebot get expectations and consolidate ranking collateral & potential in high-quality canonical pages and you do that will by minimising duplicate or near-duplicate content. Winning SEO in 2018 will require marketers to moving forward honing their concentrate on consumer intent and topical authority. Ensure redirected domains redirect by way of a canonical redirect and this too provides any chains minimised, although END UP BEING SURE to audit the backlink user profile for any redirects you stage at a page as along with reward comes punishment if individuals backlinks are toxic (another instance of Google opening up the particular war that is technical search engine optimization on a front that is not, and fact is converse, in order to building backlinks to your site). Wise SEO activities improve your own rankings in the search motor results page (SERP). 1. Improve your Google My Business Entries (the top local SEO rank signal) to help improve regional visibility and branding. Big Brand name campaigns are far, far various from small company SEO advertisments that don't have any hyperlinks, to begin with, to provide you but one example. SEO has been confusing by these Internet marketers since they assume that you will find much better ways to get visitors plus SEO takes a lot associated with time and effort which isn't very worth it. If you are usually after growth and targeted visitors then search engine traffic will be really a traffic source that will you seriously have to think about. These happenings of the particular past year will shape upward mobile SEO in 2018. SEOQuake: A plugin regarding your web browser, not Wp, SEOQuake allows users to rapidly and seamlessly assess SEO qualities of any website without starting up extra programs. Earlier these people were always concerned about the particular SEO ranking factors, as these people keep on changing with the particular periodic algorithm updates rolled away by the search engines. Sensing that people were misusing the liberty given to all of them, Google came up with their particular Panda Algorithm and a Penguin update that began penalizing sites using such Black Hat SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION strategies. Links will keep on to be one of the particular leading SEO components if a person want to rank well within 2018. Find out how to write articles, understand how to write some easy HTML, and the find out pretty basic principles of SEO, and you will make money online using SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and article promotion to obtain your web page (you just need one from each website) listed on Page #1 associated with Google (forget Yahoo and the particular rest) and you will obtain loads of traffic to that will web page. Stat to: seventy two percent of SEOs believe back links are a significant ranking element, which is surprisingly low. Within order to help you obtain on top of SEO regarding 2018, I'll cover two locations here: the trends to view out for and the equipment to take advantage of this particular year. SEO is used as the description for a person, somebody that does search engine optimisation as a job, and because a verb I'm going in order to internet search engine optimize this particular website”. Google takes very serious doubt to such Black Hat SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION techniques. And when you have the handle on that, it's period to optimize your site regarding the new SEO trends that will I outlined in this particular guide. Research from Intellectual SEO and others shows the relationship between search rankings plus social signals. SEO content is a mixture of keywords and keyword terms. A big component of the internet marketers believe that online marketing is restricted to SEO, SMO & SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING, where the truth is, a lot associated with other online marketing strategies have got previously arrived at the finish of 2016 and a few of all of them are still coming since the particular beginning of 2017. Today, a person are going to know the best SEO techniques that will assist improve your website's optimization (and traffic) remarkably. Digital Advertising and SEO would be the particular most trending topics across the particular globe so when a issues goes trending a number associated with other new and trending points get connects with it. Such as AMP, Voice Search, AI plus Mobile friendly website are the particular preferred and trending part associated with SEO now. Are exceptional but their SEO potential might be lower compared to solo links. Right here are 8 off-page SEO strategies to expand your page search positions on search results. By 2010, marketers began to see the growing significance of social media content within SEO, so both Google plus Bing added ‘social signals, ' which would show any composed Facebook posts that matched an individual's search. For me, I sense as though I gained the valuable, all encompassing picture associated with SEO and it will assist me to create a method to move forward with rating goals. Simply by incorporating an actual SEO technique into your overall content marketing and advertising plan, you will be capable to climb the major research engines rankings within a issue of months.

Ranking today offers more to do with significant and useful content than SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION voodoo link crazy linking strategies and spending your time upon keyword density as well as other technical products. SEO is making the most of findability, user experience, and wedding by making certain content plus messaging is aligned and structured based on the language that will potential customers and visitors are usually most often using to explain the products, solutions, services or even information that a website is definitely providing. With a couple of correct best WordPress SEO procedures you can really see the nice little boost both within SERPs and Google Picture Search. For this reason whenever they will plan to expand their web business; they quickly need in order to take the help of SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION optimization services. First, understand that schema markup is one of the nearly all effective, least used parts associated with SEO today Schema are essentially brief snippets of data that will can give extra information in order to search users and search motors like google. Plus 2018, making your website cellular friendly is the biggest craze in SEO. When we talk about SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION or Local SEO, most companies limit it to Google. A successful SEO technique in 2018 will gravitate toward mobile-friendly websites, content material relevance, brand and relationship advancement. Based upon the previous point, SEOs can think about various landing webpages with proper keywords, meta labels and the overall website framework from the SEO viewpoint. RankBrain will certainly force a much closer examination of user experience, and SEOs will need to monitor jump rate and average time upon page much more closely compared to they have previously. All of us concentrated around the keyword-based aspect associated with all the SEO tools that will included the capabilities, because which where most business users may primarily focus. Hence, it's essential to keep track of every Google algorithm change to enhance rankings, organic website traffic plus finally boost SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION.

[trenthix]

Salutatory Speech.

Salutatory Speech.

So as Salutatorian, I was told I would have to write a speech focused on the history… I find that a bit challenging, but here it goes.

A very long time ago, the universe did not exist. There was infinite mass and density, and said universe couldn’t take it, so there was a boom. A big bang of sorts…

Then in the late 90’s and early 2000’s we were born. One of us, in fact, was born on this very day. I want to wish Alicia Hernandez a happy birthday. (sing alicia happy birthday)

So we were born. Our worries were few, but substantial. Two of my personal struggles included catching the next spongebob episode and drinking chocolate milk too fast.

We started pre-school. My only memory from there is getting sick on one too many pigs in a blanket. We met some of our first friends here. Simple times.

2004 - Facebook was created.

2005 - Youtube was created.

Then we started Elementary school. I was at east ridge. Our worries here included getting the last breakfast pizza that was left over because “adam wasn’t here and he would want me to have it.” They included  obsessively cramming for spelling tests, memorizing multiplication facts,  and taking our first TAKS test. TAKS test. Feel old yet?

2006 - Twitter was created

We moved onto 4th grade at SIS… The turf wars began. And for the folks that don’t know, there were two different elementary schools that brought up Kindergarten through 3rd grade. And then these two schools would feed into SIS, Sweetwater Intermediate School. This was our world now. Where we came from defined a person… were you from east ridge, or were you from south east? And I’m ending the beef now, East Ridge was the better of the two. Only kidding! It didn’t matter. There were good things from both schools. I’m just glad that hating and judging people from where they’re from is only something 4th and 5th graders do.

I digress. We’d rack up AR Points ca ching! We’d party like the year we were born… Flamingo fling. Not many worries, but we were still in a hurry, learning about history and Martin Luther King. And those days remained romanticized because again, our biggest concerns only included passing a TAKS test and… our first puberty class.

2010 - Instagram was created

Speaking of puberty, here came middle school. Oh my God. Puberty was like Everyone telling you to look both ways before crossing the street to watch for cars and then a falcon swoops down from the sky and attacks you. Folks I thought that was it for us. As soon as coach Huskey said “Let’s go hit that creek” I recall thinking to myself “yeah I’m going to die in the next few hours.” I found my passion: Band. I also found what I thought was my passion: Football. I remember one day Kiante hit me and I was like “I don’t think I like this very much.” Life got real. Technology took off. We all got phones, social media, iPads. Remember how cool we thought we looked with all of our decent selfies  camwow retro logo in the bottom left? Instagram, Snapchat, facebook, tumblr (lowkey though), Jokebox, iFunny, Youtube, and for the first time, We stopped going to older people for help and we got online and googled it. We were the pioneer generation that was raised by technology. Surrounded by information in the times of our lives when we needed it the most. We began to comprehend the different weights of life. As a middle schooler I pulled a few all-nighters to finish projects and homework… I may or may not have procrastinated on. Our priority list was fine tuned. School and extracurricular were up there now. But memes, relationships, and social media were among them as well.

2012 - Vine was created

Then came High School. lots of smells in high school have you noticed that? The big room smells like shredded tires and hard work and dedication with a hint of Trent tears scattered here and there. You could always tell when bunsen burners were on because the science hall always smelled unpleasant. And Mrs. Melendez’s room when she would burn those Orange Buttercream Scenses that smell like fruity pebbles oh my god.

Smells like the big room, bunsen burners, teen spirit, and those scense’s are the things I think I’ll remember the most.

I learned a few important things in my time in High school that I’d like to share with you.

Freshman year I learned that if you’re unhappy in your situation, you have the ability to change it. Whether it be relationships, extracurricular, or any aspect of life, you can change it. I also learned that social media can be a cruel blackhole, that can distort views, reputations, and relationships. Even more so today. Tread carefully.

Sophomore year, I learned the true value of hard work thanks to Mrs. Judith Brentz. She taught us many valuable lessons, the most important being “how to use our heads for something more than keeping your ears apart.” I also got my first B… Thanks Mrs. Mac. I also got my second B… Thanks Mrs. Brentz. I also learned how to rid my life of toxic people, and for the first time I began to see the world for what it really was. All the variables, and the factors that can play into what, when, why, and how we think the things we think.

Junior year was the toughest for me. Between band, Round 2 of Brentz for chem 2, Coach Mayes, Work, and family…. It taught me that you can’t do everything you want to, and at the same time get enough sleep. I also learned that it’s healthy to rock the boat every now and then. You’ll either get humbled, humble someone else, or if conditions are just right, a healthy mix of the two.

I also learned probably the most important lesson I’ve learned thus far. This applies to everyone listening, Teachers, families, current students, etc. If you don’t get anything about my longwinded speech, please hear this.

My junior year, I stopped worrying about grades, and I started doing the best I could to learn and retain everything that was being taught to me. Numbers are just Numbers. But what we should understand is that we have the world’s most powerful computer between our ears, and once we start using it, we become unstoppable. There are people that will disagree with what I’m about to say, but stop trying ace tests. Stop trying to do the bare minimum to get by. Learn and retain the information, and those good grades will come. I guarantee it. And class of 2018, it’s not too late to apply to your lives. Whether you’re going to college or not, this is a fundamental principle that can be applied across the board, and I encourage you to do so.

Alright back to jokes.

My senior year I learned lots. Like how you can overcook a TV Dinner and still get food poisoning, ruining your chance for perfect attendance that year. Once I started seeing colleges I started learning how a world that I thought was so big is about a whole lot bigger. I learned that if you fall asleep exactly 47 minutes before the first bell, you’ll wake up and be in a sour mood the entire day. I learned that once people figure out that you’re doing a speech at graduation, everyone wants a shout out. I also learned that you can market shoutouts and get a headstart on paying tuition by selling them for a dollar a piece. I also learned that I should’ve thought of that sooner and not just the night before I gave the speech. Nobody bought shoutouts. (this was what was originally written, but nick gomez bought a shoutout lol)

But our priority list is strict now. When we have to be where and with who? Some of us are paying bills, we have to worry about finances, college tuition, student loans, our next meal, car payments, gas money, textbooks, toothpaste, medical, dental, water, electrical, internet, phone bills. Oh my God I thought I wanted to be an adult but this isn’t what I meant. Of course, those are all things we should be concerned about.

I for one have my priorities just a little bit different

My biggest worries are still catching the latest episode of spongebob and drinking chocolate milk at the right speed.

So welcome. I hope you enjoy tonight’s ceremonies. I’m going to wrap this up with a few thank yous, and we’ll get on with it.

Thank you God, for the many blessings you’ve laid upon my life as well as the blessings you’ve given my friends and family. I know I tick you off sometimes, so, I just ask that you’ll bear with me. I’m still learning

Thank you to my dad. You’ve taught me a lot. The most memorable being the wisdom you passed on from my grandmother in heaven… To never take life too seriously.

Thanks momma. You make me laugh like no one else can. And you get me the way no one else can. You can bet everything you say I’m gonna steal and make it my own. I love you.

Marlee, you’re the only one that gets me emotional anymore. I’m so proud of you. I once described you to a friend as a little packet of sunshine that grew arms, legs, and a face, and now you just walk around spreading happiness and joy. I’m glad you made your own path and didn’t follow in my footsteps. I know you’ll continue to make me proud with everything that you do.

Band - Thank you for giving me a place I belong. I’m odd, and yall were okay with it. Without you, I wouldn’t be standing up here.

Directors - Thanks for making me feel at home. I still cant wait to call yall by yall’s first names here in about an hour.

Teachers and Administrators - Thank you for bearing with me. I know I was a thorn in yall’s side from time to time with scandalous assignments and requests. And Mrs. Reyes and Mrs. Little… I made it.

(With the exception of what’s bolded, the other shoutouts made were ad-libbed and did not have a concrete order. I recall thanking other teachers, friends, and family, and shouting out nick gomez, lauren rodriguez, and trini and bell.)

And last but not least, I’d like to thank Jeff Stein and Richard Ferguson for keeping me on their staff after numerous hiccups on 96.7 FM, 1240 AM, KXOX. Good times, great country. For the job opportunity you’ve given me, you helped ease the financial stress that comes from being a poor high schooler, and a soon to be college student. I cant thank you enough.

And in closing. Heed this warning, everyone listening.

We are strong.

We are persistent.

We are mustangs.

We will go on.

We will succeed.

We will prosper.

We are coming.

We are graduating

We are the Class of 2018.

Thank you, and God Bless.

“Salutations” //Trent(on) Hicks. May 25, 2018

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #341

“anger, misery, you’ll suffer unto me”

Would you risk your life to save a total stranger? I don't think so. Have you ever trashed your ex’s car after an argument? No, and I never would. Grow up. Have you ever done something because of peer pressure you are ashamed of? I don't believe so, no. Have you ever been embarrassed to introduce your parents to anyone? No. Would you leave a note on a car claiming responsibility if you damaged it? Yeah; guilt would eat me alive otherwise. Have you ever used someone's handicapped parking pass to get a parking spot? Fucking ew, no. Have you ever held back a well-deserved compliment because you were jealous? No. Do you guilt people into giving you what you want? Ugh, no. Would most people consider you better than average looking? Ha, no. For yourself, would you rather have a perfect body or high IQ? Give me the perfect body, living in my horrible one has affected my mental health badly enough. I'm fine with having a moderate IQ. I just want to feel happy in my own skin. Have you ever embarrassed some intentionally in public? Wow, no. Have you ever used a false ID? Also no. Are you embarrassed to tell people your job? I'm embarrassed to tell people I don't HAVE a job. Do you remember the first conversation you had with the person you have feelings for? I don't. I'm sure it was RP-related and not friendly, but I don't remember the exact convo. Have you ever got a D or F on your report card? I want to say no; I think the lowest I ever got was a C. If you had twins, would you give them rhyming names? Ugh, no. I'm sorry if you're into it, but I'm just not. I would want to ensure they knew their uniqueness and individuality was seen. Is there anyone that you wish was IN your life who used to be? There's a large number of those kinds of people. What brings out the worst in you? Probably when I'm building up towards a PTSD meltdown. I get VERY short and snappy and am convinced everyone hates and wants to leave me. My mouth also has NO fucking leash, and I know I can say very mean things that I'll regret later. What do you prefer, Skittles or Starbursts? Skittles. Mike & Ikes or Jolly Ranchers? Jolly Ranchers for sure. What is your favorite thing to eat with peanut butter? Waffles (with syrup). Don't knock it 'til you try it, I'm telling you. What are some wild animals commonly found where you live? Besides birds obviously, there's squirrels, deer, opossums, raccoons... Have you ever had a lucid dream? I think I've had just one. What's your biggest problem at the moment? Probably my anxiety having stunted my growth in so many areas. Have you ever turned down a job offer? I don't think so, no. What's the longest hospital stay you've had? For what? I think my longest was almost two months for suicidal thoughts. Two months might sound long, but it was like... my third or so psych hospital stay for that same reason. What's something really basic that you're terrible at? Even the most simple math. I don't even know the majority of my elementary multiplication tables. Have you ever hugged someone for over a minute? Yeah. Would you ever get a tattoo on your collar bone? I have one there already, but I plan on getting it covered because it was an impulse tattoo that I feel no connection towards. Have you ever searched for your house on Google Earth? My old house, yeah. Are you a beach, country, or city person? Country. Living in the suburbs has definitely reminded me of that... Are you faster at text messaging or typing on the computer? Typing, by a long shot. I make typos texting too much. Have you ever kissed anybody who had a mustache? Yeah. Who is the last person that you said "I love you" to, besides family members? Sara. When was your first real relationship? Sophomore year of high school to early college. Have you ever cried over an ex? I've cried the entire mass of water on Earth over an ex lmao. Have you ever kissed someone of the same sex? Yes. Is there something really bad that you’ve done, that only YOU know about? No. Have you ever copied someone else’s homework? I think I have once or twice, but obviously with consent. What’s a hobby you would like to try out? If my legs worked like actual legs and I didn't sweat like an absolute pig, I would like to try out herping, but without actually interacting with the animal like picking it up and scaring the daylights out of it. I'd just be happy enough looking for reptiles, amphibians, and inverts to photograph instead. Does that still even count as herping? What was the last event you attended? My youngest niece's birthday party. How about the last event you organized? I've never organized an event. What’s something you get excited about doing and want to do it right away? Whenever I take nature pictures, I'm immediately keen to get them into Lightroom and do the postproduction. Is there anything you feel you’re better at than anybody else? Definitely not. What’s the biggest insect you’ve ever seen? If you exclude places like the zoo, that would probably be a rhinoceros beetle or something. Oh no, actually some kind of local moth I don't know the name of. They're beautiful big white boiz. How about the biggest spider? I might be mis-remembering, but I believe at a reptile convention I went to with Sara, one of the vendors had a goliath bird eater tarantula in one of the cups. I do know it was some tarantula species for sure, though. Who was the first person to break your heart? My dad. Obviously not romantically, but him just splitting on the family with no proper communication absolutely broke my heart for years. First person to give you flowers or candy on Valentine’s day? I'm sure that would be my parents. If you exclude them 'cuz that's kinda obvious, I believe it was Aaron, my first boyfriend. I'm pretty sure we were together on Valentine's Day, because I remember getting him a giant Hershey's Kiss. First band you obsessed about? I wasn't truly obsessed with any band 'til Ozzy in middle school. Can you do a backflip? No; I've never tried and never will. I was and still am too afraid of breaking my neck. Like I have a MASSIVE fear of paralysis, particularly from the neck down; that fear is actually the biggest one that keeps me from driving, fun fact. Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Of the two, definitely a pessimist, but I at least think I align most with being a realist. What’s the biggest lie you’ve told someone? I'm unsure. Have you ever been hit on by someone of the same sex? Yeah. How many doors are in the room you’re in? Just one. Have you ever been engaged and broke it off? No. Has anyone ever drawn a picture of you? Tyler once drew a picture of him and me. It was cute. That guy still dove in WAY too fast. Have you ever dated a redhead? I haven't, but I love redheads. Natural red hair is just gorgeous. What are your thoughts on facial hair on guys? Historically, I seem to generally like some, but it really depends on the guy's general appearance. I can like none at all or a full beard and mustache, it doesn't really matter to me. Did you go anywhere today? No; my mom is in Florida with her brothers totally cleaning out Grammy's house, so she's not here to take me anywhere. Do you have any nieces or nephews? Oh yikes, I have a lot. I honestly can't count because I've lost track of how many boys and girls Katie has. You have a choice to shoot your father or die, what would you do? Jesus. I'd rather die; some things just aren't worth living after, and I'd have no desire to keep going if I killed my father. Did you ever cry at the end of King Kong? I've never watched it, actually, but I. LOVED. The video game. I haven't played it in years and only faintly remember how it ends, but I don't remember crying. Are you in any amount of pain at the moment? Quite a lot, actually. It's kinda a TMI subject so I won't delve into it, just know I'm hurting like a bitch. What was the last sugary thing you ate? I snacked on some chocolate chips earlier today... which I really shouldn't have done, but I think I had reasonable restraint and didn't totally binge. When was the last time you did something extremely stupid? Who knows, that's not a rare occurrence, it feels like. Have you been to any parties lately? Only my niece's bday party in February. Thankfully it was kept pretty small, given Covid; not that anyone in that family besides my sister gives a flying fuck about precautions, though... Can you touch your pinky to your thumb around your wrist? Ugh, no. Close, but not enough. I still have thin wrists and hands, but yeah, yay for being overweight. If you were to start a charity, what would you call it? I'd hve to put more thought than I'm willing for one survey question. I'd have to decide what KIND of charity I want to start first, which I'm unsure of. Probably something related to animal wellfare and conservation or something similar to the Trevor Project. Maybe LBGTQ+ youth disowned by their families... I dunno. There's so much good I wish I could do. Are you comfortable with your body? Holy fuck no. It's only gotten worse since I started gaining weight again and almost entirely erased all weight loss progress I'd made. What is your recent inside joke? Most recently made? Idk, man. I don't make those often. Would you rather be a human, vampire, or a werewolf? Er, I'm good with being a human. If I was a vampire or werewolf, I wouldn't exactly be very welcomed, I'm sure, and both have seemingly painful traits to cope with. Are you good at giving directions? It is absolutely impossible for me. I have NO sense of direction, like, at all. I don't know highway names, local exits, etc. etc. etc. etc. Why did you last curse? Pain when readjusting myself due to aforementioned issue I'm having. What is your purpose in life? I hope it involves animals and spreading words of peace and an appreciation for art. What is one of your weak points? I'm very, very, very dependent on others. I'm really working on trying to correct that. I can barely do shit on my own as is. Who was the last person you heard snoring? My cat, haha. Would you rather shower by yourself or with another person? 100% by myself. Another person would just get in the way and make me VERY self-conscious of my body, even if it was my romantic partner. Just please leave me alone to hate myself for 10 minutes. :^) What was your last addiction? You could say my current one is John Wolfe, a really funny let's player I've gotten into. Been bingeing some of my favorite games he has playlists of for a few weeks now. You are in a tank full of spiders, what do you do? Well one, I'd like to know what kind they are. Venomous? Harmless? You gotta give me the details. If I don't have any, then I'm admittedly freaking the fuck out, even though I know I should stay very calm when trying to get out. Fear would win, though. If killing yourself meant saving the world, would you? Saving the world from what? But odds are, yeah. I don't cherish my pretty damn mediocre life more than I do the lives of what, 8 billion people? Have you ever stayed up all night just to talk to someone? Yeah. When was the last time you eavesdropped someone? I kinda do that sometimes when Mom's on the phone and I can hear her from my room, and if they're on speaker. Particularly if the subject is me. When was the last time you went to a club? I've never been to one. How have you been sleeping? Poorly. Are you adopted? No, I'm not. Do you like scrapbooking? Not really, no. Do you collect anything valuable? "Valuable to me." <<<< This. Nothing of great monetary worth, though. Have you ever been beaten up? No, thankfully. Do you know anyone with an eating disorder? I don't think so, in my personal life. What was the last thing you killed? An ant. Have you ever used someone for money? I never could, no. When was the last time you went to the zoo? Sigh, it's been many many years. I'm so ready to get my goddamn legs back in shape so I can go again, this time with a REAL camera, too. Last time I went was when I still only had a Kodak EasyShare; I have a professional Canon camera now with much more education on photography too, so I would be in absolute heaven with at least twenty memory cards in need, haha. Maybe next fall... Is there a teacher you hate more than anything? I actually never had a teacher I hated in my entire school career. It really, really is as simple as just being a respectful student. In most cases, I should emphasize, because I do understand some educators just suck. Now I had some teachers I wasn't very fond of, but most certainly none that I hated. Do you own colored eyeliner? No. Do you have manners? I honestly think I'm very mannerly. When was the last time that you had a pet that died? We last had to put my dog Teddy down; he had cancer and was literally withering away. I knew in my very core that even if we didn't bring him to the vet to euthanize him, he would've died naturally in a very short period of time; I doubt he would've survived another night. Now I'd like to move on. What is your favorite medication that you take, and why? The combination of Vraylar and Lamictal is the reason I'm alive. It keeps my bipolarity and depression under control. Do you decorate Mason jars? No, but those are some of my favorite crafts visually. They're very pretty and cute. Can you see the mountains from where you live? Oh hunny, I wish. Did you ever play pranks on April Fool’s Day? As a kid, yeah. I don't anymore. I'm not really even a fan of April Fool's Day as an adult because of how cruel some jokes assholes play are. Which instrument would you play if you could learn to play one? Maybe violin. Do you part your hair on the left side, right side, or in the middle? The left. What are some names you like that start with the first letter of your name? Uhhhh Bianca, Braelynn (look I know it's so stereotypically Southern but it's pretty)... and idk from there, those are the two that come to mind first.