#just do basic concert protocol

[colorisbyshe]

I always want to go to concerts that my friends have no interest in but Im too afraid to go by myself. Im 21, so Im not too young, it just feels rly intimidating! Do you have any advice for either convincing my friends to go or just getting the courage to go by myself?

I'm going to be honest, unless an artist is one I KNOW my friends are SUPER DUPER stoked about, I don't even bother asking if they wanna go. My preferred concert experience is alone because it can a logistical nightmare to organize a concert trip with friends. People waffling about availability, everyone trying to buy tickets together (though venmo has made this easier), financial incompatibility (ie x friend is only willing to spend x amount while y friend is hardcore and wants to spend y for the BEST tickets), and, as we get older, different willingness to do GA or concerts that require lots of running about in the city.

So, I don't haev tips for convincing friends to go because... I don't care if my friends go. Concerts can be great bonding experiences (looove a good moment screaming lyrics at each other) but... concerts should be focused.... on the performance, so I never really notice their absence.

As for going alone, you have to confront WHY you are afraid going alone?

Afraid of getting stranded somewhere? Look up train times extensively, get a train time app, and bring a portable charger as well as a charge cord/block for your phone. Listen... I've been the person hauling ASSSS to get to the last train but a. I haven't missed the train yet and b. worst possible thing is... you idk stay up all night and catch the first train available, which'll be around 5-6am. Not ideal but... not a disaster? But, again, most concerts end by 10/11 and most of the time this isn't a problem.

Afraid to look like a loser by yourself? You're at a fucking CONCERT, dude?? Unless you are behaving poorly and ruining the experience for the people around you/the artist, it is impossible to be a loser at a concert. No one is thinking about you at a show unless you make yourself a problem.

Afraid to be bored/lonely in line? Just... talk to someone. Offer them a snack. (Carry snacks with you, btw. Snacks you eithre KNOW you will consume by the time you reach doors or you're fijne with throwing out if asked to.) Tell them their concert outfit is cute, evne if it isn't. Nervously say "OMG, I can't wait, this is my first time seeing X!" You're surrounded by people who love the same thing you do. Talk about it!

Afraid of arriving home at night? Night time is just day time with less light. Put your phone's flashlight on while walking to your car or have an emergency number geared up on your phone btu like... you're fine. I've walked home from the train station, with bleeding heels, from a show. At 2am. Besides the disgustingness of me just dropping into bed while covered in sweat and blood, it was fine.

I love my friends. Dearly. But I don't let their lack of availability limit the thing sI can do in my life. If I want to see a movie or a show or go eat some food that they don't want... it's time to fucking od it.

I've been going to shows in NYC by myself since I was like... 17ish. I think I started off going to broadway shows by myself but like... same issues.

Just be safe. Don't drink a lot (alcohol prices at the show will ensure this anyways. be safe if you're pregaming and don't get caught if you're drinking in line). Maybe have a red bull in line if you're worried about being alert. But like... shows are generally safe places surrounded by people who love what you love and do NOT want anyone to get hurt. Even hardcore shows.

Nothing to be afraid of.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Harry and Meghan travel all the time away from those kids. Those kids are not used to seeing their parents. Harry disappearing for weeks on end won’t bother them one bit.

Hey, if you don't mind, can you do a summary of all the times they left the children that we know of and how long?

I Know Harry had an Invictus event very soon after Archie's birth, and I saw someone mention a hunting trip to Germany, Meghan at the US open, polo at Archie's birthday, TQ's funeral, etc

Ask from July 25th

I believe the Germany hunting trip was in 2017. Supposedly that's when Meghan got all pissy about it and made Harry give up the antique guns Philip gave him. Also, the Archie's birthday/polo clash wasn't a travel event; the polo match was just down the highway from Montecito, so I'm not counting that one.

So this is only the travel that we know about. I'm sure there's plenty of other travel that we don't know about. This also does not include the date nights and overnights in L.A. Basically, for me to include it in this list, they had to have left the state of California.

May 2019: Harry travels to The Hague for Invictus Games. It's supposed to be a two-day trip but he shortens it to one day.

May 2019: Harry travels to Italy for Sentebale polo fundraiser. He's gone at least overnight.

July 2019: Harry travels to Italy for Google Camp to give a speech on the climate crisis. A couple of days.

September 2019: Meghan travels to NYC for the US Open. Not sure how long she's gone, probably just a couple of days.

September 2019: Harry travels to Amsterdam to launch Travalyst. It's jsut one or two days.

October 2019: Harry goes to Angola and Botswana, while Meghan stays in Johannesburg wtih Archie. One or two days.

November 2019: Harry travels to Japan for rugby. It's just a couple of days.

January 2020: Harry and Meghan travel to the UK for Sandringham Summit. Archie stays in Canada with friends. They're here for about a week. Meghan flees after the Megxit statement drops.* Harry attends Sandringham Summit alone but Meghan offers to call in.

*There's a rumor that Meghan didn't flee on her own, but that she was deported. According to this rumor, The Queen summoned Meghan to BP, Meghan ignored it and went to a private engagement instead (this one), The Queen was incandescent with rage, the RPOs tracked Meghan down, took her to the airport and physically put her on the plane back to Canada. There's a variation of that rumor (a spin-off, if one will) where instead of The Queen summoning Meghan for an audience, The Queen tasked Meghan with an engagement, Meghan refused to go, then The Queen ordered Meghan to leave and RPOs put her on a plane. Regardless of the variation, supposedly this deportation is what Harry is referring to with "they know what they did" when he's demanded apologies from the BRF.

March 2020: Harry and Meghan travel to the UK for Megxit farewell tour. Archie stays behind in Canada with "friends." They're gone about a week and flee back to Canada after the Commonwealth Service because of COVID concerns.

April 2021: Harry travels to the UK for Prince Philip's funeral. He's gone about a week (he has to quarantine for 5 days before the funeral due to COVID protocols). Meghan stays home in CA with Archie.

September 2021: Harry and Meghan travel to NYC for the Global Vax Live concert and make it a mini-fauxyal tour. This is a few days long.

November 2021: Harry and Meghan travel to NYC for a Veterans Day gala on the USS Intrepid.

March 2022: Harry travels to Texas. He's papped at Stockyards Rodeo. No idea how long his trip his, maybe a couple of days.

April 2022: Harry and Meghan travel to The Hague for Invictus Games. They have a layover in London and try to see The Queen at Windsor Castle. They're away for about 2 weeks , maybe a little less than that.

May 2022: Meghan travels to Texas to support the Uvalde community. It's maybe a two-day trip.

June 2022: Harry and Meghan travel to the UK for the Platinum Jubilee. While there are still photographs that suggest the kids were with them this time, there's plausible gossip from Britain that the kids actually weren't there because no one actually saw them. I'm including this one here to hedge bets.

July 2022: Harry and Meghan are in NYC again for Mandela Day. It's at least a 2-day trip.

August 2022: Harry travels to Africa to host US officials and conservationists for a few days in his role as President of African Parks.

September 2022: Harry and Meghan travel to the UK for a fauxyal tour. It's just supposed to be a few days, but they end up getting stuck in Britain for about 3 weeks when The Queen dies due to royal mourning and her funeral.

December 2022: Harry and Meghan travel to NYC for Meghan to receive the RFK Ripple of Hope award from Kerry Kennedy. It's a couple of days. There's scalding tea that the couple were downright frosty to each other when they weren't on camera.

May 2023: Harry travels to the UK for Charles's coronation. It's not even an overnight trip.

June 2023: Harry travels to the UK for a hearing in one of his lawsuits. It's a few days.

May 2023: Meghan, Harry, and Doria travel to NYC for Meghan to get an award. It's a couple of days. They get "chased" by paparazzi. It's a few days.

August 2023: Harry travels to Japan for a conference and to Singapore for a charity polo match. He's gone a few days.

September 2023: Harry and Meghan travel to Germany for the Dusseldorf 2023 Invictus Games. They're away for at least a week. Meghan comes late because she just had to get the kids milkshakes first. (Yeah, everyone WTFs it.)

October 2023: Harry and Meghan travel to the Caribbean to relax at a Soho House beach resort. I think they were there about a week.

October 2023: Harry goes to Texas to attend F1.

October 2023: Harry and Meghan travel to NYC for some kind of panel summit thing with Carson Daly. It's a couple of days.

January 2024: Harry and Meghan travel to Jamaica for the Bob Marley movie premiere. Meghan supposedly leaves CA while Harry is receiving his award from John Travolta and he flies out to meet her. (There are rumors that Meghan is spotted being very friendly with a man not her husband before Harry arrives.)

February 2024: Harry travels to the UK to see Charles after the public announcement of his cancer diagnosis. It's an overnight trip. He's gone from CA for about 3 days.

February 2024: Harry travels to Las Vegas for a thing, something that's part of the Superbowl celebrations. (I think he went straight from London to Vegas.)

February 2024: Harry and Meghan travel to Canada for a Vancouver Invictus Games kickoff thing. It's a 4 day event.

March 2024: Harry and Meghan travel to Texas. They go to Austin and San Antonio for charity visits. It's related to Meghan's panel appearance at South X Southwest.

April 2024: Harry and Meghan travel to Miami for a series of polo matches. Maybe it's a week?

May 2024: Harry travels to the UK to attend the service of thanksgiving for Invictus Games's 10th anniversary. It's an overnight trip. Meghan meets him at the airport after the service.

May 2024: Harry and Meghan travel to Nigeria for a fauxyal tour. I believe it was a 5-day trip.

August 2024: Harry and Meghan travel to Colombia for another fauyxal tour. It's another 4-5 day trip.

I'm sure I've forgotten some.

So this is 34 37 trips in 5 years without their children. Assuming:

An average of 4 days away per trip for 30 34 trips (understanding that some were longer, others were shorter so it should balance out)

12 days for The Hague Invictus Games (includes the Windsor drop-in)

10 days for Dusseldorf Invictus Games

21 days for September 2022

They were away about 163 179 days that we know of. Just for comparison's sake, the average American school year is 180 days. And remember, this does not include overnights in L.A./Beverly Hills, of which I suspect there's quite a lot of because it's at least a 90-minute drive (without traffic) to Montecito*. Not to mention that Harry has hotel rooms somewhere in California and he may or may not have a BetterUp corporate apartment up in San Francisco. I'm guessing if we were to guesstimate how often one or both of them is staying the night elsewhere in California, we'd probably see numbers double this.

*I'm also adding my own personal bias here; if I have to drive more than an hour at night, I'm getting a hotel room. Granted, the Sussexes do have drivers so they're not exactly in the same boat, but given all the rumors about Meghan having rooms at The Beverly Hills Hotel and Harry having a whole floor of a hotel permanently reserved, I think it's a pretty safe assumption that they do have a lot of overnights away from the kids in LA.

Now just for giggles, let's count how many times Harry and Meghan traveled with their kids:

Summer 2019 summer of private flights all over Europe despite Archie being too young to fly to Balmoral.

October 2019 - to South Africa

June 2022 - to London for the Platinum Jubilee

July 2022 - to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for July 4th (pap photos of Archie at a parade; no Lili)

December 2023 - to Costa Rica (blurry pap photos, plus a People PR article)

To be clear, I'm not begrudging the fact that the Sussexes travel for work. A lot of parents travel for work, and a lot of parents travel more than this per year for work. A lot of parents travel for 'me time'. Parents gotta do what parents gotta do to feed their kids and take care of themselves to take care of their kids.

What I'm instead commenting on (and snarking about) is how much Harry and Meghan have attacked the Cambridges/Waleses for spending time with their kids, how Harry attacked Charles for being unavailable during Harry's childhood, and how much PR Meghan has put out about how she's the best mom to ever mother and her whole life revolves around her kids; their actions aren't matching up to their words, which makes the stories they do share about the kids seem hollow and unreal.

Edit: Remembered some!

[eyeofnewtblog]

Things that happen at home:

So, my mom had her first symphony concert this weekend, and I’m happy to report that it was a smashing success.

What I personally thought was really cool is that the whole symphony is mostly older women. Most of the brass section was older men though, and you could tell that the trumpet and trombone players were having a great time with the music (lots of jamming out head and shoulders movement) and WOW that tuba player has A Set Of Lungs.

Honestly kinda makes me miss the days when Middle Sister would stand just outside my bedroom door and just BLAST through her practice session as fast as possible. Yes, she was a tuba player. Yes, she was in marching band and orchestra. Yes, I absolutely ran out screaming “MOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!” Every. Single. Time. No, that did not stop her in anyway whatsoever.

Anyway, there was also a cello soloist that performed with violin and viola accompaniment, and he was legitimately fantastic. I told my mom during intermission that she was better and she did her scrunch up face of You’re Full Of Shit But I Like The Support which was cute.

I was sitting next to my one of my cousins for the concert and we both kept side eyeing each other and giggling about how he was bobbing along and jamming out…for those of you that don’t know, it’s very easy to jam out and look cool when you have either a very small instrument or a very large instrument.

When you have a medium instrument, like a cello or French horn, you just look silly if you’re jamming out (saxophone is the exception) and my mom has this very…contained way of playing that looks intense but graceful and determined. So to see someone looking like they’re jamming out on an electric guitar while playing a cello was just…hilarious to us, because we’ve been watching my mom jam out for decades and never seen anyone look so goofy while sounding so good.

One of my moms work friends showed up, and she was an absolute delight. Complete sweetheart; it’s also really fucking funny to tease government contractors about their top secret clearances and joke about their projects or basically anything that they aren’t allowed to talk about. (I teased her specifically about being in the CIA because she does intelligence analysis; my husband and I have a long standing “argument” about if my mom works on quantum computers or making targeted ai satellite systems talk to each other, because honestly her PhD could easily allow for both) the goal is to make relatively small jokes and then drop it quickly because you don’t actually want them to violate their security protocols…but fucking hell if it isn’t fun to toe the line.

My mechanic husband had the dubious joy of teaching me how to jump start a car in the parking lot without jumper cables. (My car battery is in the fritz and needs replacement but we honestly thought it could wait another month or so…)

But basically you put the car in neutral, push it into a position that it can roll naturally downhill, then put it in either first gear or reverse (which ever way is down hill, basically) and release the clutch. I’m pretty sure this only works on automatic transmission vehicles, but I could be wrong and didn’t ask for clarification.

I’d like to point out that we were in a crowded parking lot with a perfectly functioning set of jumper cables. We could have absolutely asked any of the ten people walking by if we could get a jump. We could have waited for my cousin to come out, because we were parked right next to each other. But no. “What if you’re stuck by yourself? You pride yourself on being able to get out of anything.”

That man knows me too well.

Overall, great night. Fantastic concert, great learning experience, got to be an absolute little shit. 10/10, would do again.

[phantomspren]

Okay so now the question is how long can I hold out before starting to listen to TMA for the third time.

I just finished relistening and I. I love it so much.

And I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I think I'm going to switch my major from anthropology to media production. Because of this podcast.

My end goal has always been to write. Since I was like eight. That's what I've wanted to do. But you gotta have a day job! And unfortunately I am not interested in anything that would make any money so I decided to major in anthropology.

And I genuinely love it so much.

I've also been working as a stage tech for the last year, and love that as well, I love the technical aspect of performances and things like that. I genuinely would not mind doing that for a living. (I mean it's a lot of moving furniture around but it's also super cool beyond that.)

But. I was listening to the Q&A episodes this summer at work. And they were talking about sound design and the production of the show. And I thought that sounded. Really fucking fun.

And I've. Done sound stuff for live shows. I know the basics of that. I can set up mics and know the basics of how to make them work good! I love it.

I think I'd love audio editing.

And if I went into audio stuff. I could work on all sorts of things. There's audio in everything.

It would also be a much better way to get into a writing gig of some sort. My backup would be directly related to what I want to devote myself to. And if it didn't work I'd still probably love it and get to work on cool things.

(I mean most people who see this have probably seen me talk about it on Discord but I just want to talk about it cause I'm thinking about it and have started classes and stuff.)

So not only is this a top tier piece of media for me, but also it may have just totally changed my career path. By pointing out something I already enjoy and saying "you can do this with stories, not just concerts and lectures."

I'm taking some intro journalism courses this semester (the journalism program at my school has a film and media production emphasis), and at the moment it's really rough. I love social sciences and am quite frankly really good at them, so it's a total shift from taking a 400 level anth class last semester as a freshman to intro writing classes as a sophomore with a bunch of freshmen. I'm really going to miss anthropology. (I also switched schools so that's impacting things.)

But I'm looking at the media production classes and the script writing class and podcasting class that I can take in the future and I'm getting so excited. I'm also considering taking an acting class next semester, which I never would have done before I considered the fact that I could make my own projects. I am not limited just to writing.

It's been wild.

I'm hoping I get through this semester alright. My creative writing class will keep me sane, hopefully. :p

But yeah.

Yeah.

I'm excited. :)

Also ERKJHSEKLRJHSELRGHSLEKRJGESRHKLJSGH MAGNUS

Protocol finale on Thursday too, it'll be fucking wild.

Also I'm cosplaying season two Jon at FanX on Friday and season three on Saturday so I may post pictures of that if it turns out alright.

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

[oh-my-chocolate]

i finished!!! here are some misc reactions - not very detailed or in depth Thought but things that i remember thinking throughout

poor levitas :( he deserved way better. i know everyone is like "we can't stage an intervention bc protocol and rank and discipline" but SCREW THAT!! hollin's got it right. and laurence is so true for recommending him to hatch his own dragon (especially in place of rankin) 1a. even before we saw everyone ostracizing rankin i knew he was going to be not a good guy bc the narrator gave him a nasally voice that usually signifies "this character is annoying"

jane roland is so cool. for many reasons but especially bc how she keeps rattling laurence out of his sensibilities by being a non-typical and definitely non-proper women. laurence spends their entire first meeting and also that conversation in her room being utterly scandalized and doing his best not to show any of it (which he's actually very good at. but she's continually shocked him so much that this time it's not possible for even laurence's manners to hide all that he actually thinks)

a musical concert for dragons 😭🥺

temeraire has gone from being second most special type of dragon to most special dragon. he SO is the super special main character. reason the series is named after him i suppose

i love temeraire and laurence's relationship so much they love each other so much 🥺🥺

the conversation with lily and maximus and temeraire making a little pact like, if anyone tries to come for our captains we will help each other get them out of there 🥺 also basically coming to the conclusion "i will not let my captain commit treason but like also if they do commit treason i'm totally 100% down and no one will touch them"

also it's so hard for me to picture the scale of a dragon where they can have an entire crew of humans comfortably moving around on them. that's so big

you finished!!! 🎉🎉

levitas deserved SO much better

1a. also i'd never really considered the image you can get of a character when listening to audiobooks. that's fascinating

2. Jane Roland is SO COOL and i LOVE HER

3. laurence wants the dragons to be having a good time always and i love him for that

4. he will become even more special just wait omg. he's the specialest little boy ever.

5. you're so right their relationship is absolutely everything to me <33

6. OUGH i also loved that moment so much. and it will be so painful.

7. you're so right almost all of these dragons are huge. levitas and volly et al (i forgot the name of their species 😅 is it grey reaper?) are only big enough for their captain but most of the other dragons have a flight crew of. 25+ it's actually crazy.

[spacewreck51]

Intro (yes it's been well over a year)

For those of you that don't know me, my name is Rowan (he/they genderqueer/trans + minor)

This is my main blog.

I speak english and some Brazilian Portuguese but I rarely speak that on here.

Tumblr is basically my diary and my mutuals know more about me than my own mother does

I listen to a ton of different music so here are my favorite bands:

The Crane Wives, Garbage, Destructo Disk, Destroy Boys, Nine Inch Nails, Ayesha Erotica, Chappell Roan obviously, Cage the elephant, Sonic Youth, Tagalong, Hozier, a variety of Filipino Tagalog Pop bands like the Itchyworms (no, I will not elaborate) These are just artists I listen to atm but I've gone through many phases and now I know every lyric to every Penelope Scott song (thanks 12 year old me)

I go to a lot of concerts so you'll see me posting about those a lot

I also love to read anything from ao3 to Grimm's fairy tales, my favorite author is Holly Black because she includes a lot of folklore I was told (and believe in still) growing up. And as much as I love that kind of thing, I also love tragedies and straight up weird books, Bunny by Mona Awad is definitely a favorite of mine. Radio Silence and Solitaire are my favorite Alice Oseman books.

Speaking of weird and tragic..podcasts!! The Magnus Archives is my favorite horror fiction so far but I also love Welcome to Night Vale. I mean, who on Tumblr doesn't? I'm currently listening to th Magnus protocol.

Class of 09 is actually pretty similar to what my school life is like, but I also like it because of the characters and overall vibe

Also I do occasionally post or reblog kink things (which I will eventually make a separate blog for) so if you do not want to see sexuality, consider blocking those tags or DNI :)

I post stuff from my life under the tag #rowandoesthings which is mostly dramatic teenage shit and me being shitfaced or high out of my mind :)

I'll add and delete things as I get new interests and such. I probably missed a lot lol

[mynewshq]

FG spends $600m on fuel importation monthly – Edun

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has revealed that the country currently spends $600m on fuel importation monthly. He stated that the high import bill is due to neighbouring countries, up to Central Africa, benefiting from the country’s fuel imports. The minister stated this during an interview on AIT’s Moneyline programme, which was posted on its Youtube channel on Wednesday. Edun explained that the situation was the reason President Bola Tinubu removed fuel subsidy, as the country does not know the exact amount of fuel consumed internally. According to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics, the country’s petrol import was reduced to an average of one billion litres monthly after President Bola Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy on May 29 last year. He said, “The fuel subsidy was removed May 29, 2023, by Mr President, and at that time, the poorest of 40 per cent was only getting four per cent of the value, and basically, they were not benefitting at all. So it was going to be just a few.��� Another point that I think is important is that nobody knows the consumption in Nigeria of petroleum. We know we spend $600m to import fuel every month but the issue here is that all the neighbouring countries are benefitting. “So we are buying not for just for Nigeria, we are buying for countries to the east, almost as far as Central Africa. We are buying. We are buying for countries to the North and we are buying for countries to the West. And so we have to ask ourselves as Nigerians, how long do we want to do that for and that is the key issue regarding the issue of petroleum pricing.” He added that the nation must take a decisive step to tackle step the problem as it impedes it’s economic growth. Of great importance to the government, Edun said, is the welfare of the people, particularly the vulnerable. One of the key areas of focus is ensuring food availability and affordability. Speaking further in the interview, the finance minister clarified that the N570bn fund release to state governments was implemented last year December. He said, “This actually refers to a reimbursement that they received from December last year onwards and it was a reimbursement I think under the COVID financing protocol but the point is that the states have received more money. They have received more money. Mr President has charged to ensure food production in the states.” Edun also clarified that the recent decision to raise the maximum borrowing percentage in the Ways and Means from five to 10 per cent does not imply that the Federal Government tends to rely on the Central Bank of Nigeria financing. He said the government had rather used market instruments to manage its debts. The minister said, “We have not gone to the central bank to say, please lend the government money to pay its debt, to pay its salaries. That’s Ways and Means. We have not gone. In fact, we have used market instruments to pay down what we owed, and that is a very, very germane aspect of having a strong economy. “It was raised to 10 per cent, but that doesn’t mean it will be used. It’s there as a fail-safe and just gives that extra flexibility so that if a payment needs to be made and there is a mistiming or gap in when revenue would come in and expenses, we can just draw it down briefly. ”He described the approval by the National Assembly as a fail-safe measure. The minister added, “Sometimes it just gives that extra flexibility so that if a payment needs to be made and there’s a mistiming, there’s a gap between the time at which the revenue will come in and the expenses needed, you can just draw down briefly.“ So, the aim is to keep within the letter of the law, I think that’s the main point.”He also said the welfare of Nigerians remained a key priority for the current administration, particularly ensuring food availability and affordability. Edun said, “There is a concerted effort to ensure that we have homegrown food available. In the short term, apart from what is being distributed from reserves, there is a window that has been opened for importation because the commitment of Mr President is to drive down those prices now and make food available now.” He assured all that the measure would not undermine local farmers, as importation would only be permitted after exhausting local supplies. He said, “So, one of the conditions for this importation will be that everything available locally in the markets or with the millers and so forth has been taken up. We will have auditors that will check that.” He said these interventions seek to reduce inflation, stabilise exchange rates, and lower interest rates, thereby creating a conducive environment for investment and job creation. Read the full article

[yourpinkestaunt]

some 2023 games i'd like to play!

made this list on twitter, but better safe than sorry so-

Granblue Fantasy: Relink! since i have been a fan of granblue's chara design for a while, despite only tipping my toe in once upon a time ,:D i even own one of the art books! so definitely will try to get my hands on this when it comes!

Infinity Nikki! yup you read that right. it seems to be a nikki maker's attempt at a genshin-like game, and i'm. weirdly drawn in. we shall see if 1) it comes out in 2023 2) what reviews say before i can make promises but! crossing my fingers!

DokeV! another "may or may not come out in 2023" game but! haven't forgotten how charmed i was when i saw the trailer in -21 so! it basically looks pokemon x "relive your childhood via rose-colored glasses", which i am here for.

Tiny Glade! basically just "go nuts and make a cute enviroment". which is all i need sometimes, so def keeping an eye on it

Blue Protocol! amazon games' attempt at anime mmo. could be anything from a trash fire to good. and as someone who likes to poke at all the free trials for all the mmos; heck yeah we trying this one!

Rift of the NecroDancer! IT'S MORE NECRODANCER, DO I NEED TO SAY MORE!! (except that i'm not sure if it's gonna come out this year-)

Bits and Bops! another rhythm game that looks adore as heck. that's all. that's all it needs to be.

Witchbrook! another game that might not come out this year, but! BUT!! I CAN DREAM OKAY?! it's cute pixel game. where you go to magic school. and i need it in my hands ASAP.

The Plucky Squire! was charmed at first glance! it's a tiny hero's journey through all sorts of things on a child's table, from books to mugs and beyond!

Exhausted Man! a spaghetti-like man, trying to get through his day while tired. it looks cute, and i relate to it too much.

Spirit Swap! i have too many hours on bejeweled 3, so of course cute as heck game with match-3 and good music is gotta be on my list!!!

aaaaand that's it for now! will add more into another post later!

[canonicallysoulmates]

Jensen Solo Gold Panel Vancon 2022

For those that may not know, Jared sadly wasn't able to attend this con because he has covid so Jensen had to do their panels solo.

Jensen mentions that there was an impromptu unofficial wrap party the night before because when spn wrapped it was during the pandemic so they weren't able to have a party for it, so he had a long night. Says, that usually, he would rely on Jared to handle most of the talking but he has to do it today, and also says that Jared sends his love. That he thinks he was Jared's first call on Friday after he found out about his covid diagnosis, and Jared was really bummed about it.

Jensen mentions that per studio protocol they have to get tested 3x a week even if they're not working, they have to do the test and submit the results. That he asked Jared how he was feeling and Jared replied that he couldn't even take the garbage out so Jensen told him to "get some sleep, get some rest, I got you." The I got you makes me soft 🥺

Jumping right into questions: Who would be his ideal headliners at an ACL weekend?

In case someone doesn't know ACL is Austin City Limits which is a music festival in Austin or as Jensen describes it: Austin’s Coachella.

His headliners would be The Rolling Stones, Elton John, and Metallica who he has seen in concert before and he says he was in awe. He asks the fan who they would pick as a headliner and they say Justin Timberlake, and Jensen says in that genre he would go with Bruno Mars. x

Will he direct any episodes of The Winchesters? He would like to, and already would be if he wasn’t filming Big Sky. He’s filming basically till the end of the year so he doesn't have any spare time but if they end up getting more episodes he does plan to direct it's something he wants to do. He also mentions that Richard Speight Jr. was recently directing an episode. x

From the start of spn to now is there something that he has gained that he could add to his resume like any special skills? He guesses he could add tap dancing.

And also says fight choreographer because he got told he could say so by John Koyama who is a stunt coordinator for The Boys. So, for The Boys they get to rehearse fights weeks in advance and just get in there and work out the movements. During rehearsals, Jensen would make suggestions cause he has experience doing fight scenes, and John Koyama, who is a highly decorated stunt coordinator and one of the best Jensen has ever worked with, told him he felt he needed to give Jensen fight choreographer credit on the show.

Jensen says one of the great things about his job is collaborating and creating with insanely talented people like how he and Jared would sit down and find the little moments that weren’t in the script. x

The next fan used to be a scuba diving instructor and has experience diving with sharks and wants to know if Jensen has ever done an extreme sport and if he has, does he have a story about it? And if he doesn't this person is also a middle school teacher so does he have any stories about his kids and school?

He actually has been in the water with sharks, not great whites although there was a time when he thought he would like to do that he thinks that time has passed but he has been in the water with reef sharks and black tips. That it’s a wild feeling to be in somebody else's territory knowing you are completely helpless and if they wanted to do something to you there's nothing that could be done about it. That it is a bizarre out-of-body experience to dive with predators like that; then as far as kids school stories he did have a parent-teacher conference last week and they got glowing reports from the teachers about their kids. That the twins are in kindergarten and the teacher said Zeppelin is the sweetest and that Arrow did amazingly on the aptitude test that what the school is looking for is between a 3 - 5 and she got a 22 so the teacher said if they wanted they could talk about her skipping a grade but they decided not to cause she has her brother.

I wanna take a detour real quick because when Jensen was talking about swimming with the sharks the fan mentions that she carries a knife with her when diving so she can hit the shark on the nose if it gets too close, and Jensen was baffled. And as a lifelong fan of that oceanic predator, I want to take a second to say the fan is right. Ideally, if you need to push a shark away you would do so with a long stick because you don't want to let a shark get too close but if it did, depending on the type of shark and assuming it's not in an aggressive mood you can just push them away by the nose just be careful your hand doesn't accidentally end up in their mouth. They're curious animals, they just wanna know what you are but if they do attack go for the eyes and gills, and remember don't flop around like a fish. Sharks have no interest in eating humans or attacking us but if you act like prey they'll treat you like prey. Also, never swim in shark waters by yourself that's just asking for trouble.

That's my mini shark PSA 🦈

Back to the panel, what's a question he would be happy to never answer again? The what's your favorite episode question because it's hard to answer. x

Was there any special preparation before the scene where Dean meets Death in the pizzeria or was Julian Richings just enough for the tenseness that's in that scene? Julian was enough. Jensen says all the plans he had regarding that scene went out the window the moment he sat down in front of him. That there are moments in spn where you can see Dean disappear and Jensen appear as an audience member and be amazed and that's how he felt when he sat down across from Julian. That his performance and his whole persona is so rich and layered that Jensen didn't really have to do anything, that he's fantastic and one of the best guest stars they ever had. x

Everybody has a platform, and nowadays there's pressure to have an opinion on everything, what are some tools Jensen uses in his life to keep himself living genuinely and intentionally instead of hopping unto opinion bandwagons just because they're popular at the time? 

He reiterates that everybody has a platform, and it's up to the individual to respect it. What the platform can do can be damaging but it can also be uplifting and it's to the individual to choose what they are gonna use their platform for; he is very precious with the fact that he gets to stand on a stage and address everyone, he doesn't take that for granted and he wants to earn it. Says that he doesn't deserve this but he's going to try and earn it every time he gets on stage and in front of a mic or he posts a thing online.

It is a responsibility a lot of people didn't have and now we all have it and we have to decide what to do with it, do we wanna bring light into the world or cast shadows. He chooses to bring light into the world and he will continue to do that; when it comes to living genuinely and not being a mouthpiece to popular ideas he tries to navigate that to the best of his ability in a way that doesn't have negative outcomes. If he has an opinion about something that's wrong and he wants to speak out about it he will because it means something to him but mostly he keeps his opinions to himself and he tries to still live by the saying of if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all. That if you say something you should make every effort to make it positive. x

Does he have a favorite quote that he lives by? He has some that pop into his head but he doesn’t know if there’s one in particular. One he told the cast of The Winchesters is that they don't deserve to be there, they earned the right but they have to continue to earn it every day, that it's a responsibility.

That he tries not to take things for granted. That there's also a quote from a Lincoln commercial that Matthew McConaughey did that hit him so much that he wrote it down and put it in his closet. And the quote is "taking care of yourself takes care of more than just yourself" and to him, that means his kids and his family. Being good to yourself mentally but also physically, exercising, eating healthy, trying to be a positive impact on the world are things that are good for you but also to those who depend on you, and he knows he has a big responsibility with himself, with his kids and his family, but also the fans, his friends, his work, his cast- they depend on him so he tries to be good to himself so he can be good for them. x

There's a scene where he and Jared are going down some stairs in perfect synchronization was that choreographed or was that improv?

Jensen guarantees that it was done subconsciously, that he and Jared are very similar in the way that they perform, and also when you work with somebody that long you don't even think about doing stuff for example he shares that he and Jared would come out of their individual trailers at the exact same time so often that people would start betting on it. That they lockstepped on just about everything they did because they were together so much so those in-sync moments that happened are totally subconscious. ❤️

Jensen also mentions that there is probably not one scene in spn where he and Jared don't have gum in their mouth.

SPN had a lot of extras, does he ever get to go anywhere and not know somebody or how often is he surprised to run into someone he knows and has worked with? In Vancouver, it's a lot more likely for him to walk into a restaurant and have the waiter be somebody who has been on the show but a lot of the time he feels bad cause he might not recognize them, he has worked with hundreds of people and some that he runs into might be someone who he worked with over 10yrs ago. That the great and crazy thing about being on a show for that long in the same city is that a large part of the population has gone through the spn doors, and it gives him a little pride to know that what they did for so long employed so many people and gave them an opportunity to have an experience on a show. He feels that it's like they got to come over to his and Jared's house and have a party.

And now he's getting to go to other people's houses and party in their houses. That he was asked the other day what it's like being on Big Sky and he said that it's like going to somebody else's dinner party. That he and Jared got to host one of their own for a long time and now he gets to be the guest of honor at someone else's although with Big Sky he feels like he showed up and got asked to cook the steaks x

Last question, Radio Company what can he say about it?

They are having a Christmas-themed joint concert with Louden Swain the Monday after Nashcon, tickets are going on sale on Friday, Oct 28th. So far they don't have any plans for touring or other concerts just that event. x

Jensen Solo Gold Panel Vancon

[bookobsessionxxx]

Hair Extensions

I’m all for anyone who uses hair extensions and wigs. Basically anything to enhance beauty, I wouldn’t judge anyone for. Girl power! You do you! What I will judge people for is continuously having people praise you for being all-natural, especially when you say it in a way to make digs at others. Just because you aren’t blessed with luscious hair like a certain real duchess😏, doesn’t mean you have to compete or even lie about yours. I think we can all guess who I’m referring to...

What a coincidence it must be that right after many people point out on tumblr and twitter how her extensions/wigs keep changing, her stylist suddenly feels compelled to share details about Rachel’s lovely locks. I’ll just copy paste some of the comments on her hair from the stylist: “People think that Meghan has had hair extensions, but I never put any extensions in her hair in the two years that I worked with her. It's all her own hair, and it's great to see it looking so long and healthy.”

Yeah sure, Jan! Credits to @meghantheduchyofpitstains for pointing this out. We all have eyes. Her pap shots showed considerably thin and shorter hair, but then in the zoom calls, her hair suddenly grew by 5 inches in just a few days???

So are we stupid enough to believe that by using a hair straightener, her hair got extended to that much?

'She's making a statement with hair that long - it represents strength and a sense that she's really got everything sorted. This straighter, longer hairstyle marks a new chapter in her life without such strict protocols.'

Again more digs at the royal life and how she defied it to be more relatable (unlike the rest of the royals). Was I the only one insulted at the implication that for her to relate to as plebeians she purposely looked like a mess??? Excuse me, I may not know how to fix my hair, but I do make a concerted effort to brush it before I leave the house.

Just skimming her Finding Freedom diary, you’ll notice how many praises she gets about her natural beauty and how she softens her look by going against the rigidity of royal protocols. As per her stylist, “when we were preparing looks for life in the Royal family, as you'd expect, everything is structured, you can't push the boundaries. And so, during our time together, we decided to create a more undone look to balance out the formal dress code, often including soft tendrils that ultimately became her signature messy bun.  Whereas now, she can take a more relaxed approach to how she dresses, therefore this sleeker blow-dried hairstyle works beautifully - it's casual but still polished and appropriate for her new life.” It’s not even subtle!

So what’s the explanation for this look? I can have bad eyesight and still see how much thicker her hair is. This was her pre-Harry

So maybe, let’s try that again one more time, but with a little bit more honesty please. Oh and less digs on the Queen of Hair. Or perhaps try to get treatment for your insane jealousy.

[spookyshake]

*proceeds to do exactly everything but work on my pets* H-have some faeries and lore dump I had rotting in the cabinet

[Light Faerie - Justine] A stern light faerie who manages Faerieland's treasury. Rules and regulations are her creed, and she will not allow any misdeed under her watch.

Despite her uptight demeanor, she has a peculiar fondness for games of chance. She seems to have an unwavering confidence in the certainty of numbers- and the dice, once cast, are fair and absolute arbitrators in her eyes. Of course, it could just be that she's addicted to gambling. When there's no clear protocol for a situation, she opts to flip coins and leave it to luck and happenstance.

-Fwaku's life was saved by Justine, who had happened to be passing by the area. She decided to flip a coin to determine his fate- and as luck would have it, he would survive. -The townspeople that had found Fwaku suggested that Justine should give the draik a name. The exchange probably went something like this: Townspeople: Thank you great faerie!! Would you give the honor of naming this child you just saved????? Justine: (uh shit) Give me a moment. *furious dice rolling* Justine: I grant this child the name...F..W...Q...Fwaku. Townspeople: WOW!! WHAT AN HONOR!!

(What kind of name is Fwaku......)

-While Fwaku is generally irreverent and unlikable to most parties he comes across, he displays a great deal of respect towards Faeries because of his background. Justine, in her act of saving and naming Fwaku, also unwittingly left him with a strange blessing: he has extremely good luck to the point of absurdity, which has saved his skin from karmic retribution countless times in the past.

---

[Fire Faerie - Heliae] A go-getter fire faerie with a particularly strong affinity to her element. Still young for a faerie, she has trouble controlling her excessive energy and often bursts into flames when she's excited.

Fun-loving but a bit careless, she loves to attend concerts, festivals, and other events where crowds gather...a serious fire hazard waiting to happen. She doesn't seem to fully grasp the danger she poses to those around her, and was originally sequestered away in Faerieland before she decided to run away- as you do, when you're a young faerie whose had your freedom denied.

Very explosive. very explosive. very explosive.................................

---

[Earth Faerie - Lottie] A lax but cryptic earth faerie who appreciates tranquility. She wandered into Kiko Lake some long time ago, and has since stuck around trying to achieve what she calls 'perfect bliss.' Generally found quietly meditating and contemplating her surroundings- usually with sweets and a cup of borovan as accompaniment. Her perception of time seems to be a little out of sync with the world around her.

Though usually impassive and calm, she hates above else having her peace and quiet disturbed. She will, with a quiet but tremendous fury, catapult raucous intruders out the window. Her longest recorded throw was over a mile! So impressive is her throwing skill, that kiko children often dare one another to see who can get flung the farthest.

-Because the architecture around Kiko Lake are built with kikos in mind, it's not uncommon to see the faerie bump her head on the door frames and ceilings. Fortunately, there's also never a shortage of bandages in the vicinity.

[Dover] Brown Kiko. Ever since Lottie began living on their family land generations back, their crops have prospered- especially asparagus. Now, the family is in the Borovan business, exporting premium blends of chocolate and asparagus for which Kiko Lake is now famed.

Dover isn't the kiko's real name- that was the name of his great great grandfather, but Lottie doesn't seem to make a distinction. All of her little helper kikos are 'Dover' to her. His job is to run around fulfilling Lottie's errands, whether that be procuring snacks or chasing pesky kids out of her yard.

---

[Dark Faerie - Alluce] A vain dark faerie living near Neovia, known to kidnap Neopets to force into servitude. She periodically terrorizes the citizens of Neovia to spread her influence. She wants, above all, to be feared and revered! ...but her actual ambitions tend to be quite small and petty. Knowledgeable about mirrors and magic involving them.

Though she revels in garnering fear, she's rather full of fears and cares herself- the thought of the true horrors lurking within the depths of the Haunted Woods makes her quiver. All smoke and mirrors, no bite.

-Doesn't get along well with Clariote. Alluce can't maintain her high-and-mighty mistress of evil theatrics against Clari's general irreverence. ABSOLUTELY D I S R E S P E C T F U L

---

[Air Faerie - Nephele] A fickle air faerie scout with a light-hearted but arrogant demeanor. One of the faeries tasked by Justine to recover Faerieland's lost artifacts, which were scattered across the lands in the aftermath of the Faerie's Ruin. Holds a strong belief that Neopets are lesser beings, considering them to be incompetent without Faeries.

Rand (Faerie Tonu) and  Bell's (Faerie Tuskaninny) supervisor. She usually leaves the Neopets to do all the dirty work and takes credit for their efforts, usually under the justification that Neopets 'owe' the Faeries anyways.

---

[Social Media Faerie - Papilla] A young faerie, rare in her time (Einse’s Future). Big-time celebrity and social media influencer, she loves travelling Neopia and blogging about her adventures (and promoting sponsored products.) Has a great love towards Neopets and lives life at her fullest interacting with them, but holds feelings of isolation due to being perhaps the last known faerie in Neopia. She’s invested in discovering why Faeries have all but disappeared in her time, and spends some of her time flitting across Neopia looking into the matter. She has a terrible sense of humor, and she sometimes has strange fits where she floods her social media with incomprehensible jokes and memes- terrorizing her followers’ feeds. She does all this in earnest, thinking her jokes are hilarious, but her fans generally think she’s just trolling and get a kick out of it. This creates a strange cycle of positive reinforcement as Papilla continues to get many reactions from her bad jokes, reinforcing her confidence in her humor. SOMEONE STOP THIS FAERIE

------------------------------------

[The dynamic between Faeries and Neopets] Neopets aid Faeries, Faeries grant blessings. The dynamic between Neopets and Faeries is mutually beneficial, for the most part.

-Power of belief is essential to grant power to a Faerie's magic. Neopets, by helping Faeries on the premise that they will receive a reward or be granted a blessing, creates a transaction of belief. This is the premise of Faerie quests, which plays a vital role in powering the barrier that protects Neopia from wraiths (among other things.)

-Faeries are perhaps better defined as 'memetic' as opposed to 'elemental'- their magic is framed on a concept or idea, which relies on the belief/understanding/recognition of the themes surrounding the idea in question. The more wide-spread and strongly understood the idea, the greater the manifestation of a faerie's magic. (Motes, though simpler entities, also work on the same logic)

The basic elements, for example, are widely and easily understood as a concept- which may be why the majority of the faerie population falls in this category. (Something like a singular 'Fire' Faerie, for example, would probably be TOO POWERFUL AN IDEA to contain as a single being, so instead there's just a lot of them.)

-Names are very important, because they give shape to a concept or idea. -When they're cut-off from belief, they lose strength (Bottled Faeries) -They can shrink! Probably to conserve magic. -A Faerie without wings is essentially unheard of (with the special exception of Water Faeries). Taking away their wings is one of the most heinous things you can do to a Faerie. -Faeries are born spontaneously? Most of them just appear one day out of the ether or whatever. -They're ageless and nigh immortal

they're......the OG gijinkas <-- hold on this is actually somewhat relevant but that's a story for another time

[Shenkuu - A curious case study of Kaia, the Shenkuu Faerie] Kaia the Shenkuu Faerie appeared spontaneously in a relatively recent timeframe- probably within an average Neopian lifetime. She's a young faerie, younger than most of her kind. She's in the same category as Jhuidah and Taelia- faeries with a strong conceptual connection to the land they watch over.

There are no other (known) faeries in Shenkuu, which implies that the faerie population in Shenkuu is very low or...non-existent? At the very least, it can be said that Faeries are novel in Shenkuu, given that Kaia mentions how everyone stares at her. If we go a step further, we could postulate that Faeries, as a concept, isn't a part of common knowledge in Shenkuu as a whole.

Almost as if the concept of 'Faeries' have never existed here...?

-Shenkuu was a land that had barred itself from the outside world for an undetermined amount of time. The land only recently opened their doors to the rest of Neopia (Cyodrake's Gaze) (*in my lore I'm pinning that down to like 10~15 yrs ago for character reasons but passage of time in Neopia is not very well defined so.... shrugs) -It can be assumed that there was still some exchange occurring with the outside at a smaller scale (Airship merchants, travellers who ended up in or out of Shenkuu by happenstance, Neopians living in areas close to but not quite in Shenkuu proper, etc) -Assumably, Shenkuu has a history perhaps dating back to the heyday of Altador and other 'ancient' civilizations (1000+ years) -This creates a situation where: a. There never were faeries to begin with in Shenkuu or b. There used to be faeries, but they disappeared from Shenkuu AND from common knowledge

-Kaia's manifestation may have been the direct result of the opening of Shenkuu to Neopia- with the arrival of outside trade and ideas, so too did the knowledge of Faeries. Once the faerie 'meme' took hold in Shenkuu, where there was a void of Faeries, it took form as the Shenkuu Faerie: Kaia. This is why she's so young as a faerie- she probably spawned sometime between Cyodrake's Gaze and the present day. (Alternatively, she might have existed in Shenkuu before the events of Cyodrake's Gaze but I think it still holds that she popped up in a pretty recent timeframe.) Kaia herself only seems to know Faeries through the knowledge she received from travelers.  

[peppersjam]

My Top 10 Albums of 2020

Ok, it's nearly February. Let's do this.

Revisiting the 2019 list, I'm struck by how my taste hasn't really changed. All of those albums are still in my regular rotation. This might be the first time that's been true year over year. The only one that has sorta fallen off is My Finest Work Yet but that's just because it's up against Andrew Bird's entire oeuvre.

Runners up: - Fleet Foxes - "Shore" (I got into Fleet Foxes pretty heavily in the Fall when this came out, but I found myself gravitating to their older albums. It's hard to disentangle that) - Caribou - "Suddenly" (It's good) - The Avalanches - "We Will Always Love You" (Also good) - Four Tet - "Sixteen Oceans" (Yes, good)

The pre-2020 albums that should've ranked:

Sharon Van Etten - "Tramp" (2012)

Sharon Van Etten - "Are We There" (2014)

Sharon Van Etten - "Remind Me Tomorrow" (2019)

🙃

10. Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters

I didn't listen to Fetch The Bolt Cutters many times, but it was one of my most memorable listens of the year: I took a day off of work for the first time since COVID protocols began, and I went on a long walk around Pittsburgh with FTBC in my ears. It's hard for anything to live up to a Pitchfork 10/10, but for one afternoon, at least, I agreed.

9. Sylvan Esso – WITH

A live album? But Sylvan Esso dropped a new new album this year. And wait, I've never even had any Sylvan Esson on my year-end lists before!

I miss live music so much. I didn't know that I would, though. Lately I've found myself (like many 30-somethings, probably) having a little bit less fun at concerts than I used to. They're too loud and you have to stand still for too long if you want to have a good view of the stage, and people don't dance as much as you wish they did, etc. etc. The last show I went to was Big Thief at The Fillmore in late November 2019. I stood up front like I used to (sore legs and all), but thank god I did.

WITH is not just a live album but a concert film. They formed a band of their musical friends and performed as a large group rather than as a duo, and the result is, surprisingly, my favorite Sylvan Esso album.

Ugh, and the crowd singing on "Coffee," "my baby does the hanky panky... my baby doessss..."

8. Perfume Genius – Set My Heart On Fire Immediately

This is yet another spectacular entry into the Pefume Genius catalog. Shrug emoji.

7. Taylor Swift – folklore / evermore

CHEATER ALERT! Two albums for the price of one! If I had to pick one of these to keep on a desert island, I'd probably pick evermore. It might be recency bias, but Taylor sounds like she's having more fun on that one. Regardless, Taylor delivered on (a) making TikTok go absolutely bananas trying to decipher hidden messages and (b) giving us the ultramainstream National(Dessner)-produced pop we didn't know we needed.

6. Charli XCX – how i'm feeling now

This album was a perfect palate cleanser to 2019's underwhelming-to-me Charli. She managed to capture the essence of being in COVID lockdown without losing sight of what makes her Charli XCX (i.e., all caps EARWORMS).

5. Adrianne Lenker – songs / instrumentals

CHEATER ALERT PT. 2! I talked a lot about Big Thief on my list last year because of their double whammy of U.F.O.F. and Two Hands (for which I did not, mind you, cheat). Adrianne's 2020 albums were released on the same day, so they're basically one album (right?). Adrianne spent some time with a binaural mic in a cabin in Western Massachusetts and recorded - complete with diagetic birds and windchimes - the most intimate indie rock/folk album I can recall. That entire sentence is Steve catnip.

4. Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud

I had a big Waxahatchee phase in 2018, so I was looking forward to 2020's Saint Cloud, especially after seeing glowing reviews. But I bounced off of it hard after a couple listens.

Sheep that I am, I decided to give it another shot when it started showing up at the top of end-of-year lists. And of course, I loved it.

3. Andy Schauf – The Neon Skyline

This is the only album on this list that I listened to pre-COVID. So there's something special here, for sure. It hooked me with its storytelling, which is smaller in scale than a lot of "story" music. But the smallness is key because it makes everything plausible. There are a bunch of "sad" albums on this list, but none of them wrecked me quite like this one.

2. HAIM – Women in Music Pt. III

Pt. III improves on the HAIM formula in every way. The choruses are catchier and the experimental bits are weirder. I think HAIM may have blown up this year if it weren't for gestures broadly. Not saying they aren't successful as is - but this is an album full of should-be festival hits.

1. Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher

Phoebe's Punisher arrived at the perfect time. Me and everyone on TikTok (at least the TikTok that I was algorithmed into) needed a sad album to lose ourselves in. A lot of these people didn't know Phoebe before this album. I'm jealous of their getting to discover this and Stranger In The Alps and boygenius (and BOCC, I guess) at the same time.

When I saw boygenius in 2018 (HOW was it that long ago?) I came away stunned by Lucy's performance and Julien's raw emotion (mirroring my thoughts from her captivating Outside Lands set in 2016(?!)). But I didn't know exactly what I thought about Phoebe.

I figured it out though! It was very obvious and I am very dumb for not realizing it until Punisher. Phoebe is a brilliant writer. She captures everything with a specificity that that simultaneously draws you into her brain and ejects you out into space.

So it wasn't just that we collectively wanted (needed) a good cry, it's that we were asking (begging) to be ejected from Earth completely, to return when everything was some facsimile of normal again. Phoebe delivered - not just with her patented ballads but with the hilariously uptempo "Kyoto" that asks us to dance alone in our apartments to I wanted to see the world / through your eyes until it happened / then I changed my mind. Yep, this was the perfect year for the equal parts earnest, funny, and sad 2nd Phoebe album.

[getitinbusan]

Prudential Centre Saturday:

I Fucked Jungkook!

I was going through my Journal and found this gem of a memory! Posting on Tumblr so you can all be jealous.

September 29 2018 

Grace asked me last minute if I wanted to go to the BTS show because Ellie couldn't afford her ticket anymore. I wouldn't say I'm a huge KPOP fan but the guys from BTS are pretty fucking hot so I said sure.

The tickets we had were P2s left stage section 18 row 5, not bad but if I'm going to go out I'm going to go big. I told Grace that I think we could do better, I still owed her a belated birthday present so I told her I'd get us upgrades. When we got to Prudential Center I looked for a dirt bag scalper and traded our tickets and $200 for floors.

Once we got in, because it was general admission the front was already packed. So… because I always need to have the best,  I walked up the aisle to the front and chose the most desperate looking security I could flirt with.

The idiot really thought I was into him, which backfired because he just wanted to power trip and keep us there talking to him. Luckily one of the BTS crew was listening in and he came over to the rail to talk to us. I told him I'd do whatever I needed to do to get the best seats. He opened the gate and let us in to the side section reserved for special guests, explaining that this is where the guys would "pick from." So… cool, just flirting got us great seats and the potential to fuck one of the members.

Not going to lie, the concert was great. Even though I would have gladly taken any of them, I found myself watching Jungkook all night.  Maybe because I was fixated on him, he noticed? I swear he kept looking over, flirting with me.

They were doing their endingments when the same security guard who let us in came over. He pulled me to the side and told me that Jungkook wanted to meet me and if it was going to happen, I'd have to leave now.  So.. at this point I basically had to choose between Grace and fucking Kookie??

Luckily I have a pretty cool friend and she insisted that I take the opportunity. As security is leading me away, I look up and he licks his lips and frickin grins at me and nods. Holy Shit it was so hot.

I thought I'd just get backstage and like wait in the dressing room or something but no… there was a process. Security guy walked me through the back tunnels and explained that a car would take me to the hotel by myself. It would raise too much suspicion to leave together so he would meet me there after the show. 

He gave me a key card and a pass and told me to make myself comfortable and just wait. I had to show hotel security my "special pass" to get up to the private level and it just struck me that this was a pretty formulated plan. How many girls do these guys fuck on a regular basis that there is a solid plan like this in place? I mean, I don't really care, it just felt good to be in the running.

When I got off the elevator the staff member waiting explained that I'd need to sign an NDA before they could let me in. So, sure, why not, who'd believe me anyways?

Signed, sealed and delivered to room 913 I wasn't sure what to do with myself.  Should I be naked? What's the protocol for groupie sex? There really wasn't anything to do but wait so I freshened up in the bathroom and played on my phone. There wasn't anything personal in the room but there was a locked adjoining door, which most likely led to his real room.

There were condoms and lube in the drawer next to the Bible. Can you imagine being the staff member in charge of stocking condoms in the boys rooms? What a great fucking job description for a resume. 

He arrived a few minutes before 10, casually entering and grabbing a water bottle he explained that we were going to get in the shower together. He was sweaty and he had to make sure I was clean before, and I quote, "eat your fucking pussy for dinner." 

He walked into the bathroom and took his clothes off and threw them in a pile on the floor. I really don't know when he went from cute kid to fucking man, but he IS all man. His whole body is FIT and his cock is PERFECTION, only slightly embarrassing that he laughed at me staring at him. He got in the shower and asked me if I was coming, because I'm me, I had to say not yet but I hope to be soon. He liked that.

When I got in behind him he praised my body, told me I had great tits and asked me to wash them so he could suck them later. Telling me to relax, we helped each other lather up, you bet I fucking soaped up my hand and pumped his shaft.

Once the water rinsed him off I couldn't resist flicking his tiny nipple's with my tongue, giving them little bites until he moaned. His fucking abs were hard and beautiful and I had to trace them with my tongue.  He was really hard at this point so I got on my knees and sucked him with everything I had. I think I did good? At one point he had to grab the wall to keep himself steady and he moaned, a lot.

You know how some guys warn you...like, I'm gonna cum, I'm gonna cum? He's not that guy, he shot right down my throat and it was a LOT of cum. I didn't want to be the girl who fucking spits so I took it all. Sorry, swallowing cum is fucking gross no matter who it comes out of.

Anyway, he grabbed my hand to help me up and kissed me, like really kissed me. Hand in hair, passionate, tongue kiss kissed me. I'm not delusional but his lips made it feel like he really liked me. 

He put soap in his hand and started rubbing between my legs. His fingers slid over my clit and opened my folds, basically using the palm of his hand to rub me off. He slid his finger in and circled it around, then pushed in another moving his mouth down my neck he started sucking my tits. My God he knows what he's doing.

He was noisy and greedy and he told me he wanted me to cum on his fingers first, his face second and his dick third. So.. after saying that I fucking came, on the spot.

He wrapped his free arm around me so I wouldn't fall while my body was doing that horribly unattractive orgasm spasm. He pulled his fingers out of me and asked if I'd ever tasted myself before. I said no because...do people just do that?? He sucked one of his fingers off and held the other up for me so yeah, I guess I know now.  

He reached down and turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. No towels, soaking wet, he led me to the bed and told me to lay down. I told him the sheets would get wet and his response was that if the sheets didn't end up wet anyway we were fucking doing it wrong. So fuck it, it's his bed right. 

I laid down and he stood for a second looking at me, his dick was twitching back to life again and he stroked himself a few times before reaching down and pushing my legs open. Face and fingers up close and personal he told me that I, or maybe my vagina? was pretty, since that's what he was looking at when he made his declaration, I'm not sure.

His tongue was soft and relaxed and he literally had a make out session with my other lips. You know when you were young and just started to discover the concept of sex, you spent a lot of time making out and it's just dreamy and you float away in bliss at how soft and nice it feels? That, but better.

He took his time and was really really good at it. When I started to moan he switched gears and went full throttle with clit sucking and pumping his fingers in me again. Mission two: Making me cum on his face, achieved. 

He stood up and asked If I wanted some water. Did I tell you how FIT he is. His hard dick just stood at attention against his abs while he opened the bottle and drank half of it. He capped it and threw it to me, like wtf is this, little league? He could at least hand it to me nicely.

He picked up his phone and started playing some music, really good songs that I'm sure were on a playlist titled songs to fuck too. Standing back at the edge of the bed he pumped himself again then reached into the nightstand drawer.

Pulling out some lube he held his cock out in front of him and dripped a line straight down the length. He clicked it closed with one hand and threw it back on the nighstand and began rubbing himself until he was coated.

He moved on top of me flinging my legs open again and pushed himself in. The stretch was so good, I'd take width over length any day but luckily he had both. God, he was wet from the lube, I was wet from… everything, it felt amazing.

He did that romantic thing where he pushed the hair back out of my face and looked me in the eyes and I wanted to fucking die right there. He told me I felt so good and he was going to go slow so it lasted longer, was that alright?  No, nope, no fucking way Jungkook hurry up and get off me so I can leave. Pretty sure I just moaned out a yes please.

He's the kind of guy that likes to kiss while he fucks which makes everything feel 100 times more pleasurable. He asked me to roll over and when I did he looped his arm under my waist and pulled me up so I was on my hands and knees, ughhh his arm muscles. He quickly pushed himself back in and the moan he let out was better than any song I've ever heard him sing.

He was hot and sweaty and his pace was quicker but not hard or rough. He pulled my hair with one hand and grabbed my boob with the other. He HIT so deep and the steady stroke made me cum so hard. He did the wrap and hold again holding me still and telling me not to move, he wasn't ready to cum yet and could I take more?

The man fucks like an insatiable beast and I would be an idiot to say no, so I didn't. He wiggled his eyebrows at me and grabbed a condom from the box, "Safety first!" What a fucking boyscout. Tearing one open with his teeth he rolled it down over his cock, did I mention they were magnum?

He told me he wanted me to ride him so he could watch my tits bounce. I climbed on top of him and sank down as deep as I could go. He closed his eyes while I sat on his cock and clenched around him. BTW, he's the main vocalist for a reason, the moans and noises he made were beautiful and my pussy was drenched listening to him.

I bounced on his cock for a solid 10 minutes before he pulled me down and started kissing me. I made sure to rub my tits across his nipples while I ground him into me and he was whining about how good it felt when I came, AGAIN. He held me tight against him and bucked his hips up hard into me until he came with such force I could feel it fill the rubber. 

I wish there was more, a happier ending where he fell in love with me and asked me to join the tour but that was it. 

We lay there for a few minutes until he told me had an early day tomorrow and staff would make sure I got home. He asked for my number, I'm sure as a courtesy, before he kissed me goodbye, who knows...maybe… Anyway,  best concert I've ever been to. 

[atlanticcanada]

Some question if Nova Scotia's new COVID-19 restrictions are a double standard

A large number of Nova Scotians are under tighter restrictions again, limiting live sporting and arts events and restricting hours for restaurants in Halifax and parts of some surrounding counties.

Some want the province to explain the rationale behind this latest round of limitations that some see as a double standard. 

Packed parking lots at the big box stores are a typical sight -- even during the pandemic, but it's an image that makes some wonder why other activities are a no-go -- until at least March 26.

"It felt frustrating, it felt disheartened to see," said hockey parent Josh Norwood, who took pictures on the weekend of a lineup at a new video game complex in Dartmouth called the Playdium at Dartmouth Crossing.

Officials say public health protocols are being followed there.

"We had inspectors at Playdium this week that witnessed all public health protocols being adhered to including distancing, masking and cleaning protocols," Nova Scotia's chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang wrote in an e-mailed statement. "Sports are riskier activities because they do not allow for distancing and masking.

At the same time, Norwood says it was hard to see when the latest restrictions mean hockey games for his young sons are off.

"I think a better alternative would have been to go back to like it was, having no fans in the arena," Norwood said. "I feel there's a lot of things in place to mitigate risk."

Parents with children in sports aren't the only ones wondering.

Restaurants are too.

"Our staff have basically been asked to take a 10-hour pay cut over a two week period," said pub owner Brian Doherty.

Restaurants in the area must now close an hour earlier to dine-in customers and owners are frustrated.

"We have very strict protocols in place, and operators continue to point at huge crowds at some retail establishments, they just seem a little bit targeted," said Luc Erjavec, the VP Atlantic for Restaurants Canada.

Live theatre in the affected area is also in limbo.

Just a few days before the restrictions were put in place, Neptune Theatre announced it would start a small series of concerts and plays in March.

That's now postponed.

"The timing of the most recent restrictions is unfortunate. We are eager to open our doors and welcome audiences to the theatre," Neptune Theatre said in a statement. "Nonetheless, we believe that keeping our community safe is important."

Neptune marketing manager Emily Richards said patrons responded to the series of concerts and play readings with overwhelming support.

"It is the ongoing support from our patrons that helps us remain steadfast in our efforts to lift our curtains again," Richards wrote in an e-mail. "We are learning how to be adaptable in these unprecedented times and fortunately we were able postpone this series and will announce the new dates later this week."

The Halifax International Boat Show was also postponed.

Organizers say plans had been in the works for months, with a special pandemic plan put in place.

"The rules are the rules, and we'll follow them like everyone else, and this province and this government has done an incredible job," said Scott Sprague.

Strang, who wasn't available for an interview on Monday, said in a statement that restriction decisions are made by looking at activities that pose the most risk of transmission based on evidence around how the virus is spread.

"Nova Scotia has been able to keep COVID-19 numbers relatively low because our approach has been to act quickly when the epidemiology becomes concerning," Strang wrote. "Last week, our numbers began to climb with the source of many cases not being immediately traceable and close contact numbers very high. I was pleased to see numbers begin to decline through the weekend."

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/3r9MyuK

[sunnyvalenycphysicaltherapy]

Physical Therapy Services

These services usually contain of healing programs customized to each individual's demands for the procedure of physical dysfunctions and avoidance of further corrosion of specific body parts due to illness, aging or injury. Other apps might also include of weight reduction loss, physical strengthening or conditioning, and also operational re training.

 The differing kinds of forest hills physical therapy programs have been supervised by licensed therapists. It's their job to assess and prescribe appropriate therapeutic measures depending on their patient customs. Oftentimes, therapists wind up teaching patients basic motor skills such as getting out and down from bed afterward sitting on a seat using this particular position, walking with crutches on irregular earth, and re training patients just how to walk or write either with chipped, but regaining limbs with prosthetics.

 The therapist should have an exact and thorough patient history to become in a position to precisely evaluate the issue. Including performing certain role evaluations and taking meticulous dimensions to estimate the issue. A few samples of tests might function: controlling evaluations, joint motion, muscular strength, balance, flexibility, neurological and sensory evaluations, palpation, postural screening, movement analysis and also other special evaluations intended for certain issues. After evaluating the outcome of these evaluations, the therapist will come up with the very best treatment solution to assist the individual recover and then attain his aims of beating whatever disorder occurs.

 Section of physical therapy providers comprise teaching patients how to manage apparatus made to aid within their freedom such as wheelchairs, crutches or alternative equipment on the job or in the home to permit patients just as much freedom as you possibly can. Therapists take a look at the individual's surroundings and information them on the very best, safest and easiest approaches to talk about their surroundings to get his or her utmost productivity.

 Some of these procedure protocols found in those apps incorporate electric stimulation, cold and hot packs, curative exercises, ultrasound treatments, trained in operational tasks, grip, whirlpools, ultra violet rays, infra-red, TENS (Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation), irregular compression pumps and much more. There has to be routine weekly therapy sessions to get this app to make the most, in addition to concerted hard work and involvement to the individual's role.

 As the individual grows, therapists are still employ the finest therapeutic theories and treatments so appropriate in the phase of the retrieval process.

 Oftentimes, avoidance is as easy as being a correction in position, body movement, and doing stretching, which many patients usually are oblivious of, and so it's the therapist's responsibility to create these for their own attention during directions or handouts.

 It's indisputable that physical therapy companies play a significant part in the present direction of stay healthy. But significantly more than that, could be your knowledge and skill a therapist has to be in a position to use those services at the most useful method possible for your patient concerned to be able to contribute to their healing and healing.