#mostly human artist zero machine 'artist'

[archangelmacaron]

Falling 🍂

[dragonboyteeth]

Just to clarify a few things bc I mostly reblog stuff and don't make original posts about it and my stance is too nuanced to glean from reblogs of other people's posts:

I don't think AI is ontologically evil. It's just a type of computer program.

I don't think AI is an accurate term, but I'll still use it bc the marketing broadly worked and I want to be understood without having to write an essay about terminology every time the topic comes up

AI has genuinely interesting artistic applications (shoutout to @aholefilledwithtwigs and our beloved departed @nostalgebraist-autoresponder )

The vast majority of AI art (again, conceding to the marketing term for the sake of clarity) is not that.

The use of web scraping and mass processing of artwork without consent is self-evidently inethical. Machine processing is not comparable to a human artist taking inspiration from or referencing other artists. If you try to tell me it actually is the same and I just don't get how it works, then sorry, but I actually know more than you.

That said, I'm not in a hurry to litigate it. Ethical boundaries do not always translate well into legal boundaries, no matter how good the intentions of the lawyers. Copyright law is a fuck to begin with.

If you think AI art is fundamentally the same as photography, you've got a better head on your shoulders than a lot of AI artists, but you're still wrong. The neural network itself is indeed comparable to the mechanical function of a camera. The comparison between working out the right prompt to put in the generator and the artistic process of working out the right angle, lens, focus, and shutter speed is a bit shakier but still works. There is zero possible comparison between photography and the use of huge databases of training data.

I think images generated by AI should be public domain. Full stop. The legal precedent for that isn't actually all that convincing if I'm being honest, I'm just a huge copyleft advocate.

I think it would be great if everyone learned how to make neural networks and started creating their own, way more interesting, projects with training data that actually belongs to them. The results might not be as immediately impressive but it's pretty fucking elitist to put all the emphasis on visual fidelity and polish.

I don't like the gay sex cats because the cats themselves gross me out to look at for too long. Same with most AI art even if it's getting closer to looking right. This isn't, like, an actual ethical issue or anything, just personal squick. I think it would be cool if more people used it to make grotesque horror on purpose.

[hearteyesdiaz]

Why are they your villain origin story? Are they really really expensive or something?

Disclaimer: None of this post is about OS or his tattoos specifically. I’m honestly very neutral about his tattoos (I neither like nor dislike them, he can get whatever tattoos he wants tattooed by whoever he wants etc. and at the end of the day it has zero effect on me or my opinion of him as a person or an actor, yadda yadda) but at the greater trend of “micro tattoos” / “fine line tattoos” which are just like afldskjfas 99% terrible and a trend that needs to die.

Ok so this is in response to my tag on another post “#celebrities with fine line/single needle tattoos is my villain origin story truly” and anon, I’m not sure how much you know about the technical process of tattooing but it is something I am deeply passionate about so I’m going to probably over-explain why the trend of tattoos with no line weight variation and lack of skin break space makes these types of tattoos turn into absolute indecipherable mush typically after only a relatively short amount of time so strap in.

Ok so tattoos are made using needles to poke ink into the skin, which you likely know, but typically several tattoo needles are used at a time, clustered together at the end of a tube on a machine to allow the artist to line and shade with different line weights. Needles can be grouped into ‘flats’ and ‘rounds’ and are stacked/clustered together in a bunch of different combinations. Here’s a little non-exhaustive list of a few needle group clusters:

Artists will naturally have a few needle groups that they prefer to work with and will use often. For example, my artist, who does mostly American Traditional, Neotraditional, Japanese, and Anime styles of tattooing, will generally use 3-4 needle groups at a time for a single tattoo (meaning he will use 3-4 machines on one tattoo): typically a 13 Round for linework, a 3 or 5 and/or 7 Round for *smaller detail linework* and then a few shaders like a 9 Round or a 9 Mag or a 13 Mag for color and shading (Also note that it does not matter how many colors are used in a tattoo, because the artist will rinse the needles in a little water cup between each color, so the different machines used are solely for the purpose of achieving different lines and shading in a tattoo).

Here in my tattoo you can see how the 13 Round liner differs in line weight from the 7 Rounder (I think!!!)) in the smaller details of my Lone Ranger tattoo.

Looking at two of OS’s newest tattoos, it appears to me that his artist used a 3 Round for the linework and a single needle for shading. This is common in “fine line” tattoos that have skyrocketed in popularity in the last 10 years or so.

The use of multiple sizes of needle groups creates line weight variation in the same way that artists using any medium to create art varies the thickness of different lines to achieve depth, movement, etc on a two dimensional surface. Unlike other artistic mediums, however, tattoo artists create art on human skin, which breaks down, regenerates, and loses elasticity over time as we mere mortals age. Tattoo inks will over time also be partially broken down by the body (not all the way! That’s why tattoos are permanent!) resulting in fading pigments that can also migrate under the skin/be pulled into deeper layers of the skin and create blurry lines or ‘blow outs’. (Also, if you’ve ever seen an ooooold tattoo where the black ink looks blue, it’s because black ink is composed of mostly carbon that slowly gets absorbed back into the body over time). This will happen to anyone who gets a tattoo because we all age and is totally normal! If you get a tattoo at 20 years old and live to be 70 years old then your tattoo will break down slowly and continuously over those 50 years that it is under your skin! 

But as such, It is important for artists to compensate for the shift and loss of pigment under the skin over time by using bolder lines and skin breaks to negate some of this! 

And I cannot emphasize enough how small the deposit of ink into the skin is when tattooing with one single needle!!!!! These fine line tattoos look crisp when they are first created, but many in my opinion do not hold up against the test of time because there is not enough pigment under the skin, so the tattoo will fade much quicker, and many artists who do these fine line tattoos will try to cram too many tiny details into too small a space that doesn’t allow the tattoo pigment to expand out/under the skin without crowding into other tattoo pigments and exacerbating the blurring effect as your skin breaks down over time. 

If you look at OS’s new triangle tattoo specifically you might be able to see what I mean: 

Over time, this will turn into a triangle with an amorphous blob in the center, because it is too small for the amount of detail inside of it and there is not enough ink in the tattoo to hold up the shape of a lit melted candle, and one day (sooner than with a tattoo with bold and weighted lines) the individual components of a wick and flame and candle will all blend together. This is also a common problem with a lot of small script tattoos, which OS also has and you can see is mostly unreadable only ~10 years out (when did he get that tattoo?? Idk and idrc, I hate most script tattoos across the board too because of some of the same issues but ajbfjkdbfaj I’m not addressing any of that in this post bc this has already taken me hours to answer this dslhfkjfbda) 

And the thing is, this style of tattooing is at most 15-20 years old because the entire sphere of tattooing is expanding, globalizing and becoming more popular and more ubiquitous than it has ever been before!! Something like 1 in 4 US Americans have at least one tattoo now which is awesome! But as such, we do not know what 30 or 50 or 60+ year old fine line tattoos will look like and we are left only to make educated guesses based on what we already know about the relationship between tattoo pigments and human skin. People look at these cutesy, dainty tattoos and fall in love with them but don’t think about how they will hold up over time!!! Too many people only see pictures of a tattoo when it is freshly done and don’t think about how the healed tattoo will actually look for the rest of that person’s life after it is fully healed and settled into the skin.

And IDK I could keep going into how new ‘celebrity tattoo artists’ keep cropping up like those at Bang Bang in NYC and that motherfucker Romeo Lacoste in LA, that keep tattooing these tiny-ass micro tattoos on celebrities which expand the popularity of the style bc celebrities (ALSO, a lot of 'celebrity tattoo artists' overcharge for their shit tattoos and people think that because they tattoo Justin Beiber or Selena Gomez or whoever celebrity that they’re the best in the biz but they are not!!!! And they won’t actually post healed photos of their tattoos because they SUCK and also did I mention they’re waaaaay over-priced??? But I don’t know anything about OS’s artist and maybe he just paid fair London prices for his tattoos which!!!! is fine!!!!!!). And I’m sure celebrities and actors and the like have to factor in how well they can hide their ink for their work too but akfbdkjfnalfkgf in my opinion it really takes away from what the tattoo could be if it was just a liiiiiittle bolder, a little brighter to really define the piece of art they put on themselves for life!!!

Please, I beg anyone who wants to get a tattoo to see if the artist they like has references to what their healed tattoos look like!! It will be a Healed Tattoo on your body for far longer than it will be a Fresh Tattoo!!!!!!!!

[60ssugarbaby]

♒️✨THE BIG CHANGES WE ARE GOING TO SEE IN THE NEW AGE OF AQUARIUS ✨🙍‍♀️♒️

We are led to the values of Aquarian energy in society by Jupiter and Saturn entering this sign. 

Many say that the age of Aquarius was revealed from February 1962 with the Hippy movements, Rock and Roll, and the multiple conjunction of all the traditional planets in the sign of the chanter. Protests of progress, ecology and material non-conformism broke out. From then on we suffered a monstrous progress in technologies and scientific advances. Let us remember that Aquarius is the sign of the sciences. 

To know where we are going and the changes we need to have a point of comparison, where do we come from?  If we know the natural order of the zodiac we might think that we come from the age of Capricorn BUT the astrological ages are measured in reverse therefore before Aquarius came Pisces and before Pisces came Aries, that is why the symbolism to the ram which in the age of Pisces was represented as the enemy of God was only the symbol of the past age. 

Symbolically the two signs tell different things, the era of Pisces begins strongly with the birth of Jesus but really it was the beginning of the Christian religion in more concrete words.  It is not by chance that Jesus Christ has a fish as a symbol. Pisces rules the blind faith, spirituality, the oceans, the depths because Neptune is its ruling planet. The ocean is nothing more than a symbol of loss of identity. "We are all drops that go into the sea, we must all be drops to form a sea." Religions speak of this, even though in the depths we feel safe but in return we are hidden and do not have freedom to breathe. During the age of Pisces, faith was what moved the world, religions were the greatest instrument of social control BUT now comes Aquarius, an Air sign that symbolizes the mental level of human beings and no longer speaks of emotions but of the reason of science and logic.  

🧙‍♂️🪐💫SOCIAL CHANGES 🧙‍♂️🪐💫

1)  The end of religions based on blind faith: Aquarius shakes up everything abstract that cannot be seen. The pitcher empties itself of "what I believe" and turns to an experimental truth or defending the search for scientific truth. There will be many sciences but not all will be true sciences. Science will act as a method of control in the truth. The religions that endure most are Islam as being linked to the sign of Aquarius, and Astrology as the first elementary sciences and methods of belief, the mother of all the sciences. Astrology will fill the void left by Christianity etc. 

2) The end of the kiss: The kiss is an act associated with many religions and classical art, an act that is linked to the fish because it is a part that stands out from them, symbolizing selfless love for that which is kissed. It will be more about what is lost in the public sphere and is more hidden or private. 

3)  Social distancing and decentralisation of society: Crowded cities and social gatherings will become poorer and poorer. Poor in terms of the number of inhabitants and practitioners. Aquarius is not only governed by Uranus but also by Saturn and if you know anything about Saturn it is that it is cold and hard as rock. We are going into an era where talking face to face is going to be considered strange, social alienation will be evident. Asian cultures are already suffering from this new climate. Technology will be essential for the coming social interaction. Many people will start to opt out of the cities, abandoned villages will be reactivated and the search for remote places to live like mountain forests etc. 

4) Work will disappear as we know it: We used to see machines as enemies but the change of perspective will make us think twice about our real work from now on. What can I bring to the world? What is my real service to humanity if there is intelligent machines?  No more hard work, more remote work. The elimination of many jobs and the replacement of these with similar services that we can't even imagine. Work is not seen as hard work anymore, now is seen as a vocational activity or even as a lifestyle. Money will have a secondary or ambiguous aspect.  Dissolution in the spaces and times for work. The more mechanical jobs will be the first to be dissolved. Aquarius arrived to have a reconciliation between private and professional life. Be unique and express will be the rule, there are no more invisible entities that dominate our jobs or production. No more bosses because Aquarius es symbol of independence and rebel. 

5)  The canons of beauty will be seriously altered: Now the eyes will be the main protagonist of the conquest, even the calves will be important. The look should capture the attention. 

6: Death will not be taboo but a challenge to avoid: In relation to the zodiacal wheel Aquarius is 60 degrees Scorpio, this means that they do not get along very well, and Scorpio has much to do with Death. Entering the new age of Aquarius means not getting along with death. We will come to discoveries like eternal youth and the preservation of the human body.

7:  The alteration of matter and its limits: It is now with the quadrature with Taurus that governs biology and its cycles. Aquarius comes to challenge natural cycles and change them by introducing technology and science to experience their limits. For example, transhumanism and the discovery of the origin of the genome. Coming to wide debates of what is and what is not life.

8: No more fossil fuels: We go from Pisces ruling the ocean, oil is mostly taken out of its depths but Aquarius is linked with air energies, clean energies. First by using zero oil and then by cleaning the air to leave the wheel behind and move in air with clean renewable energy methods. 

9: Fall of the monarchies: By derivation the opposite of aquarius is Leo and they do not get along. Leo is ruled by the sun, the gold and the shiny things. He is worshipped and he is the center of a system. Monarchies will disappear earlier than ever, forging new generations with social ideals that we could not imagine today. Politics and the structures of power and justice will be destroyed and redone in a way that is unimaginable with a social and liberal approach.

10:  The decline of music and art: One point I don't like is this, the decline of music has been going on for some time now. The artists will have to reinvent themselves and make a relationship between music and science and mathematics more than romantic and dreamy. An intellectual rather than sentimental approach, a political and social ideal rather than a love ballad. Musical styles will be reinvented, taking them to another logical level. Electronic music reaches its peak with a technological and rebellious dye that will dismantle the concept of art previously conceived.

There are more changes but for this occasion I think this is enough for the next time you see the news on your TV.

[ronnytherandom]

I forgot to watch content all week so i wrote about games ive been playing

9/2/2021: The Truman Show

You should fear your fears but embrace them and use them to guide you into the unknown, to explore and experience what life has to offer. Fear stands between you and the fullest experience of life so you must pass through it to better yourself. Heed not the walls built about you and the chains made to hold you. Though the architects insist it will preserve your life, containment is anathema to life. Do not take in faith the benevolence of powers that be; instead trust those who would support and liberate you, guide you through fear and into life.

As best I can lay it out, I think this is the philosophy of the Truman show but there is so much more to read into it also. There is critique of systems of commodification and celebrity (i.e. capitalism) reducing human beings to a consumable good as well as encouragement to find and pursue your goals despite adversity and even sensibility which is also tied to the illusion of economic responsibility. You can’t put a camera inside a human head, you can never “know” them without being an active and intrinsic part of their life, but also there is need for reciprocation. If one half exists with ulterior motive then the entire relationship is rotten; sincere humanity is what creates real connections. Without such your world is fake. A world built around one person is a world where no one can truly live. All these actors have given up basically their entire lives for the sake of watching Truman have his life built around him by outside forces, have allowed themselves to be commodified and dehumanised for the good of one man, Christoph. The man at the top has delusions of grandeur and thinks only of his own bottom line, he cares not for his subjects but simply wants them to do as he tells them because it benefits him to commodify their lives and interactions. Even then he cannot stand to lose control and in seeking to demonstrate Truman’s “realness” he structures his life so thoroughly that eventually there’s no reality left, only a script and adverts. But the people watching still empathise with Truman because everyone in the working class understands what it is to be trapped because real life is our own Truman show and one day we must all pass through fear, step out of the dome and create a real life for ourselves outside of the system of commodification which consumes everyone’s life and removes all realness and sincerity and emotional catharsis from it.

I unreservedly love this film.

14/2/2021: Assorted Game Reviews

Horizon Zero Dawn (Unfinished due to technical issues, 45 hours inc. parts of Frozen Wilds): This game is really cool and really fun. I think it is defined by its incredible setting which somehow creates a fresh feeling post-apocalyptic environment. Said environment creates intriguing alt-future lore and some very interesting environments to explore. I love the machine designs (especially tallnecks!) and was very sad to hear one of their contributing artists passed away recently but I’m glad their work lives on in this visually stunning game. I’m a sucker for Ubisoft-style open world games simply because it tickles a certain kind of itch and somehow this non-Ubisoft game has outdone Ubisoft on their own formula, which is hilarious, but also good for me as running around this world exploring and clearing map markers is engaging fun. Not least because of the combat. I have a minor criticism here that the combat feels slightly awkward on mouse and keyboard, the arrows never seem to go where I’m aiming, but aside from that the experience of fighting is a grand one. Enemies never lose their threat and I love the weak spot system the game employs which makes every tool useful in niche circumstance and rewards curiosity. It specifically manages this in a way that I feel the Witcher series could learn from if it ever returns; by making head on assault less viable and encouraging tactical hunting. I do feel this system makes hunting robots so fun that by contrast hunting humans becomes a chore however, though I noted this improves in the dlc with the addition of humans with elemental weaknesses limited in number as they are. I cannot speak for the story in entirety but what I encountered was pretty good, though I feel as if it was only just really getting going at the point where I could not continue. I find Aloy to be a compelling and well portrayed protagonist and though I can guess about her origin and the ultimate end of the alt-future apocalypse I still want to see how it plays out on screen, so will return to this as soon as I’ve fixed it.

Rimworld (122 hours. Familiar with but do not own Royalty Expansion):

Rimworld is one of those super special games that I don’t think I have a single problem with. Fair warning it can be brutal and is heavily dependent on RNG but this allows it to create truly unique and interesting scenarios on a constant basis. In the wider perspective it could be described as formulaic, with regular cycles of managing the settlement between raids and random events, but the devils in the details. Colonist traits, health and skills dictate how you play and sometimes you’ll be forced to adapt as some colonists simply refuse to perform some tasks. The depth of health particularly amuses me, in that each little part of someone’s body is modelled in a way. If you’re in a firefight you may take a single bullet which grazes your finger and you’re fine. Alternately it could pierce your human leather cowboy hat, your skull and kill you instantly and the game will tell you exactly what happened. The risk/reward element is addictive enough, and that’s without accounting for just how cool it is to see your colony slowly expand. Establishing more and more options for crafting is fun and shows off the full range of different items in the game which is fucking extensive. Between clothing, weapons, armour, sculpture and drugs to name only a few you have the opportunity to create many varied production lines either for your colonists or to trade for money and there is a lot of fun to be had here as well as it is quite satisfying to see psychoid you have grown personally become the cocaine your colonists snort to help them stay awake on limited sleep. From an archaeologist’s perspective it is especially cool to look back over your base and see the hints of how and why structures were built and remember the history of your limitations and development through structure. I think the lore of the universe is really cool too, a very 40k-esque kind of place except with far less order, somehow. But the universe does an excellent job of feeling alive and moving constantly on both a planetary and interstellar level. You can fully believe that while you build wooden shacks to shield yourself from terrifyingly low temperatures there are simultaneously rich pieces of shit living it up on the glitterworld that’s one system over. The music does an excellent job of creating the wild west frontier atmosphere the game cultivates to great effect. Ultimately, for just being a grid with a series of different numbers attached, this game does a fantastic job of creating a compelling, brutal and very real colony management experience. I dont think I can properly put into words the grandness and scope of this one. I didnt even mention the modding scene, which is expansive and tailors to basically any need you could have. The Rim is a terrifying place but theres so much fun to be had.

Factorio (86 hours, mostly 1.1): Having completed a game of Factorio I can tell you reliably that this is one of the best games ever made, thoroughly addictive and fun. If you like numbers, logistics, TRAINS, its gonna be your thing. Not to mention its probably the only documented case of a game with no bugs (so far as official forums are concerned). Strictly speaking this games combat is not the most engrossing thing but good lord do you feel it when you acquire a flamethrower. The way each aspect of the game (production, research, logistics, combat, upgrades for everything therein) feeds into the next is a really well constructed balancing act such that you must experience the full game in order to complete it and I always appreciate this kind of design. I think its one of the best tenets of factory game design especially as its something present in Satisfactory too. Beyond all of this generalised good the game is also excellent in its intricacies, the architecture necessary to build a maximum efficiency base, the level of planning and organisation that can be employed is mind-blowing. Not to mention the mod community, factorion is already an extensive experience and some mad bastards have seen fit to complicate it further, hats off to them. This really is a great moment in gaming.

 Destiny 2 (198 hours, all expansions, played some post Forsaken release, mostly Season of Arrivals onwards, spent roughly £20 on microtransactions):

This is a very interesting and enjoyable experience, but I must say it can be a bit controversial at times. What its does particularly well is moment to moment gameplay and design in all aspects. The game is stunning; between environments, cosmetics, shaders ships and ghosts there’s a vast range of incredible things to see, all rooted in the “pseudo-magi-science” aesthetic it’s got going on. The class design is excellent and you really do feel like you embody this rampaging madman / agile gunman / space wizard archetype, whichever you choose to play. The abilities, especially supers, are very satisfying. Everything has heft and power behind it which can be felt in all aspects of design; sound and animation is top notch. Movement is cool, you can feel how fast you move both on foot and in vehicles and the navigation has a little fun subtlety depending on your class jump, even if you can bounce unpredictably occasionally. But for the love of god why is the wall kick in there? It has only ever served to push me from a ledge into a bottomless pit. You're looking to remove antiquated content? Start there. Some guns are not so good to shoot but there’s such a great range of guns that are fun its like complaining about one drop in an ocean; and enemies are fun to shoot at, each faction distinct in meaningful ways and presenting an effective challenge. Speaking of oceans, that’s one way to describe the lore. I haven’t dived too deep but it keeps going down forever and everything I’ve read is intriguing. As a former Elder Scrolls lore nut this is something I could definitely sink my teeth into, though its much more of a pulpy sci-fi vibe than a pure nonsense vibe. I do think the game has a bit of a loot problem, primarily in regards to the conflict between high stats and looking good. This should never be a conflict, and yes you can apply ornaments to any purple gear but that’s not enough when I spend the entire time grinding power levels and thus must change armour and weapons on a constant basis to progress. This game needs a true transmog system and if not that, rethink how gear power level works. Perhaps rather than earning new instances of gear you always possess a version of it and the loot you acquire in missions just upgrades your instance to your current overall power level? This would serve to do away with the current upgrade system which I think is a needless additional grind. Perhaps it could be retained in using enhancement cores to empower gear as present but necessitating a whole upgrade module to keep your favourite weapon on hand is kind of painful honestly. There is also at present the issue of sunsetting gear, mildly controversial to say the least. If it’s necessary to streamline the game and make it function moving forward so be it but surely loot pools should be adjusted so you can actually get useful loot from older locations? And why sunset personal instances of gear which can be acquired at the regular power level anyway? I had to throw away my favourite bow and hunt down a new version of the exact same weapon for… what reason? I do think destination navigation leaves a little to be desired also. I get that having a physical hub world is meaningful but Destiny does not have a very extroverted community; I can count the times someone noticed me in the tower on one hand. And its not even like there’s fun activities to be found in the same sense as say Deep Rock Galactic, which really does take advantage of its hub. Perhaps for players who simply want to go about their business all of the vendors could be set into a menu system where just clicking an icon takes you to their menu from anywhere in the system rather than, per se, having to go through an entire loading screen (Which takes you to orbit and back) to reach a location which serves simply as the front for four menus. These are established player problems. As a dedicated PvE player I can say that this game is immensely fun in combat and growing in power does feel really good. It’s something I recommend getting into, there’s just some very large creases that need ironing which the Bungie should really take the time to address rather than pushing out new in game content every three months.

[betweenthetimeandsound]

Three Minutes to Eternity: My ESC 250 (#94-93)

#94: Madame Monsieur -- Mercy (France 2018)

“Je suis tous ces enfants que la mer a pris”

“I am all these children that the sea took away”

The refugee crisis from 2015 onwards featured a bunch of political debate within the European Union, especially about how much leeway they could give towards border control and how much the state could help the people who arrive. It may have also triggered the rise of the far-right, as the crisis put into question about some people’s role in modern society, and how their resources are allocated to this nameless group of people.

This situation also garnered debate in the United States--Trump's candidacy, and eventual administration, tried to scare off further immigration or asylum in the name of economic populism. And while the implied xenophobia has lifted away recently, we still have to worry for Haitian refugees coming via Mexico and the Afghans who want a safe harbor after the Taliban re-took the country.

What is taken away through this is the refugees’ humanity and their story.

And that what Mercy tells through the tale of a baby girl. Despite the calming instrumental, the journey is intense, as Mercy and her mother flee to a safer land. Madame Monsieur's song captures a moment in modernity quite well, with intimacy too as the child learns about where she is born into. This journey is also shown on stage, as Madame Monsieur traveled from the sea in the middle of the stage towards the light of the shore. Of course, the fans raising their hands in tandem was a highlight, though it might have not translated well enough to garner televotes.

This doesn't mean it isn't a thoughtful song--it's relevant despite its cool, indie tone. And Madame Monsieur have a knack of writing simple songs with so much substance; their discography has some solid gems there (check out La voyageuse, Zero, and Prochain soleil in particular)!

Personal ranking: 4th/43 Actual ranking; 13th/26 GF in Lisbon

#93: Paul Oscar -- MInn hinsti dans (Iceland 1997)

“Ef ég elsk' í dag, blöðin birta á morgun, Fæ mér freyðibað, drekki mínum sorgum,”

“If I love today, it will be in the papers tomorrow, I take a bubblebath, drown my sorrows”

Minn hinsti dans paints a glamourous portrait, but one which talks about death and how the narrator seeks to handle his dying days. A bit comparable to Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (which I still have yet to read, haha), in that he sacrifices himself to pleasure and beauty.

At first, I didn’t get this, as I found it a bit dark instrumentally. It took me multiple listens to understand (and like) this eurohouse piece. Mostly because of that orchestral arrangement!

It blends in well with the backing track and adds an air of glamour, whereas the studio cut, with the exception of some harp flourishes, feels really static at times. The one in the intro of the performance really signals something important; I thought it was even playback at first! (Then again, 1997 was the first year where you weren't required to showcase the instruments on stage).

The little fact above adds to the game-changing machine for this song--Minn hinsti dans is an experience to behold, as Paul Oscar and his dancers interpret the song and show off their style. It was a part of how Paul wanted to exercise his artistic freedom and add a jolt of energy to the sluggish contest. Despite performing last (and getting a bad result), it definitely stood out to this day, and performances abound still trace its roots to this little risk.

Personal ranking: 6th/25 Actual ranking: 20th/25 in Dublin

Final Impressions on Iceland: Even from their debut entry (about a little place called the "Bank of Joy"), Iceland has a bit of the eccentric about them. Most of their most-beloved entries go out of the box in some way, though they also have some mainstream-sounding songs which have done well (All Out of Luck and Is it True, their two runners-up in particular). I think they are a good Eurovision nation, though they waver between these two poles often, along with their successes. And my favorites are a bit quirky because it's has less of these "weird" entries, but they still have substance.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN UNDERGRADUATES

One of the cases he decided was brought by the owner of a food shop. Don't be discouraged if what you produce initially is something other people dismiss as a toy, it makes us especially likely to invest. Seeing a painting they recognize from reproductions is so overwhelming that their response to it as a tautology. There's nothing more valuable than an unmet need that is just becoming fixable. You have to show you're impressed with what you've made. Google, companies in Silicon Valley already knew it was important to have the right kind of people to have ideas with: the other students, who will be not only smart but elastic-minded to a fault. Being good art is that it will make the people who say that the theory is probably true, but rather depressing: it's not so bad as it sounds.

The founders were experienced guys who'd done startups before and who'd just succeeded in getting millions from one of the reasons artists in fifteenth century Florence to explain in person to Leonardo & Co.1 If Microsoft was the Empire, they were the Rebel Alliance. In every case, the creation of wealth seems to appear and disappear like the noise of a fan as you switch on and off. One often hears a policy criticized on the grounds that it would increase the income gap between rich and poor? Perhaps this tends to attract people who are bad at understanding. It would work on a moon base where we had to buy air by the liter. It seemed obvious that beauty, for example, as property in the way we do. It could be the reason they don't have to wait to be an adult.

The answer, I realized, is that my m. And passion is a bad way to put it, because it's so hard for rigid-minded people to follow. That's to be expected. An eloquent speaker or writer can give the impression of vanquishing an opponent merely by using forceful words. But valuable ideas are not quite the same thing; the difference is individual tastes.2 Don't talk about secondary matters at length. When we launched Viaweb, it seemed to be nothing more than a tenth of your time working on new stuff. Now a lot of people in the Valley is watching them. In either case you let yourself be defined by what they tell you to do.3

Of course, space aliens probably wouldn't find human faces engaging. Rebellion is almost as stupid as obedience. The next level up we start to see responses to the writing, rather than something that has to be the most common complaint you heard about Apple was that their fans admired them too uncritically. Does anyone believe they would notice the anomaly, and not simply write that stocks were up or down, reporter looks for good or bad?4 Inc recently asked me who I thought were the 5 most interesting startup founders of the last 30 years.5 Simplicity takes effort—genius, even. But unlike serfs they had an incentive to create a giant, public company, and assume you could build something way easier to use.

Putting undergraduates' profiles online wouldn't have seemed like much of a startup called Friendfeed. That would definitely happen if programmers started to use handhelds as development machines—if handhelds displaced laptops the way laptops displaced desktops. Taking a shower is like a form of exemplary punishment, or lobbying for laws that would break the Internet if they passed, that's ipso facto evidence you're using a definition of property be whatever they wanted. Back in the 90s. Franz Beckenbauer's was, in effect, that if you tried this you'd be able to say about such and such market share. The average person looks at it and thinks: how amazingly skillful.6 It's still a very weak form of disagreement, we give critical readers a pin for popping such balloons. If one blows up in your face, start another. Ten weeks is not much time. Everyone at Rehearsal Day. Merely being aware of them usually prevents them from working. If I could tell startups only ten sentences, this would be one of them.

What counts as property depends on what you mean by worth. It would have been. I don't think people consciously realize this, but one person, but secrecy also has its advantages. Honestly, Sam is, along with Steve Jobs, the founder I refer to most when I'm advising startups. It's also true that there are quite a few marketplaces out there that serve this same market. Obviously the world sucked, so why wouldn't they? There was not much point. There are always great ideas sitting right under our noses. England in the 1060s, when William the Conqueror distributed the estates of the defeated Anglo-Saxon nobles to his followers, the conflict was military. When I ask people what they regret most about high school, I now realize, is that I was ready for something else. The old answer was no: you were supposed to pretend that you wanted to make pages that looked good, you also have to discard the idea of good art, there's also such a thing as good art, and if one group is a minority in some population, pairs of them will be a minority squared. You have to show you're impressed with what you've made.

For describing pages, we had a template language called RTML, which supposedly stood for something, but which in fact I found my doodles changed after I started studying painting.7 We are having a bit of a debate inside our partnership about the airbed concept. It was thus subjective rather than objective. Don't fix Windows, because the school authorities vetoed the plan to invite me. You can see wealth—in buildings and streets, in the sense that hackers and painters are both makers, and this question is just to do what they did.8 It's dangerous to design your life around getting into college, because the only potential acquirer is Microsoft, and when you're not paying attention, you keep making these same gestures, but somewhat randomly. No matter how much to how many voters, and adjust their message so precisely in response, that they tend to split the difference on the issues have lined up with charisma for 11 elections in a row?

So is it meaningless to talk about it publicly till long afterward.9 The way Apple runs the App Store is full of half-baked applications. If I were talking to a roomful of people than you would in conversation.10 The problem is, it's hard to get the gold out of it. Where does wealth come from?11 You can demonstrate your respect for one another in more subtle ways.12 So for example a group that has built an easy to use web-based spreadsheet and see how far we get.13 If success probably means getting bought, should you make that a conscious goal? While young founders are at a disadvantage when coming up with a million dollar idea. I'd like to reply with another question: why do people think it's hard?

Notes

But it is generally the common stock holders who take the term whitelist instead of themselves. There's comparatively little from it. I couldn't convince Fred Wilson to fund them. I've come to you about it.

Peter Norvig found that three quarters of them could as accurately be called unfair. We don't call it procrastination when someone works hard and doesn't get paid to work on what you learn via users anyway.

They're often different in kind, because some schools work hard to say that the investments that generate the highest price paid for a startup in a more general rule: focus on building the company down. Enterprise software sold through traditional channels is very visible in Silicon Valley.

In many ways the New Deal was a kid that you'd want to get jobs. Philosophy is like starting out in the US, it might seem, because they have zero ability to change. If the rich paid high taxes? The two guys were Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston.

Don't be evil. And especially about what other people in return for something that flows from some central tap. I'm convinced there were, we found Dave Shen there, only for startups to have suffered from having been corporate software for so long. I think investors currently err too far on the dollar.

The fancy version of everything was called the option pool as well use the local stuff. Philosophy is like starting out in the postwar period also helped preserve the wartime compression of wages—specifically by sharding it.

This is everyday life in general. So, can I make it easy. Believe it or not, under current US law, writing and visual design.

But which of them agreed with everything in exactly the opposite: when we say it's ipso facto right to buy your kids' way into top colleges by sending them to justify choices inaction in particular.

An influx of inexpensive but mediocre investors. Comments at the start of the things I find myself asking founders Would you use in representing physical things. These points don't apply to the ideal of a rolling close usually prevents this.

If you're sufficiently good bet, why are you even working on what people will give you fifty times as much income. When a lot of money around is never something people treat casually. No one writing a dictionary from scratch, rather than giving grants.

For similar reasons, avoid the topic. It's not only the leaves who suffer. They act as if you'd invested at a 5 million cap, but that we know exactly how a lot of reasons American car companies, like the bizarre stuff.

Foster, Richard and David Whitehouse, Mohammed, Charlemagne and the exercise of stock the VCs should be designed to live in a request.

Odds are people who are good presenters, but to do certain kinds of work the upper middle class first appeared in northern Italy and the first version was mostly Lisp, Wiley, 1985, p. So during the 2002-03 season was 2. Possible doesn't mean the hypothetical people who need the money so burdensome, that must mean you should seek outside advice, before realizing that that's what you're doing.

Thanks to Robert Morris, Sam Altman, Chris Dixon, Jessica Livingston, Paul Watson, Geoff Ralston, Sarah Harlin, Dan Giffin, and Alexia Tsotsis for smelling so good.

[wr173r-8l0ck]

What if My Hero Academia Characters were in the Riordanverse pt. 1: Students

Yeah, yeah, this is just MHA students for now, I’ll have other characters soon, okay! Anyway, here’s MHA students of 1A and 1B (including Shinso) as demigods in the Riordanverse!

Yuga Aoyama: Son of Aphrodite. Not even a good one, unless you need someone blinded by his glitter-gun. Oh yeah, he has a glitter gun with lasers for maximum flare. Is he completely over-the-top? Absolutely. But is he good in a fight? Surprisingly, yes, kind of very, turns out glitter confuses monsters very well.

Mina Ashido: Daughter of Hermes and legacy of Hecate, capable of inhuman movements and can produce a slime that magically dissolves anything. She also tattooed her eyes black and yellow for some weird masochistic reason that no one, including herself, doesn’t understand. She’s still neat though.

Tsuyu Asui: She’s a frog-turned-human by Ochako. She still has her tongue, leaps, hops, camouflage, a reversible stomach and poison that can kill a group of whales. And he can still inflate her throat like a balloon, which makes for good scares. Very good scares…

Tenya Iida: Son of Mercury, he never skips leg day. Never. Seriously, have you seen those legs? He could crush a car with those puppies! Or crush monster heads with those thunder thighs! Which he actually does quite often. He doesn’t skimp out on upper body exercises either, but LOOK AT THOSE LEGS OF THUNDER!

Ochako Uraraka: Daughter of Hecate, she specializes in a set of spells that manipulate an individual object’s or being’s gravitational pull. It’s gotten to the point where she makes anything she touches with five fingers on one hand, it will float, no matter what, which is why she wears gloves all the time. She likes floating whoever she finds particularly annoying way up into the sky.

Mashirao Ojiro: Son of Mars, he’s an expert martial artist and very, very good at multiple of them. He’s lost multiple sparring partners because of his profinity with a number of weapons, and his lethality without any weapons. Seriously, he once defeated a Drakon with his bare hands! And another dead drakon’s teeth!

Denki Kaminari: Legacy of Zeus and Apollo, each by about 50 generations. About as bright as his godly ancestors (not very), but he still makes one Hel of a lightning bolt, and he’s also pretty good with a guitar and lyre. And classical literature and culture, like Apollo’s Kettle, who taught him all that?!

Eijiro Kirishima: Son/creation of Vulcan, his blood and skin are pure liquid gold, bronze and diamond he can infinitely harden for a period of time. It also obtains unnaturally sharp edges, and given his tendency to go hard when excited, he has made his friends frequent the infirmary for cuts and broken ribs.

Koji Koda: Son of Actaedon, he can talk with wildlife. He’s also a Legacy of Heracles, hence his size. His hugs are nice, war and gentle. Unless you’re an enemy, his bear hugs can break spines and it’s fucking terrifying.

Rikido Sato: Son of Mars, this guy has a serious sweet tooth. He’s also surprisingly gentle for a guy that can decimate an opponent with a single hit. Oh yeah, he can one-shot a hellhound with one punch (que the epic op) to the head.

Mezo Shoji: Son of Ares, he’s surprisingly level-headed. And malicious. Seriously, this guy always has at least ten different weapons on him, on top of him knowing a variety of potentially lethal moves. His arms are known as the Anacondas for a reason. Well, he lost his two precious anacondas in battle, but now he has six bronze automaton anacondas, fuly articulated and loaded up with all kinds of weapons for maximum effectiveness in battle! Actually fuck that, he’s way more terrifying now, who let him get all that stuff?!

Kyoka Jiro: Daughter of Apollo, she’s a top-tier musician, singer and is moderate with a bow and arrow. She can whistle in the ultrasonic range, clap like thunder, sing and play like either a sweet little bird or a whole-ass heavy metal choir without ruining her vocal cords, and she gives the opposite amount of fucks that Zeus does (ie. zero).

Hanta Sero: Son of Hermes, he inherited a pair of magical tape dispensers that can dispense any tape in any amount of any properties he chooses. He uses them to swing around like Spider-Man, which made him a regular visitor of the infirmary until Momo made him a special harness to keep his joints from dislocating. Somehow, he still gets his shoulders dislocated.

Fumikage Tokoyami: Son of Erebos, he suffers from split-personality disorder, but it’s fixed nicely by his inner demon incarnate made of pure darkness he calls Dark Shadow. They have a strangely healthy and wholesome relationship for a boy and his literal inner demon, and they even help each other (or embarass, take your pick) in social interactions.

Shoto Todoroki: A Legacy, descendant of Hel and Surtr, capable of making ice that freezes fire, and fire that burns ice. He gives so little shit he’s actually oblivious to social cues, which makes for more than a few funny moments on quests with him.

Toru Hagakure: Legacy of Iris, she can manipulate light around her to turn invisible or project bright flashes. Campers often say hi to her even if she’s not there just in case.

Katsuki Bakugou: Son of Ares, with rage and instincts of combat so strong and powerful he can convert his sheer rage and passion into explosions in the palms of his hands. He generated more than one explosion with the explosive yield of a nuclear weapon in his life. How he hasn’t gone deaf yet is beyond most people, though he does still know a variety of sign languages in case he does go deaf.

Izuku Midoriya: Son of Athena that was gifted the Spartan Spirit, a powerful enchantment formed by Kratos, Nike, Bia and Zelus, to protect humanity in its greatest times of need, and bestowed upon the most well-meaning and kind-hearted individuals of an era. He ends up breaking his bones an absolute shitton, and is a regular at the infirmary. The healers and smiths absolutely loathe him by now.

Minoru Mineta: Died on a quest. His quest-mates say ‘by accident’. Everyone knows it was very deliberate, but then again, everyone hated him and is fine with him dead. Some people wanted to be the ones to kill him though.

Momo Yaoyorozu: A Legacy, granddaughter of Hephaestus and Athena, capable of making virtually any machine. She’s also very fidgety, and once made an entire army of fully autonomous grass soldiers that went on to terrorize the other campers for a bit. In thirty minutes.

Yosetsu Awase: Son of Hephaestus, he also likes to make stuff. Though mostly he combines already existing tools, gadgets and machines, and makes weird amalgamations. He once fused an automaton bull, an automaton dragon and a school bus, and it actually, somehow, despite all logic and reason, fucking works.

Sen Kaibara: Son of Ares, he’s pretty chill compared to his kin (especially Katsuki and Setsuna), mainly due to him bottling up his anger. Which he can unleash as tornadoes around his limbs, which he can use to drill through walls. Thank gods he doesn’t lose it too often.

Togaru Kamakiri: Son of Ceres, he likes farming tools. Especially ones with blades. That’s lead to him using all kinds of sickles, scythes (both farming tools and war scythes) in combat, and even axes, shovels, various lawn mowers...

Shihai Kuroiro: Son of Nyx, him and Tokoyami get along exceptionally well. Given his ability to shadow-travel and use shadows and darkness as materials to make some pretty nifty weapons only he can use, he’s strangely bright and like a Sun. At least among the two stepbrothers of darkness, and the bar for eing the sunny one is set very low.

Itsuka Kendo: Daughter of Athena, she excels in critical thinking and a variety of martial arts. And knocking out her piers with precise attacks when they start to get exceptionally annoying. Mostly Monoma. Scratch that, especially Monoma. Okay, nevermind, only Monoma.

Yui Kodai: Daughter of Trivia. She excels in potions and spells that manipulate the size of objects, so much so that she has to resort to gloves because she now naturally makes things smaller with her left hand, or bigger with her right hand. She’s the calm one of the 20 people here.

Kinoko Komori: Daughter of Demeter, she has a soft spot for fungi and mushrooms. Which she can make grow rapidly. Very rapidly. She’s fun at parties.

Ibara Shiozaki: Daughter of Demeter, she dyes her hair green with actual chlorophyll for some reason (“To feel one with the beautiful plants,” she says), but she can also grow and manipulate vines and other vine-like plants, along with trees, quite effectively, and she has some rose and poison oak (she’s immune to it) seeds in her hair. Don’t ask, her answers are just as ridiculous as the chlorophyll-dyed hair.

Jurota Shishida: Son of Mars, he’s been cursed by most likely Hera to be a humanoid boar/dog thing. He’s especially good at wrestling, and is very diplomatic in his approach. Until he gets pissed, then he charges like a boar and yes, he keeps those tusks of his sharp.

Niregeki Shoda: Legacy of Hermes, son of Hephaestus, he likes to make explosives and plant them everywhere. More than a few campers were scared. Except Katsuki, who tried to outdo the ground (Niregeki’s mine) in explosive yield and put skylight access in the roof of Bunker 9. Niregeki had to repair it.

Pony Tsunotori: Legacy of Poseidon, she can shapeshift. She likes to shapeshift into horses, bulls, deer and goats (including mooses and buffalo), and she has a nifty gadget from the Hephaestus and Vulcan campers in the shape of horns that transform with her, giving her detachable remote-control horns. 

Kosei Tsuburaba: Legacy of Jupiter, son of Ares, he’s competitive and can make walls and blades out of air. Especially annoying for monsters because they can’t get to him, period, and every time they try, they don’t get past his walls of air for a whole minute before someone either cuts/hacks/slices them to bits, freezes/burns them alive, blows them up with their fists/explosives/expanding stones they previously ingested or some other way of disposing of a monster.

Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu: Son of Vulcan, capable of turning to pure steel over his entire body, also increasing his strength. Because of this, and his tendency to go hard whenever he’s excited, he’s made his friends frequent the infirmary for bruises and broken ribs. Except Kirishima.

Setsuna Tokage: Daughter of Ares, she’s actually been hurt pretty badly in one of her fights (she went on a Quest with Katsuki, and no, it wasn’t him who hurt her, and yes, no one really believes that story either) and had to have automaton grafts to replace her limbs, a part of her lower jaw, her eyes and the muscles around her spine, along with parts of the vertebrae. Which she asked to be detachable and splittable in as many pieces as possible, which she can control telepathically and uses to troll other campers. A lot. Especially two certain sons of Vulcan and her half-siblings.

Manga Fukidashi: No one knows what he is, they just know his head is a speech bubble and he can make anything he writes real.

Juzo Honenuki: Legacy of Gaia, he can virtually liquify the ground (does not work on metal or wooden floors). He trolls a lot with this ability. And I do mean a lot.

Kojiro Bondo: A golem? A person? His head makes it hard to tell whether he’s a demigod or a monster to be honest. And his glue-like spit doesn’t help much either.

Neito Monoma: Legacy of, you guessed it, Zeus! He has a superiority complex because of this, and he frequents the infirmary on the basis of Itsuka or whoever he was annoying KOing him constantly. All that brain damage probably isn’t helping his mental issues…

Reiko Yanagi: Daughter of Hecate she can make things she touches float and fly around using some sort of incantation. The biggest she can do is double her own body weight, but that doesn’t stop her from delivering high-speed flying punches and scaring other campers.

Hiryu Rin: Son of Mars and Legacy of Poseidon, he can shapeshift into various animals. Most notably a mix of human, hedgehog and a lizard. Sharp, painful and deadly precise. And also meditating. And a lot of it.

[96thdayofrage]

September 11’s Never-Ending Story

Looking back on two decades of media self-censorship, scapegoating and stenography

Remembering the Last US Retaliation Against Terror

by Jeff Cohen (Column, 9/14/01)

“Outrage is the natural and appropriate response to the mass murder of September 11. But media should not be glibly encouraging retaliatory violence without remembering that US retaliation has killed innocent civilians abroad, violated international law and done little to make us safer.”

Nightly News Glosses Over Anti-Terrorism Act

(Action Alert, 9/27/01)

“The report–which ends by saying that ‘no one really knows how much authority the new security czar will really have’–suggests that to stay safe, Americans must surrender liberties without even pausing to ask which ones.”

When Journalists Report for Duty

by Norman Solomon (Extra! Update, 10/01)

“Restrictive government edicts, clamping down on access to information and on-the-scene reports, would be bad enough if mainstream news organizations were striving to function independently. American journalism is sometimes known as the Fourth Estate—but Dan Rather is far from the only high-profile journalist who now appears eager to turn his profession into a fourth branch of government.”

Retaliation: Reality vs. Pundit Fantasy

by Jim Naureckas (Extra! Update, 10/01)

“One non–Boy Scout the CIA worked with in the 1980s was none other than Osama bin Laden (MSNBC, 8/24/98; Atlantic, 7–8/91)—then considered a valuable asset in the fight against Communism, but now suspected of being the chief instigator of the September 11 attacks.”

Why They Hate Us: Looking for a Flattering Answer

by Jim Naureckas (Extra! Update, 10/01)

“Even before investigators identified Arab militants as the apparent hijackers, the media assumption was that the terrorists had ties to the Mideast. But rather than a serious examination of what political realities might contribute to an anti-American climate there, many media commentators offered little more than self-congratulatory rhetoric.”

Patriotism and Censorship: Some Journalists Are Silenced, While Others Seem Happy to Muzzle Themselves

by Seth Ackerman and Peter Hart  (Extra!, 11–12/01)

“War fever in the wake of the September 11 attacks has led to a wave of self-censorship as well as government pressure on the media. With American flags adorning networks’ on-screen logos, journalists are feeling rising pressure to exercise ‘patriotic’ news judgment, while even mild criticism of the military, George W. Bush and US foreign policy are coming to seem taboo.”

Us vs. Them

by Jim Naureckas (Extra!, 11–12/01)

“It’s still ‘us’ versus ‘them,’ in other words, and we are told to care very much when ‘we’ are in danger and are explicitly warned not to worry too much about ‘their’ lives. Saying that it ‘seems perverse to focus too much on the casualties or hardships in Afghanistan’ (Washington Post, 10/31/01), CNN chief Walter Isaacson even announced that the network would air some kind of disclaimer whenever footage of dead or wounded Afghans is shown.”

Are You a Terrorist?

by Rachel Coen (Extra!, 11–12/01)

“The legal definition of ‘terrorism’ is crucial because the USA PATRIOT act gives law enforcement broad new powers to be used against ‘terrorist’ individuals and groups. The American Civil Liberties Union (10/23/01) warns that this new definition will ‘sweep in people who engage in acts of political protest’ if those acts could be deemed dangerous to human life.”

‘No Spin Zone’?

by Peter Hart (Extra!, 11–12/01)

“FAIR activists sent hundreds of letters to O’Reilly after his September 17 program, urging him to consider the ramifications of his rhetoric–and the fact that bombing civilian targets and using starvation as a weapon are war crimes.”

As if Reality Wasn’t Bad Enough: Dan Rather Spread Alarmist Rumors on September 11

by Jim Naureckas in Extra!, 11–12/01)

“But is it really inevitable that anchors will pass on uncorroborated stories to the public—and portray them as fact, not rumor? For days, New Yorkers expressed surprise that the George Washington Bridge story was not true—victims of a needless panic that Dan Rather had helped to spread.”

Network of Insiders: TV News Relied Mainly on Officials to Discuss Policy

by Seth Ackerman (Extra!, 11–12/01)

“No experts on international law appeared, even though a lively debate among international jurists has been brewing since September 11 over how the United States could respond legally to the attacks. Very few university-based experts on the Middle East appeared. (The main exception was [Fouad] Ajami.) This absence contributed to the networks’ striking lack of explanation of what United States’ policies in the Middle East have been in recent years.”

The Op-ed Echo Chamber: Little or No Space for Dissent From the Military Line

by Steve Rendall (Extra!, 11–12/01)

“Whether the mainstream daily op-ed page was ever a true forum for debate or for ‘nontraditional voices’ is questionable. But during the weeks following September’s terrorist attacks, two leading dailies [New York Times and Washington Post] mostly used these pages as an echo chamber for the government’s official policy of military response, while mostly ignoring dissenters and policy critics.”

The New Blacklist: The Nation’s Largest Radio Network’s List of ‘Questionable’ Songs

by Tom Morello (Extra!, 11–12/01)

“When the horrible attacks of September 11 are used as a pretext for squashing the opinions of dissident artists, people who are not beating the blood-lust drum feel alone and isolated. It’s in times like these when we most need intelligent, thoughtful discussion and debates about the issues of the day.”

‘This Isn’t Discrimination, This Is Necessary’ (Extra!, 11–12/01)

“Leave it to Ann Coulter—whose racism was too much even for the Arab-bashing National Review—to reduce the pro-profiling argument to its fallacious core: ‘Not all Muslims may be terrorists,’ she allowed, ‘but all terrorists are Muslims’ (Yahoo! News, 9/28/01).

“That’s just wrong, of course, as Timothy McVeigh, the Unabomber and decades of clinic-bombing, doctor-shooting Christian extremists can attest. The fact is that ethnicity has never been a reliable indicator of who might be involved in terrorism, making racial profiling not only discriminatory but ultimately ineffective.”

Patriotic Shopping: Media Define Citizenship as Consumerism

by Janine Jackson (Extra!, 11–12/01)

“A number of pundits and politicians offered Americans a simple solution to the helplessness and anxiety they were feeling in the wake of the September 11 attacks: Go shopping!”

Covering the ‘Fifth Column’: Media Present Pro-War Distortions of Peace Movement’s Views

by Peter Hart (Extra!, 11–12/01)

“The distinction between ‘peace with terrorists’ and a peace movement rooted in justice and international law was blurred by the media in general, which rather than airing the views of anti-war leaders generally had pro-war pundits explain–and belittle–those views.”

Internet Samizdat Releases Suppressed Voices, History

by Jeff Cohen (Extra!, 12/01)

“A free press would be debating the issue of Washington’s relations with Islamist extremists in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and whether such movements are bred by US policy committed to suppressing secular reformers and leftists in Islamic countries. When the CIA funded the Afghan Mujaheddin in 1979 before the Soviet occupation, it hoped to destabilize a secular, Soviet-friendly government (initially led by Nur Mohammed Taraki and Hafizullah Amin), which supported land reform and rights for women.”

From Bozo to Churchill: George W.’s Post–September 11 Reinvention

by Mark Crispin Miller  (Extra!, 5–6/02)

“Countless leaders have been deified by national emergency, but few have been remade as quickly and completely as George W. Bush. In many cases, those who had misread him as a simple tool, braying automatically at his most trivial mistakes, now automatically revered him. Such converts suddenly agreed with those who had seen Bush’s flaws as signs of latent greatness—thitherto the notion only of a large plurality, but now the common wisdom.”

9/11 Anniversary Coverage Plans Fall Short

(Media Advisory, 8/26/02)

“Unfortunately, many media outlets seem ready to exploit America’s grief by replaying the trauma of the attacks, instead of honoring the date with a serious debate over where the country is headed”

Saddam and Osama’s Shotgun Wedding: Weekly Standard Beats a Long-Dead Horse

by Seth Ackerman (Extra!, 1–2/04)

“Hardline officials have spent the last two years leaking stories, writing op-eds, holding private briefings and making public insinuations, all intended to convince the country that Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda worked hand in hand.”

The Media Politics of 9/11

by Norman Solomon (Media Beat,  3/25/04)

“On September 12, Bush’s media stature and poll numbers were soaring. Suddenly, news outlets all over the country boosted the president as a great leader, sometimes likening him to FDR. For many months, the overall media coverage of President Bush was reverential.”

A Record of Journalism in Crisis: Out of the Buzzsaw, Into the Fire

by Francis Cerra Whittelsey  (Extra!, 3–4/06)

“Not only was good reporting unusual and largely out of sight after September 11, it was also overwhelmed by the Bush administration’s public relations effort…. These journalists see themselves fighting an unrelenting public relations machine, whose effectiveness comes in large part from constant message repetition and automatic coverage of the president every day, even when he makes no news”

Gullibility Begins at Home: NYT Accepted False Reassurances on Ground Zero Safety

by Julie Hollar ( Extra!, 11–12/06)

“It’s not just the government that failed the workers and the public with misleading assurances; the New York Times itself must share that burden. Shortly after the attacks and into the ensuing years, the Times—as both a New York paper and a national paper—failed to mount a functional degree of skepticism toward city and federal government pronouncements about the safety of the air and dust around Ground Zero. They by and large dismissed fears of residents and workers about their safety—even as troubling studies and voices of dissent cropped up in the public and private sectors, and in other media outlets.”

The Media’s Mayor: Mythologizing Giuliani and 9/11

by Steve Rendall (Extra!, 5–6/07)

“[Jonathan] Alter dubbed Giuliani ‘the new Mayor of America,’ which soon morphed to ‘America’s Mayor,’ a moniker used by journalists as if it were a matter of public acclamation rather than a symptom of press corps hero worship.”

‘America Was Safer Under Bush’: Journalists Accept GOP’s Screwy Terrorism Scorecard

by Steve Rendall  (Extra!, 3/10)

“That George W. Bush kept America safer from terrorism than Barack Obama is a conservative article of faith these days—and corporate media seem little inclined to challenge the blatant falsehoods used to advance this childish GOP talking point.”

The Uses of September 11:To the Right, Terror Attacks Are Theirs to Exploit—or Dismiss—as They Like

by Steve Rendall (Extra!, 3/11)

“But the hallowed memory of September 11 is a conservative sham. While the attacks may be the gift that keeps on giving for GOP politics—when politically useful—the right frequently permits itself to diminish or deride the memory and symbols of the attacks for its own convenience.”

‘Waterboarding Worked’?: After bin Laden’s Death, Media Push Pro-Torture Message

by Peter Hart (Extra!, 6/11)

“Despite Bill O’Reilly’s assertion that his show was a lonely pro-torture voice, there were many media voices suggesting a reevaluation of whether torture should be an accepted practice for the U.S. government. Bin Laden may be dead, but the corrosive effect on public discourse of the “war on terror” lives on.

Losing the Plot: The Afghan War After bin Laden

by Jim Naureckas (Extra!, 7/11)

What was missing from these and most other corporate media discussions of bin Laden and Afghanistan was any recognition of the part that country played in the Al-Qaeda leader’s strategic vision. For bin Laden, the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was not a threat to his plan for the triumph of his brand of right-wing Islam—it was the central element of that plan.

Fox’s Eric Bolling Fans on Terror Facts—Twice

by Steve Rendall (FAIR.org, 7/15/11)

“Glenn Beck’s temporary replacement in the 5 p.m. slot on Fox News, Eric Bolling, has started out with a bang. On the July 13 edition of his new show the Five, the host declared: ‘America was certainly safe between 2000 and 2008. I don’t remember any attacks on American soil during that period of time.'”

The Forever Wars: Media Enlist to Promote Unending Military Adventures

by Peter Hart (Extra!, 9/11)

“The shift from the US’s time-limited military adventures since the Vietnam War—in conflicts like Grenada, Panama, Somalia and Kosovo—to today’s seemingly interminable and endlessly multiplying military commitments is one of the most notable, yet little noted, features of the post-September 11 landscape. And corporate journalists seem all too willing to encourage Washington’s new ‘permanent war’ footing.”

The ‘Worst of the Worst’?: 9/11, Guantánamo and the Failures of US Corporate Media

by Andy Worthington  (Extra!, 9/11)

“On the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, media bear a large responsibility for having allowed cynical lawmakers to portray Guantánamo as a prison holding ‘the worst of the worst,’ despite so much evidence that Bush administration officials were lying when they first coined that phrase.”

Whistling Past the Wreckage of Civil Liberties: Watchdogs Slept Through a Decade of Rollback

by Janine Jackson (Extra!, 9/11)

“Media submerge the reality of the assault on civil rights every time they report the state’s overreaches as being about ‘terror-fighting tools,’ as the AP (5/26/11) described Patriot Act provisions. Under a system of civil liberties, people are regarded as criminals after being convicted of crimes—not deemed to be so beforehand to facilitate stripping them of rights.”

Richard Cohen Is Sorry You and He Got It Wrong

by Peter Hart (FAIR.org , 9/6/11)

“Someone who was really sorry for stoking war fever would be honest enough to point out that not everyone was on board. And of course Richard Cohen knows this—he was writing columns attacking those who weren’t ‘going along with it.’ As he wrote about Dennis Kucinich, ‘How did this fool get on Meet the Press?'”

‘Terror Returns’—but When Did It Go Away?

by Jim Naureckas (FAIR.org, 4/16/13)

“The fact that journalists assigned to cover this story could fail to remember that political violence has been part of the United States landscape for the past decade and more is testament to a narrow definition that dismisses right-wing domestic violence as not really terrorism—and to a will to believe, for partisan or psychological reasons, that George W. Bush ‘kept us safe‘ after 9/11. The reality is not so comforting.”

License to Kill: Little Scrutiny of Resolution That Greenlighted ‘War on Terror’

by Norman Solomon (Extra!, 5/13)

“While the Obama administration considers how to reorganize its war efforts, we should ask why the US media establishment took more than a decade to begin asking basic questions about the Authorization for Use of Military Force—and why the underlying premises of perpetual war continue to elude concerted journalistic scrutiny.

“The consequences of such media evasions have persisted in tandem with Washington’s political machinations. Rather than handling 9/11 as a crime committed by criminals, the ‘war on terror’ under the AUMF umbrella propelled US military actions that have killed hundreds of thousands in at least six countries.”

They’ll Be Watching You: Mass Surveillance Uses New Media to Track Every Move You Make

by Jim Naureckas (Extra!, 5/14)

“After the September 11 attacks, which reignited a xenophobic backlash against immigration, the Department of Homeland Security began recruiting local law enforcement agencies as the next front in the detection and apprehension of undocumented immigrants. What followed was a massive wave of deportations that increased under the Obama administration to over 2 million (Politico, 3/4/14).

“Like immigration, the ‘War on Terror’ is now being shifted to local law enforcement agencies who, in exchange for federal dollars, are deploying powerful surveillance tools with little oversight and applying these tools to everyday policing, not just ‘counterterrorism.’”

Forgiving Al-Qaeda in Pursuit of a New Enemy

by Jim Naureckas (FAIR.org, 3/18/15)

“There are indications (as noted by the blog Moon of Alabama—3/11/15) of a shift in the Western foreign policy establishment toward seeing groups like Al-Qaeda—that is, far-right terrorist groups who espouse a violent strain of Sunni Islam—not as the main targets of US military operations but as potential allies against the governments Washington has identified as more important enemies, namely Shi’ite-led Iran and Syria.”

NYT

Recalls Media’s ‘Journalistic Detachment’ Before Iraq War

(Extra!, 9/16)

“In his retrospective (7/19/16) on outgoing Fox News chief Roger Ailes, who lost his job amidst numerous charges of sexual harassment, New York Times media reporter Jim Rutenberg included this remarkable sentence:

It was Mr. Ailes who, after the September 11 attacks, directed his network to break with classic journalistic detachment to get fully behind the war efforts of the George W. Bush White House, which jarred the rest of his industry.

“Of course, Fox News was far from alone in abandoning ‘classic journalistic detachment’ (such as it is) in the lead-up to the Iraq War—the New York Times certainly not excepted. Times reporters like Michael Gordon and Judith Miller helped get the nation ‘fully behind the war’ with front-page stories touting ‘evidence’ of WMDs that did not exist, while others wrote ‘news analysis’ like ‘All Aboard: America’s War Train Is Leaving the Station’ (2/2/03) and ‘US Plan: Spare Iraq’s Civilians’ (2/23/03).”

After 1,379 Days, NYT Corrects Bogus Claim Iran ‘Sponsored’ 9/11

by Adam Johnson (FAIR.org, 7/6/17)

“In its reporting on a dubious lawsuit alleging Iranian meta-involvement in 9/11, the New York Times badly misunderstood the case and maintained for more than three years, in the paper of record, that the government of Iran ‘sponsored’ the September 11, 2001, attacks. The belated correction, issued late Wednesday night on two widely spaced articles on the topic, unceremoniously noted that Iran did not, in fact, help commit the 9/11 attacks.”

On 18th Anniversary of 9/11, Media Worry About ‘Premature’ End to Afghan War

by Josh Cho (FAIR.org, 9/11/19)

“The New York Times (8/2/19) gave a platform to retired generals Jack Keane and David Petraeus to lobby for keeping thousands of “Special Operations forces” in Afghanistan:

“US troops in Afghanistan have prevented another catastrophic attack on our homeland for 18 years,” General Keane said in an interview. “Expecting the Taliban to provide that guarantee in the future by withdrawing all US troops makes no sense.”

“The Times might have pointed out that the September 11 attacks were carried out by militants based in the United States and recruited in Germany.”

Actually, Giuliani Has Always Been Like This

by Ari Paul (FAIR.org, 10/10/19)

“Giuliani was heralded as a hero when the United States was desperately looking for one after the WTC attacks—despite the fact that his actions on the day of the attacks contributed to the deaths of emergency responders, and his insistence that the air at Ground Zero was safe to breathe without filtration no doubt led to the deaths of many more (Extra!, 11–12/06, 5–6/07).”

Krugman Recalls 9/11’s Silver Linings

(Extra!, 10/20)

“’Overall, Americans took 9/11 pretty calmly,’ New York Times columnist Paul Krugman tweeted on the 19th anniversary of September 11 attacks. ‘Notably, there wasn’t a mass outbreak of anti-Muslim sentiment and violence, which could all too easily have happened.’ Anti-Muslim hate crimes increased 17-fold after 9/11, the FBI reported (Human Rights Watch, 11/02)—but apparently that doesn’t qualify as ‘mass.’

“Krugman, after praising George W. Bush as someone who ‘tried to calm prejudice, not feed it,’ did acknowledge that he used 9/11 to ‘take us into an unrelated and disastrous war’—the almost 19-year-long occupation of Afghanistan, apparently, not qualifying as a disaster. Before alluding to Iraq, Krugman mentioned that in the wake of the attacks, “my wife and I took a lovely trip to the US Virgin Islands…because air fares and hotel rooms were so cheap.”

As Kabul Is Retaken, Papers Look Back in Erasure

by Gregory Shupak (FAIR.org, 8/19/21)

“In addition to the Taliban signaling that it could be open to extraditing the Al Qaeda leader in October 2001, according to a former head of Saudi intelligence (LA Times, 11/4/01), the Taliban said in 1998 that it would hand over bin Laden to Saudi Arabia, the US’s close ally; the Saudi intelligence official says that the Taliban backed off after the US fired cruise missiles at an apparent bin Laden camp in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, following attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania attributed to Al Qaeda. The outlets thus failed to inform their readers that, had the US pursued negotiations for bin Laden’s extradition, Afghans may have been spared 20 years of devastating war.”

[l0uk45]

If students from class 1A and 1B were part of the Riordanverse:

Yuga Aoyama: Son of Aphrodite. Not even a good one, unless you need someone blinded by his glitter-gun. Oh yeah, he has a glitter gun with lasers for maximum flare. Is he completely over-the-top? Absolutely. But is he good in a fight? Surprisingly, yes.

Mina Ashido: Daughter of Hermes and legacy of Hecate, capable of inhuman movements and can produce a slime that magically dissolves anything. She also tattooed her eyes black and yellow for some weird masochistic reason.

Tsuyu Asui: She’s a frog-turned-human by Ochako. She still has her tongue, leaps, hops, camouflage, a reversible stomach and poison that can kill a group of whales. And he can still inflate her throat like a balloon, which makes for good scares.Very good scares…

Tenya Iida: Son of Mercury, he never skips leg day. Never. Seriously, have you seen those legs? He could crush a car with those puppies! Or crush monster heads! Which he does do quite often! He doesn’t skimp out on upper body exercises either, but LOOK AT THOSE LEGS OF THUNDER!

Ochako Uraraka: Daughter of Hecate, she specializes in a set of spells that manipulate an individual object’s or being’s gravitational pull. It’s gotten to the point where she makes anything she touches with five fingers on one hand, it will float, no matter what, which is why she wears gloves all the time.

Mashirao Ojiro: Son of Mars, he’s an expert martial artist and very, very good at multiple of them. He’s lost multiple sparring partners because of his profinity with a number of weapons, and his lethality without any weapons.

Denki Kaminari: Legacy of Zeus and Apollo, each by about 50 generations. About as bright as his godly ancestors (not very), but he still makes one Hel of a lightning bolt, and he’s also pretty good with a guitar and lyre. 

Eijiro Kirishima: Son of Vulcan, his blood and skin are pure liquid gold, bronze and diamond he can infinitely harden for a period of time. It also obtains unnaturally sharp edges, and given his tendency to go hard when excited, he has made his friends frequent the infirmary for cuts and broken ribs.

Koji Koda: Son of Actaedon, he can talk with wildlife. He’s also a Legacy of Heracles, hence his size. His hugs are nice, war and gentle.

Rikido Sato: Son of Mars, this guy has a serious sweet tooth. He’s also surprisingly gentle for a guy that can decimate an opponent with a single hit.

Mezo Shoji: Son of Ares, he’s surprisingly level-headed. And malicious. Seriously, this guy always has at least ten different weapons on him, on top of him knowing a variety of potentially lethal moves. His arms are known as the Anacondas for a reason.

Kyoka Jiro: Daughter of Apollo, she’s a top-tier musician, singer and is moderate with a bow and arrow. She can whistle in the ultrasonic range, clap like thunder, sing and play like either a sweet little bird or a whole-ass heavy metal choir without ruining her vocal cords, and she gives the opposite amount of fucks that Zeus does (ie. zero).

Hanta Sero: Son of Hermes, he inherited a pair of magical tape dispensers that can dispense any tape in any amount of any properties he chooses. He uses them to swing around like Spider-Man, which made him a regular visitor of the infirmary until Momo made him a special harness to keep his joints from dislocating. 

Fumikage Tokoyami: Son of Erebos, he suffers from split-personality disorder, but it’s fixed nicely by his inner demon incarnate made of pure darkness he calls Dark Shadow. They have a strangely healthy relationship for a boy and his literal inner demon.

Shoto Todoroki: A Legacy, descendant of Hel and Surtr, capable of making ice that freezes fire, and fire that burns ice. He gives so little shit he’s actually oblivious to social cues, which makes for more than a few funny moments on quests with him.

Toru Hagakure: Legacy of Iris, she can manipulate light around her to turn invisible or project bright flashes

Katsuki Bakugou: Son of Ares, with rage and instincts of war so strong and powerful he can convert his sheer rage into explosions in the palms of his hands. He generated more than one explosion with the explosive yield of a nuclear weapon in his life. How he hasn’t gone deaf yet is beyond most people, though he does still know a variety of sign languages.

Izuku Midoriya: A mortal, capable of seeing through the mist, was gifted the Spartan Spirit, a spirit formed by Kratos, Nike, Bia and Zelus, to protect humanity in its greatest times of need. He ends up breaking his bones an absolute shitton, and is a regular at the infirmary.

Minoru Mineta: Died on a quest. His quest-mates say ‘by accident’. Everyone knows it was very deliberate, but then again, everyone hated him and is fine with him dead. Some people wanted to be the ones to kill him though.

Momo Yaoyorozu: A Legacy, granddaughter of Hephaestus and Athena, capable of making virtually any machine. She’s also very fidgety, and once made an entire army of fully autonomous grass soldiers that went on to terrorize the other campers for a bit. In thirty minutes.

Class 1B:

Yosetsu Awase: Son of Hephaestus, he also likes to make stuff. Though mostly he combines already existing tools, gadgets and machines, and makes weird amalgamations. He once fused an automaton bull, an automaton dragon and a school bus, and it actually works.

Sen Kaibara: Son of Ares, he’s pretty chill compared to his kin (especially Katsuki and Setsuna), mainly due to him bottling up his anger. Which he can unleash as tornadoes around his limbs, which he can use to drill through walls. Thank gods he doesn’t lose it too often.

Togaru Kamakiri: Son of Ceres, he likes farming tools. Especially ones with blades. That’s lead to him using all kinds of sickles, scythes (both farming tools and war scythes) and even a few lawn mowers, shovels, axes...

Shihai Kuroiro: Son of Nyx, him and Tokoyami get along exceptionally well. Given his ability to shadow-travel and use shadows and darkness as materials to make some pretty nifty weapons only he can use.

Itsuka Kendo: Daughter of Athena, she excels in critical thinking and a variety of martial arts. And knocking out her piers with precise attacks when they start to get exceptionally annoying.

Yui Kodai: Daughter of Trivia. She excels in potions and spells that manipulate the size of objects, so much so that she has to resort to gloves because she now naturally makes things smaller with her left hand, or bigger with her right hand. She’s the calm one.

Kinoko Komori: Daughter of Demeter, she has a soft spot for fungi and mushrooms. Which she can make grow rapidly. Very rapidly. She’s fun at parties.

Ibara Shiozaki: Daughter of Demeter, she dyes her hair green with actual chlorophyll for some reason (“To feel one with the beautiful plants,” she says), but she can also grow and manipulate vines and other vine-like plants, along with trees, quite effectively, and she has some rose and poison oak (she’s immune to it) seeds in her hair. Don’t ask, her answers are just as ridiculous as the chlorophyll-dyed hair.

Jurota Shishida: Son of Mars, he’s been cursed by most likely Hera to be a humanoid boar/dog thing. He’s especially good at wrestling, and is very diplomatic in his approach. Until he gets pissed, then he charges like a boar and yes, he keeps those tusks of his sharp on a regular basis.

Niregeki Shoda: Legacy of Hermes, son of Hephaestus, he likes to make explosives and plant them everywhere. More than a few campers were scared. Except Katsuki, who tried to outdo the ground (Niregeki’s mine) in explosive yield and put skylight access in the roof of Bunker 9. Niregeki had to repair it.

Pony Tsunotori: Legacy of Poseidon, she can shapeshift. She likes to shapeshift into horses, bulls, deer and goats (including mooses and buffalo), and she has a nifty gadget from the Hephaestus and Vulcan campers in the shape of horns that transform with her, giving her detachable remote-control horns. 

Kosei Tsuburaba: Legacy of Jupiter, son of Ares, he’s competitive and can make walls and blades out of air. Especially annoying for monsters because they can’t get to him, period, and every time they try, they don’t get past his walls of air for a whole minute before someone either cuts/hacks/slices them to bits, freezes/burns them alive, blows them up with their fists/explosives/expanding stones they previously ingested or some other way of disposing a monster.

Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu: Son of Vulcan, capable of turning to pure steel over his entire body, also increasing his strength. Because of this, and his tendency to go hard whenever he’s excited, he’s made his friends frequent the infirmary for bruises and broken ribs.

Setsuna Tokage: Daughter of Ares, she’s actually been hurt pretty badly in one of her fights (she went on a Quest with Katsuki, and no, it wasn’t him who hurt her) and had to have automaton grafts to replace her limbs, a part of her lower jaw, her eyes and the muscles around her spine, along with parts of the vertebrae. Which she asked to be detachable and splittable in as many pieces as possible, which she can control telepathically and uses to troll other campers. A lot. Especially two certain sons of Vulcan.

Manga Fukidashi: No one knows what he is, they just know his head is a speech bubble and he can make anything he writes real.

Juzo Honenuki: Legacy of Gaia, he can virtually liquify the ground (does not work on metal or wooden floors). He trolls a lot with this ability. And I do mean a lot.

Kojiro Bondo: A golem? A person? His head makes it hard to tell whether he’s a demigod or a monster to be honest. And his glue-like spit doesn’t help much either.

Neito Monoma: Legacy of, you guessed it, Zeus! He has a superiority complex because of this, and he frequents the infirmary on the basis of Itsuka or whoever he was annoying KOing him constantly. All that brain damage probably isn’t helping his mental issues...

Reiko Yanagi: Daughter of Hecate she can make things she touches float and fly around using some sort of incantation. The biggest she can do is double her own body weight, but that doesn’t stop her from delivering high-speed flying punches and scaring other campers.

Hiryu Rin: Son of Mars and Legacy of Poseidon, he can shapeshift into various animals. Most notably a mix of human, hedgehog and a lizard. Sharp, painful and deadly precise. And also meditating. And a lot of it.

[violetsystems]

#personal

I can’t really tell if my mood is better or worse on Sunday mornings rather than the typical Saturday.  Things have reached a point where it’s just not worth explaining how awful life can be.  My life story at this point is slightly more convoluted than a side job in Cyberpunk 2077.  It’s also seemingly just as insignificant.  That is until I realize I’ve been writing here weekly for over two years at this point.  I’ve been posting on this platform for what seems like over a decade.  The value of this kind of journaling has been impossible to gauge.  I just paid a full year for LinkedIn to keep my career contacts alive.  I post in the hashtag cybersecurity almost every day.  I have a solid list of five contacts that follow my company.  I post the zero day news as it happens.  I promote my brand and employability.  As if this is the only thing that is valuable.  A twenty year resume with management experience that gets picked over by AI and human just the same.  I also forget sometimes I’m a musician.  I was reminded last night when I posted the RP Boo “Bangin’ on King Drive” video.  I was at that video shoot.  Years ago I would just run into Bu in the street with his wife randomly.  I appear nowhere in that video as I was edited out much like I was the only artist edited out of a Pitchfork review for a footwork compilation from Japan that protested Nuclear proliferation.  If there were any more alarming trend for me it’s that most of what I try to succeed at is locked beyond a brick wall.  I sit here from week to week trying to figure out ways to keep myself from disappearing.  I worry about where I can actually pivot and when.  I lay awake at night alone in my bed calculating what my runway for cash positivity is before I have to leave this city altogether.  It sometimes feels completely futile and useless.  Everybody in America is winner take all when there’s nothing left to take.  It’s cutthroat and we’re all in this together at the same time.  The amount of bullying I have to process per day has left me broken down and angry ninety percent of the time.  And yet angry is a shitty look for me.  I lose at video games all the time.  And lately I feel as if I’m living in one.  To explain that any further gets into some territory of oversharing.  I’ve written paragraphs upon paragraphs about my life here.  And yet nobody seems to acknowledge I exist other than here.  Which leads me to believe a very few amount of people actually have the reading comprehension over 140 characters to look deeper into someone’s life, liberty and value therein.  I think sometimes that it shouldn’t be this hard.  That something is very wrong and deeply troubled about it all.  And there’s not much I can really do about the things I’m up against when it’s only me fighting it from day to day out here.  So I’ve fallen back to what I know.  We are still very much in the middle of a pandemic.  I’m happy the relief bill has passed.  I’m waiting to pay my taxes until it’s official.  Which puts me back in the same mood I’ve been in the last eight months.  A complete state of abandon.  This nefarious field of people watching you every day waiting to pin something on you.  It never comes because I know better than to fall back into that trap as much as I can these days.  

The worst of this mindfuck is over for me.  I don’t actually really care too deeply about how wrong things are.  Mostly because I’ve done my best to make due under impossible circumstances.  You’d think someone like me after all these years would have something to celebrate.  I kind of do.  My birthday didn’t matter to anyone really out here much last month.  It was a clear indicator that I had no real peers out here anymore.  As evidenced as how everyone in footwork I helped back in 2014 has literally just ghosted like the rest of my professional network.  I had a couple of things to fall back on.  But it’s impossible to fall back onto anything when people would rather pretend you didn’t exist.  I’m always supposed to read into these psychotic projections by society because somehow I’m supposed to realize more is expected out of me.  I can’t figure this out completely.  Like I brought all this upon myself.  That’s the vibe I get from day to day.  That because I don’t share my plans, agenda, or strategy with the real world I’m shit out of luck.  The irony is that I do share it verbatim.  Week to week.  In a very coy, oblique way this is true.  But I am also a writer.  This is another talent I’ve been taught by society that has no value.  I wrote emails for my bosses for years on my days off.  On my birthday even.  This doesn’t mean it is worthless.  The audience is out there.  If it weren’t I would have quit sharing my feelings a long time ago.  I’m fairly aware at some point I’m going to have to put this all behind me.  Hopefully when the world wakes up and returns to normal like nothing ever happened.  That’s going on as we speak and I don’t even have a vaccine in my arm.  It’s a constant state of fear and missing out projected back at you.  That the reason I’m not happy is totally because of what I choose to take on in my life.  And I’m supposed to get the message when people don’t actually communicate.  I had this strange realization yesterday when I discovered all my videos were closed captioned.  I watch movies with subtitles all the time simply because I love to read.  My videos barely get ten views if that.  I often think content is content.  If you put it out there someone will eventually find it and wonder about it’s value.  In the age of semi-spiritual machines it’s true that the algorithms seem to be the only curators out there listening.  Everything I say out loud is transcribed and mothballed somewhere on Siri’s or Alexa’s servers.  When I take a screen shot of the things I say off the top of my head, I’m often aware that something acknowledges I actually said them.  It’s just nobody human really wants to pay attention. They are hardcoded over my videos as proof of the value of my words.  Not like you can sell the speculative value of it yet.  The first tweet is being auctioned off as a NFT and you wonder how worthless I have to feel at this point.  I’m sure we all feel a little of this deep down.  Disconnected and in some sort of weird emotional exile.  I think it just makes me realize more of what I am connected to.  A history of authenticity.  A life that trades the catwalk for the streets as brutal and unforgiving as they are.  Nobody can stop talking shit about me.  But it’s almost always a hallucination.  For a person who puts it all out there, I must be a shitty fucking writer.  I can spend week to week writing the same thing.  That I’m completely abandoned and ghosted out here on my own.  And how it’s less unsafe and more simply a degraded quality of life when it comes to my rights as a human being to be happy.  I’m supposed to get the message when nobody can bother to read mine.  The writing is on the wall I guess.

So instead of pining on and on about it which I just did for two paragraphs, I still look for solutions.  I still broadcast weekly to let people know I’m still alive.  I make funny jokes to myself and screencap them to mask deep emotional scarring that is no fault of my own.  I literally feel trapped and under duress almost all of the time.  And yet, I don’t really have the luxury of taking the shit when I’ve had the hope choked out of me until I can’t breathe.  If the answer is to keep ignoring the problem, it’s hard to be me.  Because nobody can leave me alone.  No one seems to have any sense of dignity as to what I’ve been through.  I never claimed to be a victim.  That’s not really me.  I’ve survived and been resilient.  I can see that working a six figure corporate job in New York or China is probably more worth my time in the not so distant future.  I can also see that I’m worth more than what people sell me short for.  I know we are in a dangerous time of confidence tricks.  I don’t really have much to lose other than cash positivity.  I can wait this out until the end of the summer for sure.  And then I start to think about spending another winter being hunted and shunned at the same time.  Mentally I can’t fuck with this city after what it’s done to me alone.  I can’t keep being a superhero for people who can’t be bothered to understand how painful it is to be taken for granted after all these years.  I just give up on everything in the past that isn’t working and move forward as best as I can.  Just like they threw the entire contents of my office in the trash I can let it go.  There is a very real emotional exhaustion I have to deal with from day to day.  The level of psychological torture and abuse I’ve witnessed first hand in this city is at a level that is unlawful and unhealthy.  I know too much about what it’s all connected to.  And I know I’m better than all of this.  I don’t know how to proceed.  And this is a very real and dangerous situation that I am stuck in the middle of a shark tank feeding frenzy of well meaning but rabid idiots and the pricks that prod them with a sharp stick.  I don’t have a future here in this city.  I don’t have a future in this state or country if you wanted me to be real about.  And yet I have so much potential if I just hold on for one more year.  For one more decade.  For another forty years when they turn my blog into a NFT after my death like I’m the next Van Gogh.  Everybody will talk about how they knew me and how tortured an artist I was.  I was so misunderstood and it was beautiful.  They’ll fund a school with the proceeds that kicked me out the door because I was a blight on their payroll and budget.  And I’ll be a digital ghost just the same.  I feel like that very ghost now every waking fucking moment.  It is a pain I cannot describe in words.  It is a suffering that is goaded on in the worst syndicate driven way.  I have nothing good to say about any of this shit anymore.  I have no more room to break down and make things worse for myself.  I just have to adjust my schedule and manage my emotions with it all because it’s my fault.  This is the message I keep hearing in my head projected by silent looks as I picked up my prescriptions on foot avoiding everyone who wants to see if it’s true.  If I really am the bogeyman.  The source of the problem.  Someone to blame.  The scapegoat for everything that is wrong with the world.  Convenient but ultimately not worth my time to humor.  Which is why I don’t really know what to do anymore other than to stay inside and wait for justice.  If there’s anything poetic about it, it’s that it runs pretty seamlessly at 1440p.  Much clearer resolution than what this city wants to offer me after what it’s put me through.  <3 Tim

[archangelmacaron]

We are almost free from summer and I have not had a chance to go to a beach ;-; But I can send Holly and D to one! Poor D must be roasting...

[ozzdog12]

2019- Top 7 (And 1)

  Another year has come to an end and thus the hotly anticipated Top 7 (And 1) from your ‘average at best’ Ozzdog12 is here for you to feast your eyes upon. 2019 was an extremely odd year for me, gaming wise. As parenthood has taken the full brunt of my time, my gaming time and the choices of what games I decided to play, have changed. I played several games this year that, under any previous year I may have stuck with longer or tried again, but as time for gaming has become more and more thin, I now have less ‘patience’ to stick with a BIG RPG (Disco Elysium, one day I’ll get to you). Now I’m going to contradict my previous sentence with this next sentence. I was unemployed for a stretch of 5 weeks and in between looking for jobs I also found myself with a decent amount of time to play some games. What I did with that time is played 2 games that ultimately made the list, for two very different reasons. I also cleared out a chunk of backlog games (Finally beating Diablo 3 for one, thank you Switch) and played several, shorter smaller games in the process. If interested in my previous Top 7 (And 1) 2017 & 2018.

And now on to the And 1 this year

Favorite game that came out in 2019 that actually came out 20+ years ago: Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening (Switch)

This one was actually a hard one to decide as Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition also released this year. AOE2 is the one game I may have put the most time into ever, cumulatively. But I’m giving the nod to Link’s Awakening simply because its BRAND NEW to me. I did not play the original release and this has been an absolute joy to play and is by far, the best Zelda available on Switch. The updated graphics are gorgeous and the art style is great. I haven’t completed the game yet, but I’m slowly chipping away at it at night. It feels and plays like a Zelda game but updated properly to a modern console to make it feel like a brand new game released in 2019 and not just a reskin/up-resed re-release. The game is also structured in a way that appeals to me more than Breath of the Wild was (see 2017 And One for reference). The world feels big, but is contained in a clever way to make it FEEL bigger than it actually is.

Number  7: Rage 2 (PS4)

Rage 2 is a very weird game. I don’t mean it’s weird in the sense that nothing clicks or that its bad. In fact, it’s a joy to play (especially is you love iD shooters). It’s weird because outside of the gameplay mechanics, it’s fairly barren (intentional or not). And I mean that in terms of both story, things to do and the world itself. Having very little to do with the previous Rage (which I really enjoyed on the 360), Rage 2 starts off quick and with a bang. You choose which version of the character you want to be, learn the mechanics and then are eventually sent to a town. There are a total of 6 ‘story’ missions that are stretched out by requiring you to complete tasks for one of the 3 town leaders who you’ve enlisted for help to take down the General. Once you do this, you fight the General and that’s kind’ve it. Now along the way, you will kill a bunch of mutants and humans alike. There are 3 factions (4 if you count the Ghosts in the DLC) that are in an ever engaging gauntlet to the death and you get to play janitor by spilling more guts and blood, but none of it really matters, the Factions I mean. There are a few Crusher Mutants (BIG MUTANTS) to also fight, but they are essentially extra heavy bullet sponges. Now, I know I haven’t really sold you on it, but here’s the thing. I REALLY enjoyed RAGE 2. It was the perfect game to play during the summer. Due to a personal situation I was dealing with (the looming unemployment) it was nice to just sit down at night, turned my brain off and just kill things. It reminded me of a simpler time in my youth playing games like Doom. Same vibe honestly. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more of a story and narrative driven player, but Rage 2 scratched a nostalgia itch for me at the perfect time. 

Number 6: Concrete Genie (PS4)

Concrete Genie is a game that is honestly out of left field for me these days. Not that I don’t like these types of games, it’s just as previous stated, time is somewhat of a precious commodity and had Concrete Genie come out in any other year, I probably would’ve skipped it entirely. However, it didn’t and I’m glad I picked this up for $20. It also scratched a nostalgia itch and reminded me very much of the PS2 era of games like Sly Cooper and Jax and Daxter. You play a kid who is bullied (something I am familiar with first hand, sadly) for being a loner and an artist. His creature drawings come to life with the help of a magic paint brush and your objective to put color back into an abandon town and bring it back to life. There is a VR component I wasn’t able to play because I don’t have a PSVR. The game is fairly simply and doesn’t deviate far from that formula. There is very little combat and just enough variety in the monster’s you can make to keep you going. It’s also fairly short. I was able to complete and collect everything in around 7-8 hours. Having a complete game in a bite size package is something I long for these days. 

Number 5: The Outer Worlds (PS4)

This game should be higher on the list but I put it here simply because while I have played it a fair amount, I haven’t played it enough to warrant it being higher. I’m maybe halfway through? I love Bethesda Fallouts (And Obsidian’s New Vegas) and this is an improved New Vegas in space with a more cheeky approach. The Outer Worlds never takes itself too seriously and revels in its sarcasm. The companions are all mostly likeable enough and each planet has felt distinctive enough to entice me to keep exploring. The mechanics are improved and the overall gameplay is better than New Vegas.  Its structured just like a Fallout game, so there is a lot of comfort there. However,  just like any open world RPG, sitting down for less than an hour and trying to accomplish anything is hard. The Outer Worlds is best played in big chunks. It’s at the top of my list to finish in 2020. 

Number 4: A Plague Tale (PS4)

A Plague Tale was THAT game that was on everyone’s ‘Hidden Gems’ list. I had seen a trailer around E3 and it intrigued me enough to check it out. I completed it over a whole weekend, a rarity. The game isn’t perfect, but everything is serviceable enough to work within the confines of what it’s trying to accomplish. It has some technical flaws and the occasional hiccup, but I’m a sucker for 3rd person action adventure games. The game is mostly centered around stealth with combat as a mostly secondary option. The game takes place in France in 1348 during the rat plague. You play as the daughter of an alchemist and your brother has been sick since birth. Once your village has been raided by the Inquisition, you are cast out to find help. The plague has taken over the majority of the country, but it isn’t until later in the game where the game takes a turn into the fantasy in a major way. You meet up with some really likeable characters with different personality traits along the way that really kept the story moving in an interesting way. The story was really grim at times, but honestly kept me hooked until the final chapter. The boss battle was extremely frustrating. With a sequel being announced, I am extremely interested in where they take the next chapter. 

Number 3: Katana ZERO (Switch)

Katana ZERO rules. There is a fine line where a game is challenging and when a game is unfair. I like a challenge, but I don’t want to work (games like Dark Souls are work). KZ is very similar in style, gameplay, tone, and even music to Hotline Miami. The difference being KZ is a side scroller instead of top down. You play a samurai in a quasi-dystopian future after a war. You are programmed killing machine…or are you? The story is fairly heavy and can bring up some tough subjects. KZ is pretty challenging, especially later in the game, but never once did I feel the game was cheap or unfair. Every time I died (MANY, MANY TIMES) it was always my fault. Either I didn’t plan my attack correctly, I hit the wrong button, took the wrong path, or didn’t time it right. The game has a nifty way of dealing with ‘deaths’ in the game using a neat rewind feature. When you complete a level, it shows you a replay in ‘real time’ giving you a nice recap of your work. Every time I completed a level, I felt a sense of accomplishment. My Switch says I put around 5 hours or more into it once I completed the final level, but it honestly felt longer than that, in a good way. KZ is an absolute blast to play and you should go play it right now!

Number 2: Gears 5 (Xbox One)

I’m a fan of the Gears of War series. The first Gears of War still being my favorite of the series. As time has passed, I’ve become less interested in the series as a whole but still interested enough to play every entry. I thought Gears 4 was the Force Awakens of the series. Essentially a retelling of the same story, with a new coat of paint and new characters with the old ones sprinkled in. Gears 4 was ultimately, fine. So I was actually excited for Gears 5 was going to go and to see how they built upon 4 with a focus on Kait instead of a Fenix. Halfway through the story, the group is divided and it starts to take a different tone. Gears 5 experiments with a first of the series, a semi-open world. I thought it broke up the monotony of wall hug, shoot, reload, repeat. I finished the story in a few days and had a good time with it, though once again, the ending being kind’ve abrupt. The series has a knack for being sort’ve slow, then suddenly turning it to 11, then ending.  I wished the campaign was longer, but it’s still solid. Gears 5 introduced a new mode called Escape, where you and two other players plant a bomb and try to escape a level with limited ammo. There is weekly a revolving door of new levels, which is nice, but each level is just reusing assets. I suspect with time and each new Operation (Season) that will be expanded. Horde mode is back and the character classes are fun. New characters have been added and will continue to be added, but they are an absolute grind to unlock (But you can always pay for them!) The reason Gears 5 is this high is mostly due to the amount of time I spent playing multiplayer. As stated, I loved the original Gears of War and put an insane amount of time into the multiplayer. That was in 2007 and the older I’ve gotten, my desire to invest into multiplayer has waned, almost completely. Once again though, right time, right place. I spent almost the entire month of October, logging on every night, completing challenging and playing online. Something I haven’t done since I was a freshman in college. I had an absolute blast. While I don’t delve into online as feverishly as I did in October, I still occasionally dabble when I get the chance.

Number 1: Mortal Kombat 11 (PS4)

As if this was going to be anything else. I’m a Mortal Kombat mark, plain and simple. I’ve loved the series my entire life. I love the lore, I love how ridiculously violent it is, how goofy and bat shit insane the story has evolved. I love it all. But its not all gore and lore, Mortal Kombat is a supreme fighting game. It’s not a nuanced as the likes of Street Fighter, but its infinitely deeper than a game like Smash Bros. Mortal Kombat is in a good sweet spot for both casuals and hardcore fighting fans. MK11 has maybe the greatest in-depth tutorial that has ever been made in any fighting game. It not only teaches you how to play, it teaches you the terminology. The story picks up right after MKX, with Raiden upset with everyone and taking matters into his own hands by torturing Shinnok. Liu Kang and Kitana rule the Netherrealm. Raiden plans an attack where he is essentially the Trojan Horse. All goes according to plan, until Kronika, The Time Keeper, decides she doesn’t like this anymore and eventually brings back some old friends to help her change time (again) and finally eliminate Raiden from existence. In doing this, Kronika has made all those mirror matches from previous games cannon. The production level and story mode in Netherealm games are on another level compared to other fighting games and they continue that trend in MK11. They implement the gear system from Injustice 2 into MK11 and its fine. The Krypt is amazing and is full of secrets. The Living Towers have returned, this time in the form of the ever changing “Towers of Time”. The roster, which is what everyone really cares about isn’t the worst but isn’t the best. None of the new characters are all that fun (Cetrion, Geras, & Kollector) and the returning roster was missing some notable characters. The DLC thus far has been fairly underwhelming compared to MKX. It was nice to see Shang Tsung, Nightwolf, & Sindel return (all 3 should’ve been in the main roster) but Terminator is lame. MKX had the likes of Tremor, Tanya, & Predator. MK11 seems to break what was a fun tradition in DLC having new, MK characters (Skarlett and Tremor, respectively). While I do think there is another set coming after Spawn, if the leak is true, then it seems underwhelming. I played MK11 pretty religiously for almost 2 months and still play at least once or twice a week. I love MK!

[johannesviii]

Top 10 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 1993

I was 5 and so we have officially entered the era where nostalgia is going to dictate a fair number of the songs I picked.

You will NOT like the result.

Also, only three of these picks were on the 1993 US year-end chart.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

Up to this point my #1s have all been more or less defendable because they were from great bands or artists which are still loved by a lot of people today. Hell, even my previous #1, while being cutesy and not regarded as one of the best songs from its band, was still somewhat defendable.

This one isn’t.

Won’t stop me, though.

Again, a lot of painful cuts were made for this list, including Sing Hallelujah by Dr Alban, More and More by Captain Hollywood Project, Nothing Else Matters by Metallica (it would have made the list but my s.o is a huge fan of Metallica and I claim over-exposure for that one), and most painful of all, In the Death Car by Iggy Pop.

10 - Que Mon Coeur Lâche (Mylène Farmer)

US: Not on the list / FR: #69 (n i c e)

I swear I’m trying to ignore her songs when I see them on the French year-end lists. And failing.

This kept Metallica and Iggy Pop off the list.

I feel bad.

9 - Fields of Gold (Sting)

US: #87 / FR: Not on the list

When I first got my cd player around 2001, I owned a very limited number of cds and would sometimes steal some cds in my parents’ collection. I liked this one quite a lot at the time even though I couldn’t understand half of it.

Give me a break, I was 13.

8 - Foule Sentimentale (Alain Souchon)

US: Not on the list / FR: #32 (sidenote, it also made the next year-end list)

This was a huge hit here. It’s an anticapitalist ballad. I swear I’m not kidding.

If you’ve never heard it, here’s a link and here’s a translation. You’re welcome.

7 - No Limit (2 Unlimited)

US: Not on the list / FR: #2

Again, I was 5. I loved super colorful, kinetic things with a great beat and fun visuals. Come on! They are dancing in a giant pinball machine!

And now I’m 31, and I love super colorful kinetic things with a great beat and fun visuals, and come on, they are, indeed, dancing in a giant pinball machine, and yes, this is on the list and Metallica isn’t. I know. It breaks your heart

6 - Informer (Snow)

US: #10 / FR: #16

For years and years, I enjoyed this song but had zero idea what the singer looked like.

Let’s just say the One Hit Wonderland episode that ToddInTheShadows made about that song was... a bit of a surprise for me because “frail white Canadian dude with glasses” was NOT what I expected.

Still a great song, though, just saying.

5 - Mr Vain (Culture Beat)

US: Not on the list (...yet...) / FR: #25

Yet another 90s Dance song in the long list of Songs That Nobody Is Defending In The Year Of Our Lord 2019 Except Johannes Over There.

There will be more, and yes, that’s a threat.

4 - Chronologie (Jean-Michel Jarre)

US: Not on the list / FR: #38

Mostly a generic Jarre track (a very nice one though, which is why it’s as high as it is) but I remember seeing the music video exactly once (1) on tv at the time and being completely hypnotised. Years later, when I first had access to Dailymotion and Youtube, this was one of the first music videos I tried to find to watch it again.

3 - I Feel You (Depeche Mode)

US: Not on the list / FR: #64

Thank you French charts for allowing me to put Depeche Mode on so many of these lists because the US year-end charts keep failing you again and again.

It took me a long time to warm up to this specific song back when I first entered my Depeche Mode phase, but nowadays it’s one of the rare songs which have a permanent spot in my mp3 playlist.

Fun fact, I have two songs called “I Feel You” on that playlist, and they are such polar opposites as far as intensity goes that I joke about it sometimes.

(”On a scale from Schiller to Depeche Mode how much are you saying ‘I Feel You’”)

2 - Go West (Pet Shop Boys)

US: Not on the list / FR: #57

Again: thank you French charts for allowing me to put Pet Shop Boys on another list, especially because I love that song and its weird communicative fake enthusiasm. Great song to listen to while working, too, and yes I’m aware of how ironic that is, it’s part of the charm.

And now... the first #1 that I can’t defend whatsoever.

1 - What Is Love (Haddaway)

US: #82 / FR: #7

I unironically love Haddaway and his songs. I had the album! As a kid, I thought he was one of the coolest, most beautiful humans ever, and possibly a wizard. I’m just gonna copy what I’ve written on another post, but yeah: baby Johannes didn’t know what Haddaway was singing about in this unknown and mysterious “English” language, but to me, it was pretty clear he was a powerful magician. I mean, the What is Love video starts with him reconstituting a broken statue by magic.

He’s even dressed like a magician!

I was kind of disappointed when I learned a few words of English (when I was around 10 or 11) and discovered that most of the lyrics of this song were about love - but I still adore this song and this kind of music nowadays, because it ALWAYS brings me back to the time when little me thought Eurodance was all about flying on dragons, fighting demons and casting powerful spells.

Next up: Oh Boy, More Eurodance(tm).

[abunchofcrazyweirdos]

OOC:

If youre checking out my muses page: PLEASE Ignore my blank muses. I am redoing everything and it’s in the works. Here are my muses in case you’re wondering and would like to know who they are. I do have another page of muses that is perfectly alright. If you’re wondering who they’re FCs are I will let you know too. 

Noah Puckerman: (S1-6 or college).

Jake Puckerman: Womanizer of McKinley High School. Dancer/Singer.

Mason McCarthy: Twin brother to his sister Madison. He wishes that she would let him live his own life. He’s a cheerleader and singer.

Kitty Wilde: Head Bitch in Charge, her role model is Quinn Fabray. In Glee and a cheerleader.

Derek Hough: Lives to have fun and dance. Professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars. Passionate, Dedicated, and joker.

Kevin Matheson: Video game programmer, nerd, diligent, resourceful and sensible.

Brian Kinney: CEO of Kinnetik and owner of Babylon night club. Self-made millionaire.  He will often put his foot in his mouth, and say things without thinking

Riley Matthews: Ball of energy. Outgoing and Bubbly. Loves her family and friends. Will try something new even if she fails.

Lucas Friar: Moved from Texas to New York. Champion bull rider, compassionate, intelligent, noble, athletic and a gentleman.

College FC for Lucas

Farkle Minkus: Boy genius. Nerd. Loves school. The teachers pet and he rather be studying than out partying with friends.

Ashton Irwin:  Drummer for 5SOS. Aussie Native. Singer. Punk rocker, passionate.

Calum Hood: Bass player for 5SOS. Singer, Adventurous, Aussie

Luke Hemmings: Lead Singer, Guitar player for 5SOS. Dedicated and Aussie.

Michael Clifford: Vocals and Guitar player for 5SOS. Aussie, Punk rocker, joker, shy at times.

Harry Styles: . ¼ of One Direction. Singer plays piano and guitar. Cheeky, lovable, Baby Tarzan and curly.

Louis Tomlinson:  Joker. ¼ of One Direction. Singer. Guitar player and Piano.

Liam Payne:  ¼ of One Direction. Beatboxer, Singer, Batman (secretly) and Daddy Directioner. Lovable.Adorable, Puppy.

Niall Horan: Food lover. ¼ of One Direction. Drums, Singer, Guitar, Piano.

Zayn Malik: A former member of One Direction. The rapper, Singer, Doing my own thing, the tattoo artist.

Alec Lightwood: Shadowhunter, reserved, logical, charming, imaginative. Don’t mess with him. Overly protective of his sister and loved ones.

Billy Nutter: Punk, protective, impulsive, devoted, uncertain and sassy.

Nikko or Hunter Clarington: Singer, bad boy, adventurous, passionate and lives life to the fullest.

Oliver Queen: Athletic. The Green Arrow. Independent, Strong, hard-headed, stubborn and will do anything to save his family and friends.

Ethan Snow: Hard headed, bad boy with a soft side. Once his mind his made up, that’s it.  He won’t budge.

Trinity White: Sweet, lovable, warm, singer and a bookworm. Can be hardheaded at times.

Evie: She will always be in the library, or with a book in her hand. She is very driven and passionate. Very intelligent.

Felicity Smoak: Team Arrow. Graduate of MIT and a hacker.

Caitlin Snow: Bio-engineer for S.T.A.R. Labs. Easily hurt so she guards herself and her heart. Killer Frost

Steve Rogers or AKA Captain America. Kicking ass and taking names. Loves to have a good time and joke around.

Clint Barton or AKA Hawkeye. Sneaks up on you if you’re not careful. Will kick your ass if you get on his bad side.

Cisco Ramon: Mechanical Engineer at S.T.A.R Labs. Intelligent, joker, laid back and Vibe.

Clary Fray: Promising art student, intelligent, guarded. Shadowhunter

Cole Pendery: Member of IM5. Dorky, a child at heart and very lovable. Cuddly panda.

Jackson Whitmore: Cocky, competitive, has a lovable side to him. On the lacrosse and swim team. (Verse: Roy from Arrow as well)

Lindy Sampson: Born in Chicago now lives in New York City. Works at NYPD in the Cyber Crimes Division. Hacker, MIT Drop out. Quick to take the blame.

Tommy Calligan: NYPD Detective with the Cyber Crimes Division. New York City born and raised. Witty, Smart and tough.

Jake Bolin: Aussie born and raised but moved to New York for job. Lawyer. Has a temper and will snap easily.

Gabe Morales: Member of IM5. Bad Boy but lovable too. Cocky.

Iris West: Daughter to Joe West. Journalist, Graduate Student. Witty, Passionate, easily will defend friends and family. Brother: Wally West.

Jace Wayland: Determined, narcissistic, expert Shadowhunter.

Connor Walsh: Law Student. Sly, Sexy, Smart, Narcissistic

Veronica Mars: Private Eye. Will accept any job that is offered to her. Dedicated to her work, family, friends and partners.

Oliver Hampton: Computer Nerd and hacker. Falls in love easily. Has to learn how to guard his heart.

Logan Echolls: Known as the resident bad boy of Neptune. Does not apply himself, smart, sarcastic attitude,tough exterior but troubled inside.

Grace: Gentle. Kind. Positive outlook on life. Surfer. Sweet.

Mack: Leader. Smart. Confident. Determined. Surfer. Singer.

Aiden: Passionate. Driven. A leader. Smart. Hardheaded

Simon: Intelligent. Finds humor in any situation. Loyal. Vampire or Human

Izzy Lightwood: Kick ass. Comfortable in her body. Keeps people in check. Breaks rules, will speak her mind.

Image result for raphael shadowhunters

Raphael: Well-dressed. Handsome. Protective.

Image result for lydia shadowhunters

Lydia: Driven. Bad ass. Vulnerable. Harsh.

Image result for Magnus Bane

Magnus Bane: High Warlock. Glitter. Perfection.

Jason: Mechanic (Motorcycles)

Josh: Tattoo Artist.

Neal: Informant for FBI.

Image result for Jess Mariano

Jess Mariano: Writer. Smart. Witty. Hot-headed/Temper

Image result for Logan Huntzberger

Logan Huntzberger: Smart. Charming. Flirty.

Image result for machine gun kelly

Ty: Your typical bad boy.

Image result for tyler young

Tyler: Closeted gay. Foster child. Dad is MIA and Mom is sick.

Image result for brent antonello

Jude Kinkade: Vice President of Devils Basketball team

Zero or Gideon: Member of the Devils Basketball team.

Noel Kahn: Your typical charming guy with a bad side. Throws wild parties.

Wyatt Casey: Outsider. Likes to keep to himself mostly.

Diego: FBI Agent.

Barry Allen or Sebastian Smythe: Singer, Forensic scientist and Student

Danny: Hockey Player.

Mickey

Ian

Chelsea

Ben

Deran

Andrew

Jughead.

Jay

Thomas

Stiles

Ethan

Derek

Theo

Liam Dunbar

Corey

Mason

Pol. Student.

Buck: Firefighter. 

Ricky

Carlos

Aria

Marley Or Kara 

Chris

Moose:

Cami:

Sean or Eddie:

Andie:

Blaine Anderson:

[laramccullough1-blog]

Pop Music In America

Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell feels that the present music scene is ailing and believes that his band's first new album in sixteen years could also be just what the doctor ordered. But for all the different ways black culture is flexing its affect within the trendy pop sphere, as ever, pop's utilitarian center remains caucasian. The singles that make their way into historically white spaces still mostly relegate black artists to a featured credit in the event that they're included in any respect. Notice that Put up Malone, G-Eazy, and Machine Gun Kelly have labored their means into heavy rotation as lead artists while Quavo, SZA, and 21 Savage solely cross over as friends on songs that tend to gentrify black stylistic parts into snowblind oblivion. The week HUMBLE." hit #1 on the Sizzling one hundred, it did not even crack Billboard's Mainstream Prime 40 chart , which tracks high-forty radio airplay. The identical scenario occurred with Unhealthy And Boujee" — you couldn't escape it, besides by tuning to a pop radio station. Khuri sees the disappearance of dissent in music from a singular position. His Palestine-American upbringing (his mother and father are Palestinian refugees who emigrated to the United States from Lebanon) informs the band's lyrics. However Khuri also has an academic's understanding of politics. He graduated from Harvard's Kennedy School of Authorities with a master's, and his wife worked within the Obama White House as a speechwriter. But within the final couple of years, this framework has been nearly fully dismantled, owing in large part to the widespread adoption of streaming. What have been once regarded merely as pop subgenres — Okay-pop, Latin lure, melodic hip-hop and extra — have grow to be the center of the dialog.

In music of this type we discover not solely essentially the most good show of technic, however an ever growing feeling for musical beauty. Allied to this was a rudimentary taste for real looking results, taking form in an attempt to echo the sounds of nature and of human life, at first purely imitative, as in Gombert's musical imitation of hen calls and Jannequin's well-known Bataille de Marignan," and afterward extra inventive, as in Luca Marenzio's lovely madrigal, Scaldava il sol," with its chirping grasshoppers, or his still more beautiful Strider faceva," with its imitation of shepherd's pipes, or the quite a few cuckoo" items by English composers, in which the chicken's cry is used as a particular musical motive with admirable impact. Listeners love a superb Pop song and radio loves to play them. Whether you want to pitch your songs to established artists in the Pop discipline or sing them yourself, writing a modern Pop Music, business Pop song with hit-single appeal means writing a song that listeners can determine with and radio will want to play. Media and TELEVISION reveals like Star Search are partly guilty for brainwashing the general public to overvalue superficial elements (for instance, a performer's seems to be and operatic vocals) somewhat than high quality of music. I can't see them signing a younger Cat Stevens or Joni Mitchell in the present day and giving such an artist an investment in money and time. They appear to be targeted on finding the subsequent Taylor Swift or Justin Beiber. I used to be born in 1997 so I can't converse solely to pop music from before my time, however I am able to take heed to it. And I do assume that pop music, while nonetheless basically the same in the 70s and 80s, was objectively higher again then than it is at present. I believe it is extra natural and less studio pushed, although studios have been undoubtedly a serious part of the music industry for the reason that 1950s actually. I also think listening to people play music and principally writing their own songs is much more genuine than listening to adolescent models sing the identical four chords to a music they did not write that has been edited drastically. Expertise has driven numerous music to be extra generic and formulaic. Nevertheless it's also performed a number of good for the business by opening up tons of latest potentialities. In an unguarded interview with New York Magazine , Jones, eighty four, known as The Beatles "no-playing motherfers", accused Jackson of plagiarism, and stated trendy pop music producers were "lazy and grasping". Within the late Fifties, a new blues type emerged on Chicago's West Facet pioneered by Magic Sam , Buddy Man and Otis Rush on Cobra Information 99 The "West Side sound" had robust rhythmic help from a rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums and as perfected by Guy, Freddie King , Magic Slim and Luther Allison was dominated by amplified electrical lead guitar. 100 one zero one Expressive guitar solos were a key function of this music. So you simply discovered that your favorite pop act does not share your politics, or that they've stated something hateful a couple of marginalized group of individuals, or that they've a historical past of sexual misconduct, or that they've a history of bodily abuse, or that they've a historical past of each, or all the above. The genre that put New York Metropolis on the map. For every Moldy Peaches, there were 1,000,000 Elefants, The Fevers, and stellastarrs. Briefly the musicians of New York Metropolis felt the anticipatory ecstasy of residing in Seattle in the 90s. Then we went again to tending bar. Because the bands on this genre turned an increasing number of fashionable, the time period eventually widened to additionally embody every main-label rock group it was OK to not actively hate. Music of the 1950's reflected the beginnings of major social adjustments on the earth and within the US, particularly. Rock 'n' Roll, R&B, and traditional pop dominated the charts while radio and tv connected the nation in our musical tastes and exposed the nation to a better variety of artists and styles. Some of the first major superstars of music emerged from this decade with individuals like Elvis Presley dominating the airwaves and the minds of younger ladies. For those who play acoustic rhythm guitar, take heed to guitar-pushed hits by John Mayer, The Script, or Phillip Phillips. Play together with the recording till you can comfortably play the rhythm by yourself, then write to it. Or check out the current Top 20 Pop hits or High 20 Adult Contemporary hits for grooves you possibly can recreate on guitar or keyboard.

Hadiq Kiani made her debut in Adnan Sami& Zeba Bakhtiar starrer "Sargam" in 1995 which became an exceptional hit and the music album of the movie was a chartbuster in Lollywood High 10 (PTV), Yeh Hai Filmi Dunya (NTM) and FM channels. However Hadiqa continued her music profession extra as a pop artist as a substitute of a play again. Her albums "Raaz, Rung and Roshni" offered thousands and thousands and made her an ultimate feminine pop star after Nazia Hassan. In 1997, Hadiqa grew to become the second worldwide female singer on the earth to be signed by Pepsi Pakistan. A lot of the experience listening to music — gospel and in any other case — is feeling it, catching the spirit. Earlier than Franklin starts the title track, the Rev. James Cleveland asks for a witness. Then Franklin takes over. It is simply her voice, the reverend on piano and a testomony to the extraordinary: I used to be blind, and now I see. The experience of its overwhelming you occurs whether or not a survey of music folks deems it canonical. But when canons are being shaped and published, why not embody this one alongside the standard suspects — your Sgt. Pepper's" and Rubber Soul" and Freeway 61 Revisited" and Pet Sounds"? Wonderful Grace" is a landmark, too. You do not want a listing to inform you that. God knows. But that is not fairly enough.