#not recommended / 2000 hours on record

[unpretty]

my brother found an old hard drive and salvaged all the files from it to give my mom, so she's spent hours now sifting through old shit from the family computer in the 2000s. there's a bunch of wav files in the 'recordings' folder that seem like they got corrupted now so it's just beeps in the tenor of speech and occasionally warped non-voices. she found a folder called 'from internet' with a bunch of mystery audio files with weird generated names and one with a woman's name. she inadvisably opened the one with a woman's name and it started playing high, garbled, haunting singing.

i recommended not bothering to open the rest because ??? that computer was from when my brother and i were teenagers and we were all sharing one computer. god knows what you're going to find. the best case scenario is more creepypasta shit.

mom opened the next one anyway.

it was a three second fart sound.

she started opening the rest of them one by one.

all fart sounds.

[bit-odd-innit]

Fic: Somewhere That’s Green

[based on a post I made about Eddie’s future]

It’s a hole in the wall just off the main drag, the kind of place you can’t find unless you know to look. In a previous life it had been a pizzeria, which explained the bright green vinyl awning Eddie had no intention of replacing. He’d kept the pick-up window, too, used it to host “office hours.” (“Office hours” was supposed to mean “deliver personalized music recommendations to interested passers-by.” Now it means “help harried, double-parked parents reschedule music lessons.”) 

He’d also kept the apartment upstairs. They have a house now—a nice one, with a wrap-around porch and a big backyard and a cluster of hedges Steve always insists are “a mess”���but when Eddie trips into an inventory hole and loses track of time, it’s nice to have a place to crash. If it’s not a school night sometimes Steve joins him, and they’ll relive the halcyon days of their early twenties, buoyed by cheap beer, diner curly fries, and giddy infatuation. (The infatuation has only grown and flourished even as his tolerance for salty food has withered. Acid reflux is a bitch.)

He’s happy they kept the apartment. He happy knowing that if someone needs it—someone scared, broke, desperate for a lifeline and a scrap of no-strings-attached kindness—it’s something he can provide. 

Initial plans had been to focus on music, just music. It was supposed to be the utopic all-metal record store of Eddie’s nightmares.  But as he started to build stock, he remembered how hard it had been to find merch for the things he liked. How a pin or a patch or poster he’d dug up at a garage sale four towns over made him feel more seen than anything on offer at the local mini-mall. How he wanted to be a hub for the weird shit not everyone liked, but the people who did loved. His horrible little magpie brain fluttered from shiny thing to shiny thing, and by the time opening day rolled around the store was a one-stop shop for all things music, merch and whatever wacky knick-knacks tickled Eddie’s fancy. Or horrified Steve. Or both. Both was best.

The Corroded Coffin guys slotted in easily. Francis always liked doing promo for their gigs, was good at it, too. But by the early 2000s, his methods were apparently so outdated his daughter begged to let her take over. (“He’s stapling fliers to telephone poles, Uncle Eddie. You don’t even have a website.”  

“What is a telephone pole covered in fliers if not the working man’s web-ed site?”

“Oh my God give me your credit card I’m buying you a domain name.”

“A what?”)

Jeff got his CPA and took over the financials, reeling Eddie in whenever he was struck by the urge to make a impulsive, outlandish purchase. (“I genuinely don’t understand how you make money.” 

“It’s cause I don’t do my taxes.”

“I do your taxes. At a great personal expense.”) 

Gareth was instrumental (heh…) in building up the music program—soundproofing the basement and hiring instructors and coordinating concerts and organizing payment plans, all the nitty-gritty non-music stuff that made Eddie’s head spin. At some point it just made the most sense for Eddie to cede control, let him operate it however he saw fit. (“This is your baby, dude. It’s a baby that took form within my own, much larger baby. But it’s yours.”

“I’m touched by your words and appalled by your phrasing.”

“That’s the only way I could have said it.”) 

(Gareth also once described the store as an “Elevated Hot Topic.” Eddie still hasn’t decided when he’s going to kick his ass.)


Momentum grew. Ideas compounded ideas. A kid asked how to sew a patch to his backpack and it snowballed into the Build Your Own Battlevest Workshop. Wayne suggested knocking out the connecting wall between the walk-in freezer and the pantry, and now thrice weekly Eddie runs table-top games for varying age-sets and skill-levels. (At Steve’s request, the elementary school group is called H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS FIRE CLUB. Not because he thinks it needs to be censored. He just thinks it’s funny.)  (He’s right.)

It was supposed to be a record store but now it’s so much more. Now there are listening parties and movie screenings and little league teams with his store’s name on the back of their jerseys and and and—

Eddie used to think, if he got lucky, he’d last a year. Now he’s closing in on 30. He was profiled by the local newspaper. They called him “a pillar of the community.”

Wild. 

It’s a warm, sunny April morning. He’s sitting at the takeout window, sipping coffee from the bottom half of a teapot-teacup combo that reads, in a menacing blood-red font, THIS FREAK DRINKS TEA. His hair is gathered in a loose braid, the ends still damp from his post-run shower. (Sometime in their mid-thirties Steve tricked him into maintaining a consistent cardio routine, and now he’s the type of person who gets out of bed at the crack of dawn to knock out an “easy three.” He’s a monster, a husk of his former self. A husk with a much-improved lung capacity and thighs that can juice a watermelon but nonetheless HUSK.) The middle school is about a half mile from the shop; he pulls faces at all the students filtering past. (Steve’s kids, current and former, refer to Eddie exclusively as Mr. Munson’s Husband. It never fails to thrill him.)

He’s leaning back to flip the record piping through the store’s speakers (“Dustin I don’t care if it’s ‘easier’ to ‘create a Spotify account,’ whatever that means. We play vinyl only! Let me be pretentious about this one thing!”) when he hears a meek, polite cough coming from just beneath the window. He peers out and on the sidewalk stands a girl. She’s small, too little to be one of Steve’s. She clutches the strap of her backpack, blue eyes huge with nerves and determination. 

“Hail and well met, weary traveler!” He’s speaking in what Steve calls his Dork Voice, the slightly tuned-down version he uses to put shy kids at ease. “How might I be of assistance?” The girl purses her lips, sets her shoulders, shakes her shaggy bangs out of her face. Eddie thinks suddenly of Nancy and Robin and his heart clenches.

“Do you like games?” She asks.

He smiles softly. Drops the act. “Yeah.” He rests his scarred cheek in the cradle of his palm. “I like games. Do you like games?”

The dam breaks.

“Yes!” She replies at once, breathless with enthusiasm. “My family plays a lot of board games, like Game of Life and Monopoly, and they’re okay but kind of boring, but my brother taught me how to play Settlers of Catan and I really liked that, and my friends and I played Werewolf at a sleepover but we made up a bunch of extra rules to make it harder, and my cousin showed me this video game where the ending changes based on what choices you make and that’s so cool—”

“Alright, slugger.” Eddie can’t help but laugh. “What game are you looking to play?”

The girl collects herself. “Okay,” she says. “Okay, so. So I like it in games where there are rules, but also you can make stuff up? And you can do something weird that might ruin everything but also might pay off? And sometimes you have to work with other people to accomplish your goal, but alliances can break?” Eddie nods. “So there’s this one game. It sounds like so much fun, but nobody I know plays it. They play it on this show I like, well, okay, it’s not really a show, it’s, uh, okay do you know what a podcast is?” Eddie beams.

Steve swapped study hall coverage so he could pop in for lunch. Tonight is parent-teacher conferences, which means Steve’ll be home late, which means Eddie will get absorbed in a project and either crash upstairs or stumble home well after Steve’s gone to bed, which means they’ve got to snatch the time together they can get. They split a sandwich, a salmon burger from Costco Eddie threw in the air fryer and smashed up with avocado and grilled poblano pepper. (”It’s heart healthy!” “You’re heart healthy.” “Aw.” “I meant that as an insult.” “I’m not taking it as one, mwah mwah mwah.”) Eddie eats too fast, as he often does, and drags his nails over the veins of Steve’s forearm to distract himself from his gastrointestinal tract turning inside out.

“🎶Myyyy babyyyy myyyyyy babyyyyyy,” he hums against the shell of Steve’s ear. “You’reeee my babyyyyy sayyyy it to meeeeee🎶.” “Alright,” he huffs, tapping his fingers to the knobby bone of Eddie’s wrist. He presses a kiss to the underside of Eddie’s jaw and rises. “I gotta get back.” He slings his messenger bag over his shoulder, gathers the papers he’d promised he’d grade but didn’t. Eddie watches him readjust, watches him smooth down the salt-and-pepper hairs dusting his temples, watches him push his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He catches Eddie watching and asks, slyly, “What?”

Eddie wants to say, I love you. He wants to say, you’ve made me happier than I ever thought I could be. He wants to say, I’m so grateful I built this life with you. 

But he’s still himself, so what he says is, “Those khakis make your ass look great.”

Steve scoffs, and with a bitchy eye roll he sinks his weight onto his back foot and says, “I KNOW,” and there he is. There’s the man he married. He looks over his shoulder before he leaves, his honey-warm eyes liquifying Eddie’s spine.

“Hey,” he murmurs. “I love you too.” Eddie kisses him and kisses him and kisses him.  Pretty good life. 

[dadvans]

missing language.

if livejournal posts were still real. this would be it.

i started learning japanese when i was 11 years old, around early summer 2000, from my aunt from okinawa. she would practice with me in the gazebo when she and my uncle would come to visit for family reunions in the midwest, and would continue to buy me tapes, movies, CDs to start learning the language.

my school district was one of the lowest in the country growing up. we had a prestigious japanese immersion charter school, and after a disastrous middle school year, i ended up applying and being accepted. grades four to twelve. each year we were in different (sometimes abandoned or condemned) buildings up until halfway through my freshman year. despite occupying abandoned churches and gymnasiums, we had the highest test scores, and most exclusive college acceptance rates in oregon. it was either that good or that bad. we all hated each other the way family hates each other.

i won my division three years running for the oregon japanese speech contest through my ninth grade year.

i moved to japan two days after my sixteenth birthday. the year and a half that followed was not easy. i had a host family for a period of time that constantly kicked me out, starved me, and found other families for me to live with. i had another family where the host dad tried to molest me twice by taking me to remote locations. when i became fluent, really fluent, around the 6 to 8 month mark (long after i passed the JLPT 3 at the time, which is now closer to JLPT 2), after months of isolating myself in the computers at class to speak english to abroad friends for an hour a day, i told my japanese school friends, and they were horrified. they stepped up in ways i never knew. it wasn't usual for someone to be so forthcoming, and yet they all recognized it as an extreme circumstance, invited me into their inner circle. my home room teachers took notice and would take me out for lunch. my host family situation was codename ONI BABA, and even another family that eventually took me in would refer to her as such, when i asked if i could borrow her koto for a public concert (yeah, the one instrument it turns out i'm a prodigy at is okoto. Played my first concert at a local Obon festival within a week of starting. Talk to me about how Hana Kage is a fucking bitch. this version of 回転木馬 was what i was performing after a year. if you can find my old livejournal account, i guarantee there is a really terrible version recorded on my motorola razr still live).

by the time i was seventeen i was allowed to be on payroll to act as a translator for a month-long "jan-term" project with my mom in japan, where we took about 13 students across the main land. back at my american school i was writing all my essays in japanese, in the style i had been taught in japan (it was WILD to relearn how to rewrite english essays when living abroad-- that shit does NOT translate sometimes).

i went to college. i was immediately accepted into the higher ed programs my school provided. they were working toward offering a major, but only had a minor present. i signed on for level 300 with 8 other students.

the professor hated me. that is the nicest word for it. she would have typos on her quizzes. she would make fun of my hokkaido accent. but the worst part was when i was sexually assaulted by one of the other 8 students in the class, went to her during office hours to request that she not pair me with that student out of fear, and then she proceeded to exclusively pair me with that student on projects.

i was also learning i had a learning disability, but the student union health center refused to directly prescribe me medication for my disability, or refer my outwards--what happened instead was i was put on a prescription that had not been recommended outside of extreme epilepsy (carbamezapine), and when i expressed my fear that it was resurfacing suicidal tendencies, the doctor in charge doubled the dosage and encourage me to kill myself.

it was an ordeal. it was an ordeal that i documented. it was an ordeal that by spring 2008, i was accused of cheating on a test i got less than 30% on because i was so fucking out of it by a woman who would only partner me with a man who had sexually abused me. and when i confronted her about it on tape, with a medical transcript of what i had endured for the past year, i have a recording of her saying, "I don't need a piece of paper to tell me that you have problems."

Anyway, she went on sabbatical to adopt a kid the next year. Idiot sex pest remained in my classes, but god, he really sucked. I had to leave through most of my 400-level classes because I was working a lot. Most of my classes were essentially unpaid labor where we were translating books and providing subtitles for movies that were ready for American distribution. Half of my classmates my second year were born in Japan and spoke Japanese better than English but were able to cop out a foreign language credit, and they were honestly my favorite friends in the class, even if that's a steep fucking grading curve. Asshole teacher appeared once my spring semester, but knowing she took the year off, I actually completed my minor degree my sophomore year in early 2009.

And then I never really spoke Japanese again.

And it's hard. Whenever I'm introduced to media, I'm like, god, I forgot that. I remember that. I knew that, once upon a time. I remember conversations in English that weren't in English. And I remember when I was in my senior year of High School, I would be speaking Japanese and forget that I was speaking Japanese, that sometimes no one else except my teacher or friend who were equally fluent understood too. I miss that feeling. I feel shame, sometimes, at letting it go. I know I still have the pronunciation and local dialect, but it's hard to be reminded of how much I forgot.

When I started learning first, very close to when I was still fluent, Indonesian, and more recently, French, my backup language in my head has always been Japanese instead of English. My wife used to tell me I had a Japanese accent when I would try to speak French (fun fact: one of my friends in Japan was learning French and spoke zero English, and only then did I understand the horror of French phonetics), and it took me literally over a month of quietly practicing my R's in my car when I would get home from work for her to be like, oh you sound like a regular Anglo (read: white boy trying so hard and yet).

Whenever I get back into the mindset of becoming fluent in French (mandatory!), and restart the journey from where I left off these past years, I ache something fierce and weird for my Japanese. It is, surface level, a sense of failure. I couldn't hold onto you, I wouldn't have known how to try. There were obstacles. There were so many bad memories. And yet, sometimes I will be in bed with my wife, and she will be watching a Japanese show, and I will be like, "Did he really say that?" and she will say, "Oh God, I forgot that you knew Japanese."

Some things are bone deep and will probably never go away. I guess I'm still in mourning for the language that I lost as I continue to learn a new language. I want to be better, I know I can be better this time! And yet, I'm afraid that every step forward, I'll lose what I have of my second language identity. I have already lost so much.

[theygotlost]

I figured just giving a litany of band names and saying "theyre really good dude trust me" with no further info wont encourage anyone to actually check them out so I've carefully selected a few of my favorite "niche" albums to recommend with a little write up so you can decide if you'd be interested 😁 or you can pelt me with rocks thats cool too

Now Hear This by Sumack (2000)

A mostly indie rock/power pop record with that distinct Y2K-era brand of Quirkiness that I love so dearly. I think of it as a fusion of Fountains of Wayne's Traffic and Weather and Beck's Odelay. it's hard to believe I only found out about this album 6 months ago because it feels like I've been listening to it for years. Regarding Saturday and Superdome are the real standout tracks.

Swim Out Past the Breakers by Telethon

Telethon's concept album The Grand Spontanean is a harder sell due to its length so this is the more accessible pick. I admit their body of work does get bit samey after a while, but they channel everything I love most about this upbeat style of power pop/pop punk and I gladly eat it up.

Sand (And Other Mysteries) by OK Glass (2021)

Every once in a while someone will recommend me an artist because "they sound like They Might Be Giants" but I haven't heard anything else that sounded THIS much like TMBG. it's uncanny to me how perfectly they capture the essence of TMBG's 2000s/early 2010s era. I feel bad comparing them to another band so heavily but, as John Linnell once said, I'm Impressed.

The Chinchilla Album by Uncle Outrage (2008)

Hooray electroclash!!! this band is chaotic, abrasive, and irreverent but each track is mercifully short. rather MSI-adjacent (for better or worse) but with a crunchier, scrappier production. some dumb fun for when I want the audio equivalent of sour skittles.

note: these two aren't nearly as niche as the others which I didnt realize until I double checked the stream numbers after writing this but whatever I still love them and I will tell people about them every opportunity I get !

Dangerous Jumps by Shredders (2017)

A side collab between rappers P.O.S and Sims with producer Lazerbeak, all members of the hip hop collective Doomtree. infectiously catchy, polished beats and energetic flows. I especially reccommend if you like Run the Jewels. check out the rest of the Shredders discography as well as the solo artists' and Doomtree's work, all of it's amazing!!

The Swimming Hour by Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire (2001)

Andrew Bird's solo work is far from obscure, but lesser known are the three albums released under this name at the beginning of his career. this quickly became one of my favorite albums ever after discovering it just a year and a half ago, and it's another one that feels like it's been with me forever. A wonderful tableau of twangy folk blues, haunting ballads, and the orchestral sound of a bygone era.

[yalocalfanficaddict]

Dumping Music Headcannons Cause Nobody Can Stop Me (BakuSquad)

Bakugou:

You can't tell me that this bitch doesn't listen to Megan Thee Stallion when he commutes to his Agency or when he's working out.

He would totally replace the pronouns when listening to Her.

Bakugou always played Megan's music through his headphones. But one time, Kaminari and Ashido were stopped at a red light beside him and secretly recorded Bakugou vibing out to Thot Shit via speakers.

He listens to some sappy songs when relaxing in the comfort of his own home but tell everyone that he listens to rap.

Bakugou would be the person to blast rap in public places just to prove it.

Kaminari:

Electric Love - BØRNs, Lovers Rock - TV Girl, Marlboro Nights - Lonely God, Honeypie - JAWNY, Everybody Talks - Neon Trees, Bubble Pop Electric - Gwen Stefani, Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood, Touch You - YBC...need I go on???

Anything Indie, Pop, or Soft Rock (Or combo of such).

Probably listens to some Hyper Pop with Mina.

Has had a Mother Mother/Marina/Arctic Monkeys/Gorilliaz phase.

Always bothers Bakugou when Dynamite by BTS plays.

One of the best people to go to for music recommendations.

Because of his vast music taste, he usually nerds out with Jirou while knowing absolutely NOTHING about instruments.

Tried picking up guitar to show off said vast taste, but it hurt his fingers too much.

Kirishima:

listens to anything from the 90s and later. "Because it was the most manliest music era,"

When cooking Kirishima listens to Micheal Bublé even though he was mostly 2000's music.

Was obsessed over Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy in middle school. (And Queen songs in general)

Has a whole playlist dedicated to songs from musicals

Sings Put Your Head On My Shoulder by Paul Anka in the shower.

Listens to rap on occasion, but not the inappropriate ones. "Because it's unmanly to disrespect someone's body via music."

Sero:

Vibes to literally everything.

Everyone asks why he likes songs that are written in languages he doesn't know and he just says: "I just think they're neat"

Any hype song out there, he listens and blasts it to hype of his besties.

Secretly a Camellia Cabello stan.

You always know where he is in the dorms cause he obnoxiously singing to his music.

Has spent HOURS in the bathroom with Kaminari doing K-Pop dances in the mirror while playing the music wayyy too loud.

Ashido:

Hyper Pop playlists that goes on for MILES.

Will forever stand Doja Cat and will cuss you out if you diss her.

Tried to teach Bakugou the Body x Bring It Back dance when she found out he liked Megan Thee Stallion.

Is obsessed with Photo ID by Remi Wolf.

Sad music? Don't know her!

Knows so many body positivity songs that its scary...

Jirou:

God of music.

Was the cause of Kaminari's phases.

There's an occasion, Jirou's got the music for it.

Really into Scene Queen and CORPSE.

Tries to unlearn her hatred for certain Pop genre's.

When on road trips, she's always in charge of music. (For fairness and everyone else's sake)

Won't dance in any party. Instead, she plugs her earphone jacks to the speaker to listen louder.

Even during school/work hours, she tries to sneak AirPods or something to listen to music in secret.

[patrickjonesblog]

Top Albums of 2023

Hey, how ya doing? I got sick the last week of 2023 when I intended to write this so here I am in 2024 looking back on some of my favorite long players last year.

I saw so many of my favorite acts in 2023, it was probably the best live music year ever. So much so I spent what felt like a whole morning creating a "reel" on "instagram". The fruits of which you can watch here.

Enough about live music though, this is about wonderful studio recordings, so here's what's made the long list and then we'll kick straight into the top 10 with accompanying videos.

16 - Romy - Mid Air

15- Jessie Ware - That! Feels! Good!

14- Gracie Abrams - Good Riddance

13 - Lana Del Rey - Did you know there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd?

12 - Bombay Bicycle Club - My Big Day

11 - The Bug Club - Rare Birds: Hour of Song

10 - Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy

If you haven't seen Young Fathers Glastonbury set in 2023, I recommend you do so after you've read this blog. Gutted they cancelled their brooklyn show, but I hope to catch it this year.

9 - Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

Caroline Polacheck is the closest we've got to Kate Bush in 2023, the detail she puts into her visuals and the choreography of her performances, its high art. The track below isn't on the album, but it was the moment I realized her brilliance.

8 - Gorillaz - Cracker Island

This felt like an under the radar release from Gorillaz, at least here in the states. It's the first time Albarn has worked with Greg Kurstin (Adele, Mccartney, Kendrick) and you can hear his influence as it's a bit more poppy than previous releases.

7 - Jeff Rosenstock - Hellmode

If you've read any of my blogs over the past decade you will have seen a lot of appearances from US Punk / Ska legend Jeff. The reason being; he doesn't make bad records.

6 - Sleaford Mods - UK Grim

How do you follow 2021's career highlight Spare Ribs? With more of the same, that's how. 12 albums in to their career now and they're still gathering pace. Blistering, acerbic, hilarious as ever.

5 - The Hives - The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons

The first new music from The Hives in 11 years and they return with a literal bang. This album is as good as anything they came out with when they first charmed their way onto the scene in the early 2000's. The bellies may be podgier, Pelle's kicks aren't as high, but the riffs are as spritely as ever. Still one of the greatest live bands around.

4 - Blur - Ballad of Darren

I always get a bit anxious about a new blur album, they don't have to release new music, they have a back catalog that guarantees them legend status already. Releasing new music risks tainting that legacy so far into their career. I needn't worry, Ballad of Darren is a beautiful record with a legitimate brand new stadium filling anthem to add to their repertoire.

3 - Olivia Rodrigo - GUTS

Bit of a surprise this one, maybe more for me than you dear reader. I didn't get the fuss of the first album (still don't) it sounded like any one of a million young pop darlings. But GUTS is different, it's eclectic, it's beautifully written, it tears at your heart, it raises your fists, it makes you dance. It has everything really. She's the real deal. It's objectively not made for a 42 year old man, but great music is great music and I bloody love this.

2 - Jenny Lewis - Joy'All

It was a tough call between this and Olivia, but i've given it to Jenny for the 20+ years experience she has on the young upstart. Jenny Lewis is maturing into a fine groove, she's replaced Ryan Adams as a much more palletable country-folk spot in my heart. Her songwriting continues to get better with age.

1 - The National - First Two Pages of Frankenstein | Laugh Track

Stadium filling, Taylor Swift collaborating, David Letterman approved super band The National. It's a wild trajectory my favorite band has taken over the last few years. No longer critically acclaimed everyones favorite unheard of band, they're rightly at the upper table of indie-rock and its fully deserved. Not satisfied with releasing one beautiful record this year they follow it up soon after with the surprise Laugh Track an equally brilliant album in its own right. Most bands would kill to have one record this good in their whole career, its frankly not fair they can do two this good in a year. A joint number one for me as I can't separate them.

There you have it, 2023 all wrapped up, full of BIG acts with a smattering of newbies thrown in for good measure and probably the most female representation I've had in an end of year list.

You can hear these and LOADS more in my 2023 playlist.

And if you like any of this and trust my judgement follow my 2024 playlist which I curate throughout the year adding newly released tracks.

Aaaaaand away...

[dustedmagazine]

Boldy James & RichGains — Indiana Jones (Self-released)

Boldy James loves to make single producer records. He makes them like there’s no tomorrow. His new one with RichGains feels different: it’s the same Boldy but with a new twist.

In an interview, the Detroit MC said that he prefers working with The Alchemist but is ready to work with any producer who will match his style. Given how much publicity (and streams) his records generate, Boldy is definitely a sought-for artist. Cuns, Futurewave, RealBadMan, The Alchemist, to name just a recent few, all singlehandedly produced music for him with varying degree of success. They all were short, sweet and very dark.

RichGains is lesser known but he has worked with Boldy James before back in 2016. Indiana Jones is a welcome change of pace for Boldy. Instead of short tracks, RichGains goes for longer ones, uses a lot of sung choruses by guest artists and live instruments. The whole tape feels like it was recorded back in the early 2000s but has only surfaced now. Boldy reminisces here about his old drug dealing days:

You don't want these, this ain't what you recommend Remember nights no sleep, couldn't catch a rhythm Now everything AMG kitted on the Benzes

Another leitmotif is the difference between the streets then and now. In “8 Days” he rhymes: “I was already the man before my fans ever knew me \ Hundred thou' platinum and ice, hundred bands in the Louie \ This the soundtrack to my life, no advance for the movie.”

The tape is almost an hour long, and with Boldy’s more relaxed than usual flow it reminds you a drive through a desert in the night. The beats and the artist’s voice both have a dreamy feel, lulling the listener but never letting him go to sleep. Usually, when Boldy’s rapping he spits out what he has to say quick and off he goes on to the next track. Here, he is no rush at all: “Babysitting all these bricks I think I need a nanny \ Lost a plug, went MIA I found one in Miami.” And he never sounded so good over guitar riffing.

Ray Garraty

[goingdowntocowtown]

Untitled, by David Wojnarowicz, 1990.

Below the read more:

Felix, June 5, 1994, by AA Bronson, 2000

"I made this photograph of Felix a few hours after his death. He is arranged to receive visitors, and his favourite objects are gathered about him: his television remote control, his tape-recorder, and his cigarettes. Felix suffered from extreme wasting, and at the time of his death his eyes could not be closed: there was not enough flesh left on the bone.Felix and Jorge and I lived and worked together from 1969 until 1994. This communal life ended when Jorge died of AIDS on February 3, 1994. Felix followed shortly after, on June 5, 1994.”

The artwork is below a read more because it does feature a dead body. However, it is one of my favourite pieces of art, and the piece of AIDS-related art I find the most moving. I recommend viewing it.

“Unfinished Painting” — Keith Haring

This painting was left intentionally incomplete. Haring began it when he was dying due to complications from AIDS, and knew he didn’t have much time left. The piece represents the incomplete lives of him and many others, lost to AIDS during the crisis.

“AIDS Memorial Quilt” — Multiple

This quilt is over 50 tons heavy, and one of, if not the, largest pieces of community folk art. Many people who died of AIDS did not receive funerals, due to social stigma and many funeral homes refusing to handle the deceased’s remains, so this was one of the only ways their lives could be celebrated. Each panel was created recognition of someone who died due to AIDS, typically by that person’s loved ones.

“Untitled” — Felix Gonzalez-Torres

This pile of candy weighs the same amount as an average adult man. Visitors are encouraged to take some of the candy. As they do so, the pile of candy weighs less and less. This is a commentary on how AIDS deteriorates the body of those who have it, as Gonzalez-Torres’ partner, Ross Laycock, had died due to AIDS-related complications that same year.

The SF Gay Men's Chorus

This photo was taken in 1993. The men in white are the surviving original members. Every man in black is standing in for an original member who lost their lives to AIDS.

“Electric Fan (Feel it Motherfuckers); Only Unclaimed Item from the Stephen Earabino Estate, 1997” — John Boskovich

After the death of his lover, Stephen Earabino, from AIDS, Boskovich discovered that his family had completely cleared his room, including Boskovich’s own possessions, save for this fan. An entire person, existence and relationship had been erased, just like so many lives during the AIDS crisis. Boskovich encased the fan in Plexiglass, but added cutouts so that its air may be felt by the viewer, almost like an exhalation. In a sense, restoring Earabino’s breath.

“Blue” — Derek Jarman

This was Jarman’s final feature film, released four months before his death from AIDS-related complications. These complications had left him visually impaired, able to only see in shades of blue. This film consists of a single shot of a saturated blue color, as the soundtrack to the film described Jarman’s life through narration, intercut with the adventures of Blue, a humanization of the color blue. The film's final moments consist of a set of repeated names: “John. Daniel. Howard. Graham. Terry. Paul". These are the names of former lovers and friends of Jarman who had died due to AIDS.

“Untitled” (Perfect Lovers) — Felix Gonzalez-Torres

Created by the same man who created the previous untitled piece, this piece was also inspired by his lover’s deterioration and death due to AIDS. This piece consists of two perfectly alike clocks. Over the course of time, one of the clocks will fall out of sync with the other.

In a letter written to his lover about the piece, before his lover’s passing, Gonzalez-Tourres wrote, “Don't be afraid of the clocks, they are our time, the time has been so generous to us. We imprinted time with the sweet taste of victory. We conquered fate by meeting at a certain time in a certain space. We are a product of the time, therefore we give back credit were it is due: time. We are synchronized, now forever. I love you.”

Please feel free to reblog with more additions

[markwatkinsconsumerguide]

Consumer Guide / No.133 / DJ David Hamilton with Mark Watkins.

MW: What’s your new book called and what’s it about?

DH: It's about the long and winding road from the farm where I grew up and where I broadcast from now, and all the places in between. 

| Austin Macauley Publishers UK

MW: Why do you think you’ve lasted so long in the “music game"?

DH: Ive been lucky that the right opportunities came up at the right time, including the launch of Boom Radio during lockdown.

MW: 1976 - how did your Hot-Shots LP come about?

DH: It was a compilation album of Records Of The Week on my BBC Radio 1 show, which I called Hamilton`s Hot-Shots. It was a Top 20 album at the time compilation albums were allowed in the charts.

MW: 1977 - how did it feel to be at the height of your charismatic powers with networked afternoon show on Radios 1 & 2, plus TV work presenting on Seaside Special & Top Of The Pops...

DH: Probably the most exciting time of my career. Very few programmes were simultaneously on Radio 1 and Radio 2, certainly not daily ones.

MW: Describe a typical day presenting on Radios 1 & 2…

DH: Didn't really do a lot of prep. Rocked up at the studio about half an hour before airtime and ad-libbed it all.

MW: To your knowledge, did any Radio 1 DJ’s date any of the Top Of The Pops dancers?

DH: The producers didn't like that, so none to my knowledge.

MW: What did you enjoy most about time on 210, the least? In hindsight, do you regret joining and not staying on at Radio 2, hoping for programming changes there i.e "more Madonna less Mantovani?!"   

DH: I had to leave Radio 2 because the music had become so awful and 210 gave me the chance to play the music of the day that everyone wanted to hear. Knowing what happened to stations like 210 in the future, I probably wouldn't have made that move but it was an example of a very well run local radio station.

MW:  As a top broadcaster, across decades, many radio stations, how do you feel about sticking to playlists?

DH: I don't like narrow playlists. They're repetitive and boring. Luckily, at Boom Radio we have over 15,000 songs and I do have some input.

MW:  What was so special about 210’s Keith Butler?

DH: Keith became a good friend. We had lots of laughs together. I recommended him to the bosses at Capital Radio. They gave him overnights. He was worth a lot more than that and should have been a top jock on a top station.

MW:  In the 90s you presented ‘All Clued Up’ for TVS Television, and those lit letters...

DH: That's right... the big catchphrase on 'All Clued Up 'was, The Stinger!

MW: Is it true you used to write for a football magazine? 

DH: Yes, it was Soccer Star. I wrote for them while I was still at school. I never really liked comics so growing-up bought Soccer Star and Football Monthly.

MW: Which football team is top of your League Ladders…and why?

DH: It was actually Shoot! that tended to have the League Ladders. Fulham is my team. I was a director in the 70s and match day MC in the 90s and 2000`s.

MW: What position did you play for the Radio 1 football team?

DH: I was a raiding winger. John Peel and I were the only ones interested in football at the radio station.

MW: Tell me about your connection with Jenny Lee-Wright, of Benny Hill, Generation Game and Whodunnit fame?

DH: She was the girlfriend of Rocky Taylor, the stuntman, who played football with me in the Showbiz X1.

MW:  Finally, let's get bang up-to-date with your current activities, weekdays, on Boom Radio…

DH: Yes, I'm broadcasting from home, Monday to Friday, Noon-2pm.

Boom Radio (boomradiouk.com)

Welcome - David Hamilton

David Hamilton's Hot Shots | Facebook

(c) Mark Watkins / July 2024

[one-vivid-judgment]

What're your favorite dramas? What would you recommend to watch?

Ooooh, big question! 

I haven't watched that many dramas compared to other people, but I'd say I know my way around the block. Most of them have been Thai BLs + 2 straight dramas (one of which was a K-Drama, actually) + a GL I'm currently watching aka 23.5

For more lighthearted, wholesome vibes, My School President is the one I'll ALWAYS recommend. It's my favorite, and I think it's perfect to introduce yourself to the world of Thai BL! The music is absolutely great, it's mostly a comedy but there are some touching moments too, and although there IS romance and that's a very important point, I'd say it's more about the main friend group's journey. Their friendship is still the most realistic one I've ever seen in a drama. 

For something more on the spicy™ side of things, Love in the Air is solid. Just... some of the themes are VERY delicate (I'm specifically talking about one of the characters having VERY SEVERE trauma from being in an incredibly abusive relationship + being raped by his boyfriend's friends). 

For something more dramatic, The Eclipse and Moonlight Chicken are very good! They touch on very serious topics, like homophobia, suicide, loss and the mental health struggles that come with it, the treatment of disabled people (in Moonlight Chicken, one of the boys from the secondary couple is deaf, and even though the actor says almost nothing the whole series, he's absolutely PHENOMENAL at making you feel things), growing up in a poor family. The Eclipse in particular made me cry HARD. They DO have happy endings though! I was also watching A Tale of Thousand Stars, which was pretty on theme for this category, but put it on hold and I haven't finished it yet. 

For something more fantasy-like, I've watched Vice Versa and Hotel del Luna. I didn't really like the latter though; even though it started out great and IU is GREAT at her role, it started to drag hard past the midway point and you could tell some scenes were made longer and filmed from EVERY angle just to fill in an hour and a half of episode runtime. I watched the last three episodes on double the speed just to get it over with. 

Vice Versa is pretty good though! I thought the body switching thing would get confusing, but it was surprisingly easy to follow! And, again, there is a big focus on friendship that I always appreciate along with the romance. 

I didn't know where to include this, but I gotta say: Mama Gogo is MAD underrated. 

It's about a former 2000s pop star who left the spotlight after she got pregnant, and now in her 40s, she's kicked her husband out of the house, her daughter hates her, she's to her neck in debt and her job doesn't even remotely pay the bills, not to mention she's constantly being harrassed by debt collectors. Meanwhile, her former bandmate is rich, successful and has her own makeup brand. Things happen and she ends up becoming the manager of male strip club. I know how it may sound (though yes, there IS a lot of fanservice and the actors appear almost naked onscreen A LOT) BUT I SWEAR THAT'S NOT WHY I LIKE IT 😭😭 There are a lot of legitimately funny moments, and when you think everything's gonna be like that BAM, they hit you with the drama: one of the guys is a single dad and when his ex-wife finds out he works as a stripper she tries to get custody of the daughter, another one gets in a VERY weird relationship with an older woman, another has a legit criminal record. I thought the characters were gonna be flat as hell, but BOY, WAS I WRONG. Also, the music is great too. 

So, yeah, I'd say that about covers it! Oh, and if you like GLs, please do watch 23.5! It just started yesterday but it's already the loser lesbian representation I've always craved 😭

[murkymisc]

Record #112: LCD Soundsystem - american dream (2017)

I like this record but its nowhere near the level of their 2000s output. While some tracks like oh baby and tonite are standouts in their discography, others like change yr mind and emotional haircut are some of the worst material the band has produced. And the album is way too long for its own good. I'm fine with lcd making longer tracks, their previous 2 albums were both an hour long with 9 tracks each so its not unheard of, but 80 minutes spread over 10 decently monotonous tracks gets exhausting. I do highly recommend oh baby but the rest of the album is a mixed bag for me. 6/10

[bit-odd-innit]

It’s a hole in the wall just off the main drag, the kind of place you can’t find unless you know to look. In a previous life it had been a pizzeria, which explained the bright green vinyl awning Eddie had no intention of replacing. He’d also kept the pick-up window in order to host “office hours” whenever he remembered to do that. (He’d conceived “office hours” as a way to deliver personalized music recommendations to interested passers-by. Now it’s mainly a means to help harried, double-parked parents reschedule music lessons.) 

He’d kept the apartment upstairs, too. They have a house now—a nice one, with a wrap-around porch and a big backyard and a cluster of hedges Steve always insists are “a mess”—but when Eddie loses track of time while trapped in an inventory hole it’s nice to have place to crash. If it’s not a school night sometimes Steve joins him, and they’ll relive the halcyon days of their early twenties, buoyed by cheap beer, diner curly fries, and giddy infatuation. (The infatuation has grown and flourished even as his tolerance for salty food has withered. Acid reflux is a bitch.)

He’s happy they kept the apartment. He happy knowing that if someone needs it—someone scared, broke, desperate for a lifeline and a scrap of no-strings-attached kindness—it’s something he can provide. 

Initial plans had been to focus on music, just music. Eddie’s original vision was to create the utopic all-metal record store of his nightmares.  But as they started to build stock he remembered how hard it had been to find merch for the things he liked. How a pin or a patch or poster he’d dug up at a garage sale four towns over made him feel more seen than anything on offer at the local mini-mall. How he wanted to be a hub for the weird shit not everyone liked, but the people who did loved. His horrible little magpie brain fluttered from shiny thing to shiny thing so by the time they opened it was a one stop shop for all things music, merch and whatever wacky knick-knacks tickled Eddie’s fancy. Or horrified Steve. Or both. Both was best.

The Corroded Coffin guys slotted in easily. Francis always liked doing promo for their gigs but by the early 2000s his methods were apparently so outdated his daughter begged him to let her take over. (“He’s stapling fliers to telephone poles, Uncle Eddie. You don’t even have a website.”  

“What is a telephone pole covered in fliers if not the working man’s web-ed site?”

“Oh my God give me your credit card I’m buying you a domain name.”

“A what?”)

Jeff got his CPA and took over the financials, reeling Eddie in whenever he was struck by the urge to make a staggering, outlandish purchase. (“I genuinely don’t understand how you make money.” 

“It’s cause I don’t do my taxes.”

“I do your taxes. At a great personal expense.”) 

Gareth was instrumental (heh…) in building up the music program—soundproofing the basement and hiring instructors and coordinating concerts and organizing payment plans, all the nitty-gritty non-music stuff that made Eddie’s head spin. At some point it just made the most sense for Eddie to cede control, let him operate it however he saw fit. (“This is your baby, dude. It’s a baby that took form within my own, much larger baby. But it’s yours.”

“I’m touched by your words and appalled by your phrasing.”

“That’s the only way I could have said it.”) 

(Gareth also once described the store as an “Elevated Hot Topic.” Eddie still hasn’t decided when he’s going to kick his ass.)

Listen I love rock star Eddie and author Eddie and voice actor Eddie and TikToker Eddie and Generally Beloved and Acclaimed in his Field Celebrity Eddie but I also follow this tiny metal record store on Instagram and all of their posts are the same photo of their storefront with captions like “the store is currently open” or “the store is currently closed” and in my heart of hearts this is the future I want for Eddie Munson.

[oldsalempost-blog]

The Old Salem Post

Our  Local Tamassee-Salem SC Area News each Monday except holidays                                          Contact: theoldsalempost@gmail.com                              Distributed to local businesses, town hall, library.                                            Volume 7 Issue 26                                                                                                  Week of July 10, 2023                https://www.tumblr.com/settings/blog/oldsalempost-blog                                                         Lynne Martin Publishing

EDITOR:  If you care at all about your tax dollars, the next multimillion dollar school consolidation, and trying to prevent our Tamassee-Salem Elementary school from closing, now is the time, probably past time, to rally against the Oconee School Board of Trustees.  TSE is on the chopping block along with Keowee Elementary to consolidate.  Older schools are often  not maintained as they should be in order to give a good reason to close the school.  WGOG radio reports that the Board has seen very little opposition according to their website, where you need to access to give your opinion.   I feel people are best represented when they rally peacefully in massive numbers, and use the media to present the side that is unheard. LRMartin  

Town of SALEM:  Need Softball and Soccer players all ages! Sign up at the SalemTown Hall.  944-2819              

Jottings from Jeannie:  Time to Enjoy Kitty Cats   It would be just terrible to only have one pet and to have to decide between a cat or a dog.   I love them both.  Mama wouldn't let us have cats in the house, but then I married into a CAT family and fell madly in love with a succession of kitties.  I wasn't there, but "they" say that cats were domesticated 5,000 year ago.  Ancient customs and folktales record love between kitties and kids all over the world.   News to Me! If you meet a kitty with the tip of his left  ear cut off, that identifies a kitty who is feral (wild).  Kind folks have trapped, neutered, and vaccinated this kitty, and then let it go so it could roam the countryside catching mice.  I once tried to make friends with such a kitty, but he would not cooperate! He did stop by for a dish of milk every so often.  Miz Jeannie loves you!  Take time to cuddle your kitties and fix them a little dish of melted ice cream!

JOCASSEE VALLEY BREWING COMPANY,(JVBC) & COFFEE SHOP 13412 N Hwy 11 Open  Wed–Sat-Sat 8am-9pm. Sun: 12pm-7pm.  Events this week: Thurs: Old Time Jam 6:30pm. Fri– Food: RadDads at 5pm  Music: LUKE DEUCE at 6:30pm.  Sat–Food: IRON PIG Music: DOGDAY BLUEJAY at 6:30pm.  Sun 12pm-7pm Food: Lobster Dogs.  Music: Cornbread Heads 4pm.  Coffee shop features Pisgah Coffee Roasters and Dough-Dough pastries. More information 864-873-0048   PAINT & PINT or SIP ART CLASS: Paint a local landscape.   Sept 7. 6pm. $$45 Preregister. 864-873-0048

TAMASSEE DAR AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM:  Sign up beginning July 3 for the Tamassee DAR Afterschool program that begins August 3.  Call 864-944-1390   for more details.                                                

Health & Recycle Tip : Freeze fresh water in a recycled plastic water or soda bottle to grab and take along with you on a short trip to town. Or, place many frozen ones in your cooler for a long trip.  It will keep you other foods cold along the way.  Drink the fresh cold water as it melts.  LRM                                                Conservation Corner:  Un-tethered growth has a cost:  Traffic, over crowdedness of once serene areas, need for additional services in law enforcement and emergency services, and loss of community…To Be Coninued ...E Martin                                                                                    

Have you ever heard?:  Sprinkling grits over a fire ant bed is supposed to get rid of those red hot heaping mounds of ants.  Placing a shiny penny in a ziplock bag filled with water and nailing it above your door entrance or windows is supposed to detour flies from entering.  

DID YOU KNOW?  If you are retired from Duke Energy and you are volunteer for community projects,  Duke Energy  will match your volunteer hours by donating $10 for each hour, up to $2000  a year to a nonprofit of your choice.  

QUOTE this week by Joyce Meyer:  If you are busy trying to change people you are too busy to allow how God is changing you.

(Adult )MOVIE RECOMMENDATION:  A Christian friend recommended we all need go to the movies to see  Sound of Freedom.  

DAR SCHOOL STUDENT FROM 1942-46 RECALLS EXPERIENCES - (Fifteenth Installment of Pauline Kelley Cannon's Memoir). . .On December 13th of our 10th grade year, Maggie's boyfriend, Leroy, came home on furlough, and he and Mama came to New Jersey Cottage and carried Maggie home. They did not come to see me. After they left, Mr. Cain told me Maggie and Leroy were getting married and she would not be returning to school. . .It really upset me that they didn't come to see me and tell me what they were doing and let me say goodbye to Maggie. I wrote Maggie and Leroy a letter to let them know how I felt about the situation, and Leroy wrote and told me that was the best reprimand he had ever gotten. I also wrote to Mama and let her know just how I felt. . .I was heartbroken and felt so alone. I had not seen any of the family except Maggie since early spring, as I had worked all summer to pay my tuition. But I talked to the Lord and soon got over it. . .MY 11TH GRADE (SENIOR) YEAR, Mr. Dupree was our class sponsor. That year seemed to fly by at breakneck speed. . .For our last prom we decorated the dining hall again, and it seemed even more beautiful than it was for the first one. Ernest was again my date, of course. . .Everyone had a wonderful time dancing and reminiscing about our school years. I don't remember all the menu for our meal, but I do remember we had brick ice cream for dessert. It was so delicious. . .My uncle, James Broome, and his band provided the music for the dancing. . .After it was over we had to clean up the dining hall and put it back in proper order. We were so tired after that, we were ready for bed.--TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK

                                     EAGLES NEST ART CENTER                                    501c3

Located 4 Eagle Lane, Salem SC 29676  DHEC kitchen available & rentals                                                                                                                      

INDOOR YARD SALE at ENAC  Friday, July 14, 1pm-6pm and Saturday July 15, 8am-1pm.  Please call  or 864-280-1258 if you want to rent a table for $5/day.                                                                                                                          OCONEE MOUNTAIN OPRY:  July 15, 2023 at 7pm-9pm we will hold our 4th Oconee Mountain Opry featuring Spaulding McIntosh, Amelia Hawke, and The Waterkickers.  Tickets are $10 at the door, the day of the event. or online.                

TALENT SHOWCASE:  August 12th.  This will be a fun evening to show off your talents on stage.  Please sign up by July 30th.  Please call 864-944-2490  or email eaglesnestartcenter@gmail.com.                                                                               

*****The T-S Class of 1978  is having their 45th Class Reunion at ENAC, July 28,  6pm-8pm. Come visit us!******

                                              CHURCH NEWS                                                                                                                                                                               Salem Seventh-Day Adventist Church:  Join us for Vacation Bible School Sunday July 16 from 1-4pm. Theme: The Creator Is My Friend/What Do You Feel? Featuring “The Critter Keeper.” Ages 4-14 years. Children under 4 years must be accompanied by an adult. Come dressed for water play and bring a towel. See you soon!

CHILDHOOD PRAYER:   God is Great! God is Good! Let us thank Him for our food! By Your Hands we are fed. Give us Lord our Daily Bread!   Amen                                                                                                                                                  I missed you! Glad to be back this week! Lynne R Martin                        

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.10 (after 1900)

1921 – Belfast's Bloody Sunday occurs with 20 killings, at least 100 wounded and 200 homes destroyed during rioting and gun battles in Belfast, Northern Ireland. 1925 – Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called "Monkey Trial" begins of John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act. 1927 – Kevin O'Higgins TD, Vice-President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State is assassinated by the IRA. 1938 – Howard Hughes begins a 91-hour airplane flight around the world that will set a new record. 1940 – World War II: The Vichy government is established in France. 1940 – World War II: Six days before Adolf Hitler issues his Directive 16 to the combined Wehrmacht armed forces for Operation Sea Lion, the Kanalkampf shipping attacks against British maritime convoys begin, in the leadup to initiating the Battle of Britain. 1941 – Jedwabne pogrom: Massacre of Polish Jews living in and near the village of Jedwabne. 1942 – World War II: An American pilot spots a downed, intact Mitsubishi A6M Zero on Akutan Island (the "Akutan Zero") that the US Navy uses to learn the aircraft's flight characteristics. 1943 – World War II: Operation Husky begins in Sicily. 1947 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah is recommended as the first Governor-General of Pakistan by the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee. 1951 – Korean War: Armistice negotiations begin at Kaesong. 1962 – Telstar, the world's first communications satellite, is launched into orbit. 1966 – The Chicago Freedom Movement, co-founded by Martin Luther King Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago. As many as 60,000 people attend. 1973 – The Bahamas gain full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations. 1974 – an EgyptAir Tupolev Tu-154 stalls and crashes at Cairo International Airport, killing all six people on board. 1976 – Four mercenaries (one American and three British) are executed in Angola following the Luanda Trial. 1978 – President Moktar Ould Daddah of Mauritania is ousted in a bloodless coup d'état. 1985 – The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents, killing Fernando Pereira. 1985 – An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154 stalls and crashes near Uchkuduk, Uzbekistan (then part of the Soviet Union), killing all 200 people on board in the USSR's worst-ever airline disaster. 1991 – The South African cricket team is readmitted into the International Cricket Council following the end of Apartheid. 1991 – Boris Yeltsin takes office as the first elected President of Russia. 1992 – In Miami, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering violations. 1997 – In London, scientists report the findings of the DNA analysis of a Neanderthal skeleton which supports the "out of Africa theory" of human evolution, placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. 1997 – Miguel Ángel Blanco, a member of Partido Popular (Spain), is kidnapped (and later murdered) in the Basque city of Ermua by ETA members, sparking widespread protests. 1998 – Catholic Church sexual abuse cases: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by Rudolph Kos, a former priest. 2000 – EADS, the world's second-largest aerospace group is formed by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DASA, and CASA. 2000 – Bashar al-Assad succeeds his father Hafez al-Assad as President of Syria. 2007 – Erden Eruç begins the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world. 2011 – Russian cruise ship Bulgaria sinks in Volga near Syukeyevo, Tatarstan, causing 122 deaths. 2012 – The Episcopal Church USA allows same-sex marriage. 2016 – Portugal defeats France in the UEFA Euro 2016 Final to win their first European title. 2019 – The last Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the line in Puebla, Mexico. The last of 5,961 "Special Edition" cars will be exhibited in a museum.

[tsaaroacademy]

Mastering Privacy: CIPP/US Online Training & Certification Excellence in the USA

What is CIPP/US Certification?

For privateness specialists working in the American personal sector, there is a certification referred to as Certified Information Privacy Professional United States (CIPP/US). It is considered as the worldwide benchmark for privateness experts in the U.S. non-public sector. Individuals must pass by an examination to get certified, which verifies their information of U.S. privateness legal guidelines and policies as properly as their comprehension of the felony standards for moral transmission of facts between the U.S., the European Union, and different jurisdictions. A CIPP/US credential, supported by using ANSI/ISO accreditation, suggests that you have a complete grasp of U.S. privateness legal guidelines and regulations, which improves your incomes conceivable and will increase your possibilities of promotion.

By acquiring CIPP/US coaching and realistic experience, data protection gurus can enhance the safety measures inside their firms and develop their expert careers. The certification is a critical enterprise preferred amongst pinnacle employers when you consider that it is extensively recounted as the worldwide gold trendy for privateness professionals in the U.S. non-public sector.

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The regular size of the CIPP/US coaching programme is three days of on-line instruction, or a whole 26 hours. This entails instructor-led instruction, classes for clarifying questions, a one of a kind “how to crack the exam” session, and a dialogue session on the questions themselves. Additionally, there are instances set apart for Records of Processing Activities (ROPA) and Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA).

To join in the CIPP/US coaching programme, no prior information is required. The direction covers a range of studying objectives, such as perception the American criminal system’s method to defending privacy, the effect of GDPR guidelines on American privateness practises, the want to file statistics breaches, restrictions on information series and utilization in the non-public sector and get right of entry to to non-public region facts by way of courts and the government.

The International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), a nonprofit organisation hooked up in 2000, offers the CIPP/US accreditation. By providing a discussion board for learning, networking, and spreading cognizance of privateness administration challenges, regularly occurring practises, and new traits in data privacy, the IAPP seeks to improve the privateness occupation globally.

Obtaining the CIPP/US certification can be especially recommended for privateness professionals. Here are some motives why it is well worth pursuing:

The CIPP/US certification is broadly acknowledged and revered in privacy. It signifies that an character possesses a complete grasp of U.S. privateness legal guidelines and regulations, which can beautify their expert credibility and open new possibilities for profession advancement.

This information is fantastically valued by firms that deal with non-public information, as privateness and safety records are more and more necessary worries for businesses.

It positions them as certified and succesful persons who can navigate the complexities of U.S. privateness legal guidelines and successfully control privateness risks. This can lead to promotions, accelerated incomes potential, and larger job security.

The certification affords entry to a neighborhood of privateness specialists who have additionally bought the CIPP/US credential. This community affords treasured knowledge-sharing opportunities, expert development, and collaboration on privacy-related issues.

Privacy legal guidelines and guidelines constantly evolve, and corporations should remain compliant to keep away from prison and reputational risks. The CIPP/US certification equips experts with the understanding and abilities to navigate these adjustments effectively, making sure that organizations adhere to the brand new privateness requirements.

While the CIPP/US certification focuses on U.S. privateness laws, its global consciousness permits gurus to practice their know-how in international contexts. It demonstrates an individual’s dedication to privateness satisfactory practices and can be positive for groups with worldwide operations or these that deal with cross-border records transfers.

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Can You Actually Induce Labor at Home? We Asked an Ob-Gyn

You're past your due date and desperate to get this baby out of you. You want to be safe, of course, but you've heard enough stories about how people have naturally induced labor at home - "My mom ate pineapple and I popped out a day later!" - that you're determined to try something. But is it safe to induce labor at home? And do any of the old home remedies for naturally inducing labor actually work? There are certain things you can do to increase uterine contractions, says Radhika Sharma, MD, an ob-gyn at Maven Clinic. But she warns that there are side effects with some of these options. "What's important is that you have spoken with your doctor about inducing labor and also that you are at full term [after 39 weeks]," Dr. Sharma says. Before you try to break your own water (which, for the record, is not recommended to do at home before you're in labor), Dr. Sharma weighs in on whether several common methods of naturally inducing labor actually work. Oh, and in case you were wondering: overconsumption of pineapple juice can lead to electrolyte imbalance and dehydration - but not labor. Sorry, Mom! The information in this article is not medical advice. You should always consult your doctor regarding matters pertaining to your health and before starting any type of medical treatment. Can you Naturally Induce Labor With Castor Oil? There's so evidence that castor oil can work. One very small study of 103 people from 2000 found that pregnant people who drink a single oral dose of castor oil (60 mL) had an increased likelihood of initiation of labor within 24 hours. A 2018 study of 81 people with low-risk, post-term pregnancies also found that castor oil helped induce labor. But it's hard to extrapolate much from small studies, and the castor oil method comes with a cost. "Castor oil can result in significant abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, nausea, and even vomiting," Dr. Sharma says. One 2013 review of three studies, involving 233 people, found that all of the participants who took castor oil felt nauseous. Can You Naturally Induce Labor With Sex? Sexual intercourse has also been touted as being effective at inducing labor, as semen contains prostaglandins, substances that help soften the cervix and stimulate contractions, reports Healthline. Oxytocin - the "love hormone" that the body releases during intimate moments - also regulates contractions, Dr. Sharma says. (In fact, pitocin, a medicine commonly used to induce labor at the hospital, is a synthetic form of oxytocin.) But a 2019 review involving 1,483 people found there isn't enough evidence to prove sex can induce labor. If you're not already in labor, it's unlikely that sex will help prompt your body to get going. You can still ask your doctor if it's safe to give it a try, but Dr. Sharma warns that sex can increase irritation to the cervix and side effects can include spotting or even bleeding - so definitely ask. Can You Naturally Induce Labor With Nipple Stimulation? Stimulating nipples can release oxytocin, too. But Dr. Sharma says nipple stimulation - while fun - may not be sufficient enough to induce labor naturally. Can You Naturally Induce Labor With Exercise? "Increasing your walking and rolling your pelvis gently on an exercise ball are two ways that can help with inducing labor," Dr. Sharma says. "But what is extremely important to prepare for labor is to eat and drink normally, and also to work on stretching to prepare your body for the difficult work of labor." It's especially important to stay hydrated as you approach (and sometimes pass) your due date, as Dr. Sharma says dehydration can cause contractions without cervical change. Ultimately, Dr. Sharma recommends patience. "When your body is ready to go into labor, it will," she says. "Sometimes, it is best to allow your body to have this happen naturally, as hard as it is to wait." https://www.popsugar.com/family/how-to-induce-labor-naturally-49195031?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr