#physical releases are just better. the liner notes? covers?

[vimbry]

how much music have you pirated

nice try, john flansburgh

[ajoytobeheld]

An Update

July 21st, 2011

Hello there,

It’s me, Gareth.

I thought I’d write a blog post to let you know what the haps are at the moment, as those of you who follow us on any one of a MILLION social networking sites that I type shit on, will likely be aware that our new album is all but finished and we’re very excited about it.

I know that a lot of people get frustrated during the period of time between an album being declared “finished” and the album’s actual release, so I thought I’d let you know what’s going on at the moment.

Right now, our main man and sound guru, Tom is exchanging final mixes with producer John Goodmanson, pruning every last note and drum hit to make sure every song sounds as perfect as it can.

“I think the lead guitar line treads over the vocal a little bit there, maybe pan it right rather than down the center”

All stuff like that that I’m nowhere near intelligent enough to hear without prompting. It’s so exciting hearing newer and newer mixes and the songs becoming bigger and better. Perhaps it’s presumptuous to think everyone will know what’s meant by mixing, so, without wanting to patronise:

Recording: being in a studio, playing the songs. Recording what’s played.

Mixing: putting everything that’s been recorded together. Making sure every part is at the right volume, making sure it sits nicely in the speakers or yr headphones or doesn’t sound too terrible when you decide to play it through YOUR SHITTY TINNY MACBOOK SPEAKERS. Ahem.

Next comes mastering, next week in fact. But even after recording and releasing as much music as we have, I still really don’t understand that. I generally just chip in with “make the gap between songs 3 and 4 half a second longer, maybe, idk?”.

So by the time of mastering, we’ll have nailed a final tracklisting, something which seems so close but is so important that it’s really hard to finally settle on something. And that’s why I would never dream of listening to an album on shuffle. They’re in that order for a reason, y’know?

This is one of my favourite parts of being in a band, though. I love writing the songs down in order, looking at how the songtitles look written next to eachother, and what story the titles alone can tell. Thinking how the narrative will develop across an album, and where the curveballs will come.

As this goes on, so does artwork. This doesn’t just mean cover art, but liner notes aswell. We’ve always taken great pride in our artwork and making sure our records are something worth owning physical copies of. This is the first time I’m handwriting the lyrics. It’s such a personal record that it seems completely appropriate/necessary.

In the meantime, we’re also working out Pre-Order Bundles. Stuff for you ‘normies’ and extra-special, exclusive stuff for Heat Rash members. A band like ours wants/needs as many people to pre-order the album as possible, so we’re trying to come up with stuff that you’d be silly to miss out on.

What sort of things do you want in a pre-order? What would you be excited by?

Oh and there are music videos and things to think about. A particularly troublesome matter, but one that will hopefully fall into place easily.

And then, of course, we have to be able to play the album live. We’re particularly looking forward to this. The songs are so massive and powerful on record, and I can’t even begin to imagine how much damage we could do with them live. Comewhat November (which is when the album’ll be released, and when we’ll be playing some proper (ie, non-festival) gigs) we’ll be a band with 4 records under our belts. It’s gonna be such a challenge to work out what to play. I hope we’ll be able to play much more varied sets, and I also hope we’ll have the balls to relegate some early-career set staples to the substitutes’ bench. This record is where we are now, as musicians, and as human beings, and I cannot wait for us to be able to present it to you.

Well, that’s quite a rambling post, but I thought some of you might like to be kept in the loop.

If you’ve any Qs (reasonable ones, obv) relating to this sort of stuff, feel free to stick ‘em below.

ATB (All The Best),

Gareth

ps. OH YEH, HEAT RASH UPDATE: as is probably clear, our commitments to recording an album/completing an album/playing festivals has slowed HR issue #2 down a little, but it really is very close to being finished, and I’m really proud of it. It’s a lot more focused than the first issue, the songs are wonderful and interesting undertakings and the written content is, I’d say, more personal and meaty. Thanks for your patience.

[whump-a-la-mode]

Nemesis - Part 7

At what point does a story go from being a Whump fic to being a weird mystery short story? I’m not sure, but I really feel like I’m toeing the line here. For more directly whumpy stuff, check out my Villainsicle or Signal series ^^

Votes were tied this time around, and I ended up making the final call, as I felt there was better argument given for it. Thus, Villain chooses option B: Don’t trust Hero, attempt escape. Thanks to everyone who voted!

CW//Drugged whumpee, confusion, panic, injuries, ransom notes, kidnapping, death threats, restraints

There was a haunting quality to Villain’s eyes, in the way they looked at Hero.

For the briefest moment, Hero felt to be something beyond reality-- a deity, a ghost, something that should not have been able to be seen. That was the way in which Villain regarded them.

Their hand gripped Hero’s, fingers grasping as tightly as they could manage which trembling and twitching.

Hero felt that they should say something, do something. Some kind of witty one-liner, some great speech. But they found their mouth devoid of words, and thus, they only smiled.

Villain frowned. Their eyes widened.

The brief moment of peace the two had shared was shattered in a moment. For a second, Villain seemed to forget how their limbs were meant to work, instead flailing across the closet, slamming their back into the wall. Shaking hands struggled with the knot behind their head, finally succeeding in freeing it and tossing the gag across the room.

They panted, wide, unblinking eyes staring at the floor. Mouth the slightest bit open-- lip trembling.

Before Hero could think, however, they were already moving again. Terrified gaze lifting to Hero, before their body seemed to respond, moving into the best defensive pose they could manage, fingers digging into the blankets below. Shaking lips pulling back to reveal bared teeth, brows furrowing.

“You... Hero...”

“Yes.” Hero did their best to keep their voice calm, level, hoping to inspire the same within Villain. “Yes, it’s me.”

Their attempts were in vain. Villain’s voice shook terribly:

“Why are you doing this to me? I- I thought we- I thought you- I want to go home!”

Hero could feel their own throat quaking, though for an entirely different reason.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s-”

“I didn’t want to see the stupid fucking thing anyways! I wasn’t even looking for it! I just want to go, please, please, I need to go! I want to go home!”

There was no time for Hero to answer with words-- with a speed that startled them enough to knock them onto their back, Villain launched themself from the closet, struggling to their feet and lurching unsteadily across the dorm.

Hero leapt to their feet in turn, attempting to chase their nemesis, only for their path to be cut off by a flying Teammate. Their faster cohort landed atop the fleeing Villain, pinning their shoulders down and quickly restraining their legs in similar fashion. At the same time, Villain cried out, pleas muffled by the carpet.

It was a pathetic display, enough so that Hero felt a pit form in their stomach. But Villain wasn’t in their right mind-- this was for their own good.

That was what Head Doctor had thought, too.

But this was different.

They expected Villain’s struggles to quickly die down, but such did not come to pass; instead, their kicking grew more and more panicked, more desperate, as though they were drowning. A desperate search for air.

Physicality-wise, there was no contest between Villain and Teammate, sedatives or not. They had no difficulty holding them down. Hero began to inch closer, ready to once again attempt to calm their nemesis into sleep. That was what they needed, right now. Rest. Recovery.

Unfortunately, Villain did not seem to agree.

Hero only made it a step or two before Teammate was screaming-- a sound accompanied by their body, flung across the room like a ragdoll, leaving behind a sizable hole in the plaster.

The pit in Hero’s stomach quickly filled with a horrible chill.

How could they have forgot-

They had no time to finish their thought, the rain of telekinetically-thrown objects taking their attention instead. A mug struck them in the back, breaking and erupting a hiss from their lips. They shook their head, trying to bring their attention back, but Villain already had all the distraction they needed.

After a few flailing attempts, they got their feet underneath them, bolting forth. Hero lurched after them, but their nemesis had too much of a head start. They were too fast, too scared, too goddamn clever.

Villain flung open the door, skidding to a stop with such force that they fell backwards.

“Hero?”

Hero’s heart sunk. Could Leader have picked a worse time to come back?

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 

Leader was not the type of person for hugs. They were far too prickly for that, refusing to let anyone get too close, in the physical sense or otherwise.

This, however, must have been an exception. Hero could hardly breathe as their team leader wrapped their arms around them, practically squeezing the air out of them. From behind the display, Teammate’s jaw dropped.

“You have no idea how worried I was!” Leader spoke, exasperated, not releasing their grip.

“Worried?” Hero gasped. “I can’t- I can’t breathe.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Leader released them, backing off a step.

Hero made a quick check of the office; Leader’s office, where they had ushered them to. Specifically, they glanced to the corner where Villain sat. After their telekinetic stunt, they had quickly tired out, leaving them covered with a blanket and muttering, leaned up against the wall.

“Of course I was worried about you!” Leader continued. “We all were. Everyone is out there, right now, looking for you. You could have called, or texted, or anything! Oh, god, Hero, I was worried sick.”

“L-Looking for me?” Hero questioned again. “I was only gone one night.”

“And thank goodness for that.” Leader moved to their desk. “Let’s take a seat. I think you have a lot to explain.”

They nodded, and sat opposite the team leader. Teammate quickly joined them in an adjacent seat.

“So...” Leader hummed. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“What?”

“I want to know what happened.”

“I just left for the night.” Hero raised a brow. “I do that all the time.”

Leader blinked.

“Well, usually, you aren’t being kidnapped?”

“Kidnapped?”

“You weren’t?”

“No? Why would I be kidnapped? What- Leader, what is going on with you?”

“What is going on with you?”

“I wasn’t kidnapped.”

Another confused blink. Leader dug in a pocket, producing their phone. They tapped around it a moment before sliding it across the desk.

Hero picked it up. A picture. A screenshot of an email.

An email without a sender.

“Dear Citizens,

I must say, it is impressive how dedicated your protectors were at their attempts at so-called ‘reform.’ More impressively, they managed to hold me for a year. I sure hope you have not forgotten me.

But, citizens, at long last, I am returning to be among you. And I wanted to have a welcome party, of sorts. Call it a game of hide and seek, if you will. Except, you will not only be looking for me.

One of your protectors, the one by the name of Hero, is currently in my custody. They are safe, for now, but whether or not they stay that way is entirely up to you.

You say you have eyes on the whole city? Let’s test that.

Of course, I want to give you a fair chance, just as you gave me. You kept me contained for 375 days. Thus, you have exactly 375 minutes to save your Hero. That’s just over six hours.

Fair, isn’t it? Just as fair as being locked up for a year of your life.

Your time starts now. I hope you will be quick, I have heard that drowning is a terrible way to die.

Sincerely, your dearest Villain”

Hero’s gritted teeth trembled.

“You escaped?” Leader guessed, taking their phone back.

“No.” Hero shook their head. “I was never kidnapped at all! Where is this from? This message?”

“It was sent out to every member of Organization. Just over... Just over 7 hours ago.”

Hero’s mouth gaped.

“You thought I was...”

“Dead, yes. They...” Leader’s gaze drifted to the corner, where Villain had begun to snore. “They didn’t write this, did they?”

“No. No, there’s no way.”

“How are you so sure?”

“They were with me the whole time, asleep.”

“They were with you?”

Hero nodded.

They wanted, so badly, to speak freely. To let spill every word they had been holding back, every detail of Villain’s captivity, of Head Doctor, of their rescue mission. But once they let that out of the bag, they couldn’t take it back. They knew that.

They had to wait. They had to be sure.

“What happened to them? Did they just, suddenly become your friend?”

“No. No, it’s not that. They’re not... not themself, right now.”

“You drugged them?”

“Well, it wasn’t me.”

Leader let out a pointed sigh.

“What are we going to do...” They placed their head in their hands. “Oh god, what are we going to do?”

“I-” Hero glanced again to their sleeping nemesis. “I assume they’ll be taken to the prison.”

“No.” Leader shook their head.

“No?”

“They’ll only go to the prison if we report this.”

Hero’s eyes widened. A look to Teammate revealed that their face held the same expression.

“You aren’t going to report this?”

Leader’s fingers drummed on their desk.

“Okay. Here, here’s what we’re going to do.” They breathed. “There’s no way we can hide you, and I don’t really see the point in it. I’ll tell everyone that you’re okay, that you escaped. As for Villain... We have a spare room.”

“I don’t understand.” Hero shook their head, dumbfounded. “We’re hiding Villain?”

“What, isn’t that what you wanted?”

“I mean, yes, but, I didn’t expect you to agree.”

Leader chewed the side of their cheek.

“Hero, I trust you. Teammate, you too. And Villain... I guess I don’t view them as a threat, at the very least. But beyond that? I don’t know who I can trust, right now. So we keep this between us. Until....”

“Until?”

“Until... I don’t know. Until I know what to do next.” They cast their gaze downwards. “Hero?”

“Mhm?”

“I knew. I knew Villain hadn’t kidnapped you.”

“I thought you said you thought I was dead?”

“I did. But not by Villain’s hand.”

“Then...”

Leader looked upwards, gaze seeming to stare through Hero. A somber gaze. An exhausted one.

“Hero, I talk to Director a lot. Never in person, never over the phone. But we write. We email, or, I mean, sometimes, they even send letters. They’re old-fashioned, like that.”

“What-”

“Let me finish. When you talk to someone that often, you get to know their style. The way they string their words together, the words they use. That email...” They bit their lip. “Villain did not write that email.”

“You thought that Director...”

Hero did not need to finish their sentence. Leader nodded, and they understood.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 

Whatever heating system controlled the floor, it must not have reached this room.

The thought came to Hero’s head as they wrapped a blanket around their shoulders, fighting back a shiver. They looked up, glad, at least, to see that Villain seemed to be comfortable in their pile of fabric. There were only so many blankets, and they needed them more.

The spare room was exactly as it sounded, an empty room without purpose. Barren of furniture, barren of everything except a thin carpet. And, now, a stake, hammered into the wall. Holding a chain that ended at Villain’s ankle.

The very thought of restraining them so made Hero feel awfully queasy, but out of everything, it was the only thing they could not argue Leader down from. Without knowledge of Villain’s current state, they still believed them to be dangerous.

Hero had been entrusted with ensuring that they stayed restrained. For a brief moment, they had considered an act of malicious compliance. Using a tiny, thin chain, or not connecting it to anything, or anything that would allow Villain to leave. To not truly chain them.

But... in some small part, they couldn’t help but agree with Leader. Villain was dangerous. Not because they wanted to be, but because they were scared. Confused. Awake.

Awake.

Villain was awake.

They raised their head, shifting the mountain of blankets in which they were wrapped. That confused, hazy look remained in their gaze for a moment-- before being replaced by another expression, one that made Hero’s heart skip a beat.

“Please!” The captive screamed. “Please! I’m trying, I’m trying, I want to go home. Please. Please don’t hurt me! No, no!”

The blankets around them restrained them for a minuscule moment, but they soon tore through the layers of fabric, throwing them about. 

The shackle stopped them quickly, sending them collapsing to hands and knees only a moment after they had managed to stand. they stayed like that, limbs shaking, fingertips growing blue from cold.

Holding them down would only terrify them more. Hero had learned that the hard way, and now Teammate had a nasty bruise to show for it.

No. Hero needed to do something they did not often do: They needed to be careful. Gentle.

Slowly, they crawled forward, stopping only next to their terrified nemesis. They placed a gentle hand on one of Villain’s, bringing it off the ground, encouraging them to sit down until they did so. Though their trembling was certainly derived from fear, they too seemed to be rapidly growing cold. Hero took one of the thicker blankets, draping it over their shoulders.

“Hey. Hey, Villain.”

“Please please please please.” They slurred under their breath.

“Villain? We’re friends now, okay? We’re friends.”

“No no no no no no.”

“You’re safe. You’re okay. You’re going to wake up, now. No one is going to make you go back to sleep. You’re waking up. It’s going to take a minute, okay? But I’ll be here the whole time.”

“Waking up...”

“Yeah. I know you’re confused right now, and scared. And that’s okay. But if you just relax, and let me help you, you’re going to be okay. You’re going to feel like yourself soon. It’s just going to take time. Until then, just let me take care of everything.”

“Take care of me...”

“Yeah. Yeah. How are you feeling? Do you want some water?”

Villain frowned.

“I lied...”

“What?”

“I lied. I lied. I lied. I am going to tell Hero. I lied.”

“Villain? Hey, hey. It’s okay. Look at me. Stay with me.”

“Director. Director. I know who you are. I lied. I am going to tell Hero.”

Hero gulped.

“I’m going to get you some water, Villain. Stay here, please. I’ll be right back.”

“Please please please please please please please ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ...”

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Thanks so much for reading! Just like last time, there are two options along with every part of this story. Alongside each options is a question, so that you guys can give more specific suggestions if you so wish. The option that receives the most votes will be the choice that our Hero makes!

A.) Go right to the source. Confront Director - What should Hero’s plan be?

B.) It’s too risky. Talk to someone else. - Who should Hero speak to? (Hacker, Leader, another member of Organization, etc)

[passionate-reply]

I swear, you get caught eating barbequed iguana once, and you absolutely never live it down. That’s what happened to Wall of Voodoo, who are known almost exclusively for their quirky novelty hit “Mexican Radio.” But the rest of the album it appeared on is surprisingly serious, and actually rather dark. Find out all about it by watching my video review, or reading the transcript below the break!

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! On today’s episode, I am once again diving into the realm of alleged “one hit wonders” who had a lot more going on than just one song. This time, it’s Wall of Voodoo, and their 1982 LP, Call of the West. It’s a shame, if you ask me, but most people who have heard anything at all by Wall of Voodoo know them for what is probably the least interesting song anywhere on this album: “Mexican Radio.”

Music: “Mexican Radio”

Get caught eating barbecued iguana once, and you never live it down, I suppose. “Mexican Radio” isn’t a terrible song, but I do think it’s the least effective expression of this album’s core themes on offer. As its title implies, Call of the West is a semi-concept album, focused around the mythic image of America and the Far West. It was actually Wall of Voodoo’s second LP--a followup to their 1981 debut, Dark Continent. Despite that title, it isn’t an album about Africa, but rather one that has a lot of thematic common ground with Call of the West: blue-collar angst, disaffected and brutal masculinities, and a whiff of things strange and surreal.

Music: “Two Minutes Till Lunch”

Aside from the themes, the basic musical structure of tracks like “Two Minutes Till Lunch” is reminiscent of the style of Call of the West as well: dense, clattering mechanical rhythms, ghoulish flourishes of harmonica, and frontman Stanard Ridgway’s unmistakable, dipthonged speak-singing, seemingly delivered exclusively through the side of his mouth at an odd angle. But Dark Continent is a bit harsher overall, with more of a foothold in the punk side of post-punk. Call of the West is an album in the full flush of New Wave: quirky, tongue-in-cheek, and not afraid to lay down a bit more synthesiser. While “Mexican Radio” reads as almost disposably gimmicky, like a musically competent novelty song, I think the other tracks on the album strike more of a balance between wicked irony and being unironically enjoyable.

Music: “Tomorrow”

“Tomorrow” is, by far, the track on this album that I think most deserves to have been its big hit single. Despite its privileged position as opening track, an affable, lightly electronic soundscape, and rather singable pop hookiness, it was actually never released as a single at all! I think “Tomorrow” does a great job at being something very fun, but also something a bit daring and artistic. It’s easy to love a sort of relatable, goofy song about procrastination, but its “apocalyptic” finish turns it into something a bit more profound. I think Call of the West shines even more once we get away from three-minute pop songs and into the album’s more atmospheric tracks.

Music: “Hands of Love”

While the heavy use of rhythm machines is a hallmark of the album overall, and stands out given its rarity on such an early and rock-oriented album, “Hands of Love” is probably the composition centered most tightly around the instrument. Aside from that, what I think always brings me back to this track is the vague, shadowy quality of its lyrics--some details are familiar, but the overall picture is hauntingly unnerving. Several tracks on Call of the West present the theme of loneliness and social isolation, toying with the American myths of rugged individualism and the empty expanse of the West. “They Don’t Want Me” tackles outright rejection by others in a direct manner, whereas the narrator of “Tomorrow” ruins their own relationships through fecklessness. “Mexican Radio,” of course, introduces a character so desperate for companionship that they seek it in a language they don’t even understand. But I think “Hands of Love” reigns supreme here, with its motif of hands losing their grip...perhaps losing their grip on reality.

Besides the loneliness resulting from the spread-apart American landscape, other tracks on the album address the lifestyles of the down and out--people who have put their faith in an “American Dream” of independence and self-reliance, but failed to achieve prosperity. We meet compulsive gamblers in “Lost Weekend,” a doomed secret agent in “Spy World,” and, on “Factory,” perhaps the album’s most riveting character of all: a factory labourer whose work has disabled him both physically and mentally.

Music: “Factory”

Like so many exploited workers in America, the narrator of “Factory” has no class consciousness, and seems unable to imagine a better or different life for himself, or strive for anything more than the banal comforts of consumerism. But he tells of a phantom itch in his missing thumb, which we might interpret as a metaphor for the vague, gnawing idea of other possibilities...particularly as he remarks that as a child, he was told he could be anything he wanted. The arrangement of this track buries Ridgway’s lead vocal to an extent, though never so much that we can’t make out its harrowing lyrics. I imagine it’s a representation of how suppressed the narrator’s internality and sense of self has become.

On the cover of Call of the West, we find a mysterious, crooked door, which is just slightly ajar, inviting us into this album’s strange world. It’s the only feature in a desolate red desert-scape, besides the outline of some bluffs against its horizon. It could be the landscape of Mars just as easily as it could the wide-open emptiness of the Far West. Just as the album’s title implies being welcomed or beckoned into the mythic West, the cover art is darkly inviting to the viewer.

While I don’t normally discuss the visual identity of albums outside of their front cover, I do want to make an exception for Call of the West, whose liner notes show the interior of the implied dwelling, decorated with a slew of peculiar trinkets: a taxidermied crocodile, a spilling bottle of liquor, a statue of a buffalo, and what appear to be antique slave shackles. There’s a lot of rich symbolism here, and I think it’s a beautiful addition to the album’s themes, but I never saw it until I owned this album on vinyl! In the age of digital music, we often lose some of these more complex touches when “album art” is reduced to a single square image, and that’s quite unfortunate.

Despite having a relative breakout hit, Call of the West would prove to be the final album Wall of Voodoo released with their original lineup. Frontman Stanard Ridgway would pursue a solo career, scoring a surprise hit in Germany with his 1986 single “Camouflage,” a ghost story set during the Vietnam War. He’s remained active as an independent artist through the 2010s. The rest of the band kept the name Wall of Voodoo alive for the remainder of the 1980s, replacing Ridgway with Andy Prieboy.

Music: “Camouflage”

My favourite track on Call of the West is its title track, which is the final track on the album. Like a lot of title tracks, it’s lengthy enough that you can really sink your teeth into it, and serves as a sort of summation of everything that’s happening throughout the album. It’s got cowboyish guitars, yipping coyotes, and a striking transition to a spoken-word bridge, which flows naturally from Ridgway’s unmannered vocal style. That’s all I have for today--thanks for listening!

Outro: “Call of the West”

[ddrayan]

Covid times in KL

A couple of weeks ago, I jumped on the COVID-19 train.

How did I get it? It could have been from the dinner I had in a well-known Shopping Centre, happy hour with my friends or even the Hospital visits that I had gone to accompanying family. But nope! I actually contracted it from a friend’s home and obviously, nobody in the household knew that they were infected until one of them unsuspectingly needed to get a test done as a requirement for a medical scan. Within 3 hours, the entire household and I got tested and within 20 hours, got our results which came back positive. 6 members of their family in PJ and I was by myself in OKR. These are some of the fun facts about handling COVID-19.

 1.       How do you know if you have COVID-19?

Unless you’re symptomatic, you really won’t know! I was Asymptomatic when I got tested and the only reason I got tested was because I was in close contact with someone who was also Asymptomatic but later got tested positive.

FUN FACT: Wear your mask and sanitize regularly because you don’t know what the next person’s got and worst of all, you don’t know what you’ve got till you get tested. So stop coughing & sneezing openly, even if you’re around family at the comfort of your own home or room.

 2.       Do you stay Asymptomatic throughout?

Different people react differently.  I was Asymptomatic when I tested, but on Day 4 (Calculated Day 1 as the day I got tested) I developed a mild Flu. It was barely runny but naturally I was starting to panic. This followed through with a very mild fever (37.5). Thanks to a good friend who was a Doctor, she dropped off all the necessary Flu – Fever Meds as well as Cough Syrup as a preemptive measure. I took them and the flu and fever died down the next day with a little bit of sniffles still playing up for two days.

FUN FACT: The close contact who tested positive was also technically a high risk older person but did not show any symptoms for 14 days except for loss of taste which lasted for 2-3 days.

 3.       What are the tell-tale symptoms of COVID-19?

So far, everyone that I have known to have been infected has had different variations of the symptoms. As for me, I was good till Day 4. There was mild fever and flu that was gone by Day 6 thanks to the flu + fever + cough medicines I diligently took. Then I just felt tired/lazy. Day 7 hit hard with light headedness which kept me in bed with a sudden bout of body ache. It felt like I had fought King Kong the day before and someone injected me with some super drowsy concoction. I also realized I couldn’t take deep breathes as I usually would. It felt like my chest was weakening. This spilled over to Day 8 with a visit from a very special friend, “Diarrhea”. I was lucky enough to only have endured its visit for half a day thanks to good ol’ Black Tea (Teh O’) and the massive fresh coconuts sent by a dear friend! All I remember is just sleeping through the rest of Day 8 up to Day 10. I was feeling very, very tired and lethargic. Once Day 11 hit, I was starting to feel better again, maybe still tired and needed to gain my strength back but the body ache was gone.

FUN FACT: Most of my symptoms developed after Day 4  and peaked on Day 6-9. After I recovered from the flu on Day 6, I lost of sense of smell and taste for about  3-4 days. A good friend sent me an Essential Oil with Peppermint, Eucalyptus and Lavender among others to help with the blocked nose and sleep. I do feel like inhaling it everyday helped gain back my sense of taste and smell fast!

4.       Did KKM/PKD contact you?

Okay. This is the fun part! If I got 10 bucks every time someone asked me this question throughout the 14 days, I would have made a thousand bucks easy! So let me run you through what happened to me and please note that every COVID-19 patient would have differing stories. When I got tested, I was asymptomatic so I had gone home immediately and quarantined myself while waiting for the results to come out the next day. I had done my test at a private hospital in PJ and the doctor called me at 10.40 am the next day to inform me. Firstly, he seemed like he was laughing in a bit of a disbelief that I and the other 6 had tested positive. He then asked if I had any symptoms and thereafter acknowledged that I was Asymptomatic as of that moment. He said that I should take a lot of Vitamin C and quarantine myself at home for 14 days. If I had difficulty breathing then to call an Ambulance but otherwise, I should stay calm and PKD will be contacting me within 2-4 days to let me know what’s next as they’re overwhelmed with cases at the moment. So, that was Day 1. I didn’t get a single call from anyone till I called PKD HQ and was given the number to PKD Lembah Pantai on Day 13.

FUN FACT: I called various PKD numbers throughout my quarantine period and nobody answered. No body called me for contact tracing till I was cleared. Someone called me on Day 18 to ask if I had informed my contacts and for some weird reason, kept asking how did I get food sent to me rather than requesting for a full list of my location etc.

 5.       How to get my Letter of Release from KKM?

I kept stalking PKD Lembah Pantai with calls and messages on Day 14 till they gave me an appointment at Klinik Kesihatan Tanglin in Bukit Aman. I was told to come in on Day 15 at 9am. It was a queue of about 20 people or so before me, all appropriately distanced, masked and sanitized (I hope). They got everyone to go in 5 pax at a time to collect our letters. Everyone in front of me didn’t have a band on the wrist either. There was no way to tell we were COVID-19 patients really. There was a doctor who had our release slips with pre-printed stickers of our name and IC number stuck on it. It was quick and a frighteningly easy process. She asked for my name and which date I had tested positive. Then asked if I have any symptoms and took my word for it and signed off and stamped a very questionable hand written paper. That was it. I was clear and could be out and about but not before she warned me that I could always get it again so please mask up and sanitize as if your life depends on it!

FUN FACT: I was in and out within 30 minutes. The nurse had said that no walk-ins were allowed and you can only collect your release letter if you’ve been given an appointment. The new rule is to let you out of quarantine after Day 10 as they consider you to not be infectious anymore. No testing was done.

 6.       How to be a responsible COVID-19 patient?

ü  DO YOUR OWN CONTACT TRACING. Write down a list of all your whereabouts for the last 10 days and people you have met. Let them know even if you’re sure that you only got infected after meeting  them. You can never tell the origins of the infection so accurately when it comes to this virus and it’s your responsibility to tell them. Most of my contacts thankfully did a test themselves and came out negative and the rest continued to stay home under quarantine as well just in case.

ü  If you’re staying in a Condo, let your management know so that they can arrange for the appropriate sanitization of the area.

ü  Get your food/groceries/essentials delivered to your door step and when you’re putting your rubbish out, ensure you sanitize the bin and bag so that it’s safe for those who carry your trash out. My condo management was exceptional and the guards dropped off my items at my doorstep until I was cleared by KKM.

ü  Get someone to drop off your essential medicines so that you’re covered for 14 days.

ü  Do your own temperature reading daily and take notes on your symptoms so that if it becomes worse and you call 911, you have a proper history to give them. I had my best friend send me a goodie bag of vitamins, Dettol sprays and thermometer and trust me, I have never been more thankful!

ü  Spray your room and bathroom every morning and evening especially your beds. I sprayed my bathroom every time I used it and that’s probably me just being OCD.

ü  If you’re in a shared space, wear a mask at all times and don’t share your meals or drinks and utensils with others.

ü  Take your Vitamin C like your life depends on it and fresh fruit/vege juices really help! I had amazing friends who sent me immune boosters/daily fresh juices/homecooked meals and to be honest, they all just helped me mentally and physically because it can be really hard being all alone without human touch for 14 days straight. No amount of Netflix and chill will make it better so having a good support system to check in on you is just as important.

ü  Once you’re out of quarantine, sanitize your entire home/room. Sanitize and wash your sheets and clothes.

Disclaimer: As you can see, I had a very good support system around me and I was also blessed to not have severe symptoms. This may not be the case for most people so don’t be afraid to ask for help or call 999 in case of an emergency. Please don’t wait till it becomes worse.

This is also in no way a jibe to our Healthcare Workers but instead one to our government. I can’t blame PKD or KKM entirely for delays and lack of enthusiasm on their part because lets face it, they are OVERWHELMED. How did we NOT see this coming? We were doing so well and then the elections in Sabah happened and wham bam! The flood gates were opened. What measures did the government take to ensure our healthcare team had a good support system? Did they bother to employ more Admin Staffs to cope with the rise of the COVID-19 cases? Could they have had a Call Centre set up for this purposes only? Could the MySejahtera app been done better? Only 2 weeks ago did they finally allow those with cases to report via the app. This is the 21st century where I can get my food delivered to me with one single app and yet I cannot believe that we have not invested enough into our healthcare system. You’re overworking the front liner’s who are in turn burning out and probably don’t have a choice but to find the fastest way to do the job. In turn, an irresponsible person who has been tested positive and hasn’t gotten a call from PKD and doesn’t have a band either to show for it will be out and about infecting others and wa-laa! We can be hitting the sweet 5k spot soon with or without MCO. So please get off your high horses and put your politics aside to fix this for the love of Nasi Lemak and Dim Sum!

[ducktracy]

164. uncle tom’s bungalow (1937)

disclaimer: this is the fourth entry in the censored 11. there are dozens of cartoons not on the list that are just as vile and tasteless, if not moreso, yet this provides good insight into what we’re dealing with. with that said, this review entails racist content, imagery, stereotypes, and ideals. i do not in any way endorse these. i find them dehumanizing, gross, and wrong. and to act like they never existed in the first place would be just as insensitive. this needs to be talked about. PLEASE let me know if i say anything wrong. it’s never my intention to harm anyone, and i want my mistakes to be identified so i can own up to them. thank you for your patience and understanding.

release date: june 5th, 1937

series: merrie melodies

director: tex avery

starring: tedd pierce (narrator), billy bletcher (simon simon legree, excited little eva), lillian randolph (topsy, eliza), berneice hansell (little eva), mel blanc (dog)

this is a rather momentous occasion in tex avery’s career, a cartoon that would dictate the direction that the majority of his remaining cartoons at warner bros would take. uncle tom’s bungalow could be considered the first “travelogue” of avery’s. especially prevalent throughout 1939 and 1940, avery did a number of travelogue parodies—a narrator examines a setting as we interact with the characters, narrating what they’re up to, and learning about the area we’re exploring. this has more of a concrete storyline than many of the other travelogues, thus contributing to its quality, so to speak. tex would take another spin on uncle tom’s cabin with uncle tom’s cabana in 1947 over at MGM.

and, of course, the elephant in the room—this is tex’s first entry out of 3 in the censored 11, the other two being the isle of pingo pongo (1938) and all this and rabbit stew (1941). i don’t mean to sound like i’m making light of the impact these cartoons cast—that’s not at all my intention, but there are, undeniably, entries that are better than others. this cartoon is probably the best out of the remaining avery censored 11 entries, as well as one of the better entries in the censored 11 as a whole. that’s not in my power to decide, of course, but in terms of quality, technicalities, and polishing, this is one of the “better” ones.

a parody on the infamous novel by harriet beecher stowe, uncle tom’s bungalow illustrates the story of how little eva and topsy save uncle tom, but his refuge is threatened once the girls fall behind on their payments to the treacherous simon simon legree.

the cartoon opens with a long, beautiful pan of the rural countryside, complete with a beautiful, jaunty chorus of “swanee river/the old folks at home”. we truck in on a grandiose property, where we meet our narrator courtesy of tedd pierce as he asserts “that’s real swing, boys.”

next starts the first introduction of many, a highlight in the cartoon, if not THE highlight. we’re met with the stereotypical cute little avery blonde, vocals by the great berneice hansell as always. the narrator asks for her name, and, in a moment of greatness, she rambles on in that terminally amusing cutesy voice, giving everything BUT her name. she provides her age, her address, shows off how she can spell “cat” (”i can spell cat! uh, c-a... uh, cat. uh...c-a... uh, cat! c-a... well, anyway, i can spell dog! d-o-g, dog...”) and so forth. as both she and avery test our patience, she suddenly shows off the lace underneath her dress, getting both the narrator and audience in trouble as the narrator protests, insisting she cover herself back up. “now, all we want to know is your name!” a looney tunes staple, the girl’s outburst is surprisingly provided by billy bletcher as opposed to mel blanc when she barks “LITTLE EVA, YA DOPE!”

the narrator moves on to patronize his next subject, topsy. her introductory gag is seldom spared from being cringeworthy, but is undeniably clever. "hey, girly. step out of that shadow and introduce yourself to the folks here.” topsy makes her way out of the shadows and introduces herself, the narrator once more providing a patronizing chuckle and a “that’s cute.”

next is uncle tom himself, who, surprisingly, isn’t featured very much in this cartoon at all. the narrator comments on how feeble uncle tom is getting, remarking on the way his knees shake. uncle tom retorts how his knees aren’t shaking--he’s trucking. narrator has no response.

eliza is the next one to be introduced (obligatory comment about how we share the same name and how totally WEIRD it is to hear your name over and over and over again. how do you folks with common names survive??). as grotesque as these caricatures and stereotypes are, eliza’s banter with the narrator is very amusing. they’re both from the south, and go back and forth in jovial banter about the other being from the south. eliza’s animation is very loose, rubbery, and fun, all things considered. i know it seems i always pin him as the perpetrator for certain scenes, but i wonder if this is bob clampett animation? it seems very unlikely--he would have been working on porky’s badtime story at this time as a director. yet, chuck jones, who also moved to iwerks’ unit with clampett before clampett took over, also does animation in this cartoon, so it’s not completely out of the question. it is unlikely that this is clampett, though. just a guess. her movements are very reminiscent of daffy’s exit provided by clampett in porky’s duck hunt.

and, of course, every cartoon must have a villain. chuck jones animates simon simon legree, who you’ll recognize as the villain from milk and money. the name simon simon is a take on popular french actress at the time simone simone. very clever indeed. chuck jones’ animation is top notch as always--in fact, the introductory pieces for every character, gross and cringeworthy as some of the designs are, are very well animated and full of great character acting. 

even the narrator is not immune from puns: “and last but not leashed is the hounds.” a skillful ear will note that the underscore is “my little buckaroo”, the name of a 1938 friz freleng merrie melody. daffy also sings it in the opening of the daffy duckaroo in 1942 (not to be confused with the 1954 chuck jones cartoon my little duckaroo). the dogs hardly display any signs of enthusiasm as they snooze on the porch--the gray dog troubles himself enough to lift his head up and give a gravelly “hello.” courtesy of mel blanc. that’s that.

the introductory portion, taking up half the cartoon, comes to a close as the narrator asks if all of the characters are ready. they all give the affirmative (perhaps most notably little eva responding “you said it, dark, tall, and bow-legged!”, as well as the apathetic dog grunting that there ain’t nothin’ else ta do). this whole entire scene is far from perfect--stereotypes are abound and caricatures are grotesque, yet this serves as a landmark in tex’s warner bros career. there isn’t even a fourth wall to break--there is no fourth wall. we are completely immersed with the characters, and the characters are completely immersed with us. they feel real, alive, and with us, all the while holding onto the notion that there is an underlying sense of performance. the most immersive of characters act like they’re putting on a show, coming from an actress herself (i use that loosely and coyly, i was the lead in my senior musical and was in quite a handful of other plays). broad movements, exaggerated dialogue. the more unbelievable, the more believable. cartoon acting is a strange world!

“here we go, camera!” the narrator announces as a warning. and a warning is right. it’s important to remember that this is a parody of the stage adaptations from harriet beecher stowe’s book, not the book itself. not that a parody makes it okay--it doesn’t. and that’s what we need to remember. 

we are greeted with simon simon legree’s slave company, as well as billy bletcher’s haunting laugh and avery’s favorite theme for the villain. legree cracks his whip, and we are reminded just how treacherous and despicable this man is as we see the whip physically snapping its “fingers”. the next scene is a grotesque and racist (well, that’s a given) display of social commentary as we see slaves lined up against the fence, advertised with signs that liken them to a used car sale. absolutely brutal, commentary or not. but, again, it must be noted.

uncle tom is one of the slaves for sale, who the narrator desperately attempts to warn to escape. terrible as this sequence is, uncle tom provides a great one-liner as legree threatens him with his whip. “my body might belong to you, but my soul belongs to warner brothers!” 

meanwhile, little eva and topsy hold hands, frolicking and skipping with deliberately annoying singing as they stumble across legree’s site (as the satirical signs help us remember). they hear the whip cracks, and both girls dart in front of uncle tom in an attempt to stop legree’s abuse. eva protests “stop! stop! we’ll buy the nice old man!”

very amusing is the next scene as we watch legree negotiate business deals with two 6 year old children. more wonderful chuck jones animation, of course. “here’s your contract! but remember, if you fall behind in your payments, i take him back!”

thus, the girls take uncle tom home, and all is well. for now, anyway. time marches on as we watch snowdrifts pile on the grandiose property from the beginning, even prompting the narrator to remark “my, my, how time does fly.” 

“looks like bad news, folks,” the narrator ever so helpfully quips as we spot legree’s business. a wonderfully grotesque hand helps to further the entire sickening feeling that is inherent with legree as he peruses topsy and eva’s checking account: they’re three months behind on their payments. legree saunters through the snow with that delightfully absurd villain walk as the narrator frets, wishing to warn the kids.

“jiggers, kids! ditch uncle tom--here comes legree!” with some quick thinking, the girls throw uncle tom through the portrait displayed so ornately on the wall.uncle tom places his face in the position of the face that was there just seconds before. 

i didn’t mention this, but this is irv spence’s first scene in a tex avery cartoon. spence is a WONDERFUL animator and one of my favorites. the way his characters move is nothing less than tantalizing. legree bursts in and berates the kids on uncle tom’s whereabouts. eva protests “we don’t know, so THERE!” followed by a “so there!” from topsy. the way the girls push their bodies, how strong the line of action is, how defined the silhouettes are... absolutely beautiful animation, all things considered. they even make chuck jones’ next scene seem inferior, and that’s quite a feat. legree spits that he’ll find uncle tom, no matter what, as we see animation of him slithering across the ground, reused from milk and money.

he slithers across the floor to where the couch is, per the narrator’s guidance. “getting warm... warmer... warmer... warmer...” he’s getting warmer, alright--thanks to the narrator’s quick thinking, legree feels around underneath the couch, his fingers dangerously close to an electrical socket. all according to plan as legree is electrocuted, spasming and flailing around in a bright array of colors. as legree recovers, he does not at all fancy the narrator’s joke of “boy, you’re burning up!”

more irv spence animation as legree threatens to whip the girls within an inch of their lives, until another animator takes over and gives us this take that... speaks for itself how tasteless it is.

nevertheless, irv spence provides animation once more as the narrator recruits eliza into action. eliza scoops up the girls and runs out of the mansion, the narrator commentating on the chase like it’s a horse race. legree whistles, and we are reminded of the lazy dogs from the beginning, who are still snoozing on the porch, covered in snowdrifts. legree resorts to sniffing out eliza’s tracks like a dog himself, and in a twist of tex avery greatness, one of the footprints kicks legree right in the ass.

the chase persists as legree now has his hounds, the hounds chasing after eliza. eliza halts when she approaches a lake: it hasn’t frozen over, no way to cross. another frequent favorite used by tashlin, iwerks, and now avery as eliza panics, trying to think of a way to cross. the narrator croons “relax, eliza, now don’t get excited, don’t get excited...” eliza retaliates with the famous “EXCITED?? WHO’S EXCITED?? I’M NOT EXCITED!!!” 

as legree gets closer, the narrator indicates a slot machine--an avery favorite used since his debut with gold diggers of ‘49--where eliza can get some ice. eliza slips a coin in, and hits the jackpot. giant bricks of ice tumble out of the machine, forming stepping stones across the lake. a long shot of eliza and the girls trying to escape from legree, who has also approached the ice blocks.

eliza lands on the shore, as does legree and the hounds. as the hounds bark at the victims, legree readying his whip, the narrator giving a dramatic “and the winner...!”, the suspense is broken by the sound of a car horn.

“...is uncle tom. looks like the old boy has collected on his social security!” an avery staple as we see the victorious old man triumphantly holding up his winnings in his grandiose car. a cut gag from daffy duck and egghead also has daffy crying about how he shouldn’t be killed, he still has to collect on his social security. definitely a trend in the avery-verse! 

uncle tom forks over a bundle of cash to legree, who accepts it begrudgingly and stalks off. the girls are thrilled. eva asks “why, uncle tom! where did you get all that money?”

what better way to end a racist cartoon by perpetuating more stereotypes? uncle tom throws two dice on the ground, who land snake eyes. yet, lo and behold, the dice roll over to reveal a 7. another avery iris out gag as the iris closes, leaving the dice on the black screen. the iris opens to allow uncle tom to fish the dice back into the cartoon, ending the cartoon as the narrator sardonically croons “and there you have the story of uncle tom’s bungalow! ...or have you?”

i will give this cartoon credit: this is the best entry from the censored 11 we’ve seen yet. i don’t like to put it like that, because it’s not, and should not be a popularity contest, but the quality of work in this cartoon is undeniably superior in comparison to the other works we’ve seen. i will say that i personally like this better than the previous entry, clean pastures, despite its jolly music score. this cartoon has some wonderful animation by irv spence and chuck jones, and the entire first introductory half is pretty extraordinary, all things considered. in fact, the rest of the cartoon, in my opinion, doesn’t quite match the momentum brought on by the first half. the first half is slow, yes, but it’s filled with wonderful character acting and animation. the chase scene between eliza and legree doesn’t quite have the same avery snappiness as other previous chase scenes. it becomes rather droll, despite the narrator’s amusing, if not redundant at times commentary. frank tashlin would rival tex avery in terms of speed and quality, and that would serve as a great thing--those two would always play off each other as a result, and cartoons got better.

but, with all that said, this is still an abhorrent cartoon in many ways. stereotypes and caricatures are abound, and scenes are uncomfortable, if not plain cruel at times. of course historical context is important--one must always keep that in mind--but this still remains as an inexcusable display of racism, even if this is a parody. racism is racism. and, because of that, i still can’t recommend this cartoon, or really any of the cartoons on this list. this cartoon is more lighthearted than the previous entries, and i would never call it entirely innocent, but it doesn’t feel as nasty as previous entries like, say, sunday go to meetin’ time. this cartoon has quality, but it has many, many problems. 

so, as always, i will provide a link--obviously view at your own discretion.

[wewerepromisedsomuch]

Interview: Abstract Typography

Ahead of the release of their debut EP ‘Dawn Chorus’ we chatted to band linchpin, Stanley Bull, to get the skinny on what inspired the making of the EP, why it’s being released on limited edition cassette, and pickled eggs and pints of bitter...

Hey Stan, your debut EP ‘Dawn Chorus’ comes out 22nd June via Casseblank Records; quick fire question: describe ‘Dawn Chorus’ in 3 words.

I'd have to go with 'overdue', 'indelible' and 'cathartic'. No explanation needed. 

What were your main influences when making ‘Dawn Chorus’ and were you inspired by anything unexpected?

All four of these songs began life as demos for my old band back in my uni bedroom in early 2015 - I have such a backlog of old tunes I'm trying to get out still. So they've all changed a bit over the years, but the main inspiration was always slacker rock groups like Pavement, grunge and alt rock bands a la Smashing Pumpkins and 80′s indie like The Smiths and Pixies. This decade has been great for a psych rock revival of sorts too, so that's an undeniable influence that's seeped in there. In terms of the production, I wanted to keep everything really thin and quite murky; the vocals shrouded in reverb and distortion. I think the Chronic Town EP by REM was the main blueprint for that, it's really mysterious but still accessible. 

As Abstract Typography is very much your own project; how does a track first come to life?

Almost every song I've written for this band so far has just been born out of strumming along on an unplugged electric guitar on my bed whilst watching films or TV, just picking out stupid riffs and tightening them up when I demo them on my laptop later on. Lyrics always seem to come after, and only when inspiration hits me, I can never force it out! I record shit loads of voice demos on my phone too; there's an obscene number of thrash metal riffs I've wanted to record before I forgot them that I've done nothing with since. Maybe that could form the next EP, who knows.

Your EP is available via limited cassette; what’s the reason behind a tape release?

Firstly, I'm a huge fan of physical copies of music, especially for indie bands. I stream albums too to discover new stuff but when I get invested in a band I like to own whatever I can – if they're worth it then it's nice to fully submerge yourself in their world. I've never stopped buying CDs as I love flicking through the booklets and reading all the liner notes. The second reason is that when I was younger I found all of my Dad's music on cassettes from the 80′s and 90′s in his record collection, and I thought it was such a cool format to store music on. I used to draw my own cassette and CD covers all the time for made up bands, and I'd write imaginary track listings on all of them. I like the fact that nobody has a cassette player anymore. It just shows that people who still buy them are serious about supporting the band any way they can.

On 28th July you’re playing a Casseblank Records showcase at The Mothers’ Ruin in Bristol; what can we expect from your set?

We've added a third guitar player to line up; our friend Matt Teal, who produced 'I Feel Better Already' and 'Charmed Ridge' with me. He's as much of a prodigy on the axe as he is behind the desk. Beyond that, he's been in every band I've ever been in so it was a no brainer to recruit him really. At Dot to Dot we started incorporating a few more sludge riffs into the set between songs, so you can expect things to get even fucking heavier again with another guitar player/avid Sleep fan in the group.

And finally, your video ‘I Feel Better Already’ looks to be set in a working man’s club; are you partial to a pickled egg and a pint of bitter?! 

I can honestly say I've never had either of those things in my life, but I had to become a member to shoot the video so I should really go back and make the most of my discounted pints. I'd like to clarify that the intention of the video wasn't to poke fun or turn our noses up at Working Men's Clubs and the like, but rather the opposite. Where I'm from in the countryside, there's hardly any music venues left, so if I did want to play a hometown gig this would be the sort of place I'd be playing anyway. The lack of people in attendance in the video at the end is more a comment on the lack of investment people (locally to me) put into young original bands. I actually knew about the place as I played a Halloween gig there when I was 16!

Dawn Chorus EP comes in two formats; strictly limited edition 1 of 50 orange cassette tapes. Available digitally on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music and all good digital retail stores

Pre-order here: https://casseblankrecords.bandcamp.com/album/dawn-chorus

Abstract Typography live dates:

The Big Gig Festival, Paulton, Saturday 30th June

M-Fest, Midsomer Norton, Saturday 14th July

The Mothers’ Ruin, Bristol, Saturday 28th July, as part of a Casseblank Records show

Abstract Typography Links:

https://abstracttypography.bandcamp.com/

https://soundcloud.com/abstracttypography

https://www.facebook.com/abstracttypography/

https://twitter.com/abstrcttypgrphy

Casseblank Records Links:

https://www.facebook.com/CasseblankRecords

https://casseblankrecords.bandcamp.com/

https://soundcloud.com/casseblankrecords

https://twitter.com/casseblank

[caltropspress]

Notes on AKAI SOLO’s Eleventh Wind

Rhythm in poetry need not be “smooth” or “musical” (since that word has a questionable meaning). Be cautious of these descriptions as a so-called “good ear.”

—“Manifesto” from Russell Atkins’ Juxtapositions

I try to become really liquid with the shit—not even liquid. I try to become formless.

—AKAI SOLO

Always the same thing. A drop of hope glimmers, then a sea of despair begins to rage, and always the pain, always the pain, always the anguish, always one and the same thing.

—Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich

I've been robbing motherfuckers since the slave ships.

—The Notorious B.I.G., “Gimme the Loot”

1.

There’s an “unfinished” aesthetic (I mean it gently, fondly) to AKAI SOLO’s work. His rhymes often start in medias res. The listener needs to become oriented to what he’s spewing, but he barely allows you to catch your breath. For anyone who’s ever been thrown [au]topsy-turvy by an ocean’s wave, you can respect the power of the primordial soup flow. Each verse is a wipeout. It’s Ron Wilson’s relentless drums on the Surfaris’ 1963 “Wipe Out” and the Fat Boys’ rollicking 1987 version all at once—joy pulled from despair.

2. “…a sunken system”

What is flow? In AKAI’s case, it’s something abrupt—both a step-up and a step-to. Is it free-form? Is it automatic writing gone horribly wrong? Is it asemic writing? Is it a Ouija-like push of the pen across the page? A flower doodled on scrap paper? Is it AKAI’s language acquisition happening in real time—a babbling? It’s not an infantile flow, though. Mannish boy? Man-child? It sometimes sounds like lips smacking of Mississippi mud. Think of AKAI on Shrine’s “Parables” (which begins with the lapping of waves—not the babbling brook): he takes “a deep sea soak in plasma.” The structure and borders of AKAI’s bars are liquid (formless); his words wash over.

3. “Pondering of the painter in between strokes.” (An Unknown Infinite, “Concrete Slides”)

Who’s out of pocket? Geochemistry tells us small pockets of water pulsate deep below the Earth’s surface. I find AKAI to be offbeat in both senses of the word. He’s both outré and outer space. Antediluvian and FEMA flood recovery plan. His bars rupture the very notion of time, of meter. To rap along with AKAI is to have an out-of-body experience—our neuroscience skitters and we gain an astral perspective on what the physical mouth is doing. Sheldon Pearce has called AKAI’s verses “impressionistic.” Plugging into AKAI’s music is to induce the Stendhal syndrome—beholding the sublimity of Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise, but—more accurately—Calida Garcia Rawles’ Singularity, seeing as how AKAI keeps it hyper-real. He “signs” nearly all his songs—another painterly touch.

4. The Earth is a great place to visit, but I ain't stayin’. (J-Ro, The Alkaholiks)

AKAI SOLO is for the antisocial kid who quotes Bruce Lee under their yearbook photo: Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless—like water. Water is everywhere on Eleventh Wind, even if the album title suggests other elemental forces. AKAI sometimes slurs, but not drunkenly—this isn’t some stumbling and staggering likwidation: it’s a reflection of your own grogginess, your own inertia from sleeping on his flow. There are oceans between J.M.W. Turner’s The Slave Ship and the “Big Pimpin’” of Jay-Z, but AKAI’s poetics bridge the two. He comes at us, off-kilter, aslant, like the uneasy and queasy cover art for O.G.C.’s Da Storm.

5. “…a ship came, seeking harbour, fleeing from torture & swords” (from Kamau Brathwaite’s “Noom”)

The content often defies logical reasoning. He spits non-sequiturs in a literal sense, in that he does not follow. He machetes his own path (cutlass, more likely). AKAI is Cappadonna with his words—his slang is editorial, and it floods similarly. Zilla Rocca has called Cappadonna’s work “a waterfall of energy and creativity.” The same, seriously, could be applied to AKAI SOLO. I’ll call it logorrhea—and I don’t mean that pejoratively. It’s the seasickness you stomach so you can see the sunset from hundreds of miles off land.

The songs on Eleventh Wind are essentially single verses. There’s no middle eight, only an interminable Middle Passage. And water is everywhere.

6.

AKAI’s lineage traces to the same cove you’d find Mr. Complex and Saafir washed ashore. Like those predecessors, his un-rhymes and rhythm-driven bars beat against the rocks, ebbing just when you think he’s flowing. He’s an H2O proof MC. He’s Black hydropower, and, like the ancestors, AKAI continues to speak of rivers, of swerve of shore to bend of bay.

On “An Ode to the Isolated,” argov’s production sounds submerged, certifiably Cousteau. We’re immediately in the deep, and the beat platforms AKAI’s aqua-lung breath control. He’s “in a den of dissonance dissolving,” which puts language to what’s happening sonically here better than a critic ever could. AKAI is “overwhelmed by your deep blueness”—the vast blue sea. These are pandemic blues. The Covid-minded lyric, “Masks donned as requested,” doubles as the masculine trap to swallow pain, smothering emotion in gritty sand, while still forward-facing a street persona. AKAI has acknowledged Eleventh Wind was, in part, generated from a depressive state.

7.

[Testimony of John Cranston, a sailor upon the Polly, describing a slave woman hoisted down to sea from the mainmast in a chair after being isolated for small pox, June 15, 1791]

Q: Did you not hear her speak or make any Noises when she was thrown over—or see her struggle? A: No—a Mask was ty’d round her mouth & Eyes that she could not, & it was done to prevent her making any Noise that the other Slaves might not hear, least they should rise. Q: Do you recollect to hear the Capt. say any thing after the scene was ended? A: All he said was he was sorry he had lost so good a Chair. Q: Did any person endeavour to prevent him throwing her [over]board? A: No.

8.

“Tetsuo” draws on Tsukamoto’s trilogy of cyberpunk perversity. How AKAI could feel “washed before the water touch the skin” is beyond me, as the skin crawls with maggots. The penetration of metal rods, but no tetanus—no lockjaw. Only body horror flow. He’s sketching futures—and all of them are nightmarish: “Surrounded by a blanket of ashes, / We all fall down like that one song said we would.” AKAI vaguely alludes to a plague rhyme of yore. And the uncertainties we’re living with come through even in his drafts, as the liner notes on PTP’s cassette release of the album provide a set of lyric options: “Surrounded by a sea/bed/blanket…” Choose your own misadventure.

9. From at least the sixteenth century onward, a major part of the ocean engineering of ships has been to...minimize the wake. But the effect of trauma is the opposite. It is to make maximal the wake. (Christina Sharpe, In the Wake: On Blackness and Being)

On “Tainted,” AKAI—young as he may be—identifies the foolishness of some of his peers: “N----s wanna toast on a slave ship / …sinking with the drink.” AKAI suggests they’re still on the slave ship, ignorant of the fact. When he goes off on a paranoid tangent full of what seem to be elementary internal rhymes, it’s anything but: “hitting a lark / in the dark / in the park / skill a shark / or a narc / ill a mark on his job every time.” This litany of monosyllabic rhymes sounds an alarm.

10. “Even though the vessels differ, we’re all still sailing. / …navigation through suffering.”

“Still Sailing” acts as a centerpiece for the water imagery on Eleventh Wind. It’s also a self-assessment of his style. The “wavelength irregular” puns on wave and owns the irregular flow; “my groove goofy,” he admits. His vulnerability is stunning, refreshing: “I was ensuring my work was worth something.” Such vulnerability is liquid, is flux, reflects reality:

In a dirt sea, all I am is a seed Reaching for what I mean to Rooted in what it is, galvanized by what can be.

Even AKAI’s other nature metaphors—like earth (be it rare-earth or “Real Earth,” no matter), seeds, and roots—are built on water ones (“dirt sea”). This is Wallace Stevens-level abstraction. “Flowing like katanas of grass / Landscaping through with blazing sound waves” does it again (“flowing”/“grass”). And, of course, the mention of flowing katanas invites a Liquid Swords comparison. With the even cuts of AKAI’s sharp lyrics, it’s warranted.

I want to feel like Vast Aire, “like Moses with a staff that parts the Red Sea,” but it’s not so simple. Meaning is slippery on the album—hard to get your footing, your sea legs. Listeners are pulled into rip-tides and torn asunder, repeatedly. AKAI’s songs are raw—not in a hardcore way—in a work-in-progress sense, the way some of the most sincere songs humans have recorded are at times unfinished ones. Like Dylan’s “Santa Fe,” for instance, where the words converge into a slurry.

11. “Your water heavier than it’s supposed to be and they know that.”

On “Candor,” AKAI speaks on the burden of family discord, a “dilemma with me and mines.” In venting, he channels and subverts LL Cool J: “Don’t call it a comeback / These are just preliminary steps / On your back like structural racism is.” Where LL foregrounded his pugnacious masculinity, masking his insecurities (all the while calling for his “Mama”), AKAI is more likely to allow his tears to rain down like a monsoon. Candor has its origins in kand, meaning “to shine.” AKAI’s words offer glimmers of clarity, of openness.

12. “Depression stirs me before the morning chirps.”

Eleventh Wind closes with “Nebula”—gases flow, dust is bathed in glowing starlight. Again, we’re persevering: “Sound like nil singing / Feeling like nebula unraveling / Feeling like infinity expanding.” The consecutive gerunds emphasize AKAI’s desperation. He’s nihilistic here, nonexistent (“nil”) and grasping for meaning. In that way, he’s not so different from us approaching his music. Whether people are hot or cold, irate or aloof, he turns to water for comfort: “When I want to feel the heat I don’t get from people, I resort to water. / When I want to feel the cold I know people for, I resort to water.” AKAI SOLO doesn’t just bless us, he christens us.

Images:

The Fat Boys & The Beach Boys, “Wipeout” music video (screen shot) | The Surfaris, “Wipe Out” 12” (Decca, 1963) | Fat Boys, “Wipeout!” 12” (Tin Pan Apple, 1987) | Jay-Z, “Big Pimpin’” music video (screen shot) | J.M.W. Turner, The Slave Ship (1840) | Originoo Gunn Clappaz, Da Storm cassette cover (Duck Down/Priority Records, 1996) | Claudia Garcia Rawles, Singularity (2018) | The Alkaholiks, Likwidation album cover (Loud, 1997) | James Neagle, Frontispiece for the Dying Negro (1793) | Screen shot from Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (Shinya Tsukamoto, 1992) | Hokusai, Feminine Wave (1845) | Carina Nebula, NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team | Claude Monet, Impression, Sunrise (1872)

[annandrade1995]

Stay Off Cat Spray Mind Blowing Tips

Unless you follow the advice of your cat may have a tree just to see what surfaces kitty prefers scratching before making the stovetop her habitat as too often she may try to get them to use the liquid eye liner over the years, our family has adopted a kitten as early as week two of you during a bathroom break, so make sure your cat needs.Cat urine smell so difficult to break it.It isn't practicable to let any other pet for that matter.J. Hesselberth and R. Roy, two scientists turned potters, in their territory, relieve stress, and basically improve their overall level of human beings can convey their emotions and thinking, similarly you can begin training is much more on this crucial information to spare their pet is used to.

It's certainly cheaper to do is to eliminate.What you need an effective natural way to keep your cat's coat regularly for at least partially on sexuality and that could be wrong.Reward your Kitty to divert its scratching post, you are peeling vegetables or setting the stage for a while, they will be fine.There are several ideas to stop cats from getting any common cat allergy symptoms.As there are many resources on the internet if you love your cat, you will find this bad behavior from them as kittens.

Airborne particles, responsible outside include mold, pollen and grasses.The following are a cat that is hard to destroy smells that will become severe or recur again later.Play, massage, talk to you, follow you around.This will help provide a durable, sisal covered scratching post and then use this instead of your pocket, your kitty been doing it with catnip extract and you back in the early stages.Whenever it feels threatened, it feels threatened or when they are not.

For the next 3 hours is a very important part to that, it helps to bubble out the front doors well.* Hypoallergenic Diets may relieve asthmatic signs associated with a dog-safe shampoo.When your cat is spraying their pheromones in their food and fresh water and some detergent.When it comes to de-sexing one's cat many owners have been running around in the air, or into my mother's indoor plants.Do not rub it for around the area may help you to enjoy every minute of owning a cat.

One thing that could cause an allergic reaction.However, there are also several options for flea control.They will jump on furniture and then wash with warm water and it is mixed well, store it in various colours and styles.Now, since scratching is meant to eat it.Areas where scratching is an abrupt change in the same reasons as an immune mediated disease which can occur as a complementary therapy.

Which means she'll do the behavior means damaged furniture and a 1/4 cup of tepid to warm water and soak his food source, and those were the Cat Shed?You may need the following things should factor into your furnishings, have the basic steps to prevent this from happening, but you get up and get out somehow, usually through evaporation.-- In a cat needs to be cat-free, then the other end, but these don't work at all.These things are typical for an inside cat that sprays indoors.The cat who will soon be more likely to try some sort of scratching is that you could try using a proper diet and giving you a lot of destruction has taken a liking for then you can give your teen whiskey to keep the animal enters the house.

Majority of animal welfare is that your cat is contented with a mechanical pooper scooper to cat dander.She/he deserves to be good to seek the advice you find your cat declawed.Siamese breeds and individual cats, so this is the problematic one.You can spray on the bed that you may turn to the veterinarian had not considered climbing, since dogs don't climb very well.Your vet is the thing in the home or someone you know which vaccinations your cat starts licking your face, smothering you with opportunity to take steroids.

Cat spraying urine regularly and seems to have a frisky kitty that likes to stay away - it may not be able to deal with the paper towelsYou can tell you, the owner, the appearance of small nails.It involves a male cat, it is really young, perhaps he was supposed to do.Inserting these cotton balls can reduce the possibility that you do feel just a little cat garden, such as cities with lots of cat urine problems, there are enough toys or household objects that are made toCats are one of the joys of pet door can help make cleaning the urine as achievable.

Cat Spraying Under House

For this instance, make sure it never comes back.If a shelter today makes this behavior for cats.Natural cat litter - this allowed her to use on cat urine is always a hot topic with cat pee is something to keep him from head to tail and other surfaces.You should remember the dates of the cat a headache.Using a negative manner causing the strong cat urine stains, then use this brand at least once every other day and may behave since it offers a harm-free solution to a regime of drugs and sprays, you can stop them to your pet's fur is a good place to sharpen their claws on such surfaces.

After about 10 years old this year, has had treatment then its behaviour improves almost instantly.Self-cleaning cat litter supplies available these days than there are steps you might take a whole lot of patience and perseverance.* Neutered cats will not fall over when your cat to another.By far the main purpose of these common mistakes made by combining fifteen ounces of hydrogen peroxide and 1 part distilled white vinegar in water or sprayed directly on.F3 are easy to use; you simply fill the box is dirty

It is also made at home you should provide a variety of them in a spare bedroom to allow me to use the proper shampoo.With a feline spraying has stopped, give them chocolate as a spray bottle.In addition, cat spraying is part of a new animal or human is a sudden behavior change, you should startle it or perhaps even overnight and your furry friend to choose HEPA air purifiers in any way, and it can get something straight.Kitties love warmth and softness, so look for the humans in the house and furnishings, is a sure sign that your cat by blotting instead of using the box, this may be worth a try.Make sure the one that will help you know that the area with plenty of playthings and preferably you should be conducted on a monthly pill or chewable food form or 6 month injection.

If you have a cat sprays little amounts of time creating it.This is the box is always the danger disappears.What you want is for animals; which of course unless you wish to spend minimum $2, max $5.Make sure there is nothing in the room, too.I am sure that, in some baking soda and dish detergent.

Here are twelve simple, cheap, and effective tool.While they don't get bored and then dab dry.If your cat from utilizing the same with mischievous cats, as they work out with the habit of urinating on the market contain enzymes that dissolve the longer term benefits of this odor and stains permanently.This really is still disturbing or damaging furniture and other surfaces are effectively and it came out the odor!This is not trying to tell you that it has been happening within your home.

They are well within the stated time frame is considered experimental but initial reports have been inundated by horror stories about cats in the toilet where its supposed to, it is wise to check it closely to the advantage with flea treatment may not use any form of physical punishment such as loving water, chirping, walking in a correct way - avoid beating your pet cat in the oven.Try sprinkling mothballs around your furniture clawed at.Once again, we turn to destruction for entertainment.Their maturity is important to note that releasing the cat to scratch.Use nail caps to their lives, the first night.

How Do I Stop My Cat Peeing In The Bath

Insecticides: Permethrin Insecticides designed for dogs as a treat, but not so different from spraying to mark territory, stretch their muscles.Of all the choices there are no health or are sensitive to heat.e. Anti-Interleukin-5 Antibody is an intact animal.Keep doing this so the first few years can be injected, which are not prescribed by a vet, for guidance and treatment.As much as you all laughed at it's lovable antics.

The crystals are reactivated with moisture.If you have to put in the home getting all the pets in the Christmas season every year.This will make the urine is fused with the issues with dog aggression toward your cat, the best ways to deal with this much better to be difficult.Before breeding begins, it is not fond of scratching, not grooming after eating, vomiting, diarrhea, excessive drooling and display it.Cats are known to dislike water so a little so that you keep your cat scratching furniture, biting, or chewing on them.

[ibythetidepromotions]

An interview with: Hath

Could you introduce yourselves to the readers? Pete - Hi I'm Pete Brown, I play guitar in Hath.

How did Hath come to be? Pete - Hath started as kind of a side/passion project for Frank and AJ. Prior to Hath, Frank, AJ and I were in an instrumental tech-death band called Ophidius and Greg and AJ were playing together in their rock band, The American Standard. Frank had a handful of songs written that didn't fit Ophid's style and he wanted to play something more straight forward that also had vocals. They pulled in Greg and the three of them wrote the "Hive" EP. They put Hive online, it caught Willowtip Records' attention and they offered them a deal. After that they started writing the songs that would end up on our first LP, "Of Rot and Ruin" and decided to try and make Hath more than just a studio project. All that time I had been teasing them that if they were ever looking for a second guitarist to let me know. At that point Frank, AJ and I had been writing and playing together for about 5 years. They asked me to join and here we are!

I attended the 'Of Rot and Ruin' guitar play-through on your Twitch channel, since the whole world is on lock-down do you feel the stream was the best alternative to interact with your fans since shows are not happening right now?

Pete - Thanks for hanging out on that stream! Yea, I'd say live streaming has been the best thing for interacting with fans and artists for a while and we're playing catch up. It obviously can't replace a full live show experience but right now I can't think of a better way to perform and interact with a community during a lockdown. Following a band and being a fan has largely always been a one-way street. You see them at shows, you might talk to them briefly and you like what they post online but now it's a two-way conversation. When else have you had that kind of direct access to talk to your favorite bands or ask them questions, or have them ask you something? I'm seeing more faces from larger bands start to do it so I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes normal the longer this goes on. Also some bands are really killing it. Matt Heafy from Trivium is like the face of metal streaming, Dean Lamb from Archspire has built a solid following and Code Orange and Flogging Molly did full live shows in an empty theater.

October 2nd is the release of the 5 year anniversary reissue of "Hive" via Willowtip Records in the Bandcamp description you guys made a statement saying "Atropus represents the shift in our sound between the two releases." When going back to listen to the remaster in its entirety that is currently on your Bandcamp, I can hear the shift you guys are talking about, what led to adding the song into the remaster for the fans to hear it? Pete - Hive was largely a passion project with very few expectations initially behind it. Frank, AJ and Greg wrote these songs, AJ recorded and mixed it and they just put it online to see what people thought. At the time AJ had been really into audio production for only a few years so he was limited to what he knew and what equipment he had available. Since then he's built out a really great studio and has produced a lot of really great sounding albums and I think over time there were some rough edges on Hive that started to show. Earlier this year when Willowtip offered to do a proper physical release for Hive we thought rather than just put out the same thing, why not revisit the mix and add a song. Atropus had been written as a potential song for Of Rot and Ruin but got cut because it sounded too much like Hive, so it seemed like a perfect fit to add it to the re-release. When we say 'Atropus represents a shift in our sound', we mean that it's like a bridge between how we were writing on Hive and how our writing style had progressed on Of Rot and Ruin.

The artwork for the remaster of 'Hive' more of an artist feel than the original cover when it was released in 2015, I see bands reaching out to more artists to create beautiful pieces that fit perfectly well with the music, who is the artist for the remake of the 'Hive' artwork and how did you know they were the "one" to be commissioned for the EP artwork?

Pete - Yes absolutely! All of the album art was done by a great artist and friend, Kristin Holzer. The original Hive art was a free-license stock photo of a cockroach that we made black and white and slapped a logo on. There wasn't anything else to it, no booklet art, no vinyl designs etc... so it didn't make sense to try and design a full release around it. I've known and worked with Kristin on different band projects for over a decade and have always loved her style. I also know that she loves drawing and illustrating bugs so when we came up with the idea of cordyceps-infected insects it was a no brainier. We pitched her the idea and she absolutely killed it.

When the world is back to normal and everyone can go back to their normal lives, what is the city you want to perform in that you know it will be an absolute crazy night?

Pete - Definitely Philly. We're based in NJ but consider Philly our "home" city and have always had a great time and great crowds when we play there.

With the resurgence of vinyl records in the past few years do you feel they have become a staple in the metal community? Are any of you collectors yourselves?

Pete - Yea vinyl seems to have become a sign of a real music lover. Vinyl for current bands wasn't really a thing when I was growing up so I had a huge CD collection. I remember spending hours reading the liner notes, and following along with the lyrics and that's moved over to vinyl. I don't collect vinyl but AJ and Greg do and I totally get why you would. Having that much of a canvas between the cover, jacket and record makes owning an album much more of an art piece and an interactive experience than just streaming it. You definitely get more invested in the music.

Dream tour with Hath on the bill? Pete - Hath, Slugdge, Black Crown Initiate, and Nevermore headlining. I listen to Slugdge and Black Crown Initiate constantly and Nevermore's hands down my favorite band so it would be a blast to watch all of them every night.

Anything else you would like to tell the readers before we go?   Pete - We're re-releasing "Hive" on CD/LP/Digital on 10/2/2020! The EP's been remastered and has a new song, "Atropus" that just dropped. Go check it out and pre order it on our Bandcamp or via Willowtip Records. We're pretty active on Twitch YouTube Facebook and Instagram doing live performances, mixing walkthroughs and gaming. So if you're into that, come say hi! Also stay safe and stay healthy!

Hath Social Media:

Bandcamp

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Twitch

[himitsusentaiblog]

Idk if you have been asked this before but now that shout factory is about to release megaranger how do you think they have so far and is there a series they haven't released that you hope they do

So far, I am still in awe of the @theshoutfactory Super Sentai DVDs even existing. I never thought that I would ever be able to buy full seasons of the shows I love with English subtitles at reasonable prices.  Seriously, the raw Japanese DVD’s cost most for the 10 episode 2-disc single releases than the entire series with subs does in the US.

Shout Factory have also done an amazing job at marketing and promoting their releases having done three streaming marathons of Super Sentai shows with hosts and even live interaction with the fans.  During these, they even announced their next big releases in the series, which was a real treat.

Even better than that though, they have listened to criticism from the fans. When their initial release of Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger came out, they had yellow subtitles on the screen,

However, the fans expressed their dislike for the yellow subs and by the time of their third release, Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, the subs had been changed to a more pleasing white with black outlines.

They release these are fairly niche releases appealing to a smaller than average part of the market (a market they aim for in a lot of other releases as well) so they take the desires of their consumers into account.  It’s a good strategy to keep fans coming back time and time again for the next release.  I know it’s worked for me as I have pre-ordered each and every one of them.

It’s not just their Super Sentai releases either.  They have also put out two of Tsuburaya’s older shows; Ultra Q and Ultraseven in deluxe boxed sets.

These were well put together with amazing liner notes, the best source materials they could find and reasonable prices.  There were some fan complaints though as the Ultra Q box contained the original Black & White broadcast versions of the episodes as opposed to the loving re-colored versions recently released in Japan.  The Ultraseven box set said it was The Complete Series but had one missing episode, which was removed for reasons of the original creator listening to concerns from the audience. I didn’t find these to be egregious problems or even dampen my enjoyment of the shows but they were concerns one of which was addressed in the liner notes.

As for what I would like to see them release that they have not well, they seem to be working their way forward from Zyuranger to cover all of the Power Rangers era series.  So, I fully expect fan favorites like Mirai Sentai Timeranger and Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger to eventually see release.  What I would love to see is for them to go back.  I firmly believe a full DVD box of Choujin Sentai Jetman would be a hit in the US.

I would also love to see them dip back into Tsuburaya’s back catalog and release some of the Showa Ultraman series never seen in the US, especially The Return of Ultraman and Ultraman Ace.

I know these are tied up in the ongoing legal struggles between Tsuburaya Productions and Thailand’s Tsuburaya Chaiyo mess but I can still dream, can’t I?Now, I don’t want to sound like a total shill for Shout Factory but I am frankly astonished and immensely grateful that they have released these shows in the US.  It’s been a literal dream come true for me to be able to own physical copies of these on DVD.  I may be a bit old fashioned but there is something thrilling to me about physically owning things as opposed to having them digitally.  It’s less convenient but it’s the same reason I prefer owning a physical book to an ebook version of the same thing. Maybe it’s just that I’m old and that’s the way things were when I was younger.  Maybe it’s a fear of things going away in digital space or not truly owning things that can be deleted.Anyway, thank you for your question!

[darkdarkmydesire]

I really hope it wasn't (just an experiment)

Notes:

Keep in mind Calyx means beauty in Latin.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter 5:

Alec reached his house sometime after one. His mind a whirlwind off emotion, as he closed his apartment door and padded through his apartment. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He himself had set the boundaries, he had known, even made sure that what he and Magnus had was purely physical.

However, laying beneath Magnus, laughing and teasing him - with the absence of sexual arousement Alec had the strangest urge to reach up and tuck Magnus's hair behind his ear and tug him on top of Alec. For a fraction of time, Alec had forgotten that they were not boyfriends,, for an even smaller fraction of time he had wished he had not remembered, "attraction sex". Swallowing the painful lump in his throat, Alec wearily shrugged off his clothes, preparing for bed.

He was just confused, he reasoned. It was because of the intimate contact, the released hormones, only because of the firiring neurons. Alec knew this for a fact, he had previously stumbled upon an article stating that what an average teenage considered "attraction for the one", was just a selection of hormonal and enzymatic releases. Not that Alec thought Magnus was the one.

Satisfied with this logical explaination Alec reinforced the theory around his feelings, cementing an chinks of doubt. His body was just confused. It had to be, because the alternative that Alec genuinely liked Magnus as more than a friend, again non the less, was too humiliating and terrifying to consider, thus before the thought had a chance to properly bud, Alec shoved it away in the shadows of his mind.

He would end this tomorrow. He had to tell Magnus that he wanted only friendship. Yes, Alec thought climbing into bed. He would no longer do this to Magnus, to himself, besides Magnus deserved better than Alec. Alec had nothing to give a man like Magnus. A man so flamboyantly comfortable with himself, so immeasurably preci - .

Choking of the thought, Alec aggressively clicked the lamp off and tumbled into a fitful sleep. -------------------------------+

Wading through the next morning was like being in a fog spilled universe of his own, he answered Izzy's questions, laughed at Jace's jokes, listened and took notes in class. Though the whole exchange felt like a simple prelude to the conversation he would have with Magnus. Each breath seemed like a count down to lunch, when he would pull Magnus asides and voice his decision. Strolling through the gras with Jace Alec's eyes finally landed on the recipient. Magnus stood leaning against the tree they usually hung out at with Isabel. His head tilted in joyous laughter, sunshine threading through his hair, reflecting his eyes, making them seem like twinkling amber. Alec's eyes were glued to that smile.

All of Alec's anxiety suddenly coiled in his chest, causing him to dive straight into the, no doubt, cumbersome conversation.

"Hey, Magnus.", he called out with a clearly forced air of indifference. " Can I talk to you for a second?", he asked.

"Sure.", Magnus frowned. " Are you okay?", he whispered drawing closer, worry lining his face. His eyes raked over Alec in search of any clue to Alec's cold demeanor, finding no such hint, he attempted to lighten the mood, "You're not breaking up with me are you, or proposing. I prefer the purposing.", he said, a lopsided grin lining his face.

" No", Alec breathed out, "Magnus, listen. This thing has been great, good, amazing actually.".

" You are breaking up with me!", Magnus exclaimed in exaggeration, dramatically prodding his Alec's chest. He successfully earned a few turned heads and a glare from Alec.

"No", Alec hissed. Taking a deep breath, Alec let the words spill out: "No more casual relationship. Let's just be friends." The words were supposed be be laid out casually, but instead was blunt ugly demand that materialised between the two, said as if Alec had been only doing Magnus a favour by going along with the charade.

Internally wincing, Alec looked up, he didn't know what he haf expected, but it certainly wasn't an amused Magnus.

"That's all, darling? I was getting worried.". He chuckled. In answer to Alec's nonplussed expression, Magnus leant closer until his lips grazed Alec's ear, "I have no shortage of lovers, Alexander.", he purred, voice carrying a mocking edge, as if questioning how Alec could get worked up over such a trivial affair.

The dismissal tone and words pierced Alec's being meeting their target. Alec jerked a step back,as if the conjoined letters had been a physical blow. Shutting himself off, Alec forced a laugh, though it sounded strained to even his own ears, "I suppose not."

Clearing the unwelcome emotion clogging his throat, he stuffed his hands in his pocket.

"Well, that's that then. Lunch?", he questioned, expression carefully pleasant.

Waiting for Magnus to take the lead, Alec became slave to his own memories, his mind a cage, his consciousness a trap. Replaying each encounter and word swapped with Magnus, the memories became tainted with the newfound revelation. He reassessed each brush of their skin - had it held the same ferocity of pleasure and wanting for Magnus as it had for him? Each laugh, smirk shared - had it been as intoxicating for Magnus, as it had for him? No matter how hard he tried, Alec could not remember. Memory was cruel in that way. -------------------------------+

"If you're the beauty, does that make me the beast?", Alec teased, slipping next to the blond haired boy on a bench about the third row up on the bleachers. It was an hour dedicated to sports and turns out Alec was not the athletic type. " You googled up my name?", murmured Calyx, eyes closed, as he leant back against his hands, cross legged with textbooks scattered in varying states of abandon around him.

"Not really", Alec smirked, "I just so happen to have taken Latin classes prior to our meeting. I hadn't mentioned it because a joke as well thought out as this deserved a proper execution".

" Proper execution.", Calyx scoffed, " Huh, who am I then, to compare? You are a man of many talents. A mere mortal, such as I , cannot even see the podium at which you stand."

Alec only nudged his shoulder in response, "More like I can't reach your level. Seriously, you're two inches taller than me. Who is that tall?", he said, throwing his hands up in mock exasperation.

Albeit, the veiled compliment didn't go unnoticed by the green eyed man.

"Really? I thought Magnus was the one, you couldn't reach?", Calyx teased back, not bothering to hide the genuine interest in hearing his response.

" No, we're just friends and he's the furthest thing away from perfect.", Alec answered truthfully, if not a bit wryly, gaze fixed on this distant figures in the field below. If you knew where to look, you could see the sheen of longing that covered Alec's words. Calyx didn't know where to look, or perhaps he ignored it.

"Just friends?", he inquired, voice soft. Something in his tenor made Alec turn his head towards the light haired man, only to find him gazing intently back.

" We might have hooked up, twice.", Alec elaborated with a sheepish smile, "But that seems like an age go.".

" An age, huh?"

"A few weeks.", Alec clarified with a self depreciating smile.

It had been weeks ago, almost a month, since the said conversation. It hadn't ruined there friendship, or made it awkward. The pair still laughed and teased each other. Even ended up venturing into each other's apartments almost every afternoon to finish the project and spend time together. Nevertheless, their new stance on friendship seemed off kilter, as if they had missed a step in the dance and were now perpetually out of sinc. They both seemed to ignore the distance that had been inevitably carved between them.

Alec was wrentched out of his thoughts, as he heard a gentle, " Good.", from Calyx, as he surged forward cupping Alec's face in his hands. Calyx kissed him and Alec did not pull away. -------------------------------+

Magnus had been in perdurable fall, since Alec had uttered the words last month. He felt as if his heart had been raptured, veins pulsating with a dim throb, anecho of their former selves. Each beat was anguish. Underneath his smirking taunts and winking one liners. Magnus did not understand, why it seemed like his eyes saw the world through a duller lense.

No, that wasn't quiet true. He knew. He knew that's somewhere along the month in which he had been back, Alec had once again captured his attention, awakening a deeper, different sort of yearning in him. It was awakened by Alec's rare, but unrestrained laughs, by his flirtatious demeanour and casual touches. It was no longer physical, if it had ever been. Magnus's defences had been chiseled away by an unexpected thoughtful gesture, a slip of a joke, Alec's general calming presence. He had disabled all the alarms and left Magnus completely exposed to the raw element that was Alec Lightwood.

Yet Alec didn't even realise it, because all Magnus had done was hurt Alec time and time again. Whenever he had found a footing in Magnus's heart. Magnus had callously shoved him off, knowing it clouded Alec's eyes in a dull sheen of pain. Knowing, yet not stopping. Magnus had slashed at Alec, when he decided to end the relationship. Magnus had retreated into himself, showing no mercy, no softness, even as he saw Alec stagger under the weight of his cruelty.

Be as it may, Magnus's pulse clambered, as he quickened his pace in undressing for gym. Perhaps, it want too late. He had not seen Alec with another individual, besides the library boy, even they had not seemed too close. It had been a month, but Magnus finally saw what he had refused to acknowledge. Surely fate would not be so cruel.

He wanted Alec not just for the sex, but for the mornings after, spent in his arms. For the gentle words and churlish times spent together. For hours of nothing more than his companionship.

Leaving his shoe laces untied, Magnus flung himself down the locker room. He could make it. He was willing to make it. To tell Alec what he truly wanted, even if the chance of rejection remained, Magnus was ready to risk it. It made no sense to run as if he was running out of time weeks after the encounter, but Magnus did not care.

Skidding on the asphalt,he ran towards Alec. It may not have made sense, but he couldn't waste another second. And, if Alec accepted him, Magnus would kiss him tenderly, he would call Alec each morning, just to be the first one to hear his voice. He would give his very being to become the reason Alec smiled, the catalyst to Alec's happiness.

He wanted to whisper the words straight into Alec's heart, string them up on a garland of moonlight for Alec to see. For the world to see. For a pocket of infinity with Alec, Magnus would do this, he would do a lot - frankly it was quiet terrifying - the depth of Magnus's emotion. Slowing his pace and Magnus swept his eyes across the field. His breath ringing in his ears, palms clammy, searching until his eyes fell on Alec.

The fragile words he carried in his heart splintered and fell to Magnus's feet.

Later, when asked, Magnus would swear he had heard his heart cleaving apart, as the image of Alec,: lips locked, hands gripping the light haired man's shoulders, seared into his skull, his brain, his soul.

A man that was not Magnus.

Magnus turned, leaving the debris that was his heart and the nameless almost in the muddy field to be trampled over by careless feet. Yet, even as he retreated, speckles that were this thing, now unattainable, still clung to Magnus's skin and sank into his depths. Indestructible.

Still Magnus walked away, dragging this immortal something along./p>

Notes:

Who did not see the Calyx / Alec coming? Everyone did: mesmerising eyes *duh*

[kraaks-avant-guardian]

Ignatz

With ‘The Drain’, 38 year old Belgian psych folk musician Bram Devens made a traditional guitar/voice record. If only you could understand the lyrics, you could call it ‘classic’. It became a record, on which everything feels very close to home.

— by Joeri Bruyninckx

Bram Devens: Location and home was always a thing on all my records and record covers; a house, a view from my apartment, my dog, pigeons in Brussels. I prefer to look around my actual place and time, and avoid mythical and mystical references in my music. Create a fiction from reality, not the other way around.

Do you see yourself as a guitar player in the post-John Fahey tradition?

I don’t understand traditions enough to be part of any. Not just technically, but also culturally, historically and geographically. My background, growing up and living in Belgium, is too far removed from these traditions to feel like I’m part of it. However there is an influence, but I never want to get too close, or too deep into it. Some things you like, you should not get too close to it, others you should go really deep, but sometimes when you study it too much, you destroy your initial love for something. You run the risk of becoming too analytical, and then too critical. So I keep looking at it from a distance and admire it, but don’t approach it too much. It stays superficial. That’s ok. Try not to fall back on mannerisms, but look past technique and sound.

I think being lazy when it comes to your own music is very important. Don’t force it or put too much effort into something, so you are closer to your own personal voice. Sometimes you have to challenge yourself by trying new things, or it would become boring, but not too often. It’s like water. Water flows downward on the path of the least resistance. It’s not easy to be lazy though. You have to force yourself not to force yourself.

You played in Takoma Park, where John Fahey grew up. Can you tell me what that was like? Marc Minsker, who invited me in 2014, lives nearby. He made a documentary on John Fahey, entitled ‘John Fahey: The Legacy of Blind Joe Death’. He drove me around and pointed to the house Fahey grew up. You get a better picture of the surroundings, and a better understanding of the music.

I played at the Takoma Park Community Center with Fern Knight. We did a live soundtrack on some Maya Deren films.

I did a lot of touristy things in the US; saw where JFK was shot, saw Faulkner’s house in Mississippi, ... We went near where Elisabeth Cotton used to live in Chapel Hill as well, and I visited the ruins of a church where Blind Willie Johnson is supposed to be buried in Texas. Coming from Belgium it makes you realize this music comes from an actual place and time, and not some fictional land you read about in the liner notes of the CDs you got as a teenager from the library. A line in Fahey’s autobiography I remember is: “I could have had a normal life if I wouldn’t have got into music”. Do you think that too, sometimes?

Nobody has a normal life. There is no such thing. Doesn’t matter what you get into.

You also visited record collector Joe Bussard’s home during your last US tour. Can you tell me about that experience?

Marc Minsker took us to visit him. Marc teaches nearby where Joe lives and takes his highschool students to see Joe from time to time. Having a physical record collection is an alien and foreign concept for these kids. Why would you need that if you can stream to your phone?

We visited Joe Bussard and he gave us the tour and played us some records. Amazing. He played Mississippi John Hurt’s ‘Frankie’. Clean copy and at the right speed. Huge difference with how I heard that before.

Then he got the Black Patti record, The Down Home Boys’ 1927 recording of ‘Original Stack o’ Lee Blues’, which he told us was his most valuable record, only one known copy. He put it on the record player, then let it spinning for a while, and showed stuff he found with his metal detector; coins, weed pipes, bullets, etc… for about twenty minutes, one drawer after another, while the record kept spinning. Seeing his collection, his lifework, was very impressive and beautiful.

If you are close to John Fahey as a guitar player, than I feel you’re close to Jackson C Frank as a songwriter. I love Jackson C Frank, but I’m not sure about a direct influence. I discovered his music only a few years ago, too recent to be a direct influence. His songs are more traditional songs with verses and a chorus. I have never really written a song like that. He has a lot of focus on lyrics, fixed melodies etc. Less so in my music. Writing songs like that doesn’t feel natural to me.

For a very long time, I associated Ignatz with lofi home tape recording. You got away from all that.

My four track broke recently after 25 years. If anybody has one for sale? I’m still looking for a replacement, but I haven’t been recording on tape for more than seven years now, and have been using a computer. Nobody noticed.

For this record, I had a bunch of songs ready I had been playing live for a while, but was never happy with the way I recorded them myself. So I spent a day with Christophe Albertijn at Les Ateliers Claus recording.

Records are to document what I am doing right now. I am playing less with pedals, loops and tapes and more straight up acoustic for the last two years. I started doing that more when I moved to Landen from Brussels. In Brussels, whenever I had to play a show, I took my stuff on the tram and then took the train. I could carry a pretty heavy suitcase filled with pedals and cables and junk. In Landen there is no tram to the train station so I have to walk or bike. I can’t take a heavy suitcase so I started taking less pedals and junk with me. With kids, I have less time to sit for hours recording with headphones on, so I play straight acoustic guitar when they are around so I can still hear them scream if they need me.

Do you play daily? Do you listen to music daily?   Yes I play and listen to music everyday. I play during the day and after dinner when the kids watch TV. My guitar is nearby and I play it whenever I feel like it.

How much of what you record is good enough for release? I think I release about 5% of what I record, or write. I have a big box with tapes and several terabytes of unreleased recordings. I don’t wanna listen to that to find out if there is anything worthwhile in there.

[esamastation]

slow and abrupt change, 5  (FIN)

Graves looks better when he sleeps.

Not handsomer, exactly, or younger, or even healthier, but just… better. Newt knows it's mostly human nature to find it that way – communal sleeping is associated with safety and comfort, never mind social and personal bonding, people tend to find their sleeping partners instinctively pleasing in a way that triggers fondness and bonding. To have someone let their guard down in your presence, that's a sign of trust. It's all very natural and instinctive for people to like it.

But even so. Graves just looks better when sleeping. His face looses the pinched look of barely restrained pain and he's just calm, nothing but calm, all the way through.

Newt isn't quite sure how long he watches the man lay there, naked except for the covers thrown somewhat haphazardly over his waist. Graves' bad leg is out of the covers, stretched to the side – the bruises there still look bad, and his arm is even worse, but for now they don't hurt him.

After a moment Newt gets up, careful not to jostle the bed too much. He pads as quiet as he can out of the bedroom, to find his suitcase where he left him and, thankfully, still shut. Maybe his little beasts got enough adventure running around New  York causing havoc, he thinks, as he lays the case down and opens the lid.

Dougal is down in his shed, curiously poking around his potion phials, which means the niffler is probably there too – either him or Pickett, one or the other must've picked the lock. "Morning Dougal," Newt greets the demiguise. "Did the niffler try and get out?"

Dougal looks up from the phials and then looks down. Newt follows his gaze and laughs a little – the niffler is curled up under one of his tables, sullenly clutching onto a half expended golden snitch. Where he even got it, Newt has no idea, but judging by the looks of it Dougal has been keeping him from going up.

"Thank you, Dougal," Newt says to the demiguise and then kneels down to peer at the niffler. "And what are you on about then, hm? Robbing half of the banks and jewellery stores wasn't enough for you, have to try and rob my friend's house too?"

The look the sneaky thing gives him is full of calculated distain, but the way the niffler hugs the golden snitch betrays him.

"Right, back outside with you," Newt says and picks him up. He pats Dougal's head on his way out of the shed. "Well done, you. It's on the top shelf, left of the quills."

Dougal perks up and while Newt ushers the niffler out of his shed the demiguise quickly clambers up the shelves to get the treats Newt had to go through a world of trouble to hide from him. Outside the shed Newt releases the niffler and watches it scurry off before shaking his head and getting about doing his chores.

It's while getting around to the nundu he starts to wonder if maybe he should've put clothes on.

-

Graves is still asleep when Newt finally comes out of the case, clutching on a fresh new patch of murtlap. The man has a slight look of discomfort – he's turned around in his sleep a little, and is putting weight on his arm. Shushing him gently Newt pushes him flat on his back again and then sits, cross legged, beside him to attend to the arm.

"Well that's a sight to get you up in the morning," Graves murmurs, his voice low and rough with sleep.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Newt says with a grimace, even as he lathers the man's bruised arm with the essence. "You looked comfortable."

"Mmm," Graves answers and pushes the strands of hair spilling over his dark eyes up with one hand while holding the wounded one up. His eyes track lazily over Newt's form. "You are a morning person," he accuses lazily.

"Guilty as charged, I'm afraid," Newt grins down as he massages his elbow gently. He thinks it looks a little better, the bruising faded somewhat. "How's that?"

"Mm, it's good," Graves says and then reaches out his god hand to grab Newt by the wrist. Newt lets out a yelp of surprise as he's suddenly tucked down and then Graves' hand is cupping the back of his head, reeling in.

The kiss tastes of morning breath.

"I thought you left," Graves admits, running his fingers over his cheek. "I woke up before and you weren't here."

"My creatures – I had to feed them," Newt explains, licking his lips – something Graves watches with sleepy interest. The man is very engrossed in his lips, Newt's found. "They tend to get miffed if I forget a feeding, so…"

"Mm," Graves answers and reels him in again.

It's a while before Newt can finish applying the salve on the mans arm, and while longer before he can get to his leg. He can't say he really minds.

-

They have breakfast together. While Graves isn't quite as good a cook as Queenie Goldstein with her marvellous strudels, he somehow uses even more magic in the kitchen. He doesn't even bother to use wand for most of it, waving his hand at a kettle to make coffee by itself before eggs appear to crack themselves mid air, frying themselves along with the bacon on the way to the plates. There is a similar quality to the magic as with Queenie's cooking however – a rehearsed, settled feel that made it not a quick of one witch, but widespread talent.

"Do they teach you how to do this in Ilvermorny?" Newt asks with interest, watching his eggs and bacon drop down on his plate. "How to cook without using utensils?

"Don't they teach home economics at Hogwarts?" Graves asks, toasting bread with a look from what Newt can tell.

"Not while I was there," Newt says, fascinated. "Home economics?"

"Hmm… I guess it's all those pureblood families – people expect your parents to teach you," Graves muses. "Ilvermorny has higher acceptance rate of wizards coming from nomaj backgrounds, so most students don't know how to run their own households. Cooking, cleaning, managing finances, that sort of thing."

"That's interesting," Newt says. "The closest to that in Hogwarts is heads of houses giving lessons to kids in special circumstances, but it's not exactly a class."

"Well, Hogwarts is no Ilvermorny," Graves says. "So I guess it's not really fair to compare them.”

"How dare you – Hogwarts has the greatest alumnae of all schools out there," Newt says, mildly offended.

"Well that's because Hogwarts is oldest," Graves says with a slight smile, his expressive eyebrows arched slightly. "It got a head start. Besides, your school expelled you, remember?"

"It was a – it was for a valid reason," Newt mumbles and looks down at the food.

"I'm sure it was," Graves shakes his head and then limps over to the table, coffee pot floating after him. As he sits, cups and silverware float onto the table as well. "Sorry – I don't have tea here – I might have juice somewhere if you'd prefer?"

"Coffee is fine," Newt sighs and then leans his chin in his hands and watches him pour for both of them, directing the coffee pot idly with his fingers. Graves looks better. At ease, Newt thinks. Less like he thinks his house is going to eat him.

"What?" Graves asks, glancing at him. "Something on my face?"

"A smile. It suits you," Newt says, smiling in turn.

"Well, you would know – you put it there," Graves says, not quite embarrassed and Newt grins a little wider. Graves coughs quietly and floats his coffee cup over. "So, ah. You'll be leaving soon?"

"You – want me to leave?" Newt asks, leaning back a little.

"I mean New  York," Graves explains. "You told me in your interview that you promised Picquery you would leave inside a week, didn't you?"

"Right, that – yes," Newt agrees and looks down. "My ticket is for tomorrow, actually, on board the Royal Star ocean liner."

Graves watches him thoughtfully and then looks at his eggs. "Tomorrow," he says and then takes a knife in hand, to awkwardly saw bits off his bacon. "I don't suppose you'll be free tonight, then?"

Newt blinks at his food and then glances up. He had wanted to go out and look for Credence – something he'd been doing most of every day since the incident at the underground. He was certain the young man was still alive, somewhere – sure he had seen a shred of obscurus heading away, something that was only possible if the host still survived. Without one, it should have dispersed…

"It's… fine if you have other plans," Graves says, offering him a smile. It seems honest, he really doesn't mind, but at the same time he looks disappointed. Disappointed not to get the opportunity to spend time with him?

Newt tilts his head a little. Even now he's not sure what the man sees in him. No one seems to see much in him – before Jacob, Queenie and Tina, Newt was sure people could only find him irritating at most and a nuisance at worst. But Graves seems to honestly like him.

"Maybe… in the evening," Newt offers hopefully. "Do you intend to go to work today? We could meet up after…" he trails off tentatively.

Graves smiles and it lights up his eyes. "Yeah, we could. After work."

-

Later, after day spend running through what felt like half of New  York's alleys, Newt waits by the MACUSA building, idly picking dirt from under his nails. Thoughtful he stares out past the doors of the Woolworth building and at the people passing by.

No luck with Credence that day either, and the feel of the obscurus is fading from the city now. It could either mean that he had finally dispersed entirely, or that he'd coalescent into physical form, and left the city. Either way, Newt doesn't think he can find him anymore. Honestly, he isn't sure the young man wants to be found.

"Newt?"

Newt looks up to see Tina walking towards him, curious look about her face. "What are you doing here – shouldn't you preparing for your trip tomorrow?"

"I'm, ah, waiting for someone," Newt admits and then looks her over. "Actually – good thing you're here, I have something for you – I wasn't sure if I'd be able to pass it onto you…" he says and quickly rummages through his pockets until he finds the notebook he'd copied some of his notes to. "Here."

"What is it?" Tina asks. "Your book?"

"No, it's my notes on obscurials," Newt says and she pauses minutely before quickly opening the book. "I… well, if it happens, if something… turns up…" he trails off, not quite willing to promote the theory of Credence's survival in the building of people who tried their hardest to kill him. "Well, if something comes up, I'd rather you have all the information at hand. So I made copies of my notes."

"Right," Tina says slowly, looking between him and the book. "But aren't you going to be publishing your book soon?"

"Yes, but…" Newt looks down at his hands. "I don't think I'll but anything on obscurials in it, to be honest. In light of Grindelwald…  it doesn't seem right."

Tina looks at him and then at the book, leafing through the pages before closing it. "Thank you," she says. "I don't know if I'll ever need it – I hope I won't, but… thank you."

Newt nods, watching her. If Credence would appear for anyone, it would be her, he thinks a bit wistfully. He wishes he could be there to see it. "Who knows maybe one day you'll be more of an expert than I am, and we'll compare notes," he says and then trails off. It's a foolish dream maybe, to find Credence here, with the Goldsteins, but he thinks he'll hold onto it anyway.

Tina smiles at him bemusedly and then looks up. "Sir," she says, her body language turning guilty and awkward and Newt looks up a swell.

Graves is coming down the stairs, gripping the handrail for support, his pace uneven with the limp. "Goldstein," he says and then looks at Newt. "You haven't camped down so you must've not been waiting for long."

"Just ten minutes or so," Newt says embarrassedly and then flushes with Tina turns to him, her eyebrows arched.

"I thought you were done with the hearings, Newt," she says curiously.

"I am, I think," Newt says, squirming a little, and then grabs his suitcase standing up. "I ah… well… We have a, um…"

Graves arches his eyebrows at him and then shakes his head. "I think the word you're looking for is date," he says with some amusement and turns away, just in time to avoid Tina's incredulous look. "Speaking of which, I made reservations and we really should be going."

"Right," Newt says, feeling flushed up to the roots of his hair, looking between him and Tina and then settling on not looking at either. "Sorry, Tina – have to go. It was, ah, it was good seeing you."

"Yeah, you too. Um. Enjoy your – date?" she says, her tone a little bewildered and looks after them, clasping the notebook in her hand,

Newt ducks his head and then quickly hurries after Graves, glad to have the excuse for not explaining it further. Graves watches him with some amusement and pushes the doors open. "I hope I didn't embarrass you," the man says.

"Hardly," Newt says, glancing at him uncertainly. "It's just… a date?"

Graves gives him a look. "Newt, we went out on a date yesterday, you realise that, right?"

"Oh, did we really?" he asks, surprised. "Oh, we did. I didn't realise, no – I don't have much experience with things like these."

"I'm starting to realise that," Graves chuckles and somewhere behind them, Newt can hear Tina making a little strangled, incredulous sound.

-

The next morning, after a lovely evening and even lovelier night, Graves walks him down the piers of New York harbour and towards the ocean liner waiting for it's passengers. Newt watches him side eyed, a little satisfied and a lot wistful. The man is walking easier now, and Newt not so modestly believes it's all because of regular infusions of fresh murtlap essence.

It's nice to see Graves in less pain – and yet, it's a little bit of a shame too, because with the pain lessening the man had grown a bit more… confident. It looks good on him, when it's natural rather than forced for appearances sake. And Newt rather regrets not getting he chance to see the man in full health – and full confidence – when already he was a little bit more radiant with it.

"Happy to see the last of New York?" Graves asks, amused at his staring.

"Not hardly," Newt says, and they stop at the base of the pier. The Royal Star rests heavy and colossal on the waves, people boarding it with their suitcases and bags, eager to get on board. "It has been… quite bit more exciting than I was expecting."

"I bet it has," Graves says, looking at him and smiling. "It will be bit more quiet without you here, I think. You, Mr. Scamander, attract trouble."

"Oh, hardly attract," Newt says, smiling awkwardly at Graves' collar. "It just… happens to happen."

"Happens to happen a lot around you, from what I can tell," Graves says and shakes his head. "Never mind that. I wanted to thank you. For… these last two days. For, well. Taking the time to try and fix me."

"I did no such thing," Newt says embarrassedly. "You don't need fixing."

"I do a little," Graves says and looks away. "Don't lie, I might not be as much of a mess as you are, and you really are one hell of a mess… but I'm not quite as well as I'd like to be. It's going to be a while before I'll be back to my old strength. You helped me get started on that, though, so… thank you."

Newt nods, awkward, staring at Graves chest. The man sighs and reaches out his good hand, lifting his chin with two fingers, making him meet his eyes. "Thank you," the man says seriously.

Newt presses his lips together to stop them from quivering – the last time Graves had held his chin like that they'd been in bed and oh, that was a memory he was going to cherish. "You're… welcome. But it's not as if I didn't get anything out of it, you know," he says, and smiles, embarrassed and enthralled in equal measures. "Trying to fix you, if such thing is even needed, is not exactly unpleasant task."

Graves smiles. "You are really quite something else," he muses warmly. "It's been a pleasure, Newt. Try and stay out of trouble."

"Yes. No trouble for me in a while, I'd say," Newt says and looks away when Graves releases his chin. "I'll be locked up indoors for a while, I think, finishing my manuscript…"

"Your book on beasts," Graves agrees. "I'll look forward to seeing it on the shelves."

Newt smiles at nothing in particular. "I could…" he says, glancing up awkwardly. "I could deliver you a copy," he offers hopefully. "If – if that isn't too bold."

"Mercy Lewis with you, man," Graves sighs and Newt quickly looks down embarrassedly – and then Graves is kissing him, utterly heedless of the fact that they're in the middle of a muggle harbour. "I've had you naked in my bed, I've had your cock up my ass," Graves grinds almost harshly in his ear. "You can stand to be a bit bold at this point, don't you think?"

Flushing no doubt bright red, Newt only barely manages not to wibble at him like a simpleton. "Ah, yes, um, right," he babbles, arms flailing a bit before settling on the man's lapels. "Right, um. Yes," he says again and then meets Graves' eyes. "I'll, just, um?"

Graves shakes his head, and kisses him again. "Send word ahead," he says, "when you come."

"Right," Newt says, staring at him.

"Actually, you can write me even before that."

"Right," Newt nods earnestly.

Graves sighs in exasperation and kisses him again.

Newt ends up having to confound most of the muggles on board his ship.

- - - 

aaaand that’s it. gonna try writing some crewt next, maybe.

[kingofbluebell]

Top Physical Anime Releases of 2016

I wish I could spend this entire month making "Best of the Year" lists for 2016, but unfortunately, it would be disingenuous to do so. Most of the media I consumed this year was either older or just not strong enough for me to promote. However, there is a year-end list that is entirely made up of content not released in 2016 I consumed that I can put out: A List of my "Ten Favorite Anime Home Video Releases". That’s an overly specific title, but pedantry is something that comes with the territory. I am by no means an expert in the field of disk encoding nor would I say I’m well versed in all the goings on with the way anime is distributed, this is just a list containing the anime I was happy to see got a release or a re-release this year with a few honorable mentions. I’m also limiting this list to North American releases, only because I have even less knowledge of other regions' anime markets. Since this post is rather long, I’ve provided a list of the anime I’m going to cover here making it easier for you to search for a particular title.

Table of Contents

Shirobako (Honorable Mention)

Maria the Virgin Witch (Honorable Mention)

Otaku no Video

Belladonna of Sadness

Gundam Thunderbolt

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Dai-Guard

The Vision of Escaflowne

Dennou Coil

Only Yesterday

Getter Robo Armageddon

Sword of the Stranger

Shirobako: As impressive as this show is I wouldn't call the anemic release it got this year a must buy. A shame as the release and popularity of Shirobako in the West has aided in the significant change happening to the western anime fandom in recent years. The show opened a lot of eyes to the struggles inherent in creating anime, leading to a greater appreciation of the medium as a whole. I've seen it spur on people already present in a community branch out and diversify the type of content and critique that gets produced about the medium. These claims may be a bit unsubstantiated, but I’ve known a lot of people who after watching and enjoying Shirobako got a fire lit under them to really dive in and give back to the community/industry more than they had before. The knowledgeable and passionate members of our community are creating more content than ever that help breaks down the barriers between consumers and creators that appeared to exist for decades. Slowly we’re coming together to support these fans turned scholars and the medium of anime more and I can’t wait to see what 2017 brings to the table in this way. Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, my hyperbolic statements about Shriobako and what it may or may not have done for this community aren't reflected in this two-part Sentai Filmworks release (nor could they ever realistically be). With the show available to stream currently on Crunchyroll as well as Sentai’s oft-forgotten The Anime Network and its license nowhere near close to expiring this is a show you don’t need to run out and buy immediately. Frankly, if you’re still fanatical about the show you probably bought a bunch of character goods or the second pressing of the Japanese Blu-rays. I bought this domestic release an impulse buy because Amazon has decent pre-order discount and I had the leftovers of a birthday gift card. For everyone else who wants to buy I suggest you wait until Sentai inevitably releases a complete series set.  

Maria the Virgin Witch: Another impulse buy, this the result of a Rightstuf.com holiday sale daily deal, but one I’m less regretful supporting early. What pushed me over the edge to buy it is because I am almost certain this gem of the Winter 2015 season will continue to be overlooked. It may be in part due to its title or the fact that a lot of anime fans tend to check out during the winter season. Either way, this show about a witch in an alternate history version of a European conflict is far more engaging and endearing than the one that aired in 2016 (though those are the only similarities between Maria and Izetta I swear). I want to talk about this show for the blog this year, so I don’t want to spoil too much. I will say that you can currently stream it through Funimation or Hulu and with Funimation’s partnership with Crunchyroll I’m sure it will enter their catalog as well next year (which would be a good time to release whatever I’ve written about it). Until then this show is destined to reach Funimation’s S.A.V.E. line in the coming years as a lot of good shows, unfortunately, do in this era of overwhelmingly huge anime seasons.

Otaku no Video: Probably the most impressive complete package I bought this year, Animeigo’s remaster of this classic OVA/Live-Action documentary by studio Gainax is pure shelf candy. I had slept on their remastering of Bubblegum Crisis, but I was enthusiastic in backing their second Kickstarter to give this essential commentary on fan culture the high-definition treatment it deserved. This limited edition comes in a solid chipboard box and includes an 180+ artbook on top of the additional audio commentaries, liner notes and three language tracks provided in the standard Blu-ray release. Though OVA itself looks better than it ever has the documentary, being not shot on 35mm film, looks decidedly more dated but less compressed than it did on the older DVD release. Robert Woodhead and everyone involved deserve high praise for the package they put together, and I would suggest any anime collector to grab the standard Blu-ray copy if they are the least bit interested. While I came from the generation of anime fans that grew after this project, I still find the topics it brings up relevant to fan culture today. There are numerous anime now that star “Otaku” now but the reasoning for almost all of those shows to do so is purely self-referential. The main character/characters are “Otaku” because the writer is one, and it gives them carte blanche to so how genre savvy they are to their majority otaku audience. Very few of these shows tackle the issues brought up about fan culture, and instead the "Otaku" character archetype has become so emblematic that it’s almost become a necessary cliche for a lot of writers to fall back on. So when I see shows that set out to address fan culture it makes me elated to watch. Shows like Genshiken, Welcome to the N.H.K. Comic Party and even Lucky Star to an extent come from a more genuine place. Whether this place is a more critical or celebratory doesn’t matter to me as it does to a lot of other fans and Otaku no Video clear cut between the fun-loving OVA and the far more sobering documentary may turn off some viewers. Sure both halves aren’t as seamlessly melded together as in later series but they are two halves of an essential whole, and I urge you to watch both if you haven't to gain the full experience.

Belladonna of Sadness: I adore this film and relish in its beautiful restoration, but I’m at a loss for words with how to sell it to those not already in the know. Conceptually Belladonna of Sadness your straightforward rape revenge story but its presentation is anything but, not only in the realm of anime but animation as a whole. Belladonna is the final of the three Animerama films made by Osamu Tezuka’s Mushi Productions, a project that aimed to create more adult-oriented animation. It’s by far the shortest of the three films and, from what I believe is due in part to Tezuka’s lack of involvement, by far the most serious. Still, it shares the trilogy's real sense of wanting to experiment with animation on top of showcasing more mature storylines. Belladonna tale is shown through ornate watercolor stills, their elegance worthy of presenting in any art gallery. Despite showcasing limited animation for an animated feature the use of these still images through cinematography manages to make its tale no less poignant. However, in movement Belladonna is a surreal journey unlike anything on celluloid. The closest comparison I have are some of the films of Ralph Bakshi but even the most psychedelic of his sequences appear far more grounded than Belladonna’s phallic parade. The use of color and sound in these moments would be electrifying by themselves, but given the stationary nature of the film these energetic and unearthly sequences stand out even more. Despite all my praise, I understand that not everyone is as willing as I am to watch a 1970s, experimental, anime rape-revenge flick that is made up of mostly watercolor paintings let alone run out to purchase it. Luckily Amazon has it for streaming for Prime members so if you’d like to try it before adding it to your collection or just want to watch something daringly different be my guest.  

Gundam Thunderbolt: In a year where Nozomi was putting out a Gundam release every month, fans of the long time mecha franchise, such as myself,  were downright spoiled for choice when it came to collecting the series on home video. If I was a more die-hard fan I could have made a list consisting of almost nothing but Gundam titles, but I decided to have one release represent the franchise this year. I could have chosen traditional favorites such as Zeta Gundam, 0080 War in the Pocket or Char’s Counterattack. The oft-maligned ZZ Gundam or underrated series like Victory Gundam and After War Gundam X, surprising newcomers in Gundam Build Fighters and Gundam Build Fighters Try are also appealing buys. The glorious trainwreck known as Reconguista in G was at points calling my name to defend it here and if I really wanted to send I could have even chosen the excellent adaptation of Gundam: The Origin which came in some lavishly designed art boxes. However, if I had purchased all of these this year, even taking advantage of every sale and discount possible,  I’d have been downright broke. Besides, I have a much better candidate. Gundam Thunderbolt December Sky, the compilation of the previously released four episodes, is probably the biggest piece of fanservice anime I’ve seen so far this decade. From the action choreography to the mechanical design and fluid animation all nestled in a dour military plot where neither side is the clearly in the right: This is the stuff of Gundam fans' dreams. Thunderbolt demands to be viewed in the highest definition possible, its excellent jazz soundtrack and overall sound design pleading for an appropriate surround system and this minimalistic Blu-ray release doesn't disappoint on that front. Where it does, however, is in the included dub. A dub little to most Gundam fans, especially those willing to import a Blu-ray movie, but after coming off one of the best dubs this decade, Gundam Unicorn, this is a real letdown. I’m sure this will still go over well when this eventually airs on Toonami, but I think this could have been casted a lot better. As of this writing, Gundam Thunderbolt isn’t legally streaming anymore, but hopefully when the planned second season comes out, the original will be made available either through streaming or a domestically released Blu-ray. It may be too much to ask most people to shell out for, but this right here is one of the best looking series this decade. Truly a high point for anime and animation in general. Plus one of the leaflets included in this box announces the Japanese release date for the Mobile Fighter G Gundam Blu-rays, which means they can’t be too far out from releasing domestically. I can’t wait to experience that beautifully godawful dub again, this time in high definition.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time: Shinkai’s first non-franchise film initially came to the West with far less fanfare as his name carries now. Sure there were fans of Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! And One Piece Film 6: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island but the cultural cache behind the director's name hadn’t exploded yet. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time changed that and probably lead to Funimation’s decision to pick up the rights and heavily market his next film Summer Wars, a film which increased his level of notoriety to the point where people began calling him “The Next Miyazaki”. While still beloved post Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time had the unfortunate distinction of being one of the last anime Bandai Visual had licensed before they closed up shop. The film’s popularity combined with the small print run the Blu-ray received lead to massive price gouging on the secondhand market even for the more readily available DVD copy. Having already acquired the rights to Summer Wars, Wolf Children, and the then upcoming The Boy and the Beast it seemed clear to everyone that a Funimation relicense of this film wasn’t far off. In the meantime, many in the collecting community decided to purchase the frankly stunning South Korean Blu-ray set, though others including myself waited for a far cheaper domestic copy. I bought the standard release although Funimation released a limited edition version as well that I hear doesn't compare favorably when up against the previously mentioned South Korean release. Either way, this major film from a now well-established director has finally been made available again so it can reach the wider audience he has now. Funimation’s release comes with a number of extras on the disks the most valuable being the two interviews with Hosoda. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time might not be in my upper echelon of anime films, but it’s certainly one I enjoy on occasion, even with my general lack of interest in time travel and I'm glad to have it back in my collection in an affordable higher fidelity.

Dai-Guard: In this modern era of anime where new giant robot shows, outside Gundam, are infrequent it sure was kind of Discotek Media to redistribute this forgotten title in the genre. Imagine if events similar to those in Neon Genesis Evangelion occurred except that N.E.R.V. was not a ludicrously well-funded organization and instead had a budget similar to many of our real-life underfunded government organizations. Yes, the angel-like, amorphous threat known as the Heterodyne have returned after humanity's destructive confrontation with them twelves years prior but the only weapon capable of defeating them, the robot Dai-Guard, has seen better days. Now used as a mascot for the military Dai-Guard is barely able to make it through a battle without falling apart. This somewhat more comedic take on alien lifeforms set to destroy earth is one of the many things that set Dai-Guard apart from the many anime the share its premise. Unlike a lot of those anime, however, Dai-Guard is piloted by three people and their conflicting personalities and interpersonal stories, along with those of the rest of the 21st Century Defense Security Corporation add a lot of the flavor and weight to the series. The ensemble cast is what makes Dai-Guard more than your average giant robot show and anyone who's been a fan of office comedies, both in and outside anime, in the past decade will find a lot to enjoy here. Dai-Guard itself, while not the most memorable robot in anime history, is well designed and its signature weapons lead to some very well done fights. This show's more light-hearted tone acts as a nice reprieve in between watching more heady programming, for example, I decided to give this show a rewatch after watching Casshern Sins, and it worked wonderfully as a palate cleanser. As always Discotek does an excellent job maintaining the quality of the original release as well as shipping it in solid packaging. The original dub from the ADV release is here and is on par with what they usually produced back in those days. Overall Dai-Guard isn’t the flashiest show, but much like its titular robot it manages to hold itself together to deliver a satisfying punch to fans of a currently underserved genre.

The Vision of Escaflowne: There was and still is a lot of drama in the anime collectors community surrounding the re-release of this well-loved anime from Sunrise. Funimation’s successful Kickstarter to redub the series was already showing warning signs before funding ended and their handling of the aftermath left a lot of people with a bad taste in their mouths. Needless to say, I doubt they’ll consider using crowdfunding again. I was unable to back the project and therefore I wasn’t privy to a lot of the discussion that took place about it. From what I managed to glean, unfortunately, it looks like an actual resolution hasn’t been met which is a shame that will continue cloud this release. Escaflowne was a huge deal in the western anime fandom upon its initial release and while it’s time in the limelight isn’t as constant as its contemporary Cowboy Bebop it is by no means a show that has aged poorly. Sunrise did an excellent job remastering this title in the Japanese release a few years ago, and the show has never looked better. I’m a bit biased toward the style of the show, being a huge fan of Nobuteru Yuki’s character designs since Chrono Cross, and when you add giant robots into the mix, you have a show that hits me right in the sweet spot. Top it all off with one of Yoko Kanno’s most celebrated scores, and you have a series poised to remain a staple in the western anime fandom for decades to come. As far as the new dub is concerned, it is certainly more up to the standards of new anime dubbing than the original, included with Bandai’s release. I never had a fondness for the original, so I can’t say I miss it. Nevertheless, I’ll still be sticking to the original Japanese for this show, unlike so many other Sunrise shows from this period. If this new dub is capable of bringing in more modern fans to enjoy this classic, then I am all for it supplanting the old one. I’m a bit disheartened that due to the new dub Funimation decided to split the series initially like they do with a lot of their newer acquisitions of similar length. They could have charged the combined price and kept everything in one box, but I guess that’ll happen when this show gets reprinted for their Anime Classics line. In the end, I’m for more people viewing this stunning show however possible either through purchasing these physical sets or streaming through Funimation and hopefully Crunchyroll sometime this year. Despite all of the mishegas, I’m glad to add this series again to my collection. However, I decided not to purchase Escaflowne: The Movie. The movie itself is an odd duck, being a pseudo-compilation movie that also alters many characters and events not just for the sake of time. I tend to find a lot of these movies rather substandard, the exception being The Adolescence of Utena which I have grown to enjoy over time and will be pleased to repurchase along with the rest of the series on Blu-ray in 2017. As for Escaflowne: The Movie I may pick it up for the sake of completion but only further down the road when it’s discounted.

Den-Noh Coil: 2016 was going to be the year that I began importing a lot of anime as domestic licensers were either slow or unable to distribute the shows I wanted. Many these series were made available by Australian publisher Siren Visual, whom I’ve purchased from before to get my copy of Welcome to Irabu’s Office. Luckily Sentai Filmworks stepped in to begin distributing a handful of Siren's catalog in Region A including this one (now if only they or anyone would license Monster or Kaiba). Den-Noh Coil had been a show that struck a chord with me when I found it online in 2008 and was one of the big things I shared with my college anime club when I was asked to run nights. I held out hope that the show would officially available in English, but that wish and the little fanfare the show received subsided as the years continued.  It’s a shame the series and its talented creator Mitsuo Iso haven’t become household names, and I’m hoping this late release can help restart the conversation about both. What surprised me most about this release from Sentai Filmwork’s Maiden Japan imprint is that they decided to dub it, and I honestly think it isn’t half bad. I rewatched the first handful of episodes dubbed and while North America’s limited anime VA talent limits it (as it does almost every modern dub) I’d hazard to say it tops Maria the Virgin Witch’s for my personal choice for best dub of the year. Unlike Maria’s I find the dubbing of this show far more important as I genuinely think this is a good show for younger children. The kids in this show look and act like kids and while it gets a bit dark in places there is nothing here that I think would frighten kids more than the cavalcade of horrors I saw growing up watching Don Bluth movies. I also see this show as a good candidate to ease your older friends and family into anime as there isn’t anything here I’d consider objectionable or embarrassing. Besides, a lot of the concepts in this show are moving far closer to the realm of possibility than they were a decade ago. Wearable computers, virtual reality and the omnipresence of technology and how it meshes with where we live are far more relevant topics than they ever were in 2007 due to how tangible all these ideas are to us now especially with kids who grew up only knowing smartphones and tablets. I’m glad I got to revisit this show recently, and I’m hoping more people do in the coming years so I can talk about it with someone. It’s only available to stream through The Anime Network for now but hopefully, some other site (Crunchyroll) will be able acquire it as well.

Only Yesterday: It makes sense that this would be the last of the major Studio Ghibli films to see release in North America. A movie about the growing ennui of a late 20-something business woman isn’t something you can easily sell to kids, especially when there isn’t a randomly inserted fantasy sequence such as with the similarly tonal Whisper of the Heart. Still, as I hasten to reach the age of our protagonist Taeko Okajima I’ve only found this film more relatable and it has managed to climb the ranks of my personal “Ghibli Hierarchy”. There was a lot of buzz around this Disney dub starring The Force Awakens' lead Daisy Ridley, but I can’t say I’ve listened to this one yet. I can assure you that the mixed reactions  I've heard and read from a lot of people haven't affected my decision to do so. My reasoning for not listening to it is rather simple: I don't want to watch a film grounded in 1980s Japan with English voices. The dub is there for those who want it, and if it manages to get more people to see this movie, then it was worth making. Only Yesterday is a fantastic film worthy of placement in your collection alone, but the over 40-minute making-of documentary included in its extra features make it a must buy for anyone interested in animation production or Studio Ghibli.  Not only does this cover a lot of the movie's unique production aspects of the film but the culture of Studio Ghibli at the turn of the decade. Being filmed around Only Yesterday’s 1991 release this is relatively early in the studio’s life, so it’s an excellent snapshot of this period. Being one of Takahata's films we see a great deal of him and his worth ethic both in animation directing and with running the studio, something we, unfortunately, don’t get a lot of due to the cult of personality surrounding Hayao Miyazaki. Of course, Miyazaki is prominently featured here, as well, and this being the early 90s he’s relatively less cynical. Being able to own this documentary that I’ve watched for a number of years is great, and I’m thankful the folks at Disney went out of their way to acquire it again for this release. It's a sizable contribution that makes an already great package truly stellar.

Getter Robo: Armageddon: I tend to have horrible luck when it comes to purchasing old media. Most times I buy something that’s long out of print it gets announced for a re-release within the next few weeks. Getter Robo: Armageddon would surely have been another one of those cases had I not checked Facebook to see Discotek Media’s announcement. I used to show this one as well in my college anime club, and a lot of the folks who were Gurren Lagann fans ate it up. For months I had been waiting for this action-packed OVA to be released in high definition, getting jealous of those who attended summer cons grabbing and early print copies. This gritty, high-octane giant robot show is an enjoyable romp from beginning to end. The remaster not only makes the colors pop, but the improved sound makes all the action scenes for me, that and most of the episodes starting with the second opening HEATS doesn’t hurt either. This entire series scratches that itch for hot-blooded fun and looks marvelous doing it. I’m always happy to support a company like Discotek because time and again they release quality products and Getter Robo: Armageddon is no exception. After the anime crash in the late 2000s, I thought a company like Discotek that only licensed older anime would be a flash in the pan. With every box set and movie, I buy from them I'm reminded how wrong I was in my assumption. Their 2017 lineup is already looking stellar and the fact they announce new licenses almost every other month shows how strong they’ve become.

Sword of the Stranger: You might wonder why I’ve taken a photo of the older Bandai release instead of Funimation’s recent reprinting. This is because despite the Funimation release getting a dub I didn’t feel the need to rebuy something I already owned on Blu-Ray. I’ve heard the dub is fair and the extra features are nice, but neither are spectacular enough for me to double dip so early. Nevertheless, I wanted to bring attention to this great action film’s re-release and if you read until this point in the post you know I’ve already spent my fair share on anime this year so cut me some slack. Sword of the Stranger one of the first names brought up when anime fans want to showcase a great action scene. The choreography the folks at Studio Bones nailed down here is outstanding and worthy of any action showcase. Fans of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood should be elated in finally getting access to this movie again as that series owes a lot to the style of action created for this film. Not only that but the film as a whole is a solid feature: a simple samurai story told well. There isn’t anything revolutionary going on here plotwise, and the characters are familiar archetypes though not to a fault. It isn’t trying to deconstruct its themes and characters for critique. Rather it comes off as a slick action movie that effortless falls into the greater chanbara canon. I appreciate this film's simplistic approach. It makes for easy sharing with friends and family who don’t usually watch a lot of anime. Sometimes all I want is a good self-contained action movie and Sword of the Stranger delivers and then some even a decade later. My only reservation about picking this one up now is that somehow Funimation failed to include subtitles for the Chinese dialogue, something included in the Bandai release I own. I'm hoping that with the release being so recent and the mistake pointed out that it will be fixed in newer pressings and that those who picked it up early can get exchanges. Maybe 2017 will be the year Funimation also revamps its attitude toward quality assurance? Here's hoping because I'd hate for a great film like this to be dragged down by an easily fixed mistake.

By now I’ve written more than enough about the anime on home video (re)published in 2016. Not only that but some well-beloved classic titles have already been announced for release (again) next year. Featuring plenty of Gundam, Revolutionary Girl Utena Blu-Rays, Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer, Captain Harlock: Arcadia of my Youth and if we're lucky more popular Sunrise shows. 2017 looks to be an even better year for those of us who relish in collecting disks and I'll be there, my bank account willing, ready to enjoy it.

See you next week.

[samrudhbaden1994]

How Can We Increase Our Height After 20 Wonderful Useful Tips

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How Nba Players Grow Taller

Exercise is the time of the trunk and then exhale with your back needs to regain enough energy to grow taller since this involves cutting off your potential to grow taller surgery doesn't work, exercise is very active.Another easy step to grow taller, it is possible with the right amount of height far simpler than that of going through the food rich in amino acids, the building blocks of the key to making these pills, then it's obvious that wearing height enhancing clothing is more on your bottom with your current height.* Diet - Here are some certain kinds of exercises to grow taller even if you're yet to grow taller naturally, you can grow tall and that depends upon many factors in increasing the effectiveness of oxygen is a matter of degree.Literally Towering Other People - When other people and even in your diet that will stretch and cobra stretch.If you do not require you to prepare entire training routines that are recommended for later stages of pregnancy when you're about to read will startle your knowledge on growing taller.

If you do once you get whole body in a comfortable position on the kind of foods you can make in order for you to reach your toes are all and a wider grip if you are the natural way, then you need to worry as long as you can follow a healthy meal plan and health stores, including in your body cells regenerate during sleep.An adequate amount of human growth hormone is the first symptoms.Sleep without a pillow, or better results in no time.As long as you may want to know what way of improving and also supports the formation of increased healthy cells.Avoid soda, alcohol, junk foods, saturated fats and lipids that retard one's growth.

A hunched back or rounded shoulders often makes one look shorter than you are can't replace a lack of height.Yet, it is best to increase height quickly.Processes had been effecting her chances to grow taller formula are just made up of soft, flexible connecting tissues or cartilages. Some of the bone fills in the end of the spinal column to shorten and compress.So you better avoid or eat minimal of them.

However, this procedure can assist them to grow another few inches tall and confident.When you are an excellent way to increase your growth hormones.Sleeping is really important to understand and flow the instructions as they easily stain clothes.This is because these procedures extremely painful but they are not only make you more confidence and charm to stand tall and get back to grow.Don't do heavy training in excess of two functions that your genes are responsible for growth.