#ruth the echidna

[koreyeet]

i accidenely deleted the orignial so had to redraw it

they forgot they had to bring something

@head---ache

@sonic-fankid-showdown bc why not

[shadows-coffeebeans]

payback @koreyeet >:]

@sapphanimates im not sure if im supposed to tag you or-

[koreyeet]

i did 3

the first is drill and ghost

the second is seven, ruth and ringer

the third is howl and meg

OKAY THATS IT IVE SEEN TWO OF THESE NOW SO ITS ABOUT TIME EVERYONE GOT INVOLVED

DRAW TWO OF YOUR FANKIDS AS A FUSION! GO!!!.!.!

♪⁠┌⁠|⁠∵⁠|⁠┘⁠♪└⁠|⁠∵⁠|⁠┐⁠♪

[longliverockback]

Frank Zappa Apostrophe (’) [50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition Box Set] 2024 Zappa ————————————————— Tracks CD One: Original 1974 Album – 2024 Remaster + Album Session Bonus Tracks 01. Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow 02. Nanook Rubs It 03. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast 04. Father O’Blivion 05. Cosmik Debris 06. Excentrifugal Forz 07. Apostrophe 08. Uncle Remus 09. Stink-Foot 10. Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow [basic tracks / alternate take] 11. Nanook Rubs It [basic track / outtake] 12. Nanook Rubs It [session outtake] 13. Cosmik Debris [basic tracks – take 3] 14. Excentrifugal Forz [mix outtake] 15. Apostrophe [mix outtake] 16. Uncle Remus [mix outtake] 17. Apostrophe [unedited master / 2024 mix] 18. Uncle Remus [piano and vocal mix 2024]

Tracks CD Two: Bonus Concert 1 – Colorado Springs, CO 1974 01. Show start • Band intros 02. Village of the Sun 03. Echidna’s Arf (of You) 04. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? 05. Babbette 06. Approximate 07. Cosmik Debris 08. Pygmy Twylyte 09. The Idiot Bastard Son 10. Cheepnis 11. Montana 12. Dupree’s Paradise intro

Tracks CD Three: Bonus Concert 1 – Colorado Springs, CO 1974 [continued] 01. Dupree’s Paradise 02. Is There Anything Good Inside of You? 03. Florentine Pogen 04. Kung Fu 05. Penguin in Bondage 06. T’Mershi Duween 07. The Dog Breath Variations 08. Uncle Meat 09. RDNZL 10. Medley: King Kong • Chunga’s Revenge • Son of Mr. Green Genes

Tracks CD Four: Early 1974 Bonus Live Track + Bonus Concert #2 – Dayton, Ohio, Hara Arena 20 November, 1974 01. Tush Tush Tush (a Token of My Extreme) 02. Stink-Foot 03. RDNZL 04. Village of the Sun 05. Echidna’s Arf (of You) 06. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? 07. Penguin in Bondage 08. T’Mershi Duween 09. The Dog Breath Variations 10. Uncle Meat 11. Building a Girl

Tracks CD Five: Dayton, Ohio, Hara Arena 20 November, 1974 [continued] 01. Dinah-Moe Humm 02. Camarillo Brillo 03. Pygmy Twylyte 04. Room Service 05. Tush Tush Tush (End Vamp) 06. Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow 07. Nanook Rubs It 08. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast 09. Father O’Blivion 10. Apostrophe TV Ad 11. Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow [single edit] 12. Goteborg GTR 13. Approximate 14. …the poodle bites…

Tracks Blu-ray: 2024 Stereo Remaster + Dolby Atmos Mix + 1974 Quad Mix 01. Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow 02. Nanook Rubs It 03. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast 04. Father O’Blivion 05. Cosmik Debris 06. Excentrifugal Forz 07. Apostrophe 08. Uncle Remus 09. Stink-Foot —————————————————

Jack Bruce

George Duke

Aynsley Dunbar

Tony Duran

Alex Dmochowski

Bruce Fowler

Tom Fowler

Jim Gordon

Johnny Guerin

Ralph Humphrey

Jean-Luc Ponty

Ian Underwood

Ruth Underwood

Frank Zappa

* Long Live Rock Archive

[homestuck-human-generator]

Name: Mw. Ruth Barlow Color: Castleton Green #00563b Symbol: Hand-painted Cherimoya Strife Specibus: yoyokind Handle: accursedAbility Animal: buffalo Pronouns: she/her Age: 14 Birthday: July 11, which was a monday. Sexuality: thank you Interests: furniture building and mazes (indoor/outdoor) Dream Moon: derse Classpect: Page of Space Land: Land of Rest and Frost, an encouraging place, with precious Radiated Tortoise consorts. It is a place full of cities and brains. Echidna is lonely. Instrument: cavaquinho

[rotdotmp3]

skyblock/the potato war

part two of two of my gift for @echidna-cosmos​ as part of the @technoblade-gift-exchange​ !!

skyblock: the great potato war - technoblade // june jordan // the little mill - rembrandt // the voice i owe to you - pedro salinas (tr. ruth katz crispin // above the clouds i - georgia o’keeffe // technoblade // spring clouds study - john constable // lake of little birds - katherine larson // landscape with cornfields - salomon van ruysdael // technoblade // tumblr user catcrumb 

[anactualfuckingnerd]

you're just gonna say you made sonic oc's and not share them with us??? /lh /nm /np

YES SOMEONE TOOK THE BAIT

ok so this is rocky the rabbit. hes based on early concept art of sonic that depicted him as a bunny with a 90's cartoon art style. his pronouns are he/him and he is bisexual :)

he lives on the lost hex from sonic lost world and is the only anthropomorphic animal on it, with everything else either being genesis style critters, real life animals that have some sort of twist like the manta rays who spit fire, and the zeti. my interpretation of zeti can be a whole other post.

hes the most isolated out of my ocs, and lacks the most social skills. hes very blunt and swears a lot, something he learned from the zeti growing up. he very rarely takes things seriously, much to the chagrin of the other two.

his favorite food is apples and hes basically the sonic out of my ocs, ie hes the fastest. not as fast as sonic himself but god damn close. he can use the super peel out from sonic cd and he can homing attack and rail grind. the former has an arch to it like in lost world, as opposed to every other sonic game where his homing attack literally straightforward.

he basically treats the entire hex as his neighborhood, frequently visiting all the different environments and ecosystems just for fun. my friend @sappys-art-blog actually drew a couple sketches

onto the next one

so this is ruth the wolf, who was supposed to be a rival to rocky in the same vein as metal sonic. it was also supposed to be a play on the predator/prey dynamic wolfs and bunnies are often depicted with. her pronouns are she/her and shes panromantic asexual

she lives in "the city" from sonic forces (lets just say the actual name is sunset heights) and was part of the resistance against eggman empire. she grew up around other anthro animals, so shes a lot better with social stuff than rocky. however, she also never met another human until eggman took over most of the world.

she was drafted into the resistance in her mid teens and stayed even after eggman was defeated, as the resistance became part of sunset heights defenses, just in case something like that happens again. this makes her the most skilled fighter out of the three, and is actually able to harness the power of wisps/wispons such as drill and burst.

shes definitely the straightman in the trio, usually to balance out whatever bullshit rocky pulls off. also, it took a little while before i realized that her design in this picrew is extremely similar to shadow, which was not intended but is still welcome.

finally, this is randall the horned lizard. he's based off the little guy from spelunky 2 (below) and takes the place of knuckles. his pronouns are he/him and he is pansexual

thanks to the picrew, he looks more like knuckles himself than id like. the design is supposed to look more like mighty the armadillo, hence the black skin. just imagine if he had a shell, like mighty, that had yellowish spikes.

his backstory is interesting because hes the only one who interacted with humans at a young age. he was adopted by a man named trevor (iykyk) who took randall with him to explore what mobius had to offer. they were like father and sun, until they came across angel island.

there, they meet a tribe of echidnas who believe that randall is prophecised to be the guardian of the master emerald. the tribe forcefully seperated the two, as randall was dragged deep into the island, where the massive emerald awaited. the last thing he ever heard from trevor was "ill come and get you, okay? i just need to explain the misunderstanding!"

randall doesnt know what happened to him after that. trevor never actually came back, and randall simply sat there, guarding the emerald and waiting to be found. and then eggman crashes onto the island or something.

unlike knuckles, randall isnt convinced by eggmans story that rocky and ruth are the evil ones who are looking to steal the emerald. but randall senses them entering the island, and pretty much runs off to deal with them.

randall almost kicks the shit out of the two before eggman sets a good chunk of the island on fire. from then on, randall's juggling between stopping eggman from fucking up angel island, and kicking the other two out entirely.

im actually running out of steam so im gonna go over his Powers and Abilities before going to bed.

he can somewhat control the position of his spikes like a porccupine, and can either flatten them or make them puff them out as defense. he can also camoflauge like some irl horned lizards.

after years of exposure to the master emerald, hes able to subconsciously make himself far stronger than he looks, basically using the power of belief or whatever. im getting tired.

finally, his last ability is based off of the werehog gimmick from sonic unleashed. its also based off of ths wereskunk episode of regular show. basically if hes panicking or just insanely pissed, he grows quite a bit bigger and becomes a lot more feral. his arms cant stretch like the werehog but his boosted speed and strength more than makes up fod that. hes about the same size as the death egg robot from sonic 2, but usually moves around on all fours like an actual lizard.

ill maybe reblog this tomorrow with more info but rn im pooped. gnight

[phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess]

if you have a question about aussie slang, for a fic or whatevs, please just ask i don't know all of it, but we do have some fun words and sayings that are day to day statements

esp. the more rural you go

not everyone has the full accent though, because you do get a lot of pressure at work to come across... professional or whatever.

the only one i've never been sure of being an Actual Phrase, or if it Became A Phrase after popularisation on a tv show, is "Stone the Flaming Crows" bc a dude from Neighbours used to say it frequently.

examples of day to day stuff i can think of right now

mad as a frog in a sock (angry about something, went off, off the shits)

mad as a cut snake (usually means 'they're nuts', but can also mean they exploded with anger, usually contextual)

she'll be right (it's fine - can be a flippant statement, can be reassurance, etc)

drongo / galah - (idiot, not very smart, wanker, etc)

dunny = toilet

thunderbox/outhouse / long-drop - usually outdoor toilet

dry as a nun's nasty / dry as a dead dingo's donger (I am thirsty, or It Is Hot AF/we need rain so bad)

chuck a u-ey (do a u-turn)

Oi! (Hey I want your attention/i was surprised, general exclamation, stop that, you are in a lot of fucking trouble mate - depends on the tone of voice and volume) like "OI!" says aunty ruth has just found her dentures in jello and she knows you did it, etc

Bugger off (go away, or sometimes a statement of disbelief)

Yeah nah /Nah yeah (can mean yes, no or maybe depending on what was said directly before the statement)

you cant pull the wool over my eyes - you can't lie to me like that / i can see you are not telling the truth

shut your gob / put a sock in it / put a cork in it - (shut up / shut the FUCK up / close your mouth or i will shut it for you) depends on tone

Ya wally (you idiot)

Roo = kangaroo

o = can be affixed to anything to shorten it at the servo - gone to the service station, arvo - afternoon, smoko - morning tea, bottlo - where the grog is

goon/goonsack - wine in a box

grog - alcohol

stubbie - beer, ususally

boardies - board shorts

rashie - swimming shirt,

slip, slop, slap - ancient proverb for avoiding sunburn. singing pelican.

thongs - footwear

sheila = female / woman, don't hear this a lot at the moment tbh except in certain contexts or from specific people

'Getting rowdy' = things are heating up, people are riled up, a fight is about to/has just broken out, etc.

DJ's like a mad cunt = one very specific meme about a bad PM we had like 10 years ago. i can't tell you how many PM's ago, it's been game of thrones here lmao

Beyond the black stump / Out whoop-whoop / references to timbuktu (quite a distance away)

strewth!/crickey!/bloody hell - (exclamation of surprise, expletive replacement, etc)

flat out like a lizard drinking (tired / drunk / exhausted / sleeping)

pull a harry holt - (I've heard a dozens variations of this one, it means Go Missing / Disappear, often used as a joke. PM Holt went swimming one day and disappeared)

have a stickybeak (to poke your nose in/investigate/look around)

chuck a wobbly/throw a tanty/chuck a tanty/throw a wobbly (throw a tantrum, i have legit never seen anyone successfully deescalate a situation by telling someone not to chuck a wobbly or throw a tanty, go figure lmao)

bogan - (very specific kind of low-income, generally white, people. sort of like rednecks, but with more stereotypical aussie features like a mullet, singlet tops, sunnies, stubbies, etc. tend to fall under the liberal party ideology - who are our republicans... )

ankle-biters / rugrats / little takkers / gremlins / nippers - (kids, usually the littler ones)

tiff - argument, small fight (had a tiff, had a row)

pav = pavlova

piss/whizz/take a piss = going to pee

vegemite - delicious

Kiwi = New Zealander

Banana benders - the disrespectful bs that apparently other states call anyone living in Queensland, the wankers

station - farming areas that have sheep or livestock usually, have farmhands etc.

dole bludger(s) - (anyone on Centrelink, whether they want to be or not, with no other employment. but like, a lot of people on centrelink have a job that does not cover enough and need additional financial supports to meet a minimum wage, or are students or apprentices, etc. there are people who go on centrelink on and off to avoid engaging in the jobseeking stuff, they are the real dole bludgers, but a lot of richer people tend to call anyone on 'welfare' bludgers)

don't you come the raw prawn with me - (do not lie to me / don't try that shit with me, mate / I wasn't born yesterday /etc)

dak/dack - to dack someone is to come up behind them and yank their pants down (or skirts). Often taking out your boxers, too.)

budgie smugglers - (speedoes, male swimwear)

togs/toggs or cozzie (swimwear, any kind. cozzie = costume)

mozzie - (mosquito)

better than a kick up the backside /better than a kick in the arse - (pretty self explanatory, one of those phrases parents use to get slightly hurt kids to start laughing and/or coworkers to commisserate about new work rules, etc)

I wouldn't piss on (name) if they were on fire - (self-explanatory, you hate them, or they're a useless tit or an insufferable person /a suckup etc, and you would gladly hand them a match)

one for the road = getting a drink for the road, usually. can also make a joke of it like, "one last piss for the road" = I'm going to the bathroom before I leave

here's your handbag, what's your hurry - probs not an aussie phrase but a common joke in my family

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

So like, there's some words and items from Australian Indigenous culture that often get used wrong in stereotypical characters, like saying 'gone walkabout', using 'cooee', making digeridoo jokes, and making some really uncomfy 'savages' statements can be very disrespectful. You might want to go looking into Australia's fucked up policies and historical (and only recent) situations before starting any arguments about this stuff... in many ways it mirrors the cruelty of american colonisers to native american peoples, etc.

Avoid some phrases. Your character gone to cool their head? He's gone off on to soak his head, or he's on his bike (gone away) but he'll be back... You can use 'Oi, dickhead!'

Please don't mock the names of towns or places, they are often the names from the traditional custodians and inhabitants.

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

Random things:

We drive on the left side of the road, driver's side reversed.

More of our cars are automatic than manual. Utes aren't atypical, but bigger vehicles are out in rural areas because more than a few of the rural roads are poorly maintained or dirt, with potholes that yoyo your soul into your body.

If you have a character on a long drive on a non-highway, or rural road: +if you are on a one-lane road and someone is comingthe other way, you both move half-on, half-off; for big vehicles or trucks, you can choose to pull off completely and stop. Just for safety, esp. in rain, fog, mist or late at night. +at one-lane bridges, you have a give way sign on one side. if you want your characters to have a moment of 'pause to look at each other while driving' or 'a quiet moment of reflection', have them wait for another car or truck to pass from the other side. These can be a few metres long, to like, a really long bridge. +They may pass markers that say 'flood level marker' with numbers of 2, 3 or 5 metres. Could be useful to remark on if your fic needs a reason for them to have a crisis. +Bushfire warning signs (from Low to Catastrophic) are frequent +Animal Crossing signs are very frequent, and often have a wildlife rescue number on them +Water restriction signs are in most small towns, they range from levels 1 to 6. This can change what the characters are allowed to do with water in little towns, etc. +You may occasionally find a small servo and one or two houses. +pubs don't open/won't serve alcohol until after 10am. the joke has always been, 'beer on your cornflakes' but you will never be able to actually get that unless you preplanned the night before in your hotel room. +Around dawn and dusk, a lot of animals like hares, kangaroos, wallabies, sometimes echidnas and koalas and little numbat things, and snakes and bushmice will be close to the road. Sometimes dashing across. They do not react logically to cars approaching, and will leap out at random. Hares do this zigzag nonsense. If you need the character to hit the brakes frantically, or swerve, this is a good reason. If you are ever driving here and see an animal on the side of the road, flip lights to low beam, slow down and watch to see how they react. If you can. If there's a truck blaring down on you, you may not be able to.

+Emus are in more rural areas. Echidnas sometimes appear on fringes of towns though.

+Kookaburras are a lovely creature, I have rescued a few and they are nice... but their laugh is very grating when it goes off super early in the morning. They eat snakes (good) and baby birds (not so good).

+Lots of snakes round here. LOTS. Carpet Snakes are pretty common, red-belly black snakes, eastern brown (big danger!!!), whip snakes have declined in my region, keelback snakes, this one black and white banded one we found deceased, etc. Snakes can climb, snakes can SWIM. Putting something that stinks around a campsite MAY help, but not always.

+Never go swimming in a dam you don't own, and that hasn't been checked, and if no one knows where you are. How deep is it? What's on the bottom? How stirred is the water? etc.

+Kangaroos CAN drown you. They have perfected this attack, and will do it to humans, dogs and other pursuers alike. They can also eviscerate you with their hind paws or shatter your ribs with a kick. The 'boxing' they do is exceptionally violent. This seems to surprise people, but like, giraffes can kill each other by slamming their heads into each other, you think a 7 ft swole motherfucking cryptid can't do harm? They can be lovely tho, if they trust you. But DO NOT GO PETTING WILDLIFE.

+Dropbears, austrilanicus vericanthus bitus, are real. We do make jokes about them, but they are a Problem. The pee on yourself thing won't ward them off, that's more about working out which tourists are the most gullible (and if they run with it, the moistest) lmao. Akubras and other thicker-layered headwear,

+We have wild dogs and feral pigs. Do not fuck with the feral pigs, some are HUGE, and no... they're not just pigs who escaped farms, these are MASSIVE motherfuckers who will Get You if they See You. Rustling in the night outside the tent? Good Luck.

+Koalas should not be picked up directly. They have claws, and a lot of them have chamydia. I mean if a character saves one in a fic that's fine I guess, but like... someone's getting antibiotics after that lmao. They are bigger than you think, dumber than you think, and sometimes they have to be chased across a highway with a windscreen cover bc they're not very bright and keep failing to climb metal fences, lmaoooo

+Towns of about 20-30k will have more shops (some franchise, some local owned), servos, fast food places and usually at least two to three shopping centres. Usually small level entertainments like a cinema, or local groups. +Towns with 10-20k, may have one or two major shopping centres, servos (tracks and RVs catered to), possibly a maccas, and the majority of stores will be local-owned. May have a cinema, but not one that has the newest releases. Local council may have more festivals, or 'that one thing they're known for'. +0-10k towns have a small local store, prices usually a bit higher. A servo, often with capacity for trucks. Local festivals. Characters can cop a bit of side-eye in these places, esp. if they don't fit the traditional ideas or are loud/violently american. +Grey nomads are a thing. Old people with fancy caravans who drive So Slow, and move all around aus. Several refused to stop during covid and it was like, WHO DO YOU THNK WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP ALIVE BY STOPPING YOU MOVING THROUGH MULTIPLE TOWNS???

+Some rural areas have legit red dirt, its always super cool to look at. Some places have light brown to dark brown, some have more chalky colours or yellowish dirt. Depends.

+Reminder: Australia has very specific gun laws, if your character/s have weapons then they may need to be sneaky or store them specifically in the vehicle. Although if you're talking about like, mad max type rules, then who cares. But if you have them get into a gun fight in a town, the police will come, etc.

Dunno, just ask if you have a question... just trying to think of random things to paint a picture if you have a character over here for a roadtrip or mission or whatever.

[whatisdereklisteningto]

Halloween ‘73 is the latest holiday blessing from the Zappa Vault, presenting both complete shows from the titular holiday and year on 3 CDs plus a 4th CD of rehearsal recordings. Before Zappa’s NYC Halloween shows became a tradition, the ‘73 concerts happened to be in Chicago, and found a new Mothers lineup playing just their 2nd & 3rd ever shows (side note: the SBD recording of their first show in Austin is well worth it if you know where to find that sort of thing.) Lead singer / saxaphonist / flautist / dancer Napoleon Murphy Brock and 2nd drummer Chester Thompson were new to the Mothers, while the rest of the group (Tom Fowler, Bruce Fowler, George Duke, Ralph Humphrey and Ruth Underwood) had been on the road on-and-off for about 8 months. A mere six weeks later, they were performing legendary shows at the Roxy in Hollywood preserved on film and glorious multi-track, but that’s another story. The Halloween shows are “only” 4-track recordings, and notes reveal only 3 of the tracks were used (for a live stereo mix plus a mono audience track) but they sound fantastic and do not disappoint. For one thing, Zappa’s guitar has a louder presence here than on the Roxy recordings, which is awesome. There is some overlap between the two sets because the group didn’t know a huge number of actual tunes, but both feature songs not heard in the other, plus some of the arrangements are a little different even from the Roxy shows a little down the road. The songs you’ll hear twice are Pygmy Twylyte, The Idiot Bastard Son, Cheepnis, Penguin in Bondage, T’Mershi Duween, RDNZL and Dickie’s Such An Asshole, while Cosmik Debris, The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue, Kung Fu, The Dog Breath Variations, Uncle Meat, Village of the Sun, Echidna’s Arf (Of You), Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?, Montana, Dupree’s Paradise, I’m the Slime, Big Swifty, Farther O’Blivion (which contains The Steno Pool, The Be-Bop Tango and Cucamonga), Inca Roads and the medley of Son of Mr. Green Genes, King Kong and Chunga’s Revenge appear once. For me, the highlights mostly include the songs featuring improvisation and extensive use of hand signal cues [especially “The Hook”!] (see “Dupree’s Paradise”, “Don’t You Ever” and “The Be-Beop Tango” but also sections in “Big Swifty”, “Inca Roads” and the “Green Genes/King Kong/Chunga” medley.) As far as sorta different arrangements, “Dickie’s Such An Asshole” has the extended “preachin’” section later shortened and a closing verse that got replaced, “Penguin in Bondage” has this little extra bit before and after the guitar solo and “Village of the Sun” still has an instrumental intro / outro (played a lot faster than on the Road Tapes #2 version) and, of course, “The Be-Bop Tango” was still a part of “Farther O’Blivion” and not yet it’s own event, all of which changed by the time of the Roxy shows. The 40-page booklet has a bunch of cool photos, but more importantly features excellent liner notes from Joe Travers, drummer Ralph Humphrey and everyone’s favorite percussionist Ruth Komanoff Underwood.

Oh, the disc of stuff from pre-tour rehearsals is kind of a fun listen. 9 of the tracks are actually complete takes, while the long journeys into “Inca Roads”, “Farther O’Blivion” and “Cosmik Debris” focus more on building up certain parts of the songs, as well as the audible fun they were having in the process. The one real surprise of the disc is Magic Fingers, which comes from 200 Motels and which this lineup never played live (in fact, none of Zappa’s lineups did until 1978) and not only that, but the outro of the song features a couple weird, bluesy verses no one’s never heard before. What in the hell?They’re not part of any known versions of “Magic Fingers” or any other previously known song from Zappa’s universe (is this related to the never-heard “Slough My Throng” somehow?) so that’s kinda neat / weird. Oh #2, there’s also a one-disc “highlights” version of this release that edits the two shows down to one with none of the rehearsal stuff. No thanks on that.

[blackkudos]

George Duke

George Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a professor of music. He first made a name for himself with the album 

The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio

. He was known primarily for thirty-odd solo albums, of which 'A Brazilian Love Affair' from 1980 was his most popular, as well as for his collaborations with other musicians, particularly Frank Zappa.

Biography

Early life

George Duke was born in San Rafael, California. He was raised in Marin City. It was at the young age of 4 that Duke first became interested in the piano. His mother took him to see Duke Ellington in concert and subsequently told him about this experience. "I don't remember it too well," says George, "but my mother told me I went crazy. I ran around saying 'Get me a piano, get me a piano!'" He began his formal piano studies at the age of 7, at his local Baptist church. It was those early years that influenced his musical approach and feel, as well as his understanding of how music elicits emotion.

Duke attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley before earning a bachelor's degree in trombone and composition with a minor in contrabass, from the San Francisco Conservatory in 1967. Playing initially with friends from garages to local clubs, Duke quickly eased his way into session work, which refined his abilities and expanded his approach to music. He later earned his master's degree in composition from San Francisco State University. He also taught a course on Jazz And American Culture at Merritt College in Oakland.

Career

Beginning in 1967 Duke experimented further with jazz fusion, playing and recording with violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, as well as performing with the Don Ellis Orchestra, and Cannonball Adderley's band, while he acquainted himself with Frank Zappa. Duke appeared on a number of Frank Zappa's albums through the 1970s.

Frank Zappa played guitar solos on Duke's 1974 album, Feel - the instrumental "Old Slippers", and "Love" - credited as Obdewl'l X, possibly due to contractual reasons.

Duke covered two Zappa-composed songs on his 1975 album, The Aura Will Prevail, - "Uncle Remus" (co-written with Duke) and "Echidna's Arf" - that he had played on while a member of The Mothers on Zappa's albums.

A further Zappa connection occurred on Duke's other album from 1975, I Love the Blues She Heard Me Cry - which utilized Ruth Underwood, Tom Fowler, and Bruce Fowler from Zappa's Overnite Sensation band that Duke was a part of, along with Zappa-associate Johnny "Guitar" Watson and jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour.

Duke served as a record producer and composer on two instrumental tracks on Miles Davis albums: "Backyard Ritual" (from Tutu, 1986) and "Cobra" (from Amandla, 1989). He has also worked with a number of Brazilian musicians, including singer Milton Nascimento, percussionist Airto Moreira and singer Flora Purim. Lynn Davis and Sheila E appeared on Duke's late-1970s solo albumsDon't Let Go and Master of the Game.

Duke was prominent in the R&B genre, releasing funk-based songs like "Reach for It" and "Dukey Stick". In 1979 he traveled to Rio de Janeiro, where he recorded the album A Brazilian Love Affair, on which he employed singers Flora Purim and Milton Nascimento and percussionist Airto Moreira. The album contained music in a wide assortment of genres, including some Latin jazz and jazz-influenced material. From a jazz standpoint, the album's most noteworthy songs include Nascimento's "Cravo e Canela", "Love Reborn", and "Up from the Sea It Arose and Ate Rio in One Swift Bite". The track "Brazilian Sugar" was featured on the 2006 video game Dead or Alive Xtreme 2. Meanwhile, Nascimento's vocal on the ballad "Ao Que Vai Nascer" is an example of Brazilian pop at its most sensuous. The 1992 film Leap of Faith featured gospel songs and choir produced by George Duke and choir master Edwin Hawkins.

Duke worked as musical director at numerous large-scale musical events, including the Nelson Mandela tribute concert at Wembley Stadium, London in 1988. In 1989, he temporarily replaced Marcus Miller as musical director of NBC's late-night music performance program Sunday Night during its first season. Duke was also a judge for the second annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

Duke worked with Jill Scott on her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3; guesting on the track, "Whenever You're Around". In the summer of 2011, he put together a trio with David Sanborn and Marcus Miller for a tour across the US of more than 20 sold out shows.

Legacy and influence

Duke died August 5, 2013 in Los Angeles from chronic lymphocytic leukemia. He was 67 and was survived by his sons, Rashid and John. He was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), following a memorial service. Attendees included notable friends Chaka Khan, Lynn Davis, Sheila E., Malcolm Jamal Warner, Stanley Clarke, Al Jarreau, Dianne Reeves, Jeffrey Osborne, Stevie Wonder, Marcus Miller, and Doug E. Fresh.

Duke's songs have been used by a wide variety of contemporary musicians in a wide array of genres. These include: "I Love You More", sampled by house music-act Daft Punk for their hit "Digital Love"; "Guilty", sampled by electronica music artist Mylo in his song "Guilty of Love" on Destroy Rock & Roll. "For Love", sampled by underground hip hop artist MF Doom on his track "I Hear Voices"; "Someday", sampled by hip hop artist/producer Kanye West for Common in "Break My Heart" on his "Finding Forever" album; "You and Me", sampled and used by soul/rhythm and blues influenced hip hop-producer 9th Wonder on the track "Spirit Of '94" on the album Spirit Of '94: Version 9.0 which he made with Kaze; and "Reach for It", sampled by Ice Cube in "True to the Game" on his Death Certificate album and Spice 1 in "In My Neighborhood" on his self-titled debut album, and sampled by W.C. & The Maad Circle (featuring Mack 10 & Ice Cube) in "West Up" on their "Curb Servin'" album. Madlib utilized Duke's "My Soul" on the track "Mingus" from his "Madlib Medicine Show #8: Advanced Jazz" album.

Duke was nominated for a Grammy as Best Contemporary Jazz Performance for After Hours in 1999. By popular vote, Duke was inducted into The SoulMusic Hall Of Fame at SoulMusic.com in December 2012.

On August 5, 2014, exactly one year after Duke’s death, Al Jarreau, Duke’s long-time friend, released an album titled, “My Old Friend: Celebrating George Duke”, as a tribute to his music. The album featured 10 songs, all written by Duke. Jarreau enlisted Gerald Albright, Stanley Clarke, Dr. John, Lalah Hathaway, Boney James, Marcus Miller, Jeffrey Osborne, Kelly Price, Dianne Reeves, Patrice Rushen and many others to help create this tribute to Duke’s music. The album was released on Concord Records and it garnered the 2015 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album.

Wikipedia

[mrjohnangulo]

Links: Nominees for the 2019 Origins Awards, and Voting for the 2019 Deutscher Spielepreis

by W. Eric Martin

• The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design has announced the nominees for the 2019 Origins Awards within a variety of categories, with the winners of each category scheduled to be announced on June 15, 2019 during the 2019 Origins Game Fair. Attendees at the fair can try out the nominees in an area devoted to the nominated games, and they can cast ballots to determine a fan favorite winner in each category. Some of the nominee categories are: Board Games —Brass: Birmingham, by Gavan Brown, Matt Tolman, and Martin Wallace (Roxley) —Chronicles of Crime, by David Cicurel (Lucky Duck Games) —Cryptid, by Ruth Veevers and Hal Duncan (Osprey Games) —Everdell, by James A. Wilson (Starling Games) —Gizmos, by Phil Walker-Harding (CMON Limited) —Pulsar 2849, by Vladimír Suchý (Czech Games Edition) —Rising Sun, by Eric M. Lang (CMON Limited) —Root, by Cole Wehrle (Leder Games) —Space Base, by John D. Clair (Alderac Entertainment Group) Family Games —The Climbers, by Holger Lanz (Capstone Games) —Echidna Shuffle, by Kris Gould (Wattsalpoag Games) —The Mansky Caper, by Ken Franklin (Calliope Games) —Pantone: The Game, by Scott Rogers (Cryptozoic Entertainment —Spy Club, by Randy Hoyt and Jason D. Kingsley (Renegade Game Studios) —Strawberry Ninja, by Chris Castagnetto (Strawberry Studio) —Super Kitty Bug Slap, by Sam Mitschke and Randy Scheunemann (Steve Jackson Games) —The Tea Dragon Society Card Game, by Steve Ellis and Tyler Tinsley (Renegade Game Studios) —When I Dream, by Chris Darsalkis (Repos Production) Card Games —Anatomy Fluxx, by Andrew Looney (Looney Labs) —Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger, by Prospero Hall (Z-Man Games) —Dark Souls: The Card Game, by David Carl (Steamforged Games) —Get the MacGuffin, by Andrew Looney (Looney Labs) —Maiden's Quest, by Kenneth C. Shannon III (WizKids) —The Mind, by Wolfgang Warsch (Pandasaurus Games) —Villainous, by Prospero Hall (Ravensburger) Miniature Games —Fallout: Wasteland Warfare, by James Sheahan (Modiphius Entertainment) —Kill Team (Games Workshop) —Kings of War: Vanguard, by Matt Gilbert (Mantic Games) —Necromunda, by Andy Hoare (Games Workshop) —A Song of Ice and Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game, by Michael Shinall and Eric M. Lang (CMON Limited) —Star Wars: Legion, by Alex Davy (Fantasy Flight Games) As with any set of award nominees, you can find oddities once you start looking at the lists in more detail. I'm not sure why Villainous qualifies as a card game, for example, whereas Space Base counts as a board game. Seems like they should both be in one category or the other together. Keyforge: Call of the Archons, by the way, was placed in the collectible games category, along with the X-Men Xavier's School expansion for HeroClix, the Dominaria expansion for Magic: The Gathering, the Legacies expansion for Star Wars: Destiny, and six other expansions for more traditional "collectible" games.

• Voting is open for the 2019 Deutscher SpielePreis (DSP), with games released in the second half of 2018 and the first half of 2019 being eligible. You can vote directly here, listing up to five family/adult games in the order that you prefer them, along with a single children's game. Merz Verlag, which oversees both the DSP voting and the annual SPIEL game convention, is giving away more than a hundred games to voters, as well as prizes that award the holder free entry to SPIEL '19. After voting, you'll receive a message via email that you must click to confirm your votes, after which you'll be entered into the prize drawing. from BoardGameGeek News | BoardGameGeek http://bit.ly/2GVLFRR

[koreyeet]

IM FINALLY DONE WOOOO

i decided to make refs of all my fankids bc i love them

part 1/2

@sonic-fankid-showdown

[tinybibmpreg]

Future echidna AU babs: A big basket star (named Ruth), some kind of lion baby, a blurry kid that's a koala body w a secret toad agama head w sarcastic fringehead mouth flaps (Vermillion), and MAYBE chubby axolotl twins I have to discuss these w archivist first

[rachelisnotatwork]

Week 9: in which we bid goodbye to Australia

New Zealand has many good features. Decent public transport to the airport isn’t one of them. To get to the airport you need to get a bus for an annoyingly long period of time.

Luckily for us the bus stop was right outside a brunch restaurant so had a huge breakfast and sat about sipping hot drinks until the last moment when we dashed out to the bus.

Our flight back was uneventful (how I like my flights) and we swung by Hertz to pick up our new rental car. Now we spend a lot of time renting from Hertz and it has now mostly reached the stage of customer loyalty where we rent a smartcar and arrive to find ourselves upgraded to a brand-new minivan. So imagine our disappointment when we got exactly the car we’d rented. Entitlement crushed.

We drove back into town, picked up Esther and packed the back of the car with the obscene amount of food Esther had purchased and/or prepared (delightful characteristic of all members of the Bischoff family- they pack about a week’s worth of food for every 24 hours you are away) and headed off to the Blue Mountains.

We had rented a very nice airbnb with a big fireplace, so I set myself up to do what I do best, which is tend the fire and then eat delicious meals prepared for me.

The next morning we headed out for a hike. Marcel had spent the previous evening flipping through a book of walks and found one that started at a place called Pulpit’s Rock. This turned out to be one of those nightmarishly vertiginous places, so I stayed on another (fairly horrendously vertiginous) rock and photographed the Bischoff siblings.

We then followed a very empty path along the cliffs overhanging the valley. Pros, good views. Cons- there was a lot of bloody ups and downs. And despite it ranking as an easy walk, a lot of those ups and downs were via thigh high rocks. So imagine 4km of constant up and down scrabbling over big rocks with a huge drop on one side. It was pretty sweaty.

We decided we didn’t want to go the whole way back, so called a taxi as recommended by the guidebook to take us back to where we’d parked our car. Our taxi driver rather alarmingly (given it is a fairly small touristy area) never heard of it but he did eventually find it in his giant laminated book of maps.

We collected the car and headed into town so Marcel could print and email a signed police statement (oh the joys of being a doctor) and then we headed out to admire the view at Echo Point and eat ice creams.

In the evening we went out to the Korean we’d eaten at the last time we were in town with Ruth and Ian and I had nut tea and little pancakes shaped like fish, filled with red bean paste, and felt very overly full.

The last time we’d been there we’d done a huge walk down into the valley by Three Sisters. Since the weather was pretty bad for the rest of the time we had forecast in the blue mountains, no one wanted to set out on a 4 hour walk. So instead we decided to get tickets for something called “Scenic World Blue Mountains”. This got you access to a cable car that went across a waterfall, a funnicular down into the valley, a dinosaur walk and then a cable car back up.

We started off with the cable car across the top of the waterfall. We could have queued to travel back, but since the queue to get on it had taken about 20 minutes and the walk back around the top of the falls was only about 15 minutes, we decided to go with the walk. Easier said than done though as it was amazingly badly signed. Big on my list of things to do is “not get lost in the Australian bush” and that ambition nearly got thwarted.

Next we headed down on the world’s steepest funicular. It was, steep. Not much more to say about that. I’ve ridden quite a lot of funiculars, most of which seemed pretty steep and this didn’t seem that out of the ordinary, although it was the only one that ended up in a “dinosaur walk”. Although again that walk was pretty hard to find. When we did find it, it featured a lot of animatronic dinosaurs that I have to say, as a dinosaur pedant, were not native to Australia.  It was fairly surreal though.

We then attempted to go along one of the nearby hiking paths, but the path irritatingly had a lot of fallen trees on and instead of clearing them, they’d just cut some steps into them to help you climb over them, which is a slow and irritating way to hike especially when you find the path ends in a landslide.

So back we headed and up in the cable car. To recover from our exhausting dinosaur viewing and attempted hiking, we headed to a chocolate shop in town and ate obscene amounts of cake before toddling off home for more lazing in front of the fire.

The next day promised torrential rain from dawn. So we were fairly surprised to get out of bed and find blue skies and sun blazing down. We decided to plan some short walks to lookouts instead so that if the weather changed we wouldn’t be too far from home.

Our first stop off was a place called Anvil Rock. This had an amazing view over the mountains and was completely empty, just us.

As we walked back to the car with me leading the way, Esther talked about her fear of snakes and I said they just weren’t something that worried me that much because they are pretty shy and we make such a lot of noise walking they’d just move away. At that moment Marcel piped up from the back to point out I’d just stepped over a frozen in fear snake. Oops. Attempts at identification suggest it was a juvenile brown snake (aka super poisonous) but I maintain it’s mouth was pretty small and it would most likely have just bitten my trainer.

Near Anvil Rock is a pretty cool-looking place called Windswept Caves, so we stopped and admired those before driving on to another nearby lookout, which was nice, but not as good as Anvil Rock.

After that we drove on to a place called Lincoln’s Rock. This is one of those unfenced lookouts that reduces me from normal human being to sweaty blob of fear that has to be prised from the nearest solid object that is miles from the edge. So Marcel and Esther enjoyed the view and I photographed idiot tourists risking their lives for selfies.

After that we went to take a quick walk to a viewing point overlooking Wentworth Falls. We just about made it there before the terrible weather, but we definitely didn’t make it back before the rain. We drove our soggy selves back and spent our last evening admiring astoundingly thick fog through the windows.

The next morning we drove back to Sydney and dropped the car off at the airport (because we just love driving to the airport there). Then we headed out to see Ruth and meet the newest member of their family, who hadn’t been there the last time we’d visited, Elliott. It was lovely to catch up with them all and go for a walk along the seafront and have dinner and do the crossword (just like being back at uni. Except for the gorgeous seaside views).

Saturday morning we checked in online for our flights the next morning and headed out for the day. About an hour after we checked in for our flight we got one of those casual emails that say “there’s been a slight change to your departure time”. We logged in expecting to see a 5-10 minute change. Instead it had been moved to 10 hours later. Marcel then spent an enragingly long time on the phone getting shunted between departments trying to find out what the hell was going on. Presumably because we called and complained early, we got bumped to a delta flight that was leaving roughly when our scheduled flight was supposed to leave. We had middle seats on opposite sides of the plane but the Delta spokesperson promised I’d get my vegetarian meal and that if we went to the airport early we could get our seats swapped to sit together.

So we headed out to enjoy our last day in Sydney. We took a ferry out to Manly and then took a walk around the headland there, which features an old plague graveyard and great views over the harbour. We also happened across an echidna wandering about doing it’s thing, which was a nice little last wildlife spot.

After dinner we said a “probably” goodbye to Esther and headed to our airbnb.

The next morning we arrived at the airport painfully early to find our flight had been hugely overbooked and there was no chance of sitting together and no vegetarian meal booked for me. Given it was a 14 hour flight, I was less than thrilled. A 14 hour flight that was also an hour and a half delayed in setting off (and we’d got to the airport 3 hours early so that was 4.5 hours of hanging around before 14 hours on the plane).

I was even less thrilled when I took my seat. This was between two elderly women from the Southern US. They were friends, but refused to swap to sit next to each other so instead I ended up wedged in the middle. They then got out wipes and cleaned everything in site, which was funny because the only germy thing in sight was the one who was sitting in the window seat who coughed and sneezed constantly. The one in the aisle let her handbag fall open and it was full of more benzodiazapines than a well-stocked pharmacy. They then spent the next hour constantly talking over me, before the one in the aisle seat had some wine. This in combination with the contents of her handbag caused her to pass out for the next 8 hours, entirely blocking any exit to the toilet.

The one sitting in the window seat (coughing constantly) didn’t sleep but maintained a strange policy (for someone who elected to sit next to a stranger) of refusing to speak to me. So for example she couldn’t work out how to turn on her reading light and instead would read by mine and then sigh loudly if I turned mine off to watch a movie. I was feeling petty at this stage so didn’t volunteer to help.

14 hours can stretch to a very long time when you are dying for a wee and are trapped in the middle on an incredibly uncomfortable seat. When I finally towards the end of the flight decided to try and sleep (when the aisle lady had woken up and I could finally go to the loo), the lady in the window seat decided to loudly tell her friend, over me, that she wanted to use the bathroom. I decided if she wanted me to move she could just ask (previously when she’d wanted to use the loo she just stared at me until I asked her if she wanted to go to the loo and then she just nodded) and so feigned sleep. She then decided to have a really loud conversation to see if she could “accidentally” wake me (and then presumably stare at me until I offered to move) but by now I was feeling really annoyed so I just pretended to be asleep for an hour out of spite. Which is also a very boring way to spend time. By the time we arrived at LAX I was pretty much done with ever travelling again…. But instead Sunday had begun again (oh the magic of the international date line!)

Luckily this Sunday was much better. We picked up a car, had brunch and then drove to our friend’s Kat and Karl’s lovely new house, took a nap, ate lots of cheese and crackers and then went out for an amazing Mexican meal with them and Saman and Ashley. So round 2 of Sunday was WAY better than Round 1 and ended the week on a good note.

Ways I thought I might die in Australia this week: heat stroke, being bitten by a snake with a good sense of irony, fallen off a ridge edge, dropped dead of the vertigo induced by the possibility of falling off the edge, ruptured bladder from being stuck between drugged up old ladies.

[wecappsph-blog]

AKA, Pocket Pet with Attitude - SUGAR GLIDER

Many people are searching for different means to have pets. Dogs and cats are not always the best choice of pets for everyone. Here is an amazingly different type of pet. A Pocket Pet! A Sugar Glider.

The Sugar Glider is a popular pet because of its sweet, lively, inquisitive nature, but is illegal in certain jurisdictions, such as California.

Left: Echidna. Right: Sugar Glider relocated from Toolern Vale, Victoria (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do gliders make sounds? Sugar gliders are very social creatures and make many sounds, including barking, crabbing, clicking, and chattering.

Are gliders rodents? No. Sugar gliders are marsupials (mammals that carry their young in a pouch); they are in the same family as the koala bear and the kangaroo.

I have gathered some information, and done some research. Perhaps this will be the answer for many wishing to own a different kind of a pet.

Sugar Gliders make excellent pets. They adapt very readily to captivity and can develop very strong relationships with their human keepers. This is why they would be great for people who cannot have big pets. They are small in size, are very intelligent and love to play. They are much smarter than a hamster or rat and have a much longer life-span, most living to be 10 or older if taken care of properly. Although nocturnal, this can be of benefit.

Sugar Gliders love human attention. And they really are so cute. They also develop very strong bonds with their owners.

An adult sugar glider is approximately 11 inches long from his nose to the tip of his tail, but most of that (6 or 7 inches) is tail. They have similarities with our flying squirrel. The fur is very soft. Here is more information I have researched.

It is around 16 to 20 cm (6.3 to 7.5 in) in length, with a slightly longer tail, and weighs between 90 and 150 grams (3 to 5.3 oz). The fur is generally pearl grey, with black and cream patches at the base of the pink ears. The tail tapers only moderately and the last quarter of it is black, often with a white tip. The muzzle is short and rounded. Northern forms tend to be brown colored rather than grey and, as predicted by Bergmann's Rule, smaller.

The most noticeable features of its anatomy, however, are the twin skin membranes called "patagium"s which extend from the fifth finger of the forelimb back to the first toe of the hind foot. These are inconspicuous when the Sugar Glider is at rest it merely looks a little flabby, as though it had lost a lot of weight recently but immediately obvious when it takes flight. The membranes are used to glide between trees: when fully extended they form an aerodynamic surface the size of a large handkerchief.

Sugar Gliders can occupy any area where there are tree hollows for shelter and sufficient food. Their diet varies considerably with both geography and the changing seasons, but the main items are the sap of acacias and certain eucalupts, nectar, pollen, and arthropods. They are difficult to see in the wild, being small, wary, and nocturnal, but a sure sign of their presence is the stripping of bark and tooth marks left in the soft, green shoots of acacia trees.

Sugar gliders love human attention and they love to play. This is what makes them special. Make sure you bond with the little ones when you bring them home. Since they sleep in the daytime, you can bond with them by letting them sleep in your pocket, but don’t sit on your glider! Sugar gliders will form very strong bonds with their owners. One article says that they love to play hide and go seek.

They love it when you come home at night; they are so excited to see you!

Please buy them from a reputable breeder. You can expect to pay from $200 to $400 for them. I recommend starting with a baby since they do form much stronger bonds with you. And as always, study and gather the right information to have a safe and healthy pet.

Author: Ruth Bird

[koreyeet]

getting back to these @specialistmj i added ruth bc seven and ringer cant function without her