#seeing a second concert of the same tour is pretty much my equivalent of doing this seeing as i am a full time student and i dont have money

[i-like-gay-books]

dont tell me about paramore in cardiff dont do it!!!!

[library-with-tales]

Bungou Stray Dogs Band AU that I spontaneously came up with like a second ago.

Based off the mobile game if you haven’t noticed. Someone probably already thought of this buuuuut I like my idea so here we go:

World setting

Port Mafia, Armed Detective Agency and The Guild are music agencies while the other smaller groups are just bands (haven’t read manga yet but I’m aware there are other groups). The Special-too-long-of-a-name people are the big boy cooperation (I am so uneducated with the music world why do I do this to myself).

Port Mafia are filled with talented people yes, but they have the habit of straining the music artists sometimes (this will be relevant in a bit) and are more focused on the monz. If you want a reference, their music are on the same level as your good ol’ big pop groups, the real famous on the radio ones.

Armed Detective Agency (in this case they’re called Armed Music Agency, yes they are still armed) is a smaller agency since they prioritize quality and feelings over quantity and catchiness, which makes them pretty indie tbh, They have songs that don’t particularly appear on the radio a lot, if not, not at all. Though they’re talented all the same.

The Guild are basically the equivalent to K-pop and J-pop, not quite famous in Yokohama, but definitely famous enough to go on tour there.

Atsushi’s arc

There were a few ideas for him (music school was in the draft but I dunked it faster than I pulled it up) but it boils down to one thing: Atsushi accidentally becomes a famous singer from an old video he made when he wasn’t fully into music yet. He, being the oblivious guy he is, suddenly starts gaining fans and is beyond confused yet appreciates it very much.

Though not sure why people are calling him the Beast below The Moonlight (Plot twist, you big stupidhead, that was the title of the old song you made). He goes along with it though, calling himself Moon Tiger, which is so him honestly.

Anyways it’s not Dazai if he doesn’t try to drown himself so while Atsushi’s vibing by the open canal he just sees him. Like canon, Atsushi saves Dazai. But the thing about Atsushi is; he’s camera shy and most of his videos have him covering his face and out of camera view, so Dazai doesn’t immediately recognize him as the famous youtube singer.

As thanks, Dazai treats Atsuhi to dinner with Kunikida, and Dazai has a hunch that Atsushi is Moon Tiger so they start a small convo about it. Atsushi’s all; “ERRRRMMMMMMM” and he wants to leave until:

“Y’know, whoever Moon Tiger is, I’d totally pay a lot of money to hear him sing.” Dazai hums. Kunikida kinda agrees to this, saying how talent like his shouldn’t come totally for free. Atsushi doesn’t ask for donations or get youtube money (because he dunno how :( ) so he’s almost flat broke, and this kinda perks his interest.

“Actually, uh, I kinda know Moon Tiger. I didn’t want to bring it up because I thought you’d ask for autographs or something ha ha. I agree with the paying part.” Atsushi you’re low key greedy ngl, Pre-Bullshit Atsushi was greedy. Money-eyed hoe. “If you want I can get you to meet him, but he won’t wanna show his face so it’s gotta be somewhere he can hide himself while still being able to sing.”

“Done!” Dazai holds his hand out like it’s some sort of deal. “I know a place.”

I’m sorry Dazai, but I’m not smart or sexy as you, so I don’t know the place. Let’s go with the regular canon spot, yeah? And Dazai listens while Atsushi sings behind a big crate and when Atsushi is done, he expects money but he gets a thunderous applause instead and suddenly his identity is revealed and everyone is clapping and staring at him super amazed.

And Atsushi faints from being too overwhelmed. 

Anyways, things happen, some parts are alike to canon, some parts aren’t. Atsushi’s main goal in this AU is to get over his terrible stage fright while simultaneously trying to avoid clashing with Port Mafia, who at first, wants to recruit him before he fully signs the contract with AMA.

I don’t know how battles would work in this, but they happen.

Dazai’s backstory

So my man Dazai amirite?

Not a surprise, he used to be under Port Mafia. At some point he does numerous collabs with free lancer Chuuya because Chuuya’s little sheep band had an issue with copyright with Port Mafia (oops). 

Onto the main course though: Odasaku.

Ango is in charge of Oda and Dazai, who usually does music together because they’re friends (hurray). But Oda had long gave up on doing vocals because his throat just couldn’t handle it, he much prefers writing music and Dazai doesn’t mind because he never has extremely big ideas anyways.

A clash with Mimic happens and Mori’s all: We need more music we need to stay number one. And so -I dunno how- he forces Oda to finally use his voice to sing via Ango’s persuasion.

Oda completely loses his voice in the end, like he completely damaged it, and he can’t handle the music industry anymore so he leaves. And Dazai’s all: “Don’t go please.”

And Oda writes on his phone and holds it out for Dazai, “This agency. It doesn’t care much for music, does it? I used to sing because I liked singing, because there were feelings in it. But slowly this agency stopped me from being able to do that. Dazai. Don’t you think you should sing with feelings too? You’ve never made an opinion on my ideas, is it because you can’t or you won’t?”

And Dazai realizes he only likes doing music because of the people around him, especially Oda, and now that Oda isn’t in Port Mafia anymore, it just isn’t the same. He’s been making music to grab people’s attention and not much because he wanted to. So he decides to change and switches agencies.

(His relationship with Akutagawa is as straining as canon; “I don’t care about how you made this dumb song, it’s not good enough! How will anyone want to listen to this crap?” Now Aku’s music are catchy and all but lacking in meaning.)

Other things

Yosano’s music is pretty rough, but it literally lets all the feelings out, so it becomes pretty nice. So you know that music that cures this and cures that? That’s Yosano’s music, except it’s really hardcore. I don’t know how she does it, she just does.

Kyouka is the daughter of two big music geniuses and is expected to be the same, so she gets an immediate acceptance into Port Mafia and it nearly breaks her until Atsushi meets her. During a concert or something -because in the end, Atsushi’s still the fan boy type- Atsushi goes up to Kyouka and asks if she’s okay and stuff.

“I’ve made 35 songs, but I can’t...hear my own voice, my own music...” Your Lie in April ref do not hunt me please. 

Ranpo is known to have serious in depth meaning behind his music, and a good 20% are just matryoshka songs (he gives out stuff if you find out if his song is an in depth meaning one or just nonsense that somehow speaks meaning while having no theme at all)

Poe’s are somewhat the same as Ranpo, except they’re more like stories to be honest, and his songs get numerous fan interpretation and so far, Ranpo always gets it right. The only one who ever does without missing a beat (ha ha got em.)

Debating if I should just make Kunikida an agent or a music artist that just likes writing songs rather than performing them.

Naomi could be an idol ngl but she’s not, she’s her brother’s number one fan! (She’s a secretary in the agency.)

Chuuya’s more famous for his pretty looks than his music at this point, but it doesn’t mean he’s a shit music artist though.

Higuchi is Aku’s agent.

Kenji’s songs are so happy and go-lucky it makes anyone listening to it feel pumped up. Hence his music are often used in AMVs or sports exercise (what a range!)

Yumeno’s music are those cursed type of songs that weren’t meant to be creepy or weird to begin with (e.g Tonight You Belong To Me, it’s an innocent song yet it can be taken as horror(?)) but end up becoming one anyways.

Dazai’s songs are so sad sometimes but they’re always upbeat. A weird yet perfect balance for his listeners.

That’s all I got! Honestly, don’t really know how to develop The Guild in this, maybe one day I will. 

[sylvieons]

End of the year survey, of course

Song of the year? According to last.fm, it's Endless War by Within Temptation which seems pretty accurate.  I regret that I skipped out on WT's concert.  It was supposed to snow and I felt terrible mental health-wise, but I should have just went because I've been trying to do things even if feel terrible, because staying at home is not going to help and I refuse to be beaten down.  But I don't always succeed. I'M FIGHTING AN ENDLESS WAR.

Album of the year? Lover by Taylor Swift. Ever since 1989 was released I go through this thing where I can't listen anything but her new album.  It got super bad this year, though, and I haven't really listened to anything but TS since it was released.  I thought it was my new favorite album of hers but after sitting in this spiral for long enough, I think Reputation is my favorite followed by Lover.  But Lover gave me Death by a Thousand Cuts which NO OTHER ALBUMS DID so. Thanks, Lover.

Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year? I don't think I started listening to anyone new this year.  The closest I can get is a band called Thy Art is Murder, which is apparently deathcore, which is a genre I've never listened to before, so that's nice, but I haven't listened to them much at all.

Movie of the year? Eh, I looked at the list of movies I watched this year and nothing stood out.  The closest I can get to answering this question is recommending the movie Crush the Skull as a much better alternative to Don't Breathe, if you're into horror/home invasion kind of movies

TV show of the year? I haven't really watched much television this year. I just haven't been in the mood.  I did rewatch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and a lot of that was when I was on vacation in London. I'd get back to my room and have my dinner and watch Sunny. Exciting times across the sea.  But I guess overall, I'd say Good Girls.  It was one of the few drama shows I watched this year and it was amazing.  This was also the year I discovered Buzzfeed Unsolved, but that's not really a TV show. But it deserves a mention.

Episode of tv or webisode that defined the year for you? Can't say there is one.

Favorite actor of the year? Tom Hiddleston. Does anyone doubt the answer to this one. I saw him on stage four times, because I'm an excessive bitch.  I met him at Comic Con and he winked at me and no, I won't stop talking about that ever.  And if I ever dare forget him, I have his autograph on my phone case so I'm reminded of his existence at all times whether I like it or not (I like it).

Game of the year? None. I don't game. Nor do I play board games. Nor do I play games on my phone. I am very much not a game person. OH WAIT. I lied. I picked up Pokemon Go again because my friend is super into it and kept taking me to places to do gym battles and stuff.

Best month for you this year? June. May-Juneish.  That's the time I went to London, my mom was doing relatively well, and I just like that time of year.  The weather is usually perfect.

Something that made you cry this year? Taylor Swift's song "Soon You'll Get Better".  It punched me so hard it broke several ribs. I've never identified with a song before but I did that one and I'd really love to sue Taylor for emotional damage.

Something you want to do again next year? Go to the haunted farm thing I went to this year around Halloween. I love that place. I went two years ago and this year, and it's like a mile long thing set up on a farm that you walk through and it's just so well done. Both times I've enjoyed the hell out of myself and enjoyed the company I was with.

I'd also really love to see Kamelot again, if they decide they want to keep touring, though I'm sure they're going to chill.  Them or Avatar, same deal.  I've seen Kamelot three times and Avatar twice but is it enough? No.

Talk about a new friend you made this year I have not made any new friends. Do you know how hard it is to make friends.  I did, however, meet @phantomdivine​ in person, so that was a friendship escalation.

How was your birthday this year? It's in February and Februarys are usually a blur of me having mental breakdowns.  I have a distinct memory last year of driving home from my friend's house in the middle of night on the anniversary of my father's death, crying like a little bitch and being like "why am I crying" while I was smoking (I don't smoke except for when I smoke) and getting gutpunched every time the line "the good die young" came up on the Within Temptation song I was listening to.  That was right around my birthday so that's probably how it was.

Favorite book you read this year? Maybe What Was She Thinking? (Notes on a Scandal) by Zoë Heller.  I read 20 books this year and I usually read zero! Go me!  I also read Gone Girl finally, because I've read Gillian Flynn's other books, and I always enjoy her and her writing.  The quality of writing is important to me, so I will read any plot if the writing intrigues me.

What’s a bad habit you picked up this year? How dare you suggest I have a bad habit

Post a picture from the beginning of the year

A feral kitty that lives in a broken down building near the antique shop I consign with

Post a picture from the end of the year

It Hozier

A memorable meal this year? I'm a big food person but I've been on a diet for a good part of the year.  Which has kind of left me...a disinterested in food person.

What’re you excited about for next year? Uhhh. I have nothing planned, so I don't know.  Hopefully getting on Social Security Disability, because the whole process is stressing me out and my lawyer said it can take a year and I just really do not have time for this.

What’s something you learned this year? It's not something I -learned-, but something I accomplished. I started running, something I've tried to do in starts and stops over the years.  I used to be unable to run 30 seconds without getting out of breath and getting stomach cramps and feeling like I was going to die.  Now I can run a 5k.  I usually don't run this far, though, because I still have trouble breathing and I need to work on that, so I usually run about 30 minutes when I go out.  I've been thwarted lately but it getting dark so early so I haven't been able to go out as much as I did (unless I want to get murdered, I guess).

What’s something new about your place of residence (room, home, or general location) now vs the start of the year? I hung up my signed Only Lovers  Left Alive poster :')

Favorite place you visited this year? London, baby.  I'm so happy I loved it so much. I was looking at pictures the other day and got a little teary eyed, which is the normal person equivalent of actually crying.  I don't know if it's London itself or what it represented to me (probably both), but I love it and want to go back and have vague, tentative plans to stay there for two or three months in the future if I can.

If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it be? You're gonna meet Tom Hiddleston, bitch, and he's gonna WINK at you.  

Did you keep any New Year’s Resolutions? I do not. I reinvent my life whenever I feel like it.

Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one You don't want the answer to this one because I will go off for an hour and no1curr, as they used to say.

[mysilentmemory]

KOREAN SUPERSTAR SIWON CHOI COVERS PRESTIGE HONG KONG JULY 2018

Can one of Asia’s biggest singing and acting exports really be that nice? We find out.

JULY 1, 2018 , 

odestars change. An exaggeration? Maybe, but it’s a close call.

A room bustling with the click-clacks and chatter of people hanging clothes, setting up lights and taking pictures of the Hong Kong skyline from our set suddenly pauses. Choi is here. One by one, faces light up and the voices of those who are meeting the star for the first time rise in pitch. He takes it all in his stride, strolling around the suite greeting those he already knows by name and others he doesn’t with a smile and a firm handshake.

It’s convincingly sincere. First there’s the running quip – “Sum sum is our passcode today guys, OK?” he jokes with the crew. “Sum sum,” the Cantonese translation of the little finger-heart symbol Koreans have coined is now a running trend in most Asian countries. I ask him what it means. “I don’t know actually,” he says with a shrug. “I think other gestures are big displays of affection but this is a small gesture that carries sincerity? I didn’t actually like doing it that much at first but now it’s fun because it makes people happy – so I do it.”

His candour is refreshingly different from the hauteur one expects from someone who’s been in the industry for 13 years. Choi and Super Junior, the 10-piece boy band of which he’s a member, were instrumental figures in the Hallyu wave that swept across the globe. It’s no wonder, then, that the man has 4.7 million followers on Instagram, 6.37 million on Twitter and a staggering 16.4 million on Weibo (that last figure is more than double the population of Hong Kong). To many, he’s a god, with legions of Super Junior fans – self-named “Elfs”, a tribe unto themselves – and his own subdivision of fandom known as “Siwonests”.

Choi’s mix of friendliness and consummate professionalism becomes apparent as the shoot gets under way. He hits all the right angles, checking the screen to see if each shot passes muster and offering to shoot more. “Are you happy with it?” he asks those of us huddled around the display monitor. “I can shoot more if you’d like me to!” After an hour and a half or so, maintaining the pensive smoulder that celebrity features often require, he asks mid-pose, “Can I smile? I’m better at that, I think.” Immediately his crew remarks, “Ippo [pretty],” and it’s clear that those of us who don’t speak Korean are wont to agree.

Listening to snatches of conversation with his Korean team, the occasional oppa is dropped into the mix – Korea’s equivalent of the Japanese kawaii. Made popular by the country’s television shows and adopted by hordes of screaming tween and teenage fans at the sight of their favourite boy-band members, it means “big brother” and is used to refer to an actual older brother as well as to address all close older male friends. When I bring this up, I’m met with a sheepish grin.

“My team and I have been working together now for almost six years. We’re very close, so it’s OK,” he says. “When we work in Korea, they say Mr Choi but today, because I think they think you guys won’t understand, they can be casual and call me oppa.”

Line Choi’s amiability up against his accomplishments and you’ll understand why it seems so extraordinary. Even before his debut in 2005, he was the first person in Korea to be awarded the fourth row in the black belt for Taekwondo at the age of 14, changing the pre-existing rule that only people aged 18 could be awarded for the achievement. Before being invited to join Super Junior, he was already acting alongside Hong Kong’s Andy Lau.

“I wanted to be an actor first,” he says. His is a well-known story, auditioning without his parents’ knowledge and being accepted. The band was created as a collection of the best (hence “Super”) trainees (hence “Junior”) in SM Entertainment’s cohort. “They convinced me to be a singer and I said yes, but I definitely wanted to be an actor,” he says.

An actor he definitely has been. Although the group remains a fundamental part of Choi’s career – it’s the reason he’s in Hong Kong this time round, as part of its comeback world tour Super Show 7, performing the band’s first album since 2015 – Choi has always kept a firm foot in acting.

Inspired by his initial experience filming with Lau, Choi has gone on to act in hits such as Helios and To the Fore, as well as the international blockbuster Dragon Blade, in which he starred alongside Jackie Chan, Adrien Brody and John Cusack. “It’s an incredible environment for an actor,” he says. “They’re incredibly professional and very caring. I was really impressed with how they cared about the Korean actor.”

It doesn’t come without hard work, though, “When I shot To the Fore, I had to use three languages, English, Mandarin and Korean,” he says. “When they changed my dialogue on set, all the other actors and actresses were fine, because it was their mother language, but in my case it was really hard because it wasn’t my mother language – and even if they had changed the Korean dialogue, I might’ve gotten into some trouble because I want to perform the best that I can, and to do so I need to prepare.

“I’m the only Korean actor in that movie. If I’m not good, I’m not good as a Korean so I have to take responsibility for my country and I really need to do my best.”

Thanks to his determination to achieve fluency in English and Chinese, along with his native Korean, Choi is poised to become the next Asian superstar to make it big in the US. Choi’s mentor is Jackie Chan, who told him that “an actor’s character always comes first – manners and respect”, he says. “But that I should also always be very careful choosing each and every single role I undertake.”

It’s a lesson he’s taken to heart and it paid off when he chose to play Kim Shin Hyuk, a happy-go-lucky senior magazine editor, the supporting lead in 2015 hit Korean series She Was Pretty, right before Choi enlisted in the army. He didn’t end up getting the girl in the show’s 16 episodes, but he did leave an untold number of women swooning from what Korean drama discussion boards call “second-lead syndrome” and waiting for his return with bated breath.

After being discharged from the military in August last year, he picked up the lead role of Byun Hyuk in Revolutionary Love, reprising elements of his character in She Was Pretty – and this time he definitely gets the girl. So how does he pick them? “When I choose my roles, I only think about three things” he says. “First, what I can do well now. Second, what people want me to do. The third is what I should do now.”

“Military service is almost two years, and it’s quite a long time for my supporters and fans to wait for me. I wanted to show them my gratitude, so I was thinking about how I could do this. Revolutionary Love came along and it contained all three elements, as well as a little comedy, a little romance and a little bit of dynamism, so I chose it.”

What is success for Choi? It’s not money, fame or power, I learn, despite the fact that his fans can look forward to a new Super Junior album this year, more concerts, the possibility of more Asian and American projects and a mission with Unicef in the works. To Choi it’s happiness and contentment.

“I think happiness is the first thing that comes to mind,” he says. “If you’re not happy and you let that stuff get to your head, you might get ill. Does success actually equate to happiness? Maybe not to everybody, but I don’t think happiness is non-success either.”

His industry is not particularly predisposed to contentment and happiness, I counter, so how does he balance it? “Part of my job is to achieve balance. Alongside being able to face God at the very end, to know I have made him happy and to have helped those in need, I think it’s to be positive.

“I don’t want to show people when I’m mad or when I’m sad, because I don’t want people to worry about me. Part of my job is to achieve balance between the human Siwon Choi and the celebrity. As a celebrity it’s my responsibility to be a role model, to create a good environment. If I’m calm, focused on work and smiling, then everybody else will be smiling and having a good time. So I believe in always being positive.”

It’s perhaps this warmth that draws those around him to him. “I stay in the same hotel whenever I come to Hong Kong” he says. “I know the manager and the employees so well and I say hi to everyone. It’s been two years since I’ve been here, but when I came back this time they prepared a surprise for my birthday with balloons and a cake. They wrote ‘Welcome Home’ on the card and it touched me.”

How so? “Well, it made me grateful for what I have because, you know, if we give in to the negative thoughts in this job, it can become tough, very tough. So we always have to think positive, stay positive. That moment was the happiest moment of my year so far. It made me think, well, my life might not be so lonely in the future. It might be quite full.”

PHOTOGRAPHY | RICKY LO | prestigeonline

[secretlyviola]

Wake Up, Girls!: the Black Sheep of Idol Anime and International Perceptions of the Japanese Idol Industry

Wake Up, Girls! as an anime is probably one of the best and most accurate representations of the real life Japanese idol industry that I've seen thus far. So much so that after completing it, while keeping the crude humor of the show in mind, I struggled with how it wasn't more popular both domestically in Japan and overseas where I live or why word wasn't spread about it more widely. Now, granting & considering the fact that the structure of the show is confusing (1 movie, a TV anime series, 2 more movies, and then the most recent 2nd season which concluded this past winter) I can understand why it has low viewership and interactions compared to other idol-related shows like the various Love Live! and Idolm@ster series that seem to be booming or at least doing better both domestically and overseas. With that in mind, I wished to do a bit more exploring into possible reasons other than these that would address some of its setbacks and at the same time encourage people to give the series a fair chance.

What's Missing?

The thing that I'm noticing most about the deficit in Wake Up Girls' (WUG's) interest mostly has to do with its promotional material.

To start, WUG does not have a mobile game like it's competitors; or rather it did and now will again after some time. The first game unfortunately failed due to possible competition from Love Live! and similar rhythm and gacha games releasing the same same year. The girls' characters do have a feature on a console game called Miracle Girls Festa which shares an engine with the Hatsune Miku Project Diva series. However, a new game involving WUG has not seen a release since then,(other than appearances in other games) which in the rat-race of mobile idol gacha games has put them at a stark disadvantage of the discovery and interaction of their characters. This is, however, on the horizon to change in the fall with the release of their newest mobile game. I'm not able to talk much on this as a data point simply because it isn't released and doesn't really have any gameplay other than a few promo videos.

The Show

Because of the gaming fallout, character discovery and building is almost solely reliant on watching the show. This can be both good and bad. Good, because the group's content is more centralized, but it can severely lack when it comes to more individualized interaction and selecting the all-too-well-known oshimen or "best girl"

The anime itself--as mentioned earlier--is very convoluted in its setup and crude in its initial delivery. If you miss the first movie and just start watching the first season, you can definitely watch the series, but details are a lot more well-rounded when you do watch it.

There are also two separate movies in between the most recent season that are helpful to watch, but that Crunchyroll does not have available for streaming as of writing this, which makes it a bit more complicated to watch without more details.

A general thing to keep in mind while watching is the amount of crude humor that develops throughout the movie and the first three episodes. Without giving too much away to the actual plot, there are themes of sexual exploitation that are present in the beginning of the show. I do see why this may turn some people off to the series since it persists for a majority of the beginning watch time, but I have a firm belief that it is worth pushing through and some parts of it even are good representations of how idols can be exploited in the industry. (It's not all just smiles and friendship!)

"But, why should I watch this?"

If you enjoy Asian idols of any form, I strongly believe it's worth your time. 

Or rather, I could just leave it at that but I know that lack of substance can make people hesitant to try something. So, here's a quick review from 1st movie to most recent season:

The first movie, Shichinin No Idol (Seven Idols, 七人のアイドル) covers the formation of the group through the small Sendai-based agency Green Leaves who sets off to make money by creating an idol group to rival popular powerhouse I-1 Club. (it's essentially this universe's equivalent to AKB48 and it's sister groups) The movie follows the recruiting of Yoshino Nanase, (Member Image Color: Light Blue) a former child model and the group's appointed leader, Miyu Okamoto, (Member Image Color: Orange) a local cafe maid, Minami Katayama, (Member Image Color: Yellow) a joyful and energetic girl who's recruited after winning a folk singing competition, Kaya Kikuma, (Member Image Color: Green) who quit her part-time job at a ramen shop, Nanami Hisami, (Member Image Color: Purple) who aspires to be a stage actress, Airi Hayashida, (Member Image Color: Navy) a timid girl who auditions for the group at the encouragement of her friend and the final member of the group, Mayu Shimada, (Member Image Color: Red) who happens to be a former I-1 Club core member or "center" in the idol world.

The following first tv-aired season covers the girls' activities after debut, inevitably leading to their participation in a high-profile idol competition though their national promotion and with help from a famous producer who wrote songs for I-1. The issues with Mayu's former association with I-1 Club complicate this, as the rivaling group is the host for the idol festival and a large amount of fans are present. How they overcome all of this really emphasizes the level of tribulation that real life idols go through in the industry to get discovered and recognized.

The next movies in between the 1st & 2nd season, Seishun no Kage (青春の影) and BEYOND THE BOTTOM follow a similar plot as the first season, except the girls are challenged with debut under a major agency and the complications that come with that, having to start over from zero, being a one-hit-wonder and do everything that comes with struggling after success, reflecting on the point that sometimes you have to look back to move forward.

The second tv-aired season has the girls moving into the same house and taking on more independent activities to boost the group's overall popularity for their national tour. The show takes a new art and staffing direction than the previous iteration and while doing this, in my humble opinion, retains what's good while cutting a lot of the crude humor that was, at times, unnecessary and honestly almost makes the amount of time building up to the season more worth it.

.~*~.

So is it all worth it? That's up for you to decide. I would personally put it on my top 10 essential anime to watch. While I can't really say it's my favorite, I definitely think that it should be taken for more than it's face value of just another idol anime with fan service. Overall, I can say that I'm glad I invested my time in this series and hope that others may do the same.

Epilogue: "So is there more than that?"

So I can say now that this blog post was actually in progress over a pretty long period of time, written on & off over a period of 7 months. In that time, a lot of things have happened, including the expansion of Wake Up, Girls' sister group, Run Girls, Run (RGR), the announcement of the upcoming mobile game, and--unfortunately--the announcement of the disbandment of the real-life counterpart of WUG, the singing seiyuu unit. (By the same name of course)

To speak briefly on them, the girls share the first name with their animated counterparts and have had group activities outside of the anime including singing for anime openings and endings. They perform both these songs and songs from the show at their concerts. The members each have their own activities outside of the group which includes voice work in other popular Japanese mobile games such as Fate: Grand Order, Idolm@ster: Cinderella Girls, and Tokyo 7th Sisters. This disbandment is set to occur in March of 2019, so if you're going to be in Japan before or around that time, I'd recommend going to see them before time's up. Their live performances are definitely one of their strong points. If you can't make it before, then my point in this post still stands and I still firmly believe watching the show is something worthwhile even if it only changes peoples' perspectives a little.

[howaminotinthestrokesyet]

90’s Rap: Random Quarantine Thoughts

1. Vanilla Ice...I remember he was absolutely killed in the media when he tried to say that he wasn’t using the sample from Queen and David Bowie, “Under Pressure.” I have no idea why he tried to lie about it in the first place. Every rapper back then was using samples of previous songs. This was before rock, pop, and every other artist got wise to the fact that they should be making money from these rappers using their samples. Take a look at “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer, which uses a Rick James sample. I mean Paul’s Boutique by the Beastie Boys came out right around the same time as well. That album was essentially the equivalent of a Girl Talk mashup album. One of the members of the Beastie Boys has even said that album could never be done today because it would cost $1 billion. Vanilla Ice should have told the truth in the first place, then perhaps people would not be looked upon as such a moron. The irony is that such honesty would have helped when he did that stupid Amish reality show.

2. Coolio... His career goes to show you the power of simply having a couple of hit songs. I have noticed that he continues to tour almost 25 years after “Fantastic Voyage” and “Gangster’s Paradise.” People are still paying money to see him and venues are still booking him, even though he only has one strand of hair remaining on his head.

3. MC Hammer...I was watching the video for “U Can’t Touch This” when a lightning bolt of an idea hit me that is pure genius. Hospitals should do away with the gown. Everyone hates them as they feel a huge dread of embarrassment when they have to put one on. What do we replace the gown with? MC Hammer jackets and MC Hammer pants because they will allow enough room to do anything with tubes, IV’s, needles. This is a gold mine that I need to look into after this pandemic calms down.

4. Puff Daddy... There are so many things that I could talk about when it comes to Puff Daddy. I could go on and on about the fact that people appear in his videos that really do not need to be there. Case in point, take a look at Biggie Smalls in the “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” video. He does not rap, but instead argues with a cop in various portions of the video. His presence really does not serve any purpose. Yet, that goes along with my primary point...What the hell is going on in his videos? Take “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down.” There are so many damn things going on in this video that make no sense whatsoever. Why are they in the desert, why does their car blow up, are these concerts that they are rapping at, where are they going, did they ever meet up with Biggie, and so on.

5. 2Pac...One of the things that completely blows my mind in the annals of 90’s rap is the fact that 2Pac Shakur was a member of Digital Underground. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when they were recording the “Humpty Dance.” I may have to research his feelings about that song as it went completely main stream. As I watch him in some videos, it becomes twilight zone surreal just to see him walking next to Humpty. I am not sure if he ever talked about that in an interview, but I sure would like to find out.

6. “Regulate...” Something people either do not know or tend to forget about in this song,but it was recorded for the movie Above the Rim starring 2Pac. That is why in the music video you see scenes that perhaps one is not familiar with. I have actually seen the movie which is a cult classic now simply because 2Pac was in it. The film is pretty terrible, and probably should have gone straight to DVD upon its release. I am not sure if this has happened too much, but the hit song was 100 times more popular than the movie. Unfortunately, not even the song could save a film about a troubled janitor who used to be a basketball phenom.

7. Naughty By Nature... There are two things that I will always remember about this group. The first is their hit song “OPP,” which whenever I hear it I am immediately transported back to my freshman year of high school. Certain songs bring up certain times in your life. The other thing that I think of whenever I see or hear this group is that long ass knife Treach had in the videos. What was the deal with that knife? In later videos, they always made a point to include at least one shot of him holding that absurd knife. I wonder if he is going to be buried with that knife. There probably is a story behind it, but I am not sure I want to know that particular story. You do not want to get the reputation of actually knowing why Treach from Naughty By Nature has a knife.

8. West Coast Rap All Stars... This was an all star track comprising of West Coast rappers in an effort to raise awareness about gang violence. I think this was a reaction to the East Coast song that did the same thing with artists like Queen Latifah, “Self-Destruction.” I remember owning this cassette single when I was younger. The hook in this song is very catchy, which is probably the reason why I liked this song so much. Yet, this song also brings out a surreal feeling when listening to it or watching the music video years later. Surreal in the fact that so many diverse rappers are in this song. I always found it strange to see Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, MC Ren walking along side MC Hammer and Humpty from Digital Underground. I think Young MC is even in this video at some point. You would expect the Compton rappers to be in this video, but even as a kid, I was surprised to see those rappers that end up on Pepsi commercials like Hammer to be there. The other strange thing about this song and music video was a couple of other things. First, Humpty actually goes into his character within the song. I guess that illustrates just how big that guy was back in the early 90’s. The other thing was MC Hammer took about five seconds to do some sort of ridiculous dance because that is what he was identified as with the public.

9. NWA... One of the more underrated rap albums of the 90’s was 100 Miles and Running from NWA. This EP was better than the full length album that followed it a year later. This might be because Dre knew that it was only going to be a preview of the forthcoming album, so it had to be leaner than normal. The full length album is iconic and well done, but it is just a little bloated, especially with all of the commercials and sketches.

10. LL Cool J... I saw LL last year at Lallapalooza. I did not know what to expect thinking I would probably have a good laugh if nothing else. In fact, Todd turned out to be quite good. I think people tend to forget how many really good songs that he had over the years. His performance was excellent because I went in thinking that he might struggle possibly remembering some of the lyrics. Yet, then again, the dude has been an actor for about 20 years. Near the end of the show, I made a comment to one of the security guys there. “I bet f’ing Chris O’Donnell could not do that.” He laughed, which gave me the assurance that he had seen NCIS LA.

[doomedandstoned]

ELDER

Rallies Russia!

-Review: Nick DiSalvo | Forward: Billy Goate-

-Photos: Mo Nemo | Film: Anton Rodionov-

"The funny thing I've noticed about Russians is how reserved they can be, but then when the music is playing they are going crazy, moshing or stage diving, and crowd surfing the whole time."

Earlier this month, Doomed & Stoned brought you a two-part feature on Acid King's first ever appearance in the Russian Federation. Now, we are pleased to present the sights and sounds of another cross-continental concert tour, that of the mighty ELDER.

You're looking at another stunner of a photoset from the young Saint Petersburg photographer Mo Nemo, snapped at Elder's MOD Club show on August 3rd, 2017. The night before, Nick DiSalvo (vocals, guitar), Jack Donovan (bass), Matt Couto (drums), and new member Michael Risberg (guitar) played at The Volta in Moscow. The Re-Stoned, a band we've long touted as a prime example of Russian heavy psychedelic rock, opened on that particular evening. Ilya Lipkin (guitar), Vladimir Kislyakov (bass), and Andrey Pristavka (drums) performed a sublime series of songs from their recent LP, 'Reptiles Return' (2016). It was, of course, time for Elder to show off fresh tracks, too, namely selections from the new album that topped the Doom Charts: 'Reflections Of A Floating World' (2017 - Stickman Records).

By all accounts, the setlist included almost all the songs from Reflections..., including "Sanctuary," "The Falling Veil," "Staving Off Truth," "Blind," and "Thousand Hands." Let me tell you, that second guitarist has sure come in handy in pulling these off! The band also played what is now a bonafide hit: "Compendium" off of 'Lore' (2015 - Armageddon Shop). That song in many ways foreshadowed the complexity of the new material. Then there was the beloved "Gemini" from 'Dead Roots Stirring' (2011 - MeteorCity Records), which no Elder performance would quite be complete without.

I reached out to frontman Nick DiSalvo this week for comment on their trip. "Well," he replied, "I can certainly share some thoughts about Russia in a stream of consciousness sort of way with you." That was just fine by me, and I invited Nick to give us all a first-hand account of his band's visit to this land rich in vodka, literature, political intrigue, and most of all music. My piano teacher, who came to the US from Russia for her doctorate degree, is a disciplinarian. From her I've gotten an idea of how seriously Russians take the art and the science of music. You'll find this quite easy to confirm both anecdotally and historically.

How, then, would heavy music fans of the Moscow and Saint Petersburg underground take to the soaring progressive stylings of these four ambitious muzykanty from the States? The next words your read will be from Nick's tablet...

We've been to Russia twice now, both times in the same cities (Moscow and St Petersburg). I can only assume that sounds as fascinating to most American readers as it was for us. I think we have a very biased view of Russia in the States and assume that the country is very "foreign." Let me tell you, that's definitely not the case in these two cities -- two of the biggest in Europe (if you want to count Russia as part of Europe). We're lucky to work with a really cool promotions team over there called Madstream. Their guys Andrey and Vadim have surprised us with their professionalism and hospitality that's truly a leg up from the rest of Europe, even. That's really saying something, since most European clubs and promoters treat bands amazingly.

We had an early flight in from Milan to Moscow and were pretty whacked out after an hour and half drive from the airport through the city to the venue. The city never ends! The sprawl of Moscow is truly awe-inspiring, not necessarily in the best way.

In Saint Petersburg (band photo)

We got in for soundcheck at the venue Volta. Big stage. The club could be suited for any kind of gig and certainly doesn't give off the dingy rock club vibes (except for the makeshift water closet backstage that really does remind you you're in Eastern Europe). Soundcheck is fine and we retire to a long forgotten luxury for a few hours, the hotel, to catch some sleep.

I sleep through my alarm and wake up to Mike jostling me, since we need to get back for bus call. This is different for us, getting shuttled around to hotels and back. Normally, we travel in a sort of converted camper van and a stationary bed and shower are truly a treat. I don't know how many fans we really have in Russia, in Moscow maybe 200-250 people come to the show. For a city of 20 million I'd say that it's not much, but the scene is really just developing here.

The fans who do come are rabid and we get a rare taste of what it must be like to play in a famous band. Leave the backstage area and everyone grabs you, wants a photo, an autograph, to tell you an anecdote, and you realize the bizarre and fantastic nature of your situation: an American band in Russia surrounded by people who are just like you, music enthusiasts stoked on a concert. The funny thing I've noticed about Russians is how reserved they can be, but then when the music is playing they are going crazy, moshing or stage diving, and crowd surfing the whole time.

Welcome Package! (band photo)

A nice photographer we met on our previous trip is backstage and gives us some gifts: a bottle of vodka, some matchboxes, lemonade, all labeled with handmade Elder labels. That's pretty damn cool. The venue feeds us well and too much on borscht (a Russian tomato soup), lasagna, chicken. It's all fantastic, too. Our show is fine, despite an amp blowing up. Matt, Mike, and I improvise a jam for what feels like 10 minutes while a stage crew struggles to replace it. After the gig, we hang for a bit with the fans and drink some beer, then head back to the hotel where Boris is checking in for their gigs in Russia the same week. We try to drunkenly convince them to hang out with us in our hotel room, but they politely refuse.

In Saint Petersburg (band photo)

The next morning we have a train to St Petersburg, 4.5 hours away with the fast train, which is super modern and clean like much of what we've seen of these cities. Jack and I laugh at English translations of items in the "on board shop" magazine, order some souvenirs, and are amazed to see our photo and some information about our gig last night in the train magazine (the equivalent of finding your photo in an in-flight magazine on an airplane). When we arrive we're again transported to a hotel in St Petersburg. This city's historical center is absolutely beautiful, full of "old" buildings (the city itself is relatively new, from the 1800s) and Czarist monuments and buildings. Instead of sleeping, we have a walk around and look for some food. We're not exactly successful.

Tickets for the big show!   Photo by Denis Kolpakov

When we arrive at the venue for soundcheck, we're surprised to find it's directly in the historical center, not a five-minute walk from the winter palace. After soundcheck, we take a tour of the area with another guy from the show. The great thing about this area is the souvenirs. You can find amazing coffee mugs and all kinds of kitsch with photos of Trump and Putin on them (in 2016 it was mostly Putin kicking Obama's ass, etc.).

The show tonight is smaller, but also a lot of fun and we play every song we have, again. Last time St Petersburg was crazier, this time Moscow wins in the energetic fan competition, but still people are dancing, moshing, and having a great time. We do the dance of autographs and fan photos after the show and then return to the hotel, more exhausted than anything else. The next morning we manage to catch some breakfast in the lobby where a large Jewish travel group is doing the same. Our trip to the airport and back to the van waiting for us in Vienna is uneventful, but the trip in Russia leaves again a lasting positive impression that we're not so different after all.

Live & Loud:

Moscow

Live & Loud:

Saint Petersburg

"The fans who do come are rabid..."

"We're not so different after all."

Follow The Band.

Get Their Music.

[coweatman]

there are good photos in the original, but, y’know, paywall.

Genesis P-Orridge Has Always Been a Provocateur of the Body. Now She’s at Its Mercy.

By John Leland

Neil Andrew Megson discovered Max Ernst when he was 15 years old, and it set a course for his life. The book was called “The Hundred Headless Woman,” surrealistic collages of human and animal forms. It presented the body as fluid and mutable, and the self as open to negotiation. It was the mid-1960s, and to a British schoolboy who felt he didn’t fit in — into his school, his gender, his body — this was freedom.

In the half-century since, Megson — better known as the musician and visual artist Genesis Breyer P-Orridge — has steadily probed at the boundaries of the body, both literally and figuratively, evolving from art provocateur to founder of the influential British bands Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV to semi-established fine artist with archives at the Tate Britain. As P-Orridge now considers retiring from live music, Throbbing Gristle’s albums from the 1970s and early 1980s are newly available in deluxe reissues on Mute.

At 68, P-Orridge lives on the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan in a body racked by chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.

“I’m stable right now, my blood counts are close to normal,” P-Orridge said on a recent afternoon at home, flanked by a snoring Pekingese named Musty Dagger. “But at some point it will finally flare up and become terminal, and there’s no way to know when that might be. Optimistically, two years. Less optimistically, a year, maybe six months. And then I’m on the downward slope to death.”

The artist at home: working-class English accent, Rogaine in the bathroom, black T-shirt reading “Thank God for Abortion.” Breast implants and a mouth full of metal teeth, an idea P-Orridge got from watching the movie “Belle de Jour” on LSD. Shelves full of books and artwork, mostly by P-Orridge, including various fetish objects and a wooden rabbit dotted in blood, the residue of hundreds of ketamine injections.

Since a series of operations with Jacqueline Breyer P-Orridge, P-Orridge’s wife, who died in 2007, P-Orridge prefers genderless pronouns, usually first person plural, but is O.K. with female pronouns. Her life, she said, was an experiment that was still playing out.

“We know that Neil Andrew Megson decided to create an artist, Genesis P-Orridge, and insert it into the culture,” she said. “Some people take their lives and turn them into the equivalent of a work of art. So we invented Genesis, but Gen forgot Neil, really. Does that person still exist somewhere, or did Genesis gobble him up? We don’t know the answer. But thank you, Neil.”

It has been a provocative run. P-Orridge first came into being with a Dadaist performance collective called COUM Transmissions, whose shows included whipping, masturbation and live sex; “Prostitution,” their 1976 retrospective at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, included nudity and bloody tampons and scandalized the British public.

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When P-Orridge and others branched off that year to form Throbbing Gristle, they added assaultive industrial noise and Nazi imagery to the mix.

“In terms of being shocking, punk was pretty tame in comparison,” said Simon Reynolds, the author of “Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984.” “They were writing songs about serial killers and cutting themselves onstage.”

In 1981, P-Orridge reversed course in the gently trippy Psychic TV, whose danceable songs echoed the occult writings of Aleister Crowley and Austin Osman Spare, and included a tribute to Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones called “Godstar.” P-Orridge imagined the band as the center of a global consciousness raising, and recruited fans to join Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth, a cross between a fan club and a cult, whose members donned paramilitary gear and submitted bodily fluids as part of their initiation.

In 1995, after a recording session with the band Love and Rockets in the Los Angeles home of the producer Rick Rubin, P-Orridge woke up to a massive electrical fire there and jumped from a second-story window, shattering her arm and suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychic TV went on hiatus, but returned in the late ’90s and again with a new lineup in 2003.

But all the time she was making collages and other visual art, including a solo show at the Rubin Museum of Art that made The New York Times’s roundup of the Best Art of 2016. And she was writing books, including, most recently, “His Name Was Master,” a collection of interviews with Brion Gysin, whose “Cut-Up” literary experiments with William S. Burroughs — splicing and recombining texts to unlock meanings — have been a driving aesthetic in P-Orridge’s work and life.

It takes a moment in the apartment to realize that the two naked blondes in a wall-sized photograph, identical of breast and chin, are P-Orridge and Lady Jaye, Jacqueline’s nickname. In the bedroom are photos of their California wedding, June 1995, Friday the 13th. Genesis was the bride. Lady Jaye wore a mustache, tight leather pants and a leather vest, nothing underneath.

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Their marriage — they met at an S & M dungeon in New York, where Lady Jaye worked — began a new creative phase, this one a partnership, in which their main medium was their bodies.

Lady Jaye was both a registered nurse and a dominatrix, a delightful combination. P-Orridge sometimes worked with her at the dungeon, as the domineering Lady Sarah. The pay wasn’t bad — maybe $200 an hour for what was called a “tribute” — but the work wasn’t steady, she said. They had money from a lawsuit after the fire, and an idea: What if they altered their bodies to become a third entity, neither male nor female, but free from the binary framework that they saw as destructive?

They called their project the pandrogyne, the fusing of two persons into a third that only existed when they were together. P-Orridge had been an early proponent of piercing and ritual cutting or scarring. The pandrogyne was their way of applying Burroughs’s and Gysin’s “Cut-Up” technique to their own flesh.

P-Orridge, the father of two daughters from a previous marriage — she attended PTA meetings in a miniskirt and thigh-high boots — remembered calling up her daughter Genesse, saying, “‘There’s something you ought to know. Lady Jaye and myself, we got matching breast implants last week.’ And Genesse just said, ‘What? You got breast implants when you could have bought me a new car?’ That was 2003. She was about 19.”

“My daughters adore me still, despite everything that’s been unorthodox,” she added. “They don’t bat an eye. They call me Papa Gen-Gen.”

Lady Jaye had surgery on her chin and nose to match her mate’s. The couple took hormones but didn’t like them; they took ketamine, daily, and liked it so much that they often went to sleep with full syringes on their night stands, so that whoever woke up first could inject the other partner in mid-slumber.

The French filmmaker Marie Losier documented their relationship in the 2012 documentary “The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye,” which ran at the Museum of Modern Art earlier this month.

The writer Douglas Rushkoff, who briefly played in Psychic TV, recalled nights in the city with Gen and Jackie, as he called the Breyer P-Orridges (like other old friends, Rushkoff refers to P-Orridge by masculine pronouns).

“He and Jackie were our most normal friends,” he said. “We’d just go to the Indian restaurant. He had weird teeth or took weird drugs or had weird art, but we would talk about what to do with savings, or how to deal with air conditioning. Just normal, mundane stuff.”

Then in 2007, Lady Jaye died of an acute heart arrhythmia. Her death left P-Orridge alone, one half of an art project that no longer had a second half.

“It became really tricky,” Rushkoff said. “To make that level of commitment, not just in marriage and love, but to do this thing to your body that doesn’t quite make sense anymore without the other half, that’s rough.”

When P-Orridge developed leukemia, Rushkoff organized a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign that has raised almost $55,000 for her medical bills.

“We realized for the first time in a tangible way how much people care for me,” P-Orridge said. “That was really beautiful to discover. See, I’m getting teary already. That’s a good feeling, that that many people want you to stay.”

The prankishness of P-Orridge’s work sometimes distracts people from the art itself, said Jarrett Earnest, 31, an art critic and curator who met her at a performance piece by Leigha Mason called “Spit Banquet,” in which people sat at a table and spat into empty vessels.

“What she’s done as a thinker and as a maker, this has not been understood in the wider art world,” Earnest said. “People in the music world know her in a specific way. But her writing and her ideas about culture and the relationship of life to art are so profound.”

Earnest added: “She does a lot to play the part of the cartoon, because there’s a part of her that’s really silly. She is those things, but at the same time this sweet, profound, authentic person. It’s not just someone with weird teeth who looks like a cult leader.”

On another afternoon in October, P-Orridge wore a T-shirt that read “Cult Leader.” She was recovering from pneumonia, preparing to travel to Europe for two concerts, the last two dates in an otherwise scrapped tour. After that, she said, she did not expect to tour again, because her health was too unpredictable.

And she was in love, with a woman she’d met in Granada a few years back.

“We certainly didn’t expect it, at our age,” she said. “What a beautiful surprise it was to be in love again. She’s 28. It’s ridiculous, but what can you do, man?”

In the last year, an old bandmate and girlfriend, known as Cosey Fanni Tutti, accused P-Orridge in a memoir of being physically and emotionally abusive. P-Orridge said she had not seen the book, but denied the allegations. “Whatever sells a book sells a book,” she said.

And she was busy, preparing two volumes of her notebooks from the 1960s and a graphic novel called “Man Into Wolf,” whose title comes from a 1948 book about sadism, masochism and werewolves. Museums, she said, were calling about new and old work.

“Derek Jarman said, ‘Gen, when they know you’ve got a terminal illness, they start liking what you do,’” she said, referring to the director and author. “‘You wait and see.’ And now people want the art in art exhibitions.”

If there is a next chapter, P-Orridge hopes it will be to form a collective community, with people sharing resources but having more privacy than in a commune. The ‘60s dream still drives her.

“When you’ve got a terminal illness, you think about what your legacy might be,” she said. “My only answer is, we would hope that it would inspire people to see that they can do a life totally as they would like it to unfold. Live your life every day like a page in your book of life, and make that page as interesting as you can. Whenever you have a choice, say: Which is the better page in my book?”

She said she was not afraid of death. “I’d like to stay, because it’s fascinating here,” she said. “But as far as we can tell, having a physical body is a luxury we don’t often get, and too many people squander that luxury.”

She smiled, a mouthful of gleaming metal. “We’ve not squandered it,” she said. “We’ve utilized it to the maximum we could.”

A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 11, 2018, on Page AR19 of the New York edition with the headline: Provocateur of the Body, Now at Its Mercy.

[cadem28]

180804 Dreamcatcher Fanaccount

Dreamcatcher fannaccount

Hello everyone, I went to the dreamcatcher concert in Bogotá and I’ll try to capture how my experience at their concert was. Obviously I’ll preface this with the fact that English isn’t my first language and it’s been a while since I’ve written essays or any long form piece so just try to bear with me and if something isn’t clear just ask me and I’ll try to clarify.

Going back a bit I bought the tickets the day they went on sale, one for me and one for my friend who isn’t really into dreamcatcher but thought it was gonna be fun (which it was) so he tagged along.

We got to the venue and started lining up at around 4:30, the theatre was in a somewhat sketchy area on a closed street (idk how you call that someone help me here) so for the most part I was a bit paranoid that something was gonna happen, either to us or just in general. Stuff actually did end up happening, for example someone broke a glass bottle, and we saw a guy scream at a woman on the street over some altercation they had, initially I thought the guy was shouting at his wife, who promptly responded “No one IN THIS COUNTRY speaks like that to me”, but in fact it was just some random woman and he went with his actual wife and baby later, real crazy shit.

Interestingly enough, there were a lot of street vendors selling unofficial merch to the people in the line, mostly hats and t-shirts with different DC logos. I noticed the guys weren’t selling too well considering that every time they passed they had the same exact pieces and people didn’t seem too keen on buying them. Originally their asking price was 15K pesos for a hat (around 5 US dollars, exchange almost 3K pesos for 1 dolar) and 25k pesos/12 USD for a t-shirt, at the end of the concert the guy was selling them for 10K pesos/3 USD for the t-shirts so I hope it wasn’t too rough of a day for them. Annyways damn this is getting long and I haven’t even begun with the concert.

Anyway, at around 5:40 the line started moving and we began entering the venue, which was really pretty inside and gave me a good vibe. When we got in we were given a number which was going to be used for a raffle but I didn’t win so idk what they got. At around 6:40 the venue started playing the dreamcatcher songs so we were sure that the concert was finally starting but the curtains weren’t opening, so I thought it was a mistake and that someone from audio had fucked up but no, they let You&I, Fly High, Good Night and Chase me play. Surprisingly people were going fucking crazy JUST for the audio of the songs, they did the fan chants and clapped and cheered after every song, and they screamed loud as hell too, the gender distribution of the concert was around 65% girls and 35% dudes so the girls screamed for literally everything and anything. People really where having a mini concert with just the audio before the concert actually started.

So the concert eventually began, and immediately people started putting their phones up to record. We had floor/pit/idk how you people call it tickets and it was standing room only so essentially this meant that we were gonna have to see the concert through these people’s screens and I was just so heartbroken that it wasn’t gonna be the experience I thought it was going to be. Fortunately, my friend had the genious (and I mean it) idea of actually moving back, because due to the angle or elevation or like physics dude idk, and we actually had a clearer view of the girls that way.

Fly High, Emotion and their other ballad uhhhh how is it called.

The curtains opened and RRAH, they were there, these K-Pop people we had all been seeing on the internet for our entire fan lives were there, they existed, Siyeon, Gahyeon Dami, JiU, Handong, Yoohyeon and SuA, they were REAL, but even more so, people in this country haven’t had a K-Pop concert in like never (aka 5 years) so for this new generation of fans that attended it finally felt like K-Pop was something real, that it existed outside of the internet and it was finally in front of our eyes, it was extremely surreal. As for these first 3 songs I personally was just kinda sorting my view so I didn’t really pay too much attention to them, plus Dreamcatcher’s ballads are kind of weak and Fly High isn’t their greatest title imo so yeah didn’t miss much (I think).

Group, Individual and unit covers and You&I

Here’s where the real concert started, at least for me. I didn’t look at any of the setlists of the previous concerts in the tour so every cover or special stage was unknown to me. I don’t exactly know the order in which they came so I’ll just try my best to remember. At first they started playing this sort of weird dubstep freaky music and I was confused as to what was happening, but then the song started playing, Imagine Dragons – Believer and holy fucking shit, I had seen videos of the cover and was personally underwhelmed by it, but IRL? Just Woah, they hit every move with inch-perfect precision and “punch” in it, they really out here looking like they were trying to prove a point, to who? For what? I don’t know but they made it look like if they were doing some indigenous exorcist ritual that their life depended on. Every kick, every move, every time the chorus hit they just fucking unleashed, I adored it and at multiple times I audibly screamed “Que gonorrhea”, the upper latin america equivalent of holy shit to my friend, who despite being as impressed at me didn’t really show it, but more on that later.

I think after that they did You and I which was the performance in the entire concert, just the intensity and Dami doing her magic trick which idk where it even came from blew me away. People did the fan chants super loud and went even crazier for this song than the others. If this concert was an album then this was the title track.

After that, the unit covers started, for every one we’d get a mini VCR/Video on the screen hyping up which members where to come. First came Yoohyeon and Gahyeon covering Tayeon – I. This was a special song for me since I knew Dreamcatcher had a cover of SNSD ITNW so I really wanted them to do it since I love SNSD, so instead of that we got this and just wow. The song being the power ballad it is gave Yoohyeon the chance of hitting the incredible high note in the middle of the song and it was this magical moment where everyone in the audience could feel it, her strength and the power in her voice. Having never seen anything like it live, through my mind came the thought of “Wow, this really what we live for, this K-Pop stuff might be weird and a lot of people might not get it but damn, moments like this are what we’re here for”.

Next up was JiU and Handong doing Troublemaker – Troublemaker. Obviously I knew the song was a bit raunchy but JiU and Handong really said fuck this PG shit we doin it how it meant to be done and they WENT FOR IT. There was none of this hover hand stuff I had seen on the performances on Korean shows, they were grabbing each other’s ass, breasts and anything in between and not apologizing to anyone for it. On the contrary every time they crossed any physical line people went nuts, screaming like I had never heard. Real strong cover.

Coming up was SuA and Dami with Taemin – Move. Strong cover but I don’t remember much of it, Dami was the most popular member but she also seemed kinda tired.

Finally came Siyeon’s solo with Alan Waker – Faded and god damn. Ya girl was born to be a rockstar, I figured it out 2 seconds after she started singing, her voice just had such projection and she had the superstar vibe going on so hard. When she sang people payed attention, she grabbed us and didn’t let us go ever. At the end she set up the microphone stand and kicked it down in a real power move which kinda made me realise that she was the one running shit around here. Thinking back she 100% was the MVP of the concert, not just because of her stage but also because in every performance she was the one who went the hardest, both singing and dancing, she put the concert on her back and if I you asked me who is main dancer and main singer in that group, just based on this concert it would be both her. Back to the song however, my friend commented to me that he actually did know this song, so I was like “okay, my boy gonna get hype finally, maybe sing it a bit or something” but nope, he just stood there and I know it’s just the way he is but I think on some way he certainly affected my concert experience, I saw everyone going crazy and in some ways I felt like I was separated from that because I payed attention to my friend having a good time, which he didn’t seem to be having even though later he told me he loved it, but also because we were so far back in some ways it felt that yes we could see better but we weren’t really part of all the concert.

Then came the Q&A segment which was just messy all around, Dami did despacito and every girl did some variation of sexy dance to a song I couldn’t really recognize. They did great, all of them. They tried answering fan questions later but the translator was just not good at all, I couldn’t understand anything she said so idk what they were asked or what was answered, groups that come in the future get a better translator please, also they did the raffle with the numbers for the prizes but since I didn’t win I don’t know what they won, maybe I would’ve talked about it if you had chosen me @WhoeverOrganizedThis but no. They also did the usual K-Pop fan service stuff like aegyo, however they did at one point start “kissing”, I use the quotation marks because they did that thing of turning around and covering themselves with their hair so no one could see their faces which tells me they almost certainly were faking it. Personally I really disliked this, they more than likely aren’t kissing like that in their personal lives and I just don’t see the need of these world class dancers, singers and performers lowering themselves to doing something they probably aren’t all that comfortable in doing even if they’re faking it. It ain’t necessary and unlike in the Troublemaker performance there wasn’t any rhyme or reason for doing it other than getting a reaction out of the fans, but they did that all throughout the night based on their talent alone so I just don’t see why. Please cut it off.

After that I think they did the B-sides of their newest album, the You&I one which personally I don’t care for so I just remember they used Which star as the fan engagement song (i.e to wave to people do hearts, finger hearts, take the flags given to them, etc.) and that I went to the bathroom, nice bathrooms in the venue but for reason the door started opening when I was peeing so like if anyone that owns the theatre is reading this please fix the left room door dude that shit don’t close I promise.

They also did some Maroon 5 covers but who cares about maroon 5, their only good songs are Maps and Animals.

Remaining title tracks, Sleepwalking and Full Moon

This was the best part of the concert. Re-energized after the break they went HARD on every single track, the formations, the timing, these girls danced like they had a death wish or as if their lives depended in this concert only. The line they form in Sleepwalking with the gun sounds, the riffs before the chorus on chase me, good night and full moon as a whole, just woah. By the second these girls were redefining what I believed was possible to do with the human body and the crowd were with them every single step of the way, screaming, fanchanting and getting lost in their music in a way I wish I could have done too, but just my friend wasn’t with the hype and I could never immerse myself in the vibe and the mind of the crowd unfortunately. They closed with Full moon and we left after that.

Closing thoughts

Couldn’t have asked for a better show, on the girl’s side everything was sharp as diamond. External factors like my friend, who I love but I don’t think this is his scene or the translator took me out of the event enough times that I feel I didn’t get to enjoy the show as much as I should’ve, which makes me incredibly sad since this is probably one of the top groups in terms of performances in the entirety of the genre. Unfortunately I think my friend was the biggest factor out of those, and like I said I love him but it did really feel like he was there as a favour to me rather than enjoying himself, which I don’t want at all. KARD is coming up so I don’t know what I’ll do, I could get him a bit drunk but at the end of it I just think it’s better for me to go with people who are more into the genre and allow me to be my real crazy fan self which obviously is hard to be with people who don’t entirely “get it”. Annyways this shit long as fuck I don’t think anyone actually read it up unitl here considering I’m not that good of a writer, so I’m sorry (again).

Best original dreamcatcher songs: You & I

Best Cover: Imagine Dragons – Believer & Siyeon – Alan waker Faded & JiU Handong – Troublemaker, actually all of them man this group talented af.

[travelling-trooper-blog]

Karlsruhe Day 1:

Many moons ago, I had the privilege of working with Mr. G. We taught at the same school. To this day, he is one of the most interesting and intelligent people I’ve ever met. He’s travelled the world twice over; he has a deep-rooted passion for music that was instilled in him at a very young age; he has a clearly defined moral compass and holds strongly to his values; he has an opinion about just about everything under the sun. He’s my kind of guy. Despite the generational gap between us and the fact that our views and opinions sometimes differed, we could always engage in fascinating conversations with complete mutual respect and time would just melt away.

It is for these reasons that I was excited to visit Mr. G in Karlsruhe.

The added bonus, of course, was that I’d get to meet the captivating and delightful Britta. We’d met once briefly in Toronto, but I didn’t really know much about her. By the end of our four nights in Karlsruhe, though, I’d be sad to have to say goodbye. I loved her thoughtfulness, her silly sense of humour, and the way her face scrunches up ever so adorably whenever she laughed. Sadly, Britta was a bit under the weather during our time in Karlsruhe, so she wasn’t able to accompany us on too many outings.

Mr. G met us at the train station when we first arrived in Karlsruhe. We passed the afternoon catching up over tea/coffee. This would prove to be a common occurrence over the next few days, as coffee is Mr. G’s drug of choice, and it always provided us with ample time to chat about this or that. In fact, at one point, while at their apartment, Britta came across a photograph of Mr. G that she said perfectly encapsulated everything about him. He was sitting happily in a cafe, his coffee by his side.

We took a leisurely stroll around Karlsruhe Palace, during which time Mr. G made three seemingly preposterous claims: 1) The decision to establish the border between America and Canada along the 49th parallel played out in Karlsruhe. 2) The bicycle was invented in Karlsruhe. 3) The layout for the city of Washington, D.C. is inspired by the layout of Karlsruhe. While I can’t find anything online to verify the former statement, the latter two are 100% true. Baron Karl Von Drais of Karlsruhe holds the distinguished honour of having invented what we know as the bicycle. And during his time as American envoy to France, Thomas Jefferson visited Karlsruhe. Later on, he passed on 13 maps of European cities to the city planners in Washington, and one of them was Karlsruhe.

Mr. G took us back to his place, where the lovely Britta was waiting for us. We put our bags away and headed back into the city for some awesome Indian buffet. And so ended our first evening in Karlsruhe.

Karlsruhe Day 2: Mr. G took us to Heidelburg to explore the city and check out the castle. We had about 40 minutes to kill while we waited for our connecting train in Mannheim, and so we visited the water tower and beautiful city centre.

It’s sad to see just how badly Mannheim–like so many other German cities–was bombed during the war. Buildings new and old stand side by side, but it’s the pre-war buildings that give these cities their charm. Walking through Germany is a terrible and tragic history lesson.

We eventually made our way to Heidelburg. It’s a quaint little town with your typical touristy shops, restaurants, and cafes lining the pedestrian-only brick roads of old downtown; but what makes Heidelberg special is the impressive Renaissance castle ruins that stand towering 80 metres above old downtown on the Konigstuhl hillside. If it weren’t for all the tourist shops, you could almost feel like you were in Beauty and the Beast or something.

The ruins were great and all, and the view from the castle certainly was beautiful, but my personal highlight was the world’s largest wine barrel. The photo doesn’t do it justice. It was at least two stories tal. Just look at that massive beauty. I imagined an alcoholic Scrooge McDuck jumping into that thing to go for a swim.

Before heading back, Mr. G and I stopped for dinner. I had this massive beast of a schnitzel. By the time we got back home, it was time for bed. After downing that schnitzel, that was more than fine by me.

  Karlsruhe Day #3:

The day started out with a tour of Schwetzingen Palace. While exploring the home of some rich old white guy in a cross between MTV Cribs and the History channel isn’t something I’d usually do, whenever I do find myself in these kinds of places, it’s always fun to make fun of said rich old white guys for all the stupid things they did–like sleeping sitting up, or rubbing iron on their faces. Oh, and the inbreeding. So much inbreeding. Just looking at those portraits sent a shiver down my spine. Is there an 18th century European equivalent to the redneck banjo twang?

We weren’t allowed to take pictures, so I’m afraid I only have photos of the outside of the palace. However I didn’t think to take a photo of the palace itself. Oops.

After a quick stroll through the gardens, we stopped for coffee/tea (of course), and had some awesome cake. While sitting in this fancy-looking hoity toity cafe, I was surprised to see a dog on a leash sitting beside its owner. Apparently pets are allowed inside all establishments, be it a mall, restaurant, cafe, etc. Way to go, Germany!

When we got home, Britta was waiting for us with some delicious flammkuchen. It’s basically German pizza. It translates to “flame cake.”  If you’re a fan of thin crust pizza, I highly suggest giving this a whirl. Instead of cheese, it uses creme fraiche, which is less sour than North American sour cream. In terms of toppings, I think pretty much anything goes. (Of course, Britta being the exceptional and thoughtful hostess that she is, my flammkuchen had meat. This was despite the fact that I kept insisting that I was capable of eating meatless food.) For dessert, we had a sweet variation of flammkuchen. You can put things like apples and cinnamon on these.

As if I didn’t love Britta enough already…she had to go and make me pizza.

  Karlsruhe Day 4: When you think of German cuisine, you probably think bratwurst or some other sort of sausage, right? Forget that. Best thing I had in Germany: Spaghetti ice. (Don’t worry, Britta: Your flammkuchen was a close second.) Remember when you used to play with Playdough and you’d put it through that little contraption to make it ooze out the other end in spaghetti-like noodles? Same thing. Load it on top of a healthy serving of whipped cream, cover it in some mouth-watering strawberry sauce, and you have yourself the best spaghetti you will ever eat.

After that heavenly treat, we went to see what was going on at the Waldschwarzschon gallery, and stumbled into the Black Forest Remixed exhibit. Apparently Karlsruhe is kind of at the mouth of the Black Forest region where the cherry cake and the ham originate.

This stool is meant to look like a traditional hat worn by women in the region. It’s called a Bollenhut. Single women wear red ones, and married women wear black ones. (A bit morbid, no?)

Now this is a kind of religion I can get behind! (It’s supposed to be a Nativity scene.)

We were told that we’d be able to go up to the top of the Karlsruhe Palace tower until 5:00 with our gallery tickets; and so imagine our surprise when the women at the top told us at 4:30 that the tower was now closed. This was particularly confusing since neither the woman at the front desk or the woman at coat check bothered to mention this. The women at the door didn’t seem to be closing up; they were just standing around talking. A few minutes later, though, we saw them making their way downstairs. They were clearly just trying to leave work early. Arg.

Before heading for home, we took a peek at the Karlsruhe Palace Garden. T’was prrty.

  Karlsruhe Day 5: My initial plan was to arrive in Karlsruhe the afternoon of October 2nd and leave for Munich the morning of October 4th. Somehow, it was already October 5th, and I just couldn’t get myself to leave. The day before, Britta had found out that there was a jazz concert on the 5th, and so I happily agreed to stay another day to check out the Jon Irabagon Quartet. And it was well worth it! These guys put on a hell of a show!

  The giant on the piano (just out of view on the left) moved his colossal fingers with incredible speed, precision, and grace over the keys. Dude on the cello played with the tenacity and intensity of a trash metal guitarist. The drummer was a monster, pounding away so mercilessly that you almost felt pity for the drum kit. Mr. Irabagon himself was hypnotic.

Although at one point, Britta and I turned to each other completely bewildered. I actually thought for a moment that the man was having a stroke onstage. He kept blowing into the sax until the only sounds emanating from it were his desperate blowing, which actually somehow almost sounded like a sucking sound, and the clacking of the keys. I became concerned, though, when Irabagon’s hands started shaking. Then…silence. It was one of those deafening and heavy moments of silence that seemed to last forever. It was soooo weird.

Mr. G explained to us afterwards that Irabagon was merely “pushing the limits of the instrument”–or something to that effect–but it still sounded weird to me.

Oh, and goats–because everybody loves goats.

And so ended our stay with Mr. G and Britta.

The Travelling Trooper Visits Karlsruhe Karlsruhe Day 1: Many moons ago, I had the privilege of working with Mr. G. We taught at the same school.

[chorusfm]

Sir Sly on Repurposing Tragedy with ‘Don’t You Worry, Honey’

On the eve of the release of their sophomore album, I sat down with the trio from Sir Sly at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles to discuss their excitement about the new music, the breakout success of “High,” the personal events behind the album, and why they never want to be outworked. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How’s album release week going? Hayden Coplen: Busy. Landon Jacobs: Yeah, prerelease week has been buuusy, with like nine u’s. We’ve been doing production rehearsals, a lot of running around town, and meetings and interviews. It’s been great, though. Hayden put it best a minute ago. He said, “It’s absolutely worth putting all the time and energy into supporting the album, because it wouldn’t feel right not to.” We put so much energy into making the album that it would be completely wrong to not put all that energy into supporting it as well. Coplen: Did you see the Radiohead oral history that was out? The Rolling Stone one? Yeah, yeah. Coplen: There’s that one part, I can’t remember if it’s Jonny or Thom, where he says, “We had to earn the right to go away.” That was their goal as a band, which I thought was really interesting. Now you think of them as a band that is very picky, says no to a lot of stuff, but they were saying we said yes until we had earned the right to say no. That’s a fair approach. I like that approach. Does it feel a lot different than when you released your first album? Coplen: Yeah. Jacobs: The excitement surrounding this album release has felt very different, even from things like radio interviews and stuff. The people asking us questions, there’s that intangible feeling people care more this time around. Maybe that’s because it’s obvious we care more. Coplen: I think there’s more to grab onto, honestly. Showing personality can be hard. To be candid, we felt that on the first album in a lot of ways. Jacobs: It was easier to be mysterious than it was to come across as confident, normal folks who are just pursuing what we love to do, which is making music. The making of the second album, there was no way we could come out on the other side and not feel confident about what we did, because we spent so much time on it. Even to make the songs the way we did, for me to write about the things I did lyrically, I had to take a leap of faith in some ways. The fact that Jason and Hayden were so supportive and confident in me throughout that time too did wonders for us feeling like we could really step out and do what we want to do in music videos and talk about ourselves the way we want to be able to talk about ourselves. It seems the excitement that people have waiting for the album to come out, or the questions they have about it, is a little more earnest. It seems that everyone is a little more excited than they were for the first album. Does Chase Kensrue still tour with you guys? Jacobs: He does not, unfortunately. There’s a hole in our heart that we filled with a giant plush brain, and some lighting and some gear. That’s maybe the easiest reason. Coplen: We wish they were here. Touring is hard. Jacobs: There’s a big gap in between. Coplen: Yeah, there’s a big gab between being a small band and being a band that can adequately support everyone. Jacobs: That first album cycle we were not quite kids, but I don’t really feel like I was an adult, though. This break of two years since we last toured in earnest is that exact timeline where if we’re not on the road, it’s time for us to move on and pursue other things. So we gave them a pat on the back and blessings. Hopefully we can keep on getting more gear to fill that hole in our hearts [laughter]. You’re originally from over there in Orange County, right? Jacobs: Yeah, so we grew up listening to Thrice. Jason Suwito: We grew up in Mission Viejo and Irvine. Jacobs: I remember the first time I met Chase. I was like, “You look eerily familiar.” Coplen: I was inner fanboying when Dustin was at the show. Jacobs: We went and got Mexican food with him one time, and I was like, “Dude, I saw you guys at the Wiltern!” It was Thrice, Brand New and mewithoutYou. Those were like my three favorite bands in one concert back then. I was like, “Oh my god!!” And then I’m sharing nachos that were made on Doritos with Dustin. Dustin was like, “You gotta try these [laughter].” Coplen: In between talking about C.S. Lewis. Jacobs: I was like, “Sure, I guess I’ll try some Doritos with cheese melted on top of them.” It was insane. So I know you went through some stuff in between records, which shows up on the album a lot. What was it like putting that into words and writing about it? Jacobs: A lot nicer than living in it. One of my favorite quotes about songwriting is Bjork saying it’s like exorcising demons, which doesn’t sound like much of a choice. Either you live with demons inside of you or you have to figure a way to get them out. The moment I read that I was like, Yeah, that’s exactly what it feels like. If I let these things sit and fester, I don’t find a way to creatively work through them. I like to categorize things in that way. So the album and writing these lyrics was one part necessity and another part a fun adventure of figuring out how to repurpose all these really shitty things that happened in my life into something that felt like I had purpose in. Loving music as much as I do, I wanted to make something I was so proud of that every night on tour I could go back and be thankful for the fact I get to repurpose three really difficult years into what I feel like is an amazing album. In one of your other interviews I was reading you said you wanted to write about tragedy but still have it be a fun album. Jacobs: Yeah. Similarly as I was going through when my mom died and as I got divorced, I was living alone for the first time ever in my life. I was also going out in L.A. and stuff. I was beginning to really love certain types of dance music, and dancing myself. We would go to Funky Soul Night at the Echo or whatever it was. Or I’d be alone in my apartment, dancing to Prince. I realized I wanted something that was fun for people to come and see live. We all wanted that because life is equally serious, and should be. People are always striving to have that levity, to be able to turn something tragic into something positive. The fact that we’re all still here is cause for celebration. That was kind of the thing. I have to sit and take a mental image when I’m getting stressed or getting anxious, like when we had a really difficult travel day. But at the end of it, I’m like, “Wow, that was a nightmare. But nobody’s sick. Nobody’s hurt. Nobody’s going to die. We all made it.” That’s something I’ve been constantly reminding myself of. This album, because of that, I wanted to have cause for celebration. If you come out to a show, we’re not here to weigh you down. We’re here to commiserate, to share what we’ve been through, and then hopefully to uplift each other. That’s the goal of the human experience. Coplen: I think the truth is, too, that there’s been a lot of joy. As we’re preparing for this, we’re working harder than we’ve ever worked, but we’re humming along. I have this visual like we’re above the fray. It feels really good. There’s not a lot of resistance. Everyone is in lockstep, from the band members to the team. It’s a really rare feeling. I think a lot of it stems from the record ultimately being a bit of a celebration. Jacobs: There’s a bit of magic to not taking yourself so seriously that it’s like, My mom died, therefore I have to be a sad, sappy sack of shit for the next album. There was a freedom in being able to say I still like having a good time. I miss my mom, but my mom wouldn’t want me to wallow away and make the equivalent of a Conor Oberst, drinking a gallon of vodka a day, weeping alone in my room record. That’s not the way I want to look back and see how I handled these past couple years. And, yeah, getting divorced is sad, but it’s also freeing. So there is a bit of that, too. There is the juxtaposition of the depth of grief, but I was living in a pretty free situation as well. We all wanted to reflect that accurately through the making of the record. What’s it been like seeing “High” get as big as it’s gotten so far? Jacobs: Magical. It’s the best. Apart from writing the song in the first place, and apart from making the album in the first place, the best feeling in the world is having people appreciate what you do and take it into their own. People don’t listen to music lightly. Some people do, but a lot of people are very specific about the kind of music they choose. It means a great deal to them. People are proud of their music tastes. In order to break through that barrier and have so many people love the song, it’s even nicer now that I stop and think. Everybody has their own unique taste and it’s really cool to be accepted that way by so many different people. It’s great. Coplen: Today I was doing an interview on that same point. We ended up talking about people disliking songs. When we wrote it, we all had a very good feeling about “High.” I brought up the example of Landon’s brother, who heard it and was like, “Oh, I don’t like that song.” Jacobs: He got through the first pre-chorus where it goes “Feels good to be…” and then the chorus came on and he turned it off. We were driving in his car. He turned it off and was like, “I don’t like that one.” I was like, “OK, let’s go into Walgreens.” He was like, “I don’t mean to be a dick.” And I was like, “No, it’s good.” If we can make something that some people don’t like, hopefully it means that other people are going to love it. Instead of it being in an acceptable middle range where everybody goes, “Eh, that’s OK music.” I’d rather have some people go, “I hate that. It reminds me of this other thing I hate.” And then somebody else goes, “I love that for these reasons.” I’d rather be polarizing than be the lowest common denominator that everybody can enjoy. Was the video fun to shoot? Jacobs: Absolutely. Suwito: Yeah, that was the funnest one. Jacobs: It was one of the hardest days. I’ve never seen a group of people work that hard just in general, from the people part of set design to the choreographer to the crew to Kevin, who directed it. All these people were running around on set, working crazy and so hard. But at the end of the day, it seemed like everybody was energized. They were either friends of friends or people who’ve worked together before. It was a really fun, open environment. And also they saw how hard we were working, too. It’s nice when everybody is in that same space together and you can look around and see everybody working hard. Nobody is slacking off or not giving a shit. Even at the end of a very long day, which was at the end of a very long week and after a couple long months of making this music video, it was nice to feel like everybody had given 100 percent. We had all worked tirelessly and it didn’t seem like there was any bitterness across the board from anybody that had worked on it. Which is a testament to hopefully the fun we wanted to have making the video and our resolution to never have anybody work harder than we work on our own stuff. I don’t want anybody to ever put us on their back and to look back with any bitterness. I want to know we gave it our all and everybody else is happy to work on the stuff we’re working on, because we care more than anybody else possibly could. What’s the story behind getting the Donnie Trumpet sample on “Change?” How did that idea come out? Coplen: That was me. There was a time where we were like, “Why did we ever do that?” And then we cleared it and were able to release the album, which is amazing. They were actually really gracious. But that one, I was on a plane. It was in the middle of writing. On a plane I love to mess with stuff, but it’s really hard to actually write. So I’m just manipulating different sounds or messing with cool drums. I was like, “Ah, let’s try to sample this.” “Miracle” is this amazing song that has such a unique feel to it. It’s very optimistic, and at the same time very morose and washed out. I ended up grabbing a piece of the end, pitching it up and using this guitar sample. In my head, it was a little bit like College Dropout-era Kanye. I don’t think it ultimately sounds like that, but that was something going through my head. Like, how warm his beats would always feel. They were so comfortable and nostalgic. It was like hanging out with an old friend or something. That’s what I was going for. Jacobs: Ironically enough, I don’t know if originally it was the pull subconsciously, but the lyric is something along the lines of “It’s a miracle to be alive.” We all knew the song, but it had been a while until I had paid attention to the lyrics. We had just been hearing that sample over and over. So the other day I went back and listened to it again, and it was so crazy. Sometimes there’s those little serendipitous moments, like that lyric is so close to what this album was for me lyrically. So to go back and hear that, I was able to go, “Yeah, that’s exactly why that sample was chosen. There is that feeling in that song.” And that goes for all the samples we use. There’s an immediate sonic and emotional pull, like, That’s this album right there. That’s that song. And we’d build from that moment. We’d never used samples before, but at the end of the day, it feels like we’re right at home using samples as a part of making an album. I think it’s something we’ll continue to do in the future. How about “Altar?” What was it like writing that song? Jacobs: That was one that started from a sample as well. Jason had made that instrumental flute thing. Suwito: Yeah, it was from an old TV theme. Jacobs: The chord progression he ended up making by repitching it brought out a really strange melody, something I don’t think I had ventured to do before. I actually had written this poem, a long metaphor using worshipping at an altar as a euphemism for oral sex. That was how it started. The poem is like three times as long as the lyrics are in the song. It turned into I had put her up on a pedestal, or the idea of love and marriage or whatever it was. I was raised very Evangelical Christian. My parents got married when they were 18, and her parents had gotten married when they were 18. My grandparents had gotten married when they were in their early 20s. It was what everybody in my family did, and has continued to do. I had put it up as this finish line, this point where you get there and coast through the rest of life because you’ve found the person you’re going to marry and be with forever. That song was the product of that disillusionment. The starkness of the lyrics informed the way we built off that original instrumentation. The ending with the tones of gospel music comes from a place of Hayden and I growing up and playing music in church. It works really nicely with the sample. That last bit of lyrics is probably my favorite moment on the album lyrically, using my mom’s voice as a monologue telling me how to weather the storm. We originally started making this album all about my fear and anxiety. We had really minimal electronic songs and these very scared and afraid lyrics. That moment is the exact opposite. It’s me talking to myself through my mom’s voice. It’s kind of like the voicemail on “Oh Mama.” I’m always worried that will make me cry every time I hear it, so playing it onstage can be a little rollercoaster. Let’s close with “Oh Mama” then, since that’s one of the centerpieces on the album. Did the idea for that song come first? Did the music? How did you pair the two together? Jacobs: That was a song we started writing shortly after my mom had died, which was March 2016. It was totally different. It started out with a different instrumental that Jason had been working on. It was much faster. Then we ended up writing a chorus for that song, and the verse and the chorus didn’t feel quite right. So we scrapped that whole song, but I knew I always wanted to come back to working that chorus out. When Jason showed us the new instrumentals, I had also recently had a dream about my mom. We were in San Francisco. It was me, her and my dad in this apocalypse type of setting. There was all this weird stuff happening, and it stuck with me. I was in the dream telling her how difficult life has been ever since she died. She was sitting, listening, but I wasn’t explicitly saying since you died. I was saying life has been really hard. She wasn’t talking, and I was like, Oh. Maybe she doesn’t know. She had brain cancer, so she couldn’t remember things very well. She had no short-term memory, so then she couldn’t form long-term memories. In my dream, I was thinking maybe she forgot she’s supposed to be dead and that she’s not allowed to be here visiting me. That was how those verses ended up getting started, and then we took that chorus and repurposed it into the song. Did you use an actual choir for the end? Coplen: Yeah, they were awesome. They did “Altar” and “Oh Mama.” We had them for a taped live performance at one point. Jacobs: That was another really interesting thing. We used a sample from the famous movie The Color Purple in “Trippin.’” There’s that gospel line from a scene in the movie, and one of the singers was actually in the movie and a part of the recording. The choir director also co-wrote and worked on it. He was like, “I know that.” We were like, “How do you know it?” And he’s like, “I worked on it.” We were like, “Oh!” [laughter] So that was another strange, serendipitous moment. It’s been really fun. When you work as hard as we did on this album, you end up running into all kinds of strange little fun coincidences. It makes the world a lot smaller when you extend your inspirations and extend the musical boundaries. You end up running into all kinds of things like that. Don’t You Worry, Honey is out now on Spotify and Apple Music. For more information, find Sir Sly on Facebook and Twitter. --- Please consider supporting us so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/interviews/sir-sly-on-repurposing-tragedy-with-dont-you-worry-honey/

[nigelmarmot]

Just  Come Barging in Here

This weekend was a pretty interesting gig(s) up in Miller’s Bay on lake Okoboji in Iowa. It was actually a double header, which made things a bit interesting (more on that later); the first gig being a festival called “Lake Affect” (my first gig on a boat!), the second being an evening double set with Des Moines staple The Nadas.

Grammar Nazi

The first of the two gigs, Lake Affect, was started by a well established local musician Damon Dotson 11 years ago. The idea was essentially his band and several of his friends bands go out on a boat on the lake, and play to other people who also bring their boats out. Cool idea, and by the 11th annual event, they had the process figured out pretty nicely. There was a local lakeside engineering company (they design boat hoists, docks, and other waterfront machinery/structures) that owned a small feet of barges who sponsored the event for some sort of reduced or free cost for use of the barges (the details of which I’m not 100% sure on). One of the barges was to be used as the stage, and the other one was the on-the-water equivalent of a stage wing; it had extra gear, coolers, a better vantage point of the stage, and even a cybo (they have obviously learned over the years!) 

All of this being said, it absolutely killed me the whole time that the fest was called Lake Affect instead of the proper spelling of Lake Effect, referring to the erratic weather patterns due to being in proximity to a lake. There might have been some sort of meaning at one point as to why it was A vs. E, but it might have also just been an honest misspelling. I got over it, and it was a fun gig anyway.

I’m on a boat (Everybody look at me cause I'm sailin on a boat)

The Lake Affect festival was scheduled to go from noon to 5PM, and it was on lake Okoboji, so that meant an early day for me. Call was 5:30 AM, followed by a 3+ hour ride right to the dock at about 9:30AM. The barge was right on the beach when we got there, so we backed the trailer right up to it, and loaded all the gear onto it. Mild incline, but with help of the boats crew and Damon himself, it was on deck in short order. Since the actual performance area was a 10-ish minute ride across the lake, we didn’t do much setting up, and instead secured anything on wheels to make sure it didn’t tip overboard. We did put together the 32′ truss that the tops would hang from so they could zip tie the Lake Affect banner to it on the way over.

A short (but nerve-racking!) ride over to the spot, and we already see about 40 boats moored together, obviously having gotten there early for a good spot. The barge pulls in slowly, and with Damon calling the shots on placement, we drop two hydraulic stabilizer anchors and start to set up.

The boat deck was probably about 45-50′ long, and maybe 16-20′ deep. There was some space, but not a lot of it. We put out 2 JBL VerTec 8880 subs a side, and hung two Bag End Crystal tops from the 32 foot truss on two crank genie lifts. The amp rack and the mixer lived on stage right, directly behind the massive crane on one end of the barge. We got everything set up by about 10:45, which was a good hustle. The original plan was to check Damon Dotson (playing third) first, and then “festival style” the first two bands, but by the time the second barge arrived and all the gear was on deck, Damon made the correct (in my opinion) call to just throw-and-go the whole day. From a technical  perspective, we probably could have done the check, as the board we were using (a Midas Pro1) had store/recall functionality, we could share lines like guitar/bass/keys, and the last two bands were sharing a drum kit (the first one didn’t have a kit at all, making it easier), but it was more a question of time than space or tech.

As I mentioned before this was my first gig on a boat, and as such the first time experiencing the challenge of not really being able to hear the PA (and therefore not be able to hear what I was mixing) at all. I’m no stranger to the “mix from the side” sort of gigs, as I’ve been in and out of a lot of crammed venues, but this is the first time I’ve been physically unable to go and see what it sounds like in “the house.” You know. Cuz’ of the water. At the very least there were two saving graces. First off, there was a spare wedge and amp channel available, so I could set up what’s called a “cue wedge.” A cue wedge is essentially another monitor mix strictly for the monitor engineer. Normal monitor mixes consist of a certain set of channels set to a certain level and sent to a monitor, based on that monitor’s recipient’s desires. This monitor mix works slightly different, in that the monitor engineer can “solo” or “pre-listen” to individual channels, artists monitor mixes (so they can hear what the artist is hearing through their wedge), or even the main mix. Since I could hear the main mix through my cue wedge next to me, I at least had a bit better idea of what I was spitting out through the mains.

The second saving grace was the fact that the second barge was at a 90º angle to the first one, and had a little bit of space out front to be able to hear the PA somewhat. I took a few short trips out there just to insure a few main EQ things, and the rest of the time I relied on the cue wedge (mostly because there was a tent over me and I didn’t want to burn too badly).

(image credit to Dronography Iowa)

With the cue wedge, I was able to get what I think was a decent (probably not my best) mix for the day. The unfortunate thing though was how underestimated the crowd size was. Don’t know if this was on the sound company’s or Damon’s part, but I’m not faulting anyone here. The short end of it was that there probably wasn’t enough PA. As you can see in the pictures below, there were boats as far as we could see from the barge. Just an absolute ton of people. Again, without the ability to really go out into “the house” to hear it, I wasn’t able to see how far the speakers threw. My guess is “nowhere close to enough,” but that sort of thing was above my pay grade for this gig. I was here to help put it together and mix, which I did!

(last two image credits to Dronography Iowa)

Cover Band Mania

The first group was Pianopalooza, a dueling pianos duo. Most people that know me close have probably heard my tirade on dueling pianos being one of the lowest forms of musical entertainment, but these guys are damn good, and funny to boot. I’ve worked with one of them a number of times at various gigs, and he’s kind of a staple around the Des Moines scene. Definitely not disparaging those guys and what they do, but I put dueling pianos in the same category of “you’d have to pay me to go to this event” as karaoke. Considering I was getting paid to be at this event, all was well!

The interesting bit about this group, most especially in this setting, was that they had full piano “shells.” If you’ve ever been to a touring concert and seen somebody seated behind a big old grand piano, there are three possibilities (in order of probability):

They are using a normal portable electric keyboard inside a hollow piano shell, made to look like a real grand without the giant pain of having to tour with a real grand

The grand is owned and supplied by the venue the artist is playing at

They actually tour with a piano, spawning a giant list of things that suck:

They’re very heavy

They’re very fragile, and as such a lot of careful packing and/or even heavier cases are involved to transport it with care from one place to the next

They’re very heavy

The large volume of a piano requires it to be taken slightly apart in between each show, increasing load in and out time

The large volume also [generally] increases the size of the touring vehicle that one would need, increasing costs, fuel consumption, etc. etc.

They’re very heavy

You have to travel with a piano tuner, or find and pay a local tuner in every city you play

You have to tune the piano every single show

The only two acts I’ve seen personally that actually tour with pianos are Lorie Line (hers is a beautiful white grand named Esmerelda) and Ben Folds. Everyone else is option one or two above. I digress. The moral of the story is here we are out in the middle of a lake on a big flat metal boat, and it looks like there’s two grand pianos on this boat. Funny looking picture.

Anyway, Pianopalooza, like any dueling piano gig, is essentially a bunch of covers with lyric changes and witty [and often dirty] banter between the two guys. Perfect book for drunk people on a lake, honestly, and I mean that in no negative sense.

Next up was Pork Tornadoes, a really tight group that are also regulars around the DSM area, doing mostly 90′s covers. Crowd loved it, they had a good time, and they were off.

Final group was Damon Dotson, who did a mix of originals and covers. They did have a little rap battle medley that included “Lose Yourself,” “Gangster’s Paradise,” “Ice Ice Baby,” among others, which was entertaining on two fronts: 1: It was entertaining for its own sake, and done well at that, and 2: it was a bunch of white dudes doing the white dude rapping thing for a bunch of white people on a lake. Still a good time.

The one rub I have with doing multiple cover bands in a day is that chances are there’s going to be set list collisions. Specifically for this show, there were two that I remember - “Ring of Fire” by Jonny Cash, and “Sweet Caroline” by Niel Diamond. The former I’ve heard covered a billion and a half times (and always know to toss on a real tight slap-back delay to get that “50′s sound”), so though it’s a good song I’m pretty numb to it at this point. The latter is one that I don’t hear covered too often, but for some inexplicable reason it seems to be the drunken battle cry for Cyclone fans across the state. Not so much the actual lyrics of the song, but the “BAH BAH OOH” and the “SO GOOD SO GOOD SO GOOD” parts that are easy to remember when you’re 8 deep into Natty Light and can’t remember where you lost your left shoe [I kid. Mostly.]

After Damon finished up his set, we tore down the bands and slowly made our way out of the spot. There were still a lot of boats lingering, and the second barge actually got stuck, so an assist was needed, but we eventually made our way out and back across the lake and packed up the trailer, only to drive across the street and....

Load In [down] and Load Out [up]

The second gig of the night was with the Des Moines group The Nadas. They’ve been around for almost two decades now, have a large body of work, and where I’m concerned, have done plenty of gigs in plenty of venues on plenty of different sound systems. The short end of it is that they as a band sound really good, which makes my job easy. As the drunk guy in the bathroom told me [as I’m still urinating mind you] “You’re doing a great job - they sound great. They’re great to start with, but all you do is accentuate, you know? Accentuate.” I rarely say this, but you’re right Drunk Guy. You’re right.

The gig itself was relatively straightforward. We were actually able to set the console up at a normal mix position in front of the PA, so I could actually hear what was going on, and the owner of the company I was with had mixed them not more than 3 weeks prior, and had a show file saved for them already. I normally have some hesitation with using past show files, especially when I didn’t create them myself. There’s a number of reasons for this:

The input patch/input list may be different (which is easily taken care of by either physically patching differently, or patching within the board via “soft-patching”

The outputs may be different

Could be going from in-ears to wedges, or vice versa

The wedges might be in different spots or numbers (again, soft-patching could take care of this)

The band is probably going to have a different stage volume

Though ideally, eq decisions on the input side of things shouldn’t reflect shortcomings of the PA or the room, that is never the case

The monitors or mains may be of a different make, location, and definitely interact with the room differently, so eq and level choices will probably need to be adjusted.

All that being said, I went with the show file considering the small amount of time we had, and it did actually have a good starting place to be. I had a few minutes to listen to the PA after it had been set up, so I threw on my usual go-to’s of “Your Latest Trick” by the Dire Straits and “That Moon Song” by Gregory Alan Isakov to just make sure the PA sounded good and balanced. A few eq tweaks and I was good to go. I will say the wait staff and manager of the place (The Okoboji Store) were super helpful and nice - they asked if they needed to turn their house music off so I could tune without their music messing me up. I didn’t want to provide house music between then and the Nadas starting, so I told them to keep theirs going. The main PA was loud enough I could tune out their house music anyway.

Anyway, got PA tuned, did a quick line check and monitor level check, and then got ready for the band to start. Lake Affect had ended at about 4:30, we got back to the dock at 5:30, and had the PA completely ready to go by 7:20. The Nadas had arrived and set up before we got there, so we filled in around them. The Nadas were slated to start at 7PM, but we had been in enough communication to them that they knew that was unlikely. We hustled the out at Lake Affect and the in at the Okoboji store and were ready to go, so it was mildly irksome that the band didn’t actually start until shortly after 8PM. I had a few audience members come up to me and ask what the deal was, to which I claimed ignorance. Plausible deniability, and it was again above my pay grade to tell the band when they were supposed to go on. I was a mercenary for this gig, so mercenate I would.

The band played two one hour [almost on the dot] sets, and were happy with the sound. There was a weird bit in the middle where the bassist all of the sudden felt like there was a lot more snare coming through his wedge (it honestly could have been me with some gain and eq adjustments, and he didn’t notice it till later), but just your normal garden variety “more of this, less of that” non-verbal communication that a good seasoned band can have with their engineer.

After the band was done, we tore down, and then loaded out one of the worst load outs possible. There was a parking lot about 16 feet above the stage by elevation, with a pretty steep (I’m talking 20-30º) grade from the parking lot to a landing behind the stage. In this landing is a layer of gravel, which is on par with mud as the worst thing to drag heavy things on wheels through. After the gravel, there were two 3 inch deep trenches in the concrete, with a railroad track running through one of them. After the railroad track is another 15º-ish grade back up to the stage. Load out is all of that in reverse.

All in all a good days worth of work, and I’m pretty happy with the mixes I got out of things, especially given the spacetime circumstances. Holy crap do my calves hurt though.

[samanthasroberts]

Barbados holiday guide: the best beaches, restaurants, bars and places to stay

You dont need a pop stars budget to enjoy the palm trees and sunny Caribbean sea of this popular island. Genie Austin reveals her homelands best beaches, cheap eats, rum shops and typically tropical activities

When I tell people Im from Barbados, I usually get some variation of the same response. Ooh, paradise, they say, as they conjure up coconut trees, tropical drinks, bright sunshine and foam-crested azure waves.

But on an island where holidays can come at shockingly high prices, this idea of paradise feels woefully beyond the reach of the average traveller. However, as every Bajan knows, the charms of this tiny coral island between the Caribbean and the Atlantic can be unlocked without breaking the bank at a luxury hotel or being limited by a package deal.

There are plenty of charming low-cost hotels, cheap-and-cheerful eateries and bars, under-the-radar beaches and free or low-cost fun activities to be enjoyed if you know where to look.

Barbados map

WHAT TO DO

Take a hike

Barbados doesnt have soaring peaks, waterfalls, rivers or tropical rainforests like some of its neighbours. Nevertheless, it is a tropical island, and its vegetation can be lush, wild, and breathtakingly beautiful. Hike Barbados is a local organisation that conducts free hikes through less accessible areas. Its three-hour hikes run throughout the year, with morning walks starting at 6am, afternoon walks at 3.30pm, and moonlight walks at 5.30pm. barbados.org/hike.htm

Watch the sun sunrise at Farley Hill

Old 19th-century Sugar Plantation House, Farley Hill. Photograph: Alamy

At least once during every visit to Barbados, we get up 45 minutes before dawn and drive to Farley Hill national park to watch the sunrise. Farley Hill, a ruined plantation house, is worth a visit on its own merits, but try sitting atop the hill in its grounds overlooking the Atlantic one cool morning, and watch the sky gradually lighten before the sun finally makes its dramatic appearance. All the while, blackbirds and wood doves lend their approval to this feat of nature, as the wind whistles through the large casuarina trees along the hilltops ridge. Its an unforgettable experience. And although its an isolated spot, its quite safe. On our last visit we noticed the park has added an overnight security guard at the entrance. barbados.org/fhill.htm

Catch a drive-in movie

I grew up going to open-air, drive-in cinemas, so was surprised to find theyre not the norm everywhere. Theres still one in Barbados, the Globe Drive-In in Vauxhall, and I always go when Im home because its a unique experience. Tickets are 6. If your accommodation will permit it, take blankets and pillows for a picnic under the stars while you watch your flick. Youll be almost entirely among locals, and when the film reaches a dramatic moment like the satisfying death of a villain be ready for the chorus of car horns beeping their approval. globedrivein.mobi

See the Christmas parade

Photograph: Alamy

If you have the good fortune to be in Barbados in the festive season, head to Queens Park in the capital, Bridgetown, on Christmas morning, where dressed up people promenade in a ritual going back over 100 years. The park, formerly the grounds of the Commander of the British troops in the West Indies, was acquired by the government in the early 1900s. In 1907 it commissioned the Royal Barbados Police Band to hold free morning Christmas concerts to establish it as a peoples park. Youll be blown away by the colourful and outlandish outfits, sexy Santa costumes and splendid ballgowns. Walking around in 30C heat, rum punch in hand, caught up in the festivity of a tropical Christmas, sums up for me the meaning of peace on Earth and goodwill to all men.

BEST BEACHES

Barbados has some of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean and although in recent years erosion has taken its toll, there are still many unspoilt gems. The key is to choose a beach based on what you want to do, or not do.

Paradise Beach

Photograph: Getty Images

The west coast of Barbados is fringed by the calm Caribbean, so is ideal for relaxing. I have a few favourites here, but Paradise Beach is my top pick. It gets its name from a hotel that was here until the 1980s. With its closure, and efforts to open another hotel stalled for years, its an oasis of peace, interrupted only by the occasional boat or jet ski. Most visitors have no idea the beach exists you get there by walking south from neighbouring Batts Rock Beach but its a wonderful place for relaxing, swimming and enjoying the peace.

Paynes Bay

Photograph: Hans-Peter Merten/Getty Images

My second-favourite beach on this coast is a great place to try jet skiing, sailing and waterskiing, and for finding a boat to go swimming with hawksbill and leatherback turtles. There are organised tours from 80, but the many local operators of jet skis and boats will do deals for around half that for a 30-minute excursion, including snorkelling equipment. Paynes Bay is a short walk from the Sandy Lane Hotel beach, for some discreet spotting of celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Wahlberg, and Naomi Watts.

Pebbles Beach

For a more meditative beach experience head just south of Bridgetown. The water in this sheltered bay is quite still, making it an excellent place for standup paddleboarding (SUP). Paddle Barbados offers classes at 50 for a 90-minute group class, and SUP Yoga at 30 for a 75-minute class. paddlebarbados.com

WHERE TO EAT

Eating out in Barbados can be very expensive, and food costs can exceed those of accommodation. Happily, though, there are plenty of good inexpensive eateries on both sides of the island.

Sand Dunes Bar and Restaurant, Windy Hill

This restaurant on the islands rugged east coast is one of my favourites. The food is simple and unpretentious but fresh and full of flavour. The menu changes daily and consists of local favourites such as breadfruit coucou (mashed with butter and milk), salt fish with gravy, and a salad or side vegetables. There may also be fried flying fish served with rice and peas, and macaroni pie. A full meal will cost around 12 a head. Ermy Bourne Highway, Windy Hill, +1 246 422 9427

Animal Flower Cave, North Point

Aside from the delicious, if slightly pricy, food rotis from 13, salads from 10 what makes this restaurant stand out is its location on the cliffs of North Point, where between December and April humpback whales can be spotted playing in the surf. Beneath the restaurant is the islands only accessible sea cave, Animal Flower cave, known for its fascinating sea anemones (animal flowers). Guided visits adult 8, child 4. +1 246 439 8797, animalflowercave.com

Orange Street Grocer, Speightstown

Bajans are not big coffee drinkers, but a handful of places serve really good coffee, and this beautifully designed cafe, with a large terrace overlooking the ocean, is one of them. Its a great place to start the morning or watch the sun go down in the evening. It serves salads, pizza and other light fare, but I find these a little pricey, so usually stick to coffee and one of their tasty desserts, which cost around 6. theorangestreetgrocer.com

Cuzs Fish Shack, near Pebbles Beach

Even if youre not staying on the south coast, pay a visit to this colourful and somewhat ramshackle Barbadian equivalent of a food truck. Cuz first became a favourite among divers and surfers on nearby Pebbles Beach. The cutters the local term for any sandwich made using a bun known as salt bread are filled with fried steakfish, tomato, lettuce, Bajan pepper sauce and a bit of mayo, with optional toppings of cheese or a fried egg. They cost 25 and are delicious with a cold Banks beer or a Plus, an energy drink made from sugar cane. On Facebook

WHERE TO DRINK

Rum shops, everywhere

John Moore Bar; one of many rum shops on the island. Photograph: Alamy

Bajans like to boast that Barbados is the birthplace of rum. Records show that the honour might actually belong to Brazil, but Barbados is the unrivalled champion of the rum shop scene in the Caribbean they have been part of our landscape for more than 300 years. They come in every shape, colour and size, and are much more than just a bar: theyre a place for friends to meet, drink, talk politics, tell jokes, and play dominoes. And they are incredibly cheap. In general, a beer costs about 1.50, a rum punch (a deliciously refreshing concoction of rum, lime juice, sugar cane syrup, a splash of Angostura Bitters and a scrape of nutmeg) is 4, and a small bottle of rum is just 2. The best approach is to simply walk into any shop that catches your fancy they are convivial places where everyone is welcomed.

One Love Bar, Holetown

On one of my return visits, I wandered into this bar with my husband Andrew. Id never been there before, but we were tired and needed a break from the heat. We ordered two bottles of Plus, and were promptly told by one of the patrons, who was already pretty plastered at 3pm, that men dont drink Plus. He then proceeded to pour Andrew some of his white rum, and there followed a pleasant afternoon of aimless, good-natured chatter and much drinking. One Love Bar is a bit of an anomaly among the expensive restaurants and swanky boutiques of the west coast, and were always relieved when we return to see it still there going strong. 1st Street, Holetown, on Facebook

Bay Tavern, Martins Bay

Bajans come from all corners to this east coast fishing village to lime (hang out) and fire a rum. Thursday afternoons are particularly popular, so stop by then as it has a real party atmosphere. It also does lunch and dinner. Local dishes, grilled marlin, rice and peas and fried plantain, say, are delicious at around 10. On Facebook

WHERE TO STAY

South Gap Hotel, St Lawrence Gap

Photograph: Leslie St John

The south coast of Barbados has a party reputation, so this is the place for those whose idea of a perfect holiday involves frequent nights out. The South Gap is a modern hotel with pool, restaurant and bar in St Lawrence Gap, a lively 1.3 km stretch of road in the parish of Christ Church. A studio for two with balcony and mini kitchen costs from 100 B&B. southgapbarbados.com

Beckys by the Sea, Fitts Village

Just across the road from the beach in Fitts Village on the west coast, this modern guesthouse has two en suite rooms from around 50 a night. Guests have use of living areas, several patios and kitchen. Beckys doesnt offer breakfast but promises that youll wake to freshly brewed coffee, herbal teas, local fruit and juice when in season. For more substantial fare, take a bus to Holetown, a few miles up the road, where BeannBagel cafe does a real Bajan breakfast of fried flying fish and bakes (the local version of a pancake) or a more traditional cooked breakfast. beckysbythesea.com

The Stables, Little Holders House, Holetown

Photograph: Genie Austin

For 55 a night for two, this spacious, fully equipped cottage a few miles further up the west coast has a large patio, open-plan layout and a mixture of traditional and modern furniture. It offers quintessential Caribbean living. airbnb.com

Rostrevor Hotel, St Lawrence Gap

Photograph: Leslie St John

The most affordable approach to a Barbados family holiday is to self-cater, but to escape household chores, try the Rostrevor Hotel. This beachfront property on the south coast has doubles with small kitchens from about 94 a night room only. It also has a poolside bar-restaurant. rostrevorbarbados.com

Source: http://allofbeer.com/2017/06/07/barbados-holiday-guide-the-best-beaches-restaurants-bars-and-places-to-stay/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/barbados-holiday-guide-the-best-beaches-restaurants-bars-and-places-to-stay/

[allofbeercom]

Barbados holiday guide: the best beaches, restaurants, bars and places to stay

You dont need a pop stars budget to enjoy the palm trees and sunny Caribbean sea of this popular island. Genie Austin reveals her homelands best beaches, cheap eats, rum shops and typically tropical activities

When I tell people Im from Barbados, I usually get some variation of the same response. Ooh, paradise, they say, as they conjure up coconut trees, tropical drinks, bright sunshine and foam-crested azure waves.

But on an island where holidays can come at shockingly high prices, this idea of paradise feels woefully beyond the reach of the average traveller. However, as every Bajan knows, the charms of this tiny coral island between the Caribbean and the Atlantic can be unlocked without breaking the bank at a luxury hotel or being limited by a package deal.

There are plenty of charming low-cost hotels, cheap-and-cheerful eateries and bars, under-the-radar beaches and free or low-cost fun activities to be enjoyed if you know where to look.

Barbados map

WHAT TO DO

Take a hike

Barbados doesnt have soaring peaks, waterfalls, rivers or tropical rainforests like some of its neighbours. Nevertheless, it is a tropical island, and its vegetation can be lush, wild, and breathtakingly beautiful. Hike Barbados is a local organisation that conducts free hikes through less accessible areas. Its three-hour hikes run throughout the year, with morning walks starting at 6am, afternoon walks at 3.30pm, and moonlight walks at 5.30pm. barbados.org/hike.htm

Watch the sun sunrise at Farley Hill

Old 19th-century Sugar Plantation House, Farley Hill. Photograph: Alamy

At least once during every visit to Barbados, we get up 45 minutes before dawn and drive to Farley Hill national park to watch the sunrise. Farley Hill, a ruined plantation house, is worth a visit on its own merits, but try sitting atop the hill in its grounds overlooking the Atlantic one cool morning, and watch the sky gradually lighten before the sun finally makes its dramatic appearance. All the while, blackbirds and wood doves lend their approval to this feat of nature, as the wind whistles through the large casuarina trees along the hilltops ridge. Its an unforgettable experience. And although its an isolated spot, its quite safe. On our last visit we noticed the park has added an overnight security guard at the entrance. barbados.org/fhill.htm

Catch a drive-in movie

I grew up going to open-air, drive-in cinemas, so was surprised to find theyre not the norm everywhere. Theres still one in Barbados, the Globe Drive-In in Vauxhall, and I always go when Im home because its a unique experience. Tickets are 6. If your accommodation will permit it, take blankets and pillows for a picnic under the stars while you watch your flick. Youll be almost entirely among locals, and when the film reaches a dramatic moment like the satisfying death of a villain be ready for the chorus of car horns beeping their approval. globedrivein.mobi

See the Christmas parade

Photograph: Alamy

If you have the good fortune to be in Barbados in the festive season, head to Queens Park in the capital, Bridgetown, on Christmas morning, where dressed up people promenade in a ritual going back over 100 years. The park, formerly the grounds of the Commander of the British troops in the West Indies, was acquired by the government in the early 1900s. In 1907 it commissioned the Royal Barbados Police Band to hold free morning Christmas concerts to establish it as a peoples park. Youll be blown away by the colourful and outlandish outfits, sexy Santa costumes and splendid ballgowns. Walking around in 30C heat, rum punch in hand, caught up in the festivity of a tropical Christmas, sums up for me the meaning of peace on Earth and goodwill to all men.

BEST BEACHES

Barbados has some of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean and although in recent years erosion has taken its toll, there are still many unspoilt gems. The key is to choose a beach based on what you want to do, or not do.

Paradise Beach

Photograph: Getty Images

The west coast of Barbados is fringed by the calm Caribbean, so is ideal for relaxing. I have a few favourites here, but Paradise Beach is my top pick. It gets its name from a hotel that was here until the 1980s. With its closure, and efforts to open another hotel stalled for years, its an oasis of peace, interrupted only by the occasional boat or jet ski. Most visitors have no idea the beach exists you get there by walking south from neighbouring Batts Rock Beach but its a wonderful place for relaxing, swimming and enjoying the peace.

Paynes Bay

Photograph: Hans-Peter Merten/Getty Images

My second-favourite beach on this coast is a great place to try jet skiing, sailing and waterskiing, and for finding a boat to go swimming with hawksbill and leatherback turtles. There are organised tours from 80, but the many local operators of jet skis and boats will do deals for around half that for a 30-minute excursion, including snorkelling equipment. Paynes Bay is a short walk from the Sandy Lane Hotel beach, for some discreet spotting of celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Wahlberg, and Naomi Watts.

Pebbles Beach

For a more meditative beach experience head just south of Bridgetown. The water in this sheltered bay is quite still, making it an excellent place for standup paddleboarding (SUP). Paddle Barbados offers classes at 50 for a 90-minute group class, and SUP Yoga at 30 for a 75-minute class. paddlebarbados.com

WHERE TO EAT

Eating out in Barbados can be very expensive, and food costs can exceed those of accommodation. Happily, though, there are plenty of good inexpensive eateries on both sides of the island.

Sand Dunes Bar and Restaurant, Windy Hill

This restaurant on the islands rugged east coast is one of my favourites. The food is simple and unpretentious but fresh and full of flavour. The menu changes daily and consists of local favourites such as breadfruit coucou (mashed with butter and milk), salt fish with gravy, and a salad or side vegetables. There may also be fried flying fish served with rice and peas, and macaroni pie. A full meal will cost around 12 a head. Ermy Bourne Highway, Windy Hill, +1 246 422 9427

Animal Flower Cave, North Point

Aside from the delicious, if slightly pricy, food rotis from 13, salads from 10 what makes this restaurant stand out is its location on the cliffs of North Point, where between December and April humpback whales can be spotted playing in the surf. Beneath the restaurant is the islands only accessible sea cave, Animal Flower cave, known for its fascinating sea anemones (animal flowers). Guided visits adult 8, child 4. +1 246 439 8797, animalflowercave.com

Orange Street Grocer, Speightstown

Bajans are not big coffee drinkers, but a handful of places serve really good coffee, and this beautifully designed cafe, with a large terrace overlooking the ocean, is one of them. Its a great place to start the morning or watch the sun go down in the evening. It serves salads, pizza and other light fare, but I find these a little pricey, so usually stick to coffee and one of their tasty desserts, which cost around 6. theorangestreetgrocer.com

Cuzs Fish Shack, near Pebbles Beach

Even if youre not staying on the south coast, pay a visit to this colourful and somewhat ramshackle Barbadian equivalent of a food truck. Cuz first became a favourite among divers and surfers on nearby Pebbles Beach. The cutters the local term for any sandwich made using a bun known as salt bread are filled with fried steakfish, tomato, lettuce, Bajan pepper sauce and a bit of mayo, with optional toppings of cheese or a fried egg. They cost 25 and are delicious with a cold Banks beer or a Plus, an energy drink made from sugar cane. On Facebook

WHERE TO DRINK

Rum shops, everywhere

John Moore Bar; one of many rum shops on the island. Photograph: Alamy

Bajans like to boast that Barbados is the birthplace of rum. Records show that the honour might actually belong to Brazil, but Barbados is the unrivalled champion of the rum shop scene in the Caribbean they have been part of our landscape for more than 300 years. They come in every shape, colour and size, and are much more than just a bar: theyre a place for friends to meet, drink, talk politics, tell jokes, and play dominoes. And they are incredibly cheap. In general, a beer costs about 1.50, a rum punch (a deliciously refreshing concoction of rum, lime juice, sugar cane syrup, a splash of Angostura Bitters and a scrape of nutmeg) is 4, and a small bottle of rum is just 2. The best approach is to simply walk into any shop that catches your fancy they are convivial places where everyone is welcomed.

One Love Bar, Holetown

On one of my return visits, I wandered into this bar with my husband Andrew. Id never been there before, but we were tired and needed a break from the heat. We ordered two bottles of Plus, and were promptly told by one of the patrons, who was already pretty plastered at 3pm, that men dont drink Plus. He then proceeded to pour Andrew some of his white rum, and there followed a pleasant afternoon of aimless, good-natured chatter and much drinking. One Love Bar is a bit of an anomaly among the expensive restaurants and swanky boutiques of the west coast, and were always relieved when we return to see it still there going strong. 1st Street, Holetown, on Facebook

Bay Tavern, Martins Bay

Bajans come from all corners to this east coast fishing village to lime (hang out) and fire a rum. Thursday afternoons are particularly popular, so stop by then as it has a real party atmosphere. It also does lunch and dinner. Local dishes, grilled marlin, rice and peas and fried plantain, say, are delicious at around 10. On Facebook

WHERE TO STAY

South Gap Hotel, St Lawrence Gap

Photograph: Leslie St John

The south coast of Barbados has a party reputation, so this is the place for those whose idea of a perfect holiday involves frequent nights out. The South Gap is a modern hotel with pool, restaurant and bar in St Lawrence Gap, a lively 1.3 km stretch of road in the parish of Christ Church. A studio for two with balcony and mini kitchen costs from 100 B&B. southgapbarbados.com

Beckys by the Sea, Fitts Village

Just across the road from the beach in Fitts Village on the west coast, this modern guesthouse has two en suite rooms from around 50 a night. Guests have use of living areas, several patios and kitchen. Beckys doesnt offer breakfast but promises that youll wake to freshly brewed coffee, herbal teas, local fruit and juice when in season. For more substantial fare, take a bus to Holetown, a few miles up the road, where BeannBagel cafe does a real Bajan breakfast of fried flying fish and bakes (the local version of a pancake) or a more traditional cooked breakfast. beckysbythesea.com

The Stables, Little Holders House, Holetown

Photograph: Genie Austin

For 55 a night for two, this spacious, fully equipped cottage a few miles further up the west coast has a large patio, open-plan layout and a mixture of traditional and modern furniture. It offers quintessential Caribbean living. airbnb.com

Rostrevor Hotel, St Lawrence Gap

Photograph: Leslie St John

The most affordable approach to a Barbados family holiday is to self-cater, but to escape household chores, try the Rostrevor Hotel. This beachfront property on the south coast has doubles with small kitchens from about 94 a night room only. It also has a poolside bar-restaurant. rostrevorbarbados.com

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/06/07/barbados-holiday-guide-the-best-beaches-restaurants-bars-and-places-to-stay/

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Hot Docs 2017

I didn’t expect to watch as many films as I did during the festival, but the student pass certainly helped encourage watching films that I may have otherwise simply passed on otherwise. This is a couple of weeks late, but here are the films I watched in chronological order of screening date.

Raise Your Arms and Twist — Documentary of NMB48

As someone who follows Japanese culture mostly through the lens of it’s otaku fair — anime, manga, jdrama, and variety shows — it’s almost impossible to avoid the AKB phenomenon. Artificially constructed or not, the influence of this idol franchise simply branches out to other forms of entertainment, making them synonymous with Japanese popular culture.

The NMB documentary is in an interesting look at the idol industry because of both its subject matter and the behind the scenes production issues. There have been several varnished AKB documentaries that have been released previously (at least two have been fan-subbed and are available in places where you would watch fan-subbed content), but there is something interesting about following what amounts to the “farm team” in NMB. Whether this depiction of NMB is true or not, the film wants us to believe that of the four main AKB groups, NMB is the least popular — and that even the popularity of the star of NMB pales in comparison to the regular AKB members. The fact that the film is directed by Toda Yoshihisa, who is a legitimate filmmaker, and not by an insider (for example, the HKT48 documentary was directed by a former member and present manager Rino Sashihara) allows for a unique perspective to the film that makes it more than just a marketing tool.

Yes, the film is promotional — there are countless clips of concert performances, perhaps in an attempt to try to push album sales — but there the film shows some of the less glamorous aspects of being an idol, even for one of the biggest idol franchises/factories in Japan. A couple of stories emerge to help paint an interesting picture of being a member of NMB. Ayaka Okita’s struggle to be given the opportunity to appear in one of “senbatsu” songs (what I take to be the Japanese idol equivalent of summer song), only to be told that she has “behavioral problems” that prevent her from being selected. Ririka Suto, whose Nietzsche-filled monologues frame the film for the audience, reveals to the audience that the idols themselves see their role is constructed, that they have no opportunity to self-actualization because they must perform and conform to the roles assigned to them. We also get to see Sayaka Yamamoto, the captain of NMB and the group’s most popular member, toil in the relative obscurity of sister group AKB’s shadow. We also get to see one of the least popular members, Saki Kono, eventually give up her career as an idol when she realizes that she will never have any fans. The documentary provides a very broad spectrum of the idol experience, exposing it to the audience warts and all. That’s not to say that the girls don’t know what they’re getting into — when the film follows Fuuko Yagura, we see that she wants to be an idol because she sees it as a way to earn an income to help support her family.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this documentary, but it gave me a glimpse into a world that I’ve been curious about but haven’t had the chance to access on my own.

Also, I still can’t get this song out of my head. Durian as a metaphor for love that goes beyond physical appearance, who would have thought?

Tokyo Idols

I was a bit surprised that there were two idol documentaries at Hot Docs this year, but this film ended up being a nice companion piece to the NMB documentary. Tokyo Idols follows the smaller, lesser known, underground idol groups that dot Japan. There are several idols that are documented for the film, but the film’s primary subject is Rio Hiiragi, an Akihabara idol who struggles to get mainstream attention.

Unlike the girls at NMB, Rio has to do everything on her own. In that respect, watching her basically hustle to get fans, I’m reminded of the Western phenomenon of “Twitch stars” (or even Instagram stars), where people have to continually grind out content to keep viewers happy and subscribed to their feeds. One of Rio’s stunts to try to drum up more fans was to tour Japan on a bike, while constantly livestreaming in order to keep her “home” fans updated. It’s not just about looking pretty, because based on the work that Rio puts into her career, it’s very much about her personality and drive as well.

Indeed, the film also follows several fans — including Rio’s fan club — and you see how these people have essentially placed all their hopes and dreams on the success of the girl that they are choosing to follow. It’s both innocent and also somewhat sad, since for these (mostly) male fans, they’re treating these idols as surrogate daughters or sisters to dote on. Rio’s main fan admits becoming an idol fan because he sees her as a second chance — he might not be able to live out his dreams, but maybe he can help Rio achieve her dreams. There’s an implicit understanding that the relationship they have with her will always be platonic — in a Q&A with the director after the screening, she spoke about an incident when a fan tried to pursue a romantic relationship with Rio and how her fan club had to essentially restrain him from coming to any of her shows.

The documentary also provides some more social context to explain the idol phenomenon, it’s suggested that it grew out of the economic recession and people’s desire to try to find something positive in their lives. The film also critiques it examining the model of femininity the idol industry projects to society. It actually reminded me a lot of the controversy surrounding the notion of the beauty pageant in the West, and how commentators have suggested that perhaps a contest where women are judged on their appearance may help project negative expectations of femininity into society as a whole.

One thing that isn’t really discussed in this film is the actual “profession” itself. Since Rio and the girls featured in this documentary are essentially independent, it’s not clear if they write their own songs or choreograph their own dances. In the climax of the film, Rio gets a measure of success when she is discovered by music producer Hyadain who writes a song for her:

But there’s no real indication of where her previous songs come from. I can’t imagine that all of these girls write their own songs, so it would have been interesting to see what it takes to actually perform as an idol.

Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent

Although not part of the festival, I watched it in the same week and it IS a documentary, so… I’m going to count it!

I’ve been moderately interested in modern cuisine ever since I started watching various cooking competition shows. I’m not really qualified to make any judgments about food — I think deconstructed dishes are asinine and I was glad that in a Q&A after the film, Tower himself was fed up with the smears and dabs that you see in fine dining restaurants now — but it was interesting to see where the biggest part phenomenon of modern cuisine came from.

Although the origins are contentious, the film suggests that Tower is the first chef to really celebrate local ingredients. So while he is classically trained, he took his skill and applied it to fresh Californian ingredients rather than simply dole out the same old French and English dishes cooked with frozen ingredients that were expected of chefs at the time. The legacy of that simple revelation can be felt today, as even Chinese cuisine is being reinvented by Chinese chefs with Western training who want to feature Chinese ingredients.

The film also tries to be a biography of the man himself, but it is mostly a surface examination of his life. We get an understanding of his troubled childhood and how he found refuge in food, but for a man who famously dropped off the face of the Earth after restaurant failed, the film almost chooses not to explore this troubled time in his life. Instead, the film simply jumps forward to the time when he randomly came back onto the scene by taking over Tavern on the Green, the famous Central Park restaurant that has struggled to be relevant in the face of the contemporary restaurant scene.

I appreciated the film for enlightening me on a subject I have an interest in, but I’m also not sure if this wouldn’t have just been better off as a TV special or an episode of Bourdain’s show instead.

Living The Game

Admittedly, my initial interest in the film was based on the still above, making the assumption that the film would be about Daigo Umehara. I wanted to get a glimpse of the Japanese competitive gaming scene, but also get a glimpse into the life of a man who is fairly reserved in the public appearances that I’ve seen him participate in.

So at first I was disappointed when I saw that other players were profiled in the film — this includes Luffy, Justin Wong, and Gamerbee — but my doubts were quashed when I saw his footage of Momochi and his girlfriend/partner ChocoBlanka. That’s not to say the other stories weren’t interesting — we get to see Luffy try to juggle his life as an officer worker after winning Evo 2014, Gamerbee giving us a glimpse into his life and the troubled relationship he had with his absent father, and of course Justin Wong’s story (which has already been covered in greater detail in another documentary The King of Chinatown) and his infamous loss to Daigo.

But Takao Gotsu crafted an arc with Momochi. Perhaps it was easier to follow a Japanese player over the course of a year that led to Momochi being the focus of the film, but whatever the reason, it’s clear that he saw some interesting human drama in the brief glimpses of Momochi’s private life that are on display. We see Momochi evolve from a short-tempered, extremely serious player whose dedication is rewarded by the infamous win at Evo 2015, to a humbled man who loses the Capcom Cup title by the end of the year. In his loss, he learns that trying to chase down Daigo shouldn’t be his focus, and begins to focus on the relationship he has with ChocoBlanka — we see a scene where he yells at her and makes her cry because she isn’t properly executing her moves in a practice game of Street Fighter, before getting a scene where he publicly proposes to her and becomes a supportive husband.

Daigo serves mostly to provide context for Momochi’s arc. Daigo is the wall that Momochi must climb, but he can never quite make it over. So while we get some glimpses into Daigo’s life, we don’t really learn anything about him. He practices a lot at home, he practices in an arcade, he practices in a game room with other Japanese players… and that’s about it. But that’s fine, because Daigo serves to make Momochi’s story more interesting. Yes, it’s a film about the Fighting Game Community, but in this documentary you can see a bit of Moby Dick, as Momochi continually tries to catch the white whale that is Daigo. Thankfully, we see that he has a happier ending after he learns to let go of his ambitions and become a better person instead.

(The relationship between the two, even though it’s not hostile, reminds me very much of the big conflict in The King of Kong between Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell)

Ramen Heads

I was sold on this film based on a mild interest in the process of making ramen. The film itself admits that it’s a simple dish — born out of post-war poverty — that is made complex due to the particularities of each chef. The comparisons to Jiro Dreams of Sushi are perhaps unavoidable, since part of the film features Osamu Tomita, one of the best ramen chefs in Japan. We get to see his entire process, starting with his work in his prep kitchen in creating the broth and noodles, and ending with how he “plates” each bowl of ramen for the customer. We also get brief snippets of his life outside of the restaurant, with an explanation of his first apprenticeship and a look at his family life. But while Jiro was focused on trying to explore the man behind the food, Ramen Heads only makes perfunctory gestures toward trying to discover Tomita’s philosophy.

Admittedly, perhaps one reason for that difference in portrayal is due to Tomita’s age. He doesn’t have a complicated relationship with a son who is constantly living in his shadow, for one, and neither does he have a (comparatively) hard past to reminisce on. To make up for that though, the film compensates by giving audiences much more context about ramen as a uniquely Japanese cuisine.

The director and crew travel across Japan, finding chefs who are famous for other types of ramen. For most of these chefs, there’s a dedication to the craft that one might expect, but for me the surprise was the oldest chef who didn’t look at ramen as some kind of art. He treated his work as a business and just wanted to sell as many bowls as he can in order to make a living, which is something that can be a bit lost when it comes to cuisine-based documentaries.

The film ends with Tomita teaming up with two other ramen chefs to make the “ultimate” bowl of ramen, and we’re given the impression that it’s a special sight to see the three of them work together. This part was a bit lost on me, but seeing the reactions of some patrons to seeing them together in one place was enough to sell the importance of the moment for me.

It was interesting watching this after the Jeremiah Tower biopic, because I think this is probably more what I was looking for — yes, some insight on the man cooking the food is important, but some emphasis on the food itself is important too.

Hobbyhorse Revolution

The programmers mentioned that theme of this year’s selections was obsession, and of the films that I’ve seen, I think this film fits the bill the best. It reminds me of a contemporary version of Trekkies, a documentary that followed the lives of various people obsessed with Star Trek and the influence that their fanaticism had on their lives (I still remember the woman who chose to wore her Star Trek uniform to jury duty).

The subjects of the documentary treat their hobbyhorses much in the same way that the Trekkies treated Star Trek — it’s something that allows them to escape, however momentarily, the painful aspects of their lives and be consumed in a subject that has strictly defined rules and a seemingly open and welcoming community. For example, one of the girls in the film was bullied and sought solace in horse riding, but when her horse died, she discovered the hobbyhorse and used that to help cope with her depression instead.

The interesting thing is that, at least at the time of this writing, the media seemed to have picked up stories of the popularity of the hobbyhorse in Finland. I’m not sure if this documentary is responsible, or if it just became an interesting news story for people to talk about, but with more than ten thousand practitioners in Finland, it’s certainly more than just a passing fad. That’s probably the one criticism I have of the film — that there isn’t any examination as to why girls in Finland have embraced the hobbyhorse, and in particular, hobbyhorse competitions. It is apparently a uniquely Finnish phenomenon, but it’s something that isn’t addressed in a meaningful manner.

The Silent Teacher

The film is an exploration of the process of donating a body to medical research in Taiwan. We see how these cadavers, referred to as “teachers” (laoshi) by the medical students, are treated — starting with the embalming processes all the way through to cremation after the students are finished studying the body.

It’s an interesting cultural document, since donating bodies to science is an issue surrounding death that is rarely addressed (even in North America, there are many drives to try to get people to become organ donors, but not that many to get people to donate their bodies to universities to be dissected and studied). We also get to see how the family of the donated body copes with delaying putting their loved one to rest, as they must wait a year before the body can even be used in a classroom and then another year before the body is returned to them after cremation. That the family is Catholic also adds a unique dimension to the process of grief, as we see a combination of Catholic and Chinese rituals to help the family process the nature of death.

Sunday Beauty Queen

One of the issues I remember reading about during my time teaching in Women’s Studies is the problematic nature of modern feminism in the current economic client. While women in First World countries are given more rights and are encouraged to enter the workforce, a gap is left in the homes of families with dependents. This is true in Canada, where many of my students had Filipino nannies who took care of them while their parents were out of the home, and it’s certainly true in Asia as well, as more affluent nations import Filipino women to run their households.

This film follows the life of Filipino women in Hong Kong, and the difficult life that they lead as they slave away for their employers. While some of these workers are treated with some form of respect and dignity, it’s clear that many are not — they are expected to live in the home of their employer, and in many cases, forced to sleep in whatever spare space is available. One worker relates a story about how her employer forcibly cut off her hair because she refused to pay for a trip to the salon, while another is fired simply for missing their curfew. We see one of these women eat her dinner, but tucked away in a different room than the family, because the “help” doesn’t share the table with her employers.Their jobs are precarious, because they can get fired for any reason, and if they lose their jobs they must find another employer within 14 days or face deportation.

While they slave away for the entire week, Sundays are their day off. It’s on these days that these women choose to become beauty queens, entering pageants organized by Leo, a domestic worker who has been in Hong Kong for over two decades. We see these pageants are more than just a contest between women, but as the one day a week that these women who are isolated by the difficult nature of their jobs are able to become a part of a shared community. Yes, the pageants they are competing in may be trivial, but it’s a day in their dreary week where they are allowed to focus on themselves and be with friends.

Admittedly, the Chinese employers that do appear on film are thoughtful about the nature of the relationship they have with their Filipino employees. Reminiscent of the reality of illegal immigrant workers in the United States, one Chinese employer acknowledges that Filipino workers are a big factor in keeping Hong Kong a functioning society.

The film also doesn’t shy away from the economic realities of the situation. Many of the women documented in the film are college graduates who might otherwise be white collar professionals in the Philippines. But when they can make twice as much money living in Hong Kong as a nanny than they would as a teacher, nurse, programmer, etc. back home, the choice isn’t that hard to make. We also get to see these women bond with their charges, taking the children under their care to school and making them meals, while their own children are left at home with relatives. While mothers anywhere else might have a tearful moment sending their child off for the first day of school, these women can only send their own children off to school through a shaky Skype connection.

The film is very much about trying to find dignity in a series of indignities, and the strength that these women have to have in order to find a way to live their lives in Hong Kong and raise their families back home.

32 Pills: My Sister’s Suicide

This film follows Hope Litoff as she struggles to make sense of her sister’s suicide by going through her possessions many years later. What begins as a project that is presumably meant to allow Hope to finally come to term with why her sister Ruth committed suicide slowly spirals out of control as Hope becomes consumed with reliving Ruth’s life.

It’s at this point that the documentary turns its lens on the documentarian, and Hope becomes the subject of the film. We see her obsession with her sister made manifest through the ways she handles her sister’s possessions, culminating with a scene where she papers the walls of a room with the pages of her sister’s day planner. More frighteningly, we see the psychological toll the project takes on her as she dives deeper into her sister’s life, resulting in a scene in which she films herself breaking her many years of sobriety with a shot of vodka.

While this project may have started as a documentary about Ruth Litoff and her troubled life, it quickly evolves into a film about processing grief and how one must learn how to let go of a loved one let it destroy your life. Thankfully, Hope learns this lesson, as she checks into rehab and ends the film by honoring her sister’s memory with an exhibition of her photography at Bellevue Hospital.

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World

The festival ended with a free screening of the Canadian audience award winner, which turned out to be a crowd pleasing film about the influence of Native musicians on the American Rock music. The film starts with Link Wray, going through the many sounds that Native musicians introduced to Rock, and how many early musicians had to hide or deny their Native heritage due to the institutionalized racism of the time. We get to see many other musicians, including Jimi Hendrix and the influence that his grandmother had on his music and the way he presented himself on stage, and Randy Castillo, suggesting that his heavy metal drumming was inspired by his childhood experiences.

There’s not much to say about the film itself. It’s a documentary that serves to educate audiences about an aspect of music history that is ignored, doing so in quite an entertaining manner. The directors suggested that they had hours of footage that they cut for time that they could use, and I could certainly see this film expanded with a sequel or through a television series.

There were many films that I wish I could have seen, but Netflix picked up a couple of them which saved me a trip to the cinema — Chasing Coral and Joshua — and I’m looking forward to watching them when they’re available.

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Barbados holiday guide: the best beaches, restaurants, bars and places to stay | Travel

When I tell people I’m from Barbados, I usually get some variation of the same response. “Ooh, paradise,” they say, as they conjure up coconut trees, tropical drinks, bright sunshine and foam-crested azure waves. But on an island where holidays can come at shockingly high prices, this idea of paradise feels woefully beyond the reach of the average traveller. However, as every Bajan knows, the charms of this tiny coral island between the Caribbean and the Atlantic can be unlocked without breaking the bank at a luxury hotel or being limited by a package deal. There are plenty of charming low-cost hotels, cheap-and-cheerful eateries and bars, under-the-radar beaches and free or low-cost fun activities to be enjoyed if you know where to look. Barbados map

WHAT TO DO

Take a hike

Barbados doesn’t have soaring peaks, waterfalls, rivers or tropical rainforests like some of its neighbours. Nevertheless, it is a tropical island, and its vegetation can be lush, wild, and breathtakingly beautiful. Hike Barbados is a local organisation that conducts free hikes through less accessible areas. Its three-hour hikes run throughout the year, with morning walks starting at 6am, afternoon walks at 3.30pm, and moonlight walks at 5.30pm. • barbados.org/hike.htm

Watch the sun sunrise at Farley Hill

Old 19th-century Sugar Plantation House, Farley Hill. Photograph: Alamy At least once during every visit to Barbados, we get up 45 minutes before dawn and drive to Farley Hill national park to watch the sunrise. Farley Hill, a ruined plantation house, is worth a visit on its own merits, but try sitting atop the hill in its grounds overlooking the Atlantic one cool morning, and watch the sky gradually lighten before the sun finally makes its dramatic appearance. All the while, blackbirds and wood doves lend their approval to this feat of nature, as the wind whistles through the large casuarina trees along the hilltop’s ridge. It’s an unforgettable experience. And although it’s an isolated spot, it’s quite safe. On our last visit we noticed the park has added an overnight security guard at the entrance. • barbados.org/fhill.htm

Catch a drive-in movie

I grew up going to open-air, drive-in cinemas, so was surprised to find they’re not the norm everywhere. There’s still one in Barbados, the Globe Drive-In in Vauxhall, and I always go when I’m home because it’s a unique experience. Tickets are £6. If your accommodation will permit it, take blankets and pillows for a picnic under the stars while you watch your flick. You’ll be almost entirely among locals, and when the film reaches a dramatic moment – like the satisfying death of a villain – be ready for the chorus of car horns beeping their approval. • globedrivein.mobi

See the Christmas parade

Photograph: Alamy If you have the good fortune to be in Barbados in the festive season, head to Queens Park in the capital, Bridgetown, on Christmas morning, where dressed up people promenade in a ritual going back over 100 years. The park, formerly the grounds of the Commander of the British troops in the West Indies, was acquired by the government in the early 1900s. In 1907 it commissioned the Royal Barbados Police Band to hold free morning Christmas concerts to establish it as a people’s park. You’ll be blown away by the colourful and outlandish outfits, sexy Santa costumes and splendid ballgowns. Walking around in 30C heat, rum punch in hand, caught up in the festivity of a tropical Christmas, sums up for me the meaning of peace on Earth and goodwill to all men.

BEST BEACHES

Barbados has some of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean and although in recent years erosion has taken its toll, there are still many unspoilt gems. The key is to choose a beach based on what you want to do, or not do.

Paradise Beach

Photograph: Getty Images The west coast of Barbados is fringed by the calm Caribbean, so is ideal for relaxing. I have a few favourites here, but Paradise Beach is my top pick. It gets its name from a hotel that was here until the 1980s. With its closure, and efforts to open another hotel stalled for years, it’s an oasis of peace, interrupted only by the occasional boat or jet ski. Most visitors have no idea the beach exists – you get there by walking south from neighbouring Batts Rock Beach – but it’s a wonderful place for relaxing, swimming and enjoying the peace.

Paynes Bay

Photograph: Hans-Peter Merten/Getty Images My second-favourite beach on this coast is a great place to try jet skiing, sailing and waterskiing, and for finding a boat to go swimming with hawksbill and leatherback turtles. There are organised tours from £80, but the many local operators of jet skis and boats will do deals for around half that for a 30-minute excursion, including snorkelling equipment. Paynes Bay is a short walk from the Sandy Lane Hotel beach, for some discreet spotting of celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Wahlberg, and Naomi Watts.

Pebbles Beach

For a more meditative beach experience head just south of Bridgetown. The water in this sheltered bay is quite still, making it an excellent place for standup paddleboarding (SUP). Paddle Barbados offers classes at £50 for a 90-minute group class, and SUP Yoga at £30 for a 75-minute class. • paddlebarbados.com

WHERE TO EAT

Eating out in Barbados can be very expensive, and food costs can exceed those of accommodation. Happily, though, there are plenty of good inexpensive eateries on both sides of the island.

Sand Dunes Bar and Restaurant, Windy Hill

This restaurant on the island’s rugged east coast is one of my favourites. The food is simple and unpretentious but fresh and full of flavour. The menu changes daily and consists of local favourites such as breadfruit coucou (mashed with butter and milk), salt fish with gravy, and a salad or side vegetables. There may also be fried flying fish served with rice and peas, and macaroni pie. A full meal will cost around £12 a head. • Ermy Bourne Highway, Windy Hill, +1 246 422 9427

Animal Flower Cave, North Point

Aside from the delicious, if slightly pricy, food – rotis from £13, salads from £10 – what makes this restaurant stand out is its location on the cliffs of North Point, where between December and April humpback whales can be spotted playing in the surf. Beneath the restaurant is the island’s only accessible sea cave, Animal Flower cave, known for its fascinating sea anemones (animal flowers). Guided visits adult £8, child £4. • +1 246 439 8797, animalflowercave.com

Orange Street Grocer, Speightstown

Bajans are not big coffee drinkers, but a handful of places serve really good coffee, and this beautifully designed cafe, with a large terrace overlooking the ocean, is one of them. It’s a great place to start the morning or watch the sun go down in the evening. It serves salads, pizza and other light fare, but I find these a little pricey, so usually stick to coffee and one of their tasty desserts, which cost around £6. • theorangestreetgrocer.com

Cuz’s Fish Shack, near Pebbles Beach

Even if you’re not staying on the south coast, pay a visit to this colourful and somewhat ramshackle Barbadian equivalent of a food truck. Cuz first became a favourite among divers and surfers on nearby Pebbles Beach. The “cutters” – the local term for any sandwich made using a bun known as salt bread – are filled with fried steakfish, tomato, lettuce, Bajan pepper sauce and a bit of mayo, with optional toppings of cheese or a fried egg. They cost £2–£5 and are delicious with a cold Banks beer or a Plus, an energy drink made from sugar cane. • On Facebook

WHERE TO DRINK

Rum shops, everywhere

John Moore Bar; one of many rum shops on the island. Photograph: Alamy Bajans like to boast that Barbados is the birthplace of rum. Records show that the honour might actually belong to Brazil, but Barbados is the unrivalled champion of the rum shop scene in the Caribbean – they have been part of our landscape for more than 300 years. They come in every shape, colour and size, and are much more than just a bar: they’re a place for friends to meet, drink, talk politics, tell jokes, and play dominoes. And they are incredibly cheap. In general, a beer costs about £1.50, a rum punch (a deliciously refreshing concoction of rum, lime juice, sugar cane syrup, a splash of Angostura Bitters and a scrape of nutmeg) is £4, and a small bottle of rum is just £2. The best approach is to simply walk into any shop that catches your fancy – they are convivial places where everyone is welcomed.

One Love Bar, Holetown

On one of my return visits, I wandered into this bar with my husband Andrew. I’d never been there before, but we were tired and needed a break from the heat. We ordered two bottles of Plus, and were promptly told by one of the patrons, who was already pretty plastered at 3pm, that men don’t drink Plus. He then proceeded to pour Andrew some of his white rum, and there followed a pleasant afternoon of aimless, good-natured chatter and much drinking. One Love Bar is a bit of an anomaly among the expensive restaurants and swanky boutiques of the west coast, and we’re always relieved when we return to see it still there going strong. • 1st Street, Holetown, on Facebook

Bay Tavern, Martin’s Bay

Bajans come from all corners to this east coast fishing village to “lime” (hang out) and “fire a rum”. Thursday afternoons are particularly popular, so stop by then as it has a real party atmosphere. It also does lunch and dinner. Local dishes, grilled marlin, rice and peas and fried plantain, say, are delicious at around £10. • On Facebook

WHERE TO STAY

South Gap Hotel, St Lawrence Gap

Photograph: Leslie St John The south coast of Barbados has a party reputation, so this is the place for those whose idea of a perfect holiday involves frequent nights out. The South Gap is a modern hotel with pool, restaurant and bar in St Lawrence Gap, a lively 1.3 km stretch of road in the parish of Christ Church. A studio for two with balcony and mini kitchen costs from £100 B&B. • southgapbarbados.com

Becky’s by the Sea, Fitts Village

Just across the road from the beach in Fitts Village on the west coast, this modern guesthouse has two en suite rooms from around £50 a night. Guests have use of living areas, several patios and kitchen. Becky’s doesn’t offer breakfast but promises that you’ll wake to “freshly brewed coffee, herbal teas, local fruit and juice when in season”. For more substantial fare, take a bus to Holetown, a few miles up the road, where Bean’n’Bagel cafe does a real Bajan breakfast of fried flying fish and bakes (the local version of a pancake) or a more traditional cooked breakfast. • beckysbythesea.com

The Stables, Little Holders House, Holetown

Photograph: Genie Austin For £55 a night for two, this spacious, fully equipped cottage a few miles further up the west coast has a large patio, open-plan layout and a mixture of traditional and modern furniture. It offers quintessential Caribbean living. • airbnb.com

Rostrevor Hotel, St Lawrence Gap

Photograph: Leslie St John The most affordable approach to a Barbados family holiday is to self-cater, but to escape household chores, try the Rostrevor Hotel. This beachfront property on the south coast has doubles with small kitchens from about £94 a night room only. It also has a poolside bar-restaurant. • rostrevorbarbados.com Source link Click to Post