#smallman writing

[aenor-llelo]

I've only ever written love stories but the thing you have to understand is that to Me Specifically love is not a romance, it's a genre of eldritch, irrevocably religious horror.

love is an alien. love is humanity. love is a parasite. love is everything, love is terror. love is the most radical, most spiritual, most mindlessly fucking insane thing to think about for more than five seconds, it is a monstrous birth on this earth. holy and sacrilegious all at once. to love and be loved, to birth and be born, to eat and be eaten, to worship and be worshipped, to kill and be killed, to rebel and be rebelled,

my son MY SUN my brother MY MURDERER my lover MY HUNTER my friend MY ALTAR my lord MY ANGEL my shield MY SWORD

it's all chance

it's all chemicals

it's taking the most beautiful thing you've ever seen and dashing it against the ground to see how it bleeds

it's killing anyone who stops you from trying.

I will only write love stories as I know to love humanity and if that sounds like a threat it is, I am going to tear

the

HEART

out of you

so be loved, beloved, be loved still. the story doesn't stop til the blood runs out.

[aenor-llelo]

it would be so poggers if you read about my blorbos on the halfstack smp, maybe even asked me about them

The Lion's Share

TW- Child abandonment, implied human trafficking, past child neglect, non-graphic violence.

Content- Hurt comfort, slice of life, nonbinary child pov, the horror of being stuck in a farmer's market with a chinese grandpa AND a mexican grandpa

Screen reader's note: Contains passages in Hokkien english, Spanish. Use of gender neutral it/they pronouns.

You're at the beginning.

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Kelpies don't deal in children.

Too tender. Too bony. Too small. Such pitiful meat for all too much effort that would be better spared on a full sized drowned. Besides, children- and their parents- make for very sore losers.

It's just bad sport.

But this particular kelpie, it seems, doesn't care much for sport. Not enough to keep refusing Lynel's request to substitute their mother's life with their own after she wagered too much to walk away from.

That’s how it always starts. A wager- a wager of a waterhorse, and whatever dumb motherfucker is desperate enough to bet their own living meat for coin.

(Like Mother did.)

It’s- it’s a fair trade, is what it is. One life for another. Their little brothers still need Mother to come back home tomorrow, and she'll have one less mouth to feed. It's not like Lynel really regrets the whole thing. They just hope they'll at least get to go to bed first. Or have some food. Dead people are supposed to get last meals, or something like that.

(Lynel isn’t counting on it.)

It's nightfall now, and it seems like this kelpie isn’t interested in making an easy meal out of the night creatures that’ll be crawling out of the woodwork soon. Lynel supposes that’s fair. If they had a choice between eating zombies and literally anything else, they’d go for the latter. Besides, the kelpie had been kicking up that big fuss earlier about not wanting to get their nice clothes ruined. They’re barely even willing to touch Lynel at all. In the growing darkness, their presence is reduced to nothing but a clawed hand digging into Lynel’s shirt.

The kelpie’s grip spasms. They turn around, an irritated snarl pulling against their too-long lips as they pull Lynel closer. “Business is closed. There are no more refunds.”

“Na?” A figure steps out into the fading light. “What refund do y’ think I might be de-mandin’? That’s no child o’ mine.”

It’s a man, or something like one. A small tengu in dark wings and a darker coat that gives its body a round, soft shape. Pipe smoke rolls out in sparks of color, the sunset fade of its clothes and hat-tassels stark against the encroaching night.

The kelpie snorts disdainfully. “There’s always some bleeding heart that wants to beg for my debtors.” Their clawed hand clenches down on Lynel’s shoulder. “This whole night has been a waste of time. Let me pass before the locals think I have a taste for bad meat.”

The tengu’s smile turns sharp, flat. “Oh, I don’t plan to beg, le. I’ll trade you fair and square.”

The tengu takes off its coat, arms rolling with the movement of its wings as it shrugs the fabric off its body. But the soft bright hues of its shirt does fuck all to hide its full chest, broad shoulders, and powerful arms- there’s a lithe, practiced ease to its movements, and the stark black feathers around its wings and face glint like copper and gold, the warm tones singing with a soft richness of magic.

The kelpie’s defensive sneer shifts with perked ears and a sickeningly curious head tilt. The disdainful curl of their mouth warps into this leering softness, frightening and hungry, and for some reason, it feels like that's exactly what the tengu wants.

“Shuai ge, here’s what’s gonna happen.” The tengu’s head jerks to the dock. “We’re takin' that last ride outta town, and you an’ I are gonna play an ea-sy game o’ cards. Hao le ma?”

“In exchange for the child, I imagine,” the kelpie teases.

The tengu lets out a coy hum. “I think you wouldn’t mind too terr-i-bly if we let ‘em go either way.”

“That remains to be seen.”

Lynel hears the click of the tengu’s cane as they walk up to the incoming ship. It’s an odd thing to have. The tengu sounds… not young, really, but not quite old enough to be needing a cane, especially with that all too literal skip in its bouncing step.

It's hard to keep track of the details after that. Lynel never really had time to play those kind of games, and it's not like they can see what the two are playing anyways.

What's so special about kelpie games, anyway? The only two endings are getting a boatload of money or just dying. Why did Mother even need money so bad in the first place? Everything was fine before she got so paranoid. But no, she'd packed off while all Lynel's little brothers were out for school, and Lynel had been stupid enough to follow her.

Stupid enough to take her place. Stupid, stupid, stupid. If only they'd been a little less tired, a little less hungry. What was even the last thing Lynel ate? A corn chip. Their last meal on this godforsaken earth is a corn chip. That's what they'll be dying for, a single corn chip-

“Oh, you thieving little MAGPIE-”

Lynel barely has time to flinch as the kelpie surges across the table, clawed arms lunging forward to pin the tengu against the wall. But it’s the kelpie that looks threatened, not the tengu- the kelpie’s fine suit is disheveled with rage, while the tengu limply leans against the wooden surface with a languid smile and laughs. The motion pulls against the red markings on the edge of its eyes like a delighted, blood-tinged squint.

Sightmarks. The tengu’s an honest-to-Ortet diviner.

“Y’ really didn’t see what was on my face from the be-ginning?” The tengu tilts its shadowed head, letting out a coy sound. “Ke ai, le.”

“Most people who want to try their luck know better than to cheat,” the kelpie growls.

“I said it’d be easy,” the tengu laboriously articulates. “I didn’t say it’d be easy for you.” Its eyes flick back to Lynel, the first hint of nervousness it’s dared to show this entire round. “An’ I know you ain’t fixin’ t’ keep the child an-y-ways. Y’know what happens to kelpies that start puttin’ young meat on their ledgers.”

The kelpie relinquishes their hold, like the touch of the tengu’s body burns. “Bloody fucking fortune tellers.”

The kelpie starts to leave the room. Lynel shakily gets up to their feet. “Wait, wait-” They trail after the kelpie uneasily, following them onto the deck. “What’s going to happen to me?”

“What do I care?” the kelpie rhetorically asks as they walk off the edge of the boat. “Have a life, human child.”

“But-”

The water splashes. Lynel and the tengu watch the damp shadow of the kelpie disappear.

After a moment, the tengu lets out a loud wheezing sound, chest suddenly heaving with clicking, rattling breaths.

“Aiyo.” A sturdy, red-taloned arm braces across its chest. “Kiasi le.” It looks down at Lynel with a worn smile. “Good t’ see that one leave, eh? Big man with their big words.”

“Why are you acting so scared all the sudden?” Lynel sputters. “I’m the one that was gonna get eaten!”

The tengu frowns. “Gin na, I don’t want you to be eaten le. Wo hui ben si le, ma? Whole time, I’m tryin’ to get that one away from you. Why else d’ya reckon I’d get so close to a water horse?”

Lynel can barely understand half the words coming out of the tengu’s mouth, and maybe it shows, because the tengu freezes in place a little bit and slows its next words. It’s a nice thought, probably, but it really just points out that the guy is barely moving its mouth when it talks, and it’s kind of creepy.

“You gave yourself away, yes?” the tengu slowly asks. Lynel nods, and the tengu mirrors the motion. “That okay, le. You are not in trou-ble. Too young. Is there someone I can give you back to?”

“My- my mother brought me here,” Lynel haltingly answers.

The tengu closes its eyes and takes a deep breath. “If I take you t’ your mother, she wants you back?”

“Of course she does!” Lynel shouts. “It weren’t her fault!”

The tengu raises its hands. “Okay le! Okay. Then I take you home, okay?”

Lynel nods. It’ll be fine. They’ll go home and be done with it and be fine.

=[]=

It was not, in fact, fine.

Things were so not-fine, in fact, that Lynel ended up never really going home at all. Because they didn’t want to go home anymore, ever again.

That’s how not-fine it is.

Fadir Ravenslove perches on the train seat next to Lynel. Fadir Ravenslove- this is the name of the tengu that saved Lynel’s life, and Lynel’s starting to think that maybe it’s not quite a tengu at all. Not with that shadow over its face and the odd lilt of its sentences, like speech was some kind of novelty it doesn’t quite understand.

They’re sitting close enough to touch. Neither of them do.

Lynel looks up to find the larger… raven… thing staring directly into their eyes. Lynel startles, just a bit, and Fadir draws back slightly, eyes turning away. 

“Paisei,” Fadir mutters. “Paisei.” It clicks to itself. “Ah- ni- ni hui-” 

It stumbles and stutters over its words, mouth opening and closing out of sync with its odd little sounds. 

“D’you want t’ talk about it?” it finally manages.

“No,” Lynel lies. “Why did you give my mother all that money?” they ask instead.

“She don’t deserve t’ go hungry on ac-count of coins,” Fadir easily answers. “An’ she has kids to feed, besides.”

“You need to eat, too,” Lynel quietly insists.

Fadir chuckles. “I don’t need money t’ do that. Besides, I can just get more, le.”

A silence passes.

“It’s cus she stopped,” Lynel suddenly says. “She- she waited- she-”

“Hes-i-tate.”

“That. You showed up in that house with me and a bunch of coins spillin’ out your sleeves like broken jug, and she- she hesitated.” Lynel’s voice turns small. “Like she wasn’t sure she wanted me back, even if you paid her for it.”

Fadir tilts its head. “I think she is very stressed all the time. Only her in that house to take care o’ y’all.” It gestures with its fingers. “Y’leave anybody alone like that too long, their brains get cruel, le. Makes ‘em think things they don’t want to. It ain’t her fault.”

“I don’t care.” Lynel curls up against themself in the seat. “She still thought it. I just- how am I supposed to back home, if I’m always gonna know she did that?”

Fadir’s smile gains a sad tilt.

“I don’t care if she didn’t mean it,” Lynel shakily whispers. “I don’t care if she loves me. It wasn’t enough.” Their eyes start to flood with tears. “I wasn’t enough.”

Fadir stares at Lynel for a bit and lets out a sigh. “I’m not tellin’ you t’ go back home for anything, am I?”

“I’m not going,” Lynel insists. “I don’t care where you put me, just not there.”

“Okay, le.” A taloned hand hesitantly rests in Lynel’s hair. “I know somewhere you can stay.”

“Just for a little bit,” Lynel promises. “And then I’ll- I’ll leave. I promise.”

(And they never did.)

=[]=

There’s a routine falling into place at Ravenslove Tower, and it goes something like this.

Lynel wakes up in a room they don’t share with anyone else, in a clean bed with a blanket that doesn’t have holes in it. The window does have holes, but they’re like… on purpose holes. Lattice? Something.

There’s also a full staircase of chests and drawers that Fadir said they could use. A full staircase! It doesn’t have a lot of stuff in it, but Fadir said they could work on that. Lynel’s… almost counting on that, actually.

(Almost.)

They go down their staircase, past the workroom and towards the hearth. Fadir passes a quick bowl of fruit towards them across the table and asks them to check if the chickens have any eggs.

“Alright, just this once,” Lynel allows. “You can’t make me do it again.”

And it never did. (It never does.) Fadir never really gives Lynel chores, just… things to do if they have the time. There’s a lot of things to do around the house. Fetch the eggs, fill the trough, turn the chickens out, check the garden hasn’t done anything odd, see if the sniffer’s brought anything in for the pantry.

Fadir absolutely doesn’t ask Lynel to do much more in the house than keep their own room clean or wash up their dishes if they aren’t busy. In fact, Fadir seems pretty insistent on Lynel not fussing around with anything inside, especially not the work room.

(Lynel doesn’t know what’s inside the work room and they’re too scared to ask.)

There’s also the… guy(?) who lives in the walls. A fluffy haired imp in a crop top that swaggers around outdoors in a leather jacket, chaps, and tiny white boots, judging Lynel’s chicken related ventures with a scrutinizing black gaze. His name is Kibble. (Allegedly.) He doesn’t seem to do much more than bother chickens, bother Fadir, and steal deli meat from the ice box.

He also shows up when Fadir goes shopping, so there’s that. Shopping is…

…it’s gotta be one of the events of all time.

“Zhe ge, ne?” Fadir’s knobbly hands lift a papaya out of a cardboard box. “Gei ni hui kan.”

“Fuckin’ uhhhh-” Kibble squints at the fruit’s freckled surface. “It looks a little too green. There’s definitely some better ones in the box.”

Fadir lets out a short hum and puts the fruit back, hand hovering over the pile. Kibble hops off its shoulder, bouncing off the wood of the stall to disappear into a nearby barrel, only visible by the remnants of his long tail.

“You go pick something out,” Fadir offers suddenly. “Anythin'. I pay for you.”

Lynel points questioningly to themself.

“They’ve got nearly everythin’ ‘round here,” Fadir insists. “Bound t’ have somethin’ you like.”

Lynel ducks their head between their shoulders. “Can’t you pick it out with your…” They gesture vaguely at the black shadow covering up Fadir’s face.

Fadir’s expression seems to freeze for a moment. A statue held in place. And then its eyes stutter back into motion, and the moment is gone.

“I want t’ see what you choose.” Its hand briefly taps at Lynel’s knuckles. “What you choose. Ne?”

Anything, it said. Anything at all? That’s, uh- that’s sure a lot of thing. Lynel’s not really sure what to do with that. But… Fadir didn’t say they had to pick something out right now. (Right?) So- Lynel’s just going to look around a little bit. They don’t want to go too far away.

Just a little off to the side, there’s a candy stand, its boxes piled high with every sort of sugary thing it could manage. Candied flowers, rose jams, pumpkin slices, even candied meats. And right in the corner, nestled between some candied nuts and colorful chocolates, was a little box of marshmallows.

Lynel was never allowed to have marshmallows before. Mother bought plenty of candied fruits and meats when she could (it lasted longer than anything fresh), but never marshmallows. Large, fluffy, and devoid of substance. Fadir would never let them eat something like that, not while it fusses over how thin it thinks Lynel is. Surely not.

And yet, and yet, and yet. Lynel’s hands still end up wrapping around a little box of frog shaped marshmallows.

“Wa!” Fadir sidles up behind Lynel to stare at the candy cart. “Powder sugar le! I can sugar my basil flowers.”

“You candy your flowers?” Lynel asks. “I guess it makes them easier to sell…”

“Sometimes, le,” Fadir concedes before its smile gains a coy squint. “But! They are just good t’ have, ne? Not very good, but-” It lets out a sharp chirp. “Y’ don’t need everythin’ t’ be all well n’ good all the time-”

Its body suddenly stiffens, feathers puffing out like an angry cat’s hackles. Lynel follows its gaze to find…

…Kibble. Just standing there. Holding a single avocado and the smuggest possible grin on its face.

“No,” Fadir tersely says.

“It’s on sale, señor,” Kibble teases.

“No sale,” Fadir denies. “Only death.”

“It is in season!” Kibble insists, pushing the avocado closer. “You deny Ortet’s bounty?”

Fadir clutches its cane and hisses. “I de-ny you want to kill me! Poi-son me!”

Kibble hoists the avocado over his head. “The power of Ortet compels you!”

Fadir lightly bats Kibble away. Instead of just dropping the avocado like a normal person, Kibble decides to fly backwards into the supporting wall of the stall and ricochet directly into Fadir’s face, allowing the offending fruit to drop directly into Fadir’s hand.

A single weary golden eye looks down at Lynel as Kibble scrabbles for purchase on its hat.

“Every day I wake up,” the raventhing ominously mutters.

Lynel wheezes out a loud laugh.

“Aiiiyi, wo tai lao le,” Fadir sarcastically despairs. “No face. Children laugh at me.” It offers the avocado to Lynel. “You want my poison? Human fruit, good for you.”

Lynel simply offers up their marshmallow box like a meager shield. “Can I just have this instead?”

Instead of saying yes or no, Fadir places another marshmallow box on top of Lynel’s.

“So you don’t run out,” it offers.

“I’m not even gonna stay that long,” Lynel mutters. “I probably won’t even be here by next week.”

“And then you won’t run out while you’re gone,” Fadir simply says.

“R-right. Until it runs out.”

(And it never did.)

[baited-beth]

I hate this. Whenever there's a horrific murder, people say "oh. Thats monstrous, it's not human to do something like that!" But saying that makes it sound like he had no control over what he was doing and that men haven't been violently assaulting and murdering women for thousands of years. If you read the reports he knew exactly what he was doing. The whole frigging thing was premeditated. And even if he hadn't, he's still not the big bad wolf?! He's and adult human male and in many ways that's far scarier.

By saying his acts weren't human, we're basically saying #notallmen. We're making men feel better about their role in society because as a human being they couldn't possibly also be capable of this so there's no reason for women to be wary of them or their intentions.

It also gives them a get out clause - Man kills a woman? "Oh the devil made me do it so I'm not responsible - I was taken over by an inhuman force!" That's literally what happened with Biba Henry and Nicole Smallman.

I understand that in this case it's a report of his wife's reaction and this is probably her way of coming to terms with it, but I still really hate that you hear this reaction time and time again. We need to stop pretending that this isn't pretty standard human male behaviour.

[justzawe]

Zawe Ashton on feeling galvanised after new film about violence against women

The actress, 37, stars alongside Hayley Squires in the 30-minute drama Maryland.

Zawe Ashton has said it was “overwhelming” portraying the reality of violence against women in her new film but that it made her feel galvanised to speak out against the issue.

The actress, 37, stars alongside Hayley Squires in the 30-minute drama Maryland which follows the two women, both called Mary, as they go through the police process after reporting their experience of assault.

It is based on Lucy Kirkwood’s play which she wrote in response to the number of murdered women in the past couple of years including Sarah Everard, Nicole Smallman, Bibaa Henry and Sabina Nessa.

During a panel discussion for the film, Ashton confirmed she and her fellow actors had felt galvanised while creating the project.

She added: “Probably the most overwhelming thing was, from an actor’s perspective, actually getting to say the truth of your existence in the world.

“There’s so many situations that you find yourself in, in this industry, where you’re being explicitly or not explicitly asked to self-abandon yourself.

“And put your truth or politics or the reality of things aside in order to present something lukewarm and you don’t often get the chance to go to work and say things like we’re saying in this film.

“And the power of Lucy’s writing is it resonates so deeply within you that it can feel overwhelming because it can often times be the first time you as a woman or as an actor have said that truth out loud, let alone in front of people, let alone in front of a camera.

“So I think there are so many different parallels that we all felt as a cast moving through this work.”

Ashton admitted she felt a “new level of responsibility” when taking on the project but said it made her voice some hard truths about her own personal experience.

She said: “You are always in situations as a woman where you are pretending not to know as much as you do, generally, and I think this film made me go ‘Hang on a minute, no’.

“You’ve looked down the lens of a camera and said some extremely truthful things about your experience in this world and there’s no going back from that.”

The actress added: “You want to crack that glass between you being an actor and being a woman all the time and it’s often very hard but I definitely have a new intentionality around that now, for sure.”

Kirkwood wrote the original script in two days following the murder of Ms Nessa and numerous women before her.

The piece, which she described as a “howl against the normalisation of male violence”, was first staged at the Royal Court in London in 2021.

It was later adapted for the silver screen with Brian Hill and Kirkwood directing the project.

The film adaptation embraces its theatrical basis in a drive to move away from previous naturalistic style dramas which have explored the topic.

Ashton said that she thinks the naturalistic drama is still “a brilliant way” of challenging the issue but that these might be “making people even more comfortable with issues rather than jarring them out of a mentality”.

Maryland will air on July 20 at 10pm on BBC Two. (x)

[topeconarchive-blog]

guys what i really need is dad smallman to dad every single one of his progress kids. cool? cool.

[campfirecreeps]

The Drowner in Lake Winnipeg

You might think you know what a Wendigo is, and I would wager that you would be right in most cases. However, folklore is rarely that simple - and so the definition of a Wendigo is somewhat liable to change based on the individual group of Algonquian people discussing it. There is one particularly intriguing story that comes out of the Lake Winnipeg area, which suggests that perhaps these malevolent cannibal spirits could even be aquatic on some occasions.

Wilma Raynor began her career as a nurse on a reserve in Alberta in 1944. She would help to set up nursing stations throughout the Canadian north, and would eventually become the nursing director for the Manitoba branch of the Canadian Red Cross Society after eighteen years of hard work. Throughout her many years, she heard countless tales of the terrifying Wendigo spirit, but she dismissed them all as 'ridiculous' until she witnessed something she couldn't quite explain...

She was working with a Cree community near the northern end of Lake Winnipeg, and one morning she caught sight of a girl quietly walking along the shore of the lake holding a pail. This girl was 19 years old, and her name was Christina. She briefly stood there, just staring out into the lake - before suddenly screaming in terror at something unseen and running for the nearest cabin. Christina found her mother in this cabin, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her down the shore of the lake. She desperately tried to point something out to her mother, but she strangely refused to look at whatever it was - and then pulled her daughter away from the lake to safety.

Presumably alarmed by this bizarre happening, Wilma made her way back the cabin. By the time she got there, it was already packed with concerned Cree neighbours, listening intently as Christina described her frightening vision. She had apparently seen a female figure stood in the water, which went up to her waist. There was long, dark hair hanging around her 'evil' face and she used a spindly arm to beckon for Christina to approach. Her mother claimed to have seen nothing, and noted that it was a 'hard struggle' to drag her daughter away from the potentially lethal water. Wilma was driven by this story to believe the assertion that Christina was nearly drawn into the water by a malevolent spirit of some kind. She gave Christina a sedative and kept her company while she calmed down.

However, the nightmarish influence of this watery Wendigo on the Cree community of Lake Winnipeg hadn't ceased yet. You see, it was apparent that the spirit wanted to claim a human life, and it wasn't going to rest until it had one. It laid in wait for months until a young Cree man came to visit Christina. He was a potential marriage partner for her, and after seeing his possible future wife, he decided to go skating on the frozen lake. You can guess how this ends.

The young man fell through a hole in the ice, and nearby people immediately rushed to the scene to try and save him from the freezing embrace of the water. However, they were ultimately unsuccessful - and the unfortunate suitor drowned in Lake Winnipeg. Intrigued by this harrowing incident, Wilma spoke to an older man in the Cree community about it - and what he had to say was shocking to say the least. He slowly shook his head and started, saying that he had never seen anything like it before. He had seen many people drown before, but never 'like that'.

The community members had apparently managed to find the hole in the ground into which the young man had fallen, and had shone a light down into it. They were able to see the man's head just underneath the ice. He was just floating there - 'like he just stand there'. Wilma visited the lake the next day, and likely felt a chill scuttle up her spine when she realised that the man had drowned in the same area from which the Wendigo had attempted to lure Christina.

Wilma told this terrifying story in 1957 in a short article called 'Windigo Woman' in issue 228 of a local newspaper for the Hudson Bay Company called The Beaver. It was originally meant for employees of the aforementioned company when it was first launched in the 1920s, but it had since expanded readership to all those with an interest in the Subarctic. Wilma apparently would've been writing both to inform and entertain. The newspaper in question is now simply called Canada's History.

Source: 'Dangerous Spirits' by Shawn Smallman

[bubsenpai-blog]

Working Research Project Proposal

Working Title

‘Women of the night’, ‘Women – Navigating our fear of the dark’ or ‘Why do women fear the dark?’, 'The ironic relationship between women and the night'

Key Words & Terms

#Lunar/Menstrual Cycle #Pandemic #Women & Night Safety #Night Dangers #Feminism #Biology & the night

Abstract

For my research project I’ve decided to focus on the subject of the female fear to walk alone at night. How that fear has been instilled in us throughout history, and what changes we as a society could make to assure our safety in carrying out such a basic activity during the night. The reason I have chosen this topic is firstly because I am a young woman. And as a young woman I’m starting to navigate my independence by commuting to university (for example). In doing so, it is inevitable as the days grow shorter that at some point of my journey home, I’ll be walking in the dark. This is significant because the anticipation of darkness can change several factors such as ‘leaving at a decent time to avoid being out when it’s really dark’ or, ‘I’ll walk along the main road because there are more lights and people’. Another reason I have chosen this topic is because I know I’m not the only woman who goes through this thought process when it comes to walking in the dark as this awareness is something that was passed down to me from my mother, and her mother, and shared amongst sisters and girlfriends. I’m passionate about this topic because even though I know being more guarded during the night is a generally felt thing, I find it interesting that it seems to be more commonly experienced by women, especially as we are targeted more by potential dangers. Therefore, my aim throughout this project is to be a platform for a collective of stories associated with night walking experiences, voice a variety of tips taught to keep safe, narrow down the main reasons for this fear (historical, spiritual & scientific), and finally bring to light the ways we can make positive changes.

Weekly Plan

Week 1:

Start of more in-depth research and creating questionnaires/Interviews. Ensuring references to websites, books etc… are recorded.

Week 2:

Continuation of research, collecting primary research/data and beginning to format this information (Split into main categories).

Week 3:

Write Introduction and organise research so I can start writing them into appropriate sections of dissertation too.

Week 4:

Continuing rough draft of dissertation.

Week 5:

Continue rough draft and do any extra research both primary and secondary.

Week 6:

Christmas Break –Read through everything so far and make minor changes.

Week 7:

Finish rough draft to the best of my ability and rewrite sections if needed to tie any loose ends.

Week 8:

Submit draft and start to make changes according to feedback.

Primary Research Plans

Interviews/Questionnaires asking about women’s experiences walking at night and the things they do or have been taught to keep safe.

I may also go for a walk alone at night and record my experience.

Key Artists/ Practitioners/ Case Studies

Jack the Ripper & Count Dracula = Figures that represent danger/fatality directed towards women. Make men seem like more of a threat to women at night.

The Nightmare – Henry Fuseli, The red dragon and the woman clothed in sun – William Blake, Girl looking out the window – Edvard Munch = Artists

The Yûgao Chapter from The Tale of Genji by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Endymion and Selene by Victor-Florence Pollet, it’s only a paper moon portrait photographs, Charles Darwin = artists/scientist throughout history that show connections between women and the moon/nighttime.

Sabina Nessa, Bibaa Henry & Nicole Smallman = Recent female victims of being alone at night, shows how even after all these years women still struggle to be safe from night crime.

Embrace the dark, Women’s equality party, rise in self-defense classes and accessories (Danielle Potter) = Communities trying to make a change by educating ways to be safe and embrace women’s spiritual/biological connection with the night

Key Images

'The Nightmare' - Henry Fuseli

The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli (article) | Khan Academy

'Girl looking out the window' Edvard Munch

Girl Looking out the Window by Edvard Munch (edvard-munch.org)

'Snow White and the seven dwarfs' - Screenshots from Disney film, adapted from Grimm Brothers' fairy tale book

'Finding the mutilated body in Mitre Sqare' - Illustrated news comic for the police at the time of Jack the Ripper

'Sabina Nessa' - Murdered during short night route through the park to meet a date at local pub

Working Bibliography

This should be varied (or have ambition to be); alongside published books, journals and reliable articles (peer-reviewed), you might also reference things like podcasts, radio shows, films, documentaries, tv shows (make use of time-stamps), primary research, exhibition visits, etc.

Designed Outcome Ideas/ Alternative Approaches to The Dissertation Format

This is very open but it should respond to your subject area. i.e. I am writing about DIY publishing, so I will make five zines. You can suggest a few different ideas/ approaches.

Timeline (until Semester 2)

Week-by-week schedule; this should serve the purposes of your project. Look ahead to the draft deadline; what needs to be achieved by then? I would primarily focus on in-depth research and establishing concrete plans for any primary research you would like to achieve.

[timezfusa]

Investigating a killer’s Satanic beliefs

Investigating a killer’s Satanic beliefs

The BBC has uncovered new evidence about the teenage killer of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, the two sisters murdered last summer in a Wembley park in London. Danyal Hussein was a member of a web forum, run by an American self-styled black magician, whose instructions about demonic pacts mirror steps taken by the killer. The American has encouraged murder in some of his writings, including for…

[thankguard]

KWAME shares Endless Conversations EP

Sydney rapper KWAME was one to watch ever since he dropped his debut track “ON MY GRIND” at 17 years of age. Fast forward a few years and the man is arguably the best thing out there for young Australians trying to make it in the rap game. We would defs encourage upcoming artists to look at the way he carries himself, his production skills, his writing, flow & originality, his crazy live show and the way he markets his music online as a quality example of how to do things right from the underground. The hard way. The way that will get you respect and longevity in this scene & in life.

Three days ago, KWAME shared his sophomore EP ENDLESS CONVERSATIONS and from a single listen, it’s clear this guy deserves to be all over Triple J & the festival circuit. Across 6 tracks, K has expanded on his vision to bring fun, spontaneity & positivity to a sound that is both diverse and sonically relevant. This guy is on his way to being an Aussie one-man Brockhampton.

“NO TIME” blends an original take on a CHANCE-esque gospel beat with an impressive melodic flow. “WOW” is a stand-out single, driven by KWAME’s highly engaging tongue-in-cheek flow, which comes dripping with high-concept punchlines & a lit hook.

There are some dope features on here from KWAME'S circle too. “WHO DAT”, a more trap-heavy affair, features the super-impressive PHIL FRESH & MEL BAILEY’s vocals on “COFFEE” are no exception.

“CHANGE” has a real MELBOURNE feel to it. Reverb-drenched guitars and that Sunday-morning vibe.

“FREEWAY” is another standout. It combines so many different ideas. An acoustic beat with both pitched & autotuned vocals. The hook on this one is so real. You’d rarely hear something like this without a fat 808 riding underneath it. Also, that sax solo… too lit.

All these tracks were produced by KWAME along with Korky Buchek & Nikos H. Smallman. The EP was mixed & mastered by Matt 'xiro' Fioravanti. Show some love to all these guys on socials and stay posted for more.

[aenor-llelo]

the first binary was woven. the first machine memory was a loom. the needle and the eye was the first 0 and 1.

the flight to the moon was calculated on textile punch cards, stored in quilts of wire and magnets, hand-sewn by knobbled weaver's fingers. astronaut suits were once sewn by tailors, and it survived them the vacuum of space.

the ancestors of these words were woven, and once upon a time, someone looked at a computer and taught it how to sing.

so if you could spare me, for a moment, the illusion that the science is rational, sterile, separate from the craft. the apollo mission's computers were woven by hand. that was nothing more or less than a labor of love, my friend.

perhaps you cannot forgive my unrefined mind for reminding you that tekhnē was the word for art itself.

As for myself, I find your programs indistinguishable from a layered tapestry of stars.

must it fill you with disgust, that someone could find it beautiful?

[chrisswearicho]

Jimmy Havoc Imagine- Proposal

I wrote a thing... well many things XD this is just one of them. 

Jimmy Havoc/Reader(OC)

I'm new to writing Jimmy so please excuse anything that may seem OOC. I hope you guys enjoy this :) 

><><><><><><><><><

She could hear the crowds chanting for them as she dragged herself back up to her feet. Her bones clicked painfully and the blood from the cuts across her head was running down her face and getting in her eyes. It was matted in her hair but she'd deal with it later. She leaned in against the turnbuckle, feeling the thumps from the crowds applause. She knew they were on their feet and she didn't want them to think that she didn't appreciate it. It was just that everything hurt. Her gaze lifted slowly, a hand coming up to wipe the red from her eyes as she sought him out. Their opponents had left the ring, probably ending up a lot worse than they were so that was a slight consolation to the ache throughout her body.

She locked eyes with Jimmy as he sat propped against the turnbuckle next to hers. His head lolled to the side so he could see her. She flashed him a pained smile and he returned it, lifting his arms shakily to give her a thumbs up. 

"I hope you two are alright to get your arses up. We've got another few matches after this. But if you're dead then we'll get someone in" If she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time after she heard Smallman talk then that was down to her. She tossed an arm up, answering him best she could then gripped the ropes on either side of her as she tried to stand properly, a hand coming up to wipe the blood from her eyes again. She stumbled her way over to Jimmy, offering him a hand to get up and he groaned as he got to his feet. They were both more than a little beat up. Bed and painkillers seemed super great right now. Once he was up he'd stopped to crack his back or something so she'd shuffled towards the ropes to climb out only for him to stop her. 

"Wait! Wait." She looked back to him, one leg already resting through the ropes, confusion appearing on her features because she hadn't been told that there was going to be more tonight. She just wanted to go home. But if Jimmy had something to say that she had to be present for then alright then. But if this was nothing then he'd have hell to pay when they got home. "Sorry, Jim I'm gonna do this now. That alright?" She swivelled her head to see the owner and GM of Progress as he nodded and motioned for Havoc to continue, a shit eating grin on his face that had her worried. She turned back to her blood soaked boyfriend as Smallman disappeared to the back again, eyebrow raised in question but he just held out a hand, motioning for her to get back inside the ring with him. "Okay darling. I hadn't planned on doing this here but it feels right. This is all very us, right? The blood and the fucked up shit in the ring and the winning. Thank fuck." He muttered the last part somewhat under his breath and laughter tittered out amongst the crowd. It put a smile on her face as she looked at him, resting back against the turnbuckle, bemusement quickly replacing it when he started to peer over her shoulder up the steps towards the back before snapping his eyes back to her. "I love you. You know that right?" She nodded, still looking and feeling confused and he chuckled, glancing to the crowds again with a shrug "you all know where this is going right? And if you don't then you're slow as fuck. I know she hasn't realised yet. She's slow as fuck too, don't worry.' He grinned at her mock annoyed expression when he turned back to her. 

"I'm trying to propose love and I've been trying to stall because Smallman's meant to be back out here with the fucking ring already!" He raised his voice at the end, looking back up to the curtains at the back, grinning at the excited cheer that came up from the crowds. Then he saw the shock on her face and the deep red blush that spread from her cheeks down her neck and chest and he beamed at her. 

When Smallman finally appeared again he got a loud mocking cheer and flashed the finger to the crowds with a roll of his eyes while he tossed the small box to the man waiting in the ring who immediately lowered onto one knee. He jumped up momentarily with a noise of pain then sighed heavily as he pulled the thumb tack out of said knee. "Fucking tacks" another bout of laughter came up from the crowds and he heard her let out a little giggle as he used his foot to clear the floor beneath him then knelt on one knee before her. "Y/N will you marry me?" 

"Fuck yes you crazy motherfucker." She laughed, letting him fiddle awkwardly with the box and then the ring as he tried to get it out, then held out her hand for him to put the ring on her finger. As soon as it was on she tugged him back up onto his feet, with another loud elated laugh, and pressed her lips against his in a deep kiss before tucked her face into his shoulder, arms wound tightly around his neck. "God I love you. But there's blood all over the back of your neck. This is really gross."

Masterlist

[kristinastanley]

Mystery Mondays: Phyllis Smallman on How to Fit In Writing Time

Today on Mystery Mondays I have the pleasure of hosting Phyllis Smallman.  I met Phyllis at the 2014 Crime Writers Of Canada Arthur Ellis Awards dinner.

Her latest book, LAST CALL, in the Sheri Travis series has just come out. It’s a thrill that it’s finally here. I’ve already read it and loved it.  You might like it, too 🙂

Over to Phyllis…

Write the small spaces.

by Phyllis Smallman

Whenever I…

[keithdcourtney]

Top 25 Classical Guitarists

The challenge of listing the top 25 classical guitarists is that there is such a  deep history in classical guitar, how far back do you go? Do you limit it to the current players? But then that doesn’t work – I mean, how could you leave Segovia out (as you would have to do)?

Instead, this list blends the great players from across the twentieth century, and few players from before. It is international, and addresses different styles, from Baroque-influenced to Spanish to contemporary.

There are so many other great players out there – please add your favorite to the list below!

Enjoy.

Here We Go… The List.

Andrés Segovia (1893-1987)

Andrés Segovia, Spanish musician acclaimed as the foremost guitarist of his time. He was the most important force in reestablishing the guitar as a concert instrument in the 20th century, chiefly through demonstrating its expressive and technical potential. He continued giving concert performances past the age of 90.

Link to Wikipedia

John Williams

John Christopher Williams, OBE (born 24 April 1941) is an Australian virtuosic classical guitarist renowned for his ensemble playing as well as his interpretation and promotion of the modern classical guitar repertoire. In 1973, he shared a Grammy Award in the Best Chamber Music Performance category with fellow guitarist Julian Bream for Julian and John (Works by Lawes, Carulli, Albéniz, Granados). Guitar historian Graham Wade has said: “John is perhaps the most technically accomplished guitarist the world has seen.”

Official Website

Julian Bream

Proclaimed by many students of classical music as the premier guitar and lute virtuoso of the 20th century, Julian Bream was born in London in 1933. After studying at the Royal College of Music, he made his public debut in 1950, quickly winning fame for his technique and mastery of a wide range of musical styles. In 1960, he founded the Julian Bream Consort, an ensemble of original instrument virtuosi which enjoyed astounding success in their chosen oeuvre, greatly revitalizing interest in the music of the Elizabethan era. Named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1964, Bream was then named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire two decades later.

Link to Wikipedia

Jason Vieaux

Grammy-winner Jason Vieaux, “among the elite of today’s classical guitarists” (Gramophone), is the guitarist that goes beyond the classical. NPR describes Vieaux as, “perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his generation.” Among his extensive discography is the 2015 Grammy Award winning album for Best Classical Instrumental Solo, Play, from which the track “Zapateado” was also chosen as one of NPR’s “50 Favorite Songs of 2014 (So Far)”. 

Official Website

Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909)

Francisco Tárrega was an important Spanish composer whose music and style of guitar playing became strongly influential in the 20th century. He was central to reviving the guitar as a solo instrument in recital and concerts. Among his most popular compositions are Recuerdos de la Alhambra and Danza mora. He wrote nearly 80 original works for the guitar and over 100 transcriptions, mostly of piano pieces by Chopin, Beethoven, and others.

Link to Wikipedia

Pepe Romero

Pepe was born in Málaga, Spain, in 1944. In those days, following the devastating Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and during the Second World War, Spain was in desperate economic straits.  Basic survival was the primary challenge. Yet, despite this, Celedonio Romero and his remarkable wife, Angelita, instilled in all three of their children a love of music that transcended the profound misery surrounding them.

Official Website

David Russell

The Scottish guitarist, David Russell, was born in Glasgow, and while still very young (age 5), moved with his parents to Menorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean. His father, an artist, was an avid amateur guitarist. It became natural for David to pick up the instrument, and his father began to teach him to play it. He cannot remember when he did not play the guitar. Before he could read music, he could play the pieces by ear that he had learned from listening to Andrés Segovia recordings. When he got somewhat older he also learned to play violin and French horn.

Official Website

Xuefei Yang

The Chinese guitarist, Xuefei Yang ((Fei)), began playing the guitar when she was 7. Three years later, she started studying under Chen Zhi, the Chairman of the China Classical Guitar Society. She made a public debut at the age of 10, at the First China International Guitar Festival, where she met with an immediate acclaim. At her debut, one of the most respected luthiers, Masaru Kohno, presented her a guitar, Pepe by Aria; it was her first foreign-made guitar. The next achievement that she made was a second prize at the Beijing Senior Guitar competition; at that time, she was only 11. As a schoolgirl, Yang rapidly achieved an international reputation, playing extensively in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Spain, and Australia, and giving concert tours in Taiwan, Japan and Portugal. At twelve, she played in Tokyo for the first time, and was given a special award by the Guitar Alliance of Japan. Masaru Kohno, this time, took Yang to his studio and asked her to take any guitar with her. She played the Kohno guitar, made of cedar and jacaranda, regularly over the next five years. During her Madrid debut at age 14, the composer Joaquín Rodrigo was among the audience; in 1995, after John Williams listened to her performance in Beijing, he was so impressed that he loaned two of his own Greg Smallman guitars to her conservatory, for her and other top students to play.

Official Website

Christopher Parkening

Christopher Parkening is celebrated as one of the world’s preeminent virtuosos of the classical guitar. The Washington Post called him “the leading guitar virtuoso of our day, combining profound musical insight with complete technical mastery of his instrument.” The New York Times described his playing as “so intelligent, sensitive and adept that one can forget everything but the music.Parkening’s performances, recordings, and collaborations, which have included artists such as Kathleen Battle, Renée Fleming, Placido Domingo, Josh Groban, Jubilant Sykes, and composers/conductors John Williams and Elmer Bernstein, have received the highest worldwide acclaim. A frequent soloist with leading orchestras, Parkening has performed at the White House and appeared on 20/20, The Today Show, The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, and The Grammy® Awards.

Official Website

Sharon Isbin

The American guitarist, Sharon Isbin, began her guitar studies at age 9 in Italy. She was a student of Andrés Segovia, Oscar Ghiglia and Alirio Díaz. A former student of Rosalyn Tureck, Isbin collaborated with the noted keyboardist in preparing the first performance editions of the Bach lute suites for guitar (published by G. Schirmer). She received a B.A. cum laude from Yale University and a Master of Music from the Yale School of Music. She was the 1st Prize winner of the Toronto Guitar 1975 competition, a winner of the Madrid Queen Sofia, and the first guitarist ever to win the Munich Competition.

Official Website

Fernando Sor (1778-1839)

Fernando Sor, original name (Catalan) Josep Ferran Sorts i Muntades, also called (Spanish) José Fernando Macarurio Sors or (English) Joseph Fernando Macari Sors, (baptized February 14, 1778, Barcelona, Spain—died July 10, 1839, Paris, France), Catalan Romantic performer, composer, and teacher of guitar known for being among the first to play the guitar as a classical concert instrument and for writing one of the earliest books of guitar-playing methodology. He was a noted guitar virtuoso.

Link to Wikipedia

Ana Vidović

The Croatian guitarist, Ana Vidović, started playing guitar at the age of 5, and by 7 had given her first public performance. At the age of 11 she was performing internationally, and at 13 became the youngest student to attend the prestigious National Musical Academy in Zagreb where she studied with Professor Istvan Romer. Ana’s reputation in Europe led to an invitation to study with Manuel Barrueco at the Peabody Conservatory where she graduated in 2005. She has won an impressive number of prizes and international competitions including first prizes in the Albert Augustine International Competition in Bath, England, the Fernando Sor competition in Rome, Italy and the Francisco Tarrega competition in Benicasim, Spain. Other top prizes include the Eurovision Competition for Young Artists, Mauro Giuliani competition in Italy, Printemps de la Guitare in Belgium and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York.

Official Website

Manuel Barrueco

The legendary Manuel Barrueco is internationally recognized as one of the most important guitarists of our time. His unique artistry has been continually described as that of a superb instrumentalist and a superior and elegant musician, possessing a seductive sound and uncommon lyrical gifts.His career has been dedicated to bringing the guitar to the main musical centers of the world. During three decades of concertizing, he has performed across the United Sates from the New World Symphony in Miami to the Seattle Symphony, and from the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic to New York’s Lincoln Center. He has appeared with such prestigious orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra and with the Boston Symphony under the direction of Seiji Ozawa, in the American premiere of ToruTakemitsu’s “To the Edge of Dream.” In addition, he appears regularly with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and with San Francisco Performances.

Official Website

Agustín Barrios (1885-1944)

Agustín Pío Barrios was born in southern Paraguay on 5 May 1885, and died on 7 August 1944, in San Salvador, El Salvador. To many, Barrios was the greatest of all guitarist/composers. In view of this, it is curious that his music lay undiscovered and unappreciated for over three decades after his death. In the mid-1970s comprehensive editions of his music appeared, making it possible for guitarists of a younger generation to study his music, augmenting and complementing more traditional repertoire. The revival began in 1977 with a release by John Williams of an entire recording of music by Barrios, bringing overdue recognition to this forgotten Latin American guitarist. Today Barrios’ music is frequently performed by major concert artists and is appreciated by audiences worldwide.

Link to Wikipedia

Narciso Yepes (1927-1997)

Narciso Yepes was one of the finest virtuoso classical guitarists of the twentieth century, generally ranked second after Andrés Segovia. Despite a strong interest in music from the Baroque period, his overwhelming preference was for the serious compositions of Spanish composers from the early twentieth century, though he also showed interest in flamenco music. He displayed a special fondness for the works of Joaquín Rodrigo and was instrumental in the rediscovery of many previously neglected Baroque compositions. He also achieved distinction as a composer, especially in the realm of film music.

Link to Wikipedia

Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829)

The Italian guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani settled in Vienna in 1806. There he exercised strong influence over the progress of the instrument, as a teacher, performer and composer. He left Vienna in 1819, spending some four years in Rome before retiring to Naples, where he died in 1829.

Link to Wikipedia

Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841)

Ferdinando Maria Carulli was one of the most influential composers for classical guitar as well as the author of the first complete classical guitar method. He wrote a variety of works for classical guitar, including concertos and chamber works. He was an extremely prolific writer for guitar, writing over 400 works for the instrument in the space of twelve years.

Link to Wikipedia

Eliot Fisk

The American guitarist, Eliot Fisk, was the last direct pupil of Andrés Segovia and is the holder of all reproduction rights to A. Segovia’s music, given to him by A. Segovia’s wife, Emilia. After attending Jamesville-Dewitt High School in Dewitt, New York, Fisk also studied interpretation under harpsichordists Ralph Kirkpatrick and Albert Fuller at Yale University, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1976. After graduation, he was asked to form the Guitar Department at the Yale School of Music. He was the winner of the International Guitar Competition in 1980.

Official Website

Miguel Llobet (1878-1938)

Llobet was born on October 18, 1878, in Barcelona, Spain. Though he turned to the guitar at the relatively late age of 11, he had studied both piano and violin from his early childhood. His first teacher was Magín Alegre; by 16 Llobet was studying with Francisco Tárrega at the Barcelona Municipal Conservatory of Music.

Link to Wikipedia

Alirio Díaz (1923-2016)

Alirio Diaz was one of the true masters of the Spanish guitar. A student of Raul Borges, the originator of Venezuela’s Spanish guitar tradition, in the late-1940s, Diaz garnered international acclaim for his instrumental wizardry.

Official Website

Liona Boyd

Five time Juno award winner, Liona Boyd, ”The First Lady of the Guitar”, has enthralled millions with her romantic and unique brand of classical, folk and world music. She has performed solo and orchestral concerts around the world, had her own television specials, and recorded twenty-eight albums, many of which have gone Gold and Platinum. Her total views on YouTube are over six million. A new album of original songs, No Remedy for Love was released in 2017 by Universal Music, along with a new autobiography, also titled No Remedy for Love, from Dundurn Press.

Official Website

Paul Galbraith

Internationally renowned, Paul Galbraith is one of the finest active guitarists today, as well as a brilliant innovator. With the help of the eight-string “Brahms Guitar”, an instrument he developed together with David Rubio, he has expanded both the limits of the instrument and the quality and breadth of its repertoire. Several highly acclaimed recordings attest to these developments, as well as to his searching artistic temperament and mastery.

Official Website

Marcin Dylla

Hailed by Washington Post as “among the most gifted guitarists on the planet” Polish guitarist, Marcin Dylla is a rare phenomenon in the recent history of Classical Guitar. Many music critics, connoisseurs, and music lovers certify that Marcin Dylla is among the world’s elite of classical guitar players. He has earned this position, among others, to the unparalleled number of awards including 19 First Prizes from 1996-2007 at the most prestigious international music competitions around the world. His last triumph was the Gold Medal of the ‘2007 Guitar Foundation of America International Competition’ in Los Angeles known as the most prestigious guitar contest in the world followed by tour of over 50 cities in North America, Mexico and Canada during 2008-09 season, live recital video recording for Mel Bay Publications and CD recording for Naxos that reached the Naxos ‘Top 10 Bestselling Albums’ in September 2008. His live recital DVD “Wawel Royal Castle at Dusk” was nominated for 2010 Fryderyk Award (equal to American Grammy) in the category of Solo Classical Music Album of the Year.

Official Website

Ángel Romero

Ángel Romero is a Spanish classical guitarist, conductor and former member of the guitar quartet Los Romeros. He is the youngest son of Celedonio Romero, who in 1957 left Spain for the United States with his family.

Romero made his professional debut at the age of six. At the age of sixteen, at his United States debut, he appeared as the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s first guitar soloist, giving Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez its premiere for the US West Coast. He has studied conducting with Eugene Ormandy, the conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Official Website

Kazuhito Yamashita

Kazuhito Yamashita is a Japanese classical guitarist. His technique and expression are highly acclaimed. By the age of 32, Yamashita had already released 52 albums, including repertoires for solo guitar, guitar concertos, chamber music and collaborations with other renowned musicians such as James Galway. To date, he has released a total of 83 albums.

Link to Wikipedia

Bonus!

Dušan Bogdanović

A richly gifted composer, improviser and guitarist, Dusan Bogdanovic has explored musical languages that are reflected in his style today- a unique synthesis of classical, jazz and ethnic music. As a soloist and in collaboration with other artists, Bogdanovic has toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia and the United States. His performing and recording activities include work with chamber groups of diverse stylistic orientations including The Falla Guitar Trio and jazz collaborations with James Newton, Milcho Leviev, Charlie Haden, Miroslav Tadic, Mark Nauseef, Anthony Cox and others. He has over fifty published compositions ranging from guitar and piano solo works to chamber and orchestral ensembles (Berben, GSP, Doberman-Yppan et al.), as well as close to twenty recordings ranging from Bach Trio Sonatas to contemporary works (Intuition, GSP, Doberman-Yppan, M.A. Recordings et al.).

Official Website

$105.00

Classical Guitar Lessons with Jason Vieaux

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The post Top 25 Classical Guitarists appeared first on The Guitar Journal.

[markwatkinsconsumerguide]

Consumer Guide / No.70 / Paul Phillips (Driver 67) with Mark Watkins.

MW : What's the story behind the song, ‘Car 67’ by Driver 67?

PP : After three years at CBS Records, and having no discernible success, I was fired for the first (and only) time in my life. By the autumn of 1975, I found myself unemployed and not really knowing what to do about it. So I decided to get myself a pretty decent car and do some mini-cabbing part-time.

Not only did the car I bought prove unreliable, I proved pretty unreliable myself, having no sense of direction, no real knowledge of London, and being absolute crap at reading the A To Z. So I ended up delivering parcels from my wood-panelled Mini Traveller, where time and an impatient passenger weren’t a problem.

So bad was I, that I never even got the radio installed in the car. I had to stop at phone boxes and call in to control for the next job.

MW : Did the song relate to a real taxi, route and driver?

PP : My call sign was Driver 67, but, like I say, I never even got the radio in the car, so I never actually heard myself being called over the air.

One day, I was sitting, waiting for the next job, when this refrain just floated into my head : ‘Hey control this is 67 here, I can hear you loud and I can hear you clear’. I heard the words, the tune, the guitar strum, the drum beat – it was all there in my head.

So, I gave up on that day’s work and drove home and got my guitar and my Revox reel-to-reel fired up and had it written and demoed by the next day. My music partner Pete Zorn, also my brother in law, came down the next night and listened to it.

“It needs something else,” he said, “like this”, and he played a chord sequence – G, E minor, C and D – and he kept playing it until I came up with the words, ‘To tell you the truth, I had a bad bad night, my girl left home in the middle of a fight’.

As I sang ‘the middle of a fight’, Pete changed the chord on the word ‘middle’ to an F, which just seemed to bridge perfectly back into the verse. So his contribution was small, but essential. It transformed the song. If I play the song live (which I’ve done fewer than 20 times, at a guess) that’s the bit the audience always sings along to. (They also sing along on the word ‘do’, in the line, “Is there something else you want me to do-o-o” – it makes me laugh; people like to yodel!)

MW : Tell me about promoting the record on the radio...

PP : I’m a bit of a control freak, and after my experiences at CBS, where the promotion department just ignored the acts I signed, I hired my own plugger for ‘Car 67’. The best in the business at that time was Oliver Smallman.

Usually, the fee for a guy like Ollie to promote your record was £500, which was probably a month’s take home for me. So I offered him the publishing on the B-side. If it became a Top 10 record (which it did), he’d earn nearer £10,000 (he did better than that).

You’d think with that kind of incentive at hand, he’d have been right on it. But he wasn’t. I couldn’t get him on the phone, could never find him at his office, and after a couple of weeks I was pretty cross. Then I found out he worked out at a gym every day. So I joined that gym. It was in Welbeck Street, called the Gym ’n’ Tonic (cute then; clichéd now). I went in, and sort of hid, till he finished his session. Then he got naked and went into the sauna. So I got naked and went into the sauna…

It’s really surprising how one naked man blocking the escape of another naked man concentrates the mind. The very next week, ‘Car 67’ was Kid Jensen’s Record Of The Week, and that started the rise up the charts.

Surprisingly, neither Beacon Radio nor BRMB would play it. Steve Blacknell was plugging to the local stations, and he was quite down-hearted. The one that did pick up on it was one of the smallest – maybe Radio Tees? So we went up there to thank them, and then we went on to Wolverhampton where the guy at Beacon Radio just seemed to want to humiliate me for what he thought was a pretty crap Midlands accent. BRMB in Birmingham felt the same.

But of course, once it got into the national charts, all the independents started to play it. I’ll never forget (or forgive) Mike Smith introducing it on Capital Radio’s Chart Show. It was the first play on Capital, and this was his introduction: “It’s amazing what rubbish people will buy these days”. He’s playing a hit record, on a showcase of the latest charts, and he’s literally telling his audience they’ve got no taste. I thought that was unprofessional in the extreme.

MW : ...and your appearances on Top Of The Pops (TOTP)...

PP : TOTP was horrible. Sorry to crush your illusions. But to the producers and directors of TOTP, the artists and the audience were cattle. All they cared about was what ended up on screen. Which is fair enough, but you can achieve that and still treat people with respect.

When we got there, I introduced myself to the producer, and the guy could not be bothered. “Oh yeah. So you’ll be on stage, playing the controller. We’ll give you a bit of kit and a microphone, and then when everyone else has gone we’ll bring in a car, and you can do the singing bits.”

Wait, what? You want me to mime to talking that has no rhythm or rhyme, on a stage, in front of a bunch of teenage girls. “Yeah”, and then he walked away.

I called the record company and told the managing director what had happened. “I don’t think I want to do it,” I told him. “Well, Paul, I’ll support you whatever you decide but let me just say this. Today, you’re selling 5,000 copies a day. The day after TOTP goes out you’ll be selling 20,000 copies a day.”

Well, what’s a boy to do? So I went back to the dressing room, asked for a cassette player, and listened over and over to the talking bits, writing them down, and learning to mime to them without looking like an idiot. But it was excruciating.

The saving grace for me was Hank Marvin, who made a point of coming up to talk to me and telling me how much he liked the record. “Reminds me, don’t ask me why, a little bit of McGuinness Flint”. Getting a compliment from Hank, who had been a star since I was 11, was really lovely.

But the other artists were either stand-offish, or couldn’t care less. The Doll were too cool for school; Sally Oldfield seemed scared witless; and honestly, I don’t remember who else was in the studio. I was too busy watching 30 or so young girls being herded from here to there to make it look like the studio was full.

Kid Jensen presented the show, but even he didn’t talk to anyone. I’d been his Record Of The Week - but I couldn’t get near to him to thank him.

As for miming, well, that was a joke. The night before the show, we had to make a show of being in the studio where we’d originally recorded ‘Car 67’, preparing a track for TOTP that I would then “sing” over at the BBC.

There was a guy from the union to make sure everything was hunky dory, and a guy from the BBC to oversee. In fact, we took my vocal off the track and played them the backing track. Ollie Smallman then distracted them while we put the vocal back on and sent it to tape, which they took away. It was a game. Everyone knew what was happening; they just pretended it wasn’t. I’d have happily sung live on the show but it wasn’t what they wanted. They just pretended it was.

MW : There’s a bit of a legend that ‘Car 67’ should have gone to Number One, but it never did...

PP : The irony of this story is that, as the record company told me, the day after TOTP aired, orders did go up to 20,000 a day. Over six days, that would have put me at Number One. Instead, it turned out the record company was third down the list at the pressing plant, and they failed to fulfil the orders. The record dropped four places in the chart.

I’d gone down to MIDEM in Cannes (an annual music industry bash) and each Tuesday they’d post the chart. I wandered down with Bruce Welch from The Shadows, who were doing well with ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’. They’d gone up the chart, I’d gone down.

“Bloody hell, Bruce,” I said, “How many did you sell?” “Ten thousand.” “What? A day?” “No, across the week.”

The trick was, all their copies had sold through Woolworths, whose influence on the chart was massive. It took me years to get over the fact I’d been robbed of a Number One by the pressing plant’s priorities; but in the end, if people knew how to game the chart – by selling, for instance, exclusively through Woolworths – then maybe it was never going to happen, however many I sold.

MW : What did you follow-up with, and what happened next?

PP : The follow up was ‘Headlights’. ‘Headlights’ was the song that got Pete and me a deal in the first place. Everyone concerned was stone cold certain it was a Top 10 song. We had more than album’s worth of really good material, and this one certain hit.

When it was released, it jumped straight into the Top 75. But then Radio 1 refused to play it. They actually said so on air. I got a phone call from a friend who said she’d just heard it. “The dj said, if you think Driver 67 was a One-hit Wonder, think again. This is the follow up and it’s going to be a smash,” she told me. “And then after the record, he said, ‘Actually, you won’t be hearing that again, I’ve just been told’.”

No-one could ever explain it to me. One theory was that Radio 1 had decided I was a one-hit wonder and that was that. Another theory was that they didn’t like the story of ‘Headlights’. I wrote it to be like a mini horror film; a girl being chased down a country road by a truck driver. The production and sound of it were very dark, but it was incredibly catchy and hook-y. There you go. All over.

MW : Thoughts on the one-hit wonder tag...

PP : We coulda bin a contenda! We certainly didn’t set out to have one-hit and done. ‘Car 67’ was a chance thing that was written while we were negotiating a record deal. So it had nothing to do with us being signed.

Before the ink was dry on the contract, I played it to Geoff Hannington and Olav Wyper (who ran Logo Records) and they both went ape for it. “We’ll do it as a side project,” which sounded ok to me and Pete. So we booked the studio time, followed the demo, line for line, and made the record for £850, including the B-side. It sold 400,000 copies really fast. But it was also the end of us being taken seriously.

MW : Any regrets during the non-pop years?

PP : Ah!, well, nothing’s quite as simple as it looks. While we were making the album, time came for the first accounting period for sales of the single. The date came and went; no money. Cutting a long story short, I fought for two years to get our money, and in the end I walked away – from the money and the industry. I learned a valuable lesson: sometimes you have to walk away, and it’s important to know when that time has come.

I went back to journalism, lucked into the first UK magazine that covered video (as well as music and books). Within two years I had my own business, publishing magazines about video and video players. I found that all the creativity I had funnelled into music could also be applied to business. And that control freak side of me – the bit that had me hiring my own radio promotions man – did me very well in business.

And also, there were some failures along the way, but I’d had a good grounding in my own ability to survive. All in all, my life just became more exciting, more rewarding, and more fun. I’ve had more fun and excitement than should be legal.

MW : ...moving on to 2012 and ‘Now That's What I Call Divorce!’ …

PP : I hadn’t written a song for 25 years. I’d tried, but it just wouldn’t come. Then in 2008, I was getting divorced but we couldn’t sell the house (remember The Crash!) , and neither of us could afford to get somewhere on our own.

So we split the house up into two distinct areas, and for some reason I just thought I’d drag out my piano, and the guitar, fire up the computer with some recording software and see what happened.

The songs poured out of me. I found a new way to write (if I told you, I’d have to kill you), and being in full control of the process – no musicians, no engineer, no record company – I could take all the time I wanted, and play, within my own limited technical abilities, exactly what I wanted to hear.

By 2010, the divorce had gone through, we’d sold the house, and I’d moved down to Hove (a story we’ll come back to), where I finished the album and self-released it. This year, I recognised that the title, given the content of the songs, was upsetting my children. So I restructured the running order, did completely new artwork, and re-released it as ‘Not There Yet’, which is a reference to my unsatisfied mind, and my constant search for…something. It’s not a recipe for happiness (which I choose not to believe in) but it is bloody interesting, and brings what I call “moments of joy” that transcend anything that I can perceive of as “happy”.

MW : Wolverhampton Wanderers chances in the Premier?

PP : I don’t know! My friend, John Owen Williams – who’s had an extraordinary career as a producer, and is still producing top 10 albums – is also from Wolverhampton. He reckons if Wolves end up in the middle-of-the-table that will count as a brilliant season.

When I was growing up (in the 1950s) Wolves were one of the giant teams, and yet sometimes the players would be on the same bus as us supporters, going to the ground. Success for them was having enough money to open a shop in the middle of town.

I don’t like football today. I can’t stand the professional fouling, the mouthing off at referees, the managers trying to intimidate officials. No question these players today are phenomenally gifted and athletic, but they’re like spoilt children.

Still, I will be watching Wolves’ progress. The write-ups so far this season have been very positive about them.

MW : Did you vote Leave or Remain (Brexit) - reasoning?

PP: I voted Leave, and I need to explain that.

I voted Yes in 1975 to remaining in the Common Market. It all seemed terribly exciting to us young people. And I never had cause to regret that vote; never even gave it a second thought; until the launch of the euro.

One year, I’m on holiday in Portugal and a pot of jam (just an example) is 30p. A couple of years later, I’m back there, and the same pot of jam is £2. Now, as a holidaymaker you can say to yourself, “‘ah well, that’s the end of cheap holidays in Portugal”, but that ignores the fact that that pot of jam has increased in price sixfold, not just for you, the tourist, but for the population of the country. It was bound to cause poverty and unemployment.

Unemployment across the EU among 18-24 year olds is 25%, and in some countries it’s as high as 45%. I can’t tolerate that!

Plus, free movement of labour, and high levels of unemployment, have meant the young have to leave their home countries. Bulgaria is the first country in the EU where you can see its population falling off a cliff. If the young leave, and the old die, who’s left?

Is that the point of a Union? To denude poorer countries of their populations?

I have a real problem with the undemocratic nature of the Brussels bureaucracy. I didn’t vote for a common currency in 1975; it wasn’t on the table, and I didn’t vote for there to be a European Parliament; that wasn’t on the table either. And I certainly didn’t vote for bureaucrats like Tusk, Barnier, and Juncker to be put in positions where they would be pushing around elected Prime Ministers and tweeting insults about them.

Having said that, the fact that we had a referendum that could be decided on a simple majority was a massive mistake. It’s ended up being the most divisive issue of my lifetime. It should have required at least 60% for Leave in order to trigger Article 50.

MW : Current listening & reading & watching pleasures…

PP : I read a book a week, more or less; have done for at least 20 years. Mostly I love crime and thrillers. My favourite authors are John Sandford (I know, you haven’t heard of him), CJ Box (ditto), Robert Crais and John Connolly. Oh, and the Jack Reacher books.

Being an insomniac, the launch of Netflix and Amazon Prime have been brilliant for me. I don’t have to have an eighty quid subscription to Sky, or BT, to get the choice I want. ‘Godless’ on Netflix is the tv series Quentin Tarantino wishes he’d made. I love ‘The Crown’ (although Matt Smith as Prince Philip was a big mistake), and I love anything about drug cartels – ‘Narcos’; ‘El Chapo’; ‘Queen Of The South’. For too long, people in the West have ignored the origins of their drug of choice. Programmes like this should make everyone think twice, three times, 20 times, before indulging.

MW : What's next ?

PP : This year, I released a new album, ‘Breathe’. It’s the best work (musically) I’ve ever done. The fact that no-one is listening doesn’t really bother me. It’s my work, and I put it out there so my great grandchildren and their children know I wasn’t just some old bloke in a photograph that no-one knows anything about.

Next year, I have an album of covers I’ve been working on for some time. My rule of thumb is to record the songs in a way that surprises people, gives them an insight into the song perhaps they haven’t had before.

But the most exciting thing I’m doing is mentoring young artists. I’ve spent ten years failing to get anything up and running businesswise (the digital era changed all the rules of engagement for musicians; journalists; graphic designers).

It’s something I fell into by accident. After I moved to Hove, to be near someone I’d known for about 30 years, we ended up in a relationship, and her young daughter – as it happened – wanted to be ‘a pop singer; “it’s all I’ve ever wanted”. Yes, of course it is. Because at the age of 13, “‘ever” is a long, long time.

Anyway, I called her bluff. Told her I could make that happen, if a) she had any talent; and b) if she was prepared to work really hard.

I bought her a guitar, taught her some chords, and then told her she had to write her own songs. I gave her some tips, advised her never to write a love song (because she’d never been in love; she’s 13; duh!).

We spent five years, her perfecting her art and her facility; me finding out I had transferable skills. Plus I knew to keep her away from sharks and chancers. When the opportunities came, we got the best people, and the best deals.

And she turned out to be Grace Carter. If you haven’t already heard of her, you will. Go to YouTube now. Check her out:-

https://youtu.be/dtWzfRc6uUs

So now I have four other youngsters I’m mentoring, and this is my new career. It will take a while to get off the ground, but I’m only 70 (on January 1, 2019), and I intend to live to 130. So I’m only just past the halfway stage.

It’s great fun, exciting, and working with young people is, in itself, a renewable energy source.

Like I said, my life shouldn’t be legal. There’s been some tough stuff, particularly in childhood, but also in business and in my later personal life. But I’m resilient. Everything is a lesson, and I’m a learner, not a victim – even when a record company withholds tens of thousands of pounds in royalties, or a business partner absconds with all the money (yes, that happened).

Where I came from, Irish, Catholic, working class, poor, the most common thing I heard was: “People like us don’t do things like that”. Well, I’ve done them all, and there’s more to come. I acknowledge no limits, even at my age.

By the way, you can find all the back catalogue of Driver 67 and Tax Loss online as ‘Driver 67: The Album; The A Sides; The B Sides’, along with ‘Breathe’ and ‘Not There Yet’, they’re all available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music, and everywhere else you might expect.

© Mark Watkins / October 2018

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Robots: Is your job at risk?

Almost 100 years ago, the U.S. horse population peaked at about 26 million. There’s been, of course, a steady decline since then, thanks to the growth of machines — most notably, cars.

Today, a debate rages over workers and whether we too may become obsolete as society becomes automated.

The fear of robots replacing jobs is real — consider self-checkout kiosks and self-driving trucks. The good news is that specific lines of work won’t suffer the same fate as horses. Which ones? Read on. But, first, here are the jobs at greatest risk of being replaced by automation.

High risk jobs

Cashiers and toll booth operators

Jobs that require only a high school degree are most in danger. Take cashiers and toll booth operators, for example. These jobs don’t require much human analysis so are easier for machines to handle. Some toll booth operators have already been replaced by automated systems such as E-ZPass, which is used in 16 states.

Meanwhile, as many as 7.5 million retail jobs are at risk of automation in the next decade, according to a study from financial services firm Cornerstone Capital Group.

A shift is already underway. CVS (CVS) has installed self-checkouts in 448 locations. McDonald’s (MCD) and Wendy’s have also added kiosks in some restaurants, allowing customers to place orders on a touchscreen. In December, Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) teased a video of its new Seattle-based concept store Amazon Go, which has no checkout line or cash register. The payment process is automated through a customer’s smartphone, so a customer can skip the line and walk out.

“Retail is going through this existential crisis,” Gartner retail analyst Robert Hetu told CNN Tech. “There’s a need to eliminate many of the manual processes that retailers just lived with for decades.”

Hetu expects automatic checkout services like Amazon Go will take off among convenience stores. Big box retailers are another likely destination, whereas luxury and boutique stores will be slower to adapt the technology. They rely more heavily on a human staff to provide specialized service to customers.

Drivers

An Uber driverless Ford Fusion drives down Smallman Street in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Some of the world’s biggest companies are investing billions to build robots intended to replace human workers. The obvious example is self-driving cars. Car and tech companies are in an intense race to get their first. Once cars and trucks can drive themselves, there’s less need for humans to sit behind the wheel of a cab, Uber or tractor trailer.

Vivek Wadhwa, author of “The Driver in the Driverless Car,” estimates that close to 5 million driving jobs will be lost in the early 2020s, as vehicles achieve full autonomy.

The optimistic case for drivers is that jobs often involve other tasks, such as unloading merchandise. Robots currently don’t carry packages or Chinese food orders to your front door. However, as automated drones drop packages on door steps and in backyards, some of those jobs may be replaced, too.

The autonomous vehicle industry will likely create new jobs, such as managers who oversee the fleets of vehicles.

Fast food jobs

Customers use a digital screen to place an order at a McDonald’s location in Miami.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics has estimated 80,000 fast food jobs will disappear by 2024. The increase in minimum wage in various states gives companies more reason to replace workers with machines. In July, workers saw minimum wage gains in places such as Chicago, Maryland, Oregon, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. (The federal minimum wage of $7.25 hasn’t gone up in 10 years.)

Fast food positions rank among the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation’s list of most likely to be automated.

“It’s cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who’s inefficient making $15 an hour bagging French fries,” former McDonald’s chief executive Edward Rensi said in an appearance on Fox Business Network in May 2016.

He also previously described how the number of people working in a McDonald’s has been cut in half — due to automation — since he started working at the company in the 1960s.

Low risk jobs

Nurses and physicians

A human touch is essential in health care, making roles such as physicians and nurses among the least likely to be replaced by machines. The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, which ranked more than 800 types of jobs on automation, sees these positions as safe.

Computers are increasingly good at making medical diagnoses, but patients don’t want to get diagnoses from an impersonal computer.

“They want to get it from a compassionate person who can help them understand and accept often difficult news,” MIT researchers Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson, wrote in their new book “Machine Platform Crowd.”

But automation is playing a role in some areas of the medical world. The earliest impact of automation on medicine is affecting radiologists, who are overloaded with data as they analyze medical images such as X-rays and CT scans. Arterys, a medical imaging startup, reads MRIs to measure blood flow through the heart. It does this in seconds, freeing up the humans to focus on other tasks.

Related: What happens when automation comes for highly paid doctors

Youth sports coaches

According to McAfee and Brynjolfsson, jobs that involve leading and inspiring others should be safe from a robot takeover.

In the case of a youth coach, delivering a win isn’t the most important part of the job.

“What matters is the ability to get the girls to work well together in pursuit of a goal, to teach them to be good and supportive teammates for each other, and to develop their characters through athletics,” they write.

In addition, a robot is unlikely to be able to identify leaders, manage people with difficult personalities, and help the team form a bond.

“We’re confident that the ability to work effectively with people’s emotional states and social drives will remain a deeply human skill for some time to come,” they write.

Hairstylists and cosmetologists

Hairstylists and cosmetologists are among the least likely to have their work automated, according to rankings from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. The tech advocacy group looked at Bureau of Labor and Statistics projections on workers that will be needed in 2024.

“Robots are cool, but they’re not superhuman,” Rob Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, told CNN Tech. “There are on average 150,000 hairs on a human head and each tiny one would need to be cut to an exact and differing length. Will scientists and engineers eventually be able to design a robot that can master those operations? Not likely in our lifetimes.”

Songwriters

Some musicians are turning to artificial intelligence to help their creative process. Taryn Southern, who appeared on “American Idol” in 2004, has relied on AI to deliver the instrumentals for her new album. But the lyrics were all her own.

MIT’s McAfee and Brynjolfsson believes lyricists are safe from automation.

“We’ll be very surprised, though, when a digital lyricist comes along that can generate great lyrics as reliably as Cole Porter, Joni Mitchell or Jay Z,” they write. “Their creativity springs, in large part, from understanding the human condition. We see nothing to indicate that we’re getting close to digitizing this understanding.”

Artificial intelligence is arriving elsewhere in the workforce. A computer program from Automated Insights writes articles about corporate financial reports and sports. Yahoo Sports uses the technology to provide weekly recaps in its fantasy football leagues. The Associated Press receives stories on more than 3,000 earnings reports each financial quarter. It also uses the technology for summaries of minor league baseball games.

Social workers

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics has estimated that jobs in the mental health and social workers who work with substance abusers will grow by 19% by 2024.

“The fundamental wiring of our brains is the same as it was 100,000 years ago, so that it’s in our deep nature of value getting various experiences — empathy, companionship, being heard, acting in groups — from other humans,” author Geoff Colvin wrote in his book, “Humans Are Underrated.”

The time we spend with screens is growing. In-person interactions are decreasing, and we are wired to crave them, so we’ll value them more highly. And the people who can deliver them are well-positioned for the future.

“We should all take a deep breath,” Atkinson wrote in his organization’s report on job automation. “Every time you read another piece about the coming ‘jobapocalypse,’ think about how hard it is to automate jobs like mining engineers, fish and game wardens [and] dentists.”

CNNMoney (Washington) First published September 15, 2017: 12:49 PM ET