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notyetneedcoffee · 5 years ago

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Blocked Number

Part Three of the Calling Series

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: NSFW, 18+, Smut, Violence, including past domestic violence, stalker behavior

* * *

The phone tucked into the seat beside you vibrated. None of your colleagues noticed as they discussed the latest news over prime rib sandwiches and cobb salads. Pulling the device up enough to see the screen, you fought to keep your face neutral.

A ‘Thinking of you’ text was followed a picture of Bucky’s wrist disappearing into the waistband of his generously tented sweatpants.

He knew your lunch today would be with work friends. You’d discussed it last night when he called. The team was on an assignment in Japan at the moment so it had to be close to two o’clock in the morning there. Bucky planned this. The shit.

Another buzz. You looked down. ‘You’d better respond, Doll.’ the message said. ‘Or I’ll have F.R.I.D.A.Y. override the silent feature on your phone.’ The small video attached showed just a close up him stroking himself.

You shifted in your seat, thighs rubbing together. Damn him.

Holding your phone in your lap you sent back, ‘Asshole. You know I’m in public. I fucking miss you.'

‘I want to bury my face between your legs.’ Came the immediate response.

‘You’re making me wet.’

‘I’ll make you scream when I suck on that tasty cunt.’

“Y/N, is everything okay?” You jumped when Jackie drew your attention.

You could feel your face redden. “Sorry. I, uh, I just got some classified information that I have to deal with. Would you excuse me for just a minute?”

The phone buzzed in your hand twice before you made it to the alcove by the bathrooms.

‘Tell me how wet you are.’

‘I need an answer, Dollface.’

You responded, ‘So excited I had to leave the table. Damn you.’

A moment passed before another video clip came through. His metal hand was lubed up and glistening, cock pumping in his tight grip. You felt your panties flood. Damn that was gorgeous. You dared turn the volume up just enough to hear him moan your name. Fuck.

You leaned a little closer into the dark corner, tapping away at your phone. ‘So. Fucking. Hot. Just want to come all over you.’

‘Tell me.’

A wicked smile crossed your face. ‘Can’t wait for you stretch me open and sink your cock in me. Will you be able to wait until we’re home or will you just fuck me in hanger as soon as you arrive?’

‘Hanger.’

‘Fuck, yes. Just press me against the wall and fuck me hard. Don’t care who hears. I want your cock in me. Make me scream.’

‘Yes. Need you. Dnt care wo seees. Your mine.’ His fingers lost dexterity.

Smiling, you imagined every move. ‘Yours. Fucking pound me. Want it so bad. Make me come all over you. Fuck yes. Come for me.’

Staring at the screen you could feel the slick between your legs. Damn.

‘Damn, Doll. I think I need a bath towel to clean myself up.’

‘Lol. Happy to help, except now I’m dripping.’

‘Yum.’

‘You’re going to make up for this when you get back tomorrow.’ You smirked at the phone.

‘Without a doubt. I know I’ve got the best dame on the planet,’ came his reply. Mind blowing great sexual connection aside, you’d never been with a man who treated you with the respect and reverence that Bucky did. He showed it in actions and told you in his words. It may not be traditional, but it was damn special.

‘Can’t wait to see you.’

‘Go eat lunch and try to act like a good girl. Leave that pussy wet for me.’

‘Asshole.’

‘Miss you too’

* * *

Popping into a little bakery on the way back from a quick trip to pick out some new shoes, you decided to grab something to have on hand when Bucky got back. While you waited for the plum tarts to be boxed up your phone rang with an unfamiliar number.

“Dr. Y/L/N”

“You went back to your maiden name.”

The shopping bag hit the floor. Your eyes darted around. All the other patrons and the two people behind the counter looked curiously back at you. Bending over slowly to pick up the bag, you turned toward the wall.

Taking a calming breath, trying to keep the panic from your voice, you finally responded. “How did you get this number? You’re not allowed to call me.”

“Oh, didn’t you hear. I’m out.”

Bile rose in your throat.

“What’s the matter? Haven’t you missed me?”

You hung up the phone. A hand touched your shoulder. You jumped, letting out a choked gasp. The kindly looking woman held both her hands up. “Sorry to startle you, dear. You alright?”

“Fine. Thank you.”

“Ma’am. Here’s your order.” The kid behind the counter handed the box to you.

“Thanks.” You shuffled out of the way. Before leaving the you took the opportunity to block the unknown number from your phone. That voice need never be heard again.

The walk back to the tower happened in record time. Weaving between people, keeping a sharp eye out for a face burned into your memory, you just wanted to be in the safe confines of Bucky’s apartment.

You were in the elevator, leaning back against the cool brushed steel wall, when your phone buzzed. The text message read, ‘It won’t be as easy as blocking a number. You should know better.’

“Fuck.” Tears burned your eyes, but you fought them back. No, he does not get to play these sick games. You blew by the empty common areas and straight to the apartment. Not pausing to put anything away, you pulled up both numbers and searched the area codes, one from Denver and one from Eugene. Great.

As the night went on, you received picture of the motel in Santa Cruz where you first slept together from a phone with a Phoenix area code. You blocked it. You got a text message as you brushed your teeth with the lyrics of the Guns N’ Roses song he’d sing whenever he’d get drunk. You blocked that number from Tulsa. As you were lying in bed, wearing Bucky’s shirt and holding his pillow to your chest, you receive the texted picture of an avocado green bathtub. Stomach roiling, remembering a tub like that covered in your blood from the beating. Your fingers shook when you blocked the New York City number.

* * *

Bucky opened the door silently at a quarter to four, fully expecting you to be sound asleep. Instead, he caught you up in his arms as you flew over the back of the sofa. His duffel hit the floor and he laughed.

“Hey, Doll.” He squeezed you tight. When you didn’t let go right away, he pushed you back. Cupping your face in his warm palm, blue eyes studied you carefully. “You okay?”

Nodding, you did your best to smile as you lied. “I just had a bad dream and couldn’t go back to sleep. I’m so happy you’re back.”

He stared a bit longer, doubt gnawing at his gut. He saw the fear in your face, knew there was something you didn’t want to say. But he didn’t talk about his nightmares either. So, he just kissed you slowly, thoroughly.

You’d spent hours agonizing over what to tell Bucky. You didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t want to admit who you were back then. The thought of him looking at you as weak or stupid; it would be unbearable. That bastard just got off on scaring you. It was likely all a bluff anyway.

Still, sleep eluded you all night. So, when Bucky took you to bed, instinctively being attentive and gentle as he worshiped your body, releasing all your tension and finally wrapping you in the safe cocoon of his arm, you fell into a deep sleep.

He watched you, wishing he knew what was wrong.

A while later, just as his eyes began to drift close a buzz drew his attention. Your phone vibrated. He picked it up. From the lock screen he saw multiple call attempts from multiple different blocked numbers. Alarms went off in his head. What the hell?

He debated rolling you over and seeing if the facial recognition worked on your sleeping face, but he decided if there was a problem, he would rather have better resources. Looking at your sleeping face, Bucky just didn’t understand why you weren’t saying anything.

* * *

Having the day off, you slept in and Bucky got up to make you coffee. After pulling on your favorite tee shirt of his and a pair of boy shorts, you curled on the sofa with the remote. You left your phone in the bedroom, Bucky noticed. It wasn’t normal for you.

“Doll,” Bucky looked at his own phone. “Do you have anything important going on the first week of October?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

He gave you a coy smile over his coffee mug. “Don’t be nosy. Could you be free if you needed to be or not?”

“Let me see.” You disappeared into the bedroom with a grin on your face. When you flipped your phone over seeing more attempts from the last blocked numbers, and a new texted photo. A 1998 4Runner, just like the one he crashed into your Honda. You blocked the number and put the phone screen down on the nightstand.

“Well?” Bucky asked from the door.

“Um.” You swallowed, realizing you never looked. “That week is great.” You plastered a smile on your face, “I’m going hop in the shower.”

He watched you go, face falling. Damn. The alarm bells in his head were increasing to full on klaxons. Throwing on jeans and a tee shirt, Bucky popped his head in the shower. “Y/N, I’m running down to clear my gear. It’s only going take a couple minutes. Do you want me to bring breakfast back here or do you want to go out?”

“Can we just hang out here?”

“Anything you want, Doll.” You kissed him, soaking his face. He only grinned. “I’ll be right back”

Bucky left, heading straight to Natasha’s door. “Barnes.”

“I need your help.”

“With?”

“I think someone is harassing Y/N. I need to see her phone records.” When her eyebrow arched, he continued. “Every instinct I have says she scared and she’s not telling me for some reason.”

“You might not like the answer.”

“Don’t care. Here safety is more important.”

“Good answer.” She held the door open more. “Get in here.”

Within minutes Nat had multiple numbers, text messages, and time of the brief phone call the day before. “You’re right, Bucky. Something is up. They’re all burner phones. They were all bought with cash or cash cards. All the calls did ping off towers in Manhattan though.”

“What do all the texts mean?”

“You could ask her.” Bucky scowled in response. Nat sighed. “Or... F.R.I.D.A.Y., please perform a confidential analysis protocol Romanoff Beta Zulu Four Six Alpha.”

“Proceed.”

“Please run an analysis of the blocked calls and messages of Y/N’s phone from the last 24 hours and cross reference with her profile for any correlation.”

It only took a moment. “There is an 87% probability the messages are originating from Dr. Y/L/N’s ex-Husband, Richard Vance. There is a 98% probability the message are pertaining to Richard Vance.”

“Explain.” Bucky ground out through a clenched jaw.

“According to police and court files the images in the text messages correspond to the cases of assault filed by Dr. Y/L/N. The California State Department of Corrections reports Mr. Vance has been released to supervised living facility but failed to report back after work release seventeen days ago.”

“Cases.” Bucky closed his eyes. He wanted to break something. “As in plural.”

“Yes, Seargeant.”

“Shit.” Nat huffed angrily.

Bucky opened his eyes, wishing he hadn’t. The case files filled the screen, including the pictures taken of you at the hospital. Black eyes, split lip, bruised jaw. Other pictures show bruised ribs, defensive marks on your hands and arms.

“Where is he?”

“Barnes, if you...”

“Traffic cameras have identified him 16 time around the W 42nd Street area in the last 72 hours.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied.

“Thanks.” Bucky turned to leave.

“Barnes.” Nat grabbed his arm. “Has she told you about any of this?”

“No” His chest tightened. He should have known.

“Listen, tread carefully. She’s likely...”

“Scared? Yeah. I get that. I intend on fixin’ it.” Bucky growled.

“No, ashamed.” Natasha sighed. When he just stared at her, she continued. “Aside from the guilt of what you did, what is the worse thing about your time under Hydra? How many times have you told yourself you should have been stronger, should have fought against it harder, should have broke free sooner? I get you want to kill that bastard. I’d help you. But you need to push that shit down for her sake. You need to help her, not feed your need for revenge.”

Bucky nodded in silent agreement, leaving without another word. The walk back to the apartment took longer than expected. He kept having to stop, suddenly not able to breathe. That bastard hurt you and now he was taunting you. Bucky felt the Soldier surge, wanting to commit cold blooded murder.

Opening the door, he suddenly remembered breakfast. He never stopped at the kitchen to get anything. It didn’t matter. He found you sitting on the edge of the bed in a towel, tears streaking your face. A dent marred the wall and your broken phone littered the floor.

“Y/N.” Bucky approached slowly, quietly, dropping to his knees before you. “Dollface, tell me. Please.”

“My ex is out of prison. They were supposed to let me know. They didn’t. He...” Tears filled your eyes again. “I should have never gotten mixed up with him.”

His hands cupped your face. Full soft lips pressed against your cheeks, your forehead. “Is he scaring you? Threatening you? In any way?”

“I don’t want you in trouble.” A sob broke from your chest.

Something snapped. Bucky bolted from the room, leaving you gasping. Shit. Grasping the towel around yourself you dashed after him. However, he was long gone. The door down the hall opened, Steve’s head popping out. Another sob, escaped. There was hope.

Rushing forward you grabbed Steve’s shirt. “Buck is going to kill him.”

Just then Nat turned the corner from the common area. “Y/N,” She took your hand from his shirt. “I just ran into Barnes. We’ll talk him down. You go get dressed, okay.”

It was all overwhelming. Feeling lost, you just did what she said.

Natasha turned to a very confused Cap. “Come on, Rogers. We have to help Barnes hunt down the asshat that’s threatening her.”

It didn’t take long.

Bucky heard the girl scream from two floors down. His feet carried him the distance before she could take another breath. Busting through the pitiful door, he found a too skinny redhead curled up in the corner under a piece of shit table. Broken glass and spilled beer covered one side of the room.

Bucky grabbed the man by the throat, hauling him off his feet. “Hiya, Dick.”

Steve came in, scooping the woman up and tell her it would be okay. She in turn screamed that “that motherfucker owes me money” despite her bruised jaw. Neither the woman or Vance noticed the female with the phone camera recording everything.

Bucky lowered Vance to his feet, barely. “There’s a bounty on you, Dick. Why would you be stupid enough to come here?”

“None of your fucking business.” Vance tried to strike at Bucky’s face, but got his fingers broke for the effort. He screamed. Then begged when Buck didn’t let go of his hand.

“You gonna try to hit me again, you pansy-ass? I think I’ll hold on to these for now. Why are you here?”

“Looking up an old friend.” He whined.

“Friend? Bullshit.”

“Ow! My ex! Okay! I’m just looking to get in touch with my ex.”

Bucky’s teeth ground together.

“You have a no contact order with Dr. Y/L/N,” came Natasha voice. “You’ll be placed under arrest for breaking the conditions of your release, assault of that woman, breaking your no contact order, attempted assault of federal agent...” Bucky smirked at that stretch of their status. “and credit card fraud.”

“What?!”

About that time several SHIELD agents came in and took him into custody. After he was handcuffed, Bucky leaned in close to growl in his ear. “I’m the assassin that assassins fear. You even think of Y/N again and I will find you. I will take my time killing you. It will be terrifying. It will be beyond painful. No one will ever catch me. No will ever find any proof. And I will have no sympathy. No one hurts what’s mine. Ever. Do you understand?”

Vance went very pale. Bucky smiled, feral, before walking away. Natasha got a little closer. “You’re a lucky son of a bitch.”

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Doesn’t matter.” She leaned casually against the wall. “You’re just going back to prison. You could have easily end up as human mulch in a landfill. Lucky you.”

“You’re fucking nuts. I’m going to tell my lawyer you’re threatening me.” Vance cowered.

Steve stepped up, Vance getting a good look at Captain America for the first time. “You go right ahead. I’ll be there to tell him about the beat-up woman I pulled out of here, and all the great stuff she told me about how you’ve been stealing credit cards. But you go on and tell them how you’re treated unfairly.”

Down by the SHEILD van, Bucky was on his phone when Steve and Natasha stepped up. He slipped in his pocket. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.” Steve’s hand squeezed his shoulder. “You did the right thing.”

“I wanted to break his neck.”

“I know, me too.”

“You better get back.” Nat sighed. “We’ll handle all the red tape.”

“Okay.” He didn’t argue, hopping in the spare car and taking off.

* * *

You stared at the television not really comprehending what was on. Bucky had been gone for hours. A million regrets poured through your mind. All the lost opportunities to tell him the whole truth about your past. How you skirted around the details and glossed over the uglier parts. You’d done it so much in the last five years, it’d just become habit. If anyone deserved to know, if anyone would be supportive, it was Bucky. You felt like you really fucked up.

The Bucky’s text tone buzzed on your phone. ‘Don’t worry, Doll. It’s okay. Be home soon.’

‘Thank heaven. I was so worried.’ You replied.

Then a picture came through. It was a document. You zoomed in. Holy shit. It was a Federal Arrest Filing for Rich. You read through it. They tracked him down and busted him. Sending him back to prison. A knot released in your chest.

Bucky walked in the door as you were reading the final page of the document. Leaping to your feet, your arms wrapped around his shoulders. He held you tight for a moment, before his lips found yours. Foreheads together, he stroked you jaw with his thumb.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you.” Your eye closed against the tears. You didn’t want to cry anymore. “I should have, and I’ll make it right. Anything you want to know.”

“You can tell me anything, absolutely anything. But it’s got to be in your time, in your way. I won’t force it.” His strong hands combed through your hair.

“I thought you’d kill him.”

“Wanted to.” He admitted. “But figured you don’t need to live with that. This way is better.” A wicked smile crossed his face. “Of course, I warned him if he steps out of line, he’ll wish I just killed him quick.”

You had a perverse image of Bucky threatening that dickhead for you and curled closer into his strong body, purring. “My hero.”

That not only filled his chest with pride, but went straight to his cock. Picking you up, he carried you back to the bedroom. He wanted to wipe away any memories of tears. He breathed against your lips. “Damn, Doll. I love you.”

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes fanfic

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terrablogz · 4 years ago

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THE AMUSEMENT PARK OF HALLOWEEN’S NIGHT!

It was a breezy evening, with the rain pouring down gloomily and the skies pitch dark. The wind was blowing very strongly and the trees outside were swishing side to side as if they were dancing. “Tap, tap, tap.”

“I wish this storm would go down,” said Vera.

“This sucks,” said Fera, who was Vera’s twin sister.

“Well, you guys wanna share some stories or fun facts?” asked Kiara, their youngest sister.

“Sure I guess,” said Vera.

“Ok, me first!” exclaimed Kiara.

“So this is a real fact I’ve heard about and researched online, it has been said that Merryhike has a mystifying amusement park which only appears in the woods on Halloween’s night!” said Kiara in a quiet voice.

“You mean the place Mum and Dad are bringing us this time?” asked Fera.

“Positively,” said Kiara

“Kiara, do you believe this?” asked Vera.

“Well, the only way to find out is when we leave there tomorrow,” said Kiara.

“But you said it only appears on Halloween nights,” murmured Fera.

“That’s right and Halloween is only 2 days away!” shouted Kiara!

“Well, we better get some sleep for tomorrow’s trip,” said Vera.

The girls said their goodnights and were off to bed.

The following morning, it was bright and sunny outside unlike the storm last night.

As the sun was shining bright, Vera woke up and got dressed for the trip while both her sisters were still sleeping.

“Wake up!” yelled Vera while shaking her sisters.

“Geez, I’m up!” said Kiara while yawning.

“Me too,” said Fera still looking half asleep

“Guys it's our trip to Merryhike today!” exclaimed Vera

“Right!” exclaimed Fera, fully awake.

“Woohoo, here we come Merryhike!” yelled Kiara in joy.

The girls were all settled in the car and were already on the road

“Are you excited girls?” asked Mrs. Denver, the girl's mother.

The girls exclaimed in joy, “You bet we are mum!”

“Well, Merryhike is known for its best berries,” said Mr. Denver, their father.

“Hmm, those berries do sound juicy!” sighed Fera.

As they were on the way to Merryhike they decided to take a break in a rest and relax area.

“Ahh, nice fresh air after that long ride,” said Mrs. Denver.

“Yep, couldn’t stand being in a car for that long anyway,” said Vera

“We better hit the road before it gets dark, so hop on!” said Mr. Denver.

As soon as they reached Merryhike, they came across a big mansion called the Kimberly. It was the place they were staying at for the vacation.

“Woah, it’s a really big mansion dad,” said Kiara, unsure of how to express it.

“She’s right dad, do we need such a big mansion for just 10 days?” asked Vera.

“I didn’t say that!” shouted Kiara.

“Yes you did!” demanded Vera.

“No, I didn’t!” snapped Kiara.

“OK, girls please calm down,” said Mrs. Denver

“Sorry mum,” the girls murmured.

Slowly, their car came to a stop, and there they were standing right in front of a huge door made out of a hardwood. The house looked old but elegant with beautiful structures around it. There stood many statues of animals and many birds flew over the house. As the family got out, they could see that this house hadn’t been used for many years.

“Come on girls, let’s go inside,” said Mrs. Denver.

“Wait a minute mum, why is there another car over the other end of the house?” asked Fera.

“Are you girls sure you don’t recognize that car?” asked Mrs. Denver with a smile on her face.

As Vera went closer to the car, only then she realized it was their best friend Polly and Molly’s car.

“Fera, Kiara! It's Polly and Molly’s car!” exclaimed Vera.

“Yay, this is going to be so much fun!” squealed Kiara

Since the girls wanted to unpack their stuff as quickly as they could they decided to go inside to check out the house. As the girls set their foot in their house, there was a strong smell of oldness. It was fairly dark in there so they couldn’t see anything. Mr. Denver then found the light switch and flipped it on. They couldn’t believe their eyes!

“Wow! What a tremendous chandelier!” exclaimed Kiara, her eyes full of admiration.

“It stinks in here,” said Vera.

“That’s because it hasn’t been in use for a long time,” replied Fera.

Soon enough, the girls were all unpacked and ready for dinner with some fresh new clothes on.

“Dinners here!” yelled Mrs. Denver, so the girls could hear her from their room.

“Coming mum!” the girls said, as they rushed downstairs to eat dinner

“Oooo! Pizza!” Vera and Fera exclaimed.

“I can’t wait to dig in!” joked Kiara.

The night had fallen so soon and the girls were getting ready for bed, it was stormy outside as it was yesterday but this time it had just gotten stronger!

“Here comes the storm again,” sighed Kiara.

“I bet it’s going to last until tomorrow,” said Vera as she sighed quietly.

All of a sudden they heard footsteps coming from downstairs.

“Tip, tap, tap, tap”

“Shhh, do you hear that?” whispered Kiara.

“You bet we do,” said Vera.

“Let’s go check it out!” exclaimed Fera.

“SHHH!” exclaimed her sisters, quietly.

“Oops, Sorry!” whispered Fera with a silly laugh of embarrassment.

“Tap, tap, tap” the sounds of the footsteps got closer and closer and soon it stopped right in front of the girl’s room. As the girls held their breath in and waited for something bad to happen. The door swung open and they could see two girls standing right there. “Polly!Molly!” exclaimed Fera in delight.

“Fera!” Both girls squealed in happiness.

“When did you guys get here?” asked Kiara.

“Oh, it was a long trip from riverville,” said Molly

“Yeah, we got through some rough traffic,” sighed Polly in exhaustion.

“Have you both had dinner?” asked Vera.

“Yes,” said Molly.

Suddenly the girls heard snoring coming from next to them, as they turned around they saw Polly enjoy her sleep. The girls laughed and soon were asleep too.

“Tweet, tweet, tweet.” the birds sang. Soon enough from the sounds of nature, the girls woke up! “Good morning,” said Polly with energy.

“Good morning,” the other girls replied.

“Girls it's time for breakfast!” shouted Mrs. Denver.

The girls took the time to take a shower and get ready.

“Hmm, these pancakes are delicious!” exclaimed Molly.

“Thank you, Molly,” said Mrs. Denver.

“Wow, what is that smell?” asked Mrs. Fisher.

“It’s mom’s pancake!” exclaimed Fera.

“Great, I’ll have 3 of them!” said Mrs. Fisher.

Soon the girls were full and ready to go outside, as it was Halloween today!

“Oh dear, I was so excited for today that I barely slept last night!” exclaimed Polly.

“Me too!” exclaimed Fera.

“Haha, I am pretty sure we all did the same thing,” laughed Vera.

“Ok, line up girls!” commanded Mr. Denver and Mr. Fisher

“Ok, Vera 1, Molly 2, Kiara 3, Fera 4, and Polly 5. Great, we are good to go!” said Mr. Denver.

“Girls have fun exploring this place,” said Mrs. Fisher.

“We will mum!” exclaimed Molly and Polly.

Abruptly Vera became quiet. There she saw a woman standing right in front of the window looking at them! She showed no sign of movement as if she was a mannequin. Vera knew that she clearly could see the woman breathing but thought she was imagining things.

“Girls, do you see a woman at the window?” asked Vera not to take her eyes off the woman.

“What do you mean Vera?” asked her little sisters Fera and Kiara.

“I said, '' Do you see a woman wearing a white gown at the window?” asked Vera again.

“Yea we do but it looks like a mannequin,” said her sisters.

“No, she’s alive I can see her breathing,” said Vera, feeling scared-stiff.

“Well, you must be seeing things, let’s go,” said Molly.

“I guess so,” said Vera. But inside she was certain that she saw the woman breathing.

As the girls turned back to call Vera they were aghast of what they saw. Vera was missing! “Vera!” her little sisters began to call out in fear.

“Vera, where are you?” asked Molly loudly.

“Uhh, girls,” said Polly.

“What is it Polly?” asked Molly in annoyance.

“I see Vera!” exclaimed Polly with concern

“Wait, what?” asked Kiara as she turned around.

“Goodness gracious! What is she doing over there!” exclaimed Fera.

The girls couldn’t believe what they were seeing! Vera was standing right next to the Woman! The girls rushed upstairs to Vera and were horrified by what she had been doing!

“Vera! Stop it!” said Fera.

“She’s not alive!” exclaimed Kiara.

“She’s a mannequin!” screamed Molly with fright

“You’ve gone mad Vera!” said Polly.

“Guys, you have to believe me, I can hear her heart beating!” exclaimed Vera.

Slowly the girls began to take turns to see if she was breathing and alive! “Your right Vera!” all the girls exclaimed!

Shortly after they knew she was alive and were still in her room, night had fallen by so quickly, as it grew darker and darker the girls then realized the woman was starting to come to life! Her fangs dropped! Her cape appeared! She transformed into something the girls had never experienced! She was a VAMPIRE! “AHHHH!” The girls screamed.

“Shhh!” said the vampire.

The girls then remained silent

“Look I’m not gonna hurt you, girls,” said the vampire.

“My name is Victoria,” said the Vampire.

“Well, nice to meet you Victoria,” said Vera.

“How old are you Victoria?” asked Fera.

“Does the sun hurt you,” continued Polly.

“Are you vegetarian?” asked Molly.

“I’m 13, No the sun doesn’t hurt me, I eat meat and vegetarian,” said Victoria.

“Wait, your 13?” asked Fera.

“Yes I am,” answered Victoria.

“We are too but you look so much taller than us!” exclaimed Fera.

“That’s because I’m a vampire,” said Victoria.

“Well, VAMPIRES ARE AWESOME!!” screamed Polly.

“Shhhh!” said Vera.

“We can’t let mum, dad, Mrs. Fisher, and Mr. Fisher know!” whispered Kiara.

“Don’t worry about that girls, I can turn into a human,” said Victoria.

“Cool!” exclaimed Kiara as Victoria transformed into a human.

“Let’s go girls!” said Victoria.

As the girl went downstairs they could see the sun setting slowly! The sky was fading into different colors of yellow, pink, blue, and purple! The clouds were moving slowly away to show the moon rise as the sun was setting!

“Girls!” called out Mrs. Fisher.

“Coming mom!” said Molly and Polly.

The girls were inside getting ready for Halloween’s night! “I see you’ve found a friend,” said Mrs. Denver as she was helping Fera dress up.

“You bet we did Mrs. Denver,” said Polly.

“Her name is Victoria,” said Kiara.

“Ooo, that reminds me of the vampire story I read,” said Mrs. Denver

“Wait, what do you mean mum?” asked Vera.

“Victoria the vampire, the girl who helps people on Halloween’s night,” said Mrs. Denver.

There was a sudden silence in the room, for all the girls were thinking the same thing! Victoria the vampire is real, she’s helping them!

Once the girls had dressed up, they met up with Victoria but never told her about what they knew.

Later that night the girls were walking back to their homestay when something suddenly began flashing in the woods. “I don’t think it's a good idea to go there, let's go home,” said Victoria, already aware of what was coming.

“Too late,” said the girls as they were already running ahead to it.

“Wait, I hear kids singing,” said Kiara.

Victoria was worried and didn’t know what to do but she knew she had to somehow save her friends.

The girls started running towards it and soon in front of them stood a board saying “Welcome to Halloween’s night!” The girls except for Victoria were excited! “Let’s go, girls,” said Molly.

The laughter of kids was spilling the whole place with happiness but the girls weren’t aware of what they were expecting. Suddenly a clown appeared in front of them! “Hey there girls, I’m Dreader,” said the clown with a smile.

“Well, I’m Molly, this is my sister Polly and my friends, Kiara, Vera, Fera and Victoria,” said Molly.

“Victoria huh…,” said Dreaded with an evil smirk, “like Victoria the vampire?”

“Wait, how do you know this?” asked Kiara.

“That’s because I'm no ordinary clown.., I'm a killer clown,” said the Clown with evil laughter.

The second Victoria heard the word “Killer Clown” she told the girls to run. Soon the girls found a safe spot in the Horror house at the amusement park. “Phew, we lost the clown,” said Kiara taking deep breaths.

They all looked at Victoria. “You knew about this right?” asked Fera.

“Fera..,” Vera nudged Fera in her ribs.

“What do you mean?” asked Victoria hesitantly.

“Your Victoria the Vampire,” said Fera.

“Ummm…,” said Victoria.

“You help people on Halloween’s night,” continued Fera.

The other girls remained silent as Fera continued talking.

“Ok..yes I am her,” said Victoria helplessly.

After several hours the girls could see people still out there enjoying the fun. Soon enough, the sun started slowly rising.

“Found you!” said Dreader with an evil smile.

“Your gonna be sorry,” said Polly and Fera.

Polly had found a baseball bat the time they were hiding there. Polly swung the bat so hard that Dreader fell down with a loud crash. He slowly disappeared as the morning sun shined up wide.

The people started to get out of there and the girls were the only ones left there! “The gate’s closing!” screamed Victoria in fear.

“We have to hurry!” said Vera.

The girls were a second earlier than the gate! The gate closed and the girls were safe outside! They all rushed home.

By the time the girls reached the homestay, they were exhausted and dirty! “We are back!” exclaimed Molly.

“Bye girls, its time for me to go home now,” said Victoria.

The girls said their farewells to Victoria. The next morning it was time for the girls to leave. “Bye Molly and Polly,” said Fera.

The girls soon were on the road and back on the way home. “I’ll never forget this vacation,” said Vera.

“Us too,” said her sisters.

“Mum and Dad, you won’t believe what happened to us,” exclaimed Kiara.

“Kiara...shhhh,” said her sisters.

The end!

#short story #story time #halloween #halloween is here!#scary story for kids #fun stories #entertainment

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leggigoesabroad · 6 years ago

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you can’t spell awesome without me

Lyric from Taylor’s NEW SINGLE!! It’s called ME! It’s actually called that, with the exclamation point and everything. It’s as dope as you’re imagining in your head right now. And some people, like my coworker Mary who laughs at everything I say, do in fact think I’m awesome. (She’s such a great audience. Now I look at her immediately after any joke I make just for the reaction and validation.)

Well, well, well. Leggi goes abroad again. I’m doing a site visit for work in Vienna and Prague for a few days, and then on to Paris on my own (with an alarming amount of details in between yet to be determined, I should really get on that.)

I sit here at 10:25 pm in Vienna, Austria, in a gorgeously authentic Viennese apartment with stupid high ceilings and ornate decorations, in a fluffy-ass robe after I finally showered the airport off of me. Left Denver at 4 pm Friday, landed at Munich at 9:45 am today (Saturday) local time, long layover, then a quick 45 minute flight to Vienna where a private driver awaited me. I feel that weird feeling of not knowing which way is up and which way is down and what year it is, in only the special way you get when you’re traveling across the ocean. I had so many things I wanted to tell all of my people while I was flying, but obviously had no service, so I did the same thing I did with Hayley when we flew to Thailand: wrote down all my thoughts for a future blog. Luckily for you all, HERE THEY ARE, the undiscovered gems of the Denver to Munich economy class Lufthansa flight.

- Get on board and scope the movies, immediately knew I was going to watch “Beautiful Boy” because apparently something about Timothee Chalamet and poignant flights just feels right to me. I almost watched “Call Me By Your Name” again but I don’t think the married woman next to me wants to watch Timothee have sex with a peach.

- Girl in front of me just aggressively reclined her chair back to it’s fully back position 20 minutes into the flight and I fear this is my new normal for 9 hours.

- I now find myself actively wishing ill upon her.

- Hey, only 8 hours 57 minutes remaining!

- Why is tiny, frail, drug-addled Timothee Chalamet also just like SO HOT? I don’t understand his appeal at all and this is coming from someone who sees his appeal.

- He reminds me of Jennifer Lawrence. Someone who is so weird and awkward and seems like they just accidentally fell into acting yet are brilliant at it.

- I think it’s his voice. You know how I’m into voices.

- She sat her seat up to eat. I’m just sad knowing how temporary it will be.

- The woman next to me sounds exactly like what’s-her-name from Who’s the Boss, the mom. Judith something?? When she talks I sometimes purposefully don’t look at her so I can imagine it’s just Jonathan’s mom. Didn’t that kid grow up to be gay? Or commit suicide? Really hope it’s the former.

- She just turned on the Canes/Islanders game 1. She has no idea what a personal affront this is. :(

- Okay, she switched off of it and turned on Notting Hill. I almost suggested she pause and wait for me to catch up and we could watch in tandem while I tell her all my favorite parts, but Timothee just relapsed and I’m invested.

- Dinner is chicken, rice, a salad, a roll, cheese and crackers, and a blueberry crumble dessert thing. Not bad!! Though I do miss the filet and unlimited alcohol from business class...

- Chalamet plays such a convincing drug addict wow wow wow wow wow

- Reminder: google crystal meth sobriety success rate.

- I feel as if they’re getting ready to tuck us in for bed and I’m not ready. Sleepover anxiety. Dad?? Dad! You can come get me now.

- Flight attendants are walking around with open bottles of water and wine topping people off. Da real MVPs.

- Yep. The post-meal recline was just as jarring as I thought it would be.

- This bitch in front just literally re-did her pony tail and then threw it over her seat, spewing over my screen. No idea what to do here.

- Well now Timothee is having heroin sex in the shower so maybe the peach scene would have been better.

- I didn’t know there was a more recent Jason Bourne movie. Now I don’t want to take my sleeping pill.

- Took the pill. Reminds me of when I had wine and an Ambien with Debbie on a flight to Switzerland and had to hold her hips on the way to bathroom like a toddler because I couldn’t see. Now we wait!! Also Jason Bourne just had to watch his ex-boo Julia Stiles get murdered in front of him :( 6 hours left.

Ensue four hours of half sleep, half wake. Land in Munich like an absolute zombie and it SHOWED. Business lounge guy turns down my club pass and I manage not to cry.

- Fall immediately asleep on an airport bench like one of those creepy airport sleepers. Kind airport lady wakes me up about an hour later very concerned that I’m missing my flight to Stockholm, as I guess I was near their gate. I awoke as if from an exorcism and shouted “NO! VIENNA!” at her, before realizing she was worried about me and then I profusely apologized and fell back asleep.

- No one in the middle seat on the way to Vienna! And a full-sized Kit Kat given to us BEFORE take-off! Hear that, Southwest and your fucking plane crackers?

- Can anyone explain to me how airplanes work?

- Seat mate just watched intently as I poured out my entire pharmacy looking for a caffeine pill...

- What did we do before medicine and pills?? Then I remember Jamie on Outlander crossing the sea on a several months-long voyage and vomiting every day for months with no relief. He was basically Princess Kate. (”Um, Matt Bomer was on White Collar. Princess MEGHAN was on Suits.” - Champions, NBC)

- When I see customs and the two options are “declare” and “nothing to declare”, I always think of Ilana in Broad City when she goes to the seafood restaurant and the waiter asks if she has any allergies she’d like to disclose (audience knowing she’s super allergic to seafood.) “None that I...would like to disclose.”

- Driver had my name on a sign!! First time that’s ever happened to me! I really wanted to stop and take a picture but I also had to act like I been there before.

Got to the apartment and a lot more happened after I settled in, including our local host Karin immediately clearing my chakras after hearing my dry cough by explaining magnetic energy to me and tapping a voodoo doll while I meditated next to her. It’s as weird as it sounds but I dig her. I feel as if she gets me.

Tomorrow we’ll sleep in a little bit, have lunch, and then go on a private 3-hour guided city tour. Vienna, HERE I COME! We’re not allowed to post more than one pic per city on social media per: work rules (re: not making other people jealous and looking like dicks, which I personally think is bullshit, so I’ll be sharing stories via the ‘close friends’ option on the ‘gram. Eat your hearts out, I’m in Vienna and Prague for free.**)

**Had to purchase hundreds of dollars of supplies to soothe my anxiety about the trip, and as soon as the trip is over will do two years of free labor as the villa lead, but hey, for now, shit is free and maybe I’ll finally meet my international husband and we’ll both just ~~know. When you know, you know. But you can never KNOW...

Xoxo this gossip girl is a jet-lagged bitch and will be wittier and more thorough tomorrow. Though for everyone’s sake, I hope we never get another blog like the one recounting the food poisoning/bloody amputated foot/Duncan’s one night Russian stands/quarantine room.... ever again.

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spicyskilletsauce-blog · 7 years ago

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Simmer, Chapter 3

Note: this story includes depictions of contestants on the reality TV show Top Chef. This story is not intended to depict any real-life actions or sexuality of the people portrayed.

M/M Explicit sexual content.

3. The Porch

It was never fun to watch someone leave the Top Chef house. Padma’s “Pack your knives and go” indictment was kind of fun if you were watching at home, but when you’re standing there, Judges’ Table just a few feet in front of you, facing the four or five people who had your fate in their hands … well, the reality of it crashes in pretty quickly. Even if you’re safe beyond any doubt, you still have to watch them send someone else home, you still have to see someone you’ve become friends with get ceremoniously ejected. And hell, it happened twice this week. At least Rogelio had had the dignity of leaving in the normal manner; Laura had been sent home in a Quickfire Elmination, which seemed just … what? Ignominious.

The worst of it was that you didn’t feel all bad when someone left. The worst of it was that a part of you – sometimes a big part – cheered, and did it loudly. If someone else is going home, you’re not. You stay to compete another day.

Joe Flamm let these thoughts swirl in his head as the rest of them cheered and drank and stared out the window at the endless Colorado vistas. Once or twice, he’d caught Joe Sasto’s eyes, and they’d lingered for a moment before moving off. They hadn’t talked about it today. Hell, they hadn’t had time. The Food Truck Challenge had been harder than anyone had anticipated, with more mental and physical energy going into it that he’d prepared for. He’d been matched up with Tanya and Carrie – not only a dream team in and of themselves, but also … well, fuck it. He’d been worried about pairing up with Joe. Not because he hated him or that it would be impossible to cook with him, but just because he hadn’t sorted anything out in his mind, and anything that was going to cause a distraction was something he didn’t need right now. Still, the three of them had opted to call their truck Down the Chin, cheekily explaining to anyone who would listen that of course they meant it to describe the messy food they were serving. Nothing else, wink-wink. But every once in a little while, Flamm would glance at the serving board and see that name and flash right back to Joe Sasto looking up at him after what had happened the night before.

No one here is psychic, Joe, his brain thundered at him. Call it what it was: a blowjob. Mustache Joe gave you a blowjob last night, and when he was finished, your cum was on his chin. And in his mouth.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Without saying another word, he stood up from the table and headed toward the back door. He needed air. A little breathing room.

Outside, the night had come down in a way he’d only experienced here. It wasn’t that the Top Chef house was completely free of light pollution – they were in Denver, deep in the mountains – but everything here seemed grander, wider, more open. In the distance, he could see the jagged tops of the Rockies reach out and touch the sky, a glittering violet blanket of stars and planets so vast he could only feel dwarfed by it all.

The door behind him opened and closed with a soft squeal. As he knew it would. As he hoped it would. “Joe,” he murmured.

“Joe,” the voice echoed back, and Flamm grinned, turning around and settling back against the railing. Sasto stood before him in a loose tank top and shorts, all that body hair still on display even though he was completely decent. Decent. What a word.

“Congratulations are in order,” Flamm said, grinning. It was true. In their third week there, Sasto had won the Elimination Challenge, for these out of control chicken wings that were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside and so good it was enough to make you lose your religion. Not that Flamm was slouching it: his soup with the grilled-cheese croutons had been enough for Gail to thank him for a hot dish on a sizzling day. A good day for the Joes, all in all.

“Thanks,” Sasto said. “I’m pretty relieved, actually. I was starting to get these thoughts that I would never win a challenge.”

“We’re on the third week, Joe.”

“Still. You know what I mean.”

Flamm grinned. “You’re so competitive. It’s good. It’s exciting to watch. Just don’t make it everything.”

“It is everything, isn’t it? I mean, that’s why we’re here.”

For a few moments, Flamm didn’t speak. It was easy to do with the mountains out there, and the moon hanging high like a benevolent ghost in the night, casting spells of light onto the world below. At last, Flamm glanced around. No one was following them, not even the camera crew. “So, do we talk about this?”

He met Sasto’s eyes and begged him quietly not to say, “Talk about what?” He didn’t know how to feel about the night before but he didn’t want to dismiss it, and he didn’t want to exactly forget about it. But even through all of the cooking and competition today, he couldn’t get it out of his mind. He needed to know why.

Sasto took a step forward, seeming to mull over his words. “Do we have to talk about it? It was something that happened.”

Flamm furrowed his brow and peered deep into Sasto’s dark eyes. The Italian set of his face, scruffy after the day they’d put in, even though he’d shaved that morning. And that mustache that should have been ridiculous, curling up at both sides like he was a strongman in a circus. It caught everyone’s eye, of course, but now his own eye lingered on it. It had brushed against his belly last night. Over and over, and then … then fucking holding Sasto’s head down as he came. What was that about? He’d never done that to a woman.

“It was more than that,” he said. “At least to me.”

Sasto did his own look around. “Well, what do you want it to be?”

“I don’t know. I thought I’d wake up this morning more freaked out than I am. But instead, I’m just thinking about it. I don’t think in a bad way, either. I don’t know. This is all new to me.”

Leaning against the railing, Sasto said, “It’s not exactly new to me. I mean, I’m straight, but … I don’t know, sometimes you just need to get off.”

A bunch of histrionic phrases passed through Flamm’s mind: is that all I am, a way to get off? and so I meant literally nothing? But he wasn’t even sure if he meant any of that stuff. He was just trying to get a handle on what he did mean.

“Yeah, okay. I mean, it’s good getting off. I never thought I’d do it with another dude.”

“It bother you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“You want it to happen again?”

Flamm turned away. “I want to reiterate that I’m happily married.”

Then he felt Sasto’s hand on the front of his jeans. Instinctually, he backed away … then stopped. He glanced back through the window and the rest of the chefs were in the kitchen, drinking wine and deconstructing the day. Tyler and Bruce were making pork chops for everyone. No one was missing them, but if they started … if they looked.

“We both know that’s not a real answer.”

Sasto was still looking out into the wider Colorado world as his hand absently found Flamm’s fly and tugged it down gently. Flamm’s dick, fully flaccid only a moment ago, now awoke in the cool Denver night. Sasto’s fingers trailed across his shaft lightly.

“Sometimes this happens,” Sasto told him. “I don’t look for answers. I just enjoy the moment. You enjoying the moment?”

Flamm closed his eyes and couldn’t help but grin. Sasto may not want answers, but they were important to him. Maybe they mattered and maybe they didn’t, but he still wanted them.

But he could get them later.

Joe Sasto’s hand gripped the shaft of Flamm’s dick, now almost fully hard and leaking precum onto the porch boards. Flamm gripped the railing and bit his lower lip. Women had done this, his wife had done this, but this was so different. The hand that held his cock was rough like his own, calloused and hard – it was a hand that had chopped a thousand onions, that had butchered a hundred pigs, that had grabbed hot saucepan lids and sliced the webbing between fingers open in the drive to create the perfect dish. It was a chef’s hand – a man’s chef’s hand – so like his own, but coming from outside. This wasn’t him jerking off quietly in the shower. This wasn’t masturbating under the sheets when he was in high school. This was new, and strange, and exciting as hell. Any deeper thoughts he had and wanted to share flew out of his brain as Sasto’s brilliant hand picked up pace.

“Joe,” he murmured, taking one more look over his shoulder. They were all still in there, talking, laughing, drinking. At any moment, any one of them could wonder where the two Joes were, and go seeking. The door to the porch wasn’t even closed. The thin screen door was all that stood between the Top Chef house and discovery.

“Want me to stop,” Sasto said, and Flamm caught a wicked grin on his face. He was enjoying this. Not just what he was doing, but also the danger of it, and the way he’d caught Flamm off guard. Chicago Joe wanted to wipe that grin off his face … but he also wanted to keep looking at it, while Joe Sasto’s hand kept moving on his cock, stroking up and down, at an excruciatingly slow pace that would drive him insane eventually. And his thumb kept tripping over the tip of his dick, swirling the precum there; when Flamm was jerking off by himself, he never touched the tip – it was just a sort of straight-up mechanical back and forth. This was fucking exquisite: those rough fingers moving in a rhythm Flamm himself couldn’t achieve, his thumb painting the head of his cock with precum, sensitizing it even more.

“Faster,” he grunted, looking right into Sasto’s face. Sasto’s grin turned into a real smile now, his mustache tilting up at the sides, his white teeth flashing through his olive complexion and day’s beard growth. All at once, Flamm wanted to put his hand on Sasto’s body, touch the rough hair on his belly, feel the definition in the man’s chest. Sasto was so different from him, so physically different. Exploring that body, that man’s body, would be like traveling to a new country to uncover new food, new customs, new ways of thinking about the world. He wanted to take off Joe Sasto’s shirt and lay him down on a bed in a quiet room and start a journey of discovery. Would he use more than his hands? Would he use his mouth? Oh fuck, what if he was going to use his mouth? Could he? Would it be too weird? Could—

Flashes appeared in his mind: Sasto lying down, fully naked, he above, dropping his head down and putting his tongue on Sasto’s abs, Sasto’s nipples, Sasto’s … oh, fuck, his balls. What would it be like to lick the man’s balls?

“Joe, I’m…”

“Shhhh. Don’t want them to hear.”

The night before, his eyes had been fully squeezed shut when came, shooting into Sasto’s mouth behind a shroud of darkness. Now, his eyes were on Joe Sasto’s face as his nuts tightened. His cock throbbed. Sasto’s smile never dropped off, and his hand never stopped moving. Flamm found himself matching that smile, second before his body began to shudder all over. His knees went watery and he held onto the bannister as tightly as he could to avoid collapsing. Then, in a triple wallop, he came over and over and over, his jizz shooting out through the bars of the porch railing and showering the ground below. It felt as if his whole essence was shooting out of him, concentrated and vital.

Joe Sasto’s mild smile never fell away. Those eyes, dark pools of mystery, never betrayed what he was thinking. After a long while, Sasto removed his hand and glanced down at it. Some of Flamm’s semen had pooled there in the hollow between his thumb and forefinger. Never taking his eyes off Flamm’s, he held the hand up to his face and lapped up the warm come. Some of it dribbled down his chin.

“Joe,” Flamm repeated. It was the only word he seemed to know anymore.

“It’s just protein,” Sasto said, smiling, wiping his chin. After a moment, Flamm smiled back. Then the voices inside hit him afresh, and he was suddenly acutely reminded of where they were and what they were doing. He’d forgotten for awhile. As he got his still-hard dick back into his pants, Sasto said, “Look, man. If you want to talk about it, I’ll talk about it. Later. I didn’t expect this, but I’m into it. You into it?”

Flamm’s dick still throbbed behind his zipper. “I don’t want to say yes.”

“Hey, Joe. Look, I’m not gay, but I’m sure as hell not straight. If you’re having an identity thing, that’s cool, but me? I don’t worry about that stuff. Sometimes it’s okay to not think too hard and just enjoy it.”

“That’s not … really how I’m built.”

Sasto’s smile got bigger. “Then we’ll talk. But not now.”

Flamm shot his eyes down to Sasto’s crotch. “Aren’t you going to…?”

Shaking his head, Sasto said, “Not right now. But you owe me. We’re going to do it my way next time.”

Isn’t that what we’ve been doing? Flamm wondered, but his dick didn’t wonder. His dick – already getting softer – immediately hardened again, and he thought if he wanted to, he could get off again. He hadn’t come twice in a row since culinary school. What the hell was Sasto doing to him?

What he was doing now was tilting a little salute and retreating back into the house, leaving Joe Flamm on the porch alone once again. He tried to think but he couldn’t. His whole body thrummed with the excitement of what had just happened, and what had happened the night before. Two words clamored through his head like clarion bells: next time. Sasto had said next time. This was going to happen again.

Despite all of Chicago Joe’s reservations, he couldn’t stop smiling. Next time. What the hell was going to happen next time?

Hey friends: if you like what you’re reading, why not kick your favorite writer a couple bucks?

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junker-town · 6 years ago

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Jaylen Brown and the Celtics break through

BOSTON — There was less than a minute to play and a playoff series hung in the balance as Jaylen Brown flew down the court with the ball and a chance to tie the score. Transition is where he’s at his best. Give him a clear runway to the basket and Brown is capable of throwing down on anyone. This was his moment to put a stamp on a playoff series and a punctuation point on a season that failed to meet anyone’s expectations, let alone his high standards.

But Brown didn’t try to throw it down and he didn’t try to force the action. Instead he made one of the best plays of his career at exactly the right moment.

“You’ve got be patient enough to know that things take time, but also understand that time takes things,” he had told me the day before at the team’s practice facility. “It’s a balance. Yes, I’m patient, but at the same time, I have a blueprint.”

You see, Brown believes he is ready to become one of the better two-way players in the league. Not tomorrow, not in a few years. Today.

In the first two games against the Pacers, his offense had been an afterthought. His job was to defend Indiana sharpshooter Bojan Bogdanovic, who is the closest thing Indy has to a go-to player without Victor Oladipo. Brown has done his job well against Bogdanovic, staying up in his air space, trailing around screens and making it as hard as possible for Bogdanovic to score.

It’s a vital job, but it’s a decidedly unglamorous role in a series that’s been ugly by nature. You don’t get asked to step up to the postgame podium by simply playing your role.

So here he was, streaking down the court with a step on his defender and the thunder roar of the Garden behind him. What better opportunity for Brown prove his value on both ends of the floor? As he made his move, Indiana’s rim protector Myles Turner was closing fast. Even better! Turner’s been a force at the rim, and man, could you imagine jammin on Myles?

Instead, in one fluid motion, Brown reversed the ball to the corner where Jayson Tatum was all alone. Tatum’s shot was true and the Celtics claimed a lead they didn’t relinquish. Afterward, Celtics coach Brad Stevens called it, “One of the best plays I’ve ever seen him make.”

The conversation between coach and player, as Brown recounted later, went like this.

Stevens: That was a hell of a play. That was a big time play.

Brown: You probably thought I was going to lay it up, didn’t you?

Stevens: No, I knew you were going to make the right play.

This is what the postseason is all about now for Brown and the rest of the Celtics. The regular season is dead, may it be forgotten quickly. What matters is what they do now and through the first three games of this series, the Celtics look an awful lot like a team that’s coming together.

It’s not just about winning and losing games. It’s about making plays for each other, setting screens with purpose, hitting the open man, recovering on defense, and most of all, trusting one another.

“There’s a different energy in the building because we know we’ve got to do everything it takes to win,” Kyrie Irving said after that Game 2 victory. “There’s so much you don’t have to worry about anymore. You don’t have to score a bunch of points to make an impact on the game. We have a bunch of talented players and now we’re in the postseason and we have to do the little things.”

Talent, ambition, and ego. These have been the defining traits for the Celtics this season and Jaylen Brown has never lacked for any of the three. They are not bad things in the context of the NBA. In fact they are absolutely necessary for survival. They are, however, not great in the context of a team that needs its players to make individual sacrifices.

Like most of the Celtics, Brown’s season did not get off to a great start. He had trouble finding his way in a starting lineup now crowded with players who need the ball. He was often forced to defend bigger opponents as the de-facto four man. As the Celtics struggled out of the gate, Brown came in for his share of criticism, and he was moved to the bench in December.

Rather than see it as a demotion, Brown used the bench to find his niche and carve out his own space. His shooting steadily improved throughout the winter and his scoring and rebounding returned to previous levels. He was still up and down as they all were, but if he didn’t take a massive step forward this season, he also didn’t take a giant one backward. Sometimes maintaining is an accomplishment given the circrumstances.

“I don’t make excuses,” Brown told me. “You need to have a maturity level about being in this position. It was a challenge, probably the most challenging thing I’ve had to deal with in terms of expectations and getting put into a scenario where this is reality; this is your role.

“It was tough to deal with,” he continued. “But either you can make excuses and try to get to a better situation, which may or may not be, or you can work through it and try to make the best of it. I chose to make the best of it rather than point fingers and make excuses.”

Still, Brown didn’t get here by settling. In his mind, he’s ready to become an All-Star given the right opportunity. Honestly, he’s always felt that way about his game. It’s one of the endearing things about him. You could call it irrational confidence if not for the fact that Brown is so precisely analytical about himself.

“Coming into the league nobody thought I could score the ball,” Brown said. “So they typecast me as just a defender. Once they saw that I could score the ball at a high level, that’s when the dilemma started. My scoring is just a bonus for the coaching staff, front office. What they wanted me to do when I was drafted here was be a defender. I can do that, but it’s a double-edged sword because I feel like I can one of the better two-way players in this league.”

The thing about doing the right thing, is that it comes back to you. Call it karma or summon the basketball gods for a further explanation, but good basketball begets more good basketball and opportunities reveal themselves

In Game 3 in Indiana, Brown and the Celtics had a point to make. They proved they could win at home, but the road has been unkind to them the last few years. To get a win in Indy, they would need to come out strong and remain connected as never before. They would need to play through their mistakes and weather the various storms without the energy of the home crowd behind them.

Brown was ready from the jump. He went 4-for-4 and made all three of his 3’s in the first quarter, eclipsing the total number of points he had scored in the two previous games. He went on to make his first seven shots en route to a 23-point performance on 8-for-9 shooting with seven rebounds and all the defense you could want.

“I think everybody knows that I’m known for the defensive potential I have,” Brown had told me after that practice on Tuesday. “When I’m really locked in, I can make it hard on anyone to score. At the same time I can lead a team in scoring as well.”

Prophetic words as it turned out.

Say What?!

“We have a very long and successful history together with Klutch Sports. Rich Paul and I have spoken about Anthony (Davis) and I think we’re both excited about what we can potentially build here.”

— David Griffin, the Pelicans new head of basketball operations.

Reaction: I still think AD gets traded this summer, but this is a smart opening gambit by Griff. Wipe the slate clean and start over without all the animosity of the past few months. Who knows, maybe Davis agrees to stay and sign that massive extension. Regardless, the Pels have already remade their franchise with Griff in place. Now he just needs to remake the roster.

“I’m Kevin Durant. Y’all know who I am.”]

— Kevin Durant, obviously.

Reaction: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Durant is the best player in the league. He showed it again in Game 3.

“Derrick White came out like he hadn’t eaten in two days. He came out hungry. He came out pissed off. And he sent a very loud and clear message.”

— Denver coach Michael Malone.

Reaction: I really want the Nuggets to stick around just because Malone’s quotes are so great.

“I think James was [Harden] is having a better year than he did last year. I think Chris [Paul] is healthy. I think, yeah, we’re definitely better. We haven’t proved it yet. But yeah, I think we can be better.”

— Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni.

Reaction: What a strange season it’s been for the Rockets. Given the way they’re toying with Utah again and with Golden State looking in the next round, we should find out real quick if they really are better than last year.

“First of all, he’s a nobody.”

— Joel Embiid on Brooklyn antagonist Jared Dudley.

Reaction: For the record, Dudley has carved out an 11-year career as a smart and dependable veteran. There are a lot of nobody’s who haven’t accomplished half of what Dudley’s done in his career. Praise be for this spicy series, and for Embiid’s brilliant Game 4, but come on, man.

The List

Consumable NBA thoughts

The first round of the playoffs can be a bit of a drag. It lasts just a little too long as series get stretched out over two, and even three, weekends. That does leave ample time for player storylines to evolve. Here are five who have made their mark.

Derrick White

When the Spurs chose White at the end of the first round of the 2017 draft, a murmur went up from the masses. There wasn’t much buzz about White, a 6-5 guard of some sort who played only one season at the University of Colorado after spending his first three years playing Division II ball. But if RC Buford drafted him, then you knew he was a player. Sure enough, White has been the breakout star of the first round combining tremendous defense with an athletic scoring touch. Imagine him and Dejounte Murray in the same backcourt next season … goodness.

Ben Simmons

Despite the Rookie of the Year trophy and the All-Star validation, Simmons is still something of an enigma. We all know he’s a tremendous player, but he also has a tendency to just kind of be there, a trait that was called out by Brooklyn’s Jared Dudley. After losing the opener to the Nets, Simmons responded with a triple double in Game 2 and was a monster in Game 3 while Joel Embiid sat out with his knee injury. Performances like that make you wonder if Simmons would flourish if he had control of his own team.

Kevon Looney

When DeMarcus Cousins went down with a quad injury minutes into Game 2 of the Warriors first-round series with the Clippers, all eyes turned to Andrew Bogut. The big man was brought back from retirement as Cousins insurance, but don’t overlook Looney who has quietly become a valuable rotation big man. Looney knows his game and his role. He’ll be a free agent this summer and he’s going to get paid.

Damian Lillard

Coming into this postseason, Lillard’s Blazers were coming off a pair of first-round sweeps. That seemed to set their ceiling as a good regular-season team that lacked the top-end talent to properly compete in the Western Conference playoffs. Lillard never bought into that line of thinking, and after leading the Blazers to a pair of wins over Oklahoma City, he has Portland poised for a long awaited postseason breakthrough. This series is still a long way from being over.

Pascal Siakam

Of all the changes the Raptors made in the offseason, one of the biggest was the internal development of Siakam who blossomed into a two-way force. Siakam was excellent through the first two games of Toronto’s series with the Magic, but he was brilliant in Game 3 with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists. Regardless of what happens with Kawhi Leonard this summer, the Raps’ future in good hands with Siakam.

0 notes

tyler-rapt · 4 years ago

Text

THE AMUSEMENT PARK OF HALLOWEEN’S NIGHT!

“I wish this storm would go down,” said Vera.

“This sucks,” said Fera, who was Vera’s twin sister.

“Well, you guys wanna share some stories or fun facts?” asked Kiara, their youngest sister.

“Sure I guess,” said Vera.

“Ok, me first!” exclaimed Kiara.

“You mean the place Mum and Dad are bringing us this time?” asked Fera.

“Positively,” said Kiara

“Kiara, do you believe this?” asked Vera.

“Well, the only way to find out is when we leave there tomorrow,” said Kiara.

“But you said it only appears on Halloween nights,” murmured Fera.

“That’s right and Halloween is only 2 days away!” shouted Kiara!

“Well, we better get some sleep for tomorrow’s trip,” said Vera.

The girls said their goodnights and were off to bed.

The following morning, it was bright and sunny outside unlike the storm last night.

As the sun was shining bright, Vera woke up and got dressed for the trip while both her sisters were still sleeping.

“Wake up!” yelled Vera while shaking her sisters.

“Geez, I’m up!” said Kiara while yawning.

“Me too,” said Fera still looking half asleep

“Guys it's our trip to Merryhike today!” exclaimed Vera

“Right!” exclaimed Fera, fully awake.

“Woohoo, here we come Merryhike!” yelled Kiara in joy.

The girls were all settled in the car and were already on the road

“Are you excited girls?” asked Mrs. Denver, the girl's mother.

The girls exclaimed in joy, “You bet we are mum!”

“Well, Merryhike is known for its best berries,” said Mr. Denver, their father.

“Hmm, those berries do sound juicy!” sighed Fera.

As they were on the way to Merryhike they decided to take a break in a rest and relax area.

“Ahh, nice fresh air after that long ride,” said Mrs. Denver.

“Yep, couldn’t stand being in a car for that long anyway,” said Vera

“We better hit the road before it gets dark, so hop on!” said Mr. Denver.

As soon as they reached Merryhike, they came across a big mansion called the Kimberly. It was the place they were staying at for the vacation.

“Woah, it’s a really big mansion dad,” said Kiara, unsure of how to express it.

“She’s right dad, do we need such a big mansion for just 10 days?” asked Vera.

“I didn’t say that!” shouted Kiara.

“Yes you did!” demanded Vera.

“No, I didn’t!” snapped Kiara.

“OK, girls please calm down,” said Mrs. Denver

“Sorry mum,” the girls murmured.

“Come on girls, let’s go inside,” said Mrs. Denver.

“Wait a minute mum, why is there another car over the other end of the house?” asked Fera.

“Are you girls sure you don’t recognize that car?” asked Mrs. Denver with a smile on her face.

As Vera went closer to the car, only then she realized it was their best friend Polly and Molly’s car.

“Fera, Kiara! It's Polly and Molly’s car!” exclaimed Vera.

“Yay, this is going to be so much fun!” squealed Kiara

“Wow! What a tremendous chandelier!” exclaimed Kiara, her eyes full of admiration.

“It stinks in here,” said Vera.

“That’s because it hasn’t been in use for a long time,” replied Fera.

Soon enough, the girls were all unpacked and ready for dinner with some fresh new clothes on.

“Dinners here!” yelled Mrs. Denver, so the girls could hear her from their room.

“Coming mum!” the girls said, as they rushed downstairs to eat dinner

“Oooo! Pizza!” Vera and Fera exclaimed.

“I can’t wait to dig in!” joked Kiara.

The night had fallen so soon and the girls were getting ready for bed, it was stormy outside as it was yesterday but this time it had just gotten stronger!

“Here comes the storm again,” sighed Kiara.

“I bet it’s going to last until tomorrow,” said Vera as she sighed quietly.

All of a sudden they heard footsteps coming from downstairs.

“Tip, tap, tap, tap”

“Shhh, do you hear that?” whispered Kiara.

“You bet we do,” said Vera.

“Let’s go check it out!” exclaimed Fera.

“SHHH!” exclaimed her sisters, quietly.

“Oops, Sorry!” whispered Fera with a silly laugh of embarrassment.

“Fera!” Both girls squealed in happiness.

“When did you guys get here?” asked Kiara.

“Oh, it was a long trip from riverville,” said Molly

“Yeah, we got through some rough traffic,” sighed Polly in exhaustion.

“Have you both had dinner?” asked Vera.

“Yes,” said Molly.

Suddenly the girls heard snoring coming from next to them, as they turned around they saw Polly enjoy her sleep. The girls laughed and soon were asleep too.

“Tweet, tweet, tweet.” the birds sang. Soon enough from the sounds of nature, the girls woke up! “Good morning,” said Polly with energy.

“Good morning,” the other girls replied.

“Girls it's time for breakfast!” shouted Mrs. Denver.

The girls took the time to take a shower and get ready.

“Hmm, these pancakes are delicious!” exclaimed Molly.

“Thank you, Molly,” said Mrs. Denver.

“Wow, what is that smell?” asked Mrs. Fisher.

“It’s mom’s pancake!” exclaimed Fera.

“Great, I’ll have 3 of them!” said Mrs. Fisher.

Soon the girls were full and ready to go outside, as it was Halloween today!

“Oh dear, I was so excited for today that I barely slept last night!” exclaimed Polly.

“Me too!” exclaimed Fera.

“Haha, I am pretty sure we all did the same thing,” laughed Vera.

“Ok, line up girls!” commanded Mr. Denver and Mr. Fisher

“Ok, Vera 1, Molly 2, Kiara 3, Fera 4, and Polly 5. Great, we are good to go!” said Mr. Denver.

“Girls have fun exploring this place,” said Mrs. Fisher.

“We will mum!” exclaimed Molly and Polly.

“Girls, do you see a woman at the window?” asked Vera not to take her eyes off the woman.

“What do you mean Vera?” asked her little sisters Fera and Kiara.

“I said, '' Do you see a woman wearing a white gown at the window?” asked Vera again.

“Yea we do but it looks like a mannequin,” said her sisters.

“No, she’s alive I can see her breathing,” said Vera, feeling scared-stiff.

“Well, you must be seeing things, let’s go,” said Molly.

“I guess so,” said Vera. But inside she was certain that she saw the woman breathing.

As the girls turned back to call Vera they were aghast of what they saw. Vera was missing! “Vera!” her little sisters began to call out in fear.

“Vera, where are you?” asked Molly loudly.

“Uhh, girls,” said Polly.

“What is it Polly?” asked Molly in annoyance.

“I see Vera!” exclaimed Polly with concern

“Wait, what?” asked Kiara as she turned around.

“Goodness gracious! What is she doing over there!” exclaimed Fera.

The girls couldn’t believe what they were seeing! Vera was standing right next to the Woman! The girls rushed upstairs to Vera and were horrified by what she had been doing!

“Vera! Stop it!” said Fera.

“She’s not alive!” exclaimed Kiara.

“She’s a mannequin!” screamed Molly with fright

“You’ve gone mad Vera!” said Polly.

“Guys, you have to believe me, I can hear her heart beating!” exclaimed Vera.

Slowly the girls began to take turns to see if she was breathing and alive! “Your right Vera!” all the girls exclaimed!

“Shhh!” said the vampire.

The girls then remained silent

“Look I’m not gonna hurt you, girls,” said the vampire.

“My name is Victoria,” said the Vampire.

“Well, nice to meet you Victoria,” said Vera.

“How old are you Victoria?” asked Fera.

“Does the sun hurt you,” continued Polly.

“Are you vegetarian?” asked Molly.

“I’m 13, No the sun doesn’t hurt me, I eat meat and vegetarian,” said Victoria.

“Wait, your 13?” asked Fera.

“Yes I am,” answered Victoria.

“We are too but you look so much taller than us!” exclaimed Fera.

“That’s because I’m a vampire,” said Victoria.

“Well, VAMPIRES ARE AWESOME!!” screamed Polly.

“Shhhh!” said Vera.

“We can’t let mum, dad, Mrs. Fisher, and Mr. Fisher know!” whispered Kiara.

“Don’t worry about that girls, I can turn into a human,” said Victoria.

“Cool!” exclaimed Kiara as Victoria transformed into a human.

“Let’s go girls!” said Victoria.

“Girls!” called out Mrs. Fisher.

“Coming mom!” said Molly and Polly.

The girls were inside getting ready for Halloween’s night! “I see you’ve found a friend,” said Mrs. Denver as she was helping Fera dress up.

“You bet we did Mrs. Denver,” said Polly.

“Her name is Victoria,” said Kiara.

“Ooo, that reminds me of the vampire story I read,” said Mrs. Denver

“Wait, what do you mean mum?” asked Vera.

“Victoria the vampire, the girl who helps people on Halloween’s night,” said Mrs. Denver.

There was a sudden silence in the room, for all the girls were thinking the same thing! Victoria the vampire is real, she’s helping them!

Once the girls had dressed up, they met up with Victoria but never told her about what they knew.

“Too late,” said the girls as they were already running ahead to it.

“Wait, I hear kids singing,” said Kiara.

Victoria was worried and didn’t know what to do but she knew she had to somehow save her friends.

“Well, I’m Molly, this is my sister Polly and my friends, Kiara, Vera, Fera and Victoria,” said Molly.

“Victoria huh…,” said Dreaded with an evil smirk, “like Victoria the vampire?”

“Wait, how do you know this?” asked Kiara.

“That’s because I'm no ordinary clown.., I'm a killer clown,” said the Clown with evil laughter.

They all looked at Victoria. “You knew about this right?” asked Fera.

“Fera..,” Vera nudged Fera in her ribs.

“What do you mean?” asked Victoria hesitantly.

“Your Victoria the Vampire,” said Fera.

“Ummm…,” said Victoria.

“You help people on Halloween’s night,” continued Fera.

The other girls remained silent as Fera continued talking.

“Ok..yes I am her,” said Victoria helplessly.

After several hours the girls could see people still out there enjoying the fun. Soon enough, the sun started slowly rising.

“Found you!” said Dreader with an evil smile.

“Your gonna be sorry,” said Polly and Fera.

Polly had found a baseball bat the time they were hiding there. Polly swung the bat so hard that Dreader feels down with a loud crash. He slowly disappeared as the morning sun shined up wide.

The people started to get out of there and the girls were the only ones left there! “The gate’s closing!” screamed Victoria in fear.

“We have to hurry!” said Vera.

The girls were a second earlier than the gate! The gate closed and the girls were safe outside! They all rushed home.

By the time the girls reached the homestay, they were exhausted and dirty! “We are back!” exclaimed Molly.

“Bye girls, its time for me to go home now,” said Victoria.

The girls said their farewells to Victoria. The next morning it was time for the girls to leave. “Bye Molly and Polly,” said Fera.

The girls soon were on the road and back on the way home. “I’ll never forget this vacation,” said Vera.

“Us too,” said her sisters.

“Mum and Dad, you won’t believe what happened to us,” exclaimed Kiara.

“Kiara...shhhh,” said her sisters.

The end!

#halloween #kids scary story #entertaining #fun to read #willow

0 notes

rachelfinder · 5 years ago

Text

Denver County Fair: Post-Morteum

So.

The Denver County Fair.

What. A. Bomb.

I don’t mean The Bomb. I mean a bomb. More on that in a minute. This was our first sales event. So unlike our initial soft “open” at Creative Mornings, here we offered the Instax for rent throughout each day of the Fair.

This event presented an opportunity to experiement with our presentation before we get ourselves into a kiosk on the Mall. Experimenting included both our table layout and the verbage of the sales pitch. Over the three days, we tweaked and tested the layout of materials, promos and stock changed. We also tried different ways of sharing about the camera and it’s price points. All of it was in an attempt to connect the right message with the right customer: SnapShotz is an instant camera rental company and you can rent a camera for today at the Fair.

Going into the event, we had a few of challenges:

CHALLENGES AT THE COUNTY FAIR

Venue: First off, the Denver County Fair is held at the Western Stock Show complex. The complex is design as both a convention center and a stock show performance arena. There are multiple buildings that house the elements of the fair. The only part outside is the carnival rides out in the large parking lot adjacent to the main hall. As a result, all the vendors, exhibitors and the exhibts are inside the concrete convention center.

Booth Location: Our inside location was on at the end of an aisle, right next to a couple of vendors promoting some local history museums. Across from us was the kids stage where they held the watermelon eating contest (among other things). Moving in, our booth location seemed promising.

Weather: As with all things Colorado, weather was a big issue. The County Fair took place over one of the hottest weekends this summer. Friday’s outside temperature exceeded 95 degrees F. On Saturday, we had back to back thunderstorms. And the swamp coolers blew out. Whelp. The humidity inside was as bad as outside. Sunday was the only remotely decent weather day of the whole weekend.

EXECUTION

Day One’s Set-Up:

This layout was pretty straight forward. Two banner signs--one with price information and the other explaining how it works--a small assortment of display merchandise, a groovy light-up sign that said “Rent Instax Here,” and rack cards and stickers placed across the table top.

To show people what was possible with the camera, we put out a bunch of photos that we took at the Fair. We also offered to take people’s picture for free, wrapping it in a cute little PhotoFlyer sticker I had printed up. That was a big hit...almost too big. Most people asked for the photo, had it taken, then walked away while it developed. And to make matters worse, kids would walk up, get their photo, then bring back a sibiling who wanted a photo too. Grr...not exactly what I had in mind for the freebie.

However, the biggest issue is that people thought we were just advertising the fact that we do event rentals. We can do event rentals, but the point is to get you to rent a camera for your adventure TODAY. Frustratingly, we didn’t get our first one until sometime around 4:30pm. Our second one of Friday came exactly five minutes later. Whoohoo! Those were our only sales for Friday. But it was Day One so I was happy we sold anything at all.

Day Two’s Set-Up:

This time, we went with one sign explaining how instant photography works, the same promo materials and light up sign and a whole big row of cameras out. Five of each color totatling 20 cameras on the table. Whoo! We changed the sign to say, “Get a free photo!” And we kept out the photos to display what was possible. And we also put a paper star that said, “rent me” on the table in front of the cameras.

This time, there was definitely interest in the cameras. But there was still a disconnect that we were renting cameras for the day. A number of people thought we were selling them (nope, sorry). But we did make a couple of good connections with other local businesses that want to bring instant photography to their venues. Thumbs up!

Because we didn’t use the sign saying how much it cost, folks had to ask us the rental price. This ended up being a good thing because only the folks truly interested asked us what it cost, meaning they had a higher likelihood of actually renting a camera. It weeded out folks who didn’t have any intention of buying so we didn’t have to try to sell them as hard. But, we didn’t have that many bites. Over all, we had two sales for the whole day. Ugh.

The lack of sales may have been influenced by the fact that we had two back to back thunderstorms on Saturday and the swamp cooler went out in the convention hall. Talk about muggy. And unhappy people. The carnival outside was shut down due to rain, so most people just walked around the stuffy and humid convention center trying to find fans. And the convention center is not exactly the most photogenic location in Denver.

The “Get a free photo” worked good. I think a lot of folks thought we were giving away the photos that we took, but the reality is that we wanted to give them a photo of themselves. The one’s that got it enjoyed their picture, but again, they just walked away with it after saying “thank you.”

Day Three’s Set-Up:

I flew solo on Sunday, meaning it was just me trying to make sales. I put cameras on both sides of the table with the banner in the middle. This sort of made me feel like I was hiding behind a shield, but having the cameras on both corners definitely brought interest. Everybody wanted to know if I was selling the cameras (again, no). I also limited the number of example photos on the table so folks didn’t think those were the freebies. And I changed the light up sign to say, “Take a free photo!”

That seemed to work better than “Get a free photo.” It encouraged others to interact with the camera and piqued curiosity to use the camera. That then opened the door to show how the camera worked which further gave me the opportunity to sell the camera.

Oh yeah. And I had a nice big “rent me!” star on my tabletop banner.

Again, I tried the trick of not posting the price anywhere. That strategy worked again as only the people truly interested in buying asked me how much it cost. But everyone snubbed their noses when I told them price. EVERYBODY. I had absolutely no sales on Sunday. That sucked. BIG TIME.

So...four sales in three days.

Yeah. A bomb.

Other Stuff That Happened At The Fair:

Apparently my bad sales were not an anomaly for the weekend. Every vendor that I talked to also had a dismal result of being at the Fair. Even the anchor vendors at the convention all, like the pizza and hamburger kiosks, were down 50% in revenue. That’s a really terrible return on the weekend for everybody.

Our location on the end cap ended up being a bad spot too. When folks passed us by, most of them were on their way out of the fair instead of coming in. The traffic route put us at the end of the road for most vendors, meaning that when people finally passed us, they all said, “Oh man! I wish I saw you earlier in the day!”

The Fair is a relatively new event in Denver. It’s only five or six years old and still trying to get it’s legs under it. So there’s hiccups and goof-ups that happen when an event is still trying to figure itself out. And I’m sure some of that played into the way things went over the whole weekend.

The Fair is also not very photogenic. Drab concrete interiors combined with fluorescent lights do not make for nice pictures. It doesn’t matter if it’s a picture of your kid with a face filled with food during the pie eating contest or if it’s the best of show prize turkey. Pictures like these suck, whether on your phone or on an instant photo. If the only photogenic area of your event is the carnival rides, who wants to rent a camera anyway?

RESULTS:

The Good:

First off, there was a LOT of interest for Take Your SnapShotz! The people that stopped by liked the idea and those that went through our entire sales process were definitely interested. And those that did rent a camera loved the experience. Hooray! Happy customers. Plus, I know I can sell cameras at retail if I want to in the future.

I also connected with a few other businesses in Denver that want to work with me and bring in Take Your SnapShotz for their events. Two are music related, one being a karaoke event and the other a DJ for a number of music venues. The third is a businessman hustling on a number of different projects. I sent them all follow up emails today. :)

And we had four sales. Sales verified that the idea is good! It means people WANT to rent cameras. One of my customers rented even though they owned a camera--but they had left it at home. That says something.

Also, the people that rented cameras are our target customers. Everything about the customer profile I identified was there. That means my targeting is correct. Huzzah.

The Ugly:

Throughout the weekend, we dealt with software issues between our rental database and our payment processor. Our barcode scanner occasionally decided to input numbers one by one, rather than reading the whole string at once. Somehow a kid pulled a camera off the table and on to the floor...despite the cameras being well away from the edge of the table. Thankfully it didn’t break (that dad was so relieved) so I’m not out a camera. But two of my other ones decided to have a shutter issue so I have to send those back to the manufacturer. Fantastic.

We had only four sales. Four sales is not even half of what we paid to be at the fair. Ouch. Also, four sales doesn’t boost your confidence that you have a good idea. The first day of the fair I wondered if the whole thing might be a bomb. A failure. Four sales feels like a failure.

TAKEAWAYS

Based on the consistent “nevermind,” response we got when concluding our sales pitch, is it possible that our price point is too high. The sell is easier when we mention the fact that the cameras retail at $70 at local camera stores and that the film is often $10 a pack of 10 pictures. From there, we say that the $25 rental includes a free pack of film.

There’s two ways we can change this. Either offer the rental as a “$15 camera rental with a $10 purchase of film,” or just drop the price down to $20 per rental. I’m not a fan of the latter. It makes the camera rental itself the equivalent of a $10 rental with a $10 pack of film. To me, that cheapens the camera too far.

When we do other events and festivals, we also need to do a better job at vetting the venue for pretty pictures, thinking for things like interior space and environment. My expectations of the fair were based on my childhood experiences at country fairs in rural parts of the United States. County fairs in a big city look very very different.

We definitely need a different rental database manager and payment processor. Our current process is far too cumbesome, requiring round trip from web browser to app to other app back to web browser. Combine this with a futzed up scanner and the margin for error is too wide. At the moment, a checkout process takes 5 minutes and sometimes even longer if the system goofs. This is just far too long for something that should be a scan and swipe.

And figuring out the retail side of things needs to happen sooner rather than later. I was expecting to add this kind of inventory further down the road, but based on all the interest we had this past weekend I think we can add this into our revenue stream much earlier. Yeah!

FOR OUR NEXT EVENT...

Crazy enough, our next event is this weekend. As in this Saturday. This time we’re going to the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival.

To tell you the truth, I was thinking that this past weekend at the Fair was borderline disaster, but after recapping all of this, I think I’m in a much better spot for Dragon Boat than I thought I was.

First off, we have a working pitch. I know how I want to arrange the table (for the most part) and I know how to entice folks to come and try the camera. My “schpeal” for how to sell the camera is comfortable. And I have a good idea of who’s going to buy my camera.

Also, I know that the Dragon Boat Festival is going to be much more interesting to photograph. Not only are we outside (yeah!) there’s all kinds of stuff to see. There’s three stages at the event, plus the boats races in the lake. It’s a colorful celebration of not just Chinese culture, but all Asia-Pacific cultures. Just from looking at the website I know there will be a lot more photo opportunities than at the County Fair.

And fun fact: this is The Year of the Pig in the Chinese Zodiac. Every vendor is encouraged to have something “pig themed” so that will lend itself to photos too. I want to get some pig-related items for a photobooth set at our tent. Because why not? And apparently, Pig Years are great to start businesses in.

We’re still going to go with our current rental payment processing software. I’m not happy about that, but I don’t have the time to find another resource. I spent far too much time last week trying to find an alternative and I’m just not doing that again.

And I intend to test the price point. If by the end of day Saturday things seem to be a sour puss, I can adapt the price to $20 on Sunday.

Something I have to remember is that all of this tweaking, testing and learning is essential to us launching a successful kiosk downtown. As frustrating as last weekend was, we learned valuable stuff. This weekend I can iterate on those lessons. Despite the disappointment, I’m glad we’re learning this stuff now before we have to do all this stuff full time downtown. It would be awful to have a grand opening and discover our payment processor has a fatal glitch. Or have our price point be too high.

#business woman #entrepreneurship

0 notes

anaturalhigh-blog · 7 years ago

Text

March = Trips

A few of us hit up Sauce and Shells for restaurant week and it was SO GOOD. I rarely have heavy pasta like that, but it was worth it. I got brussel sprouts, salad, and butternut squash and stuffed shells. I had to pass on the dessert because I gave up sweets for Lent, but they were meh anyways.

I packed my bags, baked some brownies, and got up at 5am to drive to Breck Saturday morning. A couple of guy friends from home were doing a boy’s trip and I was invited to join! We skied all day - the weather was perfect. This was probably my longest ski day ever and just so happened to be the day I went down my first black! All the guys were doing it and, thankfully, I was tipsy enough to say yes. We showered and walked downtown for dinner. We were at Brooklyn’s for maybe 10 minutes when I realized I could barely drink because I was so exhausted. Peyton mentioned being tired and wanting to go back home, so I quickly jumped on that train. We got back and I immediately passed the fuck out. I got up the next morning, said my good-byes, and drove back to Denver.

I went and saw my fav, Crystal, at Clementines and chopped off 5 inches of hair. I had no clue I even had that much to cut off. I’m still getting used to it, but I have no regrets.

I worked from home that Friday and drove to Winter Park once I got off. The Diseati family invited me on their family ski trip and I wasn’t about to say no. I was super excited to ski Winter Park the next day - I had yet to go anywhere outside of my Epic pass. We founded VERY cheap passes for $50 and skied most of the day on fresh powder. I love the runs there, but the weather was pretty bad. I couldn’t feel my toes and when we stopped in the trees to shotgun, it was more miserable than fun. We stopped around 3pm and waited about an hour for everyone else to finish. ‘Twas another fun Diseati fam trip!

Let the trips continue...the best of trips!

Leigh and I flew to Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon to see Lauren, Matt, and the twins..holy shit I was so excited. Our initial trip was cancelled, so I was overly anxious for this trip to finally happen. Leigh and I were so happy to help Lauren and Matt with whatever they needed over the next four days. It was the best to wake up, drink some coffee, feed the babies when the woke up, and just hold them while watching The Today Show. While we were there, we pretty much just hung out at the house - no complaints here. I made a funfetti cake and we got to celebrate both Leigh and Lauren’s birthdays which hasn’t happened in awhile! One day we went on a walk, we did a little happy hour out on the back porch with wine and goldfish a few times, and us girls got to go grab sushi one night. I used to be nervous to be around newborns, but I learned a ton while I was in Atlanta and now I’m on my way to being a pro ;) Take me backkkkk.

Lauren dropped us at the airport and Leigh and I landed in NYC that night. We got to our hotel and ordered Seamless for the very first time - I now get all the hype. Leigh and I both worked the next day from Pret a Manger next door. We worked out and and walked to Whole Foods to grab a few essential snacks. That night we met my NYC bestie, Tara, and Leigh’s NYC bestie, Allyson, for dinner. We all shared pastas, salads, and a couple bottles of wine - quite a success. Seeing Tara is the best - I miss her a lot and it was fun to catch up! She is seriously killing it there.

Before dinner, we randomly got tickets to Live with Kelly and Ryan the next morning. We set our alarms for 6:30am and were up and Uber’ing to the opposite end of Manhattan. We considered not going because Kelly was out of town, but decided there would still be celebrity sightings, so it would be worth it. Maria Menounos was filling in for Kelly, so that was cool. The guests were blah, but I guess Patti LaBelle is a legend! We got coffee, walked around Central Park, and browsed Zara before finding out the worst news. Well, not the worst news...the most inconvenient news. Our bus and flight on Wednesday morning were cancelled due to a nor’easter scheduled to land in the morning. Leigh was able to reschedule her bus for Thursday, so I did the same for my flight.

Long story short, my flight continued to be cancelled and the next possible flight out of New York was Sunday. That was not an option for me because my best friends from home were flying to CO to visit me for the first time that very weekend. In the end, I convinced Southwest to switch my flight and they let me fly out of DC Friday evening.

Back to Tuesday....we switched hotels and continued to work and figure out my flight situation. We decided to go do some shopping nearby, and grab more snacks and WINE. Tuesday night was WATCH WHAT HAPPENS LIVE. This was the very reason we both flew to NYC. Hello, Andy Cohen. We got ready, drank lots of wine to remove any remaining travel stress, and arrived at the studio. We checked in, took the elevator up, and it opened to a legit pregame. Music was playing, there were cardboard cutouts of Andy, and a bar. We were given two drinks from a pre-selected menu before they lined us up and ushered us to our assigned seats. It was unreal. We sat down and Andy walked out to say hello! He then introduced his guests, ERIKA JAYNE and RuPaul. We only had a few minutes before the show started. It flew by faster than I wanted it to. I was so sad, not to mention drunk, when it was all over. We ordered pizza off Seamless on our ride home and enjoyed it in our hotel bed <3

Wednesday was deemed a lazy day. It snowed literally all day and we did not have the proper shoes to go frolic outside. We worked from our room, worked out, and ordered Poke bowls from Seamless, of course.The next morning we walked to the bus, which had great basic WiFi for working purposes, and were off to DC. Once we got to Leigh’s apartment, I felt so weird. I wasn’t supposed to be in DC, yet here I was!

Per usual, my ex Bill had great timing and contacted me the weekend prior to NYC. He asked about my trip and once I mentioned my flight was cancelled, he told me to let him know if I somehow ended up in DC. Just his luck...I let him know and we got dinner that night. Afterwards, Leigh and I drove to my parents! We hung out that night and the next morning before they left for Atlanta. Leigh was the best and dropped me at the airport that night to catch my flight back to Denver...finally.

It was a crazy and hectic week and a half, but a seriously GOOD one.

Time to go meet my friends...who were already in Denver...

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hemcountry · 7 years ago

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CHRISTIE HENNESSY REMEMBERED IN BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE SHOW FROM OLD FRIEND AONGHUS MCANALLY

It’s hard to believe it, but it’s coming up on ten years since the late Christie Hennessy, a singer/songwriter of extraordinary tenderness and huge heart, left this world behind for the next part of his journey. But he left behind a legacy of music which is loved as much today as when Christie himself still walked and laughed among us. With songs like ‘Don’t Forget Your Shovel’ (made famous by Christy Moore), ‘All The Lies That You Told Me’ (Frances Black), ‘Messenger Boy’ (Mike Denver), and so many more which Christie himself brought to our hearts from his own, such as ‘Lonely Boy’ and ‘Roll Back The Clouds’, it’s little wonder that Christie is still very much a part of Ireland’s musical landscape.

Mike Denver, one of many artists to record ‘Messenger Boy’

Another reason is undoubtedly the work his close friend Aonghus McAnally has invested in making sure that Christie, and his music, are still celebrated, and perhaps now more than ever, through his tribute show in Christie’s honour. As Aonghus prepares to bring that show, The Platinum Collection Tour, to the Tullamore Court Hotel on December 7th, I had the pleasure of spending some time with him recently, and we began by chatting about how the friendship Aonghus and Christie came to share first began and developed…

“It started in the nineties, I was presenting a programme called ‘Both Sides Now’ on RTE Radio 1, and I went to London to interview him. I went to his house to meet him and we had a good long chat there. And because he was a guitar player, and I’m a guitar player, we hit it off immediately. And I loved his sense of humour, and he loved whatever I was at, and we picked up guitars and just started jammin’ and playin’. He was a great guitar player, his finger-pickin’ style, a kind of a clawhammer pickin’ style that he had, was very unique and strong. He was actually asked by Fleetwood Mac to join them at one stage, he was that good. But anyway, we struck up a friendship and stayed in touch. Then when his album came out he asked me would I launch it for him in Dublin. Then I played with him at the Gaiety Theatre, I came on for the encore for one of the gigs. There’s a song on his album, ‘A Day In The Life’, called ‘The Box’, and there’s a poem that precedes it, and I recorded that poem for him. I flew back to London again to do the interview with him that he used for his EPK (Electronic Press Kit), and we just stayed in contact like that for many years. Then sadly when he passed away, his wife Jill, and Hermione and Amber [his daughters], and his son Tim, asked me if I’d deliver the eulogy on their behalf at the funeral in Tralee, which was an extraordinary honour for me.”

Christy Moore, who recorded ‘Don’t Forget Your Shovel.’

To those of us who only had the pleasure of knowing Christie through his music, could Aonghus share a little about how special Christie was as a person?

“Ah he was brilliant. And then, as I discovered that he couldn’t read or write, I realised that the quality of his writing…I mean for a fella who left school at eleven and a half – he hated school, he couldn’t wait to get out – but he’s so special because his lyrics have a simplicity about them. Then when he combines that with beautiful melodies, he just, in my opinion, he captures a wonderful depth of emotion. There’s a couple of things I want to do on this tour. One, obviously, being to celebrate his life. Because people might know him mainly for ‘Don’t Forget Your Shovel’, or the funny Kerry accent, ya know, but he has gorgeous songs about life, about love, about death, about depression. And I wanted to showcase those songs as well. And I think as I tell the story through the night in the show, people get an appreciation of the man, so they get to know how special he was, how gentle he was, how loving he was. And how difficult a time he had, in terms of reading and writing, and depression, and of course facing the reality of not being well and knowing he was going to die. An American guy came up to me after the Cork concert and said, ‘I don’t know you, I don’t know Christie, I just came along with some friends tonight, but boy do I know this guy now!’ You see, as I tell the story, his story, you really do get to know Christie. I play both myself and him in the show, I just morph into speaking as Christie, it’s a seamless bit of theatre.”

The late, great, and much loved Christie Hennessy.

Aonghus toured this show last year as well, but when, I wondered, did the idea of first putting together a show in Christie’s memory begin to form?

“Well, what happened was about six years ago I did a play called ‘When Jolie Met Christie’, by Sean McCarthy, a guy in Cork. Christie had a fascination with the vaudeville singer Al Jolson, and obviously Al was dead and Christie was dead, but in the play Al would tell Christie’s story having met him in the after-life. And within that there was ten or twelve of Christie’s songs. And it was a great success. But I wanted then to do a show with more of his songs, and to just concentrate on his life rather than the Jolson connection. So I wrote this show with twenty-two of his songs in it, and the narrative from the point of view of my interaction with him, and stuff that Christie would have said over the years, and melding the two together. About three years ago I started work on putting together the idea of this show celebrating Christie. We toured it last year, originally planning ten shows, one of which was the National Concert Hall, and it sold out almost immediately, almost to my surprise. So they asked us to do a second show, and that sold out as well which was incredible. And every single night that we’ve performed this show it’s ended up in a standing ovation, with people laughing, cheering, crying, singing, whatever. So I put together a twenty-six date tour this time, including the big, big show on the 10th of December, in the Bord Gais Energy Theare, which is a two-thousand-two hundred seater. And poignantly, it’s also going to be the eve of his anniversary, he died on the 11th of December 2007, so that’s going to be a very, very special night. It’ll be the biggest night of my career in forty years.”

Aonghus brings Christie back to life in story and song.

Because Aonghus and Christie had been such close friends, I imagined it must become quite emotional for Aonghus to perform a whole show of Christie’s songs, especially as his presence, I’m sure, is very much in the room for both Aonghus and the audience. Was I right in thinking that?

“Absolutely. Many, many nights on the tour I end up with it catching me at the very end, I’ll get people coming up to me and saying, ‘You were crying at the very end’, and I just say I was. Because obviously, yeah, it’s very emotional because it’s a very personal story. I think part of the magic of why the show works is that it’s not simply me singing songs of Roy Orbison or Glen Campbell, or someone. It’s a very personal, emotional story that I have a deep connection with, and that does come through across the show. I’m fairly whacked after it. It’s something I put my heart and my soul into. And ya know, I see huge parallels in my own life and Christie’s life. Like, his song, ‘Roll Back The Clouds’, which is the best song ever written about the reality of showbusiness – from auditioning, trying to get a break, being heard, the usual don’t-phone us, we’ll phone you – and the line, ‘I give my heart to every part.’ But it’s a wonderful, emotional rollercoaster for me to be part of. And as an artist, and a performer, there is no better oxygen than to hear an audience loving a show, and cheering and clapping, ya know. To see so many shows sold out, including in Tralee, his home town, where we’ve had to put on a second, it’s brilliant. I’m loving every second of it, and I feel privileged to be able to do it.”

The statue of Christie in his hometown of Tralee.

I once heard Aonghus comment that the ten minutes before a show begins is the most exciting time for him. What is it about those moments that gets his adrenaline flowing, and does that same feeling extend to his work on radio and television as well?

“It does. Now I don’t get nervous. I often hear people saying, oh I couldn’t perform on stage, I’d be too nervous. But that’s not what it is with me. I find it to be a multi-layered kind of emotion. Because for one thing, you want everything to be right, the people coming to the show deserve it to be the very best that it can be. So I’m meticulous in my planning, my production. I have wonderful people around me, I have brilliant lights and brilliant sound. Lucy Polden does my sound, and a girl called Maggie Donovan does my lighting, and it’s Denice Doyle who’s the violinist, and Ivan McKenna who’s my musical director. These are top-notch people who have the same passion for the show that I have. We’re there at the theatre from twelve o’ clock, starting to get everything in. I have a rehearsal myself at four o’ clock, then we have a full musicians rehearsal at six o’ clock, then we have a break and get ready for the show. With ten minutes to go, you’re already changed into your costume, you’ve got your stage make-up on, you’ve done your warm-up exercises, you’re ready to roll! So there’s an excitement and an adrenaline there. But also, I feel the sense of this being very important work for me to honour Christie properly. And the worst thing in the world for me – which I don’t think would ever be – but if I was to have a lacklustre performance, it would be besmirching Christie’s memory. And to honour his memory is the whole point of this. He didn’t really get the recognition that he fully deserved because his illness took him from us, ya know.”

Aonghus and Denice warm-up with a selfie!

Based on all of his experience across the performance platforms of stage, radio, and television, are there skills or personality traits which Aonghus feels are important to, or transferable between, all three?

“Well, all three are very different, I suppose. I think in radio you have to have an intimacy. Radio is a wonderful medium because it paints the pictures in your head. That’s why drama works so well, because with a sound effect and a voice saying to you, ‘As I came over the hill I saw beneath me ten thousand men on horses charging towards me, and I felt alone and isolated’, and you put in the sound of thundering hooves, and you’re there! I do a lot of late night radio, I present a lot of Late Date [one of RTE Radio 1’s most popular shows] during the year, and I get people saying how it feels like I’m talking just to them, and I love that kind of intimacy. Television is very different in the sense that just two minutes on television can have huge penetration in terms of people remembering, ya know, ‘Oh, I saw ya on..’ such-and-such-a-thing. It’s really very powerful because the visual thing stays with you longer. I find the big difference between radio and television is that if I did the same interview on television and on radio, and if I was looking at or listening to both of them, I’d find myself looking at the television thinking, ‘I wonder if I should have worn a different shirt and tie there?’, or is that the wrong suit, or whatever, ya know. And yet, when you listen on radio, you’re saying things like, ‘Yeah, that’s an interesting point I made there.’ So you’re concentrating more on the content on radio, whereas it’s the aesthetic, visual nature of things on television. But then on stage, what I love about ‘live’ performing is that there’s no-where to hide. And most of my work has always been ‘live’ on telly and radio anyway. But when you’re in recording mode in either, you’ll actually tend to have more situations where something will go wrong. Lighting will say hang on ’til I move this lamp a bit, or the sound guy will say there’s a bit of distortion somewhere. But when you’re ‘live’ in theatre, that’s it! You can’t turn around and say, ‘I’m terribly sorry, ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to go back and start that again!’ [laughs]. I think you have to have a skill-set which incorporates a lot of knowledge. I mean, I’ve done so much work on this show I have every word of it in my head. And it’s scripted. Somebody came up to me the other night and said, ‘And what kind of a show will you do tomorrow night?’, and I was like, ‘What do you mean, what sort of a show?’ And they said, ‘Well how different will it be to this one?’ And I said, ‘No, this IS the show, this is a carefully scripted, worked-out, musically rehearsed show’ [laughs]. A skill you need is to be able to deliver a performance. I started my life as a musician remember, and I remember years ago I went and I sat in the orchestra pit in the Gaiety Theatre, watching the band members playing the Christmas show there. And I asked the clarinet player, ‘What’s the secret to keeping everything fresh, do you play it like it’s the last time you ever will?’ And he replied, ‘No, play it like it’s the FIRST time you’ve ever played it.’ And I thought that was an interesting differentiation to make. That the excitement of playing something for the first time was what you should look at, rather than thinking, well, if this is the last time I ever play it I’d better try and make it sound o.k., or whatever. So I’ve tried to keep by that. And you have to remember as well, that in the main – even though a lot of people are coming to see this show more than once – it’s an audience’s first time to see it most of the time. Everybody who buys a ticket, takes a seat, and comes to your show, they deserve the BEST and highest possible standard you can give them.”

I grew up watching Aonghus on television, from the Saturday morning children’s television show ‘Anything Goes’, to the family-fun of ‘The Lyrics Board.’ But from all of his time on television, on those shows and others, are there a couple of moments which he recalls with particular fondness and affection?

“I think, from a ‘My-God-Did-I-Really-Do-That?- point, it would be when ‘live’ on ‘Anything Goes, I walked out of the studio, put on a parachute, got into a helicopter, went up eight-thousand feet, jumped out, was in free-fall for about thirty seconds, opened the parachute, landed on the grass in front of the tv station, took off the parachute, walked back into the studio, sat down and said, ‘And now, let’s have a cartoon!’ [laughs]. That had never, ever been done before, nor has it since. Myself and the great B.B. King played blues guitar together on another show I did, called ‘Evening Extra’, just the two of us playing ‘live’ together, his guitar and my guitar, that was incredible, too. Those are two very special memories. I just love meeting people, I’m a people person. So anything that puts me in front of the public, I love it. And I get annoyed when I see some of my colleagues who don’t like interacting with the public. I think that’s akin to a bus driver not liking the traffic! It’s part and parcel of the job. But also, the day that nobody wants to come up and shake your hand, or share a memory, it means that your career is over, that you’re not having any impact anymore on anybody whatsoever.”

Aonghus and Denice backstage before a show.

Going back to Christie and the show, what songs does Aonghus most enjoy performing each night? Are there some which have a special significance for him, or maybe some which every audience, on every night, seems to connect with moreso than others?

“At the very end of the show, ‘Roll Back The Clouds’, the one about the reality of life in showbusiness, that is just a pivotal moment in light of everything that’s come before it. I very carefully crafted the show so that it leads and builds to this crescendo. And at the end of ‘Roll Back The Clouds’, that’s it, there is no more to give, it’s game over. It’s just a fantastic ending to the show. There’s another beautiful song called ‘I Will’, which I sing early on, it’s a love song which illustrates the tender side of what Christie could do. Denice Doyle sings ‘All The Lies That You Told Me’, a song Frances Black made famous for Christie, I love playing that with Denice singing. And Denice and myself do a beautiful version of ‘If You Were To Fall’, which Hermione and Christie used to sing, I love doing that. There’s also a lovely song that follows a big long speech when he realises that he’s dying from cancer, called ‘Believe In Me’, and it’s about believing in yourself, just get up there and don’t be wasting time. What I do like about the show is that, as I explain in the very carefully worded text I’ve written, it puts each song into context. And I see people sitting, listening to every word of the song because they now know what to look out for. If a song just washes over you, and it’s kinda ambient listening, well that’s one thing. But if somebody says to you, ‘Have a listen to this….’, like with the haunting loneliness of a song called ‘Lonely Boy’, and people start listening to words then. They get the whole message and it makes perfect sense that way.”

Frances Black, who recorded ‘All The Lies That You Told Me’ which spent 16 weeks in the Irish Charts.

Aonghus, of course, is also the producer on ‘Liveline’, the second most-listened to radio show in the Ireland, and in that role he has a unique and consistent insight into what really matters to the ‘regular’ people of Ireland. With that in mind, has he found that, over time, that access tends to reflect, or perhaps even predict, the course of the nation in relation to many issues?

“Certainly the whole ‘talk to Joe’ [Duffy, the ‘Liveline’ presenter] thing is a finger on-the-pulse, as they say. And I feel it’s become the go-to show and person to get a sense of what Ireland is talking about. I go in at about quarter past seven every morning, about an hour and a bit before the team come in, to try and get a sense of what we’re at. And the bottom line is that we both create the news a lot of the time, when people get in touch with us and we recognise a good story, but we also want it to be about whatever Ireland is talking about today, ya know? What are the issues? Sean O’ Rourke, and the News At One, and Morning Ireland, those shows will be doing the very heavy investigative, strictly news reporting. But what we’re doing is capturing the peoples’ sense of those problems. We get the personal stories from the Irish public on things like what they feel about the banks, for example. And what I find is that we get the stories behind the stories. And Joe’s knowledge for life and appetite for people is fantastic. His ability to speak with people is second to none. I’ve heard Joe get things out of people, simply by listening to them, but also by his skill in talking to them. People feel free to open up to Joe in a way that I don’t hear with others. He’s just a very, very skilled broadcaster. It’s no surprise to me that after Morning Ireland, which is always going to be the most listened-to show, that ‘Liveline’ with Joe is next. It’s a sign of just how fantastic he is, and of course, we have a great team around the programme as well. Everybody works extremely hard to keep it fresh. But it can also be a scary place, in a sense, because every day you’re starting from nothing. Because it’s not pre-set, ya know. Now sometimes, you will have a topic that will run on for a couple of days, but in general, it’s a blank page every day and a case of, right, what are we going to do today?’, ya know.”

* Aonghus brings The Platinum Collection Tour in memory of Christie Hennessy to the Tullamore Court Hotel on Thursday, December 7th. Tickets are available from hotel reception, and from TRAX, the Bridge Centre, Tullamore.

The Platinum Collection tour poster

CHRISTIE HENNESSY REMEMBERED IN BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE SHOW FROM OLD FRIEND AONGHUS MCANALLY was originally published on HEM COUNTRY

#Aonghus McAnally #Christie Hennessy #Interview #countrymusic #countrynews. IrishCountry #UKCountry

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theseventhhex · 7 years ago

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Emily Barker Interview

Emily Barker

‘Sweet Kind of Blue’, Emily Barker’s latest compelling record marks a new sound as she returns to the soul and blues influences that first inspired her to become a singer/songwriter. The result is an intoxicating blend of songs Barker penned about loves lost, heartrending humanity, the rush of the road trip and the sheer glory of a new love. Barker brings the funk with a raw fervour, backed by a tight rhythm section that delivers a southern swing, as well as classic interjecting harmonies… We talk to Emily Barker about recording in Memphis, projecting into characters and driving through Aspen…

TSH: Stylistically, does your musicality remain indebted to your upbringing?

Emily: Yes, I'm still very embedded with my roots in soul music. I grew up listening to Aretha Franklin, Betty LaVette, Koko Taylor and Otis Redding and I'm still very inspired by those kinds of names. When I write music, I tend to go for a folk and country type of vibe, but the soul aspect is very much present too. Also, for me, going to Memphis for this record and working with the musicians I worked with and getting the sound that we got was a real full circle moment. It took me back to the reason of why I wanted to start singing in the first place.

TSH: You also feel that you couldn't have achieved the desired outcome of this album anywhere but in Memphis... It was all about the groove...

Emily: Ha! Yes, it was all about the groove! Even the players that I worked with were all in their 50s and 60s. Plus they've worked with the likes of Isaac Hayes, Al Green, Rufus Thomas and many other top soul/blues names. I would play the guys a song on the guitar or the piano, and one of them would always say 'What's the groove going to be like on this one?' The song direction would always become something totally different from what it initially started as. The whole process was open and not premeditated at all. The producer knew who to choose and include, therefore we just worked it out on the floor.

TSH: Talk us through some of the key songwriting expressions for your latest album, 'Sweet Kind of Blue'...

Emily: Well, for 'Sweet Kind of Blue' it was a whole range of things really. One of the songs is touching on the biography of Sister Rosetta Tharpe by Gail Wald called 'Shout, Sister, Shout!’ I was really blown away by that story. Sister Rosetta was such a phenomenon and an incredible guitarist. During the segregation era she defied all odds and really broke down a lot of barriers. She's the inspiration behind the song 'Sister Goodbye' and I really was so impressed with her instrumentation styles.

TSH: You also highlighted aspects of such bedlam in today's world?

Emily: Yeah, absolutely. 'Over my Shoulder' was inspired by and tells the story of the refugee crisis. In particular how affected people were by the image of the young Syrian 3 year old boy, Alan Kurdi, who tragically drowned. I wrote that song with a friend of mine and we spoke a lot about the state of the suffering in the world so it's a very topical song.

TSH: What are the ideas behind 'No. 5 Hurricane'?

Emily: Well, this song I actually wrote with a Swedish friend of mine. We both had a similar experience in a relationship. We'd both just come out of a relationship and stepped fairly swiftly into a new one, so it's about that readjustment. It's about how it takes a little while for your heart, body and mind to catch up in order for you to get your bearings so you can overcome the disorienting feeling. It's a song that a lot of people have pointed out as being their favourite; it's probably because they can relate to it.

TSH: Has your vocal style gone through many changes in recent times?

Emily: Well, for this record, I really was vocally inspired by listening to a lot of the stuff that I listened to when I was a teenager. I wanted the melodies to push my vocal capacity a lot more. Since my last record, my voice has matured a lot, so I was able to reach the notes with a bit more force and fullness than before. Also, I did a little bit of training so that I could reach the high notes without losing my voice; this was an aspect which definitely made its way into my songwriting. I guess I really enjoy as a singer being able to contrast the louder vocal style with a more softer touch.

TSH: Looking back, is it valuable to know that growing up your mother used to teach you how to sing harmonies?

Emily: Those experiences were so valuable. You know, it's a little odd because I'm only really realising and feeling the benefits now. A lot of people don't grow up with such assistance with regards to harmony singing. Holding a tune isn't something that comes naturally to people and I did take it for granted for a long time. However, I am so grateful for my mother's amazing support from such a young age.

TSH: Do you still like the notion of projecting yourself into characters with songwriting?

Emily: Yeah, definitely. Films and novels really influence me a fair bit. I enjoy stepping into another character's world and writing from their perspective. I read a lot of novels and whether its fiction or non-fiction, I find it intriguing to delve into a character's thoughts.

TSH: Do you kick back and watch a fair bit of trashy TV with your partner?

Emily: Oh, definitely. It's really embarrassing and tragic, but me and my boyfriend at home are watching this show called Jane the Virgin, haha! It's a jokey show, but really well done. I think it's really good, but the rule is we're not allowed to watch it while we are apart, so whilst I'm on tour in America, I've not seen it. However, I've mostly just been hanging out with friends and I do like to get outdoors for a run, which is a good way to unwind.

TSH: What was the experience like in recently driving through the Rocky Mountains and Aspen?

Emily: Oh my gosh! That was absolutely beautiful! It was the most amazing experience. I flew into Denver and then got an Uber to Boulder, it was like a 40 minute drive and I met everybody on the bus. Then we drove from Boulder to Aspen on the bus during the day and it was absolutely breathtaking! We were passing all of these old goldmines and saw such beauty on the mountain sides. The rivers, trees and the landscape in general was so mesmerising. It was all so lush and kind of like being in an American movie…

TSH: Did it remind you of Dumb and Dumber?

Emily: Haha! Yes! That's how I originally knew about Aspen in the first place! That was my only knowledge of the place initially, ha!

TSH: For yourself, is it vital to constantly change the conversation with your music?

Emily: Yeah, definitely. It's always about changing the conversation each time. I just am very aware of trying not to repeat myself. I'm on a big learning trip at the moment and I've been doing composition lessons. I'm doing more orchestral arrangements and I'm looking to expand my songwriting. I guess I'm just looking for more deliberate ways to express myself than before. I've started writing more material and I'm really looking forward to the future.

Emily Barker - “Sweet Kind of Blue”

Sweet Kind of Blue - Single

#Interview #Emily Barker

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