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ledenews · 1 year

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Ask a Teacher - Part I: Resources and Best Practices

Teaching is not just a profession, but a calling. Across the country, young men and women enter the career field, hoping to make a positive impact in the lives of their students, not only as learners but also as people. Applying what they learned during their own education, plus the tried and true method of trial and error, these educators constantly evaluate and model their teaching styles to best fit their students. But what have they learned? What do they feel works best and what could be better? What isn't being taught that should be and how might they approach/look at things differently with fewer restraints and restrictions? Detractors of the education system bemoan that school systems, and in turn teachers, teach to the test. They learn how to regurgitate facts and figures, but not how to think. And yes, much emphasis is placed upon the results of standardized testing, forcing teachers to not only help their students master the material to be found on said tests, but also to incorporate knowledge outside of those tests that is necessary to function in the real world. And they must do so in 45-50 minute time spans, 7-8 times per day (depending on period number and length). This must be done amidst growing class sizes as well as varying learning styles and strengths and weaknesses of the students found within. LedeNews sought out the opinions of a few area teachers and solicit their opinions on a myriad of topics impacting their lives as educators, and those of their students. Two of Ohio County School's best answered the call and were willing to provide their insight, a peak behind the curtain if you will, into today's classrooms. The first is Hayden Cook, a special education instructor at Wheeling Middle School. A Wheeling native, Cook is a man of many hats. He's a teacher, a coach, a father of three, and a growing leader in the community. He's an active member of the Men of Change group in Wheeling and started his own foundation, the Grand View Corporation, a group whose mission is to empower disadvantaged youth by helping them to gain the tools necessary to succeed. Cook is investing in today's youth extends far beyond his classroom. The same can be said of the other responder. Bridge Street Middle School Langauge Arts teacher Shawna Safreed also elected to offer her thoughts on a number of questions. Like Cook, Safreed is a Wheeling native. She started her career with Ohio County Schools back in 2009 and last fall was named the school district's Teacher of the Year as well as a Top 10 Finalist for West Virginia Teacher of the Year. Safreed also works to extend her reach beyond the classroom, helping to run her school's Leo Club, a youth arm of the Lions Club service organization. She also organizes a book club through the school and is always looking for ways to offer additional opportunities for her students to learn. Hayden Cook is a teacher, coach, father, and youth leader in the greater Wheeling community Shawna Safreed was named the Ohio County Schools' Teacher of the Year for 2022-23 What Single Thing Would Make Your In-Class Life Easier? Support and trust- from all stakeholders- ie. parents, principals, and administration. This isn't necessarily a wish for where I am now because I do feel trusted and valued, but more so in the past. -- Cook Overall, the single thing that would make class life easier would definitely be class size. When you are able to work with a smaller amount of students, you can differentiate the lessons and strategies to fit the needs of a smaller group better, and, as the teacher, you can provide more direct support. -- Safreed Overall, What Would Make Your Life as a Teacher Easier? Currently, I would still say trust and support from all areas. -- Cook Overall, in a perfect world, if every student was reading closer to grade level that would make a significant impact on class life. I teach 7th grade, and there are students I have that are reading on a first-grade level. I am required to teach 7th-grade reading skills to students that read below grade level. It is very challenging. -- Safreed What Are Your Thoughts On How the Curriculum and Test Prep Affects How You Go About Educating Your Students on a Day-to-Day Basis? Because I am in special education, there is less emphasis on standardized testing scores. However, in the general education environment, there is a lot of pressure on teachers to show growth and high achievement in their students and it dictates much of what they are able to do/cover. -- Cook I think every teacher would agree that the curriculum taught is very much correlated to having the students achieve higher stat test results. The test impacts a lot of what we do in the classroom because there is great emphasis placed on the results. Students are tiered for their ability and the test is used for that, which puts pressure on me as the teacher to ensure all standards are taught and students are mastering the material. This does add a lot of stress. -- Safreed How or Would You Change Your Instruction Methods/Topics Without Any Restrictions From the Board or State? Would You Place a Greater Emphasis on Different Subject Matter, or Go About Teaching Differently? I would establish very basic standards that are important and relevant to what kids actually need to know- both in life and in future education. The objectives for each grade level have become so intense and complicated that we focus on such unimportant details and often miss the bigger picture. -- Cook My focus in the classroom is truly doing what is best for my students. Each day, I do spend about 3-5 minutes out of a 45-minute class period doing warm-up questions that they may see on the GSA test. Overall, though I still do very hands-on, engaging lessons in the classroom to ensure my students are mastering the material but also having fun! It is very important that my students see learning as fun, and I strive for that each day. -- Safreed How Best Can Parents Help Their Students Become Better Prepared for Your Classroom and Their Children’s Education Overall? To establish with their child that home and school are a team with the same goals in mind and to not put additional pressure on students- their attitude about school and learning often has a lot to do with how school is discussed outside the classroom. And always always always tell their child they are smart and capable. -- Cook Reading with their child at home. The positive impact of this cannot be stressed enough. -- Safreed What Isn’t Being Taught Currently in Schools That You Believe Should Be? Life skills- at every age and grade level/content area. Again, so much focus is spent on very detailed objectives and grade level expectations that we miss the most important things we can offer a child- making learning fun, positive attitudes, resiliency, and grit, collaboration with peers, etc. -- Cook Money management is a very important skill that I think needs to be taught in middle school. Also, because our state test does not cover narrative writing, it is not taught in depth. It makes me wonder what our future looks like with the creation of more authors and such. -- Safreed What Would You Like the School as a Whole Place More Emphasis On, or at Minimum, at Least Introduce to the Students’ Daily Lives from an Instructional Standpoint? The whole student as a human instead of the student as just a learner. They are not a test score or a grade on a report card. -- Cook Character skills—I tell my students all the time that it means more to me that my students are good people than straight-A students. They need to understand empathy and kindness because in a successful society, I think that is most important. -- Safreed Read the full article

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epinosicc · 3 years

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This is going to be quite chaotic, but this is something I wrote late one stormy July night about my life this far and how I’ve realized my problems

Okay it’s around midnight where I’m at so it’s time to rant instead of sleeping because I’m a minor and I have ✨issues✨

I tend to think more than what’s probably considered healthy, mostly because I do t have people to talk to. Don’t get me wrong, I have friends, but I don’t know what they’re doing and I don’t want to burden them with my stupid problems. So like any sane person I write my problems on the internet.

I usually think about the weird things when it’s raining. It’s something about the sound and feeling of rain that makes me more content, which makes me think. Now, I don’t have any big problems by any means. I’m simply figuring myself and my life out.

First of all, my previously mentioned friends. I trust them, of course, but at the same time I don’t. And like many who think to much and have a strange amount of self-awareness, I think I know why that is. When I first started going to school, I was confident. I’d already had friends before and thought I knew how to make new ones. The problem with that is that said friends did not go to my school, so I was alone. Until I met my first two friends. They were very nice to me, we played together and got along. The thing that I started noticing though was that if me and one of them arrived at school around the same time and out third friend wasn’t there yet we’d get along great, but as soon as that third friend arrived I’d get ditched in favour of them. And that would obviously hurt me. But we resolved it (not really) and things were going fine. But that experience stuck with me. It was my first taste of loneliness and abandonment (dramatic much?) and it made me doubt myself. I thought that maybe, just maybe, there was something about me that they didn’t like.

Now jump ahead about two years and I was alone Every. Single. Recess. (Oh shit it storming outside right now and some thunder sounded like a bomb) Obviously this only made me feel worse about myself. I just remember being so desperate for some sort of connection with someone. And I got one. I started talking to this person, I’ll call them Bird, and we got along great. Pretty soon Bird was my best and we spent a lot of our time together. I was still sort of friends with the two other people, at least during lessons, and sometimes during recess, but not that much otherwise.

Jump ahead a bit more, another year or so, and my class changed. At my school my class and another (same age as us) we’re combined into one. In this class that we were combined with there were a few new people, one of whom stuck out. Mostly because they didn’t like me, and they weren’t exactly discreet in letting me know. They never said so to my face, but they made it quite clear in how they acted towards me. This also made me feel bad. Is there really something so wrong with me that others couldn’t help but dislike me for it? Can I fix it? What do it that makes me different? (At the current point in my life I’m fairly certain I know what it is so yeah. Fun)

Now, I’d always cared a fair bit about school. I was taught that education was important, and if I was going to spend hours at school I might as well use that time for something, be it academically of socially. So when those around me started caring less about their education and more about things such as appearance and social hierarchy and relationships, I was confused. Why would they just not care? HOW could they just not care? Now, I’m not saying that any of the previous things are necessarily bad things to care about. In fact, ist great! Being invested in your social life and how others view you can be nurturing and make you feel fulfilled. But too much of anything can be bad. Letting yourself care about only those things can be harmful in more ways than one. I’ve never particularly cared about those things; I don’t like dressing up or making myself look good for others. I don’t value others validation of my appearance. What I didn’t notice was that as I believed these thoughts, I started eating less.

But things are still pretty chill. I still struggle with what’s wrong and what makes me different, but that’s fine. I’m pretty sure everyone goes through that at some point in our lives. But now I’m starting to find some answers. I don’t really care much for my appearance or style, I like academic things, I’m starting to fall behind in my social development, people are becoming more bold in stating their opinions, people are more hateful and spread misinformation etc etc (there’s a fucking mosquito who won’t leave me alone fuck off please). And at this point I’m more invested in the online world. But the international online world, not my national online world if that makes sense. English isn’t my first language but I learned it from the internet/YouTube and it’s basically my second language at this point. I learned English for English content creators, and I continued following them, not the ones relevant in my home/country. So I was and still am kind of out of the loop on current influencer events here in the North. This ties in with what I thought to be the answer to my questions: the LGBTQIA+ Community.

I started finding creators from the LGBT+ and I related to them and their stories. But I didn’t think I was one of them. People at school were not afraid to boldly proclaim that being LGBTQ+ was wrong and bad and strange. That there was something inherently rotten about such people. Now, did I agree with that? No. But I let it influence to the point were I thought that others being LBGTQ+ was fine, but me being that wasn’t. I wasn’t aloud to be one of them because there wasn’t supposed to be something wrong with me. But there was something, in the back of my mind, some part of me that knew. That knew who I am and that being me was fine. Too bad that voice wasn’t loud enough.

I still had Bird with me. Granted, they also had other friends, but they still stayed by my side. And they didn’t change like others did. My two first friends are people I also grew closer to at this time. I put our “situation” behind me and ignored it. It was a new chapter of my life, one where thing were changing in the right direction. Too bad I wasn’t too good at reading maps.

At this point I’m in sixth (6th) grade, the worst grade/period/time of my life thus far. After summer break people had changed a lot. Not just socially, but physically as well. We started to mature, we were lite tiny birds, looking out of the nest and thinking about how to take flight and reach above the branches of expectations and reach the clouds of ambition. But some of us didn’t. We didn’t want to start using our wings. At most we took a little peek out of our nest and divided that was enough for now. We began to grow frightened of others and their strange ideas of leaving what we knew was safe. I’m We for those wondering.

I started struggling with anxiety, I couldn’t stand in front of people without being scared and had a few panic attacks during presentations. People would look at me weirdly and I grew paranoid of what was wrong with me. At this point I started eating even less, resigning myself to one potion per meal, and no snacks, sometimes skipping lunch. Once again some of my friends that I had at this point started drifting away from me but now the rest, and I started trusting them even less. I can’t help but think that they’re only pitying me, that they’re going to leave and that they do thing behind my back. There was also someone else who had a big influence on me.

I, along with Bird started hanging around this person, we’ll call them Pen. They were sort of new, they’d always been in our class but had been living abroad for eight (8) months and had just come back. At first things were great. Bird, Pen and I were our own little trio of friends. But soon a change occurred. Pen started getting more clingy, staying uncomfortably close at times and never staying out of our personal space. Bird ended up taking the initiative with one of our other mutual friends and had long talk with Pen which sort of ended their friendship. At first they’d all handled it alone but then Pen involved their parents and thing went downhill. But I wasn’t part of it. Which made Pen hang on to me even more. I could never get away from them, it always felt like they were breathing down my neck. I didn’t tell them this though, they just lost two friends and they must be hurt from it, seeking comfort from someone they still considered a friend. I was uncomfortable, but I felt bad for them, so I continued being around them. Something my teachers had realized at this point was that I tend to take responsibility for other and their actions, and told me that I should try to relax and talk to them as I had seemingly started to become overwhelmed. But I don’t tell others my problems so I didn’t take their help. This kind of escalated a bit next grade.

Grade seven (7) was not my best year but also not my worst. I spent summer break reflecting and thinking, and started to value myself a bit more. I started hanging out with friends more often (usually Bird), and started unintentionally ignoring Pen. Though sometimes, I think it was intentional, as the very thought of Pen at this point made me anxious and uneasy. I thought I could simply let Pen hang around with me, and then let them get their own new friend group. I didn’t want them to only hang around me, it was honestly a bit scary how much I dreaded being around them. The feeling that something was off or wrong around them wouldn’t go away. They didn’t leave me though. No; I became their sole friend whom they refused to leave. In seventh (7th) grade our class was split, with me and Bird being in different classes. I had some friends in my new class though andere became a group. I thought I could nudge Pen to become part of this group. Except that Pen didn’t interact or contribute to the relationship. They weren’t social enough with the group to become part of it, standing in the group only to follow me. And my teachers noticed this and spoke to me. I told them how I was uncomfortable around Pen, and how I would like to not have to sit close to them next time we switched we seats (done every few weeks or so). Teachers agreed. But didn’t follow through. They sat me Right. Next. To. Pen. I confronted them about this. They lied to me. Their reasoning was that one of Pen’s parents had told the teachers how Pen only felt comfortable around me, and that they would like for us to be together at school as much as possible.

I was horrified at this - I couldn’t be held responsible for another students comfort, grades and social life! They basically put all the responsibilities of the teachers - making sure students felt comfortable, helping with schoolwork when needed, making sure the student had friends in the class - on me! I was basically supposed to play friend, teacher and class for Pen! I honestly couldn’t believe it, and told my friends. They told me they understood completely - they could see how emotionally and mentally exhausted I was from taking care of Pen, studying, after school activities and being around people that they were concerned about my well being. They, too, had tried to get Pen to become part of the group, but when only one person is taking care of the ship you can’t expect it to sail. They also felt uncomfortable around Pen. My anxiety only got worse because of this, and I started becoming paranoid that Pen was always watching me, either through my phone or my windows. I could not get myself to relax, not even when totally alone, something I’ve always enjoyed and felt comfortable with.

And at the end of grade seven (7), it happened. I found out that Pen was switching schools. I feel guilty admitting it, but I felt so relieved and free when I found out. Finally, I thought, finally I would get some privacy. All of my other friends are aware of my boundaries: don’t touch me unless I’m ready and aware of it, give me some space, don’t force me to talk when I’m anxious etc. They know, respect and treat me well, and in turn I treat them well and respect their boundaries, but Pen didn’t seem to understand that no, I don’t want you to stand so close to me that I can literally feel you body heat.

So grade eight (8) rolls around and I so does a certain unspecified virus. We therefore had to have school online. For me this was a blessing. I don’t enjoy being around people for too long and I don’t ever want to deal with my classmates bs. The teachers even commented on several occasions that I seemed much happier, which I was considering I didn’t have someone constantly breathing down my neck. And now I start to drift away from Bird. I always considered Bird my absolute closest friend. Almost like a sibling. And now we were drifting apart. We both started walking our own paths, still close together but different in so many ways. We’re still friends to this day, but I don’t think our friendship is going to last until we’re adults anymore. It’s sort of sad, but it is natural. We are both starting to forge our own paths in life, our own docks from which we will eventually set sail from to explore the limitless blue beyond that is life. And one day we might even meet again on some distant island, reconnecting and sharing stories of calm blue oceans to storming black waters. But that will happen with time. For now, I’m content finding materials for my dock with my group of friends, sharing ideas for designs and unfinished blueprints of a distant future. I’m content staring at that great far away horizon painted in the colors of pink, magenta and blue, watching the clouds of today’s events and feeling the winds of tomorrow’s surprises whilst thinking of what one day might be.

TL;DR: I rant about my life and somehow become a poet at the end.

End note - I still struggle with trust and anxiety. I don’t have problems with how my body looks anymore and I don’t confine myself to strict diets and eating schedules. Part of me feels guilty about my situation with Pen, and one part of me feels relieved and happy that I don’t have to deal with them anymore. I’m smart enough and self aware enough to realize my problems and their causes, and I have the tools to craft my solutions. I’m doing good, and know how to keep doing good, at least for a little while more.

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bufomancer · 4 years

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The Ethics of Betta Sororities

Betta sororities, made up of several female domestic bettas living in the same aquarium, are popular amongst those who want lots of bettas, but have limited space. The safety and ethics of these setups are hotly debated. There are quite a few studies out there on social behavior in domestic bettas, but they largely have not been applied to current discussions about betta sororities. Here, I intend to do exactly that with five papers that I believe are relevant.

The History of the Betta

Domestic bettas have been popular pets for hundreds of years. They’ve been linebred in captivity since at least the 19th century. Initially, they were selected for increased aggression and used for betta fights. It was soon discovered that they could be bred into a wide variety of colors, patterns, and fin types. Nowadays, they’re primarily kept for their beautiful appearance.

There are several species of Betta in the splendens complex. Domestics are considered to be B. splendens, but they were also hybridized with other members of the complex. In particular, hybridization led to the rise of ‘dragonscale’ bettas, noted for their thick iridescence. In the wild, they inhabit shallow, sluggish streams. After mating, males guard the eggs until the fry hatch, but the female may not be actively involved. The male stops looking after the fry after hatching.

Splendens complex bettas that are relatively unchanged from their wild forms are typically kept communally, it’s common to see one male with one or several females. Multiple males are rarely if ever kept together past sexual maturity. Aggression in these setups can happen, but they are also frequently successful. Betta species that are not in the splendens complex are rarely kept singularly.

There’s not much out there on social behavior in wild B. splendens, but we know that males will perform aggressive displays when they come across other males. Typically, these altercations last only a few seconds, with the loser swimming off mostly unharmed. Domestic betta fights in captivity can last for an hour, with the loser injured or dead.

While wild-type bettas can often be kept communally, that does not necessarily translate to domestic strains being safe with conspecifics. After all, they were extensively linebred for increased aggression. So we can’t use that alone to justify betta sororities- if they can be justified at all.

Next, we’ll go through some papers individually, discussing methods and findings. These will be pretty long, since several papers are behind paywalls and I want everyone reading to have a pretty good grasp on what the papers said without necessarily needing to shell out money. That said, I highly recommend reading the papers individually since my summaries are still just summaries.

Ichihashi, Ichikawa, and Matsushima (2004)

[paper found here]

In this paper, domestic bettas were reared in four different conditions and then their agonistic behaviors were compared. All fry studied were from the same spawn. At 6 weeks, 110 unsexed juveniles were separated into 4 different housing conditions. In Group 1, 50 fish were put into 12.5x20 cm tanks, with a water depth of 6-9cm. There were 5 fish per tank, for a total of 10 tanks. Group 2 fish were housed individually but could see the group 1 fish through their aquarium walls. Group 3 fish were housed individually but could see other group 2 fish through the aquarium walls, but not Group 1 or 2 fish. Group 4 fish were housed individually and could not see other fish. There were 20 fish each in groups 2-4. Once the fish were sexable, there were 18 males in group 1, 13 in group 2, 8 in group 3, and 9 in group 4. The females were not used for the study.

Some questions I have so far about the study and its ability to be applied to home aquaria: Were the tanks barren, or did they contain any decor/substrate? The tanks for the communally raised fish were under a gallon each. Plus, because only the males were studied, how applicable is this information to female bettas? In a betta sorority, the tanks are typically around 10-20 gallons, and with at least some decor. In an aquarium with more room to avoid tankmates, and decor for hiding, might fish act differently?

Next, males were matched and tested for agonistic behaviors. They were placed in a 20x30x15cm aquarium separated into two sections. The water was changed after each session. A male was placed in each section and allowed to acclimate for 30 minutes, then the partition was removed and video was recorded. Three behaviors were identified and recorded: butt-or-bite (strongly butting or biting the other fish with its mouth), chase, and gill cover erect (colloquially known as flaring). 16 males from group one, and 8 males each from the other groups, were tested. A male from groups 2-4 was randomly matched with a male from group 1 for testing.

All of the males in group 4, who were kept totally isolated, won their fights, and additionally would continue to attack even after the loser submitted. The other groups won roughly half the time.

Later, some of the group 2 males were placed in group 4 conditions, and vice versa, to compare the effects of late isolation and late socialization. Later isolation tended to increase win rate without significant effects on agonistic behaviors. Later socialization did not decrease the win rate.

Now, this is all focused on male bettas, and therefore may not directly translate to behavior in female bettas. However, this paper suggests there may be a socialization period for young bettas, seeing as the communally raised individuals seemed to be less aggressive, and late socialization did not produce more docile bettas. This means a betta sorority made up of females raised isolated and later put together likely has a lower chance of success than those raised socially.

Goldstein (1985)

[paper found here]

This paper is all about creating stable communal populations of the domestic betta. An L shaped aquarium, with each arm 229x38x51cm, was created. A 31x76cm plexiglass window was placed in the center of each arm. Day one, one male was introduced to each arm of the tank. If the loser of the initial fight was not completely intimidated within 2 days, a third male was introduced. If it was, it was removed and replaced. After the male population was at three for 2 days, a female was introduced, with the same removal criteria. A second study was performed with 10 contests of 20 males in a 6.5 liter aquarium to obtain baseline data.

Of the sixteen males involved, six died and three were removed. The maximum stocking was 10 males and 10 females, which within three weeks had to be reduced to 7 males.

As this chart shows, most aggressive encounters were between two males. Transient displays, but not true fights, were recorded among two females, and among males and females. Combat lasted much longer for the males in the small tank than in the L shaped tank. Mouth locking behavior was much less common in the L shaped tank than in the small tank. Aggression was usually initiated by newly added males, not the current residents.

Here are the questions I have: Why were there no tests with solely females, or one male and multiple females? How might these results change if performed in a similarly sized, but rectangular aquarium, as opposed to the L shape? The paper mentions that all the fish were roughly the same age and from the same supplier, but were they from the same spawn, or different ones? Did the supplier raise the fry communally or isolated?

One interesting observation was that the males did not appear to occupy distinct territories within the tank, instead, they traversed the whole aquarium. It seems aquarium size most likely affects aggression, since fights were shorter and less intense in the larger tank versus the smaller tank. Also, one pair of bettas spawned in the L shaped tank, and both the male and female guarded the territory of their bubble nest until the fry hatched. Typically, female bettas are not said to be actively involved with guarding the nest, so that was certainly interesting! A stable social hierarchy was said to be created, but the author cautions against broadly applying the results of laboratory conditions to all bettas.

Elwood and Rainey (1983)

[paper found here]

Finally, a study all about female bettas, specifically. This paper aims to determine if female bettas can form stable dominance hierarchies. Groups of 4 fish each were placed into five aquariums, 28x20x18cm each with a water depth of 12cm. The groups were visually isolated. Groups 1 and 2 were bred in the lab, 3-5 were from a breeder. The tanks were empty except for a gravel substrate. Groups 1 and 2 were observed for 15 minutes per day, on nine days over a two week period. Groups 3-5 were observed for 15 minutes per day on five days over a two week period. Three activities- attack, display, and eating- were recorded.

Questions so far! These tanks are less than 2 gallons each, so can this be effectively extrapolated to large aquaria? They are also empty, so how would results change in a heavily planted aquarium? Why were groups 1 and 2 from a different source than 3-5? Why were they observed for different amounts of time? Are the fish from the same spawn as the other fish in their tank? Were they raised isolated or communally?

Based on the observations made, a rank order was assigned to each fish in each group for each observation day.

I really recommend reading this whole paper to really get how they were calculating the hierarchy and day-to-day concordance.

So, conclusions. A noticeable and relatively stable social hierarchy seemed to be created. The most aggressive fish was not necessarily the most dominant, which fits with similar observations in male splendens. The top ranked fish engaged in the most mutual displays with the second ranked fish, and the least with the bottom ranked fish. The bottom ranked fish was more likely to flee than to return displays. A social hierarchy may have been created, but aggressive displays were still present. The study lasted only two weeks, in small and barren tanks, among fish who may have been related. If you change any of those factors- longer term study, larger and heavily decorated tank, unrelated fish, etc- the results could differ.

Snekser, McRobert, and Clotfelter (2006)

[paper found here]

In this study, male and female bettas were presented with a single male, a single female, or a group of three females. All fish were roughly the same age and obtained from the same supplier. The testing tank was separated into three sections. The focal fish were placed in the middle section, where they could choose to view either of the end sections, but not both at once.

Immediate questions: Were all the fish related? Were they raised socially or communally? Why were they never presented with multiple males, only multiple females? The focal fish and the test fish could not directly interact, only view each other. So this has little bearing on interactions between multiple fish in the same, undivided aquarium.

As we can see in these charts, females preferred viewing a single female or three females over an empty chamber. They preferred the empty chamber to the single male, and the three females over both the single male and the single female. Males preferred viewing one female, three females, and one male to the empty chamber. They preferred three females to a single female, and a single male to three females. However, we can also see that there were documented aggressive displays for all of these testings. The females performed fewer aggressive displays, but they were still there.

So… the fish regularly preferred viewing other fish to the empty chamber, and larger groups to a single fish, but they performed aggressive behaviors and they could not physically interact with the other fish. This paper is interesting, but does it actually mean anything when it comes to a sorority setup where the fish can freely physically interact with each other?

Blakeslee, McRobert, Brown, and Clotfelter (2008)

[paper found here]

This study is similar to the one above, but this time focused on female bettas only. It seeks to determine if group size and body color have an effect on social partner preferences. Of the 160 fish used, 130 had wild type coloration, and 30 were white with pink fins. They were obtained from a local fish shop. The same type of three chambered aquarium used in the previous study was used for this one. For 30 days prior to the preference testing, individuals were separated by color into either 75 liter aquariums with 15-20 individuals, or 1000mL plastic cups held in a larger aquarium.

The fish consistently preferred the other fish to the empty chamber, and large groups of similar fish to small groups of similar or dissimilar fish. The brown striped fish did not show a marked preference when presented with the choice between one similar fish or several dissimilar fish.

Some questions- Were all of the brown fish from the same spawn? Were all of the white fish from the same spawn? Were the brown and white fish both from the same spawn? What if they were presented with related similar fish versus related dissimilar fish? Or related dissimilar fish versus unrelated similar fish? Why were the white fish not tested after individual housing, or against empty chambers? Were aggressive behaviors noted? How would these results change if the fish were allowed to physically interact rather than only see each other?

There’s a lot of questions with this one. Unlike the previous study, there’s no chart detailing any aggressive behavior. Just because a fish would rather see the other fish than be alone, doesn’t necessarily mean they’re playing nice!

Conclusions

None of these papers provide sufficient evidence in support of communal betta tanks, especially under more typical home aquaria conditions. Lack of injury is not the same as lack of stress. Stress and appeasement related behaviors such as fin clamping, pale colors, stress stripes, etc were minimally mentioned in these papers if at all. Betta sororities in the aquarium hobby tend to be in 10 or 20 gallon tanks, and with at least /some/ decor and hides. These papers tend towards keeping them communally in much smaller tanks, with no decor whatsoever. Would bettas in a larger and better decorated tank feel emboldened knowing they can more easily avoid threats? Are these fish truly in a stable social hierarchy, or is it closer to learned helplessness? When there are physical items in the tank and not just an empty water column, are they more likely to defend a specific territory?

In particular, I would be interested in data on related versus unrelated fish. In all of these papers, fish used were obtained from the same supplier and were likely all from the same spawn. Are they more likely to tolerate conspecifics who are related to them? Many people have reported more success with communal betta tanks when they are fry from the same spawn that were never separated. This leads to more questions- what about unrelated fry raised together, or related fry raised isolated and then reintroduced?

More research is certainly necessary to truly understand the sociability of domestic bettas. In the meantime, if you love bettas and want more than one in the same tank, a pair of a nondomesticated species such as imbellis, smaragdina, and so on would be a much better decision.

#fishblr #bettablr #aquablr #my guides

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jeanjauthor · 3 years

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The ‘dreaded swimsuit season’ is coming up, and that means people are going to be obsessing about food and exercise and losing calories. First of all, I’m not a medical professional nor a nutritionist nor a physical therapist etc, so definitely consult with the appropriate personnel...but I cannot stress strongly enough, you must consult with non-fatphobic medical personnel.

Fatphobia kills people of all bodyweights, and this blog does not support fatphobia, especially medical fatphobia.

Now, with that said...if you want to be healthy, there are plenty of non-fatphobic things you can do about it. And the biggest things you need to know about how to go about it are: understanding your metabolism, understanding how muscles can affect your metabolism, and understanding how diet (foods, not fatphobia industry) can affect your metabolism.

Given all the fat-shaming bullshit thrown about in the so-called “Health Industry,” it sounds counterintuitive, but you actually need to eat more in order to lose weight. You need to teach your body that it’s not in starvation mode anymore, that it has plenty of calories and nutrients...and just start moving more. Not necessarily exercising more, but moving more.

2,000-2,500 calories a day is the range for a “normal” body-weight-and-size person. However, the more exercise you do, the more muscles you have, or simply the bigger a person you are (the more cells you have), the more calories you need. Unless you’re seriously short & skinny, a 1,500 calorie meal is a starvation meal, and that will put your body into “OMFG SAVE ALL THE CALORIES AS FAT!!” mode.

Literally, a toddler’s caloric needs are 1,100, and they range from 20-35 pounds. You’re several times that much. This doesn’t mean that if you weigh 175 pounds that you need to eat at least 5 times as many calories, however! In truth, you only need about double that, because a toddler’s metabolism is geared toward growing, whereas an adult’s metabolism is geared toward maintaining.

The best way to understand this is to realize your metabolism can be divided into 4 categories.

Your Resting Metabolic Rate is simply the amount of calories needed to keep you breathing, your blood pumping, your organs functioning. That’s 60%-75% of your caloric intake. You have your Thermic Effect of Food, which is another 10%, literally the energy it takes to chew and swallow and digest food & drinks, and then to excrete the leftover bathroom waste. The remaining two types of calorie burning are Non-Exercise Activity Thermogensis, and Activity Thermogenesis. Of those lattermost two, your body actually burns more of the Non-Exercise calories than the Active Exercise calories...and it is designed to burn more when simply moving.

Literally, just moving a bit more than you usually do in a typical day will burn calories effectively. Move around the house on every commercial break, stand up and sit down more often, change your position more frequently, raise and lower your arms, gently swing or kick your legs...just move more. When they say 30 minutes of (gentle) exercise a day, this is exactly what they are talking about. You don’t need weights, you don’t need machinery, you don’t need a gym membership. Just move. It’ll be a gradual process, but so long as you’re eating foods with plenty of fiber as well as other food types, you’ll feel full and won’t feel starved.

Now, if you want to burn calories even faster through vigorous exercise, you can do that, too...but again you need to use your metabolism. Make sure you’re not starving, because your body will go into a panic attack thinking you’re not only starving but are being chased by bears and will need plenty of fat to survive while you’re unable to gather food, etc because zomg you’re being chased by bears!!1! (Truly, the metabolism is a primitive/primal minded thing based upon hundreds of thousands of years of hunter-gatherer lifestyles, and does not comprehend modern life at all.)

And then, what do you do to burn more calories? You build muscles. Muscles burn a lot of calories. Not just through using said muscles in excercise, but muscles will burn through calories even while simply resting. The more muscles you have, the more calories your body will burn.

How do you build muscles? Well, there are two types of muscles, which while it sounds cannibalistic, we’ll call white meat and dark meat, because it’s the easiest mnemonic to remember. White meat (think breast meat on a chicken) is designed for strong but brief actions...and men have more white meat muscles than females, though obviously they have both kinds. That brief sprint towards a prey animal, the thrust of a spear into its body, aaaand done.

Dark meat muscles are meant for lower-strength repetitive actions. Walking around reaching up or stooping down or digging while gathering plants, with no need to rush and plenty of opportunities to rest. Chasing after young children. Weaving baskets, scraping and tanning hides into furs and leathers, cooking...these are tasks that require little to moderate amounts of strength, but most important, repeated movements. Women tend to have more dark meat muscles than men, though obviously they have both kinds.

(The reasons why wild ducks, partridges, grouse, etc, all have dark meat breast muscles is because they use those muscles to fly long distances. Chickens evolved from jungle-floor hunt-and-peck birds that mostly flew only short distances to get away from predators by flying up to the nearest tree branches, so they literally just needed a burst of strong energy over a short period of time, hence white meat muscles.)

Which type is better? Both, ideally, because they are useful in a variety of different ways. Which is better for burning calories? Ideally both, but it doesn’t really matter. All you need to do is build muscles.

As for how to do that...you know how you feel when you exercise until you are sore? That’s what you need to do. This is where weights and machines and treadmills do come in handy, but still aren’t necessary, since you can lift and lower objects around your home, and get exercise bands or surgical tubing for resistance training, and go for longer walks, etc.

The object is to (gently!) push your body to the point where your muscles are sore. You can do this by lifting weights for a few repetitions near your limit (use a spotter & practice safe lifting skills!!), which is a white meat muscle activity, or you can use lesser weights or resistance machinery (surgical tubing counts), but just do it more, which is dark meat muscle activity.

You can also do the “step down” method of weight training or resistance training, by starting near your limit, going until your muscles burn, then resting a few minutes while gently shaking out, massaging, or relaxing the muscles in question to help move the lactic acid out of your muscle tissues, along with hydrating. Then you “step down” the amount of weight (say by 20%-30%) and doing another set of reps (repetition movements) until again it’s a struggle, then another few minutes of rest, hydration, etc, before stepping down again, doing some reps...and then again when it’s at the lightest you can for as long as you can, then rest that muscle group.

Regardless of which way you weight/resistance train, take a full 48 hours off. Or as close to 48 as you manage--weight train 3 times a week, and then take up to 72 hours (three days) off so your body can fully recover. You can still exercise, but do not use weights or resistance machinery/rubber bands, etc.

Let your muscles use that 48 hours to heal, and eat more protein sources to help your body build more muscle strength, along with a variety of nutrients to get the right kinds of micronutrients. Again, I must emphasize: Do not starve your body. It will go into fat-storage mode and will only barely repair your muscles, nevermind build them bigger.

The goal is to build more muscle tissue. if you are hungrier than usual, eat more. Your body will tell you what it needs if you listen, and there are plenty of charts out there with “if you are craving X,Y, or Z, then try eating healthier foods A,B,C, D, E, or F!” and they’re actually not inaccurate...but it is okay to have the “less healthy” foods in moderation, same as in everything you eat.

But seriously, up your protein intake, which is what your body needs to build bigger muscles. The average (again, your needs may be more) person needs about 4 ounces (115 grams) of protein per meal, so you can shoot for more than that. And get your proteins from a variety of sources. Humans can manufacture a good number of amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), but we cannot synthesize 9 of them, the “9 essential amino acids.”

These 9 essential amino acids are: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Foods that contain all nine essential acids are called complete proteins. These include eggs, fish, beef, pork, poultry, and whole sources of soy (tofu, edamame, tempeh, and miso).

While plant proteins have lower essential amino acid contents when compared to animal proteins, they will also have different ratios of the various amio acids compared to most animal-based proteins. This is something that vegetarians and vegans need to keep in mind.

Some plant-based foods can be combined together to complement and/or supplement. “Rice & beans” is one such combination. Basically, you combine a grain (in this case rice) with a pulse (legumes, like beans, or peas, etc). Here in America, in Mexican restaurants, a serving of refried beans and Spanish rice (seasoned with tomatoes & spices) is often automatically included as a side for most dishes. This provides a great deal of carbohydrates, but it also provides a more or less “complete protein” set of those essential amino acids.

Corn, beans, and squash plants do the same thing, providing a complete protein when combined together, as well as plenty of carbs. These three plant types are the “Three Sisters” of indigenous North Americans. They are best when planted together, the corn providing a trellis for the beans to grow upon, the squashes spreading out across the field to smother competing weeds, and together they feed people reasonably well.

However, they are still more carb-heavy than protein-heavy, which means vegetarians need to rely upon other sources such as nuts, plus eggs, dairy, and/or fish (if pisco-lacto-ovarian vegetarians). Vegans in particular need to be extra careful. Yes, peanuts have a lot of proteins compared to their carbs, same with almonds, etc, so definitely add nuts to your diets! But just be aware that you’re going to need to be a lot more conscious of your protein types & sources--and make sure to get a variety of sources--if you’re trying to build muscles while on a vegetarian or especially on a vegan diet. A purely plant-based diet will not have nearly as balanced a set of amino acids as what animal-inclusive diets can contain.

If you’re lacto-ovarian, this is made easier because milk, cheese, and eggs are wonderful foods with a lot of nutritional value. If you eat fish as well, even better, full proteins in fish as well as in egg whites, etc...but that brings me to another caveat, because you should probably eat the egg yolks as well as the egg whites.

Do not skip out on fats. Unless you have a genuine doctor-ordered medical reason, do not cut all fats out of your diet. Your brain needs fats in order to function. And just as with amino acids in various protein sources, there are different types of fats as well that our bodies need in different amounts for different reasons. This isn’t to say you should chow down on the equivalent of a full stick of butter (1/2 cup, 65 grams) with each meal (unless you’re camping outdoors in winter in the far north or a mountain, because then you need fat in your diet for your body to literally burn to help keep you warm).

It’s just that you don’t want to go completely fat free...because if you do, your metabolism will go into panic mode in its primitive/primal-minded way, “ZOMG IT’S LATE WINTER/EARLY SPRING AND NOTHING HAS ANY FATS IN IT WE’RE ALL GONNA STAAAAAARRRVEEE!!” Your metabolism will start turning carbs and even proteins into fats in an effort to ensure your brain (along with other vital organs) will have enough fats to keep functioning. So go ahead and put some butter on your toast. Even better, put some nutbutter on your toast, since sunflower butter, peanut butter, almond butter, all those things have proteins and fats as well as carbs.

Also, your body actually does need cholesterol to function, but only in smaller amounts than you’d think. HOWEVER, if it doesn’t get enough of the right types of cholesterol through diet, your body will make its own cholesterol, and will make more than you need, out of carbohydrates. (Yeah, this one was a shocker to me when I learned about it, and the answer blew my mind. Seriously, our body will make up to 10x as much cholesterol as we need if we don’t eat it, so it’s best if we do eat it.)

So how much does an average person need to consume of these critical cholesterols that it absolutely needs? ...About 1-2 egg yolks a day (or comparable alternative sources; vegans, do some research on alternatives, or just accept that your body may try to overproduce certain cholesterols if it’s feeling nutrition-starved). Seriously. Just that much is enough. (Again, your needs may vary based on your body size, metabolic rate, and/or environment.)

So. Put it all together, and you have: 1. Eat a variety of foods in sufficient quantities and qualities (fats and proteins included) to ensure your body stays healthy; 2. exercise just enough to push your muscles into feeling sore; 3. Rest 48 hours while eating a bit more protein to help your body repair and build bigger muscles; 4. Lather-rinse-repeat... and you’ll eventually get bigger muscles that burn more calories simply by existing, as well as whenever you use them to move just a bit more than you normally would.

Dark meat muscles burn more calories when at rest because they’re designed that way, because they’re small effort but frequent use with multiple short rests, lots of blood flowing through them, and thus are more metabolically “charged” than white meat muscles. However, white meat muscles tend to be the largest muscles, and thus while not designed to burn calories as efficiently while at rest compared to dark meat muscles...they actually end up burning about the same through sheer volume.

Work on improving your muscles, move a bit more every day, eat more conscientously but not through the heavily warped fearmongering lens of the Diet Industry’s blather and/or tactics, and you will be healthy enough to go to the beach and enjoy it. Not because you’ll have lost weight, but because you will be healthier. (Fun fact: muscles are denser and heavier than fat, so you could literally lose inches while gaining pounds from your body burning the fat with its now increased muscle mass.)

And yes, you can weigh 260 pounds and still be healthier than someone who weighs 160.

In other words, if you have a body, and you go to the beach with it, you now have a beach body.

You’ll just be less likely to get out of breath while swimming or building sand castles or playing volleyball or whatever if you’ve upped your exercise levels between now and then.

Also: CONTINUE TO WEAR A MASK IN PUBLIC.

Get one that matches your swimwear, or makes you feel silly & fun. Even if everyone started wearing their masks (not going to happen, but one can dream), it will to take us all of 2021 to quell the pandemic...and because people won’t be wearing their masks, keep wearing that mask. Yes, even if you have had all your shots. Because people aren’t wearing masks, the virus is able to spread, and when it spreads, there’s always a chance it will mutate, and cause new strains of infections...which it already has. So wear your damn mask.

#discussion of diet & exercise #death to the bullshit diet industry #nutrition is important to understand but doesn't have to be synonymous with the pejorative word diet #again I'm not a pro at this but I have studied nutrition exercise and metabolism on and off for decades

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rocknrollarticles · 4 years

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The Artwoods Story

The Artwoods’ 100 Oxford Street is a UK compilation album released in 1983 that features a four-page booklet (pictured above) that tells the band’s story, written by guitarist Derek Griffiths.

Since there's a limit on the number of photos that can be added to one post, I'll be reblogging this a couple times until I have all the info up. To see this post with all the info added in reblogs, click here.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy Derek’s words as much as I do!

Transcript under the cut (main text + Record Mirror article from page three's rightmost side)

“ It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when the Artwoods came into being because everything just seemed to evolve naturally. The one date however that does stick in my mind is the 1st October 1964 which is the date I turned professional, thus depriving the accountancy profession of a valuable addition to its ranks! But seriously, one must go back to previous events in order to trace the history of the group.

I first met Jon Lord at a party in West Hampstead when he was a drama student at The Central School of Speech & Drama. He was introduced to me by Don Wilson whose claim to fame was his membership of the famous skiffle group Dickie Bishop & His Sidekicks. They had had a hit years previously with "No Other Baby But You", and Don now ran a band on a semi-pro basis called Red Bludd's Bluesicians in which I played guitar. Well, I say we were called this, but only when we were fortunate enough to cop an R&B gig. We used to play The Flamingo Allnighter and lots of U.S. air bases. The rest of the time we played weddings and tennis club dances as The Don Wilson Quartet! Jon Lord was brought in on piano and was a very valuable addition especially as he could get his hands around a little jazz and all the old standards. Jon used to ring me at work and interrupt my vouching of sales ledger invoices in order to discuss the coming weekends gigs. We would bubble with excitement at the approach of an R&B gig as we really hated all the weddings and barmitzvahs.

Around this time Don made a very important policy decision and we suddenly became the proud owners of a Lowrey Holiday organ for Jon to play. Shortly after this Don contrived to drive the band-wagon into the back of a lorry on the North Circular, doing himself considerable mischief in the process. This brought about the unfortunate end of Don's career with us, but not before he had masterminded an important merger of two local bands.

For some time we had been aware, and not a little envious, of The Art Wood Combo led by none other than Art Wood himself. His band underwent a split at that time and Red Bludd's Bluesicians, alias The Don Wilson Quartet, were neatly grafted on. We really felt we were moving into the big league by doing this as Art not only had more work than us but, wait for it, used to sing with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated with Charlie Watts on drums and Cyril Davies on harmonica! The next problem was a replacement for Don, and this was solved by stealing the bass player from another local group The Roadrunners, a good looking cove who went by the name of Malcolm Pool. The offer and acceptance of the gig were transacted in a pub car park somewhere in West Drayton staring into the murky waters of the Grand Union Canal clutching pints of local bitter (Fullers?). (Authors note: drugs had not been invented at this stage, as far as most groups were concerned, apart from the odd pill to keep one awake on an all nighter!)

The next personnel change took place some time in 1964 and this involved the retirement of drummer Reg Dunnage, who did not want to turn pro. Auditions were held in London and lots of drummers attended. However it was more or less a foregone conclusion that Keef Hartley would get the job. You see we'd already decided that what The Artwoods needed above all else was a Liverpool drummer! Unfortunately none came to the audition, but Keef hailed from Preston which was near enough for us. Keef had previously played with Rory Storm & The Hurricanes, replacing Ringo Starr in the process (heady stuff this), and Freddy Starr & The Midnighters. Both were such influential bands of their time that these credentials combined with Keef's quasi Liverpool accent (at least to our ears) provided him with a faultless pedigree.

So that was it, the line-up that would take us through to 1967 when Colin Martin eventually replaced Keef Hartley on drums.

For a while we worked as The Art Wood Combo but then decided it was hipper to drop the Combo and become The Artwoods.

The period when The Artwoods were operating was one of musical change when groups went from recording and performing other writers' material to writing their own. In fact the last year of the group's existence was 1967 which heralded the arrival of "Hendrix", "Flower-Power". "Festivals" and experimental use of mind expanding drugs! 1966/67 were particularly exciting years to be based in London and every night would be spent in one of the many clubs which had recently sprung up. The Ad Lib, The Scotch of St. James, The Cromwellian, Blaises and of course The Speakeasy to mention a few. Many of these we played in and the trick was to be well known enough not to have to pay the entrance fee on nights off. Any night you could be sure to meet your mates "down The Speak" and it became the unofficial market place for rock musicians.

It was also the days before huge amounts of equipment took over. Equipment meant road-crew and trucks and in turn financial hardship. This simple equation has been the downfall of many bands over the years. We used to travel in a 15 cwt van together with all the gear-no roadies, just us. It's amusing to recall but after recording the TV show "Ready, Steady, Go" (in Kingsway in those days?) one would be besieged by autograph hunters on the way to the van with the gear. Even really 'big groups of the day like The Zombies would hump their own equipment and apologetically place an amp on the ground in order to sign an autograph! Because it was financially viable to travel to small clubs in this way, we would often average 6 or 7 nights a week, every week, on the road. A bad month would probably mean less than twenty gigs. This meant we were living, sleeping and eating in close, and I mean close, proximity. You really found out who your friends were.

The subject of equipment is an interesting one as it really distinguishes the bands then from those of today. The average pub band of today would carry more equipment than we did. As I've already mentioned we were quick to realise that we could elevate ourselves musically by investing in a proper electric organ as opposed to a Vox Continental or Farfisa that many groups used. Consequently the group purchased a Lowrey Holiday and we thought this alone would provide us with the Booker T and Jimmy Smith sound.

What we failed to realize was that we also needed a Leslie cabinet with a special built-in rotor to get that "wobbly" sound. Our friend and mentor Graham Bond, the legendary organist/saxophonist, was quick to point out the error of our ways one night when we were gigging at Klooks Kleek in West Hampstead. We groaned inwardly when we discovered the extra cost and humping involved, but it had to be bought. We were fortunate very early on to score a deal with Selmers, who provided us with free amps and P.A., but we had to make the trek to Theobalds Road once a week to get it all serviced as they were not as reliable in those days. I used a Selmer Zodiac 50 watt amp and Malcolm had Goliath bass cabinets with a stereo amp.

The P.A. comprised two 4 x 12 cabinets and a 100 watt amp! When we toured Poland we played in vast auditoria and linked our system with the Vox system being used on tour by Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas. This meant we were pumping out no more than 300 watts which is laughable by today's standards. Although it would never have compared in quality, I can remember standing at the back of extremely large halls and being able to hear clearly all the words Billy J sang. One day in 1963 Alexis Korner sent me off foraging in and around Charing Cross Road for a new guitar, with instructions to mention his name whereupon I would receive a discount of 10%. Previously I played a Burns Trisonic (collectors will appreciate this model did not have "Wild Dog" treble) but fancied owning a Gibson ES335 as favoured by many blues players. Sure enough one was hanging invitingly in the window of Lew Davis's shop.

I ended up paying £135 and still use it regularly today although its value has multiplied five fold. Malcolm came with me that day and bought an Epiphone bass, the same colour and shape as my guitar. For years we looked like matching book-ends on either end of the group! Keef started off using a Rodgers drum kit, but somewhere along the line changed to, I think, Ludwig. There was no out-front mixing as is common today, just the P.A. amp on stage with the vocalist. Primitive I know, but everything revolved around bands being able to travel economically with their gear and perform at small clubs anywhere in Britain. The college circuit was much sought after and provided the icing on the cake while package tours were not necessarily well paid. We did our first with P. J. Proby and got £25 per night (for the lot of us) and we had to pay for our own accommodation!

I have already mentioned "Ready, Steady, Go" a show on which we appeared on more than one occasion. The original format called for groups to mime to their records but after a time it was decided that it would become "live" and that the show would be re-titled "Ready Steady Goes Live". We were proud to be picked for the first "live" show and learnt the news via a telephone call to our agent in London from a phone box high in the Pennines. We managed a drunken war-dance of celebration round the phone box believing that this meant we'd really cracked it. As I remember the first show we did featured Tom Jones (complete with lucky rabbits foot) miming to "It's Not Unusual", The Kinks, Donovan and Adam Faith's Roulettes playing live (without Adam). We were promoting our first single "Sweet Mary" and I would put the date at around late 1964.

Our first recording deal was with a subsidiary of Southern Music Publishing called Iver Productions and I reckon that would have been mid 1964. Southern had a four track studio in the basement of their offices in Denmark Street ("The Street") and getting the gear downstairs, especially the organ, was "murder". Our first producer was Terry Kennedy and we recorded several tracks with him. Without going too deeply into all the details of recording techniques of the period, one tended to compensate for the lack of tracking facilities available, by attempting to duplicate the live excitement. In many ways it was a frustrating experience particularly for ambitious guitar-players. I was a Steve Cropper freak and I knew as a musician that a lot of his sound on record resulted from him working his amplifier hard in the studio— thus the speaker would emit the sound he was used to on stage. In Britain however, engineers would say "You don't need to play loud man, we can turn you up on the desk". The result was a weedy, thin guitar sound. From way back I'd been experimenting with "feed back" on stage and I really had to dig my heels in about the guitar sound in the studio. Once when I turned my amp up to give it a bit of "wellie" on a solo the engineer bounded out of the control room screaming that the level would bust his microphones!

Sometime during the career of The Artwoods it was decided that we should graduate to a better studio. This was arranged by Mike Vernon who also became our producer. Our records had all been released through the Decca Record Co. and Mike was a staff producer with them. Mike w also an authority on "The Blues" and the relationship led to our only single chart record "I Take What I Want" a cover of a Sam & Dave U.S. R&B hit. Mike was also producing John Mayall at the time and it seemed only natural that Mike and The Artwoods should team up. From this point on we recorded at the Decca studio in Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead, but I can't honestly say it did any more for us than our previous efforts in the Southern Music basement, although we could now indulge ourselves in the comparative luxury of the eight track studio. Later on, towards the end of the groups life we were signed by Jack Baverstock at Philips Records who was looking for a group to cash in on the thirties-style gangster craze which had been triggered off by the film "Bonnie & Clyde". As a result we changed our name to "St. Valentines Day Massacre" and released a single of the old Bing Crosby hit "Brother Can You Spare A Dime?" It was an ill- fated venture, which I would prefer not to dwell on, virtually signalling the end of the band apart from a few heavy-hearted gigs with a changed line-up.

Before that though, there were many great times to remember, and a fair number of gigs that were memorable in one way or another.

One of our favourite gigs was Eel Pie Island which we regularly played once a month; in fact we held the attendance record there for a while until the ageing blues artist Jesse Fuller took it from us. Eel Pie Island is literally an island in the middle of the River Thames at Twickenham and there's never been a gig like it since. It was an Edwardian ballroom originally I believe, that achieved notoriety in the 50's with the Trad Jazz boom. At that time, an overloaded chain ferry was used to convey the crowd across the river, but during the 60's a small bridge was in existence although it was only wide enough to take the promoter Art Chisnall's mini van. He had to make three separate trips across with the gear strapped to the roof and hanging out the back doors.

The audiences were exceptional for those times and I don't know where they all came from... very much like art students and very much more like the 70's than 60's. Long hair predominated and this was before 'hippies' had officially been invented! If you can imagine a ramshackle wooden ballroom, bursting at the seams, condensation pouring from the walls, the audience on each others shoulders leaping up and down, the sprung dance floor bending alarmingly in the middle, in the summer couples strolling outside and lounging on the river bank ... all this and not a disc jockey in sight! One other bonus was that it was a “free” house and therefore sold many different types of beer— we always favoured Newcastle Brown. Back on the 'mainland' afterwards it was always riotous packing the gear into the truck. I don't know how he managed it but one night Malcolm drove our truck over the support band's guitar which happened to be lying about, thus breaking the neck. I'll never forget the shocked look on that poor guitarist's face as Malcolm smoothly slipped the van into gear, apologised and drove off in that order!

No trip up north was complete without stopping at the famed Blue Boar on the M1 for a "grease-up" on the way home. I do not refer to truck lubrication but to a particular rock'n'roll delicacy known as “full-house”. This comprised double egg, sausage, chips, beans, tomatoes, fried slice, tea, and (if you were man enough) toast. It was considered a Herculean task to break successfully the 10 bob' (50p) barrier-all served on wobbly cardboard plates that doubled as items to sign autographs on for the self service waitresses.

Waitress: What band are you?

Me: You won't have heard of us.

Waitress: Oh go on, tell us.

Me: OK. The Artwoods.

Waitress: Never 'eard of you!

It was everybody’s dream to walk into the Blue Boar just as their hit of the moment was playing on the Juke Box.

One time we were chosen to represent the twentieth century at the centenary celebrations of the State of Monte Carlo— a most lavish affair which the aristocracy and dignatories of Europe attended. Princess Grace and Prince Ranier were the hosts and people like Gina Lollobrigida and the like were there. The ball was held in the famous Casino at Monte Carlo and we stayed in an opulent hotel called The Hermitage, I think. All I can remember is that we all had single rooms (a rare luxury) which were massive, and you could have pitched a tent under one of the bath towels, they were so big. After this we jetted off up to Paris where we played next door to the Moulin Rouge at a club called The Locomotive.

Whilst we were there we were taken out by our friend Mae Mercer, the American lady blues singer who we backed in England. She lived in Paris and took us out to Memphis Slim's club where we all set about drinking like it was going out of style. At the end there was an embarrassing scene concerning the bill with the result that Mae ended up in tears. Whilst we were bumbling about in an alcoholic stupor, an upright looking gentleman put his arm round Mae to comfort her and a wallet appeared magically from his inside pocket. Without further ado the bill was despatched and we later learned that our anonymous benefactor was none other than Peter O'Toole who was busy in the street outside filming 'Night Of The Generals' and was an old buddy of Mae's.

One Boxing Day we loaded up with turkey sandwiches and Xmas pudding and headed off for a gig down in Devon or Cornwall somewhere. We arrived to find the club closed and boarded up, and as usual we were broke. Naturally we were livid, checked into an hotel and located the promoter who lived with his mum. Next morning we drove round to where he lived and burst our way past his confused mum. We found him in his bedroom nervously cowering against some fruit machines which he collected. He had no money so we forced him to empty his damned machines with the result that we drove back to London with 50 quids' worth of 'tanners' (approx 22p for the younger reader!)

Whilst on the subject of disasters I suppose I am duty bound to mention Denmark. The first time we went there we caught the ferry to the continent, drove up through Germany, then caught another ferry to Denmark. There was no promoter to meet us when we arrived so all we could do was drive to Copenhagen and check in at the Grand Hotel. It cost us an arm and a leg but at least we got a good nights sleep after being awake for nearly two days travelling. The next day we made a few phone calls and finally tracked down the promoter. He said: "Didn't you get my telegram cancelling the tour?" We politely said no we hadn't and what did he intend doing with us? He checked us into another hotel (cheaper of course) and set about booking us at places that were similar to English coffee bars and youth clubs. We made enough to survive on and paved the way to more successful tours of that country. In fact by now we had Colin Martin on drums and were pursuing a much more adventurous musical policy and writing our own material. It was just right for Denmark who had taken Hendrix to their hearts to name but one, and we subsequently became quite big there in 1967.

The Artwoods achieved modest success-a minor hit single in "I Take What I Want", but we worked constantly, travelled abroad, had fantastic fun and made a living doing so. We had seven single releases, one album, and one EP, and we broadcast both on radio and TV many times. We did stage tours such as the P. J. Proby tour and covered most aspects of "show-biz" apart from actually making a movie. It was the era when bands still had to prove themselves as a live act before being offered a recording contract. now frequently happens of course that an act can become huge record sellers without so much as venturing to do a live gig.

So what happened to everyone? Well Art returned to his former occupation as a commercial artist and finds some time to fit in free-lance work between accompanying brother Ron Wood on raving excursions between Rolling Stones gigs. Malcolm moved into the same field as Art and they now work in the same building. Both of them gig occasionally on a semi-pro basis although Malcolm spent some time playing with Jon Hiseman's Colosseum and Don Partridge in the early 70's. Jon Lord became famous with Deep Purple and Whitesnake as did Keef Hartley with John Mayall and various bands of his own. Colin Martin is now a BBC Radio producer of repute. I played in various bands such as Lucas and The Mike Cotton Sound, Colin Blunstone's band, Dog Soldier (with Keef again), before I somehow drifted into studio and theatre work. Recently I formed an R'n'B band called the G.B. Blues Company, and it's great to be back on the road again. ”

Derek Griffiths.

Clipping from Record Mirror on June 5, 1965, by Norman Jopling.

“We aim to excite!” … say the Art Woods

Just for the record, the Art Woods aren't a part of Epping Forest. In fact they're a group of five interesting young men, named after the group's leader Art Wood. They also happen to be one of the most realistic groups on the scene.

For a start, they are the awkward position of having a large following, a club residency but no hit record. Secondly. they don't mind pandering to commercial tastes, even though they have been hailed as one of the most authentic R & B groups in the land.

NO PULL

“But authentic R&B just isn't pulling the crowds any more,” says Art. “The audiences want to be excited, not to be lectured on what is 'good' and what is 'bad'. Although there was a time when you could spend half an hour on one number with long solos by everybody, it didn't last long. And although there are some clubs like that still, most of them want something fresh and new.

“And we try to cater for them. We like authentic R&B, but we also like playing everything and anything else. So far, our two discs haven't meant a light. Of course we'd love a hit. But we're lucky enough to make a good living without one.”

DISCS

The Art Woods latest disc is "Oh My Love" and the one before that “Sweet Mary”. Of them Little Walter has said that he couldn't believe any white group could sing and play the blues like they do.

Line-up of the group is Art Wood, leader. vocalist and harmonica. Derek Griffiths, lead guitar, Jon Lord, organ and piano. Malcolm Pool— base guitar, and Keef Hartley on drums. The boys use a specially adapted Lowrie organ, and get a sound that's really different.

But even if the boys sometimes become depressed about no hits records, they should remember groups like Cliff Bennett, the Barron-Knights, the Rockin' Berries and the Yardbirds, and how long THEY waited before they had a hit!

N.J.

#the artwoods #the art woods #art wood #derek griffiths #malcolm pool #jon lord #keef hartley #colin martin #100 oxford street #the 100 club #articles #liner notes #newspaper clippings #record mirror #my posts

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idontcare4030 · 4 years

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I call this Au Insanity, It is basically unhinged Dark!Nico

Nico went off the deep end more then we were supposed to believe when he disappeared. He loses all morals and the second he gets in a bad situation and it shows. I'm mainly going to do like a story line for this one cuz it's the easiest way to explain it all.

Okay so if the seven plus we're going on a mission. Whether people wanted to believe or not it was hard to dismiss the fact that they were only facing smaller enemies of the big idea, monsters that suddenly increased in strength and people that were once at least a little bit controlled would do anything to kill the demigods. At first this seems not that bad, maybe it was just something weird happening but as they started facing more and more sophisticated enemies who suddenly were as feral as a common enemy they could tell something was wrong

They first started to realize something was going on with Nico as well whenever he asked Hazel in the middle of a fight if he could "just get this over with." It seemed that Hazel was a completely different person as she said no. She was colder and left no room for consideration

Soon after they were suddenly completely cornered by enemies that they normally didn't even bother them, to which hazel suddenly called out "just go ahead and do it." Suddenly everything went black and as soon as they could see again, every single Monster was gone. Later they overheard Hazel talking to Nico and she asked why did you do that to which he responded, "that got pretty gory, I didn't want anyone to see it"

Everything went downhill whenever the gods and goddess started getting controlled as well. this was when it was as obvious as possible that this was not normal. It wasn't like there was anyone big that were being controlled, but it just so happened that Insanity was one of the first that they faced. To which they made a comment that confused everyone. They said "how do you control yourself so well, you're worse than I am," to Nico. This was when they confronted Hazel. They didn't know what they were expecting but it wasn't for her say "yeah fine you got me, something's not right" She explained that while Nico was pretty stable, under certain situations he can choose to quote quote, "let go" of his control and basically his dark side (that many people already have ideas) of would take control.

It's under these situations where Nico would "censor" what everyone saw by using Shadows to fill their ears and cover their eyes so they'd had no clue what was going on. basically, these shadow figures would come to help him or he would fight off the enemies very quickly. He mainly only used it as a worst-case scenario.

The setbacks of this would be that he had any chance of losing control permanently if he did so too many times to quickly. And if he used them too much in a short amount of time ( if he was in very hard fight or if it was completely unnecessary for him to do what he did ) his eyes look glazed over and kind of red as a warning to anyone that already knows to back off. He would also get red eyes (AKA a warning) if he got extremely mad or if he was being pushed to his limit. If he gets in a very dark situation like he needs information or something he might end up leaning into the dark a little too much, at that point his eyes would turn bright red and the only way to calm him down was for him to do it himself since the only person who also knows how to (Bianica) ls dead.

Now back to the shadow people The shadow people aren't necessarily bad, they can most likely be treated as spirits that have simply lost their Humanity. These people found Nico at a young age, he does have quite the tendency to draw dark stuff in, and befriended him. The spirits the only want to help him and they'll leech off of his emotions just like the paranormal Community believe that Poltergeists do. basically shadow people are good and light people are bad to him.

The Shadows

So at a very young age he first met them. The others simply thought it was a imaginary friend but his family knew but something was off as soon as he suddenly had a new necklace with a seemingly changing number of gems on it. (Majority of the time it had two gems but at the most it had seven) after about a year or so of wearing it he suddenly stopped wearing it, though everyone didn't really think that was too special (he had a tendency for losing jewelry very easily) he was very worked up over it and he soon got a pair of earrings just to lose those ones too that's when the Shadows decided to bind to him instead of a piece of jewelry simply because they knew he would lose it.

He grew up with them choosing who to talk to and if they didn't talk to you you couldn't hear the Shadows. As he went to America suddenly he seemed to stop talking to the Shadows. His sister asked him what happened to them just for him to explain they weren't gone they just start talking less and less and now they only really seem to talk when he was alone.

By the time he was at Camp Half-Blood for the first time they barely ever talked only in situations that were deemed dire. They only started talking again whenever he ran into the underworld. They started consoling him teaching him and working with him though the grieving process, though he still felt alone. they were very mad at what had happened, it just so happens that emotion leeched onto Nico causing him to act irrationally and not be able to see past his own anger.The fact that the shadows and Nico can influence the others emotions ended up getting them stuck in a loop of anger that just kept getting worse, that's why they aren't very healthy per say to have around exactly.After all this happened the Shadows became more detached ended up just acting as spirits that were following him around, though they were much more powerful, they no longer influenced each others emotions as well as ending other setbacks the Bond caused.

They weren't simply there for him either, they also taught him things that you shouldn't know at a young age. Kind of like the song to be humans by Martina. It was stuff thats important, but messed him up. They basically guided him into being the person he is now, hyper aware of what's going on and really wanting to change it.

One day while they were in the middle of a lesson they suddenly saw the opposite of Shadows, we're going to call them light cuz that makes the most sense. The light Saw Nico as a threat of sorts. They thought that he knew too much even though the Shadows had been purposefully teaching him and basically he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and the lights tried to kill him. Because of this he doesn't really like talking about or dealing with any sort of light, most people just explain this as being a person whose most well versed in shadows (with the whole show traveling thing). They still come whenever he is in need and they still talk a lot of the time.

There are two main shadow people. They had died in the same area in two very different time periods and fell in love despite that. First the one that's most often referred to as J or Jeremy died in the 16-1900 in a small group of people in an odd part of Maine, then a few years later the lady often referred to as Chrissy died in the same area, eventually they met up and ended up attaching to the same item, the necklace, and over time the other people joined the necklace as well. It can be considered a cursed object because if the spirits don't approve of the person wearing the necklace, they will treat the person very badly until they give up the necklace. Nico never told anyone what happened to the original necklace but eventually the Shadows shifted onto the earrings right before whatever happened to the necklace happened. They seemed to have been turned into shadows against their will, though they don't like to talk about it. It's implied that the necklace was believed to hold a single demonic spirit so someone tried to cleanse it by speaking into existence that it had nothing attached to it, only to speak that the spirits were non human into existence instead, the man didn't want to live up the to the failure so the man chucked the necklace onto a crew ship and told the current owner of the necklace it didn't survive the cleansing.

Insanity nico mainly comes from him having a cult like loyalty to Midas as he refuses to process Bianca's death and nico suddenly turning on him. He was willing to do anything to get his sister back.

#nico di angelo #au #gore warning

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blankasolun · 4 years

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source: Loudersound May 31, 2016

How Mayhem’s De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas changed metal

By Dayal Patterson (Metal Hammer) May 31, 2016

Mayhem are one of the most influential black metal bands on the planet, and their album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas remains a timeless classic

It is an album whose significance, both inside and outside of black metal, has been acknowledged by a wealth of leading contemporary metal acts, from Watain to Enslaved to Inquisition, and one that led Nergal of Behemoth to proclaim it “the opus magnum of extreme metal”. Two decades after it was recorded, it continues to top ‘best album’ lists by longtime fans of the genre, while at the same time providing primary inspiration for new bands whose members were not even born when it was recorded. There are many who would say it is the single most important album in black metal’s broad and ever-growing catalogue, and very few who would argue that it is not, at the very least, a strong contender for that accolade.

The record in question is none other than Mayhem’s De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, a milestone work that the long-serving Norwegians are set to perform in full around Europe this year, including Finland, Norway and France. And well they might, for this is an album that has lost neither its devoted following, nor any of its potency, in the years that have passed.

There are plenty of even more hyperbolic (yet equally true) statements that could be made in support of this unique collection of songs. Yet the biggest testament to its artistic value is perhaps the fact that discussion of its recording, songwriting and performance qualities continues to outweigh the highly notable circumstances of its creation. Indeed, it is testament to Mayhem’s significance as a musical force that any music was able to overcome all the drama involved with the band during the period in question. For – as most reading this will probably know – this is also a record that captures the vision of a musician who was not only cut down in his prime, but cut down by a bandmate appearing alongside him on this very recording.

The former party is of course Mayhem guitarist and co-founder Øystein ‘Euronymous’ Aarseth, who was stabbed to death in his apartment in August 1993 by the latter, Varg Vikernes, best known for his similarly-influential project Burzum but also the bassist for Mayhem during the era of De Mysteriis’ creation. The ultimately fatal conflict between the two men is a long and complicated episode in black metal’s grim history that has been discussed at length by fans and media alike for two decades.

What is still worth noting today though, is that the album’s roots are intrinsically linked to two now-departed members of the band. The second is the Swedish-born vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin – otherwise known as ‘Dead’ – and in fact it was he who actually came up with the title; Latin for ‘Of Lord Satan’s Mysteries / Secret Rites’, and a title taken, he explained, from an occult book he had discovered. The fact that Dead took his own life in 1991, while the album was released in 1994, gives some idea of how long the band’s debut studio album was in gestation.

Certainly it was long enough that the band’s first full-length, the legendary live album Live In Leipzig, (recorded in November 1990 but released almost three years later) captured the band (the line-up then comprised of Dead, Euronymous, bassist Necrobutcher and drummer Hellhammer) performing no less than half of its eight numbers. The oppressive, melancholic and suffocating aura found on that recording would thankfully remain in place following the transition of these aforementioned songs to the studio. While the obvious standout track Freezing Moon ia a grim monochromatic epic that remains a fan favourite even today – the unholy and, well, freezing feeling within that song is just as present on Funeral Fog, Pagan Fears, Buried By Time And Dust.

Complementing these older compositions and undoubtedly giving the album a more three-dimensional character was the incorporation of four newer, somewhat more angular and twisting songs, namely the title track, Cursed In Eternity, Buried By Time And Dust and From The Dark Past. Euronymous’ playing had become somewhat more calculated and considered by this point, his writing influenced significantly by the introverted but talented guitarist Snorre Ruch, whose unique approach to riffing within his band Thorns had proven ridiculously influential within the Norwegian scene. In fact, Snorre (now going under the name ‘Blackthorne’) would be inducted into the group as a second guitarist prior to the album’s recording. Despite not appearing on the finished record, he would contribute entire Thorns riffs to several songs, his presence being felt not only during these moments but more generally through his impact on much of Euronymous’ creeping guitar work.

His other role would be to rearrange Dead’s lyrics on several songs in preparation for the deceased vocalist’s replacement, Attila Csihar. A Hungarian musician who was admired in Norway thanks to his short-lived but seminal black metal band Tormentor, his appointment and spirited performance remains a defining factor of the record, and it was one that provoked no small controversy at the time. In contrast to the more typical black metal vocal styles of the time he introduced an eccentric, otherworldly and theatrical approach incorporating a drawling delivery and lurching from screams and rasps to an almost operatic form of singing that makes a feature of his distinctive Hungarian accent.

“The way of singing it, we were talking about how to do it of course,” recalled Attila in an interview conducted back in 2009. “I heard some demo recordings that had been done by Dead and [previous vocalist] Maniac before, but I like individualism… so when I talked to Euronymous in the studio I said, ‘Why don’t we try something else instead of making again the traditional screamed vocals?’ The De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas song, when I looked at the lyrics there was this Latin line so I thought, ‘Let’s do this voice there.’ I came out with the low vocals with more melodies, and he liked it so much we did the whole recording that way.”

Though seemingly a long-running plan on the part of Euronymous, the decision to use Attila for the role proved as much of a surprise for other musicians in the Norwegian scene as it was for the Mayhem fanbase. After all, not only was Euronymous surrounded by an abundance of local talent, but many of the vocalists in the country actually knew the songs on the forthcoming album already, having listened repeatedly to an instrumental tape that had been making the rounds for some time.

“People were a little bit pissed that they didn’t receive the phone call,” recalled Grutle of Enslaved during the same interview, “but they thought, ‘Well that’s going to be interesting’ – and it was! Actually while [Attila was] doing the vocals Øystein went to the callbox and called me and said, ‘He sings like a sick priest, he sings in Latin, with an accent, it’s incredible!’”

Of course, one cannot mention De Mysteriis without mention of the pounding and detailed percussion that underpins it. A fine performance by one of black metal’s best known drummers, Hellhammer (a man who has performed for innumerable bands from Arcturus and Covenant to Dimmu Borgir and Shining), the formidable yet restrained drumwork is complimented by both the spacious, eerie and strangely minimal bass work and a powerful and gloriously unpolished production. The latter is no small factor in the album’s success and was apparently the result of a considerable amount of work on the part of both Euronymous and the infamous Pytten, a producer who spent much of the 1990s capturing iconic works by legends such as Enslaved, Burzum, Hades, Gorgoroth and Immortal.

“Euronymous had specific ideas about each instrument and he had specific ideas about echoes,” recalled Attila. “The drums were recorded in a huge concert hall, solos were recorded in a room and he was moving round all the time and saying, ‘Okay, there we have it.’ If you listen to records from the time and then De Mysteriis you hear the production is far and away better than anything else.”

“The whole album was recorded in very spacious areas,” confirmed producer Pytten. “Øystein, Hellhammer and me were walking about, talking about how to do it and I really wanted to use the stage for the drums. I really like big sounds — especially for the drums — and reverb on the leads. So the drums were done on stage and [in that hall] you have nine stories going up, so we closed the room side, but kept all the height.”

It isn’t only the drums that utilise large numbers of tracks, another defining ingredient in the album is the mass of multi-tracked guitars, which create a huge (yet suitably icy and treble-heavy) wall of sound, a perfect compliment to the similarly sizeable percussive bombardment. Indeed, the combination only accentuates the crushing and malevolent character of the whole record, the overall effect being a dense and impenetrable assault on the senses, one only balanced by the surprising touches of groove throughout the album.

And this is perhaps the last thing to underline, particularly for newcomers to the record. Though undeniably a standout opus, it is not an easily accessible work – even by black metal standards – and is not necessarily a gateway album. Nor is it meant to be. It is a purposely gloomy and aggressive beast, and one that makes no concessions to outsiders, instead following its own wilful and destructive path without any apology. Give it the time it deserves however, and it will be with you forever. We can only hope that its forthcoming live invocations are equally memorable.

The interviews in this piece were originally conducted for the book Black Metal: Evolution Of The Cult and appear in an extended form there. The book and its sequels are available at now.

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How Mayhem’s De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Changed Metal source: Loudersound May 31, 2016 How Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas changed metal By Dayal Patterson…

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utaprifanzine · 5 years

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Feedback Results!

As promised, here’s the feedback results and decisions we’ve made going forward based on everyone’s input!

For anyone who isn’t interested in all the details, here’s a summary of the most important information:

-> Most people voted for schedule #2, so we’ll be going forward with both zines, but each will have their own separate pre-order period and release. -> “Just Fantasy” was the most voted theme, so AU applications will be open to any type of fantasy AU, but we may still rebrand the zine to a more specific theme if the AUs chosen for the zine all end up falling under one. -> Allowing co-creators to apply will be a case by case basis. -> Requirements for the AU applications will be lightened somewhat. If your AU is chosen for the zine, you will need to complete templates for all of the information requirements outlined in the original concept pitch, however, you will not need to do all of them just for the application. (More info to come later)

Full breakdown and stats below the cut!

So the only feedback oriented question from the General Section was the one about charms! It was a pretty close split, but 56% of people voted to say it would depend on the designs/characters the charms were of.

What we’ve decided to do, in this case, is to have a poll in future about possible charm designs so people can vote on which ones they’d be interested in buying. The designs will most likely be the same chibis that are inside the zine (in the case of Prismatic) or exclusive designs that match the cover (in the case of the AU zine).

As far as other merch, we’ll also be having die-cut vinyl stickers and sticker sheets. As well as the A5 prints of course.

The Content Section

(individual comments obscured for confidentiality)

As far as content, most people were fine with the allocated amount of pages per AU, so we’ll stick with the same amount we proposed in the concept pitch.

For the theme, “Just Fantasy” was the most popular, followed by High Fantasy in second place. In light of that, we won’t have a specific branch of fantasy pinned for applications, and just have them open for all types of fantasy AUs.

However, if the AUs that are chosen all fall under one of those categories anyway, then we’ll probably re-brand the zine to that specific theme.

The Applications Section

(individual comments obscured for confidentiality)

Concerning the new allowances & limitations put on general applications, over 80% of people voted in favor of them, so we’ll keep them as they were pitched.

I did want to quickly address the limitations put on the writer applications, because it was pointed out that it seemed a little unfair to further limit the amount of work writers can show when we’re also raising the allowance for artists.

The reason we’ve decided to implement a word limit for writers, is due to active versus passive attention and focus. It takes more time and mental focus to consume written content than artistic content at an appropriate level for application review, which means that it’s not only easier for the writing admins to review applications when the word count is lower, but they can also recognize and appreciate more of the craftsmanship put into the writing.

Having more material (whether it’s art samples or word count) does not necessarily mean better content or better chances of being successful. We raised the allowance for artists because it was pointed out in feedback that 5 samples wasn’t really enough to get a sense of some artist’s skills (especially those who had rather inconsistent styles), and our artist admins agreed with that. With writing, 5000 words is more than enough to get a sense of a writer’s strengths and weaknesses; applicants shouldn’t be worried unless they truly don’t know what their strengths are.

Secondly, word count limits on writing applications are fairly common practice for zine applications, not to mention they’re almost always used real-world, not-fandom-based circumstances when it comes to writing submissions. (For example, writing competitions)

I do want to clarify (because it seems that this was lost in translation) that only one of your samples has to be a completed, stand alone piece of approximately 1000 words or less. The rest of your samples can be extracts for longer pieces.

As far as the requirements to submit an AU, and while we still agree that all of those elements are important to building an AU, only Plot Outline, Description of Fantasy Elements, Character Backstories, and Character Designs will be required for applications. Basic Worldbuilding and Character Relationship Chart will be optional, but, in the event that your AU is chosen for the zine, you will need to complete both before the creation period begins in March 2020.

Also, for Character Designs specifically, we will allow people to submit detailed descriptions in place of sketches/drawings, if they wish, for the purpose of applications. However, once again, if your AU is chosen, you will have to complete colored sketches of the designs before the creation period begins in March.

The idea behind the AU zine is that contributors will be split into groups of three for each AU (one writer and two page artists), where the AU creator is the group leader and the one with the most creative control of what goes into the writing and art, given that it’s their AU. As such, the AU creator needs to have all the necessary information in place before the creation period in March begins, so that all three of you can immediately begin discussing what to draw and write, and so that the other two contributors aren’t forced to help the creator flesh out their AU, when that’s something the creator needs to have done themselves already.

Finally, just a quick clarification: the information requirement templates are not the final pages for the zine. The information is needed for the admins to review the AU and for the other two contributors in the group to be able to work from.

(individual responses obscured for confidentiality)

As mentioned in the beginning of this post, in response to the result of this question being a pretty close split, we’ve decided to allow co-creators to apply on a case-by-case basis.

If co-creators would like to apply, the process would depend on if both creators are applying and if both creators are okay with only one getting to into the zine, and, if so, which creator that would be. This will most likely be a separate form, if both are applying together.

The Possible Schedules Section

(individual responses obscured for confidentiality)

Also mentioned in the beginning of this post, 71% of people voted for schedule #2, so that means we’ll be running both zines, but they’ll be released and up for pre-order at different times.

This means that Prismatic will be released first in July, followed by the AU zine later in the year. The rough schedule is outlined in the concept pitch post.

And that’s a wrap! We did also take individual responses into consideration, however we’re not showcasing those responses to keep the confidentiality of the form!

#utapri #uta no prince sama #utapri fanzine

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paternosterlawgrp-blog · 4 years

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6 MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH YOUR SLIP AND FALL CASE IS WORTH

How much is a slip and fall lawsuit worth? This is a question I hear often, but it isn’t a one size fits all answer. The fact is every case is different and every person is different, so there is not a universal answer. Fear not, though, because every case does have a number, and it is predicated on some very serious issues.

To determine what your skip and fall case is worth, the amount you will get at the end of the case, lets determine what factors we have to look at to decide what the outcome will be.

What is a Slip and Fall?

A Slip and Fall accident actually refer to several different types of accidents. One can literally slip and fall. If someone spills some liquid at the supermarket or big box store, for example, and the liquid causes you to slip, it’s a classic slip and fall.

You can also trip and fall. If you were walking through a Las Vegas casino and the carpet on the floor has been inadequately tacked down, or if there were some obstruction in your way that caused you to trip, this would be a trip and fall.

There is also an accident known as a Step and Fall. In Las Vegas, where you often have to walk vast distances to get from one hotel to another, we often see step and fall accidents here. Parking lots that have potholes where you can take a misstep or a broken piece of tile which just catches you the wrong way are step and fall injuries.

All of these accidents fall under slip and fall law.

What is Premises Liability Law?

Slip and fall accidents are a category of premises liability law. Business property owners, under Nevada law, have a duty of care to their customers and to the public. They are responsible for ensuring their businesses are safe. There should be no areas where members of the public could be harmed through no fault of their own.

Property owners must maintain their premises in a safe condition. In a store, for example, there should be no fallen objects on the floor or spilled liquid. In a hotel or casino, there should be no lumps in carpet that anyone could trip over. In rental properties, spaces should be well-maintained. There should be no low places where someone could trip on a sidewalk or holes or defective places in stairs where anyone could trip or slip.

Here in Las Vegas, we have some of the largest hotels and casinos in the world. Generally speaking, they maintain their properties very well. But problems do arise from time to time, and even they miss things. When this happens, they are in breach of the law because they didn’t take the best care in the public – your – safety. The breach in the duty of care means they were negligent in their duties as property owners.

It is the negligence that creates liability for an accident that occurs as a result of the breach of duty of care. If an owner can be proved negligent, and that negligence caused an accident which in turn caused you to be injured, you can bring a suit for a slip and fall under the law.

But what if the owner believes the premises are safe? After all, it is not unheard of for hotel owners, for example, to argue that their parking lots are completely safe, despite a large and uneven crack in it that makes tripping on it an inevitable outcome.

The law turns to a reasonable person standard in these cases. The premises can be deemed unsafe under the law if a reasonable person would believe them to be unsafe. Most reasonable people, for instance, could agree that a cracked and uneven surface of a parking lot can cause you to trip if you aren’t looking directly at it when walking.

What if the premises are safe, but some event or action occurs suddenly makes them unsafe? Couldn’t the owner say that they didn’t know the premises were unsafe because they didn’t check?

In that case, the law also turns to a reasonable person standard. A business owner is responsible for fixing and responding to events or actions that make the premises unsafe if a reasonable person knew or should have known they had become unsafe.

Part of the owner’s duty of care is to fix or remedy the situation within a reasonable period of time, as well. If someone spills something in a store, the manager or the employees should clean it up as soon as possible. They can’t wait a few hours, because the court are highly unlikely to consider that a reasonable period of time.

In addition, if a premises or location becomes unsafe, business and property owners should clearly mark the affected area as unsafe. They can place hazard tape, warning signs, or cones to alert anyone in the area that there is a danger and it is unsafe. Those signs you see in stores about a wet floor when they are mopping is to protect you and them.

Knowing this information, you are now ready to understand what the 6 most important factors to determining how much your slip and fall case is worth.

1)The Amount of the Full Damages

When you are injured by a slip and fall, the full damages you incur are a mix of things that need to be identified and valued. If you went to a doctor, the medical bills you have incurred (not simply what your insurance co-pay may have been) are part of the damages.

Beyond that, though, are the long term effects of the damage. If you are unable to work because of your injury, whether for a short period of time or a long term disability, the loss in income is a damage you have incurred. If your house has to be retrofit to accommodate you because of the injury, that is a damage. All of these are easily identifiable monetary damages you have incurred and will go in determining how much your case is worth.

2) Future Treatment Costs

If you have to continue seeing a doctor or medical professional because of your injury, even if you have mobility, these future costs should not be paid by you, as you were not the one that caused the long-term damage. These costs are directly attributable to the slip and fall case and are used directly in the determination of your cases value.

3) How Much You Have Lost by Being Injured

Lets use an example for this. Lets say someone who was a truck driver slipped on some icy stairs at a client facility when getting paperwork signed to off-load his delivery truck. In trying to save himself, he grabs the handrail, but the ice was there too. He slips and his eye catches the handrail, making the driver blind in one eye temporarily. This sounds like a terrible accident, but at least the driver can still walk, talk, and isn’t completely blind.

Driving a truck requires you to have vision in both eyes, so he can’t drive a truck anymore. This means the occupation he studied for and is getting paid to do is gone. If his livelihood has been impacted by this accident, the loss in income is something that can be quantified and needs to be taken into consideration for his case.

Although the example above is fictional, slip and fall accidents often have severe losses because of the injury, and a good attorney will fight to make sure you get what you deserve for those losses.

4) How Much You Will Lose in the Future Because of the Damages

Using the same example above, what if the driver was permanently blind in one eye. While he can work in the office, they can’t pay him the same wages as if he were on the road. Assuming he earned $60,000 per year on the road and will earn $45,000 in the office, the other $15,000 per year, with adjustments made for inflation and average increases in both roles, will be considered.

The subsequent loss in income over his working years will all be taken into account when determining the future losses for your case. Your attorney will do all the research for you to get you the most they can for your case, but they know how to make all this information highly relevant to the case and the courts.

5) Pain and Suffering

This one is the hardest to quantify, as it relies on every individual person’s state of mind. If you are wheelchair bound because of your accident, and your spouse can’t take care of you in that condition, causing a divorce, that is very difficult to handle emotionally. This falls into the pain and suffering category.

What if you suffer from phantom pains because of your injury for years (or the rest of your life)? There is nothing physically wrong and no doctor can help, but you feel real pain. This also falls into the pain and suffering pool.

Last example (I promise); what if your injury causes you to become depressed. How that makes you feel can’t necessarily be measured in dollars and sense, but you are still feeling some pain and suffering. This is all vital to your case.

6) Hiring the Right Attorney

If you are in a slip and fall injury in Las Vegas, NV, you have options of lawyers who can represent you. The streets and the strip are littered with billboards of attorneys all claiming to be the best. How do you know, then, who is really the best.

You want to choose a personal injury attorney who does nothing but personal injury law. You want someone who has represented thousands of clients in slip and fall cases and knows exactly how to win them and get large settlements awarded in your favor.

At Paternoster Law Group, we believe that nobody who was injured in a slip and fall accident should proceed in dealing with the companies who caused the injury without talking to a qualified attorney first. As experienced personal injury lawyers, we know the games insurance play to get out of paying what you deserve.

Don’t fall for their tricks. You deserve every penny of damages the law allows you to collect. Call our team at Paternoster Law Group Personal Injury Lawyers at 702-654-1111 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation to discuss your legal options. We are conveniently located in Las Vegas and can schedule meetings in person at our office, wherever you are, or via tele-conference. The sooner you meet with us, the better your chances of preserving your rights to recover the compensation you deserve

Source: https://paternosterlaw.com/slip-and-fall/what-slip-and-fall-case-is-worth/

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drlaurynlax · 6 years

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How to Cure Migraines & Headaches Naturally: 7 Essentials

Are you looking for natural ways to cure migraines and headaches naturally? Tired of popping Tylenol or Advil? You are not alone. Headaches and migraines are among the most common neurological disorders worldwide, affecting approximately 50% of all adults every month, with prevalence among women more than twice as high as among men.

Here’s all you need to know about why headaches happen plus 7 essential steps to kick headaches to the curb and cure migraines.

Headaches 101

A headache is a “pain felt in the head, characterized by common characteristics including: throbbing, squeezing, constant, unrelenting, or intermittent.

Headaches are an inflammatory response in the body, most headaches happen in the nerves, blood vessels, and muscles that cover a person’s head and neck. There are many different ways to cure migraines and headaches.

Although it may seem like it, a headache is not actually a pain in your brain. Instead, the brain tells you when other parts of your body hurt or are inflamed; your brain doesn’t necessarily physically experience the pain itself (it just feels like).

Different Types of Headaches

There are more than 150 different types of headaches. Some of the most common types include:

Tension Headaches (episodic or chronic)

Mild to moderate pain and come and go over time and usually have no other symptoms.

Migraines

Often described as pounding, throbbing pain. Migraines can last from 4 hours to 3 days and usually happen one to four times per month and there are ways to cure migraines naturally. Along with the pain, people have other symptoms, such as sensitivity to light, noise, or smells; nausea or vomiting; loss of appetite; aura (seeing spots or a spinning room); and upset stomach or belly pain.

Cluster Headaches

Intense and feels like a burning or piercing pain behind or around one eye, either throbbing or constant. Called “cluster headaches” because they often occur in groups. You may get them one to three times per day during a cluster period, which may last 2 weeks to 3 months. Each headache attack last 15 mins to 3 hours and often wakens the patient from sleep.

The headaches may disappear completely (go into “remission”) for months or years, only to come back again. The pain can be so bad that most people with cluster headaches can’t sit still and will often pace during an attack. On the side of the pain, the eyelid droops, the eye reddens, pupil gets smaller or the eye tears. The nostril on that side runs or stuffs. It is very important to cure migraines and headaches to feel better.

Sinus Headaches

Deep and constant pain in your cheekbones, forehead, or bridge of your nose. Sinus headaches happen when cavities in your head (sinuses) get inflamed. The pain usually comes along with other sinus symptoms, such as a runny nose, feeling of fullness in the ears, fever, and swelling in your face. A true sinus headache is from a sinus infection so the nasal discharge is yellow or green, unlike the clear discharge in cluster or migraine.

Hormone Headaches

Women can get headaches from changing hormone levels during their periods, pregnancy, and menopause. The hormone changes from birth control pills also trigger headaches in some women. Fortunately, there are simple ways to cure migraines and headaches.

Exertion Headaches

Headaches brought on from the constriction of blood vessels in your body during exertion, such as intense exercise, heavy lifting or overtraining. Exercise induces a stress response, accompanied by a spike in blood glucose. (Fun fact: People with blood glucose of 70 have reported upwards of 140 after exercising while fasted). What this means for your head? Elevated glucose and/or stress, elevates cortisol, which also elevates inflammation.

Seasonal or “Allergy” Headaches

Inflammation in the brain and body brought on from a histamine (allergic or sensitivity) response to either allergens in the air or foods.

Oral or Dental Headaches

Connected to the dental work and oral health, such as tightening of braces, TMJ (lock jaw), or structural and chemical imbalances in the mouth (cavities, mercury fillings, need for a root canal).

Secondary Headaches

A secondary “side effect” due to trauma, infections, disorders, withdrawal from medications, drugs or alcohol, or structural imbalances in the body (such as spine, neck or other body parts connected to cranial nerves).

For instance: A food intolerance in your gut may trigger a histamine response that in turn feels like a headache in your head.

For others, sometimes people also get headaches when they are sick —such as a sinus headache when you get a cold, flu, or allergies (“pain” in the immune system).

Another example: Cortisol imbalances from stress (i.e. lack of sleep, overwork, overtraining, under-eating, inflammatory foods, etc.) can cause headaches, felt in your brain too–even though the pain is really somewhere else (your hormones).

And one more: People who drink a lot of caffeinated drinks might get caffeine-withdrawal headaches, and some headaches are the side effect of taking a particular medication–both signs of imbalance in the body and unwanted stress.

What Causes Headaches?

The pain you feel during a headache comes from a mix of signals between your brain, blood vessels, and nearby nerves. Specific nerves of the blood vessels and head muscles switch on and send pain signals to your brain. Good thing you can address this and cure migraines naturally.

Lots of different things can trigger headache signals, including:

Dehydration

Gut pathologies (SIBO, yeast, fungi)

HPA-Axis dysregulation (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal; chronic stress)

Hormone imbalances (PMS, menstruation, birth control)

Over-exertion/exercise

Low stomach acid

Thyroid dysfunction

Too much screen time (Circadian rhythm stress)

Macronutrient imbalance (Low protein intake, low quality fat intake, low carb intake)

Toxic chemical exposure (plastics, dryer sheets, toxic cleaning/beauty supplies)

Mold exposure

Dental fillings or dental work

TMJ (lock jaw)

Mercury overload/heavy metals

Food intolerances

Environmental/pet allergens

Poor immune function

Gluten & Conventional dairy

Low serotonin (90% is produced in the gut) and/or low dopamine

Liver/gallbladder pathology

Eating out a lot (poor quality oils, gluten, fillers)

Bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine

Long term medication use

Nootropic supplements or neurotransmitter supplement mis-use (5-HTP, Gaba, etc.)

Antibiotics

Nutrient deficiencies [particularly Magnesium, Zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Fatty Acids, Coenzyme Q10 and B2 (riboflavin)]

High caffeine or sugar intake (and/or withdrawal)

High carbohydrate intake, or low carb diets without enough fat or poor fat absorption

Low protein diets

Structural imbalances (head, neck, spine)

One Root Cause

Although there are TONS of different triggers to headaches and the “mixed signals” in the brain and blood vessels, all headaches share one root cause: Inflammation, or stress, on your body. Not just mental stress, but physical stress too.

When your body experiences stress—be it stress on your immune system from allergens in the air, stress from a traumatic brain injury, or stress from hormone imbalance (like high cortisol)—your brain signals and neurotransmitters may send signals to your brain telling it, it’s under stress or “in pain.” You will need some remedies to cure migraines and headaches.

One of the top sources of this headache-causing stress? Your gut health.

Gut Health 101

Your gut is the gateway to your total body health and inflammatory processes.

In fact, you have more than 100 trillion gut bacteria throughout your body (not just located in your GI tract, but relocated to other places too, like your mouth, skin, heart and endocrine glands)—that is 10 times more gut bacteria than actual human cells.

Although the word “bacteria” may sound like a bad or dirty word, the vast majority of your gut bacteria are non-pathogenic (non-disease causing)—at least when your body is healthy.

Every person different types and amounts of gut bacteria, and those people with “healthier strains” of gut bacteria and a “wider, more diverse variety” of gut bacteria (not just the same strains) are generally healthier as a whole—metabolism, hormones, immune function, weight, energy and lower amounts of headaches.

What Do Gut Bacteria Do?!

The main role of your (healthy) gut bacteria is to keep all your body’s daily essential processes “healthy” and in running smoothly including:

Nutrient absorption (making the Vitamin C in your orange actually be used by your body)

Immune system function

Hormone balance

Maintaining a healthy weight and metabolism

Maintenance of your intestinal lining (preventing “leaky gut” and digestive wors)

“Feeding” ALL of your cells and neurotransmitters to function properly (including your brain health)

Fighting off inflammation and protection against “pathogens” (bad guys, toxins, pesticides, illnesses)

In short: gut bacteria play an important role not only in digestive health, but in wider aspects of health, including weight, metabolic health, hormone health, immune function and…fending off headaches. The role of gut bacteria in headaches, mental health and brain health is known as the “gut-brain” connection.

The Gut-Brain Connection

The gut is often referred to as the “second brain” in the scientific literature. Get these brain-gut connection facts:

You have more than 100 million neurons in your gut—cells and signals that talk directly to the brain.

More than 90% of your serotonin (your “feel good” brain chemicals) that calms inflammation in the body is produced in your gut.

More than 30 hormones that govern “homeostasis” and balance in your brain and body are produced in your gut.

In addition, more than 80% of your immune fighting cells (Th1, Th2, Beta Cells, Th17) are produced and housed in your gut (the immune fighting cells that fight inflammation in your body)

Your liver (your body’s #1 anti-inflammatory and cleansing organ) detoxifies unwanted toxins in your body and metabolizes hormones, like cortisol (stress hormones) and all of your neurotransmitters (including serotonin), signaling them to properly “work” in your body. However if your liver is sluggish, congested or overworked (from toxins, pesticides, non-organic foods, artificial sweeteners, longterm medication use, environmental stressors, etc.), then your brain (and body) suffers, since your hormone balance (cortisol levels) and brain chemicals are unable to function properly.

Your vagus nerve, the nerve that governs your digestive process and your brain frontal lobe (“clear thinking”) function is directly connected from the top of your stomach to the top of your brain.

The Bottom Line:

The “gut-brain” connection plays a BIG role in how your body experiences stress and inflammatory process experienced in your brain and body when headaches strike.

If your gut health is “out of whack” and you have lots of inflammation in your gut, guess where you may experience that inflammation? Your brain.

The Result?

Your neurons are unable to fire properly.

Your cortisol (inflammation fighting hormone) is in “stressed out mode.”

Also, your “feel good” anti-inflammatory brain chemicals are suppressed.

You get headaches.

How Does My Gut Get Unhealthy in the First Place?

Gut “problems” and bacterial imbalances don’t happen overnight, nor are they attributed to on thing. Instead a variety of stressors and triggers accumulate over time, causing a disruption in the balance of healthy gut bacteria, introducing more unhealthy or dysbiotic bacteria (overgrowth of certain strains), or spurring on a yeast overgrowth or pathogenic infection (like a parasite).

Common gut bacteria disruptors include:

Not chewing your food thoroughly

Being born as a C-section baby or formula fed (preventing the formation of early life healthy gut bacteria)

Low stomach acid or digestive enzymes

Nutrient deficiencies

Eating too fast or in a hurry (preventing proper food breakdown)

Lack of food diversity and variety

Low quality protein, low starchy tuber/prebiotic fiber and/or low healthy fatty acids in the diet

Eating gut-irritating ingredients and chemicals your body DOESN’T recognize as “food” or can’t easily digest (conventional meat with hormones and antibiotics, Quest Bars, Halo Top, Instant Oatmeal, sugary granola bars, Diet Coke, frozen dinners, hydrogenated oils)

Long-term use of medications or antibiotics

Environmental toxic exposures (hygiene, cleaning, beauty supplies)

Antibiotics

NSAIDS, birth control pills & other long term medication use

Low thyroid function

Mercury overload (fish, fillings, metals)

Mold exposure (house, environment)

Chronic stress (under-sleeping, overtraining, constant worry or anxiety, high alcohol or smoking exposure)

Food poisoning

Sedentary lifestyles or overtraining

Circadian rhythm disruption that throws off internal balance in your body (such as: “off” eating, sleeping or waking times; artificial light exposure at night)

Chronic infections (Lyme, Ebstein Barr, hepatitis)

Disordered eating habits (binging, purging, restriction, etc.)

History of Infections or Illness (bacterial, virus, heavy metals, fungal overgrowth)

Lack of fermented foods and fibers (probiotics and pre-biotics)

Other digestive problems, like SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), liver/gallbladder dysfunction, parasites, food intolerances, etc.

This list is not exhaustive, but as you can see, a variety of stressors on physical health can impact the health, variety and diversity of your gut bacteria.

Headaches, Gut Bacteria & Stress

While it may sound simplistic, a disruption of gut bacterial health in combination with stressors that influence your stress hormone balance (cortisol) provoke inflammation in the body.

If your gut health is disrupted or your body is overburdened by stress (physical and mental),

Your liver is unable to detoxify toxins and foods and metabolize hormones and neurotransmitters properly;

Your gut is unable to break down and digest “inflammatory” foods in your diet (like gluten, sugar or hormone, antibiotic-rich dairy);

And, your immune system is unable to fight off pathogens;

Inflammation overtakes your body as a whole

…Leading to headaches for those who are most susceptible to them.

Headache Treatment: Conventional Approach

Unfortunately, headaches (especially migraines) are hard to treat and very difficult to prevent with conventional approaches. There are many options when you are looking for ways to cure migraines.

The top go-to’s for headache treatments include NSAIDS (advil, tyelenol, ibuprofen), sometimes a recommendation for “more water,” and other prescription medications. These are popular to those who wish to cure migraines.

There are also a ton of preventive drugs prescribed to regular migraine sufferers— calcium channel blockers, beta-blockers, anti-seizure medications, antidepressants, and more –all of which work poorly (if at all), and they also come with a host of by side effects (including purposeful paralyzation of the neck muscles just to make the headaches stop!).

The problem with all these approaches is that we are simply seeking to treat (and mask) the symptoms, instead of first addressing the root cause of the headaches (to keep them from happening in the first place), leaving sufferers to “deal with headaches” (and pray they don’t happen) for most of their lives.

Headache Treatment: Functional Approach

The functional approach to headaches takes a different path—seeking to figure out the root cause(s) behind headaches, and addressing inflammation and total body wellness (as a whole) in order to not only curb headaches (in the moment), but also prevent them from happening in the first place.

7 Natural Hacks to Cure Migraines and Headaches

So how do you “heal” or cure migraines and headaches naturally?!

Boost your body systems that curb and fight inflammation—namely your gut health!

“Loving your gut,” along with the implementation of anti-inflammatory practices (through foods, lifestyle factors and smart supplementation) is the no-nonsense solution to kicking your headaches to the curb. This will be very helpful to cure migraines too.

Here are 7 do-now hacks:

1. Address Underlying Pathologies & Stressors

It’s crucial to figure out what triggers and stressor(s) are driving your headaches:

Are they “seasonal?” Food intolerances? Environmental related? Allergies? “That time of the month?” Medications? Caffeine? Diet?

Once you identify your trigger(s), then dig even deeper behind the trigger(s): “What is “pulling the trigger in the first place?”

For instance allergies are rooted in immune dysfunction (in your gut, where 80% of immune system cells are produced). High caffeine intake messes with both cortisol levels and sometimes gut bacteria. Medications thwart cortisol balance and affect liver function, causing inflammation in the body. You are always more susceptible to headaches if and when your gut health (including liver health) or HPA-Axis (hormone and cortisol balance) is off. This is a very important step to get the best remedies to cure migraines.

The top “underlying” stressors behind regular headaches, especially migraines include:

Gut Imbalances (Yeast, SIBO, infection, parasites)

Food Intolerance/Allergies (Especially gluten, corn, soy, sugar)

Chemical Triggers (nitrates in deli meats, sulfites in wine, pesticides in food—especially non-organic foods)

Heavy Metals (mercury in dental fillings, food exposure, steel braces and retainers)

Environmental Toxins (mold, chemicals in cleaning, beauty, chemical products)

Hormonal Imbalances (often from poor liver metabolism and clearance; or elevated cortisol—stress hormone)

Nutrient Deficiencies (especially Magnesium, Zinc & B-Vitamins—often from lack of them in the diet and poor gut health absorption)

Mitochondrial (cell function) Imbalances

If you get headaches frequently, consider partnering with a healthcare practitioner who digs deeper beyond symptoms to figure out root cause(s). A further customized treatment protocol and testing may be necessary, such as: Adrenal-hormone testing; stool analysis; SIBO breath testing; heavy metals testing; comprehensive functional blood chemistry.

2. Build a Healthy Gut Ecosystem

Your gut is the gateway to health. Heal the gut and practically every other body system “domino” often falls into place (headaches included). Our gut bacteria dictate the physiological processes inside our bodies, so if your gut bacteria are unhealthy or out of whack, then other systems and processes (ie. metabolism, hormones, detox pathways, elimination, nutrient uptake, cardiorespiratory, blood sugar, etc.) may get out of whack too. Build a healthy gut ecosystem with gut-loving supports–particularly for your liver-gallbladder processing (your body’s filtration and recycling system).

Some basic essentials include:

Daily soil-based probiotic and fermented foods (1-2 condiment servings: sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, fermented yogurt, kefir)

Prebiotic supplement and foods (starchy tubers, soluble fibers and root veggies)

Boosting stomach acid with apple cider vinegar shots and/or HCL tablets and digestive enzymes

Cooking your own food, more than eating out

Chewing your food really well and not eating in a hurry or on the go

3. Hydrate

Water is crucial for all life (to cure migraines and headache relief). A dehydration headache is a headache, caused by not having enough fluid in the body and inflammation mounting in the brain. The body requires the proper balance of fluid and electrolytes to function properly, and every day, the body loses water through daily activities, such as sweating and urination.

Typically, the amount of fluid lost is easily balanced through drinking or eating fluid-rich foods.

However, sometimes the body loses water faster than it can be replenished.When the body is dehydrated, the brain can temporarily contract or shrink from fluid loss. This causes the brain to pull away from the skull, causing pain and resulting in a dehydration headache. Once rehydrated, the brain plumps up and returns to its normal state, relieving the headache. The bottom line: Water does a body good. Aim to drink half your body weight in ounces of water daily.

4. Eat a Nutrient Dense Diet

When we eat, we not only feed ourselves, but we also feed our gut bugs. What are you feeding yours? More and more research shows that certain foods can trigger headaches more than others—particularly the highest inflammatory offenders, like gluten, conventional dairy, eggs, nuts,

Eat This:

organic, sustainable meats & poultry

wild-caught fish

fresh veggies and fruits

fermented foods (pickled veggies, sauerkraut, kefir)

starchy tubers & roots (sweet potatoes/potatoes, plantains, carrots, beets, squashes)

healthy plant and animal fats (coconut, avocado, olives, ghee, grass-fed butter, lard, tallow)

herbal tea

Bonus: magnesium-rich foods: dark leafy greens, avocado, bananas, raw soaked pumpkin seeds, soaked beans

Limit

eggs (especially egg whites)

nuts

alcohol (4-6 glasses per week)

coffee (more than 1 cup)

nightshades (chili powder, spices, vegetables)

legumes (unless you soak and dry to cook)

Dairy (fermented and grass-fed sources)

Pork (pastured, organic preferred)

Avoid

soy

sugar/artificial sweeteners

gluten

corn (including cornstarch in foods, high fructose corn syrup)

soy

conventional dairy & meats (hormones, antibiotics)

processed and refined foods

industrial seed oils (canola oil, grape-seed oil)

peanuts

grains

instant coffee

any other foods you are intolerant to (such as FODMAPS)

Try this approach for 30 days and see how you feel. This helps to cure migraines.

Take it to the Next Level: Consider a Low Histamine Diet

Histamine rich foods cause an “immune” response in the body that triggers inflammation—particularly headaches. If you’ve been eating the basic anti-inflammatory diet for more than 30-60 days, but still keep getting headaches, consider experimenting with a low-histamine diet for 30 days, and see how you feel. Note: A histamine intolerance is often a BIG sign that something in your gut is “off.” Many people find when they eat any histamine foods, some extra gut love during the day (digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid tablets with meals, and an extra dose of prebiotics and probiotics), along with immune boosting support supplements (like D-Hist by Orthomolecular or Trizomal Glutathione and Tumero Active by Apex Energetics) can be “game changers” for digesting those foods (and fending off histamine responses).

Histamine Rich Foods to Avoid on a Low Histamine Diet (30-60 Day Experiment)

Ketchup

Food additives

Citrus fruits, bananas, strawberries, pineapples

Cocoa (chocolate)

Nuts

Legumes/beans

Eggs/egg whites

Slow cooked bone broth (for more than 48-72 hours)

5. Incorporate Anti-inflammatory Lifestyle Practices (Kick Stress)

Once you’ve identified potential triggers of your headaches, and commenced a gut-loving protocol, the last tier of kicking headaches to the curb is anti-inflammation–supporting healing of your headache through supplemental supports that gently calm down the pounding in your “head” (and body). While inflammation is NOT always a bad thing (inflammation is a natural response for healing), chronic (lingering) inflammation from ongoing stressors does more harm than good. Your body (and brain) needs some regular anti-inflammatory love to “cool down.”

Anti-Inflammatory Lifestyle Practices:

Sleeping (7-9 hours each night)

Regular daily exercise and lifestyle movement (but not overtraining)

Mindfulness Practices (yoga, tai chi, meditation, journaling)

Limiting over-screen exposure (taking regular breaks)

Stretching and massage/body work

For those who regularly fight headaches, consider “bio-hacking” techniques like: acupuncture, bio-feedback, mindfulness based stress reduction and neurological-feedback, hot-cold therapy, and ozone therapy.

6. Love Your Liver

As a matter of fact, our liver is the organ responsible for metabolizing hormones and neurotransmitters, as well as filtering and detoxing toxic chemicals and pathogens in the body. Ultimately, to fight inflammation and keep your body balanced. However, if your liver health is “off,” then you’re more likely to experience inflammation commonly associated with headaches. Especially, migraines—since serotonin production (calming, soothing neurotransmitter) is drastically reduced. With the right approach, you could cure migraines.

Regular headache suffers should pay special attention to loving their liver with these essentials:

Drink fresh, clean filtered water in a stainless steel or glass water bottle. Also use glassware containers and stainless steel food containers and pans.

Ditch alcohol and coffee for 30 days to see how you feel without it in your system

Eat liver loving foods including: beets, fresh herbs, turmeric, garlic, oregano, apple cider vinegar, lemons, cruciferous veggies, dark leafy greens, organ meats, apples, carrots, grapefruit, green tea, cabbage/fermented sauerkraut

Gradually replace toxic products with natural products. Get rid of dryer sheets, Windex and other non-natural cleaning, hygiene and beauty supplies.

Do a 7-day gentle liver cleanse

After addressing the “basics” with your anti-inflammatory gut health and lifestyle practices, you may even consider a 7-day gentle cleanse.

7-Day Liver Cleanse

Add in a “Liver Cleanse” Support

Days 1-4: Eat 1 organic apple or take a malic acid supplement according to its instructions. Just choose one method. During this time eat clean healthy meals that are simple like lean meats, whole vegetables, fresh fruit,

Days 5-7: Drink a grapefruit or lemon juice mix once per day

2 chopped lemons or 1 small grapefruit (can keep peel on)

2.5 cups of pure water

1-2 tbsp. of virgin olive oil

Blend, then strain drink through a mesh, wire strainer. Add optional 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (alcohol free) and 2-3 drops stevia for flavor if desired.

Continue to eat regular, balanced meals during the day.

Eat 3 balanced meals of clean and light foods throughout the cleanse, including:

Lean proteins (pastured chicken, wild-caught fish, organic turkey; fermented tofu and soaked beans/lentils if vegetarian/vegan)

Dark leafy greens (cooked and/or raw)

Low starch veggies (cooked)

Healthy fats (avocado, coconut/coconut oil, olives/olive oil, ghee)

Fresh fruits: 1-2 servings (especially berries, grapes, melons)

Gut & liver boosting foods: Bone broth, apple cider vinegar, organic organ meats, beets, herbs, fermented foods.

Avoid: grains/gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, pork, red meat, coffee, alcohol, sweeteners, sugar, starches

Go “Natural” with Hygiene/Beauty & Cleaning Products:

Makeup free or natural products only

Fluoride free toothpaste or baking soda

Try coconut oil to moisturize, apple cider vinegar and essential oils for a face toner, salt and honey scrubs, yogurt hair masks and other and homemade cleansers

Use white vinegar and baking soda to clean kitchen

Buy a natural laundry detergent and dryer sheets if used (Seventh Generation, ecover, method)

Bonus Supplements*: Add in these supports consistently during your 7 day liver cleanse to support gut health.

Probiotic: 2-3 soil-based organism (like Megaspore), 3 times per day

Prebiotic: Partially Hydrolyzed Guar Gum, 1/2-1 tsp in water

Liver Cleanse Herbs: Like Livotrit or Gaia’s Liver Cleanse or Apex Energetic’s Metacrin DX or digestive bitters, like liposomal Biocidin (if you have “gut issues”)

Liposomal Curcumin, 1 tsp, 2-3 times per day

Liposomal Glutathione, 1 tsp, 2-3 times per day

Optional: Daily Hormone & Cortisol “Supports”

Female Support: Such as FemGuard Balance or Progestaid. Contains compounds like DIM & vitex/chaste tree for hormonal-driven headaches

Adrenal Adaptogen Herbs (like ashwaganda, relora, or cordyceps) for high cortisol and general stressor driven headaches

*By using this information, you acknowledge you’re responsible for your own healthcare. Consult with your healthcare provider before taking any new supplements.

7. In the Moment Hacks

While most of these strategies are preventative action steps you can take to kick headaches and cure migraines, what to do when headaches strike?

Also, here are a few in-the-moment headache “coolers” and smart supplements to keep on hand:

Hack 1: Better-Than Advil Supplement Combo

Fortunately, these supplements work together to support your liver, calm inflammation naturally and boost healthy neurotransmitter function and production. Great for the everyday tension or cluster headache, as well as migraines.This helps to cure migraines.

Beta TCP (Biotics Research), take 2-3, chew for best results (migraines: 6-8)

Livotrit Plus (Biotics Research), take 2-3 (migraines: 6-8)

Optional Add On: Intezyme Forte (Biotics Research) take 2-3 (migraines: 4-6) An anti-inflammatory digestive enzymes to boost your gut’s inflammatory fighting capacity)

Hack 2: Immune Booster

A “triple threat” of immune boosting supports, particularly effective for those sinus and allergy related headaches. Use the following for up to 7 days to cure migraines and headaches.

Trizomal Glutathione (Apex Energetics), 1-2 tsp, 2-3 times per day.

Liposomal Curcumin + Resveratrol, 1-2 tsp, 2-3 times per day.

Hack 3: Gut & Immune Booster

Love your gut bugs up on the days headaches strike with:

Double dose soil-based probiotic (2-3, 3 times per day)

Short Chain Fatty Acids (like Sodium-Butyrate by Body Bio, 1 with meals)

Apple Cider Vinegar shots (1-2 tbsp in water with meals)

Lemon water and at least half your bodyweight in ounces of water during the day

Essential Oils: Peppermint Oil, Lavender, Rosemary, Ginger, Spearmint, Chamomile, Basil (on pulse points and in diffuser)

Hack 4: “Windex” for Inflammation

CBD oil or hemp oil activates cannabidiols in your body to fight inflammation when your body needs it most. CBD oil is derived from the cannabis plant and contains NO THC (associated with psychedelics). But ALL the benefits of “calming” the bod in times of stress—headaches included. This hack will reall help you cure migraines.

Lastly, consider 1-3 pumps under your tongue of a high-quality CBD Oil like PrimeMyBody or Charlotte’s Web.

*The information contained in this article is intended for educational and informational purposes only. If starting a new supplement or recommendation in this article, you acknowledge you’re responsible for your own health decisions. It is advised you consult with your healthcare practitioner concerning your health choices, as well as consult your provider for safety or interactions with any medications or other supplements you’re currently taking.

The post How to Cure Migraines & Headaches Naturally: 7 Essentials appeared first on Meet Dr. Lauryn.

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