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christopherwatsonbooks · 2 years ago

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It’s Okay to Like Dan Fogelberg

I wrote this piece in early January, 2008, a few weeks after Dan Fogelberg died. It took me that time to process my feelings, to determine what I was feeling in the wake of the unexpected news, and the largely indifferent media response. Like sorting through old photographs in a shoebox: unexamined for so long that you’d forgotten they were there, then the moment you raise and regard one the memories and feelings stab you so deeply, you wonder how you ever could have forgotten. I had to sit with those feelings awhile, allow the water to calm a bit before I could record what it reflected.

I published this on my now long-gone blog The Ninth House and it received dozens of positive comments, more than any other piece I’d posted there. Which of course was very nice – not only because of all those hits of dopamine, but also because of the affirmation that there were so many other souls who felt as I did. I post it here now, fourteen years later, in hopes it may find more.

When I first published this, the song links played clips I created. Now they'll take you to Spotify, which notoriously pays artists fractions of a cent per stream. It would sure be nice if everyone who pays this piece a visit would do right by Dan’s estate and purchase a track or an album from an online retailer.

I hope you enjoy the piece.

Chris

I’ve been meaning to write this for a while now. The holidays got in the way, but maybe that was for the best. It gave me time to really think about what I wanted to say.

And here it is.

It is okay to like Dan Fogelberg.

Go ahead. You can say it. Here, watch me:

I like Dan Fogelberg. Some of Dan Fogelberg’s music, I loved. And still do.

Dan Fogelberg died of prostate cancer on December 16th, 2007. He was 56. His most recent publicity photos show a good-looking guy, clean-shaven and smiling, the kind of guy who makes middle-aged moms blush and their daughters giggle.

Unfortunately, his reputation didn’t weather the years as well as he. For some folks of a certain age, Fogelberg’s name has become the go-to punch line for jokes about 1970s-era granola-munching, Chukka boot-wearing Sensitive Guys. Many critics loathed him. Rolling Stone’s review of 1979’s Phoenix is so contemptuous, you can damn near picture the author spitting on the album cover.

It’s less troublesome to dismiss Dan Fogelberg, as have most eulogists I’ve read, as that 1970s soft-rock singer-songwriter who scored a few hits than it is to set aside that fashionable prejudice and honestly consider his work. Or, more telling, his work’s popularity.

The fact that so many people evidently aren’t willing to do that – and worse, are dismissing Fogelberg as little more than a footnote to 1970s and early 80s pop – is really getting under my skin.

Fogelberg wasn’t a footnote. From his first album release, 1972’s Home Free, through 1981’s double album The Innocent Age, Fogelberg was regarded as an artist on par with the best of his peers. With Joe Walsh, he was one of the first acts signed by Irving Azoff, who soon went on to manage The Eagles, and he was considered for the spot in that band’s lineup that ultimately went to Walsh.

Reading the liner notes of Dan Fogelberg’s essential discography is like reading a who’s-who of mellow 1970s album rock. He attracted the best session players in the business. The Innocent Age features guest vocals from Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell, Richie Furay, Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Chris Hillman. If you had any of those artists’ works in your collection, you invariably owned at least one Dan Fogelberg album, too. Probably Souvenirs.

I played Souvenirs and other Fogelberg albums on the air as a rock radio DJ. It wasn’t at all unusual back in the day to hear him played alongside The Eagles, Poco, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, CSNY, Jimmy Buffett, Boz Scaggs, Steely Dan, Neil Young and dozens more 1970s album rock radio core artists. You wouldn’t hear “Longer,” from Phoenix, but definitely “Part of the Plan,” “As the Raven Flies” and “There’s a Place in the World for a Gambler” from Souvenirs, maybe “Crow” from the underrated Captured Angel, definitely “The Power of Gold” from Dan’s Tim Weisberg collaboration Twin Sons of Different Mothers.

I liked to slide The Innocent Age out of its cover right around midnight. I was a college student in the early 80s, paying my way through school as the late-night jock on the town’s sole rock station, a pitiful low-wattage AM that nonetheless had a cult following. By midnight, I knew the hard partiers had already switched to the big regional FM; those who remained with me were studying or stoned, or both. That was my cue to take it way down: Robin Trower’s “Bridge of Sighs,” The Police’s “Walking on the Moon” next, “Hypnotized” from Fleetwood Mac after that, CSN’s “Dark Star” – you get the vibe. When I needed to stay mellow but bring in a little light, I’d inevitably reach for Dan.

The Innocent Age features Fogelberg’s biggest hits: “Same Old Lang Syne,” “Leader of the Band,” “Run for the Roses” and “Hard to Say.” But one of my favorite tracks to play late at night was “Only the Heart May Know,” his tender duet with Emmylou Harris, sweet as a lullaby sent into the night. Not that I never played anything from Phoenix, “Longer” aside. When I did, it was usually my favorite track from that album, the final one, “Along the Road.” Sometimes I made that the final song I played before unplugging my headphones for the night, a final tired smile goodnight wish for my peeps to sleep on.

“Along the Road” may be my favorite Dan Fogelberg song. Definitely top three. Two. It’s pretty high up there.

Of the ten albums Dan Fogelberg recorded and released between 1972 and 1985, two are RIAA-certified gold, three are platinum, four are double platinum and one – his 1982 Greatest Hits compilation -- is triple platinum. That’s more than 15 million units sold, most of them back when they were still called LPs and you had to actually make the trip to a record store to buy one.

Clearly, somebody other than me likes Dan Fogelberg.

Okay, so maybe you don’t. Maybe you agree with the chorus of critics who labeled his lyrics mawkish, overwrought, treacly and clichéd.

Well, yeah. A lot of his lyrics were. I don’t think an objective listener can deny it, no matter how great a fan they may be.

I’ve always thought Dan Fogelberg on balance was a far better melodist than lyricist. His best melodies from those first six albums are gems of craftsmanship, made more impressive by the sheer number of just damned catchy, stick-in-your-brain songs he cranked out. “Part of the Plan” and “Crow” would sound right at home in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s oeuvre, and the hook to “Wishing on the Moon” from Phoenix is every bit as vital as, say, that of The Eagles’ “Already Gone.” Gritty up the lyrics a little, put Glenn Frey on lead with Dan singing the high harmony (Jesus, that voice) and it could be the B-side hit the Eagles never recorded.

But pair those melodies with Dan’s sentimental pen…

I can’t listen to the title track of 1977’s Nether Lands without the word “gushing” coming to mind. Dan’s standing on a mountaintop, beholding all that is below and before him, his heart and soul singing with the joy of the vista and the moment over a bed of woodwinds, strings and French horns, lush as the soundtrack to Sunrise over The Majestic Rockies, in Technicolor.

It’s just so damn over the top. Like Julie Andrews with a flannel shirt and a beard.

But here’s the thing. Not two years before I first heard “Nether Lands,” I’d been a raw-boned 16-year-old lad standing on the Mogollon Rim, southwest of Winslow, Arizona in the foothills of the Rockies. Sleeping under the stars, kneeling to drink from icy-cold Christopher Creek, standing on a pine-framed ridge to behold thousands of square miles of God’s magnificent Earth spread below and before me.

And so when the good Mr. Fogelberg’s high sweet tenor sang over those soaring, shameless orchestral glissandos, my heart sang with him. Because I had been there, and so knew that he had gotten it exactly and absolutely right.

And there it is. The key to Dan Fogelberg’s popularity, and the source of his most frequent criticisms.

Maybe if he’d thrown in some irony, a little cynicism to go with the poignancy. Maybe if he’d invoked whiskey and cigarettes when his woman done left him, rather than cottonwood trees in autumn. Maybe if he’d taken his hand off his heart and grabbed his crotch a bit more. Or at all.

But that wasn’t his thing. It’s clearly not where Dan lived, or what he believed. Not enough to want to write about it, at any rate.

I imagine the Dan Fogelberg who wrote and recorded those wonderful albums as a sweet guy, a gentle soul who recognized the transience of life and so chose to celebrate its moments of sweetness, chose sentiment over cynicism or resentment, even in life’s most heartrending moments. After you were done cursing and getting drunk and assigning blame, Dan’s the guy you’d eventually want sitting across the table from you over coffee or a beer. He’d listen and nod and smile, and you’d know he understood. He’d put it all into perspective for you. He wouldn’t try to make you feel better, but you’d come away knowing you weren’t alone, and that would make you feel better. It made the ache more tolerable, and enabled you to look forward once more.

Short of sitting across that table, Dan’s music on the stereo and a good bottle of wine isn’t a bad substitute. Many times, when my heart and soul ached, for many reasons, it’s what helped me.

I left Dan Fogelberg behind. I never developed a taste for his post-Innocent Age work, and my own music tastes changed as life changed me, carrying me on passing years from Dan and his peers to my current favorites. But I still carry a big torch for those days, and with the advent of iTunes, Rhapsody and the rest have found myself seeking out the music of my youth, reveling in sentimental fondness as I rediscover those songs, and the memories they awaken.

And so, I shouldn’t be surprised that I find myself sentimental over Dan Fogelberg’s death. And so irritated that it has gone so largely unremarked.

Maybe it’s because I’m older now, at that age when so many of those who composed and played the soundtrack to my youth are leaving us, making memories of that time more poignant. Maybe it’s that, because Dan’s music meant something to me, seeing his music dismissed makes me feel as if my youth and feelings are likewise being dismissed.

I imagine it’s all of that.

But also, I’m just plain pissed off at the critical pretentiousness that continues to dismiss Dan Fogelberg even in death, and the ease with which so many people mock him, for no other reason than that. Because it’s easy.

You don’t like his music? That’s fine. If you’ve given his best stuff a sincere listen and it’s not your cup of tea, then thanks for stopping by.

But if you haven’t? Listen to the clips I’ve included here. If you’re intrigued, spend a few bucks and download some tracks online. Or ask a friend, or maybe their granola-munching parents, if they’ve got some Dan Fogelberg you can borrow.

But be warned. You’ve got to kick the furniture out of the way and invite Dan in, if you’re going to appreciate him at all. You’ve got to be willing to let him nail you right smack-dab in your squishy place.

And if you find you like him – well, of course it’s okay. It’s always been okay. You don’t need my permission, or anyone’s. With anything in life, it’s never about what others say. It’s always about what you feel.

A few days after his death, longtime friend Jackson Browne called Dan Fogelberg “an angel.” Writing about him now, listening to him now, having rediscovered him now after all these years, I don’t feel inclined to disagree.

Rest in peace, Dan. And thanks.

#dan fogelberg

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feelingofcontent · 3 years ago

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DNP Rewatch: A Festive Day in the Life of Dan and Phil!

Date video was published: 12/20/2014 (X)

DNP Main Channel Rewatch: 254

The 2014 DITL video! The last one had been back in August 2013. This is my absolute favorite DITL and probably one of my top five DNP joint videos of all time. Get ready for me to have way too much to say about it.

0:00 - sleepy morning + quiff Phil! We’ll see a surprising amount of that in this video.

0:05 - “almost a week till Christmas,” so they must have filmed this just a few days before it was posted

0:25 - no waking up Dan in “his” bedroom like in the first two DITL. Hmmm...this scene doesn’t seem staged at all...especially since Phil’s laptop is already open on the arm of the sofa. Unless he just left it like that overnight.

0:37 - love that the other advent calendar on the mantle in the one they made. 😂 There are 18 of the doors opened on it, so they’re probably filming this on the the 18th or 19th of December.

0:47 - they both jump into doing the theme music as soon as Phil says “titan”

0:57 - that is pretty late for them to be putting up the decorations! Phil looks sad about it too.

1:01 - sad tinsel. I think Phil had the silver piece in the background in his last video. And the little WALLE in the background here, from all the way back in PINOF. 🥺

1:17 - this domestic insight, just 😭😭😭

1:26 - full circle back to the first DITL video. I wonder if they watched the previous DITLs before filming this one.

1:41 - so many mugs.

1:48 - Dan did not want that one because it was very hard to actually drink out of as he discovered in DITL London. I really bet they did watch the previous ones shortly before this...so many references back!

1:55 - awww, happy warm Phil

2:13 - such a dramatic sigh but he goes to get it anyway!

2:25 - well that is a terrifying way to burn a tealight...put it on a dish!

2:33 - I love that there is no explanation for this in the video. Phil is superstitious about new shoes on the table, which they had both tweeted about before.

2:40 - Dan fashion show and an encouraging Phil

2:47 - immediate smile when Dan notices Phil there

2:56 - why does Phil looks SO GOOD in this clip. also, as usual a weird/slightly horrifying poem from his brain.

3:02 - love that they both decided to wear holiday jumpers. They also wore these same ones for their December radio show. Also the Dan lean-in 🥺

3:12 - PJ tweeted about this DNP visit!

3:27 - this whole leaving scene is possibly the most domestic part of any video - the candle argument, the coat adjustment, the stop in the bathroom to check their hair, Phil checking to make sure Dan has keys, the spider checking and joking... I mean.

4:13 - more throwback conversation to DITL London

4:35 - so glad he chose not to lick his hand. Even more horrifying in 2021.

4:40 - Dan talked about this and falling up the escalator in What not to do on Public Transport

5:00 - “bit corporate isn’t it?” but caves immediately because Phil wants to.

5:10 - Love that Phil orders while Dan finds a table. Love that Phil makes Dan draw something happy not just a sad face. Love Dan’s huge smile after that.

5:33 - Dan really can’t say much he was reading his phone in the clip right before this!

5:58 - Dan’s talking about this weird incident that Phil posted a clip of on LessAmazingPhil

6:18 - they always go to at least one nerdy shop in the first DITLs!

6:36 - the things they choose to zoom in on in this shop...Dan with Spiderman’s crotch a few seconds before this and now Phil on the shirtless guy book cover. subtle, lol.

7:29 - I had actually heard of this board game prior to this video because Wil Wheaton did a TableTop episode. I remember being so surprised to see DNP wanting it!

7:39 - Phil and his weird people encounters. 😂 And Dan just mocking him for it.

7:59 - they did, in fact, go to see Matilda the next summer.

8:10 - oh my god this clock scene. Of course Phil wants to make a game of it. And then Dan with the seemingly slight fudging of what he was pointing at. And this look and then both of them giggling. 👀

8:32 - that start of Dan’s running! This is around the time or shortly after he had started to see a therapist (according to the timeline he gave in Daniel and Depression), so thinking he probably wanted to start for his mental health.

9:11 - Dan talks about the “guy wearing the white sheet in Manchester” in What not to do In Town. Their reminiscing faces are too much.

9:19 - Phil is so excited about this. He had tweeted a couple times in the past about Moomins (1, 2)

9:37 - the excitement about the treats and the festive drinks and decorations and Phil’s teasing 😭

10:04 - they film fairly often in the back of cars and I just feel like must be so awkward, but it doesn’t seem to bother them. And Phil’s hair is quiffed again!

10:28 - and the stairs song! Which they are too prepared for so it must be a regular thing they say/sing. This video has SO MANY moments that I love.

10:51 - Phil just sitting while Dan hauls the tree box out. Maybe Dan lost rock-paper-scissors.

10:59 - reminiscing about THE TREE now, which is the last time they decorated on camera

11:09 - why is this a common theme in DITLs!? lol. Love that they’ve lit the candle again after getting home.

11:22 - “stop doing that” as he can’t control his giggles. sure.

12:03 - okay, Phil had to go get the other decorations! The “Christmas faces” are slightly horrifying

12:22 - that is the most horrifying. also, Dan and Phil themed toys/decor even in the bathroom.

13:02 - Dan’s little messed up piece of hair in the back is so cute. Also love that they have the garlands up and everything at this point too.

13:19 - even more quiff-Phil!

13:31 - their fridge contents are not great

14:04 - unexpected filming but a huge grin anyway from Phil. Also, how do they make just answering the door so awkward, lol. Also: what is that picture in the background in the bathroom(?)

14:32 - they’re so excited about this set up and dinner plan

14:43 - and now glasses Phil! Also, arguing about wrapping neatness. I love it. Although when we see Phil’s wrapping in a minute, I think I might agree with Dan...

15:03 - PJ will end up with one of these face banks

15:10 - Phil came up with some decent gifts for Kath this time, although he didn’t think she had good ideas.

15:18 - I find it so cute that Dan wants to keep the cookbook

15:30 - Dan looks almost embarrassed to share this. He’s also got something “12 Days of Christmas” themed in that blue box on the chair. Although apparently a lot of his family just wanted money.

15:37 - I have no words for Dan filming this closeup and then them choosing to keep it in the video.

16:16 - Phil’s trying to be all serious with his wrapping tutorial and then the tape just immediately falls. 😂

16:40 - “it’s endearing” Dan does look pretty endeared, lol. Dan’s concerned because the face banks are actually gifts from both of them, at least according to PJ

17:04 - wow, Vine mention

17:25 - Dan’s just expecting Phil to come up with a great pun on the spot. Also, the lobster thing is an old reference.

17:39 - I think I mentioned this in the last DITL post, but I like that we do see even in a short video that they spend some time alone. That’s just so normal, especially for introverts even when you’re that comfortable with someone.

17:45 - Phil will keep reading that book over the holidays

17:48 - we did see the inside of the chest. So what is Dan implying here, lol.

17:52 - well then. Dan’s giggly face though.

18:08 - soft piano Dan 😭

18:25 - Ariana Grande had sent them both cat ears after they met her for the radio show

18:37 - a glimpse at the early gaming channel set-up.

18:46 - we don’t actually see that footage in the gaming video

18:51 - it must be pretty late at night by this point considering it was dark when they came home

19:15 - Phil’s first instinct is to throw it of course

19:18 - this face and the sweater paws. I can’t. 😭

19:25 - and of course a joint ending.

19:40 - Dan is so sleepy and happy seeming here

20:13 - awwww 🥺 The last video of 2014!

One difference from the first two DITL is they don’t even pretend that they’re going to see other friends/invite someone over. Just the two of them hanging out and they seem quite happy with that. This is probably the most “domestic” of the DITL videos. I love it so much.

Phil went to his parents’ on the 23rd to celebrate Christmas. He had Swedish food, was very excited as usual, got a stocking with a toothbrush and animal socks, and watched Guardians of the Galaxy. Dan went to his family’s on the evening of the 24th after a candle incident (lol, though I love that he was burning the candles even without Phil there. He started the tradition of yearly Christmas pictures of Colin. And also posted this.

On to the 2015 videos, and the start of the TABINOF/TATINOF era!

#dan and phil #dnp #dnpRewatch #amazingphil #daniel howell #phil lester #danisnotonfire #amazingphil videos #A Festive Day in the Life of Dan and Phil!#ditl

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coolmarriagerecords · 4 years ago

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On Chronophage

By Zachary Lipez

https://zacharylipez.substack.com/p/notes-on-the-mekons-chronophage-and

Chronophage are a band from Texas. They have been around for three years. Chronophage consists of Parker Allen (they/them) guitar and vox, Sarah Beames (she/her) bass and vox, and Cody Phifer (he/him) drums. For the new record, Parker’s brother, Casey Allen (he/him) plays synth. That’s all I know about Chronophage. The internet shows no interviews and, besides punk zines I don’t own (and presumably critics on Terminal-Boredom forums), the music press outside of Austin has ignored them. I first heard about the band from MaximumRnR, which listed their debut, Prolog for Tomorrow, released in December of 2018, as one of the best albums of 2019 (you can do stuff like that when you’re a revered punk zine). Because MRR is famously *cough* averse to cover any band that even flirts with problematicism, I don’t have to worry about my ignorance of Chronophage’s individual members potentially allowing me to big up fascists. Maybe it’ll turn out they’re Maoists (an ideology MRR is less worried about) but I guess we’ll cross that bridge when/if we come to it. Anyway, I had never even heard of Chronophage (a small miracle unto itself considering the underground’s ready access to publicists and music writers- such as myself- who love few things more than being the first to “discover” a band.). But, even while my sense of aural adventure is a bit rusty since the days of having to risk $8.99 on albums based solely on cover art and/or vibes in the air, I just knew Prolog for Tomorrow was going to scratch an itch. Maybe not an immediate itch but, when you keep as many itches on file as I do, you can afford to trust your instincts. Especially when those instincts have already been validated by some punk weirdo in Oakland who’s probably still mad at the Go-Go’s for firing Margot Olavarria fifteen years before they were born. My instincts served me well because that hypothetical punk weirdo was right! (About both things.)

I’m not sure how to describe Chronophage. I’m not a major fan of the comparisons, to Swell Maps or the Messthetics comps, that the punks made. I don’t dislike either point of reference but knowing Chronophage supposedly sounds like both doesn’t affect how I hear the band. Prolog for Tomorrow’s inner sleeve art has “Curse of Chronophage” scrawled, which may be a reference to The Curse of The Mekons. Or maybe not. I’m trying not to project my bullshit on the band. Matter of fact, Chronophage don’t sound anything like the honky-tonkin’-Mekons. Not because Chronophage aren’t honkys tonkin’ but because, historically speaking, American bands aren’t as hung up on sounding American as English bands are. The album art for Prolog is reminiscent of much of the (actually) cut and (actually) pasted Pavementisms of the ‘90s, which in turn was lifted directly from The Fall and all that band’s adherents. Like early Pavement and The Fall, Chronophage are full of hooks, some overt and many buried under transient skronk. But, unlike all the obscurist indie Chronophage shares a typewriter with, the basic template on the album, if there’s one at all, is “folk punk.” I suppose? At least the sense of that genre is present, if dependent on an expansive notion of both “folk” and “punk.” Minus any busking grotesqueries in the “Wagon Wheel” vein, there’s the strum and twang of barely distorted guitars, every string visible in the mind’s eye, maybe in need of tuning or maybe just playing those jazz chords I hear so much about at music critic parties. While only three musicians play on Prolog, horns and keys go in and out of the songs like a C Squat marching band showing up to support the potluck. Adding to the offhand spontaneity of the proceedings, there’s intermittent cowpoke yowlings, some very live sounding drums, and at least one poetry reading. There’s a real anarchist house party vibe but just when it feels like Chronophage are going to lose their train of thought or, worse, ask to borrow the touring band’s kick drum pedal, another fragile and plaintive power pop chorus arrives in time to keep me from retreating to the kitchen to bum beer off strangers.

If we’re going to (re)subscribe to my initial thesis that there are certain sounds made by certain bands that provide a messily alluring alternative to the pat and disingenuous cleanliness of overculture, therefore making a prickly honesty worth striving for (even if that striving lends itself to either self delusion or a romanticizing of failure), then Chronophage are what we’re talking about. Even if on their new album, The Pig Kiss’d (out on November 23), they kind of fuck a significant amount of my thesis over by showing that they do, in fact, know what they’re doing. Whatever. I deserve it. The whole mythology around The Mekons as a band finding dignity in the face of drunken ineptitude was a fib. While not having the chops of The Texas Playboys, and certainly often drunk, The Mekons, by the mid-’80s, were writing and performing songs as subtle and dynamic as any non-boring rock and roll, not to mention post-punk, band could aspire to. Because perfection is so oppressive, its absence will always be its own inherent virtue. But even better than not being able to play your instruments is being able to play them real pretty, but throwing some ugly in anyway. Just to show all the aesthetic bible thumpers that heaven isn’t always the hot shit it purports to be.

The Pig Kiss’d is a sharper, more streamlined, proposition than Chronophages’s first record. The guitars, thankfully still mainly free of any distortion mush, ring out as cohesive riffs. Even while the lite-funk chunka-chunkas still occasionally approximate Desperate Bicycles covering Steely Dan (an under-appreciated subculture band influence… a lot of people don’t know that Big Black’s name was short for “Big Black Cow”), and the snare underpinning gives them a decidedly peace punk punchiness, the riffs now transform into razor-like, no wave leads instead of the decays into noise (or just silence) prevalent on Prolog. While the previous album positioned voices as hesitant souls in conversation, Chronophage’s dual singing is now consistently commanding. Not to say that either Allen or Beames are preoccupied with auditioning for American Idle anytime soon, but they both have cool, heavy-on-personality punk voices, ranging from conversating chill to accusatory growl, which the mix now accentuates. I’m not going to pretend that I don’t miss the feeling of a sinking ship, barely kept afloat by the bodies of oogles under the hull, but I’m also glad for a recording that doesn’t sound like the studio engineer is holding a personal grudge against the drummer. Of course, in no longer sounding a mess, Chronophage runs the risk of just sounding like, you know, a rock band. Of which there are plenty. Luckily this ain’t the case. The desperate, weird energy of Prolog for Tomorrow is still abundant. It’s just put in the service of songcraft more than ADD-infused mood. If there’s a newfound, almost psych, expansiveness in the songwriting, it’s a psych fueled by strychnine over any slouching towards bliss. And when the songwriting contracts, we get instant classics like the album closer, “Name Story,” which could be an undiscovered New Model Army a-side. So much does “Name Story” sound like a lost hit that I had to write the band and ask if it was a cover. (They responded that the aim was to sound like New Order… which is amazing.) Still, by contemporary indie standards, Chronophage sound like countrified First Wave of Black Metal-ers running through the American songbook. By contemporary post-punk standards, which can be applied now that New Order are on the table, Chronophage don’t sound contemporary at all. They sound out of the timeline; Richard Lloyd skipping post-punk entirely to jump headfirst into college rock, making that nerd rock hip, and vice versa. Lightning striking itself. In the face. Repeatedly. And by folk punk standards, if we’re bothering to still apply it, Chronophage continue to sound like the only true freaks in a field of future beer reps.Like I said, I don’t know much about Chronophage. While writing this, I exchanged emails with Parker but, preferring the mystery, I only asked about pronouns and whatnot. Maybe they’re apolitical. Maybe they are Maoists. Maybe they’re neither but still find my chronic naysaying abhorrent and dull. For all I know, they all campaigned hard for Pete Buttigieg and all the proceeds from The Pig Kiss’d are going towards having Chronophage Brand hostile architecture benches placed near the homeless encampments in Austin. Guess we won’t know for sure till the album comes out. But this feels like opposition music, and, more importantly (to me) it feels like music that speaks to a refusal to simply be grateful for the crumbs handed to us. Nit picking, as it were. If not exactly “dignity in the face of drunken ineptitude” then, in the face of endless war and empire and an oligarchal insistence to smile more, Chronophage make a sound that- equal parts sweet fury and sweaty sweetness and spilling over with a feisty, chaotic grace- approaches dignity. If the next few years are great, then great. We can play Chronophage at the cookout we’re all invited to. And if the next four years are instead a happy faced atrocity exhibition, at best a grinding exercise in defending cops, creeps, and landlords for the sole reason of the other side’s cops and creeps and landlords being so much worse? Then Chronophage’s sound will prove to be the kind of correct that’s too sloppy to be smug. Even under austerity, the anarcho-freak punx got bops. So even as COVID, the ice caps, or capital’s poptimist truncheon bear down on us, threatening to tickles our little chins, let us, at least, enjoy this thing.

https://zacharylipez.substack.com/p/notes-on-the-mekons-chronophage-and

* The cassette version of Th’Pig’Kiss’d Album will be available soon on Cool Marriage. Check this blog for updates.

#chronophage #chronophageband

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brn1029 · 4 years ago

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Get those tin foil hats ready to go!

The 10 greatest conspiracy theories in rock

By Emma Johnston

In a world where fake news runs rampant, rock'n'roll is not immune to the lure of the conspiracy theory. These are 10 of the most ludicrous

Conspiracy theories, myths and legends have existed in rock’n’roll for as long as the music has existed, stretching all the way back to bluesman Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads in exchange for superhuman guitar skills, fame and fortune.

There are those who believe Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison live on, others who think the Illuminati control the world through symbolism in popular culture, and plenty of evangelical types with their own agendas trawling rock and metal songs for secret messages luring the innocent to the dark side.

Let us take a look, then, at rock’n’roll conspiracy theories ranging from the intriguing to the ludicrous, as we try to separate the truth from the codswallop.

Lemmy was in league with the Illuminati

Few men have ever been earthier than Lemmy, but one conspiracy theorist claims that the Motorhead legend didn’t really die in December 2015, instead “ascending into the heavenly realm” after making a “blood sacrifice pact” with the Illuminati.

A “watcher” of the mythical secret society some believe are running the world – despite evidence that is at best flimsy, at worst straight from The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown’s discarded notebooks – told the Daily Star: “Lemmy signed up for the ultimate pact – he signed his soul to the devil in order to achieve fame and fortune.”

While we can only imagine what the great man would have to say on the matter, there’s one word, in husky, JD-soaked tones, that we can just about make out coming across from the other side: “Bollocks.”

Paul McCartney died in 1966

As you might expect from the most famous band that has ever existed, there are enough crackpot theories about The Beatles to fill the Albert Hall. From John Lennon’s murder being ordered by the US government, who, led by Richard Nixon, suspected him of communism (the FBI actually did have a file on Lennon, but the story is spiced up by the man behind murderlennontruth.com, who apparently believes author Steven King was involved due to, uh, looking a bit like Mark Chapman) to Canadian prog outfit Klaatu being the Fab Four in disguise, there are plenty of tall tales more colourful than a Ringo B-side.

The most enduring, though, is the notion dreamt up by some US radio DJs that Paul McCartney died in a car crash in 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike. They came to this conclusion having studied the cover of Abbey Road – McCartney’s bare feet on the zebra crossing apparently symbolising death, while others found “evidence” in the album’s opaque lyrics. There were a lot of drugs in the 60s.

Gene Simmons has a cow’s tongue

It’s easy to see why all kinds of far-fetched stories sprung up when Kiss first took off in the 1970s. The fake-blood-spitting, the fire, the demon-superhero personas – middle America clutched its pearls and word spread that these otherworldly weirdos’ moniker stood for Knights In Satan’s Service. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t.

It was Gene Simmons’ preposterous mouth that got the nation’s less voluminous tongues wagging though. So long and pointy is his appendage, and so often waggled at his audiences (whether they asked for it or not), that eventually the rumour spread around the world’s playgrounds was that he’d had a cow’s tongue grafted onto his own. The bovine baloney is, of course, bullshit, but Simmons has admitted it's one of his favourite Kiss urban myths.

Supertramp predicted 9/11

The Logical Song may be Supertramp’s calling card, but one man in the US stretches common sense to the limit having come to the conclusion that the artwork for their 1979 album Breakfast In America gave prior warning of the terrorist attacks on New York on September 11, 2001.

Look at the album cover – painted from the perspective of a window on a flight into the city – in a mirror, and the ‘u’ and ‘p’ band’s name appears to become a 911 floating above the twin towers, while a logo on the back features a plane flying towards the World Trade Center.

So far, so coincidental, but when our intrepid investigator falls down a rabbit hole of Masonic interference, strained Old Testament connections (“The Great Whore of Babylon – Super Tramp”), and the title Breakfast In America reflecting the fact that the planes crashed early in the morning, things get really tenuous.

It’s fair to say it’s unlikely a British prog-pop band had prior knowledge of the terrorist attacks 22 years before they happened. But maybe Al Qaida were really big fans.

Stevie Wonder can see

Stevie Wonder is a genius. That fact is not up for dispute. The soul/jazz/funk/rock/pop legend was born six weeks prematurely in 1950, and the oxygen used in the hospital incubator to stabilise him caused him to go blind shortly afterwards. But his love of front-row seats at basketball games, the evocative imagery in his songs, and the fact that he once effortlessly caught a falling mic stand knocked over by Paul McCartney (who, let us reiterate, did not die in 1966) has caused basement Jessica Fletchers to muse that he’s faking his blindness as part of the act.

Wonder himself, a known prankster, has great fun with his status as one of the world’s most famous vision-impaired musicians. In 1973, he told Rolling Stone: “I’ve flown a plane before. A Cessna or something, from Chicago to New York. Scared the hell out of everybody.”

Dave Grohl invented Andrew W.K.

When Andrew W.K. first broke through in the early 2000s, dressed in white and covered in blood, his mission was serious in its simplicity: the party is everything. He took his message of having a good time, all the time, to levels of political fervour. But rumours of his authenticity have been doing the rounds from the start.

Reviewing WK’s first UK show at The Garage in London, The Guardian’s Alexis Petridis wrote: “One music-biz conspiracy theory currently circulating suggests that Andrew W.K. is an elaborate hoax devised by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl.”

As time went on, the theory gained traction – Grohl was believed to be the mysterious Steev Mike credited on the debut album I Get Wet. And as W.K.’s style changed over subsequent records, and his own admission that there were legal arguments over who owns his name, whispers began that he wasn’t even a real person – he was a character, played by several different actors, an attempt to create the ultimate Frankenstein’s frontman.

"I'm not the same guy that you may have seen from the I Get Wet album," W.K. said in 2008. “I don't just mean that in a philosophical or conceptual way, it's not the same person at all. Do I look the same as that person?" The jury is out, but if this is a great white elephant concocted just for the sheer hell of it, we kind of want this one to be true.

Jimi Hendrix was murdered by his manager

An early victim of the 27 club, the death of Jimi Hendrix was depressingly cliched for a man so wildly creative: a bellyful of barbiturates led to him asphyxiating on his own vomit, according to the post-mortem. But in the years following the grim discovery at the Samarkand Hotel in London on 19 September 1970, a different theory was offered by the guitarist’s former roadie, James “Tappy” Wright.

In his book Rock Roadie, Wright claims Hendrix was murdered by his manager, Michael Jeffery, who he says force-fed his charge red wine and pills. The motive? He feared he was about to be fired and was keen to cash in on the star’s life insurance. One thing we do know for certain is Jeffery won’t be able to give his version of events, as he was killed in a plane crash over France in 1973.

The 50th anniversary of Hendrix's tragic passing was "celebrated" with the release of Hendrix and the Spook, a documentary that "explored" his death further and was described by The Guardian as "a cheaply made mix of interviews and dumbshow dramatic recreations by actors scuttling about flimsy sets in gloomy lighting." Sounds good.

Courtney killed Kurt

Courtney Love is no stranger to demonisation from Nirvana fans. When Hole’s second album, the searing, catchy, feminist, witty, aggressive, vulnerable and unflinchingly honest Live Through This was released, days after Kurt Cobain’s death, rumours almost immediately started up that Love’s late husband wrote the songs. That was insulting and sexist enough, but nowhere near as damaging as the conspiracy theory that Love hired a hitman to kill Cobain amid rumours they were about to divorce.

After Cobain’s first attempt to take his own life in Rome, the Nirvana frontman was eventually convinced to go to rehab following an intervention by his wife and friends. He ran away from the facility, and the private investigator hired by Love to find him, Tom Grant, eventually became the source of the idea that Love and the couple’s live-in nanny Michael Dewitt were responsible for Cobain’s death shortly afterwards.

His claims, made in the Soaked In Bleach documentary, include the notion that Cobain had too much heroin in his system to pull the trigger of the shotgun, and that he believed the suicide note was forged.

People close to Cobain (and the Seattle Police Department) have refuted the theory, including Nirvana manager Danny Goldberg: “It’s ridiculous. He killed himself. I saw him the week beforehand, he was depressed. He tried to kill himself six weeks earlier, he’d talked and written about suicide a lot, he was on drugs, he got a gun. Why do people speculate about it? The tragedy of the loss is so great people look for other explanations. I don’t think there’s any truth at all to it."

The CIA wrote The Scorpions’ biggest hit

Previously synonymous with leather, hard rock anthems and some very questionable album artwork, West Germany’s Scorpions scored big with Wind Of Change, a power ballad heralding the oncoming fall of the USSR, the end of the Cold War, and a new sense of hope in the Eastern Bloc.

In a podcast named after the 1990 song, though, Orwell Prize-winning US journalist Patrick Radden Keefe follows rumours from within the intelligence community that the song was actually written by the CIA, as propaganda to hasten the fall of the ailing Soviet Union via popular culture.

“Soviet officials had long been nervous over the free expression that rock stood for, and how it might affect the Soviet youth,” Keefe is quoted as saying. “The CIA saw rock music as a cultural weapon in the cold war. Wind of Change was released a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and became this anthem for the end of communism and reunification of Germany. It had this soft-power message that the intelligence service wanted to promote.”

It's a convincing theory, but one that is disputed by Scorpions frontman Klaus Meine: “I thought it was very amusing and I just cracked up laughing. It’s a very entertaining and really crazy story but like I said, it’s not true at all. Like you American guys would say, it’s fake news."

There are satanic messages in Stairway To Heaven

The great comedian Bill Hicks had something to say about people searching for evidence of devilry in rock’n’roll: “Remember this shit, if you play certain rock albums backwards there'd be satanic messages? Let me tell you something, if you're sitting round your house playing your albums backwards, you are Satan. You needn't look any further. And don't go ruining my stereo to prove a point either.”

The memo didn’t get through to televangelist and stylus ruiner Paul Crouch, who in 1982 attempted to scare the Christian right into believing Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven was stuffed with demonic meaning, and that played backwards it revealed the following message: “Here’s to my sweet Satan/The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan/He will give those with him 666/There was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.”

Guitarist Jimmy Page, of course, is no stranger to the esoteric, making no secret of his interest in occultist Aleister Crowley and the attendant magick, and there were even rumours the band made a Faustian pact to achieve fame and fortune. But hiding messa

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thisisnotacomp · 4 years ago

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Best Albums of 2020

I am a little bit late posting my list this year. I put it together in mid December but been slow to get it up. Without further ado, here are the best releases of 2020 according to me:

1. Run The Jewels - RTJ4 Honestly this was a pretty clear choice for me. EL-P and Killer Mike dropped RTJ4 a few weeks early after the news of George Floyd. This was the perfect soundtrack for what was unfolding across America. EL-P has been making amazing beats since since dropping Funcrusher Plus as a member of Company Flow in 1997. The fact that this album is a both a logical extension of his sound and so fresh 20 plus years into his career is no small feat. While this is the 4th true Run The Jewels album, the pair first teamed up in 2012 for Mike’s R.A.P. Music LP making this their 5th joint album. Killer Mike has been one of the most underrated MC’s and continue to show his chops on RTJ4. In a year that truly needed a soundtrack, Run The Jewels came through in a big way.

2. Ludovico Einaudi - 12 Songs From Home I am guessing most people haven’t heard “12 Songs From Home” which is a bit of a shame. If RTJ4 was the soundtrack of the year in protests the 12 Songs From Home was my soundtrack for the Pandemic lock down. Ludovico Einaudi recorded the album early in the lock down at home on his iPhone. Beautiful songs and simple arrangements helped to calm fraying nerves when the pandemic first started taking over the globe.

3. Tootard - Migrant Birds Here is another album that most of the world will never hear. If 2020 would have been a normal year, who knows if the great tracks here would have caught on to a wider audience. I guess it doesn’t matter. Migrant Birds was exactly what I needed to hear during the summer lockdown months. Upbeat 80′s disco sounds from the middle east transformed my backyard in Seattle. I am pretty confident that my most listened to track of the year was Moonlight. But the real gem of the release is “Stone Heap of the Wild Cat”. I mean its close to 4 mins of pure gold.

4. Bill Callahan - Gold Record As the Dj Khaled drop goes Another One. Gold Record is Bill Callahan’s best release in 10 years. I loved 2019′s Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest but there is just something about his 2020 release. It feels more like a true album start to finish than that album did. If you like Bill Callahan you have heard this album. If you like music and haven’t track it down. It doesn’t disappoint.

5. Kelly Lee Ownes - Inner Song If there is one thing that I am starting to notice as a move into middle age is that I prioritize releases from my favorite artists and don’t search out new music quite as much. I find it hard to accept new artists into this group. In 2020 Kelly Lee Ownes made the cut. Her 2017 self titled album was great but 2020′s Inner Song was above and beyond. Her sound is one of my personal favorites. I have always had a soft spot for fantastic low key electronic music. To do it right is really hard to pull off but Kelly has done it not once but twice. Start to finish Inner Song doesn’t miss a beat. Great Record

6. Caribou - Suddenly Home was one of my favorite tracks of the year. It was the first single released from Suddenly in late 2019. At the time my wife was traveling back and forth to NYC. The track hit the spot. Then the lockdown helped it to take on an even deeper meaning. Another great release from Dan Snaith.

7. Westside Gunn - Pray for Paris Pray for Paris was the best rap LP of 2020. Start to finish Westside Gunn killed it. Also, anyone who pairs with DOOM gets extra points in my book. R.I.P. MF DOOM.

8. Fontaines D.C. - A Hero's Death Great follow up to their 2019 debut. If they keep this up they will be one of the best rock acts of their time. Side note, I was really hoping that the new Idles LP would be special. While it had its moments, it missed the mark. At least Fontaines filled the void.

9. Four Tet - Sixteen Oceans Four Tet took a step back from the more dance floor ready tracks on New Energy his 2017 release. Sixteen Oceans is a much more subdued affair which suited 2020 prefectly.

10. Sam Hunt - Southside I am not a big fan on country music. While Southside needs to be categorized as country it is really a pop record. There are 4 incredible pop tracks on this release. Hard to forget, Kinfolks, Young Ones and Body Like A Back Road. While the album as a whole has some shortcomings, these tracks make up for them and more.

11. Fleet Foxes - Shore This release came out of nowhere mid summer. Beautiful stuff.

12. Fuzz - III III is the 2nd best Fuzz LP. Best Original Fuzz, Fuzz III followed by Fuzz ll. Ty and team always bring it.

13: The Budos Band - Long in the Tooth Back to basic’s from the best brass band on earth. Long Live Budos

14. Against All Logic - 2017 - 2019 Nicolas Jaar continues to release amazing dance music under his AAL name.

15. Pop Smoke - Meet the Woo Vol. 2 R.I.P. Pop Smoke. Who knows what you where you would have gone if you were still here.

16. Matt Karmil - STS371 Solid Electronic/Techno/House start to finish.

17. Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Alfredo Gibbs recent output has been fantastic and Alfredo is no different. And a grammy nomination for best rap album. 2019′s Bandana LP with Madlib was a better release but it didn't get the grammy love.

18. Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure? Jessie Ware gets back to what she did best on her debut LP Devotion. Much better than her previous albums. Great pop tracks start to finish.

19. Yves Tumor - Heaven to a Tortured Mind “Gospel For A New Century” is hands down the best lead off track of any album released in 2020. That beat is just incredible. Only problem with starting off your album with the best track is it's hard to match for the rest of the album. While it is the best track off the album the rest is great with stand outs like Kerosene! & Super Stars.

20. Shabaka and the Ancestors - We Are Sent Here By History Jazz is alive and well.

21. 21 Savage & Metro Boomin - Savage Mode II Savage Mode II is banging. One of my favorite rap tracks of all time is Ocean Drive from the first Savage Mode. That track is damn near perfect. II is dope as well with the highlight being Runnin’

22. Woods - Strange To Explain Weekend Wind is one of my favorite songs of 2020. Its over 7 mins long and I wish it would keep going. So great.

23. Benny the Butcher - Burden of Proof Griselda is killing it. They are the best Rap collective at the moment.

24. Yaeji - What We Drew Waking up Down. So good.

25. Drakeo the Ruler - Thanks For Using GTL Rap LP recorded entirely over the phone for jail. And it's damn good.

#best albums of 2020

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jo-shanebali · 4 years ago

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We've been to Bali Too!

Day 1: Getting There

2/03/2020: Up at four thirty and dressed. With the last minute items added to suitcases, we woke the kids to give out farewell kisses, but were greeted with signs that being awoken had not impressed them. Mitch dropped us off at Williamtown well before six for our seven o'clock flight.

Once at check in we hit our first hurdle of the day. When answering questions Jo told them that her phone storage battery was in the checked luggage and was told to remove it. A frantic search of her luggage ensued, off to the side of the check in desk just like the Chinese and Indians that we have laughed at on previous occasions. Upon finally retrieving the rogue item, the charger was safely stored in her carry on and suitcases sent through check in. Shane had batteries in his check-in but said nothing.

Standing in line for coffee, one of Shane's colleagues tapped him on the shoulder. Pete was returning from Bali, just checked in for his flight to Dubbo. He told us it was unusually quiet for the time of year, surely as a result of Coronavirus and emphasised not to worry too much about getting around, the light blue taxis were the better ones but they were all okay. Just make sure that they have a meter on. Beers will cost only a few dollars, particularly in resorts and that if we did get ripped off, it would still be cheap, just not as cheap.

Newcastle Airport- Jo looking disheveled after the suitcase search

The flights were quite good, only an hour and a bit to Brisbane. This is where we ran into Ryan, our niece Ashley’s husband. He was on business with Boeing for a few days so we had a quick chat while waiting for the queue to move up the aisle. Then straight on the shuttle as our luggage was going directly to Bali and within no time we were going through security at the International Terminal, with three hours to kill. Some of this time was spent sorting out Jo's passport which was rejected at the immigration auto check. She had to queue and go through manually. First stop was duty free where we only intended to buy a litre each for Bali but nothing for home as when we travelled via Sydney, the duty free was only ten dollars cheaper than Dan's. Not worth it, but Brisbane had two litres of Absolut Vodka for fifty five dollars. We grabbed four bottles for home.

Loaded up and ready to go, and on the way to Gate 76A we passed Brisbane River Grille who were advertising two eggs on sourdough with a two for one deal. Stopping in there for a quick breakfast, two meals, a coffee and chai latte for about eighteen bucks, it was while we were finishing up that our flight was called for boarding. We effectively walked straight onto the plane without too much of a wait and straight to row twenty one. The seats were comfortable, leg room sufficient and the meal provided half decent. About five and a half hours later, at two o'clock local time, the plane touched down in Denpasar. It was well worth paying the extra few hundred bucks to fly with Virgin than with the alternative, the "worst airline" that we had ever flown with.

After ticking off drugs with the immigration card, just prescription meds, not a boogie bag full of whatever and disembarking at Denpasar, we were herded onto shuttle buses that took us to the terminal, successfully maneuvering through the drugs issue (after some explaining), and the temperature gauge picking up if we were crook. Upon exiting the terminal, drivers and their signs were everywhere looking for their clients. Our names finally appeared on cardboard and our driver Made, who pushed our luggage to a clear area and told us to stay put while he retrieved his van, reappeared from the confusion, invited us inside and with the luggage in the back and gave us a bottle of cold water and a cold hand towel each. It was much appreciated.

Welcome to Bali

Made drove like a madman, not unlike the Arab that drove us to the airport in Paris the previous year. Squeezing through gaps that never existed, creating extra lanes at traffic lights that also never existed and blowing the horn at anyone that got in his way. Scooters everywhere risking their lives while maniacs pushed them out the way. Not that they were too innocent themselves. We were soon to find out that this was normal.

Once at the resort boom gate that got us into the Belmond, Jimbaran Puri, the security guard ran the long stick with the mirror around the underside of the car and allowed us in. Thank goodness, we weren't suicide bombers and were rewarded as such with a cold drink each at reception. Orange juice, ginger and lychee plus another cold hand towel and a small flower arrangement for Jo. Then entouraged to our golf buggy, we were driven to our villa where decorations adorned the entry celebrating Shane's 60th birthday. Once inside we were treated to a small birthday cake, candles and a song, a resort shirt for Shane and not forgetting Jo's 58th birthday, a small ornamental turtle made from turtle shells for her. Our butler Ayu gave us a great start to our holiday.

Villa No.65. Traditional celebration ornaments

After our arrival and reception by our butler we cracked open a couple of beers by the pool followed by a dip which was really warm. The pool was around seven metres long by four metres wide. Apart from the area where we could get in, about a foot deep, the rest of the pool was five foot deep and rectangular in shape, but unlike our pool in Phuket, this one was definitely private. Anything was good in the humidity.

Greetings from Bali

The couple of drinks early on led to another one within happy hour. We then headed for a walk down the beach in the direction from where we had just come, the airport.

The first thing that struck us was the filth on the beach, the second was the smell as the locals though it was a good idea to burn the plastic. Bali is apparently just one of dozens of Indonesian islands that are not coping with marine and coastal litter landing on their beaches. Only two years ago some 1.2 million tonnes of ocean rubbish landed on local beaches. Over thirty percent were plastics. Bali's problem is with its locals who are responsible for eighty percent of the rubbish that washes up. Hotel workers and villagers dump their rubbish in the rivers and with the increased flows of the rainy season, off it goes, disappearing downstream. Out of sight out of mind. This has been going on for decades.

Jimbaran Bay

Kuta Beach in December (Jakarta Post)

Maybe a quarter of the way towards the airport we turned about and headed back, politely harassed by hawkers trying to get us into their restaurants, all amongst the debris. With our dinner in mind, and back at the resort, if we had chosen one of the hawkers’ restaurants we would have had the pleasure of the wafting fumes of the local fishermen's fires.

Safely back, we traded a voucher for our first cocktail, the vouchers given to us at reception. Seven meals, seven cocktails and a couple of massages each. Although mostly empty, the few available dinner tables on the sand were filling up. As it was, the beach had a reasonable drop off to the water so from where we sat the rubbish wasn’t visible. We could still smell it. We asked for a table and were duly obliged, on the sand. The waiter took our order and so on it went.

Sand seating at the Belmond

The rest of the evening was lovely, ordering the Balinese BBQ and entertained by what the barman described as a gay band. It was in fact a "guy band", four males singing requests (if they knew them). They were pretty good, their dulcet tones punctuated the moaning and screaming of the local mongrel dogs rooting on the beach in the background. Their back drop was a magnificent sunset. As the meals arrived we enjoyed them accompanied by the aroma of burning plastic piercing the air as we ate. In the end we paid the bill, retired back to our pool for an evening dip. The temperature was hot during the day but quite pleasant during the night.

The "gay band" entertaining everyone

With the first day behind us we hit the sack by ten thirty.

Day 2: A Walk Around the Town

3/03/2020: Being up at six thirty meant that we had plenty of time for a tea, a coffee and swim before breakfast, listening to Leonard Cohen on the Bose. We were only entitled to breakfast and lunch or dinner in our package so a late breakfast would negate the need for lunch. That's was the plan anyway.

By nine we were at breakfast, a buffet type deal with a separate menu for breakfast of the day, mostly egg dishes. We chose the eggs and grabbed other food from the buffet as well, crispy bacon, small snags, fruit, cereals etc. Teamed up with some flavoursome juices, if this was the norm then we were more than happy. After breakfast we checked out the main pool and Jimbaran Bay from the edge of the sand. It was then back to the pool where we lazed around until housekeeping interrupted us to clean the room. We told them to give us fifteen minutes and we'd get out of their way.

This was to be the norm, every morning

Deciding to walk along Jimbaran streets and back along the beach, we strolled along Jalan Yoga Perkanthi, the laneway to our resort until hitting what we thought may have been the main street. No sooner had we turned the corner that Roberto from Timor-Leste bailed us up. He was standing next to his scooter on the side of the road and started giving us a spiel about where he was from and the great opportunity he was going to give us. He gave us a couple of cards that were to be torn open and a prize won. Once opened he carried on and on about the great prize that was inside. Shane won a couple of t-shirts that he could pick up at the Karma Group offices around the corner. Joanne however had won majorly. There was a gold circle inside the card that had to be scratched. It would contain one of three prizes. Firstly seven days at a Karma Resort in Bali, secondly a GoPro camera or finally a couple of million Rupiah. He carried on as if excited, and if we came with him to the office, Jo would get the prize and he would get a hundred bucks commission. Karma are a group that manage time share resorts around the world and for a couple of grand buy in and five hundred or so bucks maintenance fee per year would allow us a week holiday somewhere. Not for us.

After Roberto finished waffling on, we said no and moved on. He couldn't believe that we knocked him back. He must have been pretty confident that he had us hooked but it wasn't the case. We were told before we left that if we rocked up to Karma's offices once in Bali and put up with a couple of hours of hard sell they would give us a week anyway so we knew exactly what Roberto was on about before he started.

The street was very busy with cars and scooters. The footpath was narrow with obstacles constantly in our way, pushing us onto the road. Small and large temples were everywhere and shops catering for locals scattered along. We walked a fair way before heading up a side street towards the beach. Jalan Segara Wangi was lined with a mixture of large houses, businesses and cramped corridors where it looked like the poorer people lived in humpies either side. A fair bit of vacant land as well. A common theme for all of our walk was the rubbish around that nobody cleans up. It reminded us of villages in Fiji, Vanuatu and Phuket. They all looked the same.

Jalan Uluwatu runs parallel to the beach

Accommodation of some of the poorer folk

Approaching the end of the street, larger beachfront sheds came into view. We were in the centre of the seafood restaurants and were blocked for a while from accessing the sand, eventually finding a way through and landed right next to the Aroma Resto Bar which we took advantage of with a couple of beers before deciding to return to Belmond for a couple more. After the first one, Jo was falling asleep in her chair so she ended up back at the room for an afternoon snooze. Shane followed not long after but being locked out spent half an hour in the pool.

Heading back for happy hour, one of the bar staff asked us if we wanted to book a table for dinner, we looked around, nobody to be seen. We questioned her as why it was necessary but she didn't understand. What she did say however was that the place was empty due to the Indonesian government banning incoming flights from China, most of their business and they were hurting*. Their loss was our gain, no obnoxious Chinese tourists to deal with. No table ended up being booked as no-one was around.

We found out later that all outside tables were booked out

Ending up being seated just inside in a pretty good spot, the afternoon was spent watching storms brewing but nothing seemed to be coming towards us. Then everyone outside started picking up their stuff and heading inside, no storm but strong winds bringing some rain. We experienced our second great meal in two nights which capped the day off perfectly.

Patrons enjoying the outdoors, unlike us. Then the rain hit

Dinner done, we headed back for a swim, patch sewing on our travel blanket and bed.

* The ban on China was due to a new virus, Novel Caronavirus or COVID19. It was spreading around the world with the Chinese city of Wuhan being the worst hit and thought to be ground zero. The whole city was locked down and field hospitals set up to cope with the thousands of sick and dying. China was declared a hot spot and by the end of March the world had a pandemic on its hands with most international travel banned.

Day 3: Lunchtime Massage and Afternoon Food Tour

4/03/2020: Up and off to breakfast before eight. Today we had a food tour booked so we would eat lunch with our voucher instead of dinner. It had been raining all night and it was our first wet, overcast day. Eggs Florentine was the focus today, eggs a bit runny for Jo. She had something else, then back to the pool.

Oranges today. Looked like a cross between an orange and a lime. Not sweet and not particularly juicy

It wasn't too long after we jumped into the pool that housekeeping again interrupted us to clean the room. We told them to come back later, to do our room at twelve when we had the first of our massages. Hopefully with a happy ending.

The massage parlour was quite exposed and to the south. Once introduced, the madame gave us forms to fill out regarding our health, their get out of gaol card and showed us samples of what kind of oil we wanted rubbed in. We were then shown to a small shower / toilet room where we stripped off, put on the gowns and paper undies. Resurfacing, the ladies that were to do the duties were then introduced. Shane had Tri who had to give him a strong massage, Jo couldn't remember who gave her a normal one. Once his back was cracked, she got stuck into it and he felt every bit of it. There's a fine line between pleasure and pain but there was no happy ending. Maybe second time around. Jo was very sunburnt as remarked by both ladies at the start and offered aloe vera. As promised, they returned after the massage with the gel from the aloe vera plant and rubbed it into her skin. Bonus!

Immediately after the massage was our lunch which we ranked on a par with the dinners. Seafood for both, large grilled prawns and fish of the day.

Massage Parlour

We again took it easy by our pool until it was time to head to reception for our 3pm meeting for the food tour. Jo suggested leaving a half an hour early and to check out the tours. We were particularly interested in Ubud as it came recommended by several people. There were several good places amongst the AsiaWorld fact sheets so we grabbed a few and told the travel dude that we would book a tour first thing the next morning. Our food tour was beginning.

Our guide was a lady called Sunarti. She was a chef. Originally from a small village in Java, she moved to Bali to live with an Aunt to finish high school and Uni in Denpasar, married and had 3 children including twin boys born in November just like ours. This was a connection between us that seemed to impress her.

We were approaching peak hour in Denpasar so the drive was arduous. The first stop was to a street stall where a Balinese favourite treat was sold. Created by a lady called Murniati Widjaja who entered and won a competition in 1982 to come up with a national drink for Indonesia. It was served in a bowl which was a concoction of ice chips, condensed milk and creamy coconut syrup with a variety of chunky fillings including avocado, jackfruit, jelly like cincau, and coconut flesh, called Es (Ice) teler. It was quite sweet and quite refreshing, very popular with the locals and tourists alike. Sunarti told us how local people would stop at a stall to enjoy a bowl on their way home from work.

Sunarti extolling the popularity of Es Teler

Back in the car and to a home style biscuit factory where a traditional favourite called pie susu was produced. A group of women working from an open shed producing 1000 packs a day, nine biscuits in a pack. We were taken out the back where it was evident that the women made the biscuits from scratch, one would knead the dough, another would break some off and put it in a hand press to make the tart like shell. A third woman would make the caramel type custard to fill the tart and then into a couple of ovens. Out the front of the shed was a group of women who would individually stack the biscuits and package them up. They were working pretty hard but were happy and pretty chatty. The day was cool with the rain but the chat stopped when the heat was on, according to our guide. These home factories are everywhere and each may add a personal touch to the recipe.

The local biscuit factory. About eight women make and package 9,000 a day

Next was a food produce market used by the locals. Wide variety of fruit, vegetables and chickens (not stored on ice). There were also several stores selling the little basket offerings that appeared all over the place. Apparently, they are put out in groups of five, three times a day by families (this occurs at the several shrines in our hotel too). Old ladies with baskets on their head who acted as porters, little kids pulling on Jo's shirt selling packs of tissues for five thousand Rupiah, Shane gave her seven thousand. Snake skin fruit, skinned bamboo root, jack fruit, dragon fruit and eggs covered in salt. So many unusual foods and people made for an unforgettable experience.

Old mate sold our guide this lovely bamboo shoot

The next stop was the night food market. We got there fairly early so there was plenty of room. Sunarti took us around and explained all of the stalls before we chose what we wanted. All bar one was Muslim and they were shut. No pork tonight. We both chose the same, a spicy omelette pancake filled with bits of vegetables and minced meat called Martabak Ayam followed by Bakso Ayam, a dense chicken meatball in a clearish broth with rice vermicelli, some green stuff and some other stuff. Once Sunarti had our order we took a seat at the Bakso Super Purwoharjo tables while she ordered our meals. The food was different and very tasty. We were not disappointed that’s for sure.

I tasted much better than it looked

After dinner, and having been dropped off back to the Belmond at a decent hour, we managed to grab our free cocktail and be entertained by a group of performers and gamelan orchestra dancing several traditional dances including the Balinese Legong dance as well as the Cendrawasih, Baris and more. It was excellent bar the couple that thought it fine to let their toddler walk amongst the orchestra and dancers, touching all the instruments while they recorded him.

Balinese traditional dancers

That was it, day over. Tomorrow, an easy one with a trip to bogan heaven, Kuta Beach.

Day 4: A Half Day in Kuta

5/03/2020: Up at six thirty for a swim this morning, we could hear the rain all night and it had just stopped as Shane hit the water. Everything was wet, including the towels. Lesson learnt. Jo had other priorities with a sick Sophia at home but after a while and a phone call or two, she managed to jump in the pool as well.

We decided to take it easy today but punctuate it with a few hours in Kuta, shopping and checking out the beach so we headed for reception and asked them to organise a car. The concierge said a hundred and fifty thousand for one way. We settled on four hundred and fifty thousand for a half day, jumped in with a local called Markay and were well on our way before eleven. The conversation quickly turned to shopping with Markay suggesting a stop at a store called Krisna to which we agreed. This was a massive store full of all sorts of gear from clothing and homewares to knick knacks. After a quick stop and a few souvenirs we continued on.

Our next stop was within the Jalan Kuta Art Market and the nearby Matahari Centre. The stall holders were immediately onto us, trying to sell us their fake products. Jo went straight for them, looking for cheap Mimco and other purses and bags, as well as shoes. Shane a few shirts and some boardies. An order from Soph had Jo looking for a pair of Converse sneakers. She found some but the seller wanted the cost of a fair dinkum pair back home. Jo offered him 300,000 rupiah but he refused. After walking away, the guy chased her down the road to make the deal. He then had the audacity to ask her for a tip for his efforts.

The Matahari Centre was similar to the Krisna Centre with not much to interest us. Neither was anywhere as interesting as the walk to get there. Viagra, prostitutes, all on offer and strangely enough targeting Shane. He walked to and fro several times and each time they made the offer. They must have thought he was weakening.

Next was a walk to the end of the markets and onto the sand where we were hassled about surfing lessons. As if. Legion Beach was clean from the top down to the water where all of the people were but north to Seminyak and south to Kuta was covered with debris and rubbish. At least a couple of loaders were cleaning it up.

Rubbish on the beach up to Seminyak

We'd just about had enough but a stroll back to where we were dropped off led us to the shops again. Shane bought a shirt in a shop (took a while to find one big enough), he also bought a floppy hat and small bag for tomorrow's golf. Jo bought more bags or such.

Bartering over some purses

Upon reconnecting with Markay, within no time we were back at the resort doing the usual. Lazing in the pool and heading over for a cocktail before dinner.

Early one tonight, Ubud tomorrow and looking forward to it.

Day 5: Ubud

6/03/2020: Around eight o’clock we headed over to reception to meet up with our guide from AsiaWorld, Katut. Once underway he explained that the fourth child is named Katut and then it recycles so the eighth child was Katut. We're sure he said he was the seventh so we couldn’t work it out.

Heading out into leaden skies with light showers, we were continually passed by scooter riders with all their wet weather gear on. The labourers in the back trays of the trucks done the best they could. Small tarpaulins over their heads or just got wet. The brochure listed a set programme for what we paid for but our guide suggested other stuff which we were happy with. So we deviated slightly from the original plan.

Our first stop was a batik shop in a nearby regency, Gianyar. Batubulan to be exact. This required that we travelled over a toll bridge to get there. The Nusa Dua-Ngurah Rai-Benoa Toll Road or Bali Mandara Toll Bridge crossed what seemed a very shallow Gulf of Benoa. As we travelled, Katut explained to us that the area we were heading to were batik producers. The “factories” were run by local villagers, the money made going toward helping run the village as well as income for the workers. This theme repeated throughout Bali with the silver and pottery industries etc.

Local labourers trying to stay dry

Katut suggested that we drop into Sari Amerta Batik Collection for a look around. Out the back were several women using looms to weave fabric. We were shown the different finishes and how they achieved them. The two weavers were creating a patterned silk fabric where the pattern is set out and the fibre dyed accordingly. They then had to strictly adhere to the pattern so as the final product was as desired. The other women were creating batik fabric for whatever, clothes, home furnishings and such. Creating patterns and images on fabrics, for the shop maybe? Maybe not.

Inside the shop was quite impressive and no photos allowed. There were rows and rows of garments and silk scarves, from batik shirts and tops in all sizes to tourist type batik wax stamps. Very interesting. We were quite entertained by the skill of the women out back and left the store with a couple of hundred dollars of goodies.

A batik woman

A woman of the loom

Next stop was a short drive north to a traditional Balinese house with family temple in Singapadu. We turned right into a lane off Jalan Raya Singapadu, a couple of doors from Bigpig Supply HQ. This was great. A substantial property of about a quarter acre of which half was the living quarters and gardens of the family and half the family temple.

The sign on the front entry gave the house number, family name and the number of males, females and children living there

As we entered through a stone portal, the entrance led past the community kitchen and onto a path which linked the individual pavilions of the family members. We all live under the same roof but these people didn't. All rooms were individual and bare. The bedrooms were just that, a bed. To protect them from the inclement weather they relied upon wide roof overhangs and drop down cane roller blinds. Next to, and to the rear of the kitchen was the bathroom. It backed onto the laneway, next to the entrance. In front of the bathroom was a building that contained their grain and whatever else they needed. To the rear were the living quarters.

It was explained that this was a patriarchal society. Women would move into the husband’s family compound and become part of that family. In the event of divorce or separation, the woman would leave and return to her family, leaving behind any children as they are “his” property.

Entrance to the traditional Balinese house

The temple area was exceptional. Delineated by a high stone fence from the residence, the pamerajan at the north eastern corner was strewn with family and other shrines. Apparently, shrines are dedicated to family ancestors as well as the Hindu Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Their shrine, the sanggah kemulan takes the form of a miniature wooded structure raised on pillars and containing three compartments, one each. All mounted on a masonry column.

Sounds about it

Only a kilometre and a half down the road was the metalsmithing village of Celuk and the next stop. The Prapen Jewellery Store selling silver jewellery. The store was named after the Indonesian name for forge, perapian or the workshop of a metalsmith and started four generations ago to sell their jewellery directly to the cruise ships that docked nearby. Skilled metalsmiths with limited finances are provided with tools and designs and given work. As with the batik place we were shown around a small workshop with an example of this work prior to going into the store. This gave us a feel about the skill involved in making pieces with such intricate detail.

Four different processes were used to create the jewellery, Carving where a piece of metal is pressed onto a base of black pitch with patterns created by chiselling, Openwork where a pattern is placed on a piece of sheet metal and pierced onto a base of black pitch, Granulation where hundreds of tiny metal granules are soldered onto a base and Metal Weaving, the process of creating bracelets made of woven strands of silver wire.

Which process is going on here?

After our workshop experience we were directed into the showroom and escorted every step of the way. No pictures in here. The display was intriguing but not too much different than any other jewellers. Jo bought a small bead for her Pandora bracelet, we rested at the carp pool and we moved on.

The serenity of the carp pool

By eleven we were in the village of Batuan and entering its nearly one thousand year old temple, Pura Desa and Pura Puseh Batuan. We parked across the road behind a large open pergola type building where traditional Gambuh dance performances took place (but not today) and we would borrow a sarong for respect whilst inside. It was then like we were in a game of Frogger trying to cross Jalan Raya Batuan.

The temple, as testified by inscriptions at the front gate, was over a thousand years old going by the Balinese Saka calendar, based on lunar cycles. It was constructed in 944 isaka but still approaching one thousand years old by our Gregorian calendar. It was also a Tri Kahyangan member, a three temple concept preached by Mpu Kuturan to the Balinese Hindu community around the 10th century. The concept goes like this. The Pura Desa or Village Temple is a place to worship God Brahma the Creator, Pura Puseh to worship God Vishnu the preserver and the Pura Dalem to worship Lord Shiva the Destroyer.

Once inside the temple was typical Balinese comprising of three areas, Nista Mandala or outside area, Madya Mandala the middle area and Utama Mandala or main temple area. From the central courtyard we faced the Kori Agung containing a closed doorway meaning explicitly for the gods. As with the entrance, two rather large characters stood either side of the door. Don't know whether they were welcoming or not. Below them were a pair of not so friendly looking Dwarapala, on one knee with mace in hand. There were also dragons at the base of the stairs. To the right was a Bale Kulkul where drummers played Kentongans to summon and entertain the locals to the temple.

As we moved further towards the back we encountered similar buildings and statues that more than likely had a different significance. At the back of the temple was another building that held bits and pieces that had come from the temple over time. Probably from the maintenance and rebuilding over the centuries. Villagers were responsible for the upkeep of the temple. The “priest” for the temple is an elder from the village who can have a family and normal life.

All in all, an interesting experience, well explained by Katut.

Kori Agung is the main shrine within Utama Mandala, the temple's holiest courtyard

Following the temple we were asked if we would like to visit an art gallery which we did. Turning right a couple of blocks away and up a tight lane led us to the front door of Dewa Putu Toris Gallery. As with the jewellers earlier, we were escorted all the way and denied photos. As we worked our way through the gallery, the paintings were either ordinary at best or far too large. As a consequence we completed one lap and back to the car. The monkeys were next.

At a quarter past midday after a short trip north we arrived at Mandala Suci Wenara Wana, the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. Here amongst over twelve hectares of forest and temples were over one thousand Balinese long tailed monkeys, or macaques to be exact. They were divided into seven groups geographically divided comprising of the Central group, the largest with over two hundred monkeys as well as the Temple, Selatan, Cemetery, Michelin, East and New Forest groups. The New Forest group was the smallest with just over a hundred monkeys.

Once inside Katut warned us about trusting the little buggers. They’ll steal hats and sunglasses if you’re not careful and have no food or water bottles on display. Don't look them in the eye, feed them or try to touch them as they may become aggressive. Just mind your own business and give them a wide birth. We did this and apart from some curiosity, they were so used to humans that they ignored onlookers and went about their business, playing around, eating and preening each other. This area was not an enclosure and monkeys were free to roam the village. They have been known to enter homes and steel food.

Moving through the different areas was like an obstacle course as not only did they not pay any attention to people moving about, they sat about on walls and the middle of pathways, making the humans move around them. We took our time wandering about before returning to the entrance for our next stop, tucker.

Keeping the young ones at a distance from the public

This one stole the water from a woman and quickly took the lid off

Not far from the monkey forest was a quick stop off at the markets before lunch. The Erlangga Organic Resto was next and served us fine food with a fine view. We were driven around to a rear car park, then escorted to an outdoor covered dining area adjacent to rice paddies at various stages of growth. Katut pointed out that a paddy to the side was ready for harvesting as it was starting to yellow whereas the paddy next to us, although the same height was not. It was still green but not far behind. All paddies were linked by manmade water channels fed by the nearby stream.

The channels were blocked so as the water was directed to the correct paddy

It was mid afternoon and the day was drawing to a close. Earlier on Katut asked us if we wanted to visit a coffee place on the return trip. We agreed and ended up at the Satria Coffee Plantation where amongst other offerings, served Kopi luwak or Balicatpoochino. When we arrived we were greeted by a young woman called Devi and escorted on a path through their property being shown different herbs, spices and such as we went. We then entered a work area where an old lady was cooking up some coffee beans at the back. Trays of different beans and ingredients were in bowls to the side and Devi demonstrated the crushing of the beans into powder as we looked around. After exiting we passed a couple of cages with civets sleeping on an elevated platform. We were then shown to an outdoor seating area where we waited for our tea and coffee samples to be served.

Trays and bowls of ingredients. Old lady roasting some up down the back

Asian palm civets were said to be, along with bats, the cause of the SARS caronavirus nearly twenty years ago. Over eight thousand people contracted the contagion, killing 774. SARS started in China just as the current caronavirus did through close contact or eating exotic animals. Many civets are captured and kept in cages, fed only coffee cherries to maximise their output of digested seed. Devi made a point of saying Satria only kept their civets for a few days and released them. Who knows where they got them from.

The civets eat the coffee cherries and only partially digest them, fermenting them on the way through. People sift through their scat to retrieve the cherries and produce the so called "ultimate bling coffee"

We had no sooner settled in at the outdoor area when the tea and coffee samples were put in front of us. Some were nice, some not so much and some were awful. The samples included ginseng, coconut, vanilla and avocado coffee as well as saffron, lemon grass, rice and rosella tea.

One of the awful ones. Ginger tea

Yum! Balicatpoochino

That was it. No sooner had we finished our experience that we were back in the car, being chauffered back to our resort and prepare for happy hour and dinner.

Early one tomorrow so early to bed.

Day 6: Golf and Lobster

7/03/2020: Today was an early one, Stu put the pickup time forward to quarter past six and was knocking on the door before six. He didn't have a cab so we needed to find one somewhere at this ungodly hour. There was no-one at the Belmond so they walked back to the Fox Hotel and asked reception to order one in. A taxi quickly arrived and after being reminded by Stu to turn his meter on and being shown on his phone how to get there, we had soon arrived with not much time to spare.

Having had security do the mirror under the car trick again, we pulled up out the front and were greeted by some of the caddies. Pleasantries exchanged and the handing over of 2.3 million Rupiah each, we met our caddies who promptly took us to the driving range for a thirty or forty ball warmup. Things weren't looking good if the warmup was any indication.

Caddies waiting for the warmup to finish

The course was magnificent but quite empty. The description of the course could be done no better than their web page itself. It read.

"The tee box on Hole # 1, sets the tempo for the front nine, with beautifully mature trees set in parkland terrain, against a backdrop of spectacular ocean views. Upon reaching the green on hole # 4, a spectacular view can interrupt one’s putting, all the way to the majestic Gunung Agung! The high point is reached at Hole # 7 tee box, where the ocean view may hinder the shots required to conquer one of Indonesia’s longest holes, a par 5 of some 620 yards! Then, it’s onwards to Hole # 8, where your tee shot must traverse a “jungle” ravine to the winding fairway spread out beyond. And last but not least, while Hole # 9 club selection is critical on this tricky par 3 with its elevated peninsula green surrounded by water and greenside bunkers.

Having completed the “first stanza”, it’s on to beautifully rolling coconut groves, with strategically located lakes on holes # 11 and 12 to test the nerve and skill of all golfers. A plethora of well placed bunkers are to be navigated on the par 5, hole # 13 before landing on the nestled down green. Following the playing of two gentle par 4’s, holes # 14 & 15, one must be ready for the strong finishing holes, commencing with Hole # 16, a par 5 carved from amongst high dunes, with the prevailing wind almost all ways in your face! Then, we cross the road to a game breaker, the par 3, 17th hole, where playing for the first time, golfers may well ask, “where’s the fairway”! Yes, your tee shot needs to be somewhat precise, as tee boxes and the green are the only dry piece of land on the hole!

Hole # 18 a 400 yard dogleg left, draped by a lake all the way down the left side of the fairway, brings you to the 18th green directly in front of the clubhouse terrace, where many golfers will be watching your par puts! "

Off we go. Shane's caddy Daihu and Stu's on the back. He didn't ask her name

Apart from the blistering sun and draining humidity which called for plenty of water (and a few beers), we were going through balls like steam. Stu said not to worry as people around the course come out of the vegetation and sell the ones they've found in the scrub. Which they did. The vegetation was so lush that if a ball missed the fairway or rough, they were pretty well gone. Not that our caddies would give up easily. They spent plenty of time in there looking. Not only did the girls look for our balls, they also carried club options to the ball, suggested which club to use and where to aim. They also carried a sand bucket all the time to repair our divots, of which there were plenty. When on the green they would mark our balls, pick them up and give them a polish, replace them and recommend where to hit the ball and how hard. Golfing dumbed down but quite good.

After Shane breaking 130 and Stu twenty shots better, it was all over. Particularly after Shane tried to line up a date with his caddy and Thomas. She was thirty four with no husband or kids and Thomas could use a woman. Didn't happen though as she went shy on him.

A long birdie putt for Stu on the green of the one hundred and thirty yard nineth

Stuart was keen on lobster and usually stayed at Legian when in Bali so after a cab back to our rooms, we gave ourselves a half an hour to meet up again and head for a feed. Stu's girlfriend, Ilene from the Philippines was over as well. A bit over an hour after we returned from golf we were headed out again.

One of the local haunts for a good feed was actually called "The Lokal" in Legian. Stu swore by it as it was owned by an Aussie. Bacon and egg rolls on the breakfast menu. We had lobster mornay, chips and salad all round. Pretty good. One hundred bucks a couple with a few coldies.

Lobster at the Lokal

After lunch we walked to Legian Beach and back towards Kuta along the sand until we hit a shopping centre that Stu was after Ilene was keen for, and the Candylicious shop to stock up on lollies for her daughter back home. Jo bought draught beer flavoured jelly beans as well as champagne flavour and pancakes and maple syrup flavour. We then headed to a café called The Kitchenette where e ordered fruit juice and tea. Stu ordered water but the server forgot. It took ages to get his attention, the same when we wanted our bill.

The day's humidity had taken its toll. Storms were brewing and by the time the rain hit we were in a Bluebird taxi, giving him instructions that the meter was to be on and we wanted to be taken to the three or four factory outlets while he waited with meter running. He couldn’t do it as he had an appointment a short time after. We all piled out into the rain and jumped into another Bluebird taxi that had pulled up behind us. This driver was happy to meet our request of being the driver for our shopping expedition for surf brand bargains. By now it was flogging down. The roads were flooding but traffic was still chaotic. All in all, shopping lasted for a couple of hours and when we were dropped back at our hotels, the fare was under seven dollars. It was arranged for Stu and Ailene to get their swimmers and come back to our villa for a few drinks and a swim. Two drinks were had in the room and then we decided to head to the restaurant to have our free cocktails and some dinner. Shane was feeling ill again and didn’t want to eat so we decided that Stu and Ailene could use our meal voucher for a seafood dinner for two and Stuart pay for a main and dessert for Jo. Apparently, the seafood feast didn’t live up to Stuart’s expectations.

Following a big day we were all so knackered that we agreed to postpone the swim until lunchtime tomorrow. Early one to bed.

Day 7: Stu and Ailene

8/03/2020: Starting the last full day in Bali rather lazily, with the usual enjoyable breakfast, was in due partly to yesterday taking its toll. Jo as usual was on Facebook, contacting people at home and getting the "goss", Shane reading the New York Times. Although Bali was Caronavirus nervous, with only a handful of cases if you could believe the government (prayer will keep everyone safe sort of thing), the contagion was beginning to tear through other parts of the world with the instigators China at eighty thousand cases, Italy approaching ten thousand cases and Spain and France just revving up, Australia had well under one hundred cases. That didn't stop the numb skulls at home from panic buying, unnecessarily emptying the shelves of staples. For some strange reason they considered that wiping their backsides was as important as eating, clearing the shelves of toilet paper. Shane would do his bit though, saving the family from afar.

No toilet paper? New York Times to the rescue.

Yesterday was exhausting, we were golfed out, shopped out and rained out. After breakfast and a few coffees we hit the pool. Stu and Ailene were due soon and the fridge was stocked. We had ordered ten Bintangs and a bottle of wine for the day before but hadn't used them. Their mid morning arrival and a stocked mini bar meant that a few hours of less than salubrious but quality pool time befell us.

The villa oasis

As you'd expect, the Bali sunshine and parched throats meant that the beer and wine didn't last long. Within a few hours we would be heading back to the nearby Fox apartments where Stu and Ailene were staying. Straight up to the rooftop where we could sit under cover by the pool and relax a bit more. If that was possible. The intent was to have a swim but it didn't eventuate. The views were great on both sides. A distant airport and bay to the west and the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue on the hillside to the east. A football match provided some short lived entertainment below.

Infinity pool

Kick off at lapangan Yoga Perkanthi

As it was our last full day in Bali, it was also Stu and Ailene's last day, flying out late in the night. She flew out to Manilla at eleven and he back to Darwin at one. No curfews here. They had booked for an extra night to make use of the room and facilities until time to head to the airport. In the interim we would eat a late lunch/early dinner at a ribs restaurant that Stuart loved called Naughty Nuri's Warung and Grill. It turned out a bit of a disappointment though as since it was franchised and the taxi driver dropped us off to the nearest one, it wasn't his usual haunt and the quality was below par. Still a good night though.

Ribs at Naughty Nuri's Warung and Grill

After dinner we taxied back to Fox, said our good byes and walked back to the villa, via a few drinks at the bar. We finished off taking it easy and starting to pack.

Contemplation and packing to end the day

Tomorrow we will take in the GWK Park to kill time before our flight home.

Day 8: Heading Home

9/03/2020: Shane was up late due to being up all night with splats. Asia doesn't agree with him. Jo was up early for a swim and more packing, a ten o'clock massage and breakfast alone. She also took Shane's second massage as he bailed out due to fear of embarrassment. Our luggage was to be picked up at ten to twelve as we thought that we were to check out at twelve. Last night we got our check out letter and ancillaries bill. It said we checked out at one, gaining us an extra hour so Jo rearranged our bag collection and rescheduled our driver.

When Jo arrived after eleven from both massages, plus a 20 min facial thrown in for free, Shane got-up and started packing. Before long it was in the pool for the last time, shower and get the bags ready for collection. The porter turned up early and we sent him away until later. Just before one we called him to have a second go before walking to reception followed by our porter, bags and side kick all by golf cart. By the time we had paid our thousand bucks in extras it was quarter past one and time to reunite with Markay from a few days before.

One last garden ornament

Jo had talked him down from six hundred to four fifty rupiah to take us around to a site or two before dropping us of at Ngurah Rai Airport about five. This would give us plenty of time to get our plane home. First, and as it turned out, last stop was the cultural park a few kilometres away. The Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park was opened by President Joko Widodo only eighteen months earlier.

Markay was very helpful, parked at the bottom and jumped on the shuttle with us to make sure we bought the right tickets to get to the top. This cost Rp125,000 each but before we left the ticket booth he suggested we get the Rp30,000 golf buggy to the top and walk back down, which we did. With this he told us he would meet us down at the carpark when we were finished.

Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue

Rising above Bali's Bukit Peninsula, the statue depicts the Hindu god, Lord Wisnu, the protector of the universe. He is riding the mythical eagle and national emblem, Garuda who represents loyalty and selfless devotion. Kencana represents the crown of gold mosaic

The tower had only two floors available to the public, the ninth floor where we were given the story of the myth and the twenty third floor where we could get to a reasonable view from a few large portholes in the eagle's back or at Wisnu's shoulders. There were small glass floors showing the steel work below and information boards on the wall all explaining the construction's technique. There was not much to photograph, further suggesting that the restrictions on cameras were a rort.

After elevating back to ground floor and collecting our stuff we were soon back out the front of the tower and heading back down the hill. The park was constructed within an old limestone quarry with large and tall swathes of limestone left amongst the voids where it was taken. These voids became the access roads, some leading to other temples and displays. Just down from the tower and to the right was a replica of Garuda overlooking Lotus Park. It was quite large and clearly showed the finished product and technique of attaching the triangular copper sections to the frame, fusion welded and patina. To the side of this was a large representation of Wisnu, overlooking his plaza.

Wisnu Plaza. A sarong had to be put on when entering this site.

It was all downhill from there. To the shuttle bus and car park that is. It was not long after four but we had had enough and told our drive to take us to the airport where we settled in with a couple of cups of tea until our check in opened. At Bali the large suit cases were scanned before check in, not after, so we had to time it right.

We passed this guy numerous times on our journeys. I Gusti Ngurah Rai, the national war hero who led the Balinese armed forces following the Indonesian Declaration of Independence due to the subjugation by the Dutch. He and all of his troops were killed in battle after he ordered a paputan (fight to the death) during the Battle of Margarana

Joining the queue, we thought that there was an unusually large number of old people, explained once Jo noticed the Viking Cruises tags on their bags. It seems that the Viking Princess had been denied docking somewhere in Java due to caronavirus and had sailed to Bali who also denied them docking. After sitting off the coast for a while, Bali sent health specialists out to test them all and they all tested negative. They were then tendered into shore and the ones that had had a gut full were flying to Brisbane and then home. The ship then headed to Colombo, probably almost empty.

Once on the plane we got a pleasant surprise: We had jagged the emergency exit seats with plenty of leg room. Yippee!! Down side was in the event of an emergency landing it was our responsibility to open the emergency hatch which was above the wing and assist people to evacuate. The rest of the flight was a doddle.

We were twenty five minutes late for take off thanks to all the passengers from the cruise and their 3 check in suitcases each. If it wasn’t for them the plane would have been half empty and left on time. The pilot made good time though as we landed in Brisbane ten minutes early. Not being too sure what the procedure would be on landing in Brisbane with changing from international to domestic flight, we had declared our timber/shell items and were directed to a customs officer to ask what we had. Lollies, biscuits and instruments made from coconut shells was our answer. Okay, thanks for declaring now keep on moving. Gee he didn't even look at our gear. Anyway, once out of the secure area we had to head to the Virgin Domestic transfer desk. Our luggage was reweighed and sent through to loading. We got straight on a shuttle bus and straight to the domestic terminal, giving us two hours before our flight to Newcastle was to leave. So much for thinking time would be tight.

In transit for the final time

Jo was excited to be having the window seat on last leg but was soon to discover it was a windowless seat. For some reason it was a wall. Again, the flight was easy and in no time we were touching down at Newcastle airport. She had arranged for Eve to pick us up with the plan to park nearby and wait for a phone call once we had collected our luggage to save on parking fees. While waiting near the luggage carousel Jo noticed Eve and our almost year old grandson Mason standing waiting for us. She flew over and tried to get Mason to walk as he had just done for the first time a few days earlier. He wasn’t going to oblige so he got scooped up and smothered in kisses. Oops, sorry Eve, hello sweetheart and a kiss for her too.

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fifiweihao-blog · 5 years ago

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That Was the Year That Was – 2006

whale swimming in the River Thames

On 20th January 2006, people in London thought they were hallucinating when they could’ve sworn they’d seen a whale swimming in the River Thames. Their hallucinations were confirmed to be, in fact, reality when TV cameras captured a juvenile female Northern bottlenose whale who was five metres long and weighed about seven tonnes. Her normal habitat would have been near the coasts of the far north of Scotland and Northern Ireland, and in the seas around the Arctic Ocean but she appeared to have lost her way. Rescue teams attempted to get the whale (affectionately named Diana) back into the Atlantic but she later died from convulsions as she was being rescued at around 19:00 GMT on 21 January.

Saddam Hussein, was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging

On 5 November 2006 Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging. On 30 December 2006, the first day of Eid-ul-Adha, Saddam was hanged. Mobile phones captured the execution and the video was leaked to the media and posted on the Internet within hours, becoming the subject controversy across the globe. Prior to his execution he was captured by Americans in 2003 after they invaded Iraq. During this period Saddam was held in a Baghdad detention facility and was interrogated by FBI agent George Piro. In 2004 he was charged with crimes committed against residents of Dujail in 1982, following a failed assassination attempt on his life. This included the murder of 148 people, torture of women and children and the illegal arrest of 399 others. Following the execution, Saddam’s body was buried in his birthplace of Al-Awja in Tikrit, Iraq on 31 December 2006.

world’s first partial face transplant on a living human

While the world’s first partial face transplant on a living human happened on 27 November 2005, the patient, Isabelle Dinoire, appeared in public in early 2006 for a media conference with her new face. She underwent surgery to replace her nose, mouth and chin, which had been mauled by her dog. The operation on Isabelle’s face was carried out by Professor Bernard Devauchelle, assisted by Professor Jean-Michel Dubernard at the Centre hospitalier Universitaire Nord in Amiens, France. The surgery requires the patient to take the drugs for the rest of her life so that her body doesn’t reject her new face. Isabelle later bought another dog to help in her recovery after the surgery.

another year of hurt for England

It was another year of hurt for England (and it still is in 2016) when Italy came, saw and conquered the 2006 FIFA World Cup. England’s shot at the World Cup ended in quarter-finals when they lost on penalties (what a surprise) to Portugal after a goalless match. Italy won the tournament on 9th July 2006 after they defeated France 5–3 in a penalty shootout when extra time had finished in a 1–1 draw. Germany defeated Portugal 3–1 to finish in third place. It was also Italy’s first world title in 24 years, and their fourth world title overall. This made them the second most successful World Cup team ever.

Google, bought video streaming site, YouTube

In October 2006 tech giant, Google, bought video streaming site, YouTube, in 2006 for $1.65 billion. The price tag would’ve seemed massive at the time – especially as YouTube only started up in 2005 but YouTube continued to grow year after year. At that time it was Google’s second largest buy. YouTube now has 1 billion unique users using the service every month. Starting from 2010 Alexa (a commercial web traffic data and analytics service) ranked YouTube as the third most visited website on the Internet after Google and Facebook – this still continues today.

Suffolk Strangler Steve Wright: A real Jekyll and Hyde

Sick Steve Wright carried out the “fastest serial killing spree in British history” when he murdered five prostitutes in just 10 days.

The forklift truck driver strangled his victims before stripping and dumping their bodies in rural spots near Ipswich in 2006.

Wright was jailed for life in 2008 for the murders of Tania Nicol, 19, Gemma Adams, 24, Anneli Alderton, 24, Annette Nicholls, 29 and Paula Clennell, 24.

To his fellow golfers at Seckford golf club near Ipswich, he was “the most boring bloke in the world”, but Steve Wright had for years hidden a secret life of domestic violence, cross-dressing, petty theft, failed suicide bids and an obsession with prostitutes.

He had even tried to strangle an ex-wife on several occasions during a turbulent relationship 20 years before he went on to murder five women in the space of six weeks.

2006 UK Timeline

January

1 January – BBC One airs The Queen by Rolf, a documentary following artist Rolf Harris as he paints a portrait of the Queen.

3 January – Channel 4 quiz show Countdown celebrates its 4000th edition.

6 January – ITV debuts Soapstar Superstar, a singing talent contest in which soap actors compete to become series champion.

7 January – Charles Kennedy, resigns as leader of the Liberal Democrats, admitting that he has a drinking problem.

14 January – Coronation Street actor Richard Fleeshman wins the first series of ITV’s Soapstar Superstar.

15 January – The BBC announces details of Just the Two of Us, a singing contest following the Strictly Come Dancing format that will air in February and March. Vernon Kay and Tess Daly will present the series which will pair celebrities with professional singers, who will then compete to become series champion.

Debut of ITV’s Dancing on Ice.

20 January – River Thames whale: a whale is discovered swimming in the River Thames in London.

24 January – Sven-Göran Eriksson announces that he will quit as manager of the England national football team after this summer’s World Cup in Germany. Eriksson, 57, has been in charge of the England team for five years and, as a Swede, is the first non-English manager of the England team.

27 January – Chantelle Houghton, a model from Essex wins the fourth series of Celebrity Big Brother after entering the series as a "fake" celebrity. In order to remain as a contestant she was required to convince the other participants that she was a famous singer.

February

3 February – Islamist demonstration outside Danish Embassy in London in response to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.

8 February – Channel 4 confirms that its pay-per-view movie channel FilmFour will go Free-to-air from July, when it will launch on Freeview.

9 February – Dunfermline and West Fife by-election: Willie Rennie of the Liberal Democrats wins the seat from Labour.

The Government announces that the Child Support Agency is to be abolished.

10–26 February – Great Britain competes at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and wins one silver medal (Shelley Rudman for women’s skeleton).

14 February – Coronation Street bosses defend their decision to film a storyline involving a car breaking down on Saddleworth Moor, scene of the 1960s Moors murders, saying the plot has nothing to do with the events that occurred there.

15 February – BBC One debuts Davina, a chat show presented by Davina McCall. Guests on the first edition include Charlotte Church, Tess Daly and Vernon Kay. The show proves to be a disaster, with The Guardian’s Gareth Maclean noting that McCall "found herself floundering and foundering, struggling through the interviews, and exposing herself in a way from which even the hardiest flasher would recoil", while Jonathan Ross blames a poor guest line up. The 8 March edition gives BBC One its worst ever peak time ratings of 2.75 million. By the time the show ends on 12 April ratings have fallen to below 2.5 million. It is axed shortly afterwards.

16 February – the BRIT Awards take place.

18 February – The Rolling Stones give a free concert to two million people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

19 February – the BAFTA awards take place in London.

22 February – The one billionth song is downloaded on iTunes; the song is "Speed of Sound" by Coldplay.

22 February – Securitas depot robbery: around £53 million (US$92 million) is stolen from a Securitas depot at Tonbridge, Kent, in the largest cash robbery in British crime history.

The Prince of Wales’s court case continues in the High Court against The Mail on Sunday as he tries to prevent the publication of his journals. Various revelations have been made such as that he considers himself to be a dissident, and his opinion of government officials in People’s Republic of China whom he described as "appalling old waxworks".

23 February – Just the Two of Us debuts on BBC One.

27 February – writers Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh sue Random House in the High Court of Justice claiming that the best selling novel The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown contains ideas stolen from their 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.

28 February – L!VE TV is moved to the adult section of Sky’s EPG, and is rebranded as "Babeworld" two days later. This is because the channel has moved to broadcasting an increasingly adult themed content.

March

1 March – the Senedd, debating chamber of the National Assembly for Wales on Cardiff Bay, designed by Richard Rogers is opened by the Queen.

2 March – Sir Menzies Campbell is elected leader of the Liberal Democrats following an election caused by the resignation of previous leader, Charles Kennedy.

Four people are injured in an explosion in a GlaxoSmithKline factory in Irvine, North Ayrshire.

3 March – Disgraced glam rock singer Gary Glitter is convicted of sexually abusing two young girls at his villa in Vietnam and is sentenced to three years in jail.

4 March – Actress Gaynor Faye and professional skating partner Daniel Whiston win the first series of Dancing on ice.

5 March – Siân Reeves and Russell Watson win the first series of Just the Two of Us.

7 March – the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, makes a state visit to the UK.

10 March – David Gilmour begins his first world tour since Pink Floyd’s 1994 world tour, in support of his On an Island album.

11 March – James Blunt, with his single "You’re Beautiful", becomes the first British artist to top the US Billboard Hot 100 chart since Elton John with "Candle In The Wind 1997".

11 March – ITV launches a CITV channel, which broadcasts during the downtime hours of ITV4, replacing the ITV News Channel.

13 March – six men taking part in a clinical trial for a new anti-inflammatory drug TGN1412 are placed in intensive care, some in a life-threatening condition, after suffering adverse side-effects.

18 March – Christopher Napier, performing as George Formby wins the fourth and final junior series of Stars in Their Eyes. The programme continues with a number of special editions during 2006, before a final celebrity special on 23 December.

19 March – the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall begin a two-week foreign tour to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India.

20 March – the British Press Awards are held at The Dorchester, Park Lane, London.

21 March – Labour’s hopes of a unique fourth successive term in office at the next general election (by which time Tony Blair says he will have resigned as prime minister) are given a boost when an Ipsos MORI opinion poll puts them 11 points ahead of the Conservatives on 42%.

23 March – 2005-2006 Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis: British peacemaker, Norman Kember, and three Canadians rescued by SAS troops.

23 March – Coronation Street bosses dismiss as untrue media reports that the child actress who plays the soap’s Amy Barlow is being replaced because her parents felt her storylines were "too harrowing", and her workload too heavy.

24 March – ITV announces plans to air World of Chat, a show on ITV2 featuring the best from chatshows around the world.

25–26 March – UKTV Gold presents its Mitchells Weekend to coincide with the return of Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) to EastEnders. The weekend includes The Mitchells – The Full Story, a documentary about the soap family presented by actress Kim Medcalf.

28 March – Council workers across the UK strike over pension rights.

Royal Regiment of Scotland created.

April

3 April – Graham Norton will present How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, a TV talent search for an actress to play Maria in a stage production of The Sound of Music, it is announced.

7 April – 12.6 million viewers watch long-running Coronation Street character Mike Baldwin die in the arms of his long-time rival, Ken Barlow. Baldwin, played by Johnny Briggs, had been in the show for 30 years.

17 April – Peter Bayless wins the 2006 series of MasterChef Goes Large.

19 April – ITV launch ITV Play, a new 24/7 participation TV channel, on Freeview in the United Kingdom. It will launch on other platforms later in the year.

21 April – The Queen celebrates her 80th birthday at Windsor. The Prince of Wales makes a televised address in tribute.

Denis Norden announces his retirement from his two ongoing ITV shows It’ll Be Alright on the Night and spin-off show Denis Norden’s Laughter File, after 30 years with ITV.

ITV secures the terrestrial television screening rights to Casino Royale, the new James Bond film that will be released in November. The film receives its terrestrial television premiere on 19 September 2009.

24 April – Cartoon Network Too and Nick Jr. 2 are launched in the UK.

25 AprilThe BBC announces that Grandstand, its flagship sports TV programme, will be phased out within the next year after nearly 50 years on air.

5 April – discovery of a swan with avian influenza in Scotland.

7 April – Mr Justice Peter Smith delivers judgment in the copyright case over The Da Vinci Code finding that Dan Brown had not breached the copyright of Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh. The judgment itself contained a coded message on the whim of the judge.

12 April – Prince Harry passed out as a commissioned officer during the Sovereign’s Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

18 April – Peugeot announces plans to close the 60-year-old car factory at Ryton near Coventry, which it bought from Chrysler in 1979, within the next year.

21 April – Elizabeth II celebrates her 80th birthday at Windsor. The Prince of Wales makes a televised address in tribute.

25 April – the BBC announces that Grandstand, its flagship sports TV programme, will be phased out within the next year after nearly 50 years on air.

26 April – the Duke of Edinburgh visits the Republic of Ireland.

27 April – by-election in the Moray constituency of the Scottish Parliament. Richard Lochhead holds the seat for the Scottish National Party.

May

4 May – Local government elections take place in some areas of England.

Steve McClaren, manager of Middlesbrough F.C., agrees to become the next manager of the England national football team after the World Cup.

5 May – The BBC’s local election coverage goes off air shortly before 3:00 am, due to a power failure at their Millbank studios. For the next hour coverage relocates to The Counting House pub, with results being read out using handwritten pieces of paper.

5 May – Tony Blair reshuffles his cabinet. Charles Clarke is dismissed as Home Secretary. Jack Straw is replaced as the Foreign Secretary by Margaret Beckett. John Prescott remains as Deputy Prime Minister, but loses responsibility for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

8 May – Guy Goma, a graduate from the Congo who went to the BBC to attend a job interview, appears on BBC News 24 in place of an IT expert after a mix-up. Guy Kewney had been scheduled to comment on the subject of Apple Computer’s court case with The Beatles’ record label, Apple Corps, but a producer collected the wrong man from the wrong reception at BBC Television Centre.

10 May – Former supermarket cashier Michelle Dewberry wins the second series of The Apprentice and a £100,000 a year job working for Sir Alan Sugar.

14 May – Producers of Coronation Street confirm that Debra Stephenson, who plays Frankie Baldwin, will be leaving the soap at the end of the year.

15 May – BBC High Definition Television Trial commences.

20 May – Just minutes before the live Eurovision Song Contest final begins, BBC One’s live National Lottery draw is invaded by Fathers 4 Justice protestors. The show is temporarily taken off air, leaving just a programme logo and announcer Alan Dedicoat’s voice until the problems are resolved.

20 May – Finnish monster rock band Lordi win the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The UK entry, "Teenage Life" by Daz Sampson, finishes in 19th place with 25 points.

20 May – campaigners "Fathers 4 Justice" invade the set of the National Lottery.

Finland’s Lordi win the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest with "Hard Rock Hallelujah".

22 May – BSkyB launch High-definition television in the UK under the brand Sky HD.

27 May – The BBC’s first scheduled HDTV broadcast on BBC HD.

30 May – Scottish and Grampian are rebranded as STV Central and STV North respectively.

30 May – an Ipsos MORI opinion poll shows the Conservatives back in the lead with 36% of the vote, two points ahead of Labour.

June

4 June – Coronation Street confirms that Richard Fleeshman, who plays Craig Harris, will be leaving the soap to follow a singing career.

5 June – Actress Lucy Benjamin wins The X Factor: Battle of the Stars, a celebrity version of the ITV music talent contest.

6 June – ITV announces that Central News South’s existence as a news region will end after 17 years when the eastern half of the region (the area served by the Oxford transmitter) merges its operations with Meridian West’s output, forming a new news region named ITV Thames Valley.

9 June–9 July – Live coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup is aired by the BBC and ITV.

9–11 June – the British Grand Prix is held at the Silverstone Circuit and is won by reigning world champion Fernando Alonso ahead of Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen, while local hero Jenson Button retired earlier in the race with an engine oil leak.

10 June – the England football team’s World Cup campaign begins with a 1–0 win over Paraguay.

15 June – The BBC announces that Billie Piper will leave her role as Rose Tyler on Doctor Who at the end of the second series the following month.

15 June – England beat Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 in their second World Cup group game.

19 June – BBC One Controller Peter Fincham announces that They Think It’s All Over will not be recommissioned for a new series, ending a run of eleven years on air.

20 June – The BBC announces that Top of the Pops will be axed, the final show airing on 30 July.

18.46 million watch England vs Sweden in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the highest rated programme of the year.

20 June – England go through to the knockout stages of the World Cup with a 2–2 draw against Sweden in their final group game.

23 June – An interview with Conservative leader David Cameron on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross causes controversy when presenter Ross asks Cameron whether he ever had sexual fantasies about former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a teenager. The BBC later bans repeats of the interview.

25 June – Children’s Party at the Palace held in honour of The Queen’s 80th birthday.

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, rejects calls from families of murder victims for all convicted murderers to be sentenced to no less than a minimum of 25 years in prison.

England go through to the World Cup quarter-finals for the second tournament in succession by beating Ecuador 1–0 with a goal from captain David Beckham.

29 June – Blaenau Gwent by-elections: independent candidates defeat Labour Party in parliamentary and Welsh Assembly by-elections.

Bromley and Chislehurst by-election won by Bob Neill for the Conservative Party.

July

July – European heat wave affects the UK, resulting in July 1983’s record for the hottest month in the CET series being beaten with a mean monthly CET of 19.7 °C or 67.5 °F.

1 July – CITV broadcasts its last Saturday morning regular-based show Holly and Stephens Saturday Showdown for the last time after 40 years of broadcasting Saturday morning shows on ITV until Scrambled was broadcast in 2014.

1 July – England’s World Cup quest ends in the quarter-finals when they lose on penalties to Portugal after a goalless draw.

4 July – Sheridan v News International: Scottish Socialist Party MSP, Tommy Sheridan begins legal action against the News of the World for libel at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

5 July – Actress Freema Agyeman is announced as the new Doctor Who companion Martha Jones replacing Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler.

11 July – It is announced that actress Wendy Richard will leave EastEnders at Christmas. She is one of the only remaining cast members from the show’s 1985 launch.

16 July – Sarah Lang wins one million pounds in the final of the ITV1 gameshow PokerFace. As she had also won £32,500 on the BBC One gameshow In It to Win It the previous year, this makes her the biggest known female gameshow winner in UK television history, and second overall behind Ian Woodley.

17 July – George W. Bush greets Tony Blair with the phrase “Yo, Blair”.

18 July – 180 British citizens evacuated from the Lebanon due to growing crisis between Hizbollah militants and Israel.

20 July – HMS Bulwark prepares to evacuate British nationals from the Lebanon.

21 July – James Dreyfus takes over from Ardal O’Hanlon as George Sunday AKA Thermoman in the sixth and final series of My Hero the series ended in September due to low viewing figures.

22 July – Arsenal F.C. move into the Emirates Stadium, named after the airline company as part of a 15-year sponsorship deal, after 93 years at nearby Highbury. The 60,000-seat stadium is the largest club stadium to have been built in English football since Maine Road, which was home of Manchester City from 1923 to 2003.

23 July – FilmFour is relaunched as a free-to-air channel. It had originally been a subscription service, but this had ended four days previously.

29 July – Debut of How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? on BBC One.

30 July – Top of the Pops airs its final regular edition after being axed earlier in the year. However, the show returns for a Christmas special.

30 July – The last ever weekly edition of the British television chart show, Top of the Pops, is broadcast.

August

1 August – Steve McClaren is officially appointed as manager of the England national football team.

6 August – While anchoring from Israel during the Israel-Lebanon war, Sky News presenter Anna Botting famously interviews the British MP, George Galloway about the conflict. During the nine-minute heated discussion Galloway criticises Sky News, News Corporation, and even Botting herself for being biased towards Israel.

10 August – police make many arrests in relation to a transatlantic aircraft plot, and tight security measures are instigated at airports.

14 August – The One Show first broadcasts on BBC One.

18 August – Pete Bennett wins series seven of Big Brother.

23 August – ITV secures a deal to sell its 45% stake in Ireland’s TV3 for £70m.

Central Tonight presenter Joanne Malin apologises after swearing during a live broadcast from Trentham Gardens in Stoke-on-Trent. Central subsequently claims to have received no viewer complaints as a result of her description of the inclement weather, but Trentham says several people contact them offering the presenter their support.

28 August – Bianca Gascoigne and model Calum Best win the second and final series of Love Island.

August – the first modern solely Gaelic-medium school to offer secondary education, Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu, is opened at Woodside in Glasgow.

September

1 September – BBC Entertainment replaces BBC Prime in global markets.

2 September – Royal Air Force Nimrod crash in Afghanistan: fourteen personnel are killed in Britain’s worst single military loss since the Falklands war.

9 September – Helen Mirren awarded best actress at the Venice Film Festival for her role in The Queen, portraying Elizabeth II following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

13 September – Ingram Wilcox, a civil servant and quiz show fanatic, has become the fifth person to win the £1 million prize on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, it is reported. The episode showing his win, the first in two and a half years, is aired on 16 September.

16 September – Connie Fisher wins BBC One’s How Do You Solve a Problems Like Maria?. She will make her debut in the role in a revival of The Sound of Music at London’s Palladium Theatre on 14 November.

20 September – television presenter Richard Hammond suffers a serious brain injury when he crashes a jet-powered car whilst filming for Top Gear.

20 September – BBC One’s daytime soap Doctors celebrates its 1000th episode with a one-hour special.

25 September – Copmanthorpe rail crash: One man dies when the 14:25 from Plymouth to Edinburgh operated by Virgin Trains hits a car at about 20:55.

25 September – Lianna Fowler wins Cycle 2 of Britain’s Next Top Model.

29 September – Matt Dawson wins the 2006 series of Celebrity MasterChef.

30 September – It is announced that Des Lynam will leave Countdown at the end of 2006.

October

1 October – regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 comes into effect, requiring a Fire Risk Assessment for all non-domestic premises in England and Wales.

5 October – Rt. Hon. Elish Angiolini, QC, appointed as Lord Advocate in Scotland. She is the first woman and the first solicitor to be appointed to the post.

5 October – QI publishes its first book: The Book of General Ignorance. The book becomes a No. 1 best-seller for amazon.co.uk.

6 October – The BBC defends presenter Graham Norton after he admits to having taken recreational drugs, including ecstasy in an interview for Marie Claire magazine. Of Norton’s revelation the broadcaster says: "The issues that Graham discusses in this interview are aimed at an adult audience and reflect the frank and open nature of his personality".

7 October – After four and a half years, the BBC ‘Rhythm & Movement’ idents are shown for the final time on BBC One at 1:10 am, as part of a special montage (2:55 am on BBC One Northern Ireland). Their replacements, the ‘Circle’ idents, debut at 10 am.

9 October – opening of the Beetham Tower, Manchester, a landmark 168-metre 47-storey skyscraper with oversailing upper floors designed by Ian Simpson of SimpsonHaugh and Partners, the tallest building in the UK outside London, and with its penthouse apartments (above the Hilton Hotel) being the highest residential addresses in the country.

10 October – Justin Hawkins, lead singer of The Darkness announces he is leaving the band.

12 October – ITV announce that Where the Heart Is will not be commissioned for a new series.

13 October: European Home Retail plc and its subsidiary Farepak go into administration, leaving tens of thousands of people out of pocket for Christmas 2006.

15 October – Five Life is launched.

16 October – Five US is launched.

25 October – Guitarist Brian May announces on his website that Queen is returning to the studio for recording sessions. The new lineup, Queen + Paul Rodgers, features May, Paul Rodgers (the former lead vocalist of Free) and former Queen drummer Roger Taylor.

26 October – Duran Duran lead guitarist Andy Taylor once again leaves the band after a series of disagreements surrounding their latest album, which was still incomplete by the year’s end. Reasons given are his disapproval of the usage of both Timbaland and Justin Timberlake in the creation of the band’s album. The band hires an interim guitarist to supplant Taylor, with no real replacement being announced.

26 October – the Duke of Edinburgh officially opens Arsenal’s new stadium.

26 October – ITV confirms the axing of its prison drama, Bad Girls after eight series.

29 October – After a six-year absence from television, The Royle Family returns for what is billed as its final episode, an hour-long show titled "The Queen of Sheba".

30 October – the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change is published by the UK government.

31 October – The Who release Endless Wire, their first studio album for 24 years.

November

5 November – 53 year old Ronald Castree arrested in connection with the murder of eleven year old Lesley Molseed in 1975. He was convicted in November 2007.

7 November – Dhiren Barot sentenced to life imprisonment for plotting large scale terrorist attacks in Britain and abroad. The Court of Appeal noted that Barot’s "businesslike" plans would have caused carnage on a "colossal and unprecedented scale" if they had been successful.

8 November – three men of Pakistani origin sentenced to life imprisonment for the racist murder of Kriss Donald in Glasgow.

13 November – BBC Parliament broadcasts in full screen format for the first time on the Freeview service, having previously only been available in quarter screen format. The BBC eventually found the bandwidth to make the channel full-screen after receiving "thousands of angry and perplexed e-mails and letters", not to mention questions asked by MPs in the Houses of Parliament itself.

14 November – Cadbury announces its intention to end its £10m a year sponsorship deal with Coronation Street after a decade. The current sponsorship contract is due to expire at the end of 2007, but Cadbury says it would end the deal earlier if another sponsor is found.

16 November – the 21st James Bond film – Casino Royale – is released in British cinemas. Daniel Craig makes his debut as Bond in the film.

16 November – Snow Patrol become the first British rock band in 13 years to reach the top five of the US Billboard Hot 100.

19 November – Home Secretary John Reid attacks the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown for being ‘presumptuous’ and ‘disloyal’ for openly campaigning to replace Tony Blair as Prime Minister.

23 November – Alexander Litvinenko dies in London having been poisoned by Polonium-210.

24 November – Loyalist Michael Stone attempts to bomb the Northern Ireland Assembly on the day nominations for first and deputy first minister are to be made. Ian Paisley indicates his willingness to serve as First Minister.

December

1 December – Matt Willis, a former member of boy band Busted wins the sixth series of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!.

2 December – a young woman’s body is found in a brook near Ipswich; her death is initially treated as "unexplained".

3 December – The last edition of Central News South is aired. From tomorrow the Central South region will cease to exist. The east of the region including Oxford becomes part of ITV Thames Valley, the west half of the region, covering Cheltenham and Gloucester is absorbed into the ITV West region, while Herefordshire rejoins the Central West region.

4 December – The ITV Thames Valley region, a composite of the old Meridian West and eastern part of the Central South regions, goes on air with a new regional news programme Thames Valley Tonight.

4 December – the woman whose corpse was found in Ipswich two days ago is identified as Gemma Adams, a 25-year-old local prostitute. Her death is reported to be suspicious and police launch a murder inquiry. There are also concerns about another Ipswich prostitute, 19-year-old Tania Nicol, who went missing on 30 October.

7 December – a tornado hits London.

8 December – the body of missing Ipswich prostitute Tania Nicol is found on the outskirts of the town.

9 December – police in Ipswich launch a murder investigation into the death of Tania Nicol and admit that it is likely she met her death at the hands of the same person or people who killed Gemma Adams.

10 December – a third prostitute’s body is found in the Ipswich area.

10 December – Equestrian Zara Phillips is named as this year’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year, following her mother, Anne, Princess Royal, who won the title in 1971.

14 December – two more women are found dead in Ipswich and it is confirmed that both are prostitutes, meaning that the police are now investigating five murders.

12 December – the Ryton car factory closes and Peugeot 206 production is transferred to Slovakia, several months ahead of the scheduled closure date. 2,300 jobs are lost.

16 December – Leona Lewis wins the third series of The X Factor, becoming the ITV show’s first female winner.

18 December – a man is arrested near Felixstowe on suspicion of murdering the five Ipswich prostitutes. He is named as Tom Stephens, a 37-year-old Tesco supermarket worker.

19 December – a second man, 48-year-old Forklift truck driver Steve Wright, is arrested in connection with the Ipswich serial murders, while police are given more time to question the first suspect.

19 December – Following the success of How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, BBC One announces plans for Any Dream Will Do, a follow up series that will search for someone to play Joseph in the West End musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

21 December – Steve Wright is charged with the Ipswich prostitute murders, while Tom Stephens is released on bail pending further inquiries.

23 December – Cricketer Mark Ramprakash and his dancing partner Karen Hardy win the fourth series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Stars in Their Eyes is axed after the last special episode.

25 December – Actress Wendy Richard makes her final appearance in EastEnders after her character, Pauline Fowler, is killed off in a dramatic storyline. She had been in the show since its inception in 1985.

Launch of Emmerdale’s whodunit storyline involving the murder of Tom King (played by Ken Farrington). Tom is hit over the head and falls through a window to his death on his wedding day.

29 December – the British government pays off the Anglo-American loan made in 1946.

31 December – Hogmanay celebrations in Glasgow and Edinburgh are cancelled due to poor weather conditions.

Football in England – Season 2005–06

Premier League Chelsea Championship Reading League One: Southend United League Two: Carlisle United Conference Premier: Accrington Stanley FA Cup: Liverpool League Cup: Manchester United Community Shield: Chelsea

Posted by brizzle born and bred on 2018-04-20 15:52:40

Tagged: , That Was the Year That Was – 2006

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doomedandstoned · 5 years ago

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Talking the End of Days with Pale Grey Lore

With the release of their new record 'Eschatology' (2019) on Small Stone Records, Doomed & Stoned caught up with Pale Grey Lore frontman Michael Miller to talk about the Doomsday Clock and apocalyptic riffs....

Photo by Tristan Weary

I’m intrigued by the title of the new album, “Eschatology.” Being a P.K. myself (preacher’s kid) it had been a while since I’d heard it used. What does the word signify and how did you come to be inspired by the concept for this album?

Eschatological doctrine lays out a particular religion’s conception of the ultimate fate of humankind and how the world is destined to end. It typically includes a salvation narrative which is designed to tie up pesky philosophical loose ends like the problem of how there could possibly be an all-good, all-powerful deity who allows so much unnecessary suffering to occur in the world. The standard line is that, despite appearances, all this suffering is actually part of some kind of divine plan for cosmic justice, and when the world ends as prophesied, everything will be sorted out in some kind of eternal hereafter.

Nobody in the band is religious at all, but we all grew up in (more or less) Catholic families, so these ideas are familiar enough. And although I’m highly skeptical of the idea of salvation or the prospect of an afterlife, the end-of-the-world aspect of eschatological doctrine struck me as particularly fitting given the way we’re marching toward impending climate disaster under late capitalism.

Artwork by Adam Eckley

It seems like we’ve had a kind of love-affair with the idea of apocalypse and living in a post-apocalyptic world for at least three or four decades, ever since Mad Max captured the popular imagination. How inevitable is an “apocalyptic” event in humanity’s future, do you think?

Recently, we’ve seen increasingly dire warnings about what the planet is in for over the next few decades (see the IPCC report from last October and if that doesn’t rattle you, go ahead and search “Deep Adaptation”). The fossil fuel industry has known about the coming climate catastrophe and how to prevent it since 1977. It’s still unreal to me to think about that.

Instead of sounding the alarm and fundamentally changing how they operate, corporations did everything in their power to suppress that information and sow public doubt about the link between carbon emissions and climate change. When scientists finally convinced the public that climate change was real, corporations cleverly dodged responsibility by pushing the false narrative that individual consumer choice was the real problem, rather than the structural dependence on fossil fuels that they imposed on us without our informed consent.

Meanwhile, the Doomsday Clock moves closer and closer to midnight as nuclear non-proliferation treaties continue to expire without being renewed and states race to develop deadly new weapons. What happens when coastal regions are inundated by rising seas, food production takes a nosedive, and we find ourselves in the midst of the worst global refugee crisis in human history?

It’s difficult not to feel powerless in the face of these realizations. For me, the best and most appropriate reaction is creative expression. So that’s really what the whole concept of the album is all about. Weaving a fictional narrative that explores these themes in a fantastical context provides a sense of control and an opportunity for catharsis. It’s in some ways escapist, but it’s also deeply rooted in reality.

Eschatology by Pale Grey Lore

Can you take a moment to walk us through each of the tracks and draw out any themes or points of interest (e.g. background, composition, recording, performing, etcetera).

Like the first album, each song on ‘Eschatology’ is a sort of vignette--a brief (though not necessarily temporally adjacent) episode in the grand timeline of our concept world.

Album opener “Sunken Cities” is told from the perspective of the survivors in the aftermath of the greatest and most destructive war the planet has ever seen. “Greed Springs Eternal” depicts disaster capitalism and unaccountable oligarchy in a flashback to the pre-war era. On “Before the Fall,” revolutionaries who resisted corporate neo-feudalism in the final days of the empire struggle to cope with nuclear winter. Flashing back in time again, “Regicide” depicts an assassination attempt that, had it succeeded, could have radically altered the course of history. The final track of side A, “Waiting for the Dawn,” is a morbidly romantic number that takes place after the nuclear winter is over and the surface finally becomes (more or less) habitable again.

Side B kicks off with “The Rift,” which describes the reality-warping arrival of cosmic horrors that feed on entropy, attracted to destruction and suffering like moths to a flame. We flash back to the great war on “Void-Cursed,” with the ruling elites fleeing into space as the planet burns behind them. “Silent Command” depicts the fate of unwary travellers who stumble across the strange towers that appear across the landscape once the cosmic rift has closed. “Undermined” is part of the liturgy of a pre-war religious sect that started out critical of the rapacious oligarchy but later transformed into an accelerationist death-cult. And finally, the title track “Eschatology” is a nihilistic sermon from the death-cult’s high priest urging his followers (who are largely members of the ruling elite) to achieve salvation by actively doing whatever they can to make things worse.

Film by Cleveland Underground Scene

What was the studio experience like for you this time around? Did you find it refined any of the songs written or that it brought more cohesion to the album as a whole?

Like the first album, Eschatology was recorded and mixed by our friend Andy Sartain at his Columbus home studio. Andy is very chill and always creates a relaxed and supportive environment, which is what you want if you are trying to coax the best possible performance out of a band. One big change from the first album is that in the interim we added a new member, our guitarist Xander, who went to college for audio engineering. His background in music production was immensely valuable and made a huge impact on the record.

We definitely didn’t rush the recording process on this one. I think the fact that we took our time with it definitely helped create more cohesion. We did the initial live tracking of drums, bass, and rhythm guitar in early December and spent the next month and a half doing the overdubs and adding layers. Some of the newer songs that we hadn’t really played live much only developed into their final forms in the studio environment after we were able to hear some early playback. Even the songs we had played a good amount live benefitted from the extra layers and dimensions we were able to add in the studio. The time spent in the studio really was a kind of final capstone component to the songwriting for us.

Photo by Tristan Weary

What are some of the tools of the trade that you’re using to produce your sound?

Adam plays a Gretsch drum kit and uses Zildjian K Custom cymbals. Donovan plays a Rickenbacker bass through an Ampeg V4b and an early 70s Sunn cab. Xander runs a Vox AC30 and an Orange Dual Terror and primarily plays a modded Fender Strat. I run two late 60s Sunn amps and alternate between a Gibson SG and an Epiphone Casino Coupe hollowbody, both with P-90s. We have many, many pedals. We also have a theremin.

You recently played Ohio Doomed & Stoned Festival. What are some of the things you do to ensure that your live sound comes across just the way you want it to?

Ohio Doomed & Stoned Festival was an absolute blast. I was very happy to help fest organizer Dan Simone (of the killer Cleveland band Black Spirit Crown) put together the lineup. Last year was the first year we did the fest, and it was a great success. This year was even better, and I’m sure the best is yet to come. Ohio has so many great heavy underground rock bands, and this fest is one of the best showcases of that talent. As anyone who plays heavy music knows, we need to be pretty loud to do our thing properly. That doesn’t translate well in some spaces and sometimes the person running sound at a venue is inexperienced or just doesn’t know how to work with heavy music.

What do you see are some of the common mistakes bands make when translating their songs to the stage?

As far as advice for up and coming bands goes, I would say the best way to ensure that you sound decent live is to practice your ass off beforehand so that even if you can’t hear anything on stage, you still play well because of the muscle memory.

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#D&S Interviews #Pale Grey Lore #Columbus #Ohio #Stoner Rock #heavy metal #Small Stone Records #Doomed & Stoned

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loveinthebones · 7 years ago

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An Unnecessary Look Into My Youtube Habits

(Also known as: You Have Questions and I Got Curious And Spent Hours on My YouTube History)

I have an ask about what the first Phanfic I read was.

I also have another ask from someone curious about how long I have been in the Phandom but I don’t want to publish 2 Asks so I am going to combine them!

I know for certain that I was not watching Dan or Phil from 2009-2012 for sure. I wasn’t in the group that got sucked into the YouTube void early... and when I graduated in 2011, I probably wouldn’t have been able to name a nonviral video. It wasn’t something talked about in my household.

In 2012, I was 20 so that means 2013 is when I got my apartment (I remember that because I married my lifemate in October of that year.) at 21 and that’s most likely when I really started exploring the platform.

I am about to give you way more information than you probably want and I’m sorry but now I want to see how my viewing habits have changed so I am going to good ol’ google and digging into my watch history. I’ll take it in 2 year blocks for my sanity.

The earliest I can go back is June 2014 so this is either when I finally switched to Google Chrome or is due to a number change (because I know my google account is older than that.). The original parameters I had were December 2012-January 2015.

June 2014-January 2015: Mostly music. I see Peter Hollens, Bea Miller, Sam Tsui, and Boyce Avenue. Teens React is mentioned and the Ice Bucket challenge? Was it around that time? I apparently fell in love with Yanis Marshall here.

January 2015-January 2016: I definitely started gaining interest here. I found the AH crew and Rooster Teeth. Slamacow. I tentatively began searching things like subbed episodes of Sailor V. This is also when I became fond of FNAF and picked up Mark. (Let’s appreciate the fact I thought his handle was MarkPHILier). So. Many. Playthroughs. And by extension- GAME THEORY! <3 I listened to Spring Awakening a lot. Mark and AH were definitely my favorites and I watched Felix, Wade, and Megwin TV a smidge . TheJWittz. Jack. Game Grumps. Cry! Oh, I haven’t watched Cry in ages. PvP.

November 9 is the first mention of Dan so. (This is based only off of searches...I don’t know why its not letting me look at actual videos.)

November 13 is the first mention of Phil.

I shifted from Mark and AH to Shane and Superwoman as my most watched at this time. Tyler Oakley was discovered and I binged Epic Meal Time. I’m definitely seeing Phil pop up quite a bit. We end 2015 with Jack, Mark, and Shane being the YouTubers I am engrossed in but I can see myself getting more fond of Phil (again- just based off searches.)

January 2016-January 2017: (First Half)

We kick off the year with me being obsessed with Undertale and a surprising amount of Cry. I also got heavily into TrickyWii and Tamashii. REACT. BFvsGF. Game Grumps. But I’m not kidding about Undertale- comic dubs, songs, secrets, hacks, you name it- It’s in my history (I managed to get ACTUAL videos around Feb 2016). It also appears I listened to music quite a bit (since I worked overnight and would listen while I did sidework) so let’s throw in PTX, Ken Ashcorp, and Lindsey Sterling. I also got into cherography? Wha? Wildabeest Adams and some others. I’m seeing some Phil but not too much Dan and the gaming channel pops up every once in a while. In June, I discovered Troye, IHasCupquake, and Matthais.

(Second Half)

Thomas Sanders started doing YouTube videos? In July? I didn’t remember that. The Undertale craze continued and the YouTubers that I’ve seen cycle through. Libby (thedailysign) and Andy (AndySigns) start coming up so this is when i decided to teach myself ASL. Threadbanger! <3 Kyle Hanagami. WHOA. There we go...Phan-splosion in September with Daniel’s videos being favored. I eased up because I went on a Superwoman binge and started watching Nerdy Nummies. SimplyNailogical makes an appearance. Joey Graceffa, Paint, Anna Akanna, and Trisha Paytas seem to hold my attention for a day at most (though they are sprinkled through the main stuff I watched) and Ethan (Crankgameplays) comes in at end of November. Dodie. Akidearest. This is leaving out some YouTubers that are associated with Vocaloid Translyric Covers and one off videos, compilations.

TL;DR: I am actually very sleepy or I would go into 2017 (I may on a separate post later, if it still suits my fancy.) but a brief summary of my time in the Phandom:

Discovered: I’m going to place it in late October/early November of 2015 because I think that if I searched them, I had seen their content before.

Casually watched: November 2015-September 2016. I really seemed to start to become a fan at the start of October because they became a regular part of my YouTuber “rotation”. lmao

First Fanfic read: I actually know this! Snapchat by RickyBlitzz (LINK) in March or April of this year. On AO3, it appears to be Love ON AIR by ScientificName (LINK) on April 26. I didn’t know about Wattpad so I was consuming fics there since it was a new platform for me

(I haven’t checked out the Phan content on FF.Net at all.)

First Fanfic written: This is Our Sountrack (Link) Published: July 2017

It took me a year to get hooked and a long while for me to wrestle with the hangups I had about reading Phanfic (well, RPF in general) but once I started reading, I lasted three months before I needed to write and my longest fic to date is probably going to be a Phan piece to be honest.

All in all, I love them both and have fallen down the rabbit hole but I’m a recent Phan! XD

#Long post #Kat answers the lovelies #personal #Phan #Youtubers #The Unneeded History Lesson of Kat's YouTube Habits #Kat speaks #Ambrose speaks

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shamelesscollectormagazine-blog · 7 years ago

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