#then smith can have vivaldi

[partybarty]

Our predictions of the Australian Cricket Team's Spotified Wrap:

David Warner - Jack Harlow

Usman Khawaja - Drake

Labuschagne - Nature Sounds

Smith

Head

Green - Olivia Rodrigo

Carey -

Cummins - Taylor Swift

Starc

Hazlewood

Lyon

[andradrawsstuff]

Music headcannons ✨

Skipper

Secretly loves CC Catch and Modern Talking but won’t admit to it

Pretty cannon that he likes rock and classic rock, so he’d defo like Judas Priest, Foreigner and Derek and the Dominoes - the song Layla fits his vibe

Bro definitely listens to Rammstein

He’d be more into 70s than anything else but would also like 80s and 60s, so he’d love Fleetwood Mac

He has a cowboy obsession so he probably likes western and cowboy music lmao

Would probably dislike 90s

Probably also has a more limited music taste than the others

Canonically good at guitar so I hc him and Kowalski would build an electric one and he’d jam out when he’s alone

Kowalski

Absolutely ABBA there is no debating.

He gives me 70s vibes and would probably listen to some classic rock but Thin Lizzy and Bee Gees would defo be his vibe

Blondie fan

Adam and the Ants. No question.

Bro plays banjo ofc he listens to country

Probably also listens to western and cowboy music like Skipper

Swiftie.

Occasional 90s

Spam listens to Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely (bc Doris)

When he’s in the lab he’ll listen to classical music bc it doesn’t have lyrics to distract him

Rico

Full on death metal, black metal and thrash metal like Slayer

But also classical music like Vivaldi or Beethoven (as a rocker myself in a family of rockers it’s safe to say that if they like heavy metal, they also probably like classical music)

Shitty punk rock enjoyer - credit to @iamhowlingmad for mentioning it

Gives me hip hop and rap vibes, he’d love Will Smith

Spam listens to Running in the 90s and Gas Gas Gas when driving

I’d say sometimes even dubstep? Idk it’s energetic like him

Bro also definitely listens to Rammstein

But probably listens to lullabies to fall asleep

He probably occasionally plays a little guitar but wouldn’t make a habit out of it like the others

Most varied music taste out of them all

Private

He’s the youngest so definitely 2000s and 2010s, since the show is from that era and he’d love modern pop

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Big Time Rush and probably One Direction

Probably also a Swiftie

He’d also like 70s and 80s disco but probably not as much as the others

He would probably listen to some 90s like Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys

I feel like he’d love to listen to soundtracks, especially Zelda stuff since it’s relatively calm and very vibey

Canonically loves Copacabana

Marlene

Absolute 80s fanatic

CC Catch would probably be her favourite, Strangers By Night gives me Marlene vibes

Secretary slow dances to Kiss From a Rose by herself

Probably listens to Rihanna and Shakira

Also pretty cannon that she likes rock from like that one episode where she’s pretending to be a rockstar? She would totally be a metal head and love stuff like Motörhead, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden

Give her an electric guitar and she could probably play Master of Puppets.

Would probably fangirl over CC Catch and rock bands with Skipper

Canonically loves Spanish Guitar so play her some Flamenco and she’d melt

Julien

90s there is no questioning it.

Ofc I Like to Move It Move It is his favourite

Definitely listens to 90s and 2000s club hits to dance party to all night

Britney Spears lover

Backstreet Boys fanatic.

Probably screams I Want it That Way in Maurice’s ear all day

🎶TeLL mE wHaY🎶

Skipper would get sick of all the 90s music so he’d probably discretely give him a Modern Talking mixtape for his boom box, and he’d love them

Defo also likes 80s disco and loves Boney M

Thinks he’s the Just Dance king but the penguins secretly practice every Friday night and can do Rasputin perfectly

[cmspeirs]

Band of Brothers Headcanons: What music they’d be listening to

(+ Playlists and absolutely historically inaccurate)

A/N: Hey! So here’s my first BoB headcanon - I hope you enjoy it! I’m sorry if this is rather short. Let me know if you’d like to see other characters in those or have any requests :) I also spent way too much time making several playlists for them, I’ll link them for you at the end if you wanna listen to them!

{Dick Winters}

• Classical. Music.

• Can list you every thing that Bach or Vivaldi ever published, but with the backstories

• I just picture him closing his eyes and sighing very loudly whenever he listens to something he loves

• Will dance to old Jazz music until the sun comes up, and says the day after that it was a really wild night

• Also listens A LOT to Lana (would never admit it)

• Secretly gossips and argues over her online. Tries to keep it a secret but his username is “DickDelRey101”

{Lewis Nixon}

• Classic Rock all the way

• I’m talking Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, ACDC…

• “Paranoid - Black Sabbath” was his wedding song

• When he gets home he falls into the old chair next to the record player with a bottle of whiskey already waiting

• He’s always like “I need this music to calm down, don’t you understand???” and absolutely means it

• Drives the car only to listen to “Enter Sandman” and wear sunglasses while he does (windows all the way down, volume max)

• 100% certified Dad music

{Ronald Speirs}

• This mans music is all over the place

• Just like my feelings for him lol

• But mostly listens to a lot of old music???

• Like 40s to 60s, also a big fan of Elvis and Johnny Cash

• Literally has pictures of them hanging in the doorway

• Always says he doesn’t care about things like music, but will make a playlist for every one he meets with songs that remind him of them

• I swear to everything music would be one of his love languages - he’d absolutely remember every song you ever liked

• Turns the radio louder randomly to songs with the explanation “saw you smiling to that with your morning coffee last week”

{Donald Malarkey}

• Listens to a whole lot of sad songs - and I’m talking about gut wrenching, laying on the bathroom floor kind of sad

• Also somehow into Grunge??

• At least three Radiohead songs in every one of his playlists

• The Smiths is his happy music

• When his favorite Pink Floyd Record is on he listens to it all day. He runs to push the play button again every time it stops.

{Joe Toye}

• 100% an alternative Rock / Nu Metal kind of guy

• Would have Deftones playing all day

• Also listens to Bloodhound Gang a lot lol (The song “Jackass” is his anthem!!!)

• Just imagine him sitting in the garage with Guarnere, drinking beer while an old Limp Bizkit vinyl is on

• He thinks it’s the greatest thing of all time that bands began to combine Rap with Hardcore

• In terms of that - definitely a fan of Deez Nuts, Hollywood Undead or Linkin Park

• “Band of Brothers - Deez Nuts” is literally his favorite song

{George Luz}

• Unironically listens to the Soundtrack of Oklahoma

• It just puts a smile on his face every time he hears it - takes him back to the news of the musical still on broadway back in war

• Also loves & defends Tom Lehrer to death

• He knows every song from him by heart and always sings the loudest

• Will randomly sing his favorite songs throughout the day, which makes everyone shake their head but deep down they all love it

• He’s almost afraid of sad music

• He aspires to be Ricky Nelson in another life

{Eugene Roe}

• Similar to Malarkey, but doesn’t cry to those songs

• Just sits in silence with a cigarette between his fingers, staring into the nothingness while thinking about his time with Easy

• “Feels like a movie” - songs were made for him

• When he listens to Elton John or Billy Joel you know he’s in a happy mood

• Is also the anonymous person Winter argues with online about Lana

• DickDelRay101 replied: Are you clinically insane? How could you deny it’s her best album? Did you even listen to it?

• Absolutely knows that it’s Winters and accidentally called him Sir when he replied (several times)

{Joe Liebgott}

• Hear. Me. Out. He’s a pop punk & grunge boy all the way

• Has a big collection of thrifted vinyls (if you can’t find him, search at the next thrift market)

• Puts on Nirvana or the Offspring and just lays on his bed while smoking a whole pack of cigarettes

• Room full of ripped band posters and at least one guitar (but can’t play, although he says he can)

• 10/10 would’ve lived in a skatepark in another life

• Also really into Old school HipHop, loves the Beastie Boys

• Accidentally went to a New Kids on the Block concert once. Said he hated it but stayed until the very last minute.

{David Webster}

• Would also listen to classical music

• But it would just be for people to think he’s very intellectual, actually can’t stand it

• In reality really into slow and soft love songs

• Listens to Vera Lynn on a daily basis and happily admits that he cries to her songs. Always speaks of “Our Vera.”

• When he listens to “There’ll always be an England” he suddenly gets an English accent.

• The Fleetwoods is his favorite band

• Tries to listen to Pop Punk because he knows Joe loves it, but he absolutely hates it

• “There’s no emotion Joe!!”

• “For fucks sake, Web, there’s all the goddamn emotion!!?!!”

{Bull Randleman}

• Hard Rock, can’t say more

• Also 100% certified Dad music. He’s the one who visits Nixon once a week to play poker and smoke cigars while listening to his records

• Is the guy at a concert who will accidentally throw you to the ground while in a mosh pit

• But will absolutely make everyone stop so he can pick you up again

———

Link to the Ronald Speirs playlist:

Link to my profile - the other playlists are on there (still updating them regularly):

[strobelightstrobelast]

Part 1; MK Music HCs These have been haunting me for a while so enjoy!

Note: All these characters listed are MK11 versions, although I might make another one of these for MK1 later. Characters included are Johnny, Sonya, Jax, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Raiden, and Kenshi. I will be posting other parts, this one was just getting reeeally long.

Johnny

He listens to a mix of 2010’s pop music and sad dad rock. You’ll hear him go from California Girls(Katy Perry) to Headstrong(TRAPT) to The Diary Of Jane(Breaking Benjamin) right back to Party In The USA(Miley Cyrus) and he will have no visible whiplash whatsoever. 

I think he’ll listen to whatever’s on as long as it sounds good, but he generally sticks to the aforementioned genres.

Sonya

She’s a Dolly Parton fan at heart, but she thinks it’s embarrassing and would rather be shot point blank than have anyone else find out. She doesn’t strike me as someone who would listen to much music in public, unless she needed to ignore outside noise to focus- in which case she would blare Breakcore music.

Jax

I don’t think he listens to music too much, but I can see him listening to club music to try and hype himself up. I think he would also enjoy a bit of classic rock(think Nirvana or Oasis), but probably wouldn’t seek it out other than changing the radio station. He seems like the guy who would rather let the radio play whatever for background noise than actually create a whole playlist.

Not technically music but it still kinda counts, I think he would listen to those ASMR videos where they pretend to do your hair or makeup- He has no urge to get his hair or makeup done but he finds them relaxing when he’s struggling to sleep.

Kenshi

He doesn’t like listening to music much, it distracts his senses and somewhat disorients him. The only time he really listens to music is when someone else is listening to it nearby. He won’t really complain, but he doesn’t care too much about it. He really dislikes heavy metal, above any other genre, although it's only because they tend to mess with his senses in a way he isn't comfortable with.

Liu Kang

He won't complain about any music that’s playing, but he only really listens to music on his own when he needs to focus. He’s partial to Vivaldi when it comes to classical music, but isn’t really picky when it comes to what he’s listening to as long as it aids him in focus.

Out of all the music that’s been played for him, he’s more drawn to music that has a sort of ‘hopeful in the face of hopelessness’ feeling to it. Songs similar to Let Go(Frou Frou) would probably be the type of music he prefers. He has a personal hatred against math rock, but he refuses to share it with anyone because he has no reason to dislike it other than thinking the time signatures are stupid.

Kung Lao

He also won’t openly complain about whatever music is playing, but he tends to gravitate towards a strange mix of sappy love songs and deceitfully cheerful suicidal songs. This Charming Man(The Smiths) and Vampire Empire(Big Thief) are definitely on his playlist, but I think he would also listen to Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Third Eye Blind, maybe even some Hollywood Undead if he was in a certain mood.

I don’t see him liking classical music too much, but he thinks the 1812 Overture is cool because of the canons. Tchaikovsky is the only classical music composer he respects.

Raiden

He pretends to not like modern music, staring off into the distance disapprovingly whenever Johnny tries to show him some of his music. I think he secretly likes 90s club music, but refuses to admit this to anyone. Unlike Sonya, he doesn’t even indulge in this he just balls it up inside because he thinks it’s ‘unbefitting’ of a god.

[pxnandqxll]

"Thank you! Thank you, very much. I'm pleased then that my change to Vivaldi did not go completely unnoticed." Peter's crinkled cheeks flushed ever-so slightly. He could feel a warm ball of light radiate somewhere in his chest. He was never one to actively fish for compliments, especially when it came to his music, but whenever they came his way-- especially when doused with sincerity-- Peter couldn't help but feel like his entire sense of self was being noticed. Valued. He didn't think his playing was bad, per se, but, then again, he didn't think it was the best. The curse of a perfectionist. However, to hear it commended by a complete stranger who appears to be just as familiar with the world of music? That possibly made his entire night.

"Yes, that's right. Peter Smith-Kingsley, how do you do?" the musician replied with an equally warm handshake. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you Sherlock Holmes, Victor has told me nothing but good things about you.-- And, as much as I appreciate high praises from you, if anybody were impressive it would be you. A great detective with a tasteful affinity for music? Certainly, that's hard to beat," he admitted with gentle sincerity, before cordially raising his glass at the other and taking a sip. "Perhaps, you can even request my next song? Have any favourites?"

"A musician with the grace to admit when he's falling flat?" The corner of Sherlock's mouth twitched upwards, amusement crossing his expression. "You are a rare one. I wouldn't worry about it - I thought you held the room beautifully. A very nice touch finishing with Vivaldi." He switches his champagne glass to the opposite hand so that he can extend a handshake. "Sherlock Holmes. And you are Peter, correct?" As if he hasn't spent the past 45 minutes flitting between Victor and his sister asking them for details about everyone in the room. Some might call it nosiness - Sherlock thinks of it as getting the lay of the land. Preparing himself for all social eventualities. "You're very talented. Sometimes I find that when people play through that particular concerto they somehow miss the piece's intent - But you did not." He lifts his glass to his lips to take a drink. "Impressive indeed."

[ahalal-uralma]

favorite bands/musical artists?

Ok, I have a hard time truly limiting this to a few answers and I am answering this question way too often. I just can’t pick a few favorites.

So I’m going to make a bit of a MASTER LIST and will update this list as I feel is necessary for people who really want to know what my tastes in music are. I have too many artists I enjoy for different reasons.

Keep in mind this will appear like a lot, but is still not the sum of every genre or artist I listen to. It won’t even touch half of my tastes.

It’s also important to realize that music can be very nuanced: Some artists may fall under more than one type of genre or label themselves as one of their own. I am focusing on categorizing people by what they are most associated with and you may not always agree. Here are the musicians that I listen to the most:

Classical (typically between 1700-1900’s): Beethoven, Mozart, Prokofiev, Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Brahms, Schubert, Vivaldi, Bartok, Stravinsky, Strauss, Verdi, Rossini, Faure, Scarlatti, Schoenberg, Ives, Saint-Saens, Bizet, Satie, Goldmark, Gaubert, Busser, Weber, Pfitzner, Danzi, Nicolai, Offenbach, etc.

Classical (Modern/Progressive/Vocal): Adrian von Ziegler, Hans Zimmer, Kevin Macleod, Thomas Bergerson, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Howard Shore, Lindsey Stirling, Mark Snow, Danny Elfman, Sarah Brightman, Amelia Brightman, Charlotte Church, Tarja Turunen, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Vera Lynn, Charlie Puth, Nico Collins, Adam Hurst, etc.

Folk/Indie/New-Age/Alternative: Indila, Sogdiana, Enya, Dido, Zella Day, 78Violet, Nora Jones, Enigma, Delerium, R.E.M, Kerli, Depotax, Sisters Of Mercy, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Dream Academy, Howard Jones, Dead Can Dance, The Grateful Dead, Meg Myers, Angie, Phildel, Mazzy Star, Cigarettes After Sex, Cocteau Twins, Twin Tribes, The Angelic Process, Valerie Broussard, Halsey, Magic Wands, Hayley Kiyoko, Zand, Alice et Moi, Elena Esenina, Kanga, Abba, Lola Blanc, Alanis Morissette, Raison d'etre, Asam Ali, Vas, Ludivico Technique, Holly Golightly, etc. 

New Wave/Electronic/Synth/DreamPop: Depeche Mode, Alphaville, Duran Duran, Tangerine Dream, Robert Miles, E Nomine, And One, Rroyce, Jack Strify, E-Type, Information Society, INXS, Erasure, Kaelan Mikla, Gunship, Peter Murphy, Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, Camoflauge, Ashbury Heights, Sandra, Prince, Sneaker Pimps, Eurythmics, Grimes, Erasure, Modern Talking, Blue System, C.C Catch, Dead Or Alive, Culture Club, Thomas Dolby, After The Fire, Men In Hats, Falco, Gary Numan, Bauhaus, Clan Of Xymox, Sad Lovers And Giants, Lights, Joy Division, Laura Branigan, Kitty, The Chameleons, Visage, The Timelords, The Wolfgang Press, Real Life, Kate Bush, Pete Shelley, Wall Of Voodoo, Ritual Howls, Strvngers, My Life With The Thrill Kill Cult, The Electric Hellfire Club, T.O.Y., De/Vision, Minerve, Wolfsheim, Blaqk Audio, Chrom, Angels On Acid, Emigrate, H.P. Baxxter, EMF, Baltimora, Austre, Sextile, Vandal Moon, Void Vision, Children On Stun, Gost, Funker Vogt, Covenant, Diorama, In Strict Confidence, Beborn Baton, Faderhead, Solar Flake, Night Club, Skynd, Switchblade Symphony, ISON, etc.

Rock/PunkRock/HeavyMetal/GlamMetal: Black Veil Brides, Malice Mizer, Versailles, Candy Spooky Theater, Phantasmagoria, The Birthday Massacre, No Doubt, Smashing Pumpkins, Rob Zombie, Ministry, Skindred, Blue Stahli, Vixtrola, Kidney Thieves, Cold, Staind, Garbage, The Pretty Reckless, HIM, Disturbed, The Haxans, The Smiths, The Cure, The Damned, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Velvet Underground, Cutting Crew, Billy Idol, Alice Cooper, Fields Of The Nephilim, Kitten, The Church, Hexvessel, Deftones, Crosses, Linkin Park, Ice Nine Kills, Falling In Reverse, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Guns N Roses, Faster Pussycat, Slaughter, Scorpions, Ghost, Twisted Sister, Whitesnake, Queen, Kiss, Mozart Opera Rock, Otep, Nothing More, Raven Black, 

Metal/Progressive/Industrial/Folk/BattleMetal: Eluvietie, Arkona, Heilung, Amaranthe, In This Moment, Beast In Black, Powerwolf, Turisas, Thyrfing, Wintersun, King Diamond, Sopor Aeternus, The Hu, Autumn’s Grey Solace, Myrath, Kamelot, Marilyn Manson, Love & Death, Korn, Death Stars, Dope Stars Inc, Dope, Nine Inch Nails, Type O Negative, Deftones, Orgy, Erdling, Rammstein, Hanzel Und Gretyl, Schwarzer Engel, Blutengel, Eisbrecher, Hocico, Razed In Black, Reactor 7x, D’espairs Ray, Dir En Grey, Nemesea, Alestorm, Swashbuckle, 3TEETH, Silence In The Machine, Grendel, Rabbit Junk, Combichrist, Heimataerde, Velvet Acid Christ, Decoded Feedback, Dioxyde, C-Lekktor, Omnimar, Zombie Girl, Motionless In White, Not My God, Zeromancer, Aesthetic Perfection, Red Flag, Skold, Skinny Puppy, Sister Machine Gun, Killing Joke, Chelsea Grin, A Life Divided, Oddko, Puscifer, The Cruxshadows, Jack Off Jill, Semblant, Project Pitchfork, Lord Of The Lost, Inkubus Sukkubus, Sabaton, Korpiklaani, Tristania, Insomnium, Katatonia, Orbit Culture, Snake River Conspiracy, Gemini Syndrome, Myrkur, Draconian, Within Temptation, Sirenia, Nox Arcana, Arcana, Elysion, Atrium Carceri, Elend, etc.

Ambient/Black/Death/FuneralDoomMetal: Cradle Of Filth, Carach Angren, Mandragora Scream, Burzum, Dimmu Borgir, Children Of Bodom, Alcest, Darkthrone, Gorgoroth, Blut Aus Nord, Behemoth, Emperor, Immortal, Taake, Ulver, Leviathan, Bathory, Mistress Of The Dead, Urgehal, Mayhem, Xasthur, Lustre, Enthroned, Elderwind, Dark Funeral, Earth & Pillars, Summoning, Eldamar, Endiku, Krypt, Satyricon, Carpthian Forest, Wolves In The Throne Room, Sun of the Sleepless, My Dying Bride, Dark Sanctuary, Evoken, Trees Of Eternity, Mortiis, Severoth, Dark Mirror Ov Tragedy, Mandragora Scream, Dissection, Until Death Overtakes Me, Shape Of Despair, Mourning Beloveth, Evadne, Agalloch, Alien Vampires, Psyclon Nine, Pantheist, Esoteric, Akhlys, Therion, Theatre Of Tragedy, BRÒN, Valor, Empyrium, etc. 

Overall, music is an art and people should not feel limitations on the art they can enjoy. I am obviously bad at limiting myself with anything that gives me pleasure.

Just be grateful I didn’t touch upon things by country (ie. not the genre, but the locations) or focus more on mainstream media like pop or rap, because then you might find yourself having to dissect this list forever. I already know there are lots of artists I’m forgetting and will have to mention later. 

If there’s a musician or band you would like me to recommend a song or album specifically for, just let me know and I can offer up some links. A few people on this list don’t have a physical discography, or their music exists in a foreign language, so you might find a few of them a bit of a challenge to locate on your own, if you do not already know where or how to go look.

[lucyatthegym3]

looking for friends!

hi, i'm lena, i've recently relapsed (anorexia & exercise addiction) and i have no one i can really talk to about it. my only friend who Gets It and doesn't judge me is in recovery and i really don't want to trigger them! so, shoot me a message if you

are any SW/CW/U/GW, height (if it matters to you, my SW+CW are on the higher end of "normal BMI", GW+UGW are underweight, i'm 5'5")

are over 18!!

have a restrictive ED

cope with memes/humour

are anti-pro-ana

are pro-recovery but not in recovery (i don't want to trigger anyone in recovery, really)

acknowledge that EDs are incredibly detrimental to health, and would never promote EDs/wish them on anyone else but also acknowledge we're both struggling, not judge, down to just

optional but preffered:

are lgbt (i'm a lesbian)

into fitness. maybe a little too much. i lift, do yoga, spinning, run, i want to get into pole dance and back to muay thai/martial arts in general

vegetarian/vegan/pescetarian (i don't eat meat or dairy but sometimes do eat eggs+fish)

a student, bonus points if your self-esteem hinges on perfect academical performance, because mood. bonus bonus points if you're in a STEM field, chem for me.

a creative. i'm a writer (novels & poetry), actor and i also like to paint.

fast/intermittent fast

love music, books, tv shows, movies, stand-up comedy and youtube videos, bonus points if we have a similar taste in any of those.

some a lot of favourites:

music: mitski, phoebe bridgers, weyes blood, the mountain goats, sufjan stevens, florence and the machine, zolita, king princess, mother mother, ABBA, queen, the smiths, arvo pärt, vivaldi, samuel barber, bizet, unloved, cigarettes after sex, hozier, girl in red, hayley kiyoko, rina sawayama, heathers the musical, the mad ones, mean girls the musical, falsettos, chicago, etc.

tv shows: killing eve, wynonna earp, sense8, russian doll, dead to me, why women kill, the haunting of hill house & bly manor, odaat, orphan black, crazy ex-girlfriend, dc legends, hannibal, the good place, i am not okay with this, the end of the f***ing world, grace and frankie, bojack horseman, tuca and bertie, spop, bee and puppycat, 90s moomin, the midnight gospel (also i highkey ship supercorp and swanqueen but lowkey hate both shows,,)

movies: carol, atomic blonde, the old guard, the half of it, the handmaiden, a simple favor, portait of a lady on fire, jennifer's body, gone girl, kiki's delivery service, the cat returns, princess mononoke, spirited away, kill your darlings, the talented mr. ripley, heathers, etc.

stand-up comedians: hannah gadsby, john mulaney, tig notaro, iliza schlesinger, jen brister .etc.

youtube: caitlin doughty (ask a mortician), danny gonzales, drew gooden, kurtis conner, jarvis johnson, philosophy tube, contrapoints, ryan george, julie nolke, doctor mike, medlife crisis, chubbyemu, exurb1a, jessica kellgren-fozard, ally hills, sailor j etc.

literature: the secret history, the price of salt/carol, the fingersmith, from here to eternity, smoke gets in your eyes, will my cat eat my eyeballs, less, unbearable lightness, the picture of dorian gray, the bell jar, richard siken etc

down to share recipes etc

not opposed to sharing photos and using numbers

to be clear, i'm not looking for an "ana buddy", just someone with similar issues i can be honest with without judgement. i don't endorse EDs, it's just that

and that's just that, and i'm really lonely w this ED shit. ofc, if at any point, you decide to recover, i will 100% support you and hype you tf up!!

anyway, all bodies are beautiful, BLM, be gay, do crime, get in touch, slide into those DMs!! i'll send you photos of my cat and whatnot, she's super cute!!

[victimhood]

I was tagged by the wonderful Maya aka @nicoloalkaysani to list thirteen songs I’ve been listening to nonstop lately. Which is a good chance to show how...obsessive my music listening habits are! Be warned, I am known for listening to the same thing endlessly.

Mahmood - Rapide. This is the song that made me fall in love with Mahmood! Alessandro Mahmoud is an Egyptian-Italian singer who was ROBBED at the 2019 Eurovision, and I think the most analogous comparison is the “Italian Sam Smith” but they’re also different y’know?

Mahmood - Soldi. This is Mahmood’s Eurovision entry I LOVE MAHMOOD

Mahmood - Barrio. You see what I mean when I say I hyperfixate on music.

Charlie Charles, Sfera Ebbasta, Mahmood, Fabri Fibra - Calipso. I was here for Mahmood no surprises.

Dame Joan Sutherland - Rigoletto “Caro nome”. This is the aria from Act 1 of Verdi’s opera Rigoletto. Oh! The incomparable Dame Joan Sutherland. Caro nome is what I wrote my entire TOG fanfic to. The coloratura!! This is Peak Opera for me. There are so few cases where it gets better than this. This song is about the experience of your first love, the infatuation of a first crush, the stirrings of new love and AKSJDJDHHSG it’s just soooooo good, especially when Dame Joan Sutherland gets to the soaring heights of the coloratura (the ah-ah-ah portion)

Maria Callas - Rigoletto “Caro nome”. The incomparable Maria Callas! My life has never been the same since I was introduced to Maria Callas’s O Mio Babbino Caro. I slightly prefer Dame Joan’s version, but in keeping with my style of listening to a whole series of “same same but different” how could I ever leave Maria Callas off?

Giuseppe Verdi - Aida Act III introduction. THE BEST STRINGS OF ANY OPERA. THE MELODIC FLUTE LINE THAT TEASES WITH TRILLS AND LEAPS LIKE A GENIE FROM A LAMP. (Ok I stole the second part from Met Opera notes) This was also on heavy rotation when I wrote my Joe/Nicky fanfic. The strings build in pianissimo layers and THE WHOLE THING SOUNDS LIKE MAGIC.

Vittorio Grigolo - La Boheme “Che gelida manina” THIS SONG IS ALSO ABOUT LOVE I had the privilege of watching Vittorio Grigolo sing this in the Met Opera staging of La Boheme, which I also inexplicably love despite the fact that I kinda hate Rent the musical, and Rent is basically a La Boheme ripoff. Go figure. Maybe one day I’ll even write a Joe/Nicky opera AU (but is it an AU when they could plausibly have been friends with Mozart/Verdi/etc)

Jordi Savall - Kouroukanfouga. Look if I can make my fics have audio, this is the song that plays when ~spoiler~ Nicky and Joe meet again at the end of my fic. This song is actually about the constitution of the Mali Empire created after the Battle of Krina in 1235, and it’s found on an album about Ibn Battuta, the Muslim Berber-Moroccan voyager who traveled extremely widely (analogous figures would be Marco Polo or Zheng He). I love the levity of the opening bars in this song, and how it evokes a sense of travel. Jordi Savall is a major figure in reproducing medieval music and you should definitely include him on any Nicky/Joe playlist imo.

Underworld - And I Will Kiss. This song changed my life. First heard at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony, accompanying a performance where pristine green pastures are torn up with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. One day if I still have the stamina for it I will write Industrial Revolution Joe/Nicky because I have so many Socialist™️ feels about it.

Underworld - Caliban’s Dream. Ethereal soprano singing and!! Alex Trimble of Two Door Cinema Club whom I love. This was for the lighting of the Olympic torch at the 2012 London Olympics, and the part of the song that invokes “come together” preceded the lighting of the torch, which was one of the most memorable Olympic torch lightings (the only other one I care about being Cathy Freeman in Sydney 2000)

Rahim AlHaj - NPR tiny desk concert. Sublime. I am currently on a major oud kick and Rahim AlHaj is a virtuouso oud musician and composer. The oud is the granddaddy of all stringed instruments and also I am plotting a fic where one of Joe’s ex boyfriends is an oud player now you know why I’m on this massive oud kick heh

Recomposed by Max Richter - Vivaldi Spring I. This piece is for the second most recent fic I wrote, for The Untamed. This is the wedding song for my modern AU Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. I have a lot of things to say about that fic but this song encapsulates all of it.

That’s it haha I guess I’m not gonna tag anyone but!! Please do the meme if this inspires you to say something about your playlist. I could talk a lot more about these pieces bc I basically made a “fic inspiration” playlist and skdjjdhd ok I’ll stop bc I might be the only person reading this anyways.

[physics-goth]

Thanks for the tag, @astrophysicsblr !

Nickname: Annie, but most people quit using it now that I’m older.

Real Name: Anika

Zodiac: Capricorn sun, Taurus moon, Capricorn rising

Favorite Music & Groups: I go through phases where I only listen to one genre or artist at a time and then won’t revisit it for months, so currently I’m obsessively listening to The Smiths. I like all sorts of music, though.

Sports: I did Judo for awhile before my shoulder decided it was time to quit.

Other Blogs: I have another one but have no idea what it’s called because I rarely use it.

Get Asks: Rarely

Blogs I Follow: A lot

Tumblr Crush: I haven’t had any sort of crush in like four years, virtual or irl

Lucky Number: 7

What Am I Wearing: pajamas and a blanket because my apartment is freezing

Dream Holiday: There are so many places I want to go... but I feel like I’m obligated to say Venice since I’ve wanted to go there since I was six and obsessed with Vivaldi.

Dream Car: A camper van so I could road trip indefinitely

Fave Food: Karjalanpiirakka

Drink of Choice: coffee or vodka

Instrument: I can play piano moderately well and I know like three chords on the guitar

Language: I took four years of Mandarin but absolutely cannot speak it; English is my first and only fluent language

Celebrity Crushes: Laura Jane Grace

Random Fact: Bats can live up to 40 years. This will always blow my mind. There are bats on this earth that are older than me. There are bats old enough to be my mother.

[backofthebookshelf]

Since you mentioned it on fataldrum's polari post, I would love to hear more of your thoughts on Jonah/Elias' vast, eclectic music collection!

I mean assuming we’re talking a dude who’s been alive for two hundred years and has SEEN the advent of recorded music - can you imagine? Can you imagine being a music nerd and suddenly recorded music is a thing you can just have? Sure, some people are always going to be snooty about “oh, live is always better, you just can’t capture the emotion” blah blah blah but this is the one thing Jonah/Elias would not be snooty about because boy howdy the Beholding loves recordings

He’s got an entire archive of recording devices and players. Wax cylinders, gramophones, record players, fuckin’ eight-track tapes. Everything gets transferred onto the new generation of media as soon as it’s available. (He finds it relaxing, and it’s a good chance to update the catalog, re-visit some old favorites.) (Yes, this means he has a slightly terrifying collection of minidiscs.) Elias has recordings of music that’s officially lost to history. He’s not interested in sharing.

(The one thing he is snooty about? Musical innovations getting co-opted by commercialism. Do not talk to him about Elvis. Do not talk to him about Jerry Lee Lewis. Or really, do, because Elias Bouchard going on a well-rehearsed thirty-minute rant about how Elvis doesn’t deserve any credit for anything and the fact that no one has heard of Sister Rosetta Tharpe is an indictment of our entire society is…an experience.)

A not impossible playlist generated from pressing “Random” on Elias’s iTunes library (yeah, he uses iTunes, the iPod was a revolution in portable music but once you start using an Apple product you’re locked into the ecosystem even though now they don’t even put goddamn headphone jacks on their phones and he’d love to transition to a new system but he’s got a ritual to do and an Archivist to keep an eye on and thirty minutes a day on the prison computer is not enough time to get anything accomplished, so he’s kind of stuck):

Richard Thompson, Trafalgar SquareDolly Parton, 9 to 5Bach, selections from The Well-Tempered ClavierTerminator X, Herc’s Message (feat. DJ Kool Herc)Morrissey, The Last of the Famous International PlayboysDead Kennedys, Nazi Punks Fuck OffWaylon Jennings, Just to Satisfy YouCab Calloway, Saint James InfirmaryElton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick RoadShow of Hands, Adieu Sweet Lovely NancyCozy Powell, Dance With the DevilThe Smiths, The Boy With a Thorn in His SideDelibes, the Flower Duet from LakméBessie Smith, After You’ve GoneFall Out Boy, I Write Sins Not MelodiesVivaldi, Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8, RV 269, “Spring”David Bowie, Big BrotherGreen Day, Walking ContradictionElla Fitzgerald, Baby Won’t You Please Come HomeLauryn Hill, Killing Me Softly

(His taste absolutely skews Western and slightly out of date, because he’s a rich white English dude and also because when you’re two hundred years old everything sounds like Kids These Days for the first couple decades, but his go-to emergency TED talk would be the influence of slavery on the development of popular music. It would be thoroughly insensitive but extremely accurate.)

[breadcrumbelina]

I was tagged to answer these 21 questions by @fiftyshadesofkaat

nickname nien, nino, 

zodiac sun sign; Sagittarius & moon sign; Aquarius height 166cm 5′4 feet last thing I searched  on what days I would be able to see the star rain in my regio. One of my summer goals was to see falling stars favourite musicians Cigarettes After Sex, Beach House, Joy Division, The Smiths, The Velvet Underground, David Bowie, Queen, The Marías, Lana Del Rey, ... Do Vivaldi and Prokofiev count too?

song stuck in your head  It’s You, by Robert Schwartzman

if you had a timemachine would you go back in time, or to the future?  I would go back in time and reassure my anxious younger self that I don’t have to worry about certain things. I don’t want to change my past, but I do want to change the way I thought and worried all the time

do i get asks?  no, but I would love to

following a few friends, people I admire, aesthetics I adore, ...

would you rather be rich or famous? be rich. Money can’t buy happiness but money can save lives

amount of sleep I have a history of sleeping problems and insomnia. So I always make sure I’m in bed before midnight. Which currently gives me enough sleep to wake up at 8am

lucky number 15 has always been a special number to me. I can’t declare why

what i’m wearing navy blue trousers with white stripes. A white shirt. And black suspenders

dream job there are currently two directions I would like to go 1) broaden my art course and go to art college. To create things for a living, or become an art teacher if that goes wrong 2) study to become a teacher I want to help people, and make life a bit easier or prettier for others. I want to do so many things and I don’t know if I’ll be able to do all of it

dream trip city trips to New York, Los Angeles, Denmark, Paris, Tokyo, ...

if you were an animal what would you be? an owl

favourite food currently; toast with apricot jam

favourite book The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky. Memories, by Lang Leav Pour l’amour de Marie Salat, by Régine Deforges

favourite movie Carol

favourite games the sims

play any instruments? I try to teach myself piano

languages Dutch, English, French a little bit, and German the tiniest bit describe yourself as aesthetics old written letters, cursive handwriting in black or brown ink, golden details, vanilla scented, soft smiles and warm embraces, sitting in the corner of a library to recite poems you immediatly fell in love with, 

Now I should tag 21 people, but I don’t know that many people so out of curiosity I’ll tag @elisasubba @auroreleony @iwritesadnessnotjoy @dearestvita @elisevanacker @iisab0l

[justdemo]

Transcriptions by bach

TRANSCRIPTIONS BY BACH ARCHIVE

These recordings are housed within the University of Maryland Library System. This dissertation is documented on two compact discs that were recorded from 2009 to 2012 in Dekelboum Concert Hall at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center of the University of Maryland. Pieces that are included on these recordings have been chosen after hours of listening and researching at The International Piano Archives of Maryland. The validity of these transcriptions can be firmly founded on the fact that Bach himself was an avid transcriber of other composers' works, as well as his own music.

TRANSCRIPTIONS BY BACH ARCHIVE

The types of transcriptions recorded can be divided into two categories: transcriptions of instrumental works (such as organ preludes or violin partita) and transcriptions of vocal works (aria or cantata). Jazz Piano Sheet Music Transcriptions Archive Download your favorite jazz. pages - 138 kb) Bach Johann Sebastian Complete Lute Works, Edited for classical guitar. Works studied include transcriptions by one of the more prominent Bach transcribers, Ferruccio Busoni, as well as other transcriptions by 1) German pianist-composers: Max Reger, Eugen d'Albert 2) Russian pianist-composers: Samuil Feinberg, Alexander Siloti, Sergei Rachmaninov 3) American pianist-composers: Kevine Oldham, Olga Samaroff, Angela Hewitt 4) British pianist-composers: Myra Hess, Walter Rummel and 4) Polish pianist-composer: Ignaz Friedman. Jazz lead sheets, transcriptions, practice tools, and more for a. The transcriptions Bach (1685-1750) made during his time in Weimar both for organ (three concertos by Vivaldi and two by Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar) and an astonishing 14 for harpsichord (by various Italian. This dissertation, however, focuses specifically on pianist-composers after the Liszt generation who have continued in the tradition of transcribing Bach's music. The eighteenth century was a very fertile period for transcriptions, reaching its pinnacle among Johann Sebastian Bach’s circle. Major composers such as Liszt and Brahms have all contributed to this movement by conducting and/ or transcribing his music. Although it is commonly believed that Mendelssohn "revived" Bach as a composer in the nineteenth century, it was rather the tradition of playing his music in modem concert settings with modem instruments that was rediscovered through the nineteenth century composers. The purpose of the study is to explore many different examples of this genre, to re-evaluate their significance in the Classical piano repertoire, and to further validate them as one of the main works to be considered in performance settings. share our favorite solos by charles mcneal sax transcriptions, and loops and manage file attachments for joining my minor health issues between this incredible sax transcriptions that. This edition contains choral preludes and famous movements from cantatas and. Clarinet Omnibook for B-flat Instruments: Transcribed Exactly from Artist Recorded Solos Paperback Jby Hal Leonard Corp. This dissertation is a study of transcriptions by various pianist-composers of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Bachs music was to be of central importance for his artistic development.

[thornianblue]

falling in love with Erwin Smith (a life-long love story) [spoiler season 1-3]

1- Vivaldi-Spring 1 (rearranged by Max Richter)

you meet Erwin’s eyes for the first time as he’s on his horse coming back from yet another failed mission with the Survey Corps. it’s love at first sight, you both can feel it blooming in your hearts. that’s when you definitively decided to join the military.

2- BØRNS-Electric Love

the thought of that man and his eyes keep you awake for quite a few nights during your period as a cadet. the feeling grows everytime you meet each other, until a kiss breakes those silences made so loud by the looks you exchanged.

3- Gang of Youths-Achilles Come Down

you finally graduate and think about joining the Survey Corps to stay closer to your lover, knowing all the risks it will bring. you’re both scared for each other’s safety, which makes Erwin insist for you to join the Military Police, persuading you by saying that you would still work close. his eyes make you surrender but the fear of losing him still tortures your heart.

4- Melanie Martinez-Training Wheels

sometimes you manage to chat and you try to spend the most time together: whenever Erwin comes back from a mission you always try to check on him, take care of him, heal his wounds. you cried that one time he came back without an arm, terrified by the thought of worse happening to him, yet you still stayed by his side.

5- Ricky Montgomery-My Heart is Buried in Venice

as Erwin recovers from that bad injury, you spend most of the time together, talking about dreams and fears, dreaming of a better life and maybe even have a family. it seems all so perfect until it comes the day of the mission to close Wall Maria. as you watch him leave, your mind roams among the memories you made these years...

6- Lord Huron-The Night We Met

you think about that first look you exchanged back then and your latest moments together, the night you met last: the ball. as finally humanity was winning on the titans, a ball was thrown to celebrate and you were Erwin’s official partner that night. you go back with your mind to that night...

7- Shostacovitch-Waltz n.2

it was weird for you being surrounded by such important people, being close to the castle and seeing its beauty: you felt like in a fairytale and your prince was there, by your side. “may i have this dance, my dear?” he asked you while the orchestra started playing what you heard people call a waltz and accepted his request, letting him guide you all along as you got lost inside your lover’s eyes, like you alwas do, enchanted by his beauty, your heart running as happiness overflows you.

8- Lana del Rey-Young and Beautiful

you fall asleep knowing that he is getting closer to his destination, a few miles away from realizing his biggest dream, yet still worried for his safety. you pray for him to be safe and come back to you, to live an happier life. “dear lord, when i get to heaven please let me bring my man”.

9- Cigarettes After Sex-Apocalypse

you hear the bells chime around three days later: the Survey Corps is back! you rush to the gate, disappointed when you see so few soldiers, but most of all you can’t find him. when Hanji and Levi see you they ask to talk to you in private and that’s when you get the news: Erwin left this world as one of the most valiant and brave soldiers. the dreams shatter upon your eyes, just like your heart inside your chest. tears don’t have the courage to come out for the shock

10- Beethoven-Moonlight Sonata (1st Movement)

Levi explains every single detail of what happened and how Erwin, in his last moments, refused to become a titan and died as a hero. you didn’t blame anyone, anyone but yourself: when they left you alone, that’s when you started crying thinking about all the things you could have done and how you weren’t by his side as much as you wanted, how all those looks felt wasted now and grieved knowing you won’t see those eyes again anymore. but then you think about his dream of saving humanity, of understanding that world and that’s when you get back up.

11- ABBA-My Love, My Life

you decide to join the Survey Corps and its mission to save the Eldians, to find freedom and save humanity. you fulfill Erwin’s dream by never forgetting him and cherishing his ideals, his hopes and his looks in your heart. after all, he will always be your one and only.

this is my perspective for this playlist, but you can interpret the songs in a different way and it is totally fine, i would actually love to read your ideas and how you percieve it!

[fayofthefandoms]

These are just headcanons with like zero evidence to substantiate them but

Stan is that friend who will go through your spotify playlists and judge you. "Oh, you listen to Harry Styles? ...Okay :/" He has also probably said "I listened to X before it was cool" at least once, unironically. But on the plus side he will totally take you to an obscure underground indie/punk concert and keep looking over at you to check that you're enjoying it.

Kyle has two playlists: "Songs that piss off Stan" and "Songs that don't piss off Stan." He likes the Smiths and other pre-2000s miserable indie bands, until he gets drunk and then suddenly Charlie XCX is the most incredible musician of our time.

Cartman has been banned from DJ-ing at parties after he played "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" 21 times in a row. He stans Britney Spears but claims he's doing it "ironically" or "just to annoy Stan." He's not.

Kenny likes anarchist punk and drum + bass bands like Royal Blood. When he is in a mosh pit no one comes out unscathed.

If you can dance to it, then Butters is into it. He also has the chilledcow "lofi beats to study and relax to" YouTube stream playing constantly in the background. When he's in Professor Chaos mode, he likes to shake things up a bit and listen to Rock n' Roll. (That is, the song "Rock N Roll" by Avril Lavigne. It makes him feel like a rebel.)

Craig pretends not to care about music but he has a secret kpop twitter account where he picks fights people who don't have the same bias as him.

Tweek's taste is niche: he likes 40s wartime-era music because it was specifically written with the mindset of "Let's pretend everything's okay when everything is Not Okay" and he can vibe with that.

Clyde listens to Justin Bieber and is still sad about One Direction splitting up. He and Stan got in a drunken fistfight once over Taylor Swift's album "1989."

Jimmy likes rap but he will leave the room if you start playing Kanye West.

Token thinks humanity peaked with Vivaldi's Four Seasons and we will never get anywhere as good again. Stan is determined to prove him wrong and is constantly sending him links to music that he promises "makes Vivaldi look like Sesame Street." Token leaves him on read.

my headcanons on the boys' music taste:

stan: heavy/death metal (which i love that it's canon). since i love slipknot he does too <3

cartman: kesha, britney spears, justin timberlake, and fergie exclusively. no criticism

kyle: that bad tweenwave technopop shit from you're getting old

kenny: stuff like judas priest and limp bizkit, korn, etc. completely different genre but 100 gecs also

butters: he's shown to like alot of different stuff but all fits in the pop genre,, like britney spears, black eyed peas(?), lorde and sia

feel free to reblog/comment w more!

[shirlleycoyle]

This $200 Laptop Is Like a Chromebook You Can Hack

A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail.

For some reason, despite the fact that our devices can seemingly do anything with an impressive level of polish, there are folks who want to learn from the tech they use.

They want a challenge—and an adventure. I think I’ve learned over the last year or two that I’m one of those people. I primarily like using Hackintoshes despite the fact that the machines are intended for Windows, and I will mess with old pieces of computing history just to see if they uncover new ways of thinking about things.

So when I heard about the Pinebook Pro, I was in. Here was a laptop built on the same ARM architecture primarily used for smartphones and internet-of-things devices, and designed to run Linux. Is it for everyone?

Maybe not. But, if you love an adventure, you should be excited about what it represents.

The only logo you’ll find on this entire device. Image: Ernie Smith

The Pinebook Pro’s hardware does the right things right—and cuts corners thoughtfully

Most companies want to scream out their brand name at you everywhere. Not Pine64, the community-focused maker of single-board computers that has done a lot of branching out in the past year or so.

On its latest laptop, literally nothing on the outside signifies that Pine64 was responsible for building this machine, minus a small pinecone logo on the key where most manufacturers might put a Windows logo.

If there’s a reason for that, it’s rooted in the community around this machine that drives the Pine64 project forward. In an interview from a couple of months ago, Pine64 community manager Lukasz Erecinski told me that the while certain hardware decisions were driven by developers in the space and people in the community.

“We listened and took note of the features the community truly wants, such as privacy switches for the camera, microphone and radios; modern IO interfaces; no excessive branding; end-user repairability, and we tried to deliver the best laptop we can,” he explained.

The delivery part is admittedly not easy for something like this. It took me about two months to get the device directly from Hong Kong, and the Wuhan coronavirus could cause delays for future units. Mine was one of the first units Pine64 produced that had a U.S.-centric ANSI keyboard; all of the devices released before the one I received this month used an Eurocentric ISO keyboard. The manufacturing process here is small, bespoke. Erecinski and the firm’s other main figures are moving carefully as they put these devices into the world.

You’re not buying this machine because you’re looking for something simple and cheap—it’s not like the original Pinebook, a $99 device that is basically a proof of concept that a community-built laptop is an actual thing that could exist. (Linus Tech Tips reviewed it last year, though again, it’s a proof of concept.) You could hit up eBay or your local Target for a cheap Chromebook if you wanted that, and skip out on the wait.

Rather, it’s a weekend-warrior machine, a product for people who think ARM is awesome, who think Linux is awesome, and who like the idea of developing on native hardware, or who want an actual keyboard, rather than a cheap tablet. (Side note: Pine64 is also working on a Linux-based tablet now. And a smartphone. And a smartwatch. Like I said, they’ve been busy.)

There’s a general understanding that, even if this device is only $200 plus shipping, people are doing to get more than $200 of use from it. From that front, I think they did a great job making the device feel nicer than the price point might suggest. The case, with its magnesium trims and plastic top case, wears its budget status thoughtfully. The decision to put metal on the outside, sandwiching a plastic interior, feels inspired, as it’s usually the opposite of what many Chromebook-makers do. It’s a great example of stretching a tight budget in a thoughtful way.

And that’s a common theme of the device, whose creators invested in things users would want (a relatively-beefy-for-budget ARM device, a 1080p matte screen, a useable keyboard, a USB-C port). Sure, corners were cut, but they were cut in places where it makes sense to trim, where the price tag makes them easy to explain away. A few examples:

The trackpad is tiny and plasticky, but perfectly usable. (Suggestion: Don’t click; tap.)

The outer case is a fingerprint magnet in a way most laptops are not, to the point where you wish they gave it an extra layer of coating. Fortunately, it’s also quite good for stickers, which I recommend you use for covering this thing.

And the speakers are cheap, in a bad way—but the Bluetooth works, as does the headphone jack. You don’t buy a device like this for the speakers.

You’re willing to forgive a lot because of the fact that this is a team of experimenters that was willing to put their necks out for a group of people that find a non-Intel-based laptop an awesome proposition. I mean, I certainly did.

It doesn’t come with much in the way of warranty—just a month—which is almost freeing in a way. You can break it, but you can also break it, if you get my drift. It’s not like you spent $2,500 on it.

And even amid the compromises, the device has a huge advantage over your average Chromebook in one important place: The ease of repair and modification. You can open this machine up and replace things. The default eMMC storage can be upgraded; you can get an adapter to install an NVMe SSD blade; and because the device has single-board computer roots, it’s not outside of the realm of imagination that you might be able to put another board inside of this machine in the future, while reusing most of the other parts. This is a $200 laptop with an upgrade path, and that’s a rare thing in 2020—especially for a low-stakes device like this.

There didn’t appear to be anywhere to screw in the NVMe adapter, so I just held it in place with that big yellow sticker. I’ll eventually switch to double-sided tape.

As a part of my research into this, I got a hold of an NVMe adapter (sold separately, delivered much quicker than the computer itself) and tried installing a drive myself. The results weren’t perfect: The adapter doesn’t seem to naturally fit anywhere, and a sticker, announcing changes to the device’s internal design, blocked the spot for the ribbon adapter. When I removed that sticker, I got the ribbon cable in, only to find that there is seemingly no easy way to fit in the adapter, which partly goes under the trackpad. It was just hanging out. Fortunately, I had the sticker to go where screws couldn’t. (I joked on Twitter that it’s a load-bearing sticker.)

There are things that one could quibble about with this design—the hinge could stand to go back a little bit further, for example, and backlit keys would definitely be useful—but I think that they pulled off a lot in an extremely tight budget.

The battery life on this is insane—8 to 10 hours easily. And because it doesn’t use a ton of power, it can charge off a cell phone’s power brick, as long as it uses USB-C (though a barrel plug charger is included). If you were backpacking across a continent and wanted the most lightweight and battery-packed device possible, the Pinebook Pro would be a contender.

There were some areas where the device buckled a bit in my testing. For example, while the device is technically capable of 4K video, plugging it into a USB-C adapter on my 4K monitor was a strugglefest. I’m sure that, if I keep tinkering or find a different cable, I can get it to work. Just like a lot of other things here.

Because honestly, that’s the point of this device.

“Our end-users are very well informed, usually technical and specifically want an ARM laptop.”

— Lukasz Erecinski, discussing the user base for Pine64 devices, which is often very community driven and in the open-source spirit.

Software considerations: Get ready to tinker

The first time you boot into your Pinebook Pro, you’re greeted with a red intro screen, complete with Pine64 logo (the same one on the keyboard), that says, “Open Sesame.”

That description feels pretty accurate. This is a device intended in many ways for discovery of the Linux ecosystem, its benefits and quirks, and what might or might not work out of the box. You don’t buy this because you want to save money that you’d otherwise use for a Chromebook; you buy it because you want to be able to screw around a bit.

By choosing an ARM-based device over x86, you’re cutting down your options for both operating systems and software, but there’s still plenty of stuff there. Most of the major browsers have ARM variants, most notably Chromium and Firefox, and I found the ARM version of Vivaldi quite nice. YouTube playback was perfectly serviceable, and I ran into very few situations where I couldn’t install an app because it had not been designed for ARM-based Linux. There’s reason to expect that situation to improve in the coming years, thanks to the rise of hobbyist computers like this.

So, what about the operating systems? I think this is where my viewpoint gets a little mixed. The default Debian-based build included, with a MATE-based graphical interface, is simple and spartan—not as polished as some of the x86-based alternatives, but still offering plenty to work with. It does the job. If you’re just looking for the machine to work, this is probably the default you’ll want to stick with.

Fortunately for those wanting more than that, trying other operating systems is very doable—with the included MicroSD slot, I was able to throw in different cards and try out numerous community builds that supported this device. With the exception of the Android build, I was able to get every one I tried to work with varying levels of stability.

Chromium OS worked decently for surfing the web, but the offered community build had some stability issues and didn’t allow for easily installation of the software’s pretty-good Linux capabilities. As it’s not a pure Linux build it’s likely not getting as much attention as some of the others, but I hope that changes, as it’s a fairly decent way to surf the web on the cheap and it has some great stretch capabilities.

The Manjaro build (which uses a KDE Plasma desktop interface) was nice, though not my personal cup of tea, as I tend to be more comfortable in Debian/Ubuntu terminals. Probably my favorite of the bunch, though, was the Ubuntu MATE community build, which is more customizable than the default Debian MATE build—although, like Chromium OS, it had some quirks, most notably some compatibility issues with the NVMe drive that prevented the laptop from going to sleep.

If you’re looking for a Linux experience with training wheels, this probably isn’t it, and you’ll be happier setting up an old x86 laptop to try the more diverse ecosystem of Linux variants—among them System76’s simple and thoughtful Pop OS Ubuntu variant, the Mac-like Elementary OS, the switcher-targeted Zorin OS, and the highly polished Chinese-made Deepin.

But I don’t think that’s necessarily a knock on the Pinebook Pro. You should get it because you know you’re going to spend weekends messing around with random settings, or programming. And when you do get things where you like them, you get a device with a nice keyboard, a long battery life, and a fully repairable interior.

This ecosystem is still fairly young, and young ecosystems grow older and more diverse over time. This comes with good sides and bad sides. While you can tinker to your heart’s content with a device like this, it also means that you’re at the mercy of fellow tinkerers when something doesn’t work quite right. That might just lead you to a solution, but because it’s relatively early days in the world of ARM-based laptops, you’re stuck if something doesn’t work.

In a year, the operating system situation is likely to look a lot different because there’s a community pushing it forward. If you buy this, you’re buying into the community as much as the device—and Pine64 has a really interesting community right now, one that will become fundamental to its future growth.

And with that in mind, you can see the potential down the line. In our interview, Erecinski noted that there is room for system-on-a-chip (SoC) gadgets to eventually become useful to more than just the tinkerers that will buy this.

“I feel that we are getting very close to ARM Linux desktop computers being viable as a choice for non-technical end-users,” he said. “We aren’t there just yet, but many ARM SoCs are (at least in theory) perfectly capable of running full desktop environments and software for these SoCs is getting better by the day.”

Just as the original Pinebook was a necessary step to stake out the market, the Pinebook Pro helps set the stage for an eventual maturity. For people that buy this, living through the growing pains is basically the fun part.

“When I see Raspberry Pi-shaped things or slightly bigger, or even smaller, I think to myself, ‘Well, we’re just where the PC was in 1985’—you know, way cheaper than the expensive stuff. People make fun of it, but it’s going to get better faster than the older technologies of stuff. People are going to try things out just to try them, and maybe they’ll succeed.”

— Ed Vielmetti , an employee of the cloud firm Packet and a former journalist, discussing the current shape of the market for ARM-based devices, which he has helped to evangelize through his role with Works on Arm, a collaboration between Packet and Arm that aims to make the case for ARM in data centers.

The interesting thing about the Pinebook Pro is not that it exists and works effectively, but that it paints an image of a future where ARM chips could genuinely prove a better use case on the go. The fact that these chips have found a home in our smartphones and connected devices makes one wonder about the long-term potential of a device that took those skills back to more traditional computing form factors.

The board at the center of the Pinebook Pro.

It would be a fascinating homecoming of sorts for a chipset that gained momentum in low-power use cases, but whose roots are actually in desktop computers produced by the British firm Acorn.

Certainly, there have been efforts to bring ARM to the laptop realm—most notably the Microsoft Surface Pro X, released last year, that featured impressive hardware, although reviewers were less impressed with the compromised software. Ed Vielmetti, a former journalist who has helped ARM’s reach in the data center through his employer Packet, has tried some of the Windows-based ARM machines, which he notes often have impressive battery life and connectivity compared to equivalent Intel devices.

But Vielmetti, who first gained a professional interest in ARM through exposure to the Raspberry Pi when working on a solar energy project, noted that in many ways, the play for the ARM chipset in more traditional computing form factors is in the long term—rather than right now.

“If it’s like this quarter, something has to be on for some of us this quarter, then you probably want to be, you know, parked very close to what your customers use,” he told me in an interview last summer. “But if you’re looking a little bit out or even further out, and you’re looking at the landscape of changes in the chip industry, and you want to target your software at the people who have the hardware that’s the best, then I think you have to be looking at ARM.”

And there has been growing interest in this specific proposition. Last year, for example, Linus Torvalds noted in an online discussion that there was a growing need for ARM developer boxes if ARM is to have a shot in the world of servers. “Without a development platform, ARM in the server space is never going to make it,” he noted. (The Pinebook Pro is a good start.)

And then there’s the general consumer level, which has seen some exposure to ARM-based laptops running Chrome OS. The wildcard, of course, is Apple, which has long been rumored to be working on an ARM-based Mac. Both Vielmetti and Erecinski noted it was well-positioned to push things forward.

“They have extensive experience with ARM from their phones and their kernel, and presumably also much of the stack already runs on the architecture,” Erecinski said. “Perhaps more importantly, Apple has very loyal customers who would buy an ARM laptop with little or no reservation.”

There are a lot of ways this could end up looking, and Pine64’s image of an ARM-based future may not be the one that wins in the market, although it makes an intriguing present. Another potential path forward involves a recent Kickstarter success story called the NexDock 2, which effectively is a laptop-like shell for ARM-based smartphones with built-in desktop support. It makes sense—after all, many Android phones are already more powerful than desktop computers.

Maybe the future of ARM computing looks like the Pinebook Pro; maybe it looks like the NexDock 2; maybe it even looks like whatever Apple is rumored to be working on. But we may be on the cusp of a future where a chipset famously used in smartphones starts appearing in more traditional computing forms—and the Pinebook Pro shows that the tinkerers are out front here.

Pine64, by building this device and others, is for now at the vanguard of ARM-based computing, but its goals are more modest than most. Speaking about its efforts to support a Linux-based phone ecosystem—another area where Pine64 is at the vanguard—Erecinski underlined the firm’s simple, open-source roots.

“We are not out to sell a million units, dethrone Android and iOS, or build a PINE64 empire,” Erecinski explained. “This project will never be a financial success because we make no money off it—we donate all revenue to our partner projects building the OSes. But that is besides the point.”

This $200 Laptop Is Like a Chromebook You Can Hack syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[hellyes-tommccamus]

Mutant X [TV] (2001-2004)

S01E19 “Nothing to Fear”

[spoilers]

Sci-fi/action

Tom McCamus plays a main role in season 1

Nothing to fear is a shortened version of the often misquoted “there is nothing to fear except fear itself”. The actual quote, which comes from Franklin D Roosevelt’s inaugural address:

“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

Apart from proliferating an incorrect quote, the episode title is apt. The episode deals with fear, which is always a good device to show different sides to characters. This is also probably my favourite episode of Mutant X. I like the dark tone coupled with the physical darkness of the sets, the fact that it’s not a typical episode, and of course that Tom is in a lot more scenes than usual. I have to admit that my motivation to write about the rest of the series will most likely wane after this one. It’s all downhill from here.

The episode opens with a chase through a warehouse. Abandoned warehouses that are easy to get into are so commonplace on TV. Shalimar and Brennan are trying to help New Mutant Henry Voight (Louis Ferreira) escape from the GSA. Henry uses his powers on Shalimar by pulling some sort of glowing thing out of her head. Brennan rescues her but she is in a lot of pain.

Back at the lab, Shalimar dons the Lab Underwear and Adam does a scan on her. Shalimar thinks he just used his powers to get inside her head, but Adam tells Emma to keep an eye on her.

Mason visits Henry in the abandoned train car that he seems to have made into his home. There are torn out photographs of a woman hanging from the ceiling, in an interesting if unhinged idea of decor. It’s irregular that Mason doesn’t send an agent out to visit Henry, or call him in to Genomex, but it’s nice to see a change of location. Mason wants some information from Mutant X but is concerned that Henry just wants to torture them. Mason leaves him a (now hilariously outdated) cell phone.

Back at Sanctuary, Brennan covers up a napping Shalimar and kisses her on the head. I love the use of lighting in this episode. Everything is subtly or dramatically darker.

Jesse looks into Henry’s background. They know only that he is an unspecified psionic and that his wife died in service of the GSA.

Shalimar gets up and Emma catches her turning off the alarms. She tries to stop her but Shalimar hits her. The GSA break in in their best operation we have ever seen, both in numbers and in organisation. They grab Emma, and then drag Jesse and Brennan out of their bedrooms. It bothers me a little that Adam has built this immense building inside a mountain, but makes his team sleep in tiny rooms with slatted sliding doors. Is he violently opposed to privacy or something?

Adam tries to fight them off but they grab him too. Shalimar just watches all of this happen, looking horrified at herself but not making a move to intervene. Mason approaches her and tells her her team will never forgive her. She grabs hold of him and threatens to kill him, but he tells he that Henry is the one in control. And now it’s clear that this is all a fake scenario inside her head that Henry has created. She fights off dozens of GS Agents but is finally captured in a neck restraint.

Brennan finds her and Adam looks at her and finds that she is in a coma. Emma wants to help her but Adam warns against it. It’s unusually dark in the lab, giving it a sinister, X-Files vibe.

Shalimar is restrained at the GSA. Mason taunts her about betraying her team and shows her Emma being tortured. He wants information about the New Mutant underground in exchange for her freedom.

Mason visits Henry again. When he enquires about his progress, Henry uses his powers on him to show him what he has put into Shalimar’s mind. Mason is angry at being touched but compliments Henry on his impression of him. He again warns Henry against torturing her too much. I prefer the episodes where we see a more human and reasonable side to Mason. It’s much more interesting to believe that he thinks he doing the best he can to protect humanity (with a few casualties of course) than believing he is just a heartless tyrant. We see both extremes in different episodes. Perhaps he is a good actor and either the cold and uncaring or the considerate sides to him are fake. Even though I would like to know more about Mason as a character, the mystery works for him.

Mason can’t help but walk into the photographs on strings in Henry’s squat, and he asks who the woman is. Henry has to tell him that she worked for the GSA but he doesn’t remember her.

Back in Shalimar’s/Henry’s dreamland, Mason is frightening Shalimar with a flamethrower. This is the first time we actually see Mason wearing something other than a pinstriped suit. Shalimar suffers a burn in real life. While this isn’t realistic, it illustrates a true concept. Mental and emotional pain has real negative effects on the body. Research has shown for instance that a “broken heart” actually weakens heart tissue.

Emma ignores Adam’s warning and enters Shalimar’s nightmare and tells her it isn’t real. Henry notices this, and through Mason, tells her that her friends can’t help her.

Brennan and Jesse try to track Henry’s whereabouts and decide to check out a train yard. As is often the case on this show, (for probably time constraint reasons) the first place they decide to look happens to be exactly where the person they are looking for is. They conveniently wander into the right train car and start snooping about while talking loudly. Jesse wonders who Henry’s wife was fighting when she died, and neither of them remember her. But he posits that Henry thinks it was them and blames them. It’s odd that none of them remember Henry’s wife. We don’t learn what her mutant power was, so perhaps it was something about disrupting memory?

Henry gets Jesse with his power. Brennan runs after him but he escapes. Brennan warns Jesse not to go to sleep. And I’m suddenly struck by the fact that this episode may be heavily influenced by Nightmare on Elm Street. Which I have never seen, but thanks to The Simpsons and other parodies, I do not need to.

Jesse mentions he isn’t afraid of anything except for being buried alive. Meanwhile Brennan realises that Henry also got him with his power.

Emma tries to keep Jesse walking about so he doesn’t fall asleep, but he eventually lies down. As he is drifting off, Adam aggressively reminds him that whatever he sees isn’t real.

Jesse finds himself trapped in a stasis pod. But fully clothed and conscious. He panics but tells himself it isn’t real. Mason appears and tells him that it is real then walks away. Jesse panics even more and Mason offers him freedom in exchange for information. When Jesse doesn’t offer any Mason tells him that Shalimar was no use either, and hints that she is dead.

Adam says he is going to give Brennan some more fenaproxen, which I assume is a made up drug name. There is a drug of that name made by one Chinese company but it appears to be an antidepressant. It didn’t work on Jesse, so perhaps Adam was clutching at straws. He completely missed the obvious solution of making coffee.

Brennan denies having any fears but then admits to being afraid of his powers being used against him. Which is exactly what Henry does. Brennan tries to reason with him and tells him that the GSA falsified reports about his wife.

Emma looks at a photo of Henry’s wife and from that has the idea to go into the dream and talk to him. Adam tells he it’s too dangerous and says he should go. Of course he has some technological nonsense that will replicate Emma’s power. I don’t know why he thinks it’s too dangerous for Emma to go in. He says because she’s a psionic, but wouldn’t that mean that she has more control, not less? It isn’t as if he has been able to get any of the rest of the team (of non psionics) out of there.

Mason visits Henry again. Henry tells him to be patient, and then falls asleep. He finds himself in the dream version of Genomex. Somehow Emma has lured him there by listening to a Vivaldi piece that his wife played. Henry takes control of Brennan and uses his powers on her through him.

Emma falls asleep and finds herself in dreamworld Genomex, blind.

Henry calls Mason and tells him that he blames him as well as Mutant X for his wife’s death. He pulls Mason into the dreamscape. And his fear turns out to be very 1984. He is in a cage full of rats. Significantly less scary than the ordeal of Winston Smith, but Mason is vulnerable to anything carrying disease.

Adam uses his EDD to flash lights on him and move into the dreamworld. Henry says he isn’t going to let her go. Adam tells him the GSA reports were falsified and that his wife is actually alive, in section 9, a highly secure storage facility.

Adam takes Henry to talk to Mason. Mason wonders if he is real or a horrible figment of his imagination. I think this line is telling about what happened in the past. Mason must believe Adam did something terrible to him and had nightmares about him as a result. Adam makes him tell Henry what a section 9 is. Mason eventually tells him that section 9 is stasis and that she is alive, but still remembers nothing about her. Which means there must actually be more of a management structure at Genomex than I suspected.

At Sanctuary, the Mutant X team start to wake up. Mason is in a bad state, he awakes on a bed in the lab with lots of wires attached to him. He instructs a doctor to release Henry’s wife from stasis and make sure he finds her. Adam wakes up last. They assume Henry is going to get his wife back and decide to let them go off on their own.