#this is like 90% scheming and 10% concert

[solar-halos]

odesta baby fic!! except he’s not a baby he’s 14 and is trying his hardest to sneak out of the house to go to a concert with his besties!!

[einsteinsugly]

How I would overhaul That 90s Show, via my verse. Downstairs People (or The Kids are Alright, I haven't decided).

The Premise: 1998/99. Away from the city lights, it's either summer camp or spending a couple of weeks at their grandparents' abode for the Forman and Hyde kids. With lots of adventure, and lots of shenanigans. Just like the good 'ol days.

Here, there are really no clear parallels to the OG gang, other than Chelsea being an artsier Donna and Kate having main character syndrome like Eric. They're tweens (like they should be), figuring out themselves, with no filter. No Disney-esque facade, no superficial diversity. It's a deep dive, into what makes kids tick, as they interact with the world around them. Much like season 1 of That 70s Show, whereas Netflix's That 90s Show? Reeks of The Conners (so. much. retconning, to the point of it being an obvious AU), and Girl Meets World. A dumpster fire mixed with outright mediocrity.

Main:

Kate Forman: Eric and Donna's 12/13 year old daughter, and the central character of the series. In Chicago, she's the endearing popular girl with straight As. As a budding activist, and with a bohemian flair. Can she reinvent herself in Point Place, and can she ever relax and just be a typical kid, with typical adventures?

Becca Hyde: Jackie and Hyde's 12/13 year old daughter, who's struggling to come to grips with her budding bisexuality. She has a crush both on Leonardo DiCaprio and Lindsay Lohan. Her on-off boyfriend Danny, and her best friend Kate. And meeting Mel brings it all to light, slowly but surely.

Adrian Forman: Fez and Laurie's 13/14/15 year old son. Abandoned by his mother at a very young age, he has little to nothing in common with his flamboyant, bisexual father. He spends his summer with his grandparents every summer, because he identifies so much more with them. Red in particular. But as he goes through growing pains, and lovingly eyes the girl next door, he'll have to confront the fact that maybe, just maybe? He isn't as much like his grandfather as he thinks, as the generational divide becomes more and more apparent.

Chelsea O'Connor: The girl next door, and the granddaughter of Red's childhood best friend Arch. Quiet but rebellious, she's an artistic soul with a love of music. Her parents, Edie (Arch's daughter) and Elliot, are local music teachers with nightly "concerts" that drive Red crazy. Her parents might be...eccentric, but at least they helped bring Red and Arch back together again, after decades apart.

James Hyde: Jackie and Hyde's 10/11 year old son, and the "little brother" figure for Adrian. Well, and he's Becca's literal little brother, and he drives her insane. With his wild schemes, and entrepreneurial dreams.

Leah Forman: Eric and Donna's 8/9 year old daughter, who loves stirring the pot. Green Day is her soundtrack, and she's having the time of her life. With her best friend James by her side, and not those snotty girls at stupid camp.

*****

Recurring:

Kevin and Daniel "Danny" Acosta: Buddy Morgan's stepsons, and Leo's great-grandsons. They spend their weekends with their mother (and Leo's granddaughter) Maura. Kevin is Adrian's best friend, a STEM nerd to the max. And Danny is a reckless, rebellious skater boy, and Becca's on-off boyfriend. Who Hyde hates.

Melanie "Mel" Parker: Raquel's daughter, Colette's niece, and Becca's secret girlfriend. She drags a socially awkward Becca to many local hangouts, from Mt Hump to Grooves.

Arthur "Arch" Holland: Chelsea's grandfather, Edie's father, and Red's childhood best friend. Oh, and current best friend.

Eric: Aw, Dad has a best friend!

Red: Wipe that damn smirk off of your face!

They fell out after fighting over a girl in high school, and they firmly went their separate ways. With Red going the more conventional route, and with Arch floating around for awhile before starting a construction company. Ever since '80, when the O'Connors moved next door, they've been reconstructing their friendship. Step by step.

Hannah Kelso: Kelso and Brooke's 13/14 year old daughter. She loves the Backstreet Boys, all things Disney, and animals (including stuffed animals). In 1998, she chooses summer camp ("it was my last chance, to be a kid!"), and in 1999? She chooses to hang out with her boyfriend Tommy in Chicago, but Fez and Kelso still try to set her up with Adrian, with bad results.

Hannah: But Daddy, I have a boyfriend!

Kelso: C'mon, you guys would be like Red and Kitty!

Hannah: And Adrian has a girlfriend!

Fez (with a gasp): I didn't know that!

Kelso (patting Fez's shoulder): Now you do.

Hannah (loudly clearing her throat): That means you can stop trying to set us up...

Kelso (with a crazy laugh): Yeah, right...

Fez (interjecting): Rome wasn't built in a day.

[sublimeobservationarcade]

Australia Fast Becoming One Of The Most Inequitable Nations On Earth

Recent research published by The Australia Institute confirms that the decade 2009-2019 was the most inequitable, in terms of wealth-growth-share, in Australia’s history. A decade overseen by the Coalition of Liberals and Nationals on the federal stage. A mining boom and surging  property market has rocketed 90% of new wealth growth into the hands of the top 10% of earners and owners in Australia during this period. Australia fast becoming one of the most inequitable nations on earth should not surprise many, as they have supported policies pushing the nation in this direction.

Inequality In Australia 2009-19 On World Record Pace

Australians have been voting out of their hip pockets for some time now. The wealthy are more concerned with increasing their own wealth than any ideas of fairness or a fair go for all Australians. They voted in a Coalition government that flattened the tax rate making it less progressive and thus much more unfair to the poor. A Coalition that went after the poorest Australians via the Robodebt scheme, in a misguided and nasty attempt to paint them as welfare cheats. This spectacularly backfired and cost us the tax payers $1.8 billion in a class action settlement. It also cost the lives of several vulnerable Australians, who killed themselves after being wrongly accused of owing large sums of money. All Australians are equally responsible for sitting back and letting this scheme go on for 5 years, indifferent to the suffering of the poor among us.

Australian Inequality Championed By The Coalition

Tony Abbott, Scott Morrison, Alan Tudge, Stuart Robert, Marise Payne and Christian Porter were all gung ho zealots leading Australia down a road toward greater inequality and less compassion for those less fortunate. Australia used to be a largely equitable place, a land of the fair go, but that state has been rescinded long ago. The Coalition pushed an Americanisation onto Australia, with attempts to change our higher education system and they would have done the same to the health insurance system if possible. Privatisation has delivered huge windfalls for a small coterie of wealthy mates and no benefits for consumers, as seen in the energy sector, where prices continue to climb and promised savings are like the Tasmanian Tiger- rarely sighted.

Lantern Slide - Economic Cycles, circa 1930s-1940s by Manufacturer: Beavis Photographic Studio is licensed under CC-PDM 1.0 Neoliberalism is the great conservative con promising the trickle down effect. The wealthy make massive profits and the average Australian gets bugger all. Everything now is pay as you go and services are reduced across the spectrum. The rich get much richer and the poor get poorer over the life of the ordinary Aussie. The conservative push is for less regulation and oversight. All the regulatory bodies in Australia are toothless tigers, as was revealed in the Royal Commission into the banks and financial sector. The same with the aged care sector, where promises about caring for your elderly are hardly worth the paper they’re printed on. It is convenient for Australians to believe these things, however, as it lessons the guilt for not looking after their own parents and grandparents. We get the governments we deserve. Australia fast becoming one of the most inequitable nations on earth is no surprise to those elderly being maltreated in institutional care. Wage growth in Australia has stagnated over the last decade and a half. The Coalition has been union bashing for many years and this in concert with the Murdoch media empire has seen a huge decline in the union presence by membership numbers in Australia. The workers have lost their united voice and wages have stagnated what a surprise. Australians are still too dumb to realise the correlation. The media in Australia has been an oligopoly bordering on monopoly in many cities and states. The arch conservative voice of Murdoch’s newspapers and networks all sing from the same right wing song sheet.  Australians have been too dumb and apathetic to do anything about this for a long time. Governments have been complicit in this, especially the Coalition changing the media ownership rules to serve Murdoch. Only the ABC has maintained its independence and the Coalition embarked on a virulent campaign to tone down Auntie for many years. It has been effective with most journalism neutered into a bland rendition of what it once was. Again, Australians seem to lack the nous to understand that private enterprise media, corporate media, always backs its advertisers at the expense of true objectivity in reporting the news. Murdoch replaced investigative journalism with opinion based editorial and advertorial in his papers and on his radio and TV networks. They tell the stories the way they want it to sound. You don’t hear these folks warning about inequality, despite it happening at a world record pace here in Australia. Mateship in Australia is reserved for corporates mates looking out for each other in divvying up Australia’s wealth. Australia fast becoming one of the most inequitable nations on earth – thanks to the Coalition.

Photo by Dustin Tray on Pexels.com Tony Abbott played politics with climate change and so did all his Liberal mates that followed. I seriously would like to see these people prosecuted at the Hague for crimes against humanity. Australian efforts to transition from fossil fuels in the energy sector have been put back decades. It will now be far more painful and demand much more severe action to meet the existential challenge ahead. Our children will not be thanking the Liberal Party and the Nationals. Peter Dutton is playing politics with the Voice to Parliament and Uluru Statement from the Heart. The Liberals and Nationals are once again attempting to derail an important national move toward recognition of our Indigenous brothers and sisters. How do you think Aboriginal Australia went in getting their fair share of the wealth growth during 2009-19? How do you think the many Indigenous Aussies are doing in the bush in terms of getting their fare share of Australian wealth? Do you think that it has been a level playing field? Get real Australia and stop looking at yourselves in the mirror with rose coloured glasses on. Out of sight, out of mind indifference is your default position.

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com The richer are getting richer and all you care about is getting a share for yourself and your family. The super wealthy are becoming even more outrageously wealthy and you sit back and applaud. Then you listen to right wing shock jocks complain about crime in Alice Springs. What do you think is going to happen if you apathetically allow some folks to take the lot and leave slim pickings for the rest? Social unrest and crime waves are already happening. You did nothing, you voted out of self-interest time and time again. Don’t complain to me when the shit hits the fan. Be warned. Inequality breeds violent reprisals born out of the bitterness of always being short-changed by life. The Australian fair go is a sham, probably a furphy even from back then. Australia fast becoming one of the most inequitable nations on earth and you sit idly by. ©MidasWord Read the full article

[johannesviii]

Top 12 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2013

The best year in a trio of awesome years for hits. So awesome, in fact, I had to leave several excellent songs out of the list, even with two additional slots, and limit the list to songs I actually put on my mp3 player at one point or another.

What’s that? People usually call it a bad year? Well screw them.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

The year I stopped working in Paris, found a job closer to home that finally made me feel helpful in the grand scheme of things, and I finally had more free time. Goodbye daily trains. I also went to some concerts! This never happened before.

2013: also the year when just about every band and artist I liked decided to make a good album. Except Depeche Mode. Depeche Mode made Delta Machine. It wasn’t great. But, uh, let’s see, Placebo made Loud Like Love (with the fantastic A Million Little Pieces), VNV Nation made Transnational, Daft Punk made Random Access Memories... Nine Inch Nails came back with Hesitation Marks, which is pretty great with a couple of fantastic songs. Lady Gaga made the vastly underrated ArtPop! Even Eminem made a pretty decent album! Eminem! In the year of our lord 2013! And The 1975 made their debut album. They would eventually become one of my favorite bands of the 2010s, but not yet, though. And Indochine redeemed themselves by releasing Black City Parade, their absolute best album of the decade.

However, despite Indochine’s excellent effort and the return of Nine Inch Nails, the album of the year, at least to me, was Kveikur by Sigur Rós. At that point, I had been following their stuff for ten years, and this album still blew my goddamn mind. It’s so heavy and dark and so different from what they had been doing since Agaetis Byrjun. It’s loud and textured and industrial and yet, there’s so much light above the dark. They out-NIN’ed Nine Inch Nails. There isn’t a single track I don’t love on this album. It’s their best one in my humble opinion.

As far as unelligible songs go, boy, where do I start. Uh. Copy of A and Came Back Haunted (Nine Inch Nails), certainly, A Million Little Pieces (Placebo) as I already mentioned, Memoria and College Boy (Indochine - I’m actually shocked they aren’t on the French top 100), Chocolate by The 1975, and most infuriating of all, Castle of Glass by Linkin Park, which is imho their best song of the 2010s. Oh well.

But there’s still a shit ton of stuff which was elligible but didn’t make the list. Here’s a lot of honorable mentions. There were like ten more of them initially, mind you.

Sirens Call (Cats On Trees) - You know how in just about every top ten post I’ve made so far, there’s a song where I’m like “if I had better taste this would be higher”? This is this song for 2013.

Don’t You Worry Child (Swedish House Mafia) - Catchy but borderline annoying. Still very good.

Counting Stars (One Republic) - This is so happy and catchy. More songs like this nowadays, please.

I Cry (Flo Rida) - Still elligible. Still great. Still not on the list.

Ho Hey (The Lumineers) - Same thing here, sadly.

Animals (Martin Garrix) - I called Bangarang from the previous list a perfect stim song, and this is in the same ballpark. Not as good, but great shapes and colors all around.

Berserk (Eminem) - That song has a lot of really bad lines, but also a lot of much needed energy, it’s a ton of fun, and I love the “say f█ck it before you kick the bucket” part of the chorus. I was so glad to hear Eminem having fun again. Would certainly have made the list in a more mediocre year. Not the most infuriating thing I had to leave out of the list, though.

Radioactive (Imagine Dragons) - THIS IS IT THE APOCALYPSE OH WOHO no I don’t have anything intelligent to say, it’s just great.

Best Song Ever (One Direction) - This is my favorite song from that band. It might be because it sounds suspiciously like Baba O’Riley. If you think I’m gonna complain about people ripping off good songs, please check my entry about I Gotta Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas a few top 10s before this one.

Wait. Waiiit. What if the “best song ever” they can’t remember in the lyrics WAS Baba O’Riley?? Wouldn’t that be the best meta song ever? What do you think? I mean, that one could indeed claim the title of best song ever.

Get Lucky (Daft Punk) - I know. I know. But I couldn’t put it on the list. It’s not my favorite song from the album, it was overplayed, and even if it’s extremely good it stays roughly at the same level for the entirety of the song. I love it, but I had to draw the line somewhere and cut the list. I didn’t want to make another top 15.

Carry On (fun.) - This was the last cut from the list. It was a really painful one. Not my favorite song from them, but still very, very good.

There’s been lists where I had to put filler. If I had to put actual grades to them, some songs I put on some lists would get a 6/10 or even a 5/10 for really bad years (looking at you 1990). Sometimes, I had to put stuff I’d grade 7/10 as high as #3.

If I had to grade this 2013 list according to my personal taste in music, #12 would get an 8/10, #11 would get a 9/10, and everything in the top ten would either be a 9,5 or a 10. No joke. That’s how good that year was for hits.

Let’s go.

12 - My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light’Em Up) (Fall Out Boy)

US: #40 / FR: Not on the list

There you have it. Three songs from a band I consider pretentious asshats ended on my lists. Including this one, in a year where I decided to severely limit my options for songs. And at the time? I thought it was just an okay song, way too slow but okay. Not great. At all.

It took it about three whole years to grow on me, and it also took me a while to actually know what it was about, and as I said previously, framing is everything ; knowing this song basically said “we’re back, and we’ve changed, and you’re not gonna like it so you’re gonna feel betrayed and you’re gonna burn your old posters, and in the end you’re also gonna betray us” makes it a lot, lot better. I especially love the “Burn everything you love then burn the. ashes” line with the weird pause for emphasis.

It just goes stomp, stomp, stomp. It’s heavy. You can’t dance to it. You can’t even have fun while listening to it. But you can certainly stomp along, and feel angry, and, yes, betrayed, and three years after 2013, I certainly needed that kind of song. A lot. You know exactly why.

11 - Burn (Ellie Goulding)

US: Not on the list / FR: #54

I discovered Doctor Who at the very, very end of 2013, and for some reason I associate this song with Martha’s journey during the year that never was at the end of S3, trying to convince the entire Earth to fight back against the Master. That’s all I have to say about this song. It’s great.

10 - Instant Crush (Daft Punk ft Julian Casablancas)

US: Not on the list / FR: #26

So yep, Get Lucky isn’t my favorite song on Random Access Memories, and thank you French charts for allowing me to put this one on the list instead.

Like a ton of people, I couldn’t figure out what the chorus was, apart from a couple of isolated words, and that felt exactly like being 10 and trying to decipher songs with my limited English. And then I checked the lyrics, and they were mostly variations on “I don’t want to be alone” and they rhyme “go” with “go”, so, uh, nothing of value was lost that day. And it still sounds fantastic.

9 - Applause (Lady Gaga)

US: #37 / FR: #66

Yes, there’s some really stupid shit in the lyrics and the theme of the song itself isn’t particularly inspiring, but that chorus is a happy burst of fuzzy bright angular shapes, and it’s so energetic it feels like you could phase through walls by sheer force of will while listening to it. It would be even higher if the lyrics were better, I swear.

8 - Papaoutai (Stromae)

US: Not on the list / FR: #4

And the boss of cleverly written hit songs strikes again. Pretty sure that one, like Alors On Danse, is well known even if you don’t speak French. As I understand it, apparently French teachers like to use it in class. But yeah, just in case: it’s a song about his absent father. My favorite part:

Un jour ou l'autre on sera tous papas (One day or another we’ll be dads) Et d'un jour à l'autre, on aura disparu (And one day or the next, we’ll be gone) Serons-nous détestables? (Will we be despicable?) Serons-nous admirables? (Will we be admirable?) Des géniteurs ou des génies (Parents or geniuses) Dites-nous qui donne naissance aux irresponsables? (Tell us who birthes irresponsible people?) Ah, dites-nous qui, tiens (Ah, tell us who ; weird) Tout le monde sait comment on fait des bébés (Everybody knows how to make babies) Mais personne ne sait comment on fait des papas (But nobody knows how to make dads)

And it’s also horribly catchy. And it was kind of a meme here. It was everywhere. I’m surprised it wasn’t even higher than that on the French year end top 100.

7 - Underwater (Mika)

US: Not on the list / FR: #70

Why do I love this song so much even though I usually hate songs like that. This is the kind of romantic bullshit Robbie Williams does, and for the record I absolutely hate Angels, and Underwater even sounds a bit like Angels, and it also has the same kind of corny central metaphor. So. Why do I love Underwater again? How can I justify this? I’ve got no clue.

We don’t deserve Mika.

6 - I Need Your Love (Calvin Harris ft Ellie Goulding)

US: #56 / FR: #51

By now you must all be extremely tired of reading me describing songs in visual ways but this song is the sound equivalent of some sort of light show mixed with Dance Dance Revolution patterns. It’s incredibly kinetic and full of joyful, glittering energy, and I love it so goddamn much.

As a 90s kid who loved eurodance, I’m incredibly grateful this kind of music still exists and is still charting.

5 - Treasure (Bruno Mars)

US: #30 / FR: #23

Speaking of nostalgia. Well, not really, since I wasn’t born in the era this is trying to mimic, but still. I don’t have anything to say about this, apart maybe from the fact this is the song that finally made me like Bruno Mars.

4 - Hey Brother (Avicii)

US: Not on the list / FR: #18

I already mentioned how much I loved Avicii’s music when I briefly talked about Levels, and Hey Brother is even better. As you might know I have a little brother and as it is often the case with siblings we fought a bit but we also shared a lot of things, and games, and weird private jokes, and yeah that song can occasionally make me cry a fair bit if I’m being honest.

Also, it’s kind of my main theme song for Charley and C’rizz, so, yeah, it’s just another layer of Feelings(tm).

3 - I Will Wait (Mumford & Sons)

US: #52 / FR: Not on the list

As you might have noticed, there’s one genre that is conspicuously absent from my lists as far as the US hit songs are concerned, and that’s country. I’ve got nothing against country music, I just rarely find it visually interesting. Now I do like folk rock on the other hand, but its big era is long gone, and it’s quite rare to hear anything from it in the charts nowadays. I liked Ho Hey by the Lumineers, but I always thought it was a little bit too slow.

And then I found Babel by Mumford & Sons at the library, gave it a try, loved it, felt like discovering a modern band version of Bob Dylan with simpler lyrics, and this isn’t my favorite song on the album and it’s still at #3 on this list. Quality, man, just quality.

My favorite song from the album is Lover of the Light, by the way.

2 - Can’t Hold Us (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis)

US: #5 / FR: #8

Sometimes you need angry fight songs, sometimes you need energetic fight songs, and sometimes you need happy fight songs. And when something combines the last two, it’s like you caught a star in a Mario game and you’re f█cking unstoppable.

If Macklemore doesn’t get more hit songs at some point in the near future I’m gonna punch a wall.

1 - Roadgame (Kavinsky)

US: Not on the list / FR: #44

This song has no music video. It was still an enormous hit.

As you may recall, I already said once or twice that I liked to hang out at the disc store after class while I was in highschool and uni, and it still happened regularly after I started to work. Even nowadays, if I had a really, really bad day, there’s a good chance I’ll go there and spend at least an hour there just listening to stuff.

So here I was, one fine (actually bad) day, and this song was playing, and I was mesmerised, and for the first time ever, I felt the need to find a vendor and ask what was playing. I found one and the guy instantly beamed and went “oooooh I picked that album to play it in the store today! :D That’s Kavinsky, he’s great, here, have a listen” but it was already getting late so... I trusted him and basically bought the album blind.

Best decision ever. On top of being one of the best albums of the 2010s, OutRun is a concept album presented as if it was the soundtrack of a movie that never existed, about a young guy getting killed in a car crash in 1986 and somehow fusing with his car mentally and reappearing as some sort of technological zombie in 2006. And Roadgame is one of the best songs on the album if not the best. Well, my favorite song on it is actually Testarossa Autodrive, but you get my point.

I was like “there’s no way this is going to be big”, and I was dead wrong, thankfully. As a big fan of electronic music full of lights and flashes and colors but with dark overtones, I couldn’t be happier about this being one of the sounds of the year. Just fantastic stuff.

It’s 2020, man. Please drop that second album. We’re ready to have our minds blown all over again. Just do it.

Also, thank you random vendor from the disc store.

Next up: I have no idea why some people call 2014 a really bad year for hit songs tbh

[curestardust]

Dust Watched: Tokyo 7th Sisters: Bokura wa Aozora ni Naru

Genres: Girl Idols // 1 movie (1h 16m)

Obligatory “I don’t know anything about the source material so this review is solely based on the movie” disclaimer.

✧  story  ✧

So, the story of this 1 hour long movie is that there’s no story. I wish I were kidding. We’re told that there’s an “idol ice-age” in which a group called 777☆SISTERS... well, exists. We aren’t shown much of anything about how popular they’re in the beginning of the anime before the “story” begins. The group is at an idol studio called Nanastar however they find out that one of the most prolific idol studios is going to be shut down. But it can be saved if they can fill the concert hall. This is a pretty generic premise for an idol anime so I’m not sure how they managed to mess this up. In the end, nothing that happened particularly matters in the grand scheme of things and I just came away wondering what the point of this whole movie even was.

✧  characters  ✧

In my opinion, this is where the core problem lies with this movie. The members of 777☆SISTERS all stand out in their own ways. The first 10 minutes of the movie is spent introducing them in a fun relay fashion and while one might not remember all 12(!) members’ names, they are easy to recognize and despite the huge number of female main characters (which is actually 13 including the manager) it never becomes too cluttered. I think this movie would’ve been quite good if it focused on the girls primarily.

But it doesn’t. In a decision that I cannot understand, half of this movie focuses on 2 very bland male characters, one of whom is trying to support the girls and the other being the most bland, generic, annoying villain you’d find in any low-tier garbage anime. This villain dude has more lines than 90% of 777☆SISTERS COMBINED! This character doesn’t even NEED to exist in the story. The whole villain behind the shut down/buy out of this studio could’ve just been a merely mentioned, faceless corporation. 

The supporting guy character annoyed me less but the presence of these 2 takes away a lot of precious time that could’ve been spent on the, you know, *actual main characters* of the anime? Thus, while I liked the girls, the majority of the potential was wasted.

✧  art  ✧

The art is very nice and clean, props on not using CGI for the dance scenes. I really like the distinctive designs of the girls as well. 

✧  sound ✧

Oddly weak? The insert songs are good but they’re pretty generic pop songs. The OST seemed a bit limited as well with scenes having a lot less impact as there was literally just no OST playing during them and the silence was pretty jarring.

✧  overview ✧

Ahhhh, what a waste! Unfortunately, I don’t play rhythm games, so this will probably be the last time I see these girls which is really a shame.

My Rating: 5/10

[azraeldigabriel]

I posted 1,602 times in 2021

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Longest Tag: 125 characters

#one of my absolute deepest regrets is not warning my best friend that the concert i had him go to with me would be super loud

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Right so since I’m at work on mobile atm I’m just gonna do bullets for this ep so uh. Here ya go.

Jon sleeps with his eyes open and has since the eyepocalypse started?? Also love how Martin keeps comparing him to some sort of eldritch router

Still finding the cult pseudo-mansplaining things to Jon fucking hysterical thanks

Martin honey I am so sorry if those tins contain peaches

“Yeah well. Your truth is rude.”

Battle of the Poets 2021 LETS GO

As funny as their break in salesa’s little bubble was, I forgot Jon didn’t remember anything from it. Obnoxious.

“They’re archivists.” EXCUSE ME

So archivists can linger and may be coming to the panopticon?? Are we gonna get some sort of archivist battle royale?

Love of my life jonathan sims voicing the entire fandoms concerns rn

*fabric rustles*

AUGHHH THE I LOVE YOUS....S-SOFT

Ah it’s light roasting of Jon time

No longer light roasting, dark roasting time

It still staggers me sometimes how much Melanie reminds me of captain Lovelace?

Petition for her and Georgie to just get married at the end of this jfc where is my serotonin

GIVE HER HER GODDAMN CAT BACK

29 notes • Posted 2021-01-21 17:08:54 GMT

#4

199. I am. So nervous.

Still makes me so sad that I only hear Tim’s voice via ads now. Miss you baby.

Martin still doing damage control through tea

“Let Jon become god” ...no :)

Jon your martyrdom complex is infuriating, let them loVE YOU

I am loving basira’s ethical approach to this, I can’t even imagine having to vote or have input on a situation like this

This is. This is just going to be a 24 minute argument isn’t it lmao

Yes ladies, thank you for not letting Jon go full Guilt Spiral

CALL HIM OUT MARTIN SHUT HIM DOWN

Melanie sweetie, I also want you to stab Jonah but I get you.

I am gonna slap some sense into this man I stg

Well at least I get Jon and Georgie bonding

Georgie hanging onto the lighter concerns me

And like. The tiny bit of static when she takes it, portraying he’s uncomfortable. Wow.

I am not ready for this conversation I am soBBING

I’M DYING SQUIRTLE

THESE LINES KEEP HITTING ME LIKE TRUCKS, I’M IN FULL RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC

“I love you, I’ll always love you. And I know you love me too” waILS

Martin Killabitch Blackwood will end Jonah Magnus. This is all I ever wanted.

Basira I care you!!

Wow okay leave me to die I’m gonna be emotional up until the last ep god

29 notes • Posted 2021-03-18 16:51:54 GMT

#3

I do find it really interesting that as Jon is getting more enveloped by his archivist position/powers, he’s tending to forget that Knowing and knowing are two separate things.

Like just because he Knows what awaits upstairs in the warped institute, he doesn’t know what the other survivors have gone through up there.

It’s really interesting to see!

36 notes • Posted 2021-01-21 17:28:28 GMT

#2

Hey I mean. If Martin really does have to die in the grand scheme of things, at least give me a good old fashioned anguished cry from Jon that dissolves into tape static as he becomes the monster he thinks he is.

55 notes • Posted 2021-03-04 20:52:10 GMT

#1

Tfw the animal crossing update drops early and you and your friends collectively lose your goddamn minds about it

73 notes • Posted 2021-11-04 03:29:45 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[rohobi]

Drive me crazy | (B)

pairing— jung hoseok x reader, boynextdoor AU genre — blurb, fluff, angst summary — based entirely off the late 90′s romantic comedy “Drive me crazy”. Not my plot at all, added lots of bits that are mine but mostly this film.  ↪ A/N: Literally on a 90′s movie binge and I hate myself because all I can think about is how great these movies would be if BTS were in it.  ► Listen | May this fuel your daydreams!  You and Hoseok live next door to each other. He lives with his single and lonely father. You live with your divorced candle making mother. Despite only living separated by an oak tree, after Hoseok goes through a difficulty grieving period, he pushes you away. You grow up worlds apart as a result. 

Obsessed with the latest trends, you’re a popular socialist. Hoseok is the beanie wearing opposite, an unpopular activist with a passion for hip hop dancing. 

You wouldn’t miss a single basketball game with your socialite friends. In fact, it was unthinkable, you couldn’t miss Min Yoongi play. He needed water and towels and support, and when he did, you wanted to be there for him.  Hoseok can be found in underground cafes or in record stores with his dorky crew of misfits. And if you want to be specific, you’d find him walking through the doors of Misfits on a Friday night at 10:12pm because no one cool turns up to before 10. 

You want a dream date with the star basketball player, Min Yoongi, for senior prom. You were certain everybody in the goddamn school but him knew you did but right before it was certain you were going together, Yoongi falls in love with a cheerleader named Park Jimin. He swears it was love at first sight. 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the tree, Hoseok’s girlfriend, Lia, dumps him for not joining her in anti-fur march -very publicly in front of all of his friends. Heartbroken and determined to get her back, you and Hoseok reluctantly join forces to get them back. 

Brainstorming on his star wars covered blankets, you order pizza and come up with ideas to make them jealous. “I don’t see how any of this could make Lia jealous, unlike Yoongi, she is a very intellectual person.”  Slapping your forehead, you grown. “I have a feeling you’re going to drive me crazy.” 

Rolling his eyes, he shoves a piece of pizza in your mouth. “Well that’s good because you can’t drive.” 

“Oh shut up.” 

You spend the rest of the night researching through rom coms. Hoseok’s never had a girl in his room before but he’s not about to tell you that, it’s nice having you back in his life again. 

But he’s not going to tell you that either. 

Hoseok allows you to do a makeover on him to make him more presentable to the other social circles at school. Purely for your own benefit, you make him trade in Hawaiian shirts for college hoodies and snapbacks, nike chinos and proper sneakers. The school is bewitched by his new look and low key …so are you. 

In return, Hoseok takes you to a concert of his favourite underground rap artist and then drives you up the hill to look at the stars. You fall into a deep discussion about what happened all those years ago that pushed you apart as friends. You hug and then decide you both fucking deserve love too, so you make a scheme to win Yoongi and Lia back. 

Hoseok agrees while you stare at the stars. “It’s beautiful, don’t you think?” 

He smiles, bewitched by the look on your face. “Yeah, beautiful.”

The scheme is to publicly date each other and it works. Nothing is excluded; you date, hug, hold hands, laugh, share clothes and in front of everyone at the school cafeteria when Lia loudly scolds him for becoming one of the cool kids weeks later. To save him from the humiliation, you pull him close and kiss him. 

And you kiss him hard. 

The cafeteria erupts with squealing, smiling against your mouth, he scoops you up into his arms and you kiss until you’re both breathless and forced apart by his friends begging you both to “get a room”. 

Which prompts you to say, “we’ve got one, you’re just in it.” 

Lia storms off at this, prompting Hoseok to push you away and run after her. You watch on, feeling a strange tug of pain in your stomach. Am I not good enough? But this is apart of the scheme, this is good, you shouldn’t be feeling this way. 

Yoongi sweeps in not that long after, wanting to get to know the girl who’s making a guy so happy the whole school can feel it. “Hi, want to get dinner tonight, unless you and Hoseok are …serious.” 

You falter but you smile because this is what you wanted right? “Sure, pick me up at 7.” 

Your scheme begins to work: you both get the people you wanted. Yoongi falls in love with your laughter, prompted by the jealousy he felt watching you with Hoseok. 

But in the midst of planning the details of the prom and staring off into the distance thinking about Hoseok whenever Yoongi talked and when Lia dragged Hoseok away from talking to you, you both realise that the scheme worked. 

Just …with each other. 

Yoongi gets drunk at Jimin’s house party and hooks up with him in front of you. You wish you cared and all you do is shrug when they both look at you. “Guess it just wasn’t meant to be?” you say. 

Jimin starts kissing up his neck, Yoongi grins sympathetically. “I’m sorry I’m not him.”  You leave the party, stealing a couple bottles of red wine as you go. The lord knows you’ll be needing these. You cry and drink the rest of the wine as you put on your slim fitting black ball gown. 

“Honey, you ready to go? I’ve got a date soon, so we need to make a move!” your mother shouts, knocking on your door. Wiping the tears away from yours eyes, you shout back, “Yes mum!”  You attend the prom alone. Meanwhile, Hoseok can’t stop thinking about you and that goddamn kiss. Looking up at the stars, he realises that he misses you. “They were only ever beautiful when I was with you.”  Hoseok dumps Lia across town at an animal rights protest to be with you. He checks his watch, certain, he has enough time to go home and suit up. His father drives him to the prom with your mother in the passenger seat, he doesn’t question why they look dishevelled. 

Arriving at the prom, he punches Yoongi in the face when he spots him making out with Jimin. Yoongi falls to the ground and Jimin pushes Hoseok away, telling him that he has no right to punch Yoongi, in fact, Yoongi has more of a right to punch Hoseok. Confused, Jimin explains that you looked more in love with him than you ever did when you were with Yoongi. 

“She likes me?” Hoseok questions, running his fingers through his hair. 

Folding his arms over his chest, he nods his head. “Duh.”  

Hoseok watches you watch all of your friends dance with their dates. You were way too shy to ask anyone else to dance, that was clear. So, you sip your drink. And then, Hoseok watches you pull out a flask from your bra as you pour what looks like red wine into your glass.  He shakes his head in laughter before crossing the floor. “Typical.” 

He moves swiftly, one polished leather shoe after the other until he stands before you, hand outstretched, smile across his face. “Y/N, can I have this dance? or would you prefer to drink with me outside.” 

You look him up and down. Black and white suit, first three buttons undone like you had taught him and with his burgundy hair parted in the middle, he looked gorgeous. Smiling back, you place your hand into his. “I thought you’d never ask …I’m saying yes to the dance…” 

Hoseok smiles down at your hand as he holds it tight. “I’m glad you did because I can’t handle my alcohol.” 

You snort, wrapping your arms around his neck when you move onto the dance floor. “Never knew I had anything in common with alcohol because you can’t handle me either.” 

Resting his hands on your hips, he pulls you close until your noses touch. “Not true. I don’t want to get drunk and black out on alcohol but I would love to get drunk on you and remember how red your cheeks get when I call you beautiful, or how tenderly you hold my face as though I would break when you kiss me, or how long it would take you to notice the food on your face when we’re eating burgers or-

“-Hoseok, I get it, you love me.” 

Leaning his forehead on yours, he grins. “I do.” 

You close your eyes. “And I love you too.” 

You dance with him for the rest of the night, admitting to each other that you both majority fucked up and fell in love with each other but that it was the best kind of fuck up they could’ve made. You hate basketball and Hoseok couldn’t care less about animals when humans were in a dire state. 

He kisses you when Yoongi is crowned prom king and then he kisses you again, right underneath the disco ball with more tongue than should be allowed on school property when Tinashe’s Flame begins to blast through the big PA system. 

He walks you home, tenderly kissing you by your front door when the moment is ruined by his dad sneaking out. Your mother runs up behind him, as equally as dishevelled. Caught red handed, your parents confess to wanting to move in together. Hoseok laughs at the turn of events, wrapping his hand around your waist instead of commenting on it. 

“We should talk.” your mother says, looking at Hoseok’s hand around you in alarm. 

Leaning into Hoseok, you snort at her. “You two can talk about it here, Hoseok and I can talk about it at his.” 

Your parents watch Hoseok happily pick you up in your ball dress, twirling you around on the driveway before you push him away when he grabs your ass. Laughter fills the silent suburbia as you run in your heels to his door with Hoseok closely behind.  Hoseok’s father holds your mother close as they both watch in equal parts shock and happiness. “Like father, like son. What can I say, theres something about you girls that just make us go loco.”  “I have a feeling it’s mutual,” your mother says, slapping his hand away as she steps back inside. “They’re old enough to do whatever they want, come back inside, I want you to do that thing with your tongue again.”

“Coming right up my love,” he shuffles you away from the door so he can close it behind him. “God you drive me crazy.” 

Drive me crazy (1999)

[independentartistbuzz]

Good News, Good Music 4.0

We are so delighted we get to end this year on a HIGH NOTE thanks to all of the musicians who have contributed their GOOD NEWS via Cyber PR Music. We wish you a safe and happy new year and please keep your music and your good news flowing!  The best way to reach us is through Twitter @IndieBuzztweets

Please Follow the Spotify Playlist below to hear all of these amazing tracks.

Thanks to all of the artists who shared their music AND their good news.

Miriam Lieberman | “Legacy”

Received A Grant To Record Her New EP

My good news is that during lock down with gigs cancelled and no where to go but with a toddler and all, I got down to songwriting and grant writing. Now that we are emerging into a Covid normal (here in Australia), I am finishing off a new EP of the songs I wrote during this time, also funded (mostly) by a successful grant application to Create NSW. The new single from the EP launches on 26th February and the EP in March.

Steve Andrews | “Where Does All The Plastic Go?”

Raised Awareness For Ocean Pollution

My song “Where Does All The Plastic Go?” is getting included on playlists on Spotify, getting great reviews, and opening doors for me in unexpected places. This is wonderful because I'm thinking big and also came up with the idea for Ocean Aid Concerts to raise awareness of threats to the oceans.  I am leading the way with songs on the subject of plastic pollution and my song could be included in any concerts that happen.

I have recently been featured in Australia by Wyndham Harbour Rotary Club in their The Wave magazine. I am going to be a guest speaker for this Rotary Club in February. In March I will be featured in SWND magazine of Welsh Connections, talking about my song and Ocean Aid Concerts idea. 

J Desja | “Desire Now”

Released Two Albums In One Year

 My good news story is that 2020 was the year I released not one but two albums. I had never released an album before. The first album I released was in September with my band Below Canada. We each set up our own home studios in March, learned Logic Pro, and recorded 10 songs, trading tracks back and forth. My second album is a solo album, artist name J Desja, and I am nearly finished. I've released several songs from the album so far though. This album was born out of the inspiration I was feeling from making the first album. 

My last bit of good news is that I have finally decided that music is no longer a hobby for me; it is now my career, my joy and my passion. I can only hope that my music resonates with others and connects me to them.

Kim Edgar | “Witness”

Sharing The Love Via Virtual Hugs

I decided to release an album as a kind of "virtual hug" as it’s hard not to be able to touch people we care about; it’s often how we embody love, compassion and friendship. We currently demonstrate care for others by keeping our distance, despite the fact that now, more than ever, people may need, or want, to be held. So with this album, I have tried to create a musical hug. In the scheme of things, it’s a very small offering, but I’m grateful that music can still give us a sense of connection - and it’s what I have to give! People have responded really well to that so far.

Sami Chohfi | “Extraordinary World”

From Teacher To Band Member

With everything that has happened this year, Sami went from losing all of his students at the beginning of the year, to now having to turn away students and starting a new band, doing online live shows and releasing his solo album in September.

Echo Twelve | “I Can't Find You! (Locked Down by Echo Twelve) [Echo Twelve Remix]"

Pro-Bono Remix Leads to New Connection

A couple of months ago, a transgender, autistic indie artist name Matti Charlton, who was living rough on the streets of Toronto at the height of the pandemic, reached out to me via SoundBetter to request a remix of his 80s-synth-inspired I Can't Find You. Given his circumstances, I decided to do the remix pro-bono. While one could not call my remix "uplifting" by any means, Matti got a lot of joy out of having it done, and our collaboration and back-and-forth on SoundBetter seemed to give a sense of hope.

Diana Zinni | “Point of No Return”

Birthday Livestream Fundraiser for White Eagle Hall & Rockwood Music Hall

I did a birthday livestream in April and raised hundreds of dollars. I was able to donate it to White Eagle Hall and Rockwood Music Hall because I was blessed enough to remain employed. I’ve been more consistent with content in 2020 than any other year, releasing 3 singles and 2 music videos, which yielded views, streams, sales, reviews and interviews!

Afroshoujo | “Eggs & Pencils”

Grew Fanbase and Released A Teen-Angst Inspired EP

When the pandemic hit I was working on my first album but I had to change my whole course of action both professionally and emotionally! 

I hooked up with Michael Walker (whom I’m sure you’ve heard of) and started to learn about growing my fan base. It gave me so much confidence that I was able to write, produce and release a whole EP addressing my teenage angst and how it had affected me in adulthood. It was a very eye opening experience that I would have never had without quarantine and the appreciation of life and growth! 

Downupright | “Got That”

Launched New Project & Released 21 Singles

 I launched my new project, Downupright, in the beginning of 2020 and have released 21 singles this year as this new artist name. It's been the most prolific year of my entire life artistically, I have never released so much music in a single year. COVID kept me stuck at home with nothing else to do but compose, so I've been lighting it up with nearly biweekly releases. COVID is awful, but at least instead of lamenting the time I've spent stuck inside, I have been mastering my craft. There's a lot of singles to choose from, but here's the latest. They're all High Energy EDM, which is how I refer to my new style- extremely hyped, active, distracting, attention-grabbing music with lots of cuts and beats.

Anniee | “Starry Night”

Released First Single Inspired By Airplane Passenger Turned Best Friend

My first release is a song called ‘Starry Night.’ (Link below!) It is a throwback to 90’s house music with some jazz vibes thrown in. The lyrics seem pretty straight forward, but behind the simplicity is a greater message: Let’s share are troubles, let’s be there for one another, and then—have a good time!

The inspiration came from countless friends who showed up for me at a dark time in my life. One of these friends I met serendipitously on an airplane - we shared our stories, what we were going through - and now we are best friends. Even though the song is energetic and light, this kind of powerful human connection is the deeper message. Even in the pandemic I’m amazed how human beings find creative ways to connect. That’s what this seemingly straightforward dance track is all about!

Vivian Severn (on behalf of Gabriel Severn) | “Kick Start”

Won “2020 Bassist of the Year” At Age 16

My 16-year-old son, Gabriel, has had his heart set on studying music after high school, and works his ass off to be the best musician he can be. As it did to everyone, Covid 19 stole plans and damaged dreams. His resolve began to waver and the challenges of this year exhausted him. But 2 weeks ago, Gabriel was notified he’s won a 2021 National Young Arts Award, a prestigious award for high school students in the arts. The following day, he found out he’s one of five Finalists for Bass Player Magazine’s "2020 Bassist of the Year". These moments of recognition have reignited his motivation to continue sharing his music to the world, and he’s now working harder to finish and release his debut solo EP as well as his band’s debut album in 2021.

Dustin from ReEmerge | “Can’t Feel You”

Inspired A Fan To Ask For Help When They Need It

Recently a young lady who was pregnant with her third child was suffering from some serious mental health issues. She put off going to the doctor for sometime or talking to anyone about it. It seemed to be getting worse and worse and she just wanted to be able to be clear headed and able to provide and be a good mother to her kids. She finally reached a point where she made herself go to the doctor and get the right medication and it was life changing. I didn’t know about her until I saw she used one of our songs on TikTok. It was a very touching video and resonated with a lot of people. Including me.  She has almost 100,000 views from this video and growing. Her message was that it was okay to seek help and you don’t have to do it alone and our song apparently helped convey that message. That was very nice to see and hear that! Thank you for your time and the opportunity!

Leanna Primiani (ANASIA) | “Sounds Like Fear”

Surprise Premiere Broadcasted Live on CBS 

I had a big recording date at the Newman scoring stage on the Fox lot with my score Ivory Wave for String Quartet and Electronics (to be released in 2021) https://muse.ai/vd/BBYymyt, and I had the surprise premiere of my orchestral piece, 'Gaudete for Orchestra', that was broadcast Live on CBS on the East Coast! Two big surprises for me. I'm glad I pushed through and kept composing!

Stay tuned… There’s more Good News Coming!

[from-russia-with-mixed-feelings]

I'd love more info on the Russian school system/traditions, especially university (especially since I'll be studying abroad in St. Petersburg in about 2 weeks :D )

God, I am. SO SORRY for how long this took. It’s been way longer than 2 weeks since I received this ask, and I can only hope that you’re doing great figuring out your Uni’s traditions on your own.

[EDIT]: Un-readmored this post, because several people couldn’t access it.

Anyway! The scheme of Russian education looks something like this (image source):

You may notice a weird fork on the road to higher University level education. Well, that happened because USSR had the 5 year Specialist system, then Russia decided to move to the more western 4+2 years system, but didn’t do it all the way, so now they kinda. Coexist.

Another amusing fact is that until the 90s Primary general education was 3 years, not 4, and overall school lasted 10 years. But once again, when we were trying to make our education system more western weird things started happening.

First, Russia tried adopting the 11 year school system wholesale. But then primary school teachers started complaining that they were fitting what was now taught in 4 years just fine in only 3 years before. So instead of extending the program or something Russia decided to uninstall Grade 4 from existence. Yep, for some time the Grades went: 1, 2, 3, then 5, 6, 7 etc. And one year was famous for making everyone skip their next grade, whatever that was.

By the way, children and even some teachers were mystified by this arrangement and many continue not to know why the hell it happened to this day.

One last big recent novelty is the Unified State Exam, aka ЕГЭ, which descended upon unsuspecting students out of nowhere one day and doesn’t seem to be going away soon, despite all the controversy.

Ok, now let’s briefly touch upon traditions! On all levels of education you can expect big fancy ceremonies for entrance and graduation, and outside of them the traditions are pretty malleable and depend on the institutions and their speciality. For example, students of MSU Faculty of Chemistrycelebrate Chemist Day every year, taking a different element from the Periodic Table as a theme each time. Many schools and Unis compete in a hugely popular, versatile and competitive humorous game called КВН, and yep, you’ve guessed it, I’ll probably talk more about it later.

Now, as for entrance and graduation ceremonies, every level puts their own spin on it. In higher education you can expect to be welcomed with an official ceremony in the largest auditorium available, and bidden farewell with a concert and/or banquet. Graduate speeches, caps and robes are also a thing in some places.

In general education all 1st graders go through an acceptance ceremony on the 1st of September, where this goddamn song plays at least once and 11th graders give them presents. (Oh yeah! I forgot to mention: in general a Russian kid will study in the same school from start to finish. There are exceptions, of course, but the “everyone in the same building” system is the most widespread.) And in the end of May Последний Звонок (Posledniy Zvonok) - the Last Bell/Farewell Bell ceremony takes place, where 11th graders waltz, let helium balloons (that are supposed to symbolize their destinies or w/e) into the sky, wear a “graduate” sash, and hear this goddamn song at least once. The eponymous last bell is the one a 1st grader rings while perched on an 11th grader’s shoulder. It looks cute and almost never ends with them getting dropped. Almost.

After that, there’s a second, less official part to graduating school - Выпускной Вечер (Vypusknoi Vecher) - Graduation Evening. It’s kinda like a prom, except there’s no King or Queen, it lasts till sunrise, and might take place on a boat, or in a cafe, or in a park… Come to think about it, it’s not really like a prom at all xD Here, check out this photo report from 2017 Vypusknoi in Gorky Park to see what the graduates’ outfits and activities may look like.

Thank you for the question, @durfeedraws! I hope I got all of this right, but if not @yantiskra (or anyone else) are welcome to correct me.

[financeandtechnology]

Bitcoins and the Blockchain

I never thought a first day at an internship could have such an impact on me. The team allowed me to sit in on a client meeting and gain an understanding of intellectual property law and how they enable entrepreneurs and start-ups through low cost overhead and competitive pricing. Through this experience, I learned about digital currencies and how they are traded.

The client wanted to patent this type of algorithmic idea that would pay people who like and share content in the form of digital currency, or crypto currency. These currencies can be exchanged like stocks, sort of (I will get to this later in the post). This presents a way to overcome the problem of discovery. In the early 1990s, the Internet was a small, primitive platform with only a handful of websites. However, the Internet and its content grew at an exponential rate past what people could really conceive in real time. So, the client looked at how Google and other search engines first solved this problem of discovery. He, then, analyzed Facebook and their approach in overcoming this problem. I am not allowed to get into his idea too much for confidentiality reasons, but I will explain bitcoins and crypto currencies. 

A bitcoin is a form of new currency that was created in 2009 by an unknown person using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. These online transactions are made without no middle man, which means no banks. There are no transaction fees and you do not have to provide your real name. This man’s idea cracked a problem that had stumped cryptographers for years. The idea of digital money, both convenient and untraceable, had been a hot topic since the birth of the Internet. Some innovators tried, but none could get their feet off the ground. 

One of the core challenges of designing a digital currency involves the “double-spending” problem. If a digital dollar is just information, the problem is preventing people from copying and pasting it as easily as a chunk of text, “spending” it as many times as they want. The answer to this issue involved using a central clearinghouse to keep a real-time ledger of all transactions - ensuring that, if someone spends his last digital dollar, he cannot then spend it again. The ledger prevents fraud, but it also requires a third party to administer it. 

Bitcoin did away with this third party by publicly distributing the ledger, which Nakamoto called the “block chain.” Users willing to devote CPU power to running a special piece of software would be called miners and would form a network to maintain the block chain collectively. In the process, they would also generate new currency. Transactions would be broadcast to the network, and computers running the software would compete to solve irreversible cryptographic puzzles that contain data from several transactions. The first miner to solve each puzzle would be awarded 50 new bitcoins, and the associated block of transactions would be added to the chain. The difficulty of each puzzle would increase as the number of miners increased, which would keep production to one block of transactions roughly every 10 minutes. In addition, the size of each block bounty would halve every 210,000 blocks—first from 50 bitcoins to 25, then from 25 to 12.5, and so on. Around the year 2140, the currency would reach its preordained limit of 21 million bitcoins.

Bitcoins can be used to buy merchandise anonymously. In addition, international payments are easy and cheap because bitcoins are not tied to any country or subject to regulation. Small businesses may like them because there are no credit card fees. Some people just buy bitcoins as an investment, hoping that they’ll go up in value. Bitcoins can be stored in a variety of places—from a “wallet” on a desktop computer to a centralized service in the cloud.

Two twins recently proposed creating an exchange-traded fund based on Bitcoin (BTC) to the SEC, but it was shot down due to the SEC’s concerns about manipulation and other issues. The 30th of this month, another investment group called SolidX is proposing an ETF for BTC as well, so investors are eager to see what will happen. An ETF based on BTC would be incredibly volatile and hot. 

Bitcoin is certainly fairly new, so it is definitely volatile, but so many other countries are using it, and the amount of people buying and selling it is incredible. Even though anyone can make a crypto, this does not devalue BTC at all. BTC is regarded as the strongest crypto and it always will be if the way of obtaining them does not change. Each crypto almost operates independently of one another in terms of value. BTC was first, so it managed to get integrated pretty deeply into people’s lives, hence why it will hold its value. It definitely suffers from manipulation, and a lot of skepticism follows it. Markets are all about psychology, and you cannot have people scared about it or it just will not catch on. 

For this new currency, a primitive and unregulated financial-services industry began to develop. Online “wallet services” promised to safeguard clients’ digital assets. Exchanges allowed anyone to trade bitcoins for dollars or other currencies. Bitcoin itself might have been decentralized, but users were now blindly entrusting increasing amounts of currency to third parties, which were most likely not more secure than federally insured institutions. Most were Internet storefronts, run by anyone willing to operate a storefront.

Sure enough, as the price headed upward, disturbing events began to bedevil the bitcoiners. In mid-June, someone calling himself Allinvain reported that 25,000 bitcoins worth more than $500,000 had been stolen from his computer. About a week later, a hacker pulled off an ingenious attack on a Tokyo-based exchange site called Mt. Gox, which handled 90 percent of all bitcoin exchange transactions. Mt. Gox restricted account withdrawals to $1,000 worth of bitcoins per day (at the time of the attack, roughly 35 bitcoins). After he broke into Mt. Gox’s system, the hacker simulated a massive sell-off, driving the exchange rate to zero and letting him withdraw potentially tens of thousands of other people’s bitcoins.

As it happened, market forces conspired to thwart the scheme. The price plummeted, but as speculators flocked to take advantage of the fire sale, they quickly drove it back up, limiting the thief’s haul to only around 2,000 bitcoins. The exchange ceased operations for a week and rolled back the postcrash transactions, but the damage had been done; the bitcoin never got back above $17. Within a month, Mt. Gox had lost 10 percent of its market share to a Chile-based upstart named TradeHill. Most significantly, the incident had shaken the confidence of the community and inspired loads of bad press.

Bitcoin has risen exponentially, but fallen dramatically. The underlying vulnerabilities that led to bitcoin’s troubles—its dependence on unregulated, centralized exchanges and online wallets—persist. Indeed, the bulk of mining is now concentrated in a handful of huge mining pools, which theoretically could hijack the entire network if they worked in concert.

Beyond the most hardcore users, skepticism has only increased. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman wrote that the currency’s tendency to fluctuate has encouraged hoarding. Stefan Brands, a former ecash consultant and digital currency pioneer, calls bitcoin “clever” and is unwilling to bash it but believes it is structured like “a pyramid scheme” that rewards early adopters. “I think the big problems are ultimately the trust issues,” he says. “There’s nothing there to back it up. I know the counterargument, that that’s true of fiat money, too, but that’s completely wrong. There’s a whole trust fabric that’s been established through legal mechanisms.”

It will be interesting to watch the development of digital currency and analyzing the makret for BTC is the best place to start. As I continue to intern and through my Summer Analyst position at JP Morgan Chase & Co., I will update this blog with more content about financial markets, mostly focusing on digital currency and trading. 

[etiasvisaschengen]

10 Best Cities to Visit in Europe with an ETIAS Visa Waiver

Have you ever wondered what it’s like in other cities besides the one you live in now? In Europe, city life is definitely something else. The best cities in Europe are like nowhere else, boasting cool art, unique buildings, patches of landscaped greenery, preserved historical sites, and lovely people. But with so many countries across Europe that you could visit, it’s almost impossible to choose which one to go to first.

A lot of cities in Europe make great destinations to explore the rich culture of the countries they’re from. If you’ve got plans to see a lot of them scattered across Schengen areas in 2021, then you’d have to apply for an ETIAS visa waiver. This allows you to visit many of them within 90 days. So make the most of it and visit 10 of the best cities in Europe listed below.

  10 Best Cities to Explore in Europe

  Modern Cities

From charming architecture to mind blowing art, these modern cities reflect the incredible modern pop culture that European countries have.  

1. Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Modern architecture is on a whole other level when you visit the city of Rotterdam. The buildings look almost like they’ve come straight out of a futuristic cartoon that you sometimes forget what reality looks like.

Points of Interest:

Cube House

Market Hall

Rotterdam Centraal Station

Erasmus Bridge

2. Gothenburg, Sweden

Modern art is not just displayed in museums here in Gothenburg. Street art is scattered across this city, giving life and color to the old-style architecture of most buildings here.

Points of Interest:

The Gothenburg Museum of Art (Goteborgs Konstmuseum)

Feskekörka: The Fish Market

Haga

3. Oslo, Norway

Oslo definitely has its own charm to it, surrounded by green scapes and a mix of old and modern architecture. As the capital of Norway, Oslo is definitely a large city filled with different parts that contribute to its appeal.

Points of Interest:

Aker Brygge

Viking Ship Museum

The Royal Palace

Oslo Opera House

4. Prague, Czech Republic

Prague at a glance would look like a well-preserved city of old and intricately crafted buildings. But going deeper in this city, you’d find a mix of stunning modern and creative architecture that stands out from the side of the street.

Points of Interest:

Dancing House

Municipal House

Prague Castle

Old Town Square 

5. Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen is a laid-back city surrounded by water and colorful buildings. It’s also full of attractions, which means you’d never really run out of things to do here.

Points of Interest:

Tivoli Gardens

Nyhavn

The Round Tower

Historical Cities

Travel back in time by visiting these European countries that preserved their culture and heritage throughout the years. 

6. Athens, Greece

If you want a glimpse of the glory that Greece once possessed in earlier centuries, then visiting Athens would make you feel like you were actually there. This stone pathed city has kept the history alive, with several heritage sites protected under UNESCO.

 Points of Interest:

Parthenon

Mount Lycabettus

Theatre of Dionysus

Acropolis of Athens

7. Matera, Italy

With not a skyscraper in sight, the city of Matera in Southern Italy is full of stone buildings and stone residences. The landscapes here are absolutely stunning, being one of the oldest inhabited settlements in history. 

 Points of Interest:

Sassi di Matera

Crypt of Original Sin

Grotta dei Pipistrelli e Grotta Funeraria

8. Plovdiv, Bulgaria

This ancient city happens to be the second-largest city in Bulgaria built around 7 hills. Mixed with some modern architecture, Plovdiv still maintains its heritage sites and was named a cultural capital in Europe.

Points of Interest:

Plovdiv Roman Stadium

Ancient Theater of Philippopolis

Great Basilica

9. Seville, Spain

Seville is part of the top-visited countries of 2019, and it’s not hard to tell why. Its intricate architecture is a mix of old and new, which will leave you in total awe.

Points of Interest:

Royal Alcázar of Seville

Plaza de Espana

Metropol Parasol 

10. Sintra, Portugal

Sintra is a town near Lisbon that has preserved its gothic castles. There are tons of hidden historical treasures in this city, all of which feel very much like a fairytale.

Points of Interest:

Quinta da Regaleira

Sintra-Cascais Natural Park

Sintra Mountains  

Travel Tips: How to Make the Most of Your European City Travels

Ride a Bike

Driving around in a car wouldn’t give you the chance to see the city in full view. But with many places to see and not enough time to see it, you’d be burning daylight if you decide to walk. The best way to get around for a full tour is to rent a bike or scooter around these cities. That way, you’d get to places faster but still get a proper feel of the city.

Visit the Local Markets

They say you really get to know the community of a certain city by exploring its markets. Here, you’d get to see the delicacies that the city is rich in and what the locals enjoy.

Make an Itinerary

The good places are scattered around the city, so you need a guide that will tell you the places you want to see and the ways to get there. Create an itinerary of everything you want to see and experience so you don’t miss out on all the things you want to do.

Experience the Nightlife

Modern cities in Europe are famous for their nightlife, so it would be a waste not to try it out at least once. Expect lively parties and pubs full of Europeans that definitely know how to have fun.

Attend an Event

Whether it’s an art exhibit of an artist you don’t know, a concert of a musician you’ve never heard of, or a play in a language you don’t speak, it’s still worth your time going to an event just to mingle with the people there. Just make sure you don’t crash an invite-only gathering!

  It’s mind boggling to think that there are actual people that live in these stunning cities. The sceneries and landmarks make these cities seem almost unreal. Luckily, with a bit of a budget and an adventurous spirit, you can take off and see these unbelievable places for yourself.

ALSO READ: Everything You Need to Know About Oporto, the Portuguese City of Wine

Creating a city-hop itinerary by the year 2021? Then you out to know that by then, the European Travel Information and Authorization System or ETIAS will come into play for visa-exempt countries like the US. The process is done online and is quite simple. Etiasvisaschengen.com visa assistance service that provides up-to-date information about the ETIAS scheme, so if you want to know more about this, then you can head over to our main page to find out more. Or if you have any other concerns in regard to European travel, then you can contact us for any help you may need.

Check out our news page for more interesting content.

The post 10 Best Cities to Visit in Europe with an ETIAS Visa Waiver appeared first on ETIAS VISA Schengen.

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[wikitopx]

Not quite a city and not quite a town, the Woodlands is a master-planned community, in Texas.

In the 2000s, it was nearly incorporated as part of Houston, Texas, but successfully resisted. Now, the Woodlands is a growing commercial hub, but also a green sanctuary that gives meaning to its name. Read on to learn about 10 of the many interesting activities, for the whole family, in the Woodlands.

1. Take part in a race

One way for every member of the family to bond, while in the Woodlands, could be to take part in a running or walking event together. The Woodlands hosts a number of activities yearly, with different levels of difficulty. A great option is the GE Run Thru the Woods on Thanksgiving, a 20-year old event, which features one-mile (1.6 km), three-mile (4.8 km), or five-mile (8 km) events. Not only do you get to see the beautiful scenery of the Woodlands up close, but you can also contribute something to the community.

Participants are asked to bring food items with them on the morning of the event, for donation to local food bank. Feel free to also dress as a turkey for this race! Other races catered specially for kids in the Woodlands includes the One for Texas (a simple one-mile / 1.6 km event), the YMCA Kids Triathlon, or the Little Muddy Kid’s Fun Run.

2. Visit a rodeo and livestock show

Be sure to catch cowboys and cowgirls alike, competing in a rodeo which attracts more than 2.5 million people, yearly. Nearby, in Houston, there is also a livestock show, which aims to teach visitors about animals and agricultural practices, through live presentations and displays. To top the festivities off, you can even catch performances from a huge variety of musicians and performers. Headliners for previous rodeos have included the amazing Alicia Keys and Blink 182. This is an attraction you definitely can’t miss!

3. Learn to play roller hockey

The whole family will have a blast at the Houston Premier Sportsplex. At 170 by 70 feet (51.8 by 21.3 metres) in size, this humongous space will give beginners room to try out the sport recreationally and the more experienced players a chance to advance their skills. If you’re feeling competitive, the centre also features drop-in hockey scrimmages. For those not so interested in roller hockey, the centre also offers soccer, indoor lacrosse, dodge ball, and other sporting activities.

4. Visit a dog park

Let’s not forget about the families with a furry member of their own. The Woodlands is a relatively dog-friendly city, with five major dog parks. Cattail Park, in particular, is a popular choice for socializing amongst families and their pets. Its range of human-friendly facilities includes a large playground and even two tennis courts.

Meanwhile, canine-friendly Bear Branch Park also features an impressive skate park, with props like rails, ramps, and benches, for you to pull off some crazy tricks. Before making a visit, however, do take note of the various park rules, requiring pets to be vaccinated and to clean up after your pet and so on.

5. Hit the shops at the Woodlands Mall

With around 160 stores to cover at the Woodlands Mall, you’ll be relieved to know that the complex is open from 10 am all the way to 9 pm. The extensive range of fashion outlets, at different price points, includes the Banana Republic, Coach, and Forever 21. Even the younger members of the family will be entertained, with attractions like the Build-A-Bear Workshop, where you can customize your new fuzzy friend, with its own signature scent and outfit. With all the walking to be done, give your feet a rest at Carlo’s Bakery or Starbucks and you will surely be refreshed for another round.

6. Take a trolley or cruiser ride

If you are near the Woodlands Mall, hop aboard the Woodlands Waterway Trolley or the Woodlands Waterway Cruiser, for a fun, free and informative tour. Rides are available from 11 am to 8 pm every day, passing the Woodlands’ key shopping areas, hotels, parks, gardens, and a lake. The route is especially picturesque during the Christmas season.

7. Feast on a perfectly done steak

If you crave a steak while in the Woodlands, you are in luck! The Woodlands is home to a number of outstanding steakhouses. Fine dining establishments, like Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille and Kirby’s Prime Steakhouse, boast tender and flavourful steaks, with special menus for kids. Robard’s Steakhouse is also highly rated for its prime steaks and happy hour promotions, with discounts on beer, wine, and cocktails.

8. Feed yourself at a farmers market

Feel great feeding yourself at the Woodlands Farmers Market at Grogan’s Mill, while contributing to the community. Part of the profits are returned to the Woodlands’ community, through various charity programs, including a scheme to provide scholarships to residents. Open every Saturday, from 8 am to 12 pm, the Farmers Market is a great option for families to pick up some handicrafts, wholesome, fresh groceries, a hearty brunch, and introduce the kids to the locally-grown produce.

9. Enjoy live music in the park

Northshore Park, in the Woodlands, is famous for its fabulous picnics on Sundays, where you can sit back on a mat or lawn chair and enjoy free live music, under the sun. A whole variety of musical acts means there will be someone for everyone. In fact, there are concerts here featuring music from the 50’s all the way to the 90’s, country, jazz, classic rock and more.

Plenty of activities for kids are also available (and space for them to race around). In fact, a fair is even held at the start of every summer, showcasing the different summer camps which will be available for the year.

10. Cool off at a water park

To combat its hot summers, there are more than ten pools and water parks located across the Woodlands. Some are more intimate and nestled in the pocket of a bigger park, while others form large complexes of their own. Kids will love the Ridgewood Pool at Panther Creek, with its tumbling buckets and huge water sprayers. Don’t miss the Rob Fleming Aquatic Center either, which has an enormous 150-gallon (567.8 litre) dump bucket, for really epic splashing.

For the more adventurous, the pool at Falconwing Park boasts diving boards, while Forestgate Park has a thrilling 103-foot (31.4 metre) slide. Let out your inner Ninja Warrior!

Read also: Top 10 things to do in Veszprem, Hungary

From : https://wikitopx.com/travel/top-10-things-to-do-in-woodlands-texas-705220.html

[newyorktheater]

  The city has announced plans  to build a performing arts center dedicated to Immigrants. The proposed Immigrant Research and Performing Arts Center will go up in Inwood, the northernmost neighborhood in Manhattan

Meanwhile, Waterwell theater company and the Broadway Advocacy Coalition launched the  Flores Exhibits, now available online, part of a national campaign to establish legal protections for immigrant children held in U.S. government facilities. Named after the  1997 Flores Settlement Agreement that set a limit on the length of time a child can be detained — an agreement that the Trump Administration wants to rescind — the exhibits are a series of videos read by about a dozen actors from David Schwimmer to Elizabeth Rodriguez and theater artists such as playwright David Henry Hwang and costume designer Clint Ramos, along with  lawyers and advocates. They each read aloud the sworn testimony of experts and also of young people detained at the Clint and Ursula border detention facilities that were collected in June of this year by a team of immigration lawyers.

“Many of the detainees were teen mothers, already being exposed to tremendous trauma in their home countries,” Kathleen Chalfant reads the testimony of  pediatrician Dr. Dolly Lucio Sevier, who examined the detainees…The conditions in which they are being held could be compared to torture facilities….extreme cold temperatures, lights on 24 hours a day, no access to medical care, basic sanitation, water or adequate food….To deny parents the ability to wash their infant’s bottles is unconscionable, and could be considered intentional mental and emotional abuse.”

Scene at Broadway Flea Market

Celebs like Brandon Uranowitz waiting to serve their Selfie duty

Adam Cohen, who plays the rabbi in Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, baked cookies for the Fiddler table. Notice the clever brown paper poster behind him.

Staffing The Lion King booth at the Broadway flea is Local 1 stage hand Nick Liotta, who made up his own Lion King stage hand T-shirt

flea crowd

auctioning

swag from Roundabout

child buskers

a collage of The Cher Show by the entire cast, auctioned off for Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS

Broadway Live on Netflix and Audible and…

currently on Netflix

Thoughts on the new era of Broadway streaming on the occasion of the death of Betty Corwin, 98, the founder of Theater on Tape and Film (TOFT) at the Lincoln Center library.

. @MrJasonRBrown‘s 2008 musical “13” will be adapted as a family film for @Netflix by @rhorn1 (Tony-winning book writer for @TootsieMusical.) Added to my post about the evolution of Broadway stage-to- stream (@Netflix, @Audible, @BroadwayHD etc)https://t.co/xkhtfpiNV6 pic.twitter.com/uK97JPc4Ni

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) September 21, 2019

  The Week in New York Theater Reviews

Dimitri Moise and Brandon Gill. Photo by Gioncarlo Valentine.

As Much As I Can

“As Much As I Can,” a show that illustrates the continuing AIDS crisis among African-American men, exists on two different planes, which are not in complete alignment with one another. It is a work of theater, running for just five days at Joe’s Pub (two final performances this evening.) The 14-member cast is largely comprised of professional New York stage actors.

But it is also an effort at outreach. The script, credited to Sarah Hall, is based on interviews with hundreds of men in two communities hard hit by HIV — Baltimore, Maryland and Jackson, Mississippi

Ken Barnett, Justin Genna

Novenas for a Lost Hospital

How do people care for one another in dangerous times? That’s the still-relevant question underlying this beautiful, sad, enraging, uplifting, and awesomely staged theater piece that sweeps through the 161-year history of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village, dwelling on two traumatic periods – the cholera epidemic, during which four nuns from the Sisters of Charity founded the hospital in 1849, and the AIDS epidemic that surrounded it in the 1980s and 90s….There are many personal reasons why I considered “Novenas” a must-see…

Madelyn Rose Robinson, Susan Ly, Mirra Kardonne, Alice Marcondes, Drita Kabashi, Ana Semedo, Macy Lanceta, Sophia Aranda, Zoe Zimin | Photo by Hunter Canning

The Invention of Tragedy

“The Invention of Tragedy,” a 70-minute excursion into a puzzling world of word play, cat ears, and synchronized neon footwear, is the third of the five plays in the Mac Wellman festival at The Flea. What I like best about it is the title. This would not be the work I would personally choose as the ideal introduction for a first-time Wellman watcher. Yet there are three ways of looking at “The Invention of Tragedy” that offer some satisfactions – as a political parable, as a metaphor for Western theater,  or as entertaining nonsense full of such surface pleasures as colorful design, pleasing music and an appealing cast.

Book: Discovering the Clown

Christopher Bayes, founder of the Funny School of Good Acting in Brooklyn and professor and head of physical acting at the Yale School of Drama,…offers  many zany Zen-like observations and instructions in “Discovering the Clown,” a brief, off-beat book that attempts to translate Bayes’ teaching to the printed page, but is more effective as a tease for his classes.

entrance to the exhibition

The “Theatre is a Gamble” roulette wheel that Prince’s associate producer Ruth Mitchell created for him as a gift in 1998, with the names of his shows.

Michael Bennett, Ruth Mitchell and Harold Prince during rehearsals for the stage production Company, around 1970.

Exhibition: Harold Prince at Lincoln Center Library

The Week in Awards

New York Independent Theater Awards

Multiple-winning shows include “Eight Tales of Pedro” by The Secret Theater; “Shinka” by Ren Gyo Soh, “Electronic City” by New Stage Theatre Company. Special awards went to Magie Dominic, one of the founding members of the Off-Off Broadway movement; playwright Barbara Kahn; La MaMa curator and long-time downtown figure Nicky Paraiso,  and TOSOS – The Other Side of Silence, the first professional gay theatre company in NY

Broadway at the Emmys: Billy Porter wins 

Billy Porter is now an O away from an EGOT.

— Mark Peikert (@MarkPeikert) September 23, 2019

Celebrate @theebillyporter‘s big five-o today by rewatching his AMAZING karaoke of “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” during a #TonyAwards commercial break – captured by @JKCorden & @latelateshow. Happy birthday to a Tony Award-winning #Broadway superstar! https://t.co/4QahcPrmy1

— The Tony Awards (@TheTonyAwards) September 21, 2019

74th Annual Tony Awards will be held once again at Radio City Music Hall —  on Sunday, June 7, 2020. The eligibility cut-off date will be Thursday, April 23, 2020 — earlier than in the past (which may mean a very crowded schedule of openings.) Nominations will be announced April 28th.

LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Leslie Uggams at the 9th annual Salute Her Awards

Black women of Broadway were honored at the 9th annual Salute Her awards:  Leslie Uggams (Legend Award), LaTanya Richardson Jackson (Director’s Award), Lynn Nottage (International Playwright Award), Alia Jones-Harvey (Broadway Producer Award), Dominique Morisseau (Playwright Award), Dr. Indira Etwaroo(Theater Community Award), Cookie Jordan (Woman of Style Award), Linda Stewart (Trailblazer Award).

The Week in New York Theater News

NYC Off-Broadway Week

Beginning today, 33 participating shows, 19 of which are new to the program this season, offer 2-for-1 performances through October 6

Added to my Broadway 2019-2020 Season Guide

“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” the fifth Broadway production of Albee’s 1962 play about George and Martha (& Nick and Honey) w/ Rupert Everett, Laurie Metcalf, Patsy Ferran, Russell Tovey. It opens April 9th at the Booth

Laurence Fishburne and Sam Rockwell will star in the fourth Broadway production of David Mamet’s rat-a-tat 1977 play about three low-level crooks conjuring up a get-rich-quick scheme. It opens April 14, though no theater yet (nor website nor Twitter!)

This apparently takes up the slot planned by the same producers for the all-female production of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glenn Ross? Its producers say it has been delayed until the 2020-2021 season.

Sara Holdren is leaving her post as the theater critic at New York Magazine in early October to go back to directing.  She was hired in July 2017.

Top 14 Most Produced Plays in 2019-2020…and 22 most produced playwrights in America

“A Doll’s House, Part 2” by Lucas Hnath and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens have tied as the most produced plays scheduled for the 2019-2020 season, according to the annual compilation of Top 10 Most Produced by American Theatre Magazine.

Tony Kushner at the Public

Cast for Public Theater’s revival of Tony Kushner’s A Bright Room Called Day: Michael Esper, Grace Gummer, Nikki James, Crystal Lucas-Perry, Mark Margolis, Nadine Malouf, Michael Urie, Max Woertendyke added to the previously announced Linda Emond, Jonathan Hadary, Estelle Parsons.

Quincy Tyler Bernstine

Sean Carvajal

Liza Colon Zayas

Playwright Stephen Adly Gurigis

Terrific cast announced for Stephen Adly Guirgis’s new play “Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven” at Atlantic: Victor Almanzar, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Elizabeth Canavan, Sean Carvajal, Molly Collier, Liza Colón-Zayas, Esteban Cruz, Greg Keller, Kristina Poe, Neil Tyrone Pritchard, Andrea Syglowski, Benja Kay Thomas, Pernell Walker, and Kara Young.

Choreographer Raja Feather Kelly

What a pairing – playwright Young Jean Lee and director/choreographer Raja Feather Kelly in a new production of Lee’s rock concert/confessional “We’re Gonna Die” performed by Janelle Mcdormeth at Second Stages Feb 4 – March 29

Full schedule of plays-in-progress, panels and a party, etc. at @segalcenter‘s #Prelude2019 Oct 3 – 5 mostly at @GC_CUNYhttps://t.co/luZQtHekG5 pic.twitter.com/RmXVJH62uS

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) September 16, 2019

The difference between principals, swings and standbys

Scenes at Broadway Flea. Immigrants Get Their Own Theater, and a Voice. Billy Porter Wins at 50. #Stageworthy News of the Week The city has announced plans  to build a performing arts center dedicated to Immigrants. The proposed Immigrant Research and Performing Arts Center will go up in Inwood, the northernmost neighborhood in Manhattan…

[flashhdtv]

Private Lives Episode 1–2020 (K.DRAMA) on JTBC

Private Lives Episode 1

Watch Private Lives Season 1 Episode 1–10 1–2–3–4–5–1–7–8–9–10 Full Episode Private Lives Temporada 1 Capítulo 1 Sub English / Español 2020 ➤ http://flashserieshd.dplaytv.net/tv/107442-1-1/private-lives.html VISIT HERE ➤➤ http://flashserieshd.dplaytv.net/tv/107442-1-1/private-lives.html

In a world where data is no longer private, con artists uncover a sinister surveillance scheme headed by the government and a greedy corporation.

🎬 Private Lives Season 1 Episode 1 Online Free 🎬

Watch Private Lives — Season 1 Episode 1 : Episode 1 HD free TV Show | TV Shows & Movies In A World Where Data Is No Longer Private, Con Artists Uncover A Sinister Surveillance Scheme Headed By The Government…flashserieshd.dplaytv.net

Watch Private Lives — Season 1 Episode 1 : Episode 1 HD free TV Show | TV Shows & Movies In A World Where Data Is No Longer Private, Con Artists Uncover A Sinister Surveillance Scheme Headed By The Government…flashserieshd.dplaytv.net

Title : Private Lives First Air Date : Oct 07, 2020 Last Air Date : Jan 01, 1970 Number of Episodes : 2 Number of Seasons : 1 Genres : Crime, Action & Adventure Networks : JTBC

Private Lives

A con artist who unintentionally gets involved in private matters on a national scale and competes against massive corporations.

Lee Jung Hwan is a team leader for the major corporation. He looks like an ordinary company employee, but he is a mysterious figure. Meanwhile, Cha Joo Eun is a swindler, who has the looks of a sweet & innocent woman. She supports herself with her crimes.

Show Info

Network: Korea, Republic of jTBC (2020 — now) Schedule: Wednesdays, Thursdays at 21:30 (90 min) Status: In Development; premiering October 2020 Language: Korean Show Type: Scripted Genres: Drama Crime Romance Episodes ordered: 16 episodes

With dozens of films genre being released each year, a typical one that gets overlooked by the more popular ones (action, drama, comedy, animation, etc.) is the subgenre category of religious movie. These films (sometimes called “faith-based” features) usually center around the struggles and ideas of a person (or groups) identity of a religious faith, which is, more or less, has a profound event or obstacle to overcome. While not entirely, the most commonplace religious type movies focus on the religion of Christianity, sometimes venturing back into the past in cinematic retelling classic biblical tales, including famed epic films like Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur (the original 1959 version) to some more modern endeavors from Hollywood like Risen, The Young Messiah, and Paul, Apostle of Christ. Other Christian “faith” films finds a more contemporary setting to tell its story, with some being “based on a true-life account” like the movies Unconditional, Heaven is Real, Unbroken, I Can Only Imagine, Indivisible, and Miracles from Heaven, while others might find inspiration from literary novels / fictionalized narratives like The Shack, Overcomer, War Room, and Same Kind of Different as Me. Regardless, whether finding inspiration from true life, references from the bible, or originality, these movies usually speaks on a person’s faith and the inner struggle he or she has within or one society’s views, spreading a message of belief and the understand of one’s belief. Now, after the success of 2018’s I Can Only Imagine, directors Andrew and Jon Erwin (the Erwin Brothers) and Lionsgate studios release the 2020 faith-based film / music biopic feature I Still Believe. Does the film walk a fine line between its religious aspects and cinematic entertainment or does the movie get entangled in its own faith-based preaching?

THE STORY

Its 1999 and Jeremy Camp (K.J. Apa) is a young and aspiring musician who would like nothing more than to honor his God through the power of music. Leaving his Indiana home for the warmer climate of California and a college education, Jeremy soon comes across one Melissa Henning (Britt Robertson), a fellow college student that he takes notices in the audience at a local concert. Falling for cupid’s arrow immediately, he introduces himself to her and quickly discovers that she is attracted to him too. However, Melissa holds back from forming a budding relationship as she fears it will create an awkward situation between Jeremy and their mutual friend, Jean-Luc (Nathan Parson), a fellow musician and who also has feeling for Melissa. Still, Jeremy is relentless in his pursuit of her until they eventually find themselves in a loving dating relationship. However, their youthful courtship with each other comes to a halt when life-threating news of Melissa having cancer takes center stage. The diagnosis does nothing to deter Jeremey’s love for her and the couple eventually marries shortly thereafter. Howsoever, they soon find themselves walking a fine line between a life together and suffering by her illness; with Jeremy questioning his faith in music, himself, and with God himself.

THE GOOD / THE BAD

Sorry if this sounds a bit familiar pieces from my review of I Can Only Imagine, but it definitely says what I feel about these films. While I am a devout Christian (not a crazy zealot or anything like that) for my bases of religion and my outlook beliefs in life, I’m not a huge fan of the “faith-based” feature films. That’s not to say that they’re bad or that I find them deplorable to the other more popular movie genres out there, but sometimes they can a bit preachy and corny / honky in their religious overtones and overall dramatic direction. Personally, I like the more biblical tales that Hollywood as put over, with Cecil B. Demile’s The Ten Commandments and William Wyler’s Ben-Hur; both of have proven to stand the test of time within filmmaking. Of course, Hollywood’s recent trend of put out more “remakes” movies puts an overcast on those biblical epics with 2014’s Exodus: Gods and Kings and 2016’s Ben-Hur; both of which failed to capture a sense of cinematic integrity and had a messy religious outlook in its zeal aspect. Of late, however, Hollywood as retreated more into contemporary pieces, finding narratives that are, more or less, set in a more “modern” day and age to their Christian-faithful based features. As I mentioned above, some have found success in their literary forms (being based on a book and adapted to the big screen), but most derive their inspiration from true life accounts, translating into something that’s meant to strike a chord (with moviegoers) due to its “based on a true story” aspect and nuances. Again, some are good (as I liked Unbroken and The Shack), while others kind of become a bit too preachy and let the religious overtures hamper the film, making them less-than desirable to mainstream audiences or even members of their own faiths. Thus, these religious-esque films can sometimes be problematic in their final presentation for both its viewers and in the film itself; sometimes making the movie feel like a TV channel movie rather than a theatrical feature film. This brings me around to talking about I Still Believe, a 2020 motion picture release of the Christian religious faith-based genre. As almost customary, Hollywood usually puts out two (maybe three) films of this variety movies within their yearly theatrical release lineup, with the releases usually being around spring time and / or fall respectfully. I didn’t hear much when this movie was first announced (probably got buried underneath all the popular movies news on the newsfeed). My first actual glimpse of the movie was when the film’s movie trailer was released, which looked somewhat interesting to me. Yes, it looked the movie was gonna be the typical “faith-based” vibe, but it was going to be directed by the Erwin Brothers, who directed I Can Only Imagine (a film that I did like). Plus, the trailer for I Still Believe premiered for quite some time, so I kept on seeing it a lot of time when I went to my local movie theater. You can kind of say that it was a bit “engrained in my brain”. Thus, I was a bit keen on seeing it. Fortunately, I was able to see it before the COVID-19 outbreak closed the movie theaters down (saw it during its opening night), but, due to work scheduling, I haven’t had the time to do my review for it…. until now. And what did I think of it? Well, it was pretty “meh”. While its heart is definitely in the right place and quite sincere, I Still Believe is a bit too preachy and unbalanced within its narrative execution and character developments. The religious message is clearly there, but takes too many detours and not focusing on certain aspects that weigh the feature’s presentation. As mentioned, I Still Believe is directed by the Erwin Brothers (Andrew and Jon), whose previous directorial works include such films like Moms’ Night Out, Woodlawn, and I Can Only Imagine. Given their affinity attraction religious based Christian movies, the Erwin Brothers seem like a suitable choice in bringing Jeremy Camp’s story to a cinematic representation; approaching the material with a certain type of gentleness and sincerity to the proceedings. Much like I Can Only Imagine, the Erwin Brothers shape the feature around the life of a popular Christian singer; presenting his humble beginnings and all the trials and tribulations that he must face along the way, while musical songs / performance taking importance into account of the film’s narrative story progression. That’s not to say that the movie isn’t without its heavier moments, with the Erwin, who (again) are familiar with religious overtones themes in their endeavors, frame I Still Believe compelling messages of love, loss, and redemption, which (as always) are quite fundamental to watch and experience through tragedy. This even speaks to the film’s script, which was penned by Erwin brothers playing double duty on the project, that has plenty of heartfelt dramatic moments that will certainly tug on the heartstrings of some viewers out there as well as provide to be quite an engaging tale of going through tragedy and hardship and finding a redemption arc to get out of it. This is especially made abundantly clear when dealing with a fatal illness that’s similar to what Melissa undergoes in the film, which is quite universal and reflective in everyone’s world, with the Erwin Brothers painting the painful journey that Melissa takes along with Jeremy by her side, who must learn to cope with pain of a loved one. There is a “double edge” sword to the film’s script, but I’ll mention that below. Suffice to say, the movie settles quickly into the familiar pattern of a religious faith-based feature that, while not exactly polished or original, can be quite the “comfort food” to some; projecting a wholesome message of faith, hope, and love. Personally, I didn’t know of Jeremy Camp and the story of he and Melissa Henning, so it was quite a poignant journey that was invested unfolding throughout the film’s proceedings. As a side-note, the movie is a bit a “tear jerker”, so for those who prone to crying during these dramatic heartfelt movies….get your tissues out. In terms of presentation, I Still Believe meets the industry standard of a religious faith-based motion pictures. Of course, theatrical endeavors like these don’t really have big budged production money to invest in the film’s creation. Thus, filmmakers have to spend their money wisely in bringing their cinematic tales to life on the silver screen. To that effect, the Erwin Brothers smartly utilized this knowledge in the movie’s creation; budgeting the various aspects of the background and genetic theatrical make-up that feel appropriate and genuine in the film’s narrative. So, all the various “behind the scenes” team / areas that I usually mention (i.e. production designs, set decorations, costumes, and cinematography, etc.) are all relatively good as I really don’t have much to complain (whether good or bad) about them. Again, they meet the industry standard for a faith-based movie. Additionally, the musical song parts are pretty good as well. As mentioned, I really didn’t know anything about Jeremy Camp, so I couldn’t say what songs of his were good, but the songs that are presented in the film were pretty decent enough to certain highlight points throughout the movie. Though they are somewhat short (assuming not the whole song is being played), but still effectively good and nice to listen to. Might have to check out a few of the real songs one day. Lastly, the film’s score, which was done by John Debney, fits perfect with this movie; projecting the right amount of heartfelt tenderness in some scenes and inspirational melodies of enlightenment in others. Unfortunately, not all is found to be pure and religiously cinematic in the movie as I Still Believe gets weighed down with several major points of criticism and execution in the feature. How so? For starters, the movie feels a bit incomplete in Jeremy Camp’s journey. What’s presented works (somewhat), but it doesn’t hold up, especially because the Erwin Brothers have a difficult time in nailing down the right narrative path for the film to take. Of course, the thread of Jeremy and Melissa are the main central focus (and justly so), but pretty much everything else gets completely pushed aside, including Jeremy’s musical career rise to stardom and many of the various characters and their importance (more on that below). This also causes the film to have a certain pacing issues throughout the movie, with I Still Believe runtime of 116 minutes (one hour and fifty-six minutes) feeling longer than it should be, especially with how much narrative that the Erwin Brothers skip out on (i.e. several plot chunks / fragments are left unanswered or missing). Additionally, even if a viewer doesn’t know of Jeremy Camp’s story, I Still Believe does, for better or worse, follow a fairly predictable path that’s quite customary for faith-based movie. Without even reading anything about the real lives of Jeremy and Melissa prior to seeing the feature, it’s quite clearly as to where the story is heading and what will ultimately play out (i.e. plot beats and theatrical narrative act progression). Basically, if you’ve seeing one or two Christian faith-based film, you’ll know what to expect from I Still Believe. Thus, the Erwin Brothers don’t really try to creatively do something different with the film…. instead they reinforce the idealisms of Christian and of faith in a formulaic narrative way that becomes quite conventional and almost a bit lazy. There is also the movie’s dialogue and script handling, which does become problematic in the movie’s execution, which is hampered by some wooden / forced dialogue at certain scenes (becoming very preachy and cheesy at times) as well as the feeling of the movie’s story being rather incomplete. There’s a stopping point where the Erwin Brothers settle on, but I felt that there could’ve more added, including more expansion on his music career and several other characters. Then there is the notion of the film being quite secular in its appeal, which is quite understandable, but relies too heavy on its religious thematic messages that can be a bit “off-putting” for some. It didn’t bother me as much, but after seeing several other faith-based movies prior to this (i.e. I Can Only Imagine, Overcomer, Indivisible, etc.), this particular movie doesn’t really rise to Cursed in Love and falls prey to being rather generic and flat for most of its runtime. As you can imagine, I Still Believe, while certainly sincere and meaningful in its storytelling, struggles to find a happy balance in its narrative and execution presentation; proving to be difficult in conveying the whole “big picture” of its message and Jeremey Camp’s journey. The cast in I Still Believe is a mixed bag. To me, none of the acting talents are relatively bad (some are better than others…. I admit), but their characterizations and / or involvement in the film’s story is problematic to say the least. Leading the film’s narrative are two protagonist characters of Jeremy Camp and Melissa Henning, who are played by the young talents of K.J. Apa and Britt Robertson respectfully. Of the two, Apa, known for his roles in Riverdale, The Last Summer, and The Hate U Give, is the better equipped in character development and performance as the young and aspiring musical talent of Jeremy Camp. From the get-go, Apa has a likeable charm / swagger to him, which make his portrayal of Jeremy immediately endearing from onset to conclusion. All the scenes he does are well-represented (be it character-based or dramatic) and certainly sells the journey that Jeremy undergoes in the movie. Plus, Apa can also sing, which does lend credence to many of the scene’s musical performance. For Robertson, known for her roles in Tomorrowland, Ask Me Anything, and The Space Between Us, she gets hampered by some of the film’s wooden / cheesy dialogue. True, Robertson’s performance is well-placed and well-mannered in projecting a sense of youthful and dewy-eyed admiration in Mellissa, especially since the hardships here character undergoes in the feature, but it’s hard to get passed the cringeworthy dialogue written for her. Thus, Robertson’s Melissa ends up being the weaker of the two. That being said, both Apa and Robertson do have good on-screen chemistry with each other, which certainly does sell the likeable / loving young relationship of Jeremy and Melissa. In more supporting roles, seasoned talents like actor Gary Sinise (Forest Gump and Apollo 13) and musician singer Shania Twain play Jeremey’s parents, Tom and Terry Camp. While both Sinise and Twain are suitable for their roles as a sort of small town / Midwest couple vibe, their characters are little more than window dressing for the feature’s story. Their screen presence / star power lends weigh to the project, but that’s pretty much it; offering up a few nuggets to bolster a few particular scenes here and there, which is disappointing. Everyone else, including actor Nathan Parsons (General Hospital and Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water) as musical talent and mutual friend to both Jeremy and Melissa, Jean-Luc Lajoie, young actor Reuben Dodd (The Bridge and Teachers) as Jeremy’s handicapped younger brother, Joshua Camp, and his other younger brother, Jared Camp (though I can’t find out who played him the movie), are relatively made up in smaller minor roles that, while acted fine, are reduced to little more than just underdeveloped caricatures in the film, which is a shame and disappointing.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The power of faith, love, and affinity for music take center stage in Jeremy Camp’s life story in the movie I Still Believe. Directors Andrew and Jon Erwin (the Erwin Brothers) examine the life and times of Jeremy Camp’s life story; pin-pointing his early life with his relationship Melissa Henning as they battle hardships and their enduring love for one another through difficult times. While the movie’s intent and thematic message of a person’s faith through trouble times is indeed palpable as well as the likeable musical performances, the film certainly struggles to find a cinematic footing in its execution, including a sluggish pace, fragmented pieces, predicable plot beats, too preachy / cheesy dialogue moments, over utilized religious overtones, and mismanagement of many of its secondary /supporting characters. To me, this movie was somewhere between okay and “meh”. It was definitely a Christian faith-based movie endeavor (from start to finish) and definitely had its moments, but it just failed to resonate with me; struggling to find a proper balance in its undertaking. Personally, despite the story, it could’ve been better. Thus, my recommendation for this movie is an “iffy choice” at best as some will like (nothing wrong with that), while others will not and dismiss it altogether. Whatever your stance on religious faith-based flicks, I Still Believe stands as more of a cautionary tale of sorts; demonstrating how a poignant and heartfelt story of real-life drama can be problematic when translating it to a cinematic endeavor. For me, I believe in Jeremy Camp’s story / message, but not so much the feature.

[funface2]

The Rock's 10 Funniest Quotes In His WWE Career | TheSportster – TheSportster

The Rock remains one of the most beloved wrestlers in the history of the wrestling industry. Fans fell in love with Rock during his run in the Attitude Era; a heel turn allowed him to showcase his charisma with some of the most memorable promos ever. The Rock would coin quite a few catch phrases that fans still sing along with if he’s around to cut a promo. There were also many tremendous one-liners that worked perfectly against his target at the time.

We will look at the funniest quotes ever to come from Rock during his WWE career. They range from the catch phrases everyone knows to the one-liners that still spark a reaction all these years later. Find out just which comments from the People’s Champion stand the test of time. These are the top ten funniest quotes from The Rock in his WWE career.

RELATED: 10 Awesome Things You Didn’t Know About The Rock’s “Iron Paradise”

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10 “Know your role and shut your mouth”

The first quote highlighted is one of the catch phrases that The Rock has used countless times. Many of the promos from Rock featured him trying to shut down an opposing wrestler during the battle of wits. Rock would drop this quote to flat out tell his opponent to shut his mouth.

Wrestlers like Steve Austin, Triple H and Kurt Angle were just a handful of the targets. The catch phrase become popular quickly with fans joining in when he recited it. It didn’t matter if he was a face or heel as the quote was too enjoyable for the crowd to not take part in.

RELATED: 5 Current WWE Wrestlers Who Should Follow The Rock & John Cena To Hollywood (& 5 Who Should Stay Away)

9 “You’re throwing The Rock out? No wonder WCW went out of business.”

The Rock returned to his hometown of Miami, Florida in 2004 for an episode of Raw during Eric Bischoff’s time running the show. Randy Orton was the target of Rock this time around as the two engaged in a back and forth promo until Bischoff stepped in.

Bischoff demanded security escort Rock away from the show which made little sense given his star power. The Rock made sure to reference that by taking a shot at Bischoff’s decision-making skills that played a huge role in WCW going out of business.

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8 “I’ll be sure to come back when the Lakers beat the Kings in May.”

Sports references have always been normal for heel characters to get easy hate from the crowd. However, The Rock took this to another level with some of his one-liners truly inciting them. One specific quote stands out from Rock’s concert performance in Sacramento.

Rock referenced the rivalry between the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers by making note of the history of the Lakers winning every time they faced off in the playoffs. It was arguably the greatest sports reference in wrestling history which became a top tier quote in his career.

7 “I did it for The Rock. I did it for the people. Ahh shut your mouth, you thong wearing fatty!”

The short-lived heel turn of Rikishi in 2000 featured him revealing he ran over Steve Austin with a car. Rikishi’s explanation was that he did it to make sure his relative The Rock was the one to move to the top of the card with Austin outside of the picture.

Rock did not appreciate it which led to him feuding with Rikishi for a few months. The memorable quote from this time featured Rock delivering a hilarious and insulting impression of Rikishi. Fans in the live crowd reacted loudly with the fans at home also finding entertainment from the joke.

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6 “Excuse The Rock for one second, his cell phone is going off. Hello? Hey it’s nothing. He says he knows you!”

The Rock’s heel run in 2003 gave him another chance to go as far as he wanted with his comedy. A highly entertaining second tier feud with The Hurricane on Raw gave us some memorable segments. One of them came when Rock ran down Helms for believing he was a superhero.

The egotistical nature of Rock allowed him to flat out refer to Helms as nothing with comedic moments describing his feelings of the situations. Helms would ultimately get his revenge by defeating Rock with the help of Steve Austin. Many wrestlers in Rock’s spot would not have put Helms over, but he had no problem with it.

5 “Okay class, what is 2+2? Do you know Booker T? Oh yeah, I know that, it’s Thomas Jefferson sucka!”

The promo war between The Rock and Chris Jericho vs Stephanie McMahon, Booker T and Rhyno created must-see television on Raw in 2001. Rock and Jericho are still considered the two best icons at having great catch phrases and dropping hilarious one-liners.

Booker T was involved in a Summerslam feud with Rock which led to The Great One delivering some classic lines. The quote calling out Booker’s intelligence and use of the word “sucka” led to the audience losing it at the hilarity from The Rock.

RELATED: 5 Wrestlers That The Rock Had Beef With (& 5 That He Loves)

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4 “The Undertaker with his Mickey Mouse tattoos and his 33 pound head”

The Undertaker was not the easiest wrestler to make fun of in promos. Most of the comedic wrestlers would never get the chance to have a real feud with him. The Rock luckily did not stray away from his game when facing the legend.

This quote featured Rock making fun of the many tattoos of Undertaker along with the size of his head. Rock and Undertaker had underrated chemistry that featured a few impressive matches together and a short run as tag team champions.

3 “Who in the blue hell are you?”

No one could have expected a quote like this to get over so strongly, but the magic of The Rock made it work. Rock often talked down to his opponents by questioning who they were in the grand scheme of things in the WWE landscape.

The question of “Who in the blue hell are you?” made fans laugh and it got over enough for Rock to continue using it. Rock even started slowing down his delivery so fans could join in and chant along with him as he made fun of his many opponents.

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2 “You run around here looking like a big, fat bowl of Fruity Pebbles!”

The Rock’s return to WWE in 2011 to start his two-year long feud with John Cena showed he could still deliver his style of comedy in the PG element. WWE gave Rock more freedom to push the envelope, and he certainly enjoyed making fun of Cena.

This quote about the colorful shirts and hats of Cena making him look like a bowl of Fruity Pebbles made the fans laugh. Chants of “Fruity Pebbles” would follow Cena on and off for about a year. Cena ended getting an endorsement deal with Fruity Pebbles, so he had to thank Rock for that one.

1 “It doesn’t matter what your name is”

The classic line of “It doesn’t matter what your name is” is the one that stands out as The Rock’s funniest quote. Rock started doing it in the late 90s and it still delivers results as impressive as the first time he delivered.

The first memorable use of this quote came when Rock impersonated God answering Billy Gunn’s prayers by not even knowing his name. Rock continued using it with the perfect set-up of it coming out of nowhere. The timing of Rock sets up the opposing wrestler perfectly to get interrupted when Rock reveals he never cared what his name is.

NEXT: 10 All-Time Best Catchphrases In Wrestling, Ranked

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How to Become a Successful Independent Artist or Songwriter

[ad_1] By far the most important skill to have if you wish to become successful with anything, is ATTITUDE. An old Chinese proverb once said, "90% of the journey towards success is over once you have stepped outside your front door." The reason many people fail, is because they'd rather stay in and watch the TV.Of course, that first step outside is a philosophical one. As a musician or songwriter, you spend the vast majority of your time being creative. If you think that writing a great song, or playing an instrument well, is the hardest part of being a successful artist, you are wrong.Despite all the skills you need to know and perfect in order to make your music shine, these pale into insignificance compared with the hard work and other skills you will need to learn in order to record, market and sell your art successfully.Fortunately, most creative people also seem to excel at other things. The term "Jack of all trades" could quite easily apply to most musicians or artists. After all, the first thing most artists have to learn, is how to find time for their art whilst running a home AND holding down a Day Job in order to pay the bills! It is therefore not unusual to find musicians who are also Physicists, Engineers, IT Professionals or Teachers, to name but a few.Most of these people are quite content to keep music as a hobby, at least whilst bringing up a family. However, we all get to a stage in our lives (usually once the kids have grown up and left home), where we want to cease working for a "Living", and instead, work for our own "Satisfaction".There are few things in life more satisfying than being admired for something we created. If our creations also manage to influence others, then it is even more rewarding.This "first step outside your front door" is taken when you decide to pause from the creative aspect (the ideas), and take a positive step towards learning new skills, or employing others who can do those things for you.There has never been a better time in the history of mankind, to take those steps, either by yourself, or with others who would help you.--Where you used to have to pay for tutoring, or buy books, in order to learn the techniques of songwriting, or playing an instrument, you can now find scores of articles on the Internet (like this one!) that will help you for free.--Where you used to have to save up a considerable amount of money to pay studio costs and hire session musicians to make a decent demo recording, you can now find all the necessary tools, and even the musicians, on the Internet who would help you for little or no cost at all.--Where you needed to sign a record deal in order to be able to afford a producer and a master quality studio, you can now buy your own PC and some music software, and collaborate with a producer online, who will give you the capability to make radio-ready recordings.--Where you needed a record company with a huge advertising budget to market and sell your recordings, you can now (with some hard work), market and sell your CDs to the Whole World for next to nothing.-------------------------------------------------------------------The Music Industry doesn't like the changes that the Internet has brought to the business. Digital media can be freely copied by anyone with a PC, anywhere in the World. No longer do the record companies just have to worry about the CD pirates who manufacture illegal copies to sell on the black market; they also have to now worry about every PC-literate man, woman and child, making their own copies too! This has led the music industry into a perpetual fight against filesharers (making enemies of many consumers in the process), instead of embracing the business advantages that the Internet brings to us.The Music Industry still believes that 8-16 year-olds buy most of the records, so they are still catering primarily for that market. Recent industry figures are telling a different story, and the secret is the "Baby Boomers".Yes ... The same people who created the above market perception in the 70's by buying the largest proportion of records ever, whilst they were teenagers, have now grown up! The largest age group to buy CDs TODAY, at 26% of the population, are over 45. Not only that, but they still like the same kinds of music as they did then. So there is no need to change your art to fit today's teenybopper market if you aren't that way inclined.Now that we know the secret, we also know that the next big thing in music, isn't going to be another form of Hip-hop, Techno, or R'n'B; but a return to real music, such as was made during the 60's and 70's. However, we'll be creating it with modern tools on a Home computer DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) system, instead of in a multimillion pound studio complex!So, whilst the Music Industry is still hesitating by trying to shun the new digital era in favour of antiquated business models, hardware in the form of CDs, and markets that still only cover limited territories; we can now jump ahead of them onto a more level playing field, find our own markets, and sell to the Whole World with only a simple website!Sounds easy, doesn't it? ... Well, that is the first hurdle you will face. So many musicians think it is easy, that there are millions already doing it! So to be successful you will need, like any other business, a proper business plan.CONCLUSIONThe road to being a successful independent musician, begins with ATTITUDE.You need to find enough time in your schedule to drop the guitar & scoresheet and use your creative energies towards developing a proper BUSINESS PLAN. This means taking a step back and listening to your music through Joe Public's ears. You need to think up a business name, logo, and short slogan that encompasses what you are, and what your music is trying to say to people.Register your business "name" by buying a domain name that suits you as soon as possible.Pages on free MP3 sites and Free domains do not give you a professional image. You MUST have your own site, or at least something that offers you a unique look and features of your own. If you want people to find your music unique & special, then you also need an image that is unique and special. That goes for your email address too. Genuine business people don't use their Hotmail, AOL, or Yahoo addresses for formal communications.Make sure all your paperwork is in order.If you are planning on making an eventual living from your art, you will need to be registered as a business or as a self-employed sole trader. You need to make sure your tax and income are all accounted for, so you may have to buy yourself an accounting package, or learn to use Excel Spreadsheets, or employ an accountant. There is also a lot to learn about how copyright systems work and whether you feel you need to form your own publishing company, record company, or register your copyrights with an agency. Much of this will depend on the laws of your home country. Alternatively, you can sign a non-exclusive deal with a small independent label or publisher to handle all the music-related paperwork for you.You need to either take the time to develop some basic web design skills, buy ready-made templates, or employ someone to design a site for you.Make sure your logo and colour scheme is fluent throughout your site, your stationery, your CD artwork, and any other communications device, such as email. Make sure your site includes some way of gathering a mailing list, such as a response form or a "double opt-in" form of registration.Plan a marketing strategy.Marketing is all about finding the right market for your product. This may involve a certain amount of consumer research. This can be expensive, so use the Internet as much as possible to find groups of people who like similar music to yours. Try to find out other things about these people so that you can get a clearer picture of who would be interested in your music.Plan a promotional strategy.Gather contact lists of magazines, local newspapers, TV and radio stations. Plan an 8-week promotional strategy leading up to the release of your CD. Use any press, or airplay you get as a news item on your website. If you have some money to invest, plan a set of concert dates in local venues for dates close to any publication dates. Plan a poster or postcard campaign. Contact local charities, hospitals, schools and shops, in fact anyone who might be prepared to play your CD in a public place. If you want local record stores to stock your CD, you will also need barcodes and counter display boxes. Use the mailing list you have been gathering from your site to promote any news to your fans with a regular newsletter. Offer free tickets to gigs, or run competitions for free CDs. Use your fans as extra leverage to increase the momentum of your promotional campaigns.Don't under-sell yourself.Make sure that any music you decide to give away as a promotional MP3 is different in some way to the music you are selling. E.G. It will either be an early un-mastered mix (demo), or a different mix, or a song you are never going to release for sale. Otherwise, make sure all samples you make of your records, are either short clips, or low-fi mono samples. The price you set for your releases should never be too far below that of major record company releases. Your price tells your customer what "stage" you are at in the business. Price yourself too cheap and you are more likely to lose customers because they will automatically assume you are an "amateur".Make yourself and your CD easily accessible to your fans.Always answer any emails promptly. Check your emails at least once a day and reply to any new enquiries immediately. The average time expected by most people for a response by email is 12-24 hours. Do not SPAM. Make sure you only send bulk emails to people who have opted into your mailing list, and if anyone wants to opt out, make sure you delete them straight away (not several weeks and 10 disgruntled emails later!). To contact businesses, you will need to write individually and personally to each of them. Always use a business "signature" with your artistic or business name, slogan, web site address, and possibly your telephone number, on every email you send. If you have released a CD, make sure you add the link to that too! If you have had your CDs duplicated professionally and are barcoded, you can also expand from selling them in internet stores such as iTunes, Amazon, and CDbaby, to high street stores. You must also sell them from your own site or at least provide links to the stores where they are available.Never stop "Networking"Carry your business cards with you at all times. At every conversational opportunity, if someone happens to mention music, or gigs, make sure you advertise yourself as an independent artist. If you have a modern mobile phone or MP3 player, make sure your latest CD is on it! You never know who you'll bump into in the supermarket. The first thing someone will ask when you mention you are a recording artist is "What kind of music do you play?" If you have your MP3 player with you, you won't even have to answer! (This is always a difficult question for an artist). You can just play it to them! Also make sure you frequent all the music-related newsgroups, forums, bulletin boards, MP3 sites, chat rooms etc. at every opportunity.Finally, my "Promotional Tip of the Week"Familiarise yourself with all the P2P filesharing systems that the music business hates so much. You can use them to your advantage. Make ads or lo-fi samples of your music or CD and label them like this...John_Mckeon_Friends_SoundsLike_Simon_&_Garfunkel.mp3Make copies labelled with every well-known artist you think you sound like, and keep all the files in your shared folder. Then, whenever you are logged onto the service and someone searches for music by these well-known artists, your music will be on their list of results!-------------------------------------------------------------------- [ad_2] Source by Lynn Monk https://www.buyherepayherebirmingham.xyz/how-to-become-a-successful-independent-artist-or-songwriter/