#this is my favourite track of hers and then Geometry follows

[sanstropfremir]

2021 is finally over! thank fuck!! and in celebration, i've got some end of year posts for you! first up:

favourite stylings, part one!

i've been keeping track of all comebacks i've really liked this year and i've broken my favourite stylings into two posts, because why not, and also so i could do a first half of the year and a second half of the year, since there's a lot. there's so many. i've broken this up into three categories:

- best overall styling (this includes everything, both the mv and the music show stages)

- runners' up (this is my 'halfway there' category; where most things were strong but not everything was totally cohesive)

- standout element (this is for those things that make you go WOW in an otherwise plain or uninventive stage or mv)

now this isn't a totally comphrehensive list because i'm only human and i miss stuff, and nor does it reflect my favourite choreos or even my favourite songs, music wise. it's just a list of the stuff that i thought that looked the best this year! oh and before i forget, it goes from jan to end of june, and i counted by official comeback date and not by how long groups promoted for, because there was a bit of overlap in the summer.

are you ready? let's go!

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best overall

a.c.e: fav boyz

i'm breaking my own rules right off the bat but whatever, it's my list. although not technically a full comeback because they didn't promote it, but i'm going to cheat a little and tie it in to the rest of the goblin styling because holy shit. i am so enamoured with not only the styling for the remix but the styling for goblin in general like really, how does any other group do a hanbok or a cyberpunk concept after that? how? i'm also cheating a little because this is my actual favourite styling from the first half of this year and i'm peeved that it came out in JANUARY. and if you haven't already, treat yourself to the goblin mv.

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woodz - feel like

i wish i could accurately describe how obsessed i am with everything about this comeback. the americana theme. the exaggerated silhouettes with the shoulderpads and the square toed shoes. the accessorizing that also included utilizing his hip tattoo. his hair. the guitar. everything about the mv and the stages are perfect. best picks: inkigayo 210411, inkigayo 210321, inkigayo 210404, the show 210323, music bank 210319, music bank 210402.

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woo jinyoung - happy birthday

the great thing about about watching music shows and following multi update blogs is that you sometimes find weird little gems and this was one of my favourites this year. i fully forgot he was the winner of mixnine but i'm glad he got a solo debut! aside from the obvious craziness of the patterns, i'm very glad that his stylist did not hold back on using the structure and cut of the garments to play around with his silhouette, especially since he's not very big. all too often there's not a lot of consideration paid to changing the shape of bodies as there's a lot of complexes about weight and size, so this was nice and fun to see. highlight stages: mcountdown 210610, music bank 210611, show champion 210616, the show 210615, show champion 210623, mcountdown 210617.

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hyuna - good girl

i love how hyuna uses fashion and i don't think i've been disappointed visually by anything she's put out. i love the way colour is isolated and used as geometry; there's a limited palette and not a lot of crazy patterns because the emphasis is on how the eye understands the physical shapes that the colours make. the intro shot of her head through the pool table is a great example: she's surrounded by round shapes (the billiard balls) and human heads are round, so in order to draw the eye to her and add visual complexity to the frame they fan her hair out behind her and use her hands to make an extension of her face, so she isn't just a round head. a good way to see how all the shapes are working is to watch the mv really small, like this embedded version. you lose the ability to see all the high definition details and it really shows how clear and precise all the decisions are. and even though there isn't a lot of patterns the garments are still visually interesting; there's a lot of unusual cuts and combinations that you can really notice in the stages: inkigayo 210221 (where she uses the white of the safety shorts AS a highlight element, same with mcountdown 210218, and music bank 210219.

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onf - beautiful beautiful

as we know i'm a huge sucker for scifi concepts and i love this (continuing universe? i don't follow onf close enough to know) one from them. it's got the perfect blend of realistic and stylistic elements and it's really just a joy to watch. onf have a really phenomenal vfx team working with them because this is some of the best vfx that i've ever seen in kpop, especially because there are very few on location shots here. there's so much care here in the production design and the styling fits perfectly into the world they've created. everything about it is fun to watch and the stages are the same, although mcountdown 210318 is definitely my favourite. i miss them already :(.

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taemin - advice

are you surprised? yea i thought so. it's a crime that there was only three stages for this (four if you include the one during the ngda concert), but also taemin was so busy during those few weeks up until his enlistment that i'm also glad there was only three. i have a full post about advice in the works so i won't prattle on too much here, but i'm so in love with the styling for this. if you had told me that this was going to start a loverboy trend in kpop i would NOT have believed you but oh am i reaping the benefits. best (and only) stages: inkigayo 210523, music core 210522, mcountdown 210520, ngda stage.

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a.c.e - higher

i wrote a very long post about why i love higher here, i love this comeback very much. would have been nice to have seen them go a little more evil with it a la cix's jungle, but that's a very minor complaint. i don't even know why groups are even doing teaser photos anymore, there's just no way to top these:

why does any boy group make teasers anymore? what's the point?you literally cannot do better than this. my favourite stage is unquestionably the show 210622, where jun tries desperately to escape his shirt. ok well and also inkigayo 210627.

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hyuna - i'm not cool

i hope no one is surprised that hyuna made it on here twice. i ranked good girl higher because the geometry is so clear and beautiful, but i love i'm not cool as well, because it's got a similar theme of colour consistency even if it is more busy. same praises apply: love the cuts love the colours love the hats and hair and headpieces. hyuna is also a great example of how to style your backup dancers well and interestingly without sacrificing and pulling attention away from the artist. favourite stages: literally all of them but mcountdown 210128, mcountdown 210204, inkigayo 210207, music core 210206, music core 210130, music bank 210129, and this collab stage from later in the year where she just covers herself in glitter.

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iu - coin

you think i can resist iu in a suit??? who do you think i am?? look at her!!!! she may have only done two music show stages but there's also a 1thek special clip and i am clinging to them desperately: music core 210327, inkigayo 210328, 1thek special clip.

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bambam - ribbon + pandora

this is a double feature because he promoted them at the same time, but this was a very strong solo debut from bambam and i was very impressed by not only the production value but also the understanding of colour and cut of garment. bambam is notoriously the fashionista and 'flexer' of got7 and has a very strong taste for luxury branding, but the way that he worked with his stylist here shows a really impressive use of silhouette. the suits for ribbon are all designer but they're all really alternative cuts and have very experimental tailoring, and shows that he isn't afraid to get avant garde with it. same goes with pandora; he could have easily gone with something more boy group-typical like a straight suit or athleisure look, but instead he went for the alternative silhouette. ribbon favourite stages: the show 210622, music core 210626, inkigayo 210627, mcountdown 210617. pandora favourite stages: the show 210622, show champion 210623, mcountdown 210617.

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runners' up

epik high - rosario

i might be the only person in the world that does but i LOVE vertical mvs, and this one is SO slick looking. the shapes of the physical spaces match the shape of the frame and its such a small detail but oh it makes so much of a difference. it's not the most loud or spectacular mv in the grand scope of kpop but every so often i pull it up and watch it because it is so stylistic and satisfying. again, hate that this came out in january because it really set my standards high.

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yunho - thank u

it's not every day that a veteran kpop idol produces a bona fide short film with veteran actors as an mv, and the dedication and care that yunho put into this is obvious. it has sharp (literally) and deliberate imagery and it's extremely well produced. it's easily one of the best produced and best looking sm mvs of this year. the stages are good and i do like the styling of the bside eeny meeny, but it's the mv that really shines.

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cix - cinema

my nuclear grade take about cix is that they have exactly the aesthetic and energy that hybe wants their groups to have, but cix actually has character and good music. cinema is exactly what boy with luv thought it was and no i am not taking questions. the mv feels and looks expensive without losing the character of a group from a small company; like a.c.e they are extremely good for pulling bang for their buck. the stages are cute and the styling for them is fine but the colour palette for the mv is so beautiful and everything is so well blended i could cry. plus it also helps that this is one of my favourite title tracks from this year.

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hoshi - spider

it may have just been a digital release but i'm very glad he got to perform a couple special stages of it at least, because i love spider. it may also be a bit of a taemin clone visually but there's so many good ideas here. i don't love everything which is why it only made runner up for styling, but boy you better exhaust that hybe money when they give it to you again.

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a.c.e - down

another vertical mv, and this one capitalizes on the phone/social media format; it's the right about of cute and fun and captures a.c.e's natural idiocy in the best ways. also this is probably the best english release from a kpop group? also they included some b-roll that includes jun seriously lipsyncing while giving chan fake mouth to mouth and honestly, what more do you want than guys being stupid (affectionate)?

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sunmi - tail

although i LOVE the choreography for tail and its probably in my top fave choreos of all time, i wasn't that impressed with the styling for the stages themselves, especially because the mv has so much more variety. where did those rose pauldrons go???? and the faded blue hair??? and of course that velvet bodysuit.......... also here's a post of me talking more about it.

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woosung - lazy

of pandemic bottle mvs i think this is probably my favourite. it's very well designed and the palette is really crisp and well matched. although it is obviously very manicured, everything flows very smoothly and feel very natural. the integration of the dance elements and the verse feature in the form of tik tok was a really smart choice and actually grounds the dance within both reality and the 'reality' of the mv, which makes it the second mv on this list to do that. and i love the 'snap' at the last chorus.

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highlight - it's not the end

2021 really has been the year of second gen comebacks and i am living for it. this is actually one of my favourite songs (musically) from this year, and i really love how highlight have maintained that second gen vocal sound while updating the production. there's a lot of sophistication and polish in the imagery and the design, including a lot of art + photographic references that link with the literal frame device and the gallery theme. the stages are perfectly fine, but the highlight (haha!) is the mv, and this music bank set.

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i.m - god damn

another good pandemic bottle mv. i love the gritty and stylistic nature and the imagery is not at all what i would have expected from an idol. this was a super strong solo debut from changkyun.

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baekhyun - bambi

obviously there are no stages for this because baekhyun dipped like the day it dropped but oh man do i want to see that hat choreo in more detail. it's not an overly complicated mv but the way they shot the choreo and the visual feel of it overall really match well with the song and i legit gasped out loud when those fireworks lit off that tunnel.

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kang daniel - paranoia

it may be a taemin clone but at least kang daniel has the budget to pull it off. there's a lot of really good outfits here, including the bodysuits, the corset, that long cape, and the harness. there's also some good imagery in the mv and it's very well produced, but the stages are a bit lacking.

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wayv - kick back

i've said this before about wayv, but you can literally throw anything at them, including a mess of loud patterns and they'll pull it off. the first set of concept photos are gorgeous, and i think my favourites are kun's supreme ribcage bomber, ten's crop sweater over leopard print over purple corduroy pants, and this particularly cunty inkigayo stage. they didn't promote that much and i don't particularly like the choreo, but it is my favourite stage for the cunty ten. i wish he had kept his long hair......

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mirae - killa

this is so strong for a debut mv and it has a lot of interesting concepts hiding in the imagery.

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standout elements

shinee - fake reality teasers, don't call me

ahh, don't call me, my beloathed........you started out with so much promise and you cocked it up so badly. i would literally kill someone to have an mv as good as this fucking mood sampler. it's my goal in life to shoot a photo as good as that taemin one. also the comeback schedule???? the fact that they had an active phone line with voice messages??? it was SO SO SO cool and i'm SO mad none of it ever followed up. i've complained about dcm before so i won't start again, but i look wistfully at these teasers and this one music core stage and think of what could have been........

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oneus - xion's face cage, no diggity

there's a few really good looks in this mv, and i'm a big fan of giving the tiny twink a flamethrower, but this?

filed immediately under 'outfits that made me gasp out loud'.

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victon - byungchan's suit, what i said

look at it!!!!!!

it's perfect. i want it.

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ateez - fireworks

the reason wooyoung got the nickname malibu ken

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dreamcatcher - odd eye

i like the odd eye stylings just fine but these two stages inkigayo 210131 and the show 210202 really stood out to me.

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itzy - this ryujin look, mafia in the morning

nothing else to add.

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shinee - atlantis music bank 210416

atlantis in general has pretty good styling and i like the colour grading in the mv quite a bit (and minho's tiger stripe cardigan), but this stage is definitely the standout from the repackage. the set is gorgeous, i LOVE minho's floral tailcoat and taemin's whole purple prince look.

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shinee - code music core 210306

i'm a sucker for a good plaid and a well cut suit. there's a lot of really nice tailoring details on these suits, like the cuffs on taemin's cropped jacket and key's double width waistband. there's also a lot of really nice jewelry and accessorizing. it's not overly flashy, but it is a very nice looking styling.

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wjsn the black - easy 1thk special clip

i'm sure you guessed that this was gonna make it on here somewhere because 1) women and 2) suits, but there wasn't enough variety in the stages for me to really get behind it. i do however, love the styling from this 1thek special clip, i wish they had kept with this and gone with more diverse cuts and colours among the girls for the actual stages.

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blitzers - breathe again inkigayo 20210523

the pants. just the sheer variety of what's happening with their pants. also the fact that they all have cropped hoodies. also also that they just flip one of the members around as part of the choreo for no reason. i love boy group debuts they're always so silly.

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ok that's a wrap on the first half of the year! i don't think anyone will be surprised by this list haha, i feel like i'm very predictable. but i'd love to know what your faves were this year! send them in!

[grimelords]

My August playlist is finished and while it does unfortunately begin with Tool it also has two of Elvis’ gospel songs on it so please believe me when I say it takes a turn! Everything you could ever want over three hours of music from 70s christian hippie cult music to a funky remix of Also Sprach Zarathustra to Ante Up.

If you’re interested in getting these emailed to you instead of having them mysteriously appear and clog up your dash, I’ve started a tinyletter you can subscrine to at tinyletter.com/grimelords

but in the meantime,

listen here

Lateralus - Tool: Tool is on streaming now and they've got a new album out and so it's a very nice time to reinterrogate a band that meant a lot to teenaged me that i have almost completely exorcised from my life since. What's interesting firstly is how much better it is to consume their music digitally than it ever was in any physical format. They apparently resisted making it available for so long for nebulous reasons of artistic control and intention, wanting a say in how their music is listened to - they design these long and overwrought albums to be experienced as a whole. My contention is that as a whole album, start-to-finish, is one of the worst ways to listen to this band. Tool have maybe 12 great songs across four albums and every single album is around 70-80 minutes, pushing the limit of the CD. Which means for every great song there's at least two ambient interludes, Bill Hicks samples, 90s alt comedy bits (Die Eir Von Satan is just menacing music and a menacing voice reading out a weed cookie recipe in german, now that's what I call comedy) that really add nothing to the experience of the album on a casual listen. Being actually able to listen to these songs on their own, and playlist them and pull them apart from the mire is so refreshing and makes experiencing this extremely exhausting band actually pleasant for once. That's not to say ambient interludes and sketches and whatever aren't worth it, I absolutely love that shit and a lot of my favourite albums are absolutely chock full of that sort of thing - just like, don't make me do it every time. Their new album seems to reflect this at least a little bit, with the more overarching themes and arcs of the previous albums replaced by more singular and self-contained long songs interspersed with dedicated 2 minute interlude tracks. The runtime blows out to an hour and a half unrestrained by physical limits but it seems to contain more actual music and less funny than any other Tool album which is a welcome change. I'm still lukewarm on the album itself, it seems to just be a complete rehashing of the ideas on 10,000 Days (to the point of almost note-for-note repetition of some old riffs and themes) which is a bit disappointing considering how long they've apparently been working on it. I'll give it more time because Tool albums always unfold over multiple listens but for now they kind of just sound like the dad-rock version of a once extremely edgy 90s band - which I guess they are now so that makes sense. As for Lateralus, I think it's their best song. The perfect combination of Joe Rogan spirit science woo-woo sacred geometry fibonacci sequence 'open your mind' bullshit and good old fashioned riffs, it's the best of both halves of Tool and great starting point if you've never listened to this band and are interested in becoming insufferable.

Mars For The Rich - King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard: This album is so good and it's finally converted me to being a full time King Gizz guy so look out for a lot more of that in the future. It's a thrash metal concept album about ecological collapse forcing the rich to flee to mars and the poor to flee to venus where they lose their minds and fly into the fire. I spent a little while the other day obsessing over the insane vocal leap in this absolutely incredible song when he jumps down an 11th on 'mars for the riiiiiiich' somehow effortlessly.

Pattern Walks - Cloud Nothings: The interplay between Cloud Nothings second and third albums is something I think about a lot. Attack On Memory is a visceral experience of depression and living in your own head where Here And Nowhere Else is about being able to finally move past it, and living with it. There's a good quote from the singer on the Genius page for this song where he says "It was almost a response to “Wasted Days” on the last record. It ends with “I thought I would be more than this” over and over and this one ends with “I thought” over a beautiful bit of music which is an easy way to explain the way I was thinking when I was writing this record. I wasn’t as depressed as I was when I was making the last album. Before, I felt like nobody liked the band and I was doing it for three years. I was not in a good place. Now, I had more time to think about why I felt that way. It’s a positive song."

M.E. - Metz: Metz put out a B-sides and rarities album a couple of weeks ago and then they put out this Gary Numan cover on it's own for some reason. It's very very good! I love just putting a generally harder edge on it without taking anything away from the spirit of the original. I also, somehow, didn't realise that Where's Your Head At by Basement Jaxx was a Gary Numan sample until I heard this cover so we're all learning every day.

The Ocean And The  Sun - The Sound Of Animals Fighting: Here's what's good: having the last third of your song just be a monotone voice reading from a CrimethInc anarchist zine over swirling guitar ambience. The drums are so good in this, Chris Tsagakis makes me want to muscle through the ska and listen to RX Bandits more, he’s just that good. The extremely crunchy part in the chorus especially, it switches through like three different distortions and sounds absolutely great. I’m a big fan of anyone that can make a very straightforward groove like the main one here really work just by absolutely leaning into it.

Uzbekistan - The Sound Of Animals Fighting: Uzbekistan is the most out-there and wild song on this album which was sort of mostly a way back into post-hardcore for TSOAF after Lover, The Lord Has Left Us.. which was perhaps a little too-out there for most. (seven minute closing track of a guy singing John Cage's Experimental Music essay over formless tabla and mandolin). The drums alone in this are worth it. The way they transition in and out of the super distorted electronic parts is so good. This song fortunately also has a section where someone recites poetry over electronic noise and a second voice whispers 'who holds your strings? wake up..." over the top near the end. I will love and defend dum-dum pretentious music until the day I die.

Gangsta - Tune-Yards: I love Tune-Yards and I'm incredibly interested in the way she interrogates whiteness. It's a complicated thing to get into in this playlist post but when she first turned up, a lot of people assumed she was african american just by the sound of her voice and music - it reaches and pulls from a lot of african music in a very postmodern sort of way and when people found out she was white, straight, cis and from New England it kind of felt like a betrayal for some people. On her 2018 album I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life she digs into it a lot in a way that becomes almost uncomfortable for what is ostensibly a pop album. An NPR article about it at the time said "Ever the student, the Smith-educated Garbus, who writes most of Tune-Yards' lyrics, designed an anti-racist curriculum for herself. She attended a six-month anti-racist workshop at the East Bay Meditation Center. She read the work of noted anti-racist educator Tim Wise and explored the activism of Standing Up for Racial Justice, a nationwide, progressive activism network dedicated to "moving white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority.". That's a lot. This song, Gangsta, from her 2011 album when all the hype was fresh feels like a pretty early look into the mindset she'd later fully fledge out of interrogating white identity and cultural appropriation while also participating in it. The lyrics are simple but they get to a simple point, "What's a boy to do if he'll never be a rasta?" is basically making the same point as Ras Trent by The Lonely Island except it's asking where else does Ras Trent fit? Can a white guy participate in anything like that in a way that's not cultural appropriation, and how can a culture like that participate in the larger world without being appropriated? It's 2013 tumblr discourse but it's still churning for a reason I suppose.

Ante Up (feat. Busta Rhymes, Teflon & Remi Martin) - M.O.P: An all time great Violence Song, in the same genre as Knuck If Ya Buck and X Gon Give It To Ya. Opening with "'this shit feel like a whole entire world collapsed" is such an insane way to open a song but the absolute whirlwind of threats that follows makes it feel warranted. "Fuck hip-hop, rip pockets, snatch jewels" is sooo good. I don't even care about this song I am just straight up robbing you. The absolute power in the rhythm of the overlapping getemGETEMgetem hitemHITEMhitem part is just so, so strong. It's like a VR experience of being fucking robbed.

Awake (feat. JPEGMAFIA) - Tkay Maidza: It seems like Tkay is finally nailing down her sound and she’s absolutely killing it. She’s been through a few different styles since she started out and now she’s really hit on something that’s very distinctly her with this and her other new song Flexin and I cannot wait for the album.

Big Head - Ms. Jade: Ms Jade had one album in 2002 and then basically disappeared which is a shame because she's got a very interesting approach. The star of the show is as usual, Timbaland. The man is a singular voice somehow making the tabla and a wikiwiki noise his signature sound. I love the drone of the raps interspersed with the vocal spikes and I love the chorus as the gospel vocals surge up from underneath. This whole song is just completely bizzare in its construction in a way that works perfectly and feels strangely.

Titanium 2 Step - Battles: Battles are finally back and I’m fucking bouncing off the walls. They’re a two piece now and it does not seem to have slowed them down at all which is very exciting. I can’t think of any band that has ever continued with only half of their original members and also moved forward radically every time. Everything about this song is great: the super strength drums, the hypercolour guitar and the vocals that are just screaming absolutely whatever you like whenever you like. It feels closest to Ice Cream, and Gloss Drop in general more than La Di Da Di but i’m so excited to see how the new album sounds - and how they adapt their old material live now that there’s only two of them.

Dancing Is The Best Revenge - !!!: I’ve never actively listened to !!! for no good reason, but plenty of times in my life I’ve heard a song playing and been like damn what the FUCK is THIS?! and it always turns out to be !!!. This is yet another example.

Skitzo Dancer (Justice Remix) - Scenario Rock: The first clap in this is one of the best sounds ever. Right after 'so you think you've seen and heard it all' everything drops out of the mix for this one very comedy clap and it makes me smile every time. The rhythm of the Disco!... Disco! Disco! part near the end is one of those things that's just always playing in the back of my mind, which as far as constant reminders go it's not the worst. I've also over the last week or so been a big fan of this 11 year old youtube video I found of some guy covering the bass on this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0DLAUaV3f8

16:56 - Danger: Danger had a new album this year that I don't think I gave enough attention to because I relistened and it's very good. He spends the majority of it refining his original sound but it's such a distinct and original niche that it works out great. The songs are so densely layered and frankly just sound so beautiful! Which is a strange thing to say about 80s inspired electro but it just does. The strings and timpani in this about halfway through are just a gift as well, I love it.

Also Sprach Zarathustra - Deodato: As part of my ‘thinking about Elvis’ I was looking up a live album of his called Aloha From Hawaii Via Sattelite which has a very good cover which doubles as an illustration of how my proposed international peacekeeping satellite will function, projecting an immense Elvis themed blanket of darkness over ‘troublemaker’ regions to immerse them in an eternal freezing night until they’ve settled down. Anyway his entrance music for this this concert in Hawaii is Also Sprach Zarathustra, which is a very very funny thing to do and I think gives an appropriate measure of his status at the time. When I told my girlfriend about this she directed me to this bonkers jazz funk version of it by Deodato which deservingly won a grammy in 1974 for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

Hollywood Forever Cemetary Sings - Father John Misty: I’ve resisted listening to Father John Misty for a long time because he just seems like a real asshole. A big brain man genius that saw what Lana Del Rey was doing and thought “what if.. me?”. But I can’t deny this song, it’s absolutely magical and as far as songs about fucking in a cemetery go it’s definitely one of the most singable.

Remember / Medicine Man - Yma Sumac: In reading about the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and who was buried there, I learned about Yma Sumac. Yma Sumac was a Peruvian soprano with one of the most incredible voices I've ever heard who was an absolutely huge deal in the 50s when Americans were clamouring for the exotic, real or imagined. She made extremely good mambo music and claimed to be descended from the last Incan emperor. Her popularity faded after the 50s and then for an unknown reson in 1971, ten years since her last album, she made this rock album. It is insane. It's the best example of 'voice as an instrument' that I've ever heard. She is making every kind of sound possible with a human voice and her range seems completely limitless. She's just as comfortable in a piercingly high whistle register as she is in deep guttural growls. About 2 minutes into Remember she just straight up jumps four octaves in a row just to flex. She also sings in a way in the second verse of Medicine Man that I've never heard before that sounds like she's blowing out her cheeks and then singing with her mouth almost closed. It's absolutey bizzare and I love it so much.

This Thing - King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard: Listening to the other album that King Gizzard put out this year is really making me appreciate how much of 180 Infest The Rats Nest was for them. This album is basically a Black Keys album of groovy fun songs about fishing for fishies with fantastic harmonica work and it makes it look even more like they just snapped when they did the next one.

The Warrior (feat. Patty Smyth) - Scandal: I've been very passively watching GLOW since the second half of season 2 and now I'm very passively watching season 3 and this song was the opening credits theme for the first episode. It fucking rocks I don't know why they don't just make it the theme song all the time. This sort of 80s hard-rock pop is very good when it's good and extremely bad when it's bad and I wonder if we'll ever see any sort of revival of it once 80s nostalgia nostalgia takes hold in 2030. Being a singer named Patty Smyth is very funny also. She's billed as a feature even though she was in the band because she left to try a solo career as soon as it was released, possibly even before. She is also John McEnroe's wife I just found out. What a life.

A Girl Called Johnny - The Waterboys: I found this song because I was googling to see if it's possibly to get a random album from spotify and instead foumd a guy on rateyourmusic who was generating random rym album pages and then listening to whatever came up if it was on spotify - which seems just as good. This was one of the albums he talked about and he seemed to like it so I listened and I did as well. Sometimes the best way to find new music is throw dice on the internet and see what comes up.

New Year's Eve - City Calm Down: The new City Calm Down is one hundred percent great and I have such admiration for them for making a complete left turn with their sound and sounding like a completely different band since their last album but being equally as great in both forms. It's very inspiring and it's also the second song of the month I've heard for the first time while walking around Richmond that's mentioned Richmond. Very spooky.

Cruel Summer - Taylor Swift: It's fucked up how good Lover is when ME! and You Need To Calm Down were so bad. It feels like they changed direction at the last minute and changed the tracklist dramatically because those two songs seem sort of wildly out of place, along with London Boy. It's so uneven it's basically two albums in one but when it's good it's extremely good. This song is fucking powerful. The way she straight up screams "he looks so pretty like a devil"? Amazing. What a crazy thing to shout. If you're interested I also resequenced Lover and took London Boy off it and it's a far better album in my opinion https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3LN1uAhp8BS8Ms4bgmHiVP

Kelly - Van She: I have no idea why but this is in the opening paragraph of Van She's wiki page: "Their label introduced them as a "new band from Sydney fresh on ideas, fresher than Flavor Flav, fresh like coriander, fresher than the Fresh Prince, fresher than fresh eggs."[2] Despite these claims, the band began with a sound very much rooted in the 1980s, heavy on synthesizer." which really makes me laugh. Van She had a very specific mid-2000s indietronica thing going that was really good as this song proves but they also did a bunch of remixes under the name Van She Tech that are very out there and completely different to the main band. Their remix of UFO by Sneaky Sound System I'm sure I've yelled about in these posts before, it's absolutely phenomenal. Anyway I guess what I'm saying is get you a band that can do both.

Shadow - Wild Nothing: Somehow I missed Wild Nothing back when they were a big thing and only listened to them this month. I listened to this whole album while I was doing housework and when it finished I though 'that was nice' and could not remember a single thing about it. That's the beauty of shoegaze! I had to listen to it about five more times for it to stick and now I'm getting more and more out of it every time, I love it.

Heaven's On Fire - The Radio Dept.: Years ago when I was having a major 'depressive episode' for about a fucking year I listened to this album Constantly and as a result for a very long time I couldn't listen to it without inviting megawatts of bad vibes back into my brain. Thankfully through hard work and time passing it appears I've fully healed my assosciations with this album which is fantastic news because it is delightful start to finish and worth getting obsessed with again.

Crystalised - The xx: It's nice to see news articles posted almost every day about which albums are turning ten years old. It makes me feel one million years old and viewing the world from a television in my hermit's cave. It feels hard to overstate just how much quiet influence the xx have had over the music landscape since 2009. Without The xx we don't have Royals and without Royals we don't have You Need To Calm Down, so. Something beautiful of theirs that I think is sad hasn't caught on in the intervening years is the idea of writing romantic duets when duets had been out of fashion for so long. They wrote a whole album of them and continue to! There's a beautiful contextual depth to it, in that it's two queer people singing not exactly to each other but with each other. In an interview they've called it 'singing past each other' which is a very nice way to put it.

Aspirin - Tropical Fuck Storm: I really appreciate the continual development of the guitars in Tropical Fuck Storm where they sound so pencil-necked and reedy in these angular little melodies and then sometimes explode into thick cacophanous howls, but what's especially good is in songs like this when they don't explode and instead just sort of sprout tendrils and crawl around each other. They're really drilling down on a very singular and very unsettling sound and I really love it. It is also a very interesting feeling to be walking around Richmond listening to this album for the first time and having him mention Richmond. Spooky even.

Pasta - Angie McMahon: "My bedroom is a disaster / my dog has got kidney failure" is an all-time great opening lyric for me. I love the way this song kicks up from the doldrums, like forcing yourself to do something just so you've done something today. Angie McMahon is so great and I'm getting more and more out of her album every time.

If I Had A Hammer - Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash: The way this song is performed here is so fucking cool. The guitar tone, June's voice and the general energy of it is just absolutely electric. It feels like Highway 61 Bob Dylan where it's still folk but it's got this massive power in it. The solo fucking rips in that very old fashioned way and when it finishes and that riff comes back in by itself it's just great.

Elvis Presley Blues - Gillian Welch: I was thinking about this song because I too was thinking about Elvis. I thought for a long time that the lyrics to this were ‘didn’t he die?’ and not ‘day that he died’ and I think I prefer mine more. Idly thinking about Elvis like “whatever happened to that guy? Must be old now. Wait, didn't he die? No way to know I suppose.”

Everything Is Free - Sylvan Esso: Rolling Stone had a very good article and interview about how this song about napster has had a resurgence and remained relevant through the streaming era which is a very good read. I love the original and really this version is very similar except for the one key difference where they really dig into the anger and frustration at the heart of it in the 'fucking sing it yourself' line.  https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/gillian-welch-everything-is-free-courtney-barnett-father-john-misty-725135/

It's Nice To Have A Friend - Taylor Swift: This is the strangest song on Lover and one of the best, I absolutely love it. It's a very old fashioned kind of Taylor Swift Love Story type song but it also has a a fucking trumpet reveille in the middle, so that really spices it up a bit. I also keep accidentally listening to this backwards - there's a few phrases like when she sings 'it's nice to have a friend' where the 'friend' lands on the offbeat but is accented like it should be ON the beat and because of the way the music is in this where it's just the steady pulse it's hard to tell whether the chime is supposed to be on the beat or on the offbeat. It feels like it sort of slides back and forth throughout the song depending on what everything else is doing around it. I don't know if that's intentional or not but it's a very interesting effect. This song is also, in my estimation, about a woman and is detailing a fantasy Taylor Swift is having where she can come out to the world with no fuss and enjoy a simple fairytale love story as a gay woman.

Psalm 42 / Chant For Pentecost - The Trees Community: I have a mental list of albums I google every few months to see if they've been added to streaming and by the grace of god one of them finally has been. Years ago I used to listen to this almost every night to fall asleep and I think it brainwashed me slightly in a delightful way, and now I finally have it back again! This is proper hippie music: a bunch of long haired new york christians who drove around the country in the early 70s in a school bus playing their elaborate and beautiful music for anyone who wanted to hear it. The multilayered, multi-movement construction of these songs is completely entrancing to me. It's not a hollow beauty, but one that brings new meaning to old words in the way they stretch and snap and waver throughout the song, moving past each other and through each other as it moves forward. I absolutey love it. Chant For Pentecost is a good illustration of the other side of them, a short song that starts sweet and turns almost maniacal. There's a wild-eyed feeling to the harmonies and the way this melody sits on a single tone for such long stretches before the frankly scary conclusion.

In My Father's House / Working On The Building - Elvis Presley: The backing vocals in these, and especially the bass vocals are so incredible. The way they work in the second verse of Working On The Building is so great, Elvis is the lead vocal but the middle harmony and somehow it just works perfectly. The harmonies is In My Father's House are amazing. The bass solo is mind blowing and the part about halfway through where Elvis swallows the mic and says "jesus died upon the cross [VRRMER] sorrow" is very funny. It's got it all.

The Greatest - Lana Del Rey: Norman Fucking Rockwell is an absolute masterpiece and this is the best song on it. Lana has always had a knack for this apocalyptic feeling but this is a whole other level.  https://www.stereogum.com/2056565/lana-del-rey-norman-fucking-rockwell-review/franchises/premature-evaluation/ The Stereogum writeup for this album was really great, and really nailed my opinion of her whole character thing as well, but he described this song as her version of that video that Ted Turner commissioned for CNN to play at the end of the world and it's really a perfect description. The part at the end where she says 'Kanye West is blonde and gone' is so chilling to me. Like Kanye losing the plot makes sense because he's only a few months ahead of the rest of us. He’s been a thought and culture leader for so long and it only makes sense that he’s spun off into space in these last days before it all wraps up.

listen here

[avonleaace]

I thought I would add to the slowly growing number of Anne with an E fics around the place! I would love some feedback so please do pass some on! <3

Fic posted on AO3 and under the cut

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley Characters: Gilbert Blythe, Anne Shirley, Diana Barry, Billy Andrews Additional Tags: Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, gilbert hardcore daydreams about anne, Gilbert POV, anne is sad and gilbert goes out to find her in the forest, billy is a bit of a jerk, gilbert rescues anne Summary:

Gilbert asks Anne to walk home with him but they are interrupted by Billy Andrews. Gilbert goes to find her after she runs away upset. Cuteness ensues

Gilbert Blythe had been trying, unsuccessfully, to gain the good favour of Anne Shirley-Cuthbert. It was in no way easy. She seemed determined to avoid him, and any moment they had together would be cut short by her moving away or changing the subject. Gilbert could not understand it. Mnemonic devices, a Christmas present and discussions about future aspirations would have made Ruby Gillis swoon, but all they seemed to do was make Anne avoid him more. All Gilbert wanted was another moment with her. Anne was captivating. Her hair, although comparable to carrots, more accurately resembled the deep red autumn leaves. The light dusting of freckles that adorned her features reminded Gilbert of cinnamon. On special occasions, the rare spice was dusted with sugar over his favourite, apple pie. Anne’s lithe frame was thinner than that of her peers, but Gilbert already knew she would grow to be tall and slender. Anne was beautiful, smart and passionate. And Gilbert knew that he had it bad.

‘Gilbert? Gilbert!’ Gilbert snapped back into reality, tearing his gaze away from the back of Anne’s head. Miss Stacey gave him an exasperated smile. ‘You haven’t been focused lately Gilbert. Are you sure you are feeling well?’ ‘I am fine Miss Stacey. Just a little distracted is all.’ Gilbert shook himself. He should at least try to focus in class. But it was getting harder to focus with Anne in close proximity. Every moment of time spent with her made Gilbert yearn for her more.

‘As I was saying class, Geometry is a subject with many kinds of real life applications…’

Gilbert looked over at Anne again. She had turned around to help Ruby with a problem, so Gilbert could see her animated face. Anne’s desire to help others learn was admirable. She had told him she wanted to be a teacher, and there was no doubt in Gilbert’s mind that she would make a great one. She was wonderful when playing with the younger children too. They flocked to her, and how they would laugh as Anne dramatically reenacted sword fights and perilous adventures. Anne would make a great mother, thought Gilbert. He pictured Anne leading their children off to school where she taught. She was radiant and just as beautiful as the day they first met in the woods. But before she could leave, Gilbert pulled her close for a kiss-

‘Gilbert Blythe! If you cannot focus I will have no choice but to send you home. Answer my question please.’ Miss Stacey put her hands on her hips. She was an understanding teacher, but it had been a long day at school. Gilbert grimaced.

‘What was the question again?’ Billy Andrews sniggered and hastily turned it into a cough as Miss Stacey glared at him. ‘Is there not one student in this class who has an ounce of concentration left today? Who can answer my question?’

Anne raised her hand. ‘The answer is one hundred and eighty degrees.’ Of course Anne knew the answer, despite geometry being her achilles heel. Gilbert needed to catch up. The past few weeks he had been falling behind. ‘Thank you Anne,’ sighed Miss Stacey, ‘I think we are well and truly finished with our learning today. Class is dismissed.’

A din of chatter immediately rose in the room. Gilbert began to pack up his books alongside Moody. He felt sorry for Miss Stacey, but brightened immediately at the thought of speaking to Anne. Maybe today she would smile and play along instead of finding an excuse to escape him yet again.

Heartbeat quickening, Gilbert walked over to Anne, who was discussing the abrupt end to the school day with Diana. ‘I wonder why Miss Stacey was acting that way today. Oh, I just feel it must have been something tragical…’ Anne lessened her voice to a dramatic whisper- ‘Or romantical!’ Diana giggled. ‘You know that we shouldn’t gossip Anne. I’m sure that it must be her motorised bicycle malfunctioning. Or maybe she let her morning toast burn.’ ‘Oh Diana, you are my best friend, but you have absolutely no imagination!’

Gilbert stifled a laugh as he approached. Anne never failed to amuse him, and suddenly he felt a rush of confidence. ‘Anne, I was wondering if I could walk you home?’ The words tumbled out of his mouth without a moment of hesitation. Anne turned to him slowly, an expression of complete surprise etched on her face. Hope fluttered in his chest as he recognised a small smile spread across her lips. Diana beamed at him and replied for her.

‘She would love to! Wouldn’t you Anne?’ Diana not-so-subtly elbowed Anne in the ribs. Anne’s clear blue eyes met Gilbert’s and she opened her mouth to reply just in time for a rather untimely interruption.

‘Well if it isn’t the ugly orphan dog,’ Billy Andrews jeered. He strode over and swiftly grabbed Anne’s notebook. He held it in the air, just out of Anne’s reach. Her expression darkened, and Gilbert knew Billy had hit a soft spot. Anne used to be unintimidated by him, but with the ever constant taunting she had been worn down. He could see it in her expression every time Billy came close to her. He knew that Billy had come to represent all of the terrible past she had at the orphanage. Gilbert felt a surge of protectiveness. No one should be treated the way Billy treated Anne.

‘Give me my book back, Billy.’ Anne seemed withdrawn and cold.

‘Billy, give it back,’ said Gilbert, stepping forward. Gilbert knew that Billy was intimidated by him, but today he didn’t seem to show it. A wicked grin spread over Billy’s face. He took a step back. ‘And you, Blythe. Why do you even talk to her? I bet it’s because you feel sorry for her. A charity case for the good doctor.’ Billy took another step back and Gilbert glanced at Anne. He was startled to see her eyes full of tears. Her bottom lip trembled. Don’t believe it, He wanted to say. You are my friend.

‘Anne, you know that isn’t true. Billy, give me Anne’s book!’ Gilbert lunged for Billy, but he was just too far away. ‘Sure then,’ Billy replied. With a final smirk, he pulled open the woodburner and threw Anne’s notebook inside. Then he ran.

‘No!’ cried Anne, the tears finally spilling down her face. Though part of him wanted to chase Billy down, Gilbert knew that his first priority was always Anne. He grabbed some kindling and used it to pull out the flaming notebook. Gilbert stamped out the flames on the ground, but it was too late. The paper was completely charred, and pieces of ash floated in the air of the classroom. It was a sombre scene. The only noise was the sound of Miss Stacey’s motorbike starting up in the schoolyard.

‘Anne, I’m so sorry-’ Gilbert started- ‘I didn’t need your help Gilbert,’ interrupted Anne coldly, ‘And if you’ll excuse me, I want to be alone.’ Her clear blue eyes had changed to a shade of grey as she fled the room, the wind beginning to howl in the air.

‘I wouldn’t follow her, Gilbert. She won’t talk to anyone when she is in a temper.’ Diana packed her things and left, her hair ribbon fluttering in the wind.

Gilbert picked up the notebook, which was still warm to the touch. He leafed through the pages. Soot came off on his fingers as he contemplated his options.

Gilbert knew Anne. He knew every expression that showed on her face as well as he knew the seasons. Anne wasn’t in a temper. Her face wasn’t the same as when she hit him over the head with a slate. It was far more akin to her crestfallen look when Gilbert snapped at her, after his father’s funeral. Anne was truly upset. And it was with this truth he resolved to follow her.

-

Gilbert considered Anne’s direction. Anne might have gone back to Green Gables, but she probably didn’t feel like Mrs Cuthbert’s questions. His mind flicked back to when he first met her, back in the forest. He had seen her walking there a few times since then.

Gilbert ran into the Haunted forest. The trees seemed to grow taller around him. Although he knew Anne could take care of herself, Gilbert felt a flicker of worry. Where is she? ‘Anne?’ called Gilbert, ‘Anne!’ A twig snapped, and Gilbert whirled around to see a fox sifting through the foliage. It froze for a moment. ‘Did you see Anne?’ whispered Gilbert. But the fox fled.

Every minute that passed pooled as dread in the depth of his stomach. It was getting later, and Gilbert hated the thought of Anne lost in the wood. He pictured her alone and afraid and upset. Stop that kind of thinking. Gilbert tried to calm himself. She’d probably climb a tree and befriend the squirrels. Princess Cordelia of the Haunted wood… That’s it!

Gilbert retraced his steps, this time with his eyes to the canopy. Surely he could spot a girl amongst the autumn foliage. Gilbert was always aware of the presence of Anne. It was not long until he found her, perched on a branch high in a silver birch. She looked as small as a bird in the branches.

‘I watched you walk past before. I was surprised at your lack of observational skills.’ Anne kept her eyes to the sky. ‘I used to climb trees far more often when I lived at the orphanage.’

Gilbert’s worry did not go away as he looked up at her. She still had faint tear tracks down her freckled cheeks. Gilbert wanted to climb right up and envelop her in his arms, but he restrained himself.

‘I’m sorry about your notebook, Anne,’ Gilbert murmured, ‘I brought it with me, but I’m afraid that your work is ruined.’

Anne sighed. ‘It wasn’t the writing I was sad about. Gilbert … Do you really see me as a charity case?’

‘What? Never.’ replied Gilbert. He struggled to put into words the depth of his regard for her. ‘I never saw you as a charity case. You are… I am lucky to be your friend. If we are friends. You’re smart, and funny … and pretty.’ Gilbert’s cheeks felt warm.

Anne’s expression softened, but she continued to look up at the sky. ‘There was a girl, when I lived back at the orphanage. I thought we were the best of friends… But it turns out the Matron put her up to it. It was all obligation. It was all to keep me out of trouble.’

Gilbert stood, at a loss for words.

‘But you aren’t like that Gilbert.’ She finally met Gilbert’s eyes, and to his delight she was smiling again. Gilbert grinned back.

‘Aren’t you going to come down from that tree? I have to escort the Princess Cordelia home to her castle.’ Gilbert gave a stately bow.

Anne giggled. ‘Very well, fair knight!’ Anne made a step down to an odd looking branch, and Gilbert acted on impulse.

The rotten wood crumbled beneath her feet and Anne screamed. The sound pierced right to his heart. Gilbert tossed the notebook aside and lunged forward. Somehow, he caught her.

Gilbert’s heart was beating out of his chest. He could feel all of Anne’s slight frame in his arms as she curled an arm around him and buried her face in his neck. Her hair smelled like wildflowers. He had never been in such close proximity to Anne before, and it was intoxicating. Gilbert could see a dusting of freckles he had never noticed before on the inside of her wrist. It was at this moment that Gilbert realised just how small Anne was. He felt a surge of protectiveness. Billy would never hurt her again.

Reluctantly, Gilbert eased her into a standing position, while keeping a strong arm around her slim waist. Anne’s hands still shook as she grasped at his shirt, as though he was the only thing keeping her from falling again. Slowly, Gilbert lifted her chin and stared into her eyes. They were clear and blue again, but still Anne said nothing. His thumb brushed a freckle on her cheek. Oh how he had dreamed of this. The light of sunset poured over the pair, and they were lost in a golden glow. Her lips were so close, and Gilbert could feel her breath on his face … It would take a second to close the distance between them …

‘I’m sorry!’ Gilbert abruptly pulled his arm away from her waist and laughed awkwardly. ‘That was ungentlemanly of me. I was-’ Anne wasn’t listening. The golden light filtered through her now loose hair, and she didn’t break his gaze. Gilbert almost regretted letting her go. She might have actually let him kiss her. However, he had to be sure of her affection before he did anything of the sort. Gilbert scratched the back of his neck, breaking eye contact. Then Anne did something that surprised Gilbert no end.

She leant toward him, and planted a soft, sweet kiss on his cheek.

As she pulled away, Gilbert stared at her. He felt the warm sun on his face and saw the care in Anne’s eyes. If he could freeze this moment and live in it forever, Gilbert would have.

Unfortunately it was at this point Anne fell out of her trance. The moment was gone, and she looked slightly dishevelled. ‘Gilbert! Ah… thank you for catching me! I really have to leave for Green Gables now. Marilla will be worried and that is all I really have to say. Nothing romantical about this at all!’

Anne took a few steps backward. ‘Nothing romantical …’ She repeated, as though she was trying to convince herself as much as Gilbert.

Gilbert, despite his own shock, began to laugh. The comedy of the moment overtook him. Anne’s amusement was given away by the quirk of her lips.

‘Was that my imagination, Anne, or did you just fall for me?’ He reached up and touched his cheek. It was still warm.

Already stomping through the woods, Anne turned back one last time with a twinkle in her eye. ‘Shut up Blythe.’

[bangtaninink]

hello, it is I, potato anon, coming at you with more math vampire au. (1) Kim Namjoon knows that revenge is a dish best served cold. So when Yoongi plays a practical joke and the poppy seeds fly, Namjoon waits. He waits until he oh-so-casually passes by the door of Yoongi’s girlfriend’s classroom and sees Yoongi by the door, eyelashes fluttering behind the playing cards splayed coyly in front of his face, and an idea begins to percolate in his brain.

(2) After two months of careful, inconspicuous observation (“Stalking, Namjoon, I’m pretty sure that counts as stalking,” his girlfriend tells him later), Namjoon works out that Yoongi visits his girlfriend’s classes on Tuesdays, stopping by in the half hour that he has between lectures.

(3) Sometimes he blows kisses, sometimes he swings a pair of comically large fuzzy dice from his fingers, and sometimes he just gazes besottedly through the door at her until she busies her students with a sample problem and comes out to kiss him and shoo him away.

(4) Namjoon waits patiently through it all until on the ninth Tuesday, he finally sees it again: a deck of cards in Yoongi’s hands as he makes his way to the lecture hall. Namjoon whips out his phone just in time to get it Yoongi’s masterful performance on video. Snickering, he makes his way back to his office, where Jung Hoseok is waiting for office hours.“Say, Hoseok, didn’t you say that your class needed help with the traditional dance unit?”

(5) This is how Yoongi finds himself dressed in the robes of a court dancer from the thirteenth century, lips painted and cheeks rouged, dancing with sixteen female dancers from Hoseok’s class whom he had painstakenly taught how to properly swish and flick open a fan. They were performing for (among others) the president of the university.

(6) (“How did you get yourself into this situation?” his girlfriend huffs in laughter, a hand coming up to tug at the headpiece he hasn’t had time to take off yet.“I couldn’t say no to that kid! It’d be like kicking a puppy.” Yoongi pouts. “It’s all Namjoon’s fault.”“Hmm, you were pretty good, though,” she teases.He deadpans, “That’s because this dance was all the rage when I was a teenager.”)

(7) Yoongi doesn’t speak to Namjoon for three weeks. He only lets up when Namjoon brings him piece offering—a framed sheet of A4 paper, carefully drawn in with equilateral triangles. His eyes bulge and his grumpy façade disappears in an instant. “You’re really giving me this?”Namjoon nods sheepishly. “I spent three hours drawing it. All the numbers are perfect squares.”

(8) Tears come to Yoongi’s eyes. “This is the nicest thing that anyone’s ever done for me.” And like that, everything is back to normal. (“How am I going to top this for your next birthday present?” Yoongi whines.)

listen. this is actual gold.

equilateral triangles, i’m--

at lunch sometime the following week, when everything has been resolved, yoongi and his girlfriend get to work on their payback-turned-birthday-surprise plans. yoongi, having filled her in on every detail of namjoon’s earlier demise, suggests they come up with something subtle. something that won’t rouse namjoon’s suspicions straight away.

yoongi’s girlfriend suggests they bring in namjoon’s girlfriend.

yoongi beams.

(”you’re a fucking genius, babe.”

“i know. don’t act so surprised.”)

the three of them meet up while namjoon is busy with one of his lectures. naturally, namjoon’s girlfriend is over the moon to be involved.

once they’ve got namjoon’s actual birthday present out of the way -- “this guy i used to work with is the director over at the national museum of mathematics in new york, and he owes me big time. i guess it’s kinda convenient that namjoon’s been bugging me about visiting one day as well” -- they spend the next hour and a half brainstorming.

(”sesame seeds?”

“i use that all the time, yoongs. sorry.”

“chia seeds?”

“i use those too. wait. what’s the one thing namjoon hates the most?”

“....oh my god--”)

in the weeks approaching his birthday, the trio get to work on writing as many copies of a faux journal as they can, each with a varying degree of typos present. they set up a fake email, a fake profile for a new up-and-coming professor in namjoon’s field, because they know, they know, namjoon is always keeping track of the new shit coming out. it’s a shit ton of work, creating fake websites and all that, so much so that they enlist the help of a one professor jeon jeongguk in the arts/media department.

(jeongguk is more than happy the help. of course he is. by the next morning, he’s got a web of websites that go so deep even they get a little convinced by this fake professor’s fake existence.)

it’s yoongi who directs namjoon’s attention to a new journal he’d heard about in passing -- casually, of course.

namjoon is on his lunch break when he reads it.

ever the meticulous one, he spots the typo in an instant, and, like always, he sends a quick email out to this new professor, pointing out the error.

namjoon checks the next day, happy to see the journal’s been reuploaded with the corrected typo.

until, that is, he sees the other typos on the following page.

more typos, another email. 

another apology. more corrections.

a happy namjoon. a sad namjoon.

rinse and repeat.

it’s two days before his birthday and namjoon is stressed.

(”babe? you okay?”

“no.”)

he tries to explain the group at lunch why these typos are utterly unacceptable, but they just shrug it off, reasoning that everyone makes typos.

(“not twenty times over. who does that?”)

the plan almost caves in on itself when namjoon decides that emails are not enough, and calls their fake professor.

(it’s five seconds of hot-potato-esque passing of their cheap burner phone between namjoon’s girlfriend, yoongi, yoongi’s girlfriend, hoseok, and jeongguk. the phone ultimately ends up with a dumbfounded seokjin.

“hello, this is, uh... professor bang?”

“yes. hello. this is professor nam. we’ve been emailing back and forth for the last two weeks or so?”

“oh, yes. hello! what can i do for you?”

“well, i’m really sorry but it’s just... your typos...”

they’re trying hard not to burst out laughing as seokjin -- conveniently, a professor in the theatre department -- bullshits his way through a conversation with namjoon in a fake accent, that ends in them arranging to “meet”.

seokjin says, “he said he wants to meet up and give me some pointers on grammar and spelling. casually.”)

if namjoon has any complaints about meeting up with “professor bang” on his birthday, he doesn’t voice them.

he heads on down to the meeting place (he doesn’t seem to notice it’s that restaurant he and his girlfriend love to go to on special occasions, probably too focused on the prospect of finally doing some good for this professor bang dude), and tells the front he’s here with a reservation under professor bang.

the waiter leads him to the back, to a quiet function room, separated from the rest of the dining floor.

when he enters the room, he’s met with the back of a man.

he walks around the table to find taehyung with a fake mustache on, smiling coyly as he reads professor bang’s heavily flawed paper on cartesian geometry.

“what the fuck?!”

(NJ: ”wait. hyung, you wrote a fake paper just to get your revenge on me?”

YG: “you bet your ass i did.”

NJ: “but... the emails? the websites?”

YG: “that was jeongguk.”

JK: “happy birthday, hyung. thanks for the food.”

NJ: “wait. who did i talk to on the phone then?”

SJ: “me. you’re favourite hyung.”

NJ: “so... my birthday gift is knowing that these typos weren’t legit? that’s pretty cool.”

NJ’s GF: “no, your birthday present is tickets to the national museum of mathematics in new york, but whatever. if you want the typo thing, that’s cool too.”

NJ: “I LOVE YOU.”)

[evnoweb]

This Week in Ontario Edublogs

I always enjoy reading blogs from Ontario Educators and sharing them during this post.  It’s a constant reminder that there are so great thinkers out there and we’re so fortunate to have them sharing their thoughts with us.

Music, millenials and the lost art of curation

Tim King takes us back, way back, in terms of the way that we collect music.  Then, he gives us a history of music in his life from cassettes to CDs to streaming music.  Along the way, he notes that we may have lost something in the process – the deep tracks.  When you bought a cassette, you listened to all eight songs and enjoyed them all.  Now, with streaming, you just go directly to the latest hit.  And the service recommends what you listen to next.  Are we losing something?  I think so.  I can’t tell you how often my favourite song on an album never made it to the radio.

Streaming on the web contains some issues as well – distraction if you’re driving, and the cost of streaming which we know is high in Canada.

Where Tim dropped the ball though was he didn’t go back far enough – to vinyl records which just might be making a comeback!  And, to show that we didn’t always think outside the box, I saw something like this at a car show recently.

Record players were the infotainment systems of the 1950s and ’60s

What’s really cool about Tim’s post is the interaction on Twitter.  This post is now going to be considered a media resource for an AQ course.  I’m impressed.

Turning Reading On Its Head!

Speaking of Media…

I found myself thinking that my concept of reading is the same as Aviva Dunsiger.  I pick up a book, start on page one, and then read until I get done.

Full stop.

That’s reading.

Apparently not, as Aviva found out over dinner at the BIT Conference.

Michelle gave an alternative perspective. She said that maybe the problem is how we view “reading.” We’re looking at reading as “finishing a book,” but what about the reading that happens in video games? Some games require so much reading and thinking that completing a game would be equivalent to finishing an incredibly long book. And students need to read, and think about what they read, in order to meet with success, finish the game, and get the points.

I’m not totally convinced but there is a certain amount of logic that rings true.  Click through and read Aviva’s post and see where you stand.

Making Connections – Edcamp Ottawa, Voiced Radio, MADPD

One thing you can say about Paul McGuire – he’s not afraid to take a chance.

In this post, he shares his story about Edcamp Ottawa and the 75 educators there that spent a day learning.  It’s good reading and Paul identifies what he calls “new learning”.  In that bundle he includes voicEd Radio, MADPD, … The fact that the observation comes from an Edcamp adds that layer as well.  It wasn’t just the blog; he was podcasting from there too.

But there was one paragraph that rubbed me the wrong way and I called him out on it.

I would love to see some of the big school boards promote MADPD or Voiced Radio on their Twitter feed or take a leading role by encouraging their educators to take part in these new approaches.

My challenge is with him identifying only big school boards.  While they may be big in organization, the typical teacher is most impacted by the work world around her/him.  So, in a school with a school population of 500, does the need change if you’re in a large board or a small board?

I hope not because when you look, it’s all about professional growth for individual teachers and the learning that happens with that one student.

Creating the Conditions to Empower

I’m not a real fan of Ignite formats as it seems to me that they’re the exact opposite of engagement with an audience as the presenter focuses on getting the message out in the  time limits and according to the speed of the slides.  Very often, a good message can get lost in the technicalities.

But, never lose the sight of a good message and David Carruthers had a wonderful set of content for his Ignite talk.

Don’t Lower the Bar to Meet Diminished Expectations

Publicly Celebrate Achievements

Connect to the Heart by Cultivating Relationships and Instilling Trust

Lead by Example

Listen to Concerns

There’s some terrific ideas there that would be awesome for a full blown presentation with lots of give and take with an audience.  He breaks out his thoughts about each in the post.

BIT17 Non Conference Observations

After the BIT17 conference, Eva Thompson fired off three blog posts outlining her experience.  Any one of them would be good enough for a conference report to her supervisor and I’d encourage you to read them all.

I thoroughly enjoyed this post of random thoughts from a conference.  I pulled out four that really resonated with me.

  Elevators

Me too.  My hotel had five floors and over the course of the event and going in and out of the hotel many times, the elevator was NEVER on my floor.  Now, I get that it might not be on the fifth floor where my room was but you’d think just once it would have been sitting on the ground floor.  And then it was slow too!

Sitting in the last row of the theatre

That’s absolutely me.  Particularly if there’s a speaker that I want to hear, I like being able to just focus.  And, there’s something creepy about taking notes on your computer with someone looking over your shoulder.

Chocolate chip muffin for breakfast

Why not treat yourself?  Family’s not there to see that you’re breaking the rules a bit.  That’s my rationale anyway.  I did pay attention this time; there were so many IHOP restaurants in Niagara Falls.

My laptop bag is not comfortable

I have a knapsack and a pull bag.  I prefer the pull bag that follows me on the floor.  I typically have two of three computers and the chargers that go with them.  They’re really heavy.  Don’t criticize me – I see others who shift from shoulder to shoulder to ease the pain.  If you get good with the pull bag, you can easily get on and off an escalator without breaking stride.

  8th Canadian EdTech Leadership Summit 150

If you weren’t able to attend this summit, Zelia Capitão-Tavares shares a pretty inclusive summary of the day with links to the speakers.

It sounds like a typical day where “futurists” were telling the audience everything that’s wrong in education and how “change starts with you”.

The real meat for me in this post were the comments from Zelia’s students.

As each of the speakers shared virtually or live on stage, my students attentively listened to the messages, making connections to their own experiences and reflecting on potential for changes in their own environments. Sure, I smiled every once in awhile as they turned to me and whispered, “Ms.T we are already doing this”, “Ms.T you have already set us up with these choices”, and “They are talking about our classroom”. However, our side discussions were more intriguing as they asked questions of clarification, “why are they saying only star students get to do things”, “what do they mean by pockets of innovation”, “why do teachers teach to the test” and “what does teaching and learning in silos mean?”

Are these speakers out of touch with the realities today’s students face?  Maybe these students need to invite them to their classroom to get a dose of reality.  Good teachers ARE doing these things.

I hope that Ms. T. took the kids to McDonald’s or for ice cream afterwards. What great comments.

It sounds like they truly get it.

How many do you see? (Part 1)

I love this post from Mark Chubb for many reasons.

He starts with a picture of a Grade 2 geometry activity.  It’s pretty straight forward.

All he asks is a simple question.  Pick a shape and report how many of them you find in the picture.

In the real teaching world, you’d just turn to the back of the book and get the answer.  Would you actually do the activity yourself?

But the responders to Mark’s post are all teachers and they have many different answers and takes on the question.

Now, let’s go back to the concept of testing where you’re not looking at a process – just to get the right answer.  After all, this is mathematics, right?

If teachers have all these questions, how can we possible blame a child for being confused?

I hope that you’ve stuck with me this far.  It’s yet again another great week of reading.  Please click through and read the entire posts and drop off a comment.

And, join Stephen Hurley and me Wednesday mornings at 9:15 on voicEd Radio where we chat about some of the great posts of the week.

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