#toby keith ruined EVERYTHING

[breserker]

very fun when people go "i'll listen to anything but country" because when i say "ONE of these days i'm gonna come in with reba mcentire singing about shooting her husband in the face" they almost always go "wait, wait that sounds fine". a bit of a misnomer on my part but still. fuck with me!!!

also the other day when i asked this person what they thought of the eagles and they were like "they're more rock" which like, sure they were only classified as rock back in the day. but unfortunately i'm the annoying "pre-hotel california is peak eagles and everything after is not" asshole and when my shuffle pushed "take it easy" they were despondent that we were listening to country even though this person likes 70s hits FUCK WITH ME???

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

So, I was thinking today of how annoying it is that I recently re-listened to what used to be one of my favourite songs and found it’s chock full of racist dogwhistles. I loved this one as a teenager and in my early twenties – I think I vaguely knew at the time that it was a bit edgy, that in order to enjoy it I had to overlook some less-than-ideal undertones, but only vaguely. I heard it recently, and… yeah, it’s pretty much a Confederate anthem. That’s the whole message.

(Look, I don’t want to link to the song or anything, but I do want to clarify that the dogwhistles I missed were things like the lines “It’s a certain kind of living, it’s a certain kind of style”, put too close to the line “This one’s for the South”. Not… really explicitly racist stuff. I wasn’t listening to the Toby Keith song that describes lynchings and then says they’re a good thing or anything, I promise I have always hated Toby Keith.)

Most of the music I like best is country and/or folk. Musically, those are very similar. There is so much overlap that there are lots of songs that can’t be categorized easily as one or the other, and just get labelled as “country/folk”. There are debates every year about whether certain bands that get invited to folk festivals belong there – ie. rock acts that might have a vaguely hippie-ish feel, and may or may not therefore cross over with folk enough to justify their invitation. But I have never seen anyone suggest that any country band – even the most purely country band, that isn’t country/folk but is just country – doesn’t belong at a folk festival. They’re crossover genres, country and folk. They both belong where the other does.

Most of my folk music is Canadian, and most of my country music is American (many exceptions, of course, if you think all country music is American then please look up great Canadians like Ian Tyson, Corb Lund, The Divorcees, and Fred Eaglesmith). Folk is a leftie genre; it can pretty well always be assumed to be left-wing, unless proven otherwise in some strange exception to the rule. Folk music has its roots among the hippies and the activists. Country music, on the other hand, needs to be assumed to be right-wing until proven otherwise. Sometimes I forget this, because I’m so used to so much of my music coming from hippie folk festivals, so when I get into something new, I forget to stop and check if it might be, for example, a thinly veiled Confederate anthem (it’s Not Everybody Likes Us by Hank III, grandson of Hank Williams Sr., that’s the song I used to really like, it’s pretty bad).

So, thinking about that got me thinking of my favourite country artists/albums/songs that clearly break this mold. Not just ones that might be all right, but ones that are explicitly left-wing. And not just vaguely country-like folk songs, but ones that are very clearly and specifically in the country genre. So I’ve made a list.

Top Five Favourite Left-Wing Country Music Albums:

James McMurtry – Just Us Kids (2008)

Okay, this album isn’t entirely political. But enough of it is to count, I think. There’s a song called The Governor, about the importance of boating regulations, and I respect anyone who gets that specific in their political protest songs. I’m making it sound worse than it is – it’s also about a fisherman who died due to unenforced regulations and the way bribery in the justice system let rich people get away with it.

Fire Line Road is about having compassion for addicts. Ruins of the Realm is pretty well what it sounds like, about America falling apart and the pro-Confederacy movement destroying everything.

I think my favourite explicitly political song on there is Cheney’s Toy, partly because it’s just a really good song, but also because I have a soft spot for specifically anti-George Bush protest stuff. It seemed like such a simpler time back then, when that was the prevailing political movement in America. And I don’t want to get too nostalgic for it; I hate when people say having Trump for comparison has made it clear that really, George Bush was no problem, he’s just a silly old man who paints pictures. That sort of framing seems rather disrespectful to the many, many Americans, Iraqis, and people of other nationalities who died in Bush’s war. But still. It did feel simpler. Being a pacifist at the beginning of the Iraq war felt like such a clear, sensible, coherent, political position, as compared to today, when the only reasonable political stance is “Fucking hell it’s all fucked and we need to burn it all down!” I genuinely don’t know how much of this sense I have is because I was a teenager then, watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report every night, seeing the world through younger and clearer eyes; versus how much is because the world is genuinely more fucked up now than it was then. I suspect it’s a bit of both.

Anyway, I do like a political song that gets specific instead of just a general “good things are good, bad things are bad” message. And a song with the lyrics: “Come on, show them what you’re made of/You’re no longer daddy’s boy/You’re the man that they’re all afraid of/But you’re only Cheney’s Toy” is really quite specific. I think it’s quite clear what they think about George Bush, specifically, as a person.

Having said all that, my favourite song off this album is You’d A Thought (Leonard Cohen Must Die), which can only be considered political in the vaguest possible terms. It’s still good, though. “It’s not that I’m not threatened/It’s just that I’m not surprised/Good for the gander/Said the old folks but they lied” are lyrics that stay stuck in my head all day after I hear them. And those lines certainly can’t be called apolitical, even if they’re not as explicitly political as some.

Two Cow Garage – Brand New Flag (2016)

2016/2017 were big years for American political albums, for extremely obvious reasons. Two Cow Garage let everyone know where they stand with this one. This Little Light is a song about a man realizing he’d been lied to by religion (invoking the song This Little Light of Mine that I sang in Sunday school as a child) when he was robbed at gunpoint and came away with PTSD. I’d argue that this one is an explicitly political song, because religion is so deeply and inherently political. Taking lines from a Sunday school song and using them in a horror-genre song about near-murder definitely counts as a political act.

They do get more overtly political than that, though. Let the Boys Be Girls is a song about taxpayer-funded farm subsidies. Just kidding, it’s about the struggle to exercise our inalienable right to be who we want even in an oppressive system. For some reason it just struck me as hilarious to imagine as song titled “Let the Boys Be Girls” that’s about farm subsidies. My music collection does actually contain multiple songs about farm subsidies, it’s rather common topic in country music, but none of them are on this album.

Anyway, as I wrote this post I realized I hadn’t Let the Boys Be Girls in a while so maybe it’s not as clearly political as I’m remembering. So I’ve just played the song, heard the lines, “And then we found out God was a knock knock joke/And when we answered the door, there was nobody home/Aren’t you glad I didn’t tell you the nonsense they fed me, all about forbidden fruit?/And then they sent us off to schools, and factories, and wars/Teach us it’s okay to die, as long as we’re poor/And then you tell me not to tread on you/In the land of the free and the home of the depraved” – and yep, I think it’s fair to call this one political. Maybe a tiny bit teenage rebel-style edgelord-y, but with an entirely sound message of unlearning bullshit you were taught in your youth. Sometimes, the world could use a few more anti-oppressive teenage rebel-style edgelords. It’s better than the other kind of edgelord.

A few other songs on this album cover political stuff. A Lullaby of Sorts is about the failures of the mental health treatment system for people with severe problems. The title track Brand New Flag is another one for people who are left out by the rhetoric around patriotism and religion.

My favourite explicitly political song on this album is History Now. A song for the Greta Tunebergs, about not ignoring crises because they’re hard to tackle. Not just about the environment, though; they namecheck school shootings and a few other things. “Every single song on your radio, playing soft and low/Says baby, don’t you worry about the things you can’t control/But I am fucking worried/Because we were all left in control/And we are all that is in control/What if it is up to us?/I know it’s difficult to think about it now/What if it is up to us to figure out how the future all turns out?/It’s history now.” The world could always use more songs like that.

 Drive-By Truckers – American Band (2016)

This is the first purely political album on this list, nearly every song on it is explicitly political. The album art is an American flag lowered to half mast. The release date is September 30th, 2016. That still gets to me. They wrote this album to try to capture the darkness they felt their country was falling into, and they wrote it at a time when most people were still pretty sure Donald Trump would lose the general election. Things were this bad even before Donald Trump won. This album is so fucking dark, and just after it came out everything got wildly worse.

The opening track is called Ramon Casiano, which is the name of a Mexican teenager who was shot to death in 1931 by a man who wasn’t held accountable for it, and that man went on to be significantly involved with the NRA. They wrote that story into their song, and tied it to modern racism, how many people in today’s America still believe shooting people in general, especially if they’re Mexican teenagers, is acceptable (“Killing’s been the bullet’s business/Since back in 1931/Someone killed Ramon Casiano/And Ramon still ain’t dead enough”).

Next up is Darkened Flags on the Cusp of Dawn, a protest song about the way the state of South Carolina left their Confederate flag up at the top of the mast, even while every other flag went to half mast after the white supremacist shooting in a black church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015. That is a fucking horrifying collection of words that I’ve just written, and Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers wrote a song that tried to capture just a little of that horror.

Surrender Under Protest is an old Confederate slogan, as well as the title of the next song. Drive-By Truckers used this right-wing cry in their song to support the people who protest against white supremacist violence, which was on the rise in the Southern United States. This song was specifically in support of the activists who fought to remove Confederate flags from state buildings.

The next song, Guns of Umpqua, is about the 2015 mass shooting at Umpqua Community College. The view of the artist is that he’s not in favour of it.

Filthy and Fried is a brief break from the extreme darkness, though not exactly light. It’s about the way racial and gender roles have changed since the artist was a kid. It supports the general idea that progress is a good thing, but also has compassion for people who struggle to keep up with it. It also has some of my favourite lyrics of the album: “Everyone claims that the times are a changin’ as theirs pass them by/And everyone’s right.”

Next up is Sun Don’t Shine, which is why I had to say that only “nearly” every song on this album is explicitly political. This one is about being sad after what was presumably a breakup, and walking in the rain about it. It’s unusually simple subject matter for Drive-By Truckers, but I really like this song anyway.

Next is Kinky Hypocrite, another fun one that’s a break from the darkness of most of the album, even though it’s also not exactly a positive subject. It’s about how often when “family values” right-wing politicians try to curtail everyone else’s right to have fun in their personal lives, they end up getting caught in sex and/or drug scandals themselves. “It’s a tricky navigation from the wanting to the having/All the needs of a kinky hypocrite/The greatest separators of fools from their money/Party harder than they’d like to admit.”

Ever South gets serious again, but not quite as dark, there’s a surprising amount of hope in this one. It’s a protest song about the massive anti-immigration sentiment and rhetoric sweeping across America, but it’s more of a celebration of immigration than a focus on the hatred for it. It’s about how the singer’s own ancestors came to America with nothing from Ireland ages ago, and were able to make a good life there, even though there was anti-Irish prejudice. It connects that to people who are against immigration in America today.

I realize it’s not ideal when white people compare some historic prejudice against white immigrants to racism today. Irish people have absolutely been the victims of racism and horrifying oppression, but that doesn’t justify that scene in Bend it Like Beckham in which the brown girl told her coach he was too white to understand what it’s like to be called [racial slur that’s an abbreviation of “Pakistani”], and he replied that he does know what it’s like, because he’s Irish. That’s not a great thing to say, and the concept from the song Ever South could have slipped into saying something along those lines, but I think it was executed in a way that did not actually do that.

This song says that so many American white supremacists justify their ideology by claiming they’re fighting the battles of their forefathers, like those who support the Confederacy because it’s their “heritage”. They might do well to remember, Patterson Hood says, that many of those forefathers were also immigrants, and the battles they fought were against people who didn’t want immigrants in America. So you being anti-immigration does not mean your ancestors would be proud of you.

Underlying all of it, though, this song has compassion for everyone who’s struggling to make a life somewhere. They have other songs that clearly condemn the racists and their views, but this one does try to understand them, at least a bit. And to appeal to the part of them that’s struggling to do right by their history, and to ask them to understand that hating newer immigrants than themselves isn’t he way to do it. The reference to graveyards always gets to me, the idea that those ancestors everyone’s trying to honour are right below the ground where they’re fighting, and everyone’s getting it wrong.

“And my Christian Southern brethren will tell you all what for/To keep your heathen ways up in you, and your shoes outside the door/Take your stand for noble causes ‘til you just can’t stand no more/And surrender to some saviour, praise the Lord/But despite our best intentions, it pains me to report/We keep swinging for the fences, coming up a little short/We sure can get it wrong, for someone so devout/I hear you whistling past the graveyard, looking down/Ever Southern in my carriage, ever Southern in my stance/In the Irish of my complexion, in the Scottish in my dance/In the way I bang my head against my daily circumstance/Let this blue-eyed Southern devil take you out upon the prowl/With decadence and charm we’ll take it into town/Tell you stories of our fathers and the glories of our house/Always told a little slower, ever south.”

Next song is What It Means, and that’s the flagship song of the album. It’s about the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager who was murdered by a cop. That cop shot him in the back while he was running away, in Fergeson, Missouri, in 2014. I remember this happening. I know how massively ignorant it is for me to say this, given that I was 23 years old at the time, but it was the first time that I became aware of the horrifying epidemic of police violence against black people in the States (and then I quickly learned that Canada likes to call it an American problem, but it happens here all the time too). Shootings like this happened long before this one, but this one was the first one in my lifetime that ignited mass protests, first in Fergeson and then in solidarity across the States and into Canada. It was huge, entire cities were shut down by rightfully furious protesters.

At this point, I should mention that the band Drive-By Truckers is made up of people from both Georgia and Alabama. A huge proportion of their fans are from there too. They are white male country singers from the Southern United States, singing mainly for audience of white male country music fans from the Southern United States, and before this album, they didn’t make much political music.

When they released the song What It Means, there was a huge backlash, of people who’d loved them for years accusing them of being anti-cop, anti-white racists. They lost a huge number of fans – this wasn’t some controversy that Drive-By Truckers manufactured so they could benefit from the attention. They didn’t get nearly enough mainstream attention to make up for how much of their core fanbase they lost, and they must have known that would happen. They wrote and released this song anyway.

I remember at the time that there was a lot of “both sides” rhetoric, because in some cases the protests were violent (justifiably, in my opinion, but I also know it’s easy for me to say that because no one burned or looted anything in my city), they shut things down, they caused problems. So even people who weren’t straight-up Confederate sympathizers said things like of course racism and violence in policing is a problem, but so are these protests, so both sides just need to listen to each other and come to and understanding. Which is, of course, bullshit, given that one side has been dominating the conversation for centuries, and the other side had to burn shit down just to be heard.

Anyway, the first couple of verses of What It Means suggests that this song might be going in the direction, encouraging “healthy dialogue” on “both sides” to find points where they agree and come to a peaceful resolution: “He was running down the street when they shot him in his tracks/About the only thing agreed upon is he ain’t coming back/There won’t be any trial so the air it won't be cleared/There’s just two sides calling names out of anger, out of fear.” It sounds like it might be saying that. And then they hit you with the next lines: “If you say it wasn’t racial when they shot him in his tracks/I guess that means that you ain’t black, it means that you ain’t black/I mean Barack Obama won, and you can choose where to eat/But you don’t see too many white kids lying bleeding on the street.” And that would be the part where huge swaths of their white Southern fans lost their minds. Because they make it very fucking clear that they are putting the blame on one side and not the other.

They continue to make this chillingly clear throughout the song: “In some town in Missouri/But it could be anywhere/It could be right here on Ruth Street/In fact, it's happened here/And it happened where you're sitting/Wherever that might be/And it happened last weekend/And it will happen again next week.”

They then get into straight-up racial sociological theory, a level of it that one doesn’t normally see in a country song: “Then I guess there was protesting, and some looting in some stores/And someone was reminded that they ain’t called colored folks no more/I mean we try to be politically correct when we call names/But what's the point of post-racial/When old prejudice remains?” The guy who wrote that line has read some books on this subject.

They then call out George Zimmerman, who murdered black teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012, and not only was not convicted due to Florida’s horrific Stand Your Ground law, but wasn’t even put on any sort of registry that stopped him from buying more guns, which he bragged about on social media after he did legally buy a gun, and was then arrested for domestic violence: “And that guy who killed that kid, down in Florida, standing ground/Is free to beat up on his girlfriend, and wave his brand-new gun around/While some kid is dead and buried, and laying in the ground/With a pocket full of skittles.”

I’ve already quoted most of the song anyway, so I may as well quote my favourite part, which is the ending, that always sends chills down my spine: “And we’re standing on the precipice of prejudice and fear/We trust science just as long as it tells us what we want to hear/We want our truths all fair and balanced as long as our notions lie within it/There’s no sunlight in our asses and our heads are stuck up in it/And our heroes may be rapists who watch us while we dream/But don’t look to me for answers ‘cause I don't know what it means.” My instinct is to make a joke about this because it’s so sincere, but I am going to resist that, and say that’s genuinely powerful. One time in 2017, I stood in an arena and watched a guy who’s sexually assaulted multiple teenage girls receive an award for his outstanding contributions to our sport, and it was so wrong that I didn’t even have the energy to be angry, I just felt helpless and confused, and the words “Our heroes may be rapists, who watch us while we dream, but don’t look to me for answers ‘cause I don’t know what it means” echoed in my head, and they could not have captured that sentiment better.

Okay, only a couple more songs on this album. Once They Banned Imagine is about the American domestic reaction to 9/11. It compares it to McCarthyism, saying that America had been a relatively free country since the Red Scare days, until 9/11 happened, and then they were right back to those levels of oppression. They cracked down on free speech and on all kinds of autonomy, justifying it by saying these measures were needed to protect the country from terrorism. The example Drive-By Truckers used to symbolize all this was that the government banned radio stations from playing John Lennon’s song Imagine, with the idea that the song would stoke anti-war sentiment and undermine public support for the invasion of Afghanistan.

Again, Drive-By Truckers invoked a slogan from the “other side”. There’s that famous question that people got asked during the McCarthyism era: “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party of the United States?” This song’s lyrics turned that into: “Are you now or have you ever been in cahoots with the notion that people can change?/When history happens again if you do or you did you'll be blamed/From baseless inquiry to no knocking entry becoming the law of the land/To half cocked excuses for bullet abuse regarding anything browner than tan/‘Cause once they banned Imagine it became the same old war it’s always been/Once they banned Imagine it became the war it was when we were kids.”

And finally, the last song on the album is called Baggage, which is about Robin Williams’ suicide. Quite an apolitical song compared to most of this album, even though obviously it’s partly about the way society fails people with mental health problems, and that’s very much a political issue.

“Some asswipe on TV said that you should be ashamed, for your cowardice in facing down your flaws/I’m not sure what makes me sadder: all that talent up in flames, or the lack of understanding that it wrought/Tossing off the baggage that is pulling down on me, toss it in the river and be free/Move so close together, only inches separate you from all the darkness in me/I’m not seeking explanations for this thing that you did, a thin line separates the laughter from despair/And I’ve had my own depression since I was just a kid, but been blessed with the means to repair.”

Drive-By Truckers – The Unraveling (2020)

Normally when I do album lists, I try not to have more than one by the same artist. But both of these Drive-By Truckers albums were so good that I couldn’t leave one out. This was the next album they made after American Band, and it’s pretty much a continuation.

The liner notes for this album are: “21st Century USA, tanks rolling through the streets of Washington DC as our utopian dreams give way to a dystopian now. Nearly a generation since the towers fell and the shit came down. William Gibson’s dark visions have come to pass, everyone is connected and more disconnected than ever. Our children have lock-down drills.” The track titles for this album are: Rosemary with a Bible and a Gun, Armageddon’s Back in Town, Slow Ride Argument, Thoughts and Prayers, 21st Century USA, Heroin Again, Babies in Cages, Grievance Merchants, Awaiting Resurrection. I don’t think that collection of words could possibly be anything but an explicitly political album about Donald Trump’s America.

Okay, I won’t go through every song this time. Most of the are about what you’d expect. Babies in Cages, for example, is about farm subsidies. Just kidding. It’s about babies in cages, and the view of the artist, controversially, is that he’s not in favour of it. Genuinely though, it has some of the most viscerally angry lyrics I’ve ever heard: “I’m sorry to my children, I’m sorry what they see/I’m sorry for the world that they/ll inherit from me/Babies in cages/And are we so divided that we can’t at least agree/This ain’t the country that our granddads fought for us to be/Babies in cages/Surf’s up in the cities where the next wars will be fought/I’m sorry we've forgotten every word that we’ve been taught/Babies in cages/I bang my head against it, smash guitars, and scream and shout/Standing on the beach, watching the tide go out/Babies in cages.” So anti, then. He is definitely anti-babies in cages.

21st Century USA is about people working shitty jobs for not enough money in a society that doesn’t care about them, and justifying their misery with the idea that it will all be rewarded by God someday: “They say we have to hang on just a little bit longer, and a savior will come our way/We’ll know him by the neon sign, and the opulence he maintains/If Amazon can deliver salvation, I’ll order it up on my phone/With Big Brother a-watching me always, why must I always feel so alone?/Men working hard for not enough at best/Women working just as hard for less/They get together late at night at bars/And bang each other like crashing cars.”

Grievance Merchants is one of the only two songs written by Mike Cooley on this album, with the others written by Patterson Hood. And you can see that change reflected in its style, slower and slightly more musically experimental and thematically ambitious. It’s about the way white supremacy and misogyny are sold to young white men by powerful groups that make huge amounts of money off that game. It would be so easy to go wrong when writing a song that’s basically sympathetic to incels and neo-Nazis, but I think Mike Cooley can do it right if anyone can. I think he did.

“When money and respect seemed to elude him, being white alone don't make the ladies swoon/There’s no shortage when it comes to hearing voices, telling him it’s him that’s done unto/Say his trouble with the ladies can’t be his fault, after all he’s what it’s natural they should want/There’s just outside voices turning them against him, a conspiracy to water down his blood.”

There is an essential sympathy for the individual boys who get caught by this, referring to them as “marks” by grifters. But Mike Cooley balances out that sympathy by placing the blame squarely on those grifters and expressing amazement that they can sleep at night: “Giving boys targets for their grievance, and then mocking those who bear the pain they cause/It takes a certain special kind of someone to cash the check it brings and sleep at all/The demonizing of the troubled mind, with all the usual suspects on the scene/Merchants selling young men reclamation, merchants selling old men back their dreams.” The end gets echo-y in a sort of experimental way, fantasizing about retribution for the grievance merchants: “May the price of freedom finally be their own/May our thoughts and prayers keep them company/As they wallow in their helplessness alone.” I think the song needed to end that way, making it clear that despite the sympathy, this is where it should be going. I really love this song.

Thoughts and Prayers is also what it sounds like. It tells the story of a school shooting in horrifying detail, mentioning the smell of the gun powder, children lined up on a playground with their hands in the air. I love some of the lyrics in this one, fantasizing about a day when all the people who let this happen will finally be held to account: “The Flat Earthist realized, as he flew through the skies, the curve of the horizon as he fell/He saw the world was round just before he hit the ground, and gravity called out to close the deal/When my children’s eyes look at me and they ask me to explain, it hurts me that I have to look away/The powers that be are in for shame and comeuppance, when Generation Lockdown has their day/They’ll throw the bums all out, and drain the swamp for real/Perp walk them down the Capitol steps and show them how it feels/Tramp the dirt down, Jesus, you can pray the rod they’ll spare/Stick it up your ass with your useless thoughts and prayers.” This album was released in January 2020, when Generation Lockdown meant kids who grew up doing lockdown drills in preparation for school shooters, and not anything else.

Awaiting Resurrection closes the album so perfectly that it threads it into being a concept album, combining themes of the earlier songs, about the USA being full of people ignoring all the horrors around them because they’re convinced that their God will come back and reward them for it. “Guns and ammunition, babies in the cage/They say nothing can be done, but they tell us how they prayed/In the end we’re just standing, watching greatness fade/Into darkness, awaiting resurrection.”

I think my favourite song on the album is Armageddon’s Back in Town, which is more personal than most songs on this album, even though it has underlying political meanings too. It’s just about figuring things out and getting through life even when it’s hard, and taking responsibility when you have to. It’s just a really good song, I love all of it. Every bit’s a good bit.

Jason Isbell – The Nashville Sound (2017)

Jason Isbell used to be a singer in Drive-By Truckers, but he left them years ago and has had an excellent solo career ever since. Like Drive-By Truckers, he didn’t do a lot of political music before 2016 (a fair bit of Drive-By Truckers’ pre-2016 apolitical music was done with Jason Isbell). But like his former band members, he looked at America in 2016, and decided he needed to at least mention it. I mean, you can’t just not mention it. If you enjoy an artist who makes mainly apolitical art, and you’d like to know what their political views are, check out whatever they made in 2016/2017/2018. Everyone made something at least a bit political at that time, no one could just ignore it.

This whole album isn’t political, as most of Jason Isbell’s music isn’t, but a few songs definitely are. There’s one called White Man’s World, which is what it sounds like (not about farm subsidies). It’s about the blood of racial minorities on which America was built, and how he had to confront his own white privilege in the context of that. Ends on a surprisingly hopeful note, though: “There’s no such thing as someone else’s war/Your creature comforts aren’t the only things worth fighting for/You’re still breathing, it’s not too late/We're all carrying one big burden, sharing one fate/I’m a white man living in a white man’s nation/I think the man upstairs must’a took a vacation/I still have faith, but I don't know why/Maybe it’s the fire in my little girl’s eyes.”

My favourite song off the album is Hope the High Road, and it’s one of my favourite songs in general. It was written in support of the anti-Trump protesters, about how horrifically demoralizing it must be for them to feel like they’re in the minority when they see all the hatred around them, so people need to tell them that we’re on their side and we think their battle is worth fighting.

“Last year was a son of a bitch, for nearly everyone we know/But I ain’t fighting with you down in a ditch, I’ll meet you up here on the road/I know you’re tired, and you ain’t sleeping well/Uninspired, and likely mad as hell/But wherever you are, I hope the high road leads you home again/To a world you want to live in/We’ll ride the ship down, dumping buckets overboard/There can’t be more of them than us, there can't be more.”

Well, there you go. That’s five albums. But because two of them were by the same band and one was by a former singer in that band, I want to add at least one more. Special mention goes to Jesus Was a Capricorn (1972) by Kris Kristofferson, greatest country music singer/songwriter of all time, best of The Highwaymen because he was the one who wrote many of the songs that got famous when sung by other Highwaymen (Sunday Morning Coming Down, Me and Bobby McGee), and hero to many American conservative Christians, who wrote the words: “Jesus was a Capricorn, he ate organic foods/He believed in love and peace, and never wore no shoes/Long hair, beard, and sandals, and a funky bunch of friends/I reckon if he came back now they’d nail him up again/’Cause everybody’s got to have somebody to look down on/Who they can feel better than at any time they please/Someone doing something dirty decent folks can frown on/If you can’t find nobody else, then help yourself to me.” If any country music fans are protesting drag events in the name of Christianity this weekend, just know that Kris Kristofferson hates you.

Now. I have spent a lot of time writing this, because I am really, really desperate for a distraction this weekend. But now that I have written it, I would very much like to never hear another word about how country music is just a bunch of uneducated rednecks singing about their tailgate parties and having sex in corn fields while praising the Lord. First of all, most of the people who sing that sort of thing aren’t rednecks, they’re multi-millionaires in plastic cowboy hats. Secondly, I’m sorry that that’s all over the radio, but most music genres are not best represented by the shit that’s on the radio. Some of the lyrics I’ve transcribed here are genuine poetry. I’m also sorry about that one song I liked that turned out to be basically an ode to the neo-Confederacy movement, sometimes you do stumble over those in the country genre, I will check for them more thoroughly in the future.

By the way, Corb Lund has a good song called Cows Around, about the difficulty of running a dairy farm in a failing economy, and the importance of the government offering farm subsidies to offset that.

[rosalieplots]

Rosalie plot page

TRIGGERS ON PAGE: Mental Health

Name: Rosalie Lauren Cooper

Age: 29

DOB:08/09/1994

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Straight

Hometown: Cleveland, OHIO

current home: Los Angeles

occupation: Photographer/Model

3 pos traits: Super Loyal, Loving, Reliable

3 neg traits: Insecure, self deprecating, Defensive

Bio: Rosalie grew up as an only child and was raised by her dad and grandmother due to her mother being ill and in and out of the hospital alot of her childhood, causing her to have quite a bit of issues with a hard relationship with her mother. She moved to LA when she was 21 and has made her way up in photography and modeling. she is unfortunetly very defensive due to being more sensitive than she will ever admit, and she can be very closed off with other people when it comes to letting them in. She has a huge heart and would do anything for those she loves but doesnt like letting anyone help her she is stubborn, heard headed exterior with a soft interior.

BASIC PLOTS

FWB (0/3)

BEST FRIENDS/PARTNER IN CRIME(0/3)

POSSIBLE HALF SIBLING (0/1)

PLOTS BASED ON SONGS:

(0/1)MORE THAN FRIENDS BY LUKE NELSON AND LAINEY WILSON-Let’s “pretend we’re more than friends tonight,Let’s pretend and let each other Forget tomorrow ”- someone that Rosie is good friends with that maybe both have feelings for one another but dont want to ruin their friendship along the way but then one night happens and well we can go from there.

(0/1)THICC AS THEIVES BY LAUREN ALAINA-’Thelma and Louise and some faded blue denim’- this is basically Rosalies Ride or Die and she is theirs, someone that she would do anything for and is her entire best friend/life and knows everything about her.

(0/1)SHE NEVER CRIED IN FRONT OF ME BY TOBY KEITH: ’How was I supposed to know,She was slowly letting go,If I was putting her through hell,Hell, I couldn’t tell,She could’ve given me a sign,And opened up my eyes,How was I supposed to see,She never cried in front of me’- maybe this is where your muse was closed off in a relationship with rosalie and they were on and off for awhile before she finally has enough of it and let them go.

(0/1)HELL OF A MAN BY ELLA LANGLEY:That somethin’ about me can’t stick around,He’s all the way in, and I’m on the way out,Am I just a runner runnin’ from another?“- being closed off makes it harder for Rosalie to trust someone else, so this could be someone who is actually a really good person and tries hard to show her that trusting can be an okay thing.

(0/1)INSIDE YOUR HEAD BY WARREN ZEIDERS-I wanna know what’s goin’ on inside your head,Are you thinkin’ about him when your clothes are on my floor?”- rosalie had a bit of a rough past and made some decisions she isnt proud of, but this could be someone that rosalie cheated on a partner with in the past or they cheated on theirs or both, this could be someone who is her kryptonite and she falls into the same pattern whenever they are around.

OTHER PLOTS BASED ON PLOTS:

(0/1)**MARRY ME under the stars- Rosie moved to LA when she was 21 and was sort of just surviving trying to find her identity and escape her past, this could be a muse who she met and things moved quickly, to one night they just decided to get married at a small chapel somewhere and then things ended and either they signed divorce papers or have just been seperated for years we can brainstorm things for this~

(0/3)Best friends to enemies- This could be someone whom rosie trusted with all of her heart, but they lost her trust and she turned cold and maybe both did things that they didnt find themselves proud of.

(0/2)ENEMIES TO LOVERS-this could be someone that Rosalie literally despises and they also despise her but the chemistry is insane and the sex is better, but maybe they can work out their differences .

(0/1)**BABY DADDY PLOT: This could potentially be a one night stand type of plot, or added to any of the above plots, even the husband plot they could have a night of reconciliation, again open to brain storming this!

(0/?)Colleagues- this could be someone that she coordinates her photography with and can be anyone!!

ESCAPE THE PAST: Rosie grew up with a dad who worked to much and a mom who was in and out of Mental Health hospitals (TW mental health) and a grandma who raised her alot of the time, but they didnt have alot of money so when she was18 she started as an escort going on dates with men for money, to help her dad with the bills. she doesnt tell people this and maybe this is someone who actually knows the truth about her life before she got it together.

Exes

[tvrundownusa]

tvrundown USA 2024.02.08

Thursday, February 8th:

(exclusive): One Day (netflix, romantic drama limited series premiere, all 14 eps), The Silent Service (APrime, live-action thriller premiere, first 6 eps)

(movies): "My Valentine Wedding" (BET+), "They Called Him Mostly Harmless" (MAX, Everglades hiker documentary)

(streaming weekly): Three Little Birds (BritBox, next 3 eps), Sanctuary: A Witch's Tale (SundanceNow|AMC+, season 1 finale), Delicious in Dungeon (netflix), Halo (Para+, season 2 opener, first 2 eps), Sexy Beast (Para+), All the Queen's Men (BET+), Ruthless (BET+), Double Cross (AllBlk), Sort Of (MAX, next 2 eps, series finale), "On the Roam" (MAX, next 2 eps, season 1 finale), Tokyo Vice (MAX, crime drama season 2 opener, first 2 eps), Couple to Throuple (Peacock, reality series premiere, first 3 eps)

(also new): "CMT Remembers Toby Keith" (CMT special), "Tall, Dark, and Dangerous" (LMN, original movie, 2hrs), "NFL Honors" (CBS, 13th annual ceremony, 2hrs)

(hour 1): Law & Order (NBC), Hudson & Rex (UPtv), The Conners (theCW, season 2 contd) / . / The Conners (theCW), Next Level Chef (FOX), Truth and Lies (ABC, "Fatal Dive to the Titanic", 2hrs), "The Power of Film" (TCM, part 6/6, docuseries finale)

(hour 2): Law & Order: SVU (NBC), Genius: "MLK/X" (NatGeo, 2hrs+20mins), Son of a Critch (theCW) / . / Children Ruin Everything (theCW), Farmer Wants a Wife (FOX), Truth and Lies (ABC, contd)

(hour 3): Law & Order: Organized Crime (NBC), Genius: "MLK/X" (NatGeo, contd+70mins), Impractical Jokers (TBS|truTV, season 10B opener)

[statichvm]

Also, 12, 13 and 16 for Miss Juliana!

12.) a song that my muse might listen to when angry

somewhat damaged / nine inch nails

broken, bruised, forgotten, sore / too fucked up to care anymore / poisoned to my rotten core / too fucked up to care anymore

13.) a song dedicated to on of my muse’s ships (specify ship)

rabid / nicole dollanganger

something ugly in you, you also saw in me / guess we're infected with the same disease / well i could be your girl and you could be my baby / have a habit of ruining everything

16.) a song that my muse can’t stand

i love this bar / toby keith

self explanatory. honestly it’s just… most country from the 90s onward. she grew up in georgia surrounded by it. she’s so fucking grateful for the apocalypse wiping out the 86 country radio stations in her county alone.

[iwanthermidnightz]

Listening to the Dixie Chicks entire discography right now and it’s pretty wild to think that THEY were a huge influence on Taylor growing up and part of the reason why she moved to Nashville... And how when they got shunned for using their voice as women against the President, they were ruined for over 15 years. From ONE comment. Meanwhile, at the same time, Toby Keith was singing songs like “The Taliban” and lines like 'Cause we'll put a boot in your ass. It's the American way’ and he was looked upon as a hero, a fearless leader, an alpha type. But women cannot speak their minds? What happened to the Dixie Chicks was so misogynistic and cruel. When it was confirmed Taylor was doing a song with them I couldn’t believe how everything has come two-fold. This group was there for Taylor in her youth, and now Taylor is there for them after the many years in her own life being talked about in the same way. The implications that has... the power they hold. Something about women coming together to say ‘here we are and we’re calling you on your bullshit’ makes me really proud. I know they aren’t doing ‘The Man’ together, but I feel that the story of that song is relevant. 

Taylor “plays with the idea of perception.” According to Vogue, "she has often wondered how she would be written and spoken about if she were a man.”

 “If I had made all the same choices, all the same mistakes, all the same accomplishments, how would it read?”

Taylor is coming for the toxic hierarchy of the industry and of society, and I for one, am here for it!

[chaunceyandchumleysdad]

RIOT FEST, Day 3 Sunday September 15

My wife did not attend this day, but I still opted for driving as I couldn’t face taking the L after the ease of driving and parking the first two days. Weather was very similar to Friday. Some rain in the morning created a few muddy/wet areas, but the fields were mostly in good shape. A little humid with a cooling breeze and just a very light sprinkle for a few minutes later in the day.

·         Ultra Q (Rise stage) – The first band of the day. I didn’t have anyone in particular I wanted to see at this time, but Ultra Q was the choice simply because they were on the stage of the next band I wanted to see. They were a rockin’ Pop Punk band and a good opener for Day 3.

·         Save Ferris (Rise stage) - I have to admit this is one of the bands I most wanted to see this year. I love Ska Punk, I’m easily hooked on good Pop sounds and I’m a sucker for any band with a good front woman. Their 1997 debut It Means Everything is an album I cannot seem to get enough of. After their sophomore release Modified in 1997, they struggled through numerous personnel changes, breakups, lawsuits and eventually a revival where Monique Powell was able to obtain the rights to the band’s name. Deservedly so because she is the face of the band. And she was soooo entertaining. Her singing, humor and banter was outstanding. She held the crowd in sway in a manner that is comparable to Gwen Stefani. She started the show in a tight black dress and stripped off pieces of clothing until she was eventually down to a Vaudeville-type leotard. She strutted around the stage while teasing the crowd with sexual innuendos. Even the band members continuously laughed and smiled while watching her stage antics. The band covered the Dead Kennedys song Too Drunk To Fuck and of course, they finished the set with their great cover of Come On Eileen. Based on the energy Monique puts into singing on her records, I had high hopes for the show and she and Save Ferris did not disappoint.

·         White Reaper (Roots Stage) – This Louisville band that was not on my radar. However, as I was walking through the park that morning, a lady I was chatting with suggested I see White Reaper because her cousin is in the band. They were very good playing a brand of Hard Rock/Garage Punk. I stayed for about half their set before moving on to catch some of another band.

·         Frank Iero and The Future Violents (Rise Stage) – I caught the second half of this show. Frank Iero was one of the guitar players in My Chemical Romance. I was not familiar with this band but they had a nice Alternative sound and were very energetic on stage.

·         Less Than Jake – Well, I had to have more Ska Punk! I remember my older son David being into  this band when he was a young teenager. Although I’ve listened to this musical genre since the Ska Revival in the late 70’s, it was really David’s interest in bands like Reel Big Fish, Save Ferris, The Aquabats and Less Than Jake that got me to start listening to it on somewhat of a regular basis. Less Than Jake was awesome. I stood close to the stage and enjoyed their sound, energy and great humor. They put so much into their show and had a lot of fun with the audience. It was easy to tell by their laughter, smiles and jokes that they really enjoy what they are doing. This is a band I would definitely like to see again.

·         Sincere Engineer (Rebel stage) – This band is led by Chicagoan Deanna Belos. Their debut album was just two years ago. Very good hard driving Garage Punk. This was the only band I saw with my younger son Dylan, who had just arrived and then departed after the set to catch up with friends.

·         Streetlight Manifesto (Rise stage) – And more Ska! I did not see the first half of their set but Dylan and I could hear them while we sitting on the soccer field and eating some dinner. After Dylan left, I went to see the rest of their set. Like Less Than Jake, they were a fun, energetic Ska band.

·         B-52’s (Radicals stage) – For my taste, this was the beginning of a killer ending for Riot Fest with an incomparable Final Four musical artists. While I can’t say that I am a huge B-52’s fan, I did get into them from hanging out with my buddy Dean in the 1980’s. Their album Comic Thing, released in June 1989, was a summer classic that year. I still enjoy listening to it from beginning to end. They played their two big hits from that album, Love Shack and my favorite, Roam in addition to other hits such as Give Me Back My Man and Rock Lobster. What amazed me was that Kate Pierson (71) and Cindy Wilson (62) still sounded youthful and superb. Fred Schneider’s quirky voice still sounds the same too with his singing and talking voices being virtually indistinguishable. They also drew the largest crowd I had ever seen at the Radicals stage. There sound was rounded out with original member Keith Strickland on guitar and a host of touring musicians. While all still the original members, the death the Ricky Wilson in 1985 almost ended the band, but they forged ahead as a quartet and continuing to be a very entertaining band. After Riot Fest, I did read an article that suggested this was a farewell tour for the band. I haven’t seen or heard that anywhere else. Given their ages and longevity, I guess it would not be surprising, but I hope they stick around awhile longer.

·         Patti Smith and Her Band (Riot stage) – The second of the Final Four was the great Patti Smith. This was my second time seeing her as she was also at Riot Fest in 2014. One of the founders of Punk (before it was called Punk), she was way ahead of her time in terms of her music, attitude and feminism. While she has produced some great songs, I was surprised, though not disappointed, that she did several cover versions during her set including I’m Free (Rolling Stones), Beds Are Burning (Midnight Oil), Are You Experienced? (Jimi Hendrix), Walk On The Wild Side (Lou Reed) and After The Goldrush (Neil Young). I particularly liked I’m Free and Beds Are Burning. She closed the set with Gloria, which is technically a cover song (Them). However, that was the opening track of her first album and she did such a unique version of the song that she has made it her own. Add in People Have The Power and Because The Night along with a couple of other originals and it made for a wonderfully enjoyable set.

·         The Raconteurs (Roots stage) – Earlier in the year, when I heard The Raconteurs were touring, I immediately went to their website to see when they would be in Chicago. While they were going to be playing in Midwest states during September, Chicago was noticeably absent from their schedule. That immediately led me to speculate that they would play Riot Fest. While I’m sure I wasn’t the only on to draw that conclusion, I was dead right for a change. (My Riot Fest prediction percentage does not have the best track record.) I just saw Jack White perform last year at Lollapalooza so it was great to see him again a little more than a year later. I would have to say for overall performance, this was, in my book, the best of the festival. The show was just so impactful in terms of being a tight band with great professional talent, tremendous production and a powerhouse of sound. They played six songs off the new album (Help Us Stranger), four from Broken Boy Soldiers and three form Consolers Of The Lonely. I like all three albums so I was happy with everything they played. Jack White also referenced Bikini Kill during the set and the band also played a snippet of Gloria which I interpreted as a nod to Patti Smith.Unlike last year at Lolla, Jack White did not offer much banter between songs, but I believe the bands stage time was much shorter at Riot Fest than it was at Lolla. As with last year at Lolla, I thoroughly enjoyed Jack White’s guitar playing. When you look at the span of his career, the various directions he has gone with his music, and the potential he still has, he is truly a treasure of American Rock music.

·         Bikini Kill (Riot stage) – This band was Riot Mike’s coup for the 2019 edition of Riot Fest. This year was the first time Bikini Kill officially reunited as a band since they broke up in 1997. The reunion included 3 of 4 original members (Kathleen Hanna, Tobi Vail and Kathi Wilcox). I have twice seen Kathleen Hanna live with her band The Julie Ruin, but I never thought I would see Bikini Kill. It seemed like a bit of a strange transition from The Raconteurs big time Rock sound to Bikini Kill’s stripped-down Riot Grrrl sound. But Riot Fest is first and foremost a Punk Rock festival, so Bikini Kill deserved the top spot. Kathleen Hanna also commented on how difficult it is for a female band to get “this spot” (top headliner and a Rock music festival). Kathleen sang the bulk of the songs with Tobi Vail taking lead vocals for a few numbers. Kathleen talked quite a bit between songs, often addressing societal issues from a feminist point of view but also talking about the history behind some of the songs. Based on my experience seeing The Julie Ruin, I know she likes to chat on stage. However, when you are given a 75 minute time slot and you play Punk songs that are on average maybe two minutes long, I suppose you have to fill up the time with some banter. At any rate, it was fantastic to see this band and an awesome way to end Riot Fest 2019.

[lilacbreastedroller]

BIG DISCLAIMER: i was 9 when 9/11 happened, so this might be more about my own crystalizing tastes than anything else. i think it's a pretty darn good theory tho and other people have validated it. BIGGER DISCLAIMER: i am not saying that country music prior to 9/11 was free from nationalist, racist, misogynist undertones - i just think that these themes became more the norm! MY HOT TAKE: with very few exceptions, including goodbye earl, before he cheats, and daddy Iessons (side note - all women!) 9/11 ruined country music. around 2014 onward we've got margo price, sturgill simpson, jason isbell etc., who are making country music great again (wink), but those folks are mostly considered "alternative" country. the mainstream country music for well over a decade now is a glut of trash performative patriotic / working-class-but-not-really lab-crafted budweiser-sponsored nonsense that has managed to sound rebellious (or has convinced its fans that it sounds rebellious) without ever actually questioning any power structure. so much so that artists who ACTUALLY criticized the government were literally blacklisted for nearly a decade (the dixie chicks) pre-9/11 country music, though not perfect or ideologically pure by any stretch, did not have the raging american flag painted truck boner that comes to mind for a lot of people who say "i like everything except rap and country" SPECIFICALLY, toby keith's "courtesy of the red, white, and blue (the angry american)" (2002) literally destroyed country music. it was a direct answer to the 9/11 attacks and war song in support of the invasion of afghanistan. the lyrics read like a disjointed feverish email chain letter forwarded from your great uncle sprinkled with glittering american flag gifs and heavily saturated pictures of bald eagles. the entire song is lifted from an estimated 248 peeling bumper stickers collected from rusted trucks on cinder blocks in overgrown yards, cut up and arranged to fit a catchy, formulaic tune that is almost certainly the background music playing in george w. bush's head at all times. "we'll put a boot in your ass, it's the american way and uncle sam put your name at the top of his list and the statue of liberty started shakin' her fist and the eagle will fly, and it's gonna be hell, when you hear mother freedom start a'ringin' her bell" country music and the new country musicians that toby keith paved the way for became so pro establishment and so unquestioningly nationalistic that, again, the dixie chicks who went against this grain were blacklisted by the industry and received death threats from country music fans. hell, there are folks who STILL froth at the mouth at the mere mention of the dixie chicks. 9/11 killed outlaw country - how can you sing the praises of law breakers when your main circuit consists of singing to troops? there are some great classic country songs critiquing the police state - especially from johnny cash and merle haggard - now country music artists hold fundraisers for FOPs. new country music is basically in-law country music. you don't have to write a pro-bush patriotic anthem to be part of this post-9/11 ruination. playing meaningless songs about living in the heart of (read: white) america, eschewing the city (read: not white), and cracking open a cold one with the boys for "authentic" country music is also important to the war effort. there's a progression of themes here: post 9/11 top tier: war anthem, vocally patriotic, directly used as pro war propaganda; which paved the way for: "things used to be so much better" thinly veiled racist laments, good for campaign ads; which paved the way for meaningless party anthems - attempts to make things "like they used to be" and craft a reality that neither the artist nor listener likely ever experience. that brings us to what most people think of today when they say they hate country music: the country party anthem - "tiny hot gal in tight jean shorts who can drink beer like the guys, she doesn't like beyoncé Like Other Girls, oh she's so into me and my truck, i'm gonna take her fishing after i finish sowing my corn - sung by a guy who's never touched a tractor" - has overtaken the tragic, done me wrong, despairing country ballads of tammy wynette, george jones, and even up into pre-9/11 contemporaries like reba mcentire and george strait. you didn't necessarily have to be country to relate to their pain. now you have to perform suburban redneckness to enjoy luke bryan. when was the last time you heard a sad country song? after 9/11, cowboys (whether or not they had ever been near a cow) weren't allowed to be sad anymore (no more done me wrong country), and they certainly weren't allowed to question authority (no more outlaw country). partying hardy became the most important American Thing and if you don't sing about that, our Enemies Will Win. so - understanding that country music has always had bad stuff, and that like any genre it suffers from commercialization, 9/11 DESTROYED COUNTRY MUSIC. and toby keith gleefully helped destroy it. for some further evidence of the decline of country music, please listen to the dixie chicks' "long time gone" which is an indictment of the industry (i believe it was written before 9/11 but my point still stands - the genre was on the decline and 9/11 was the major cultural event that hastened the decline). maybe i am a curmudgeon - almost every generation of country music has had its own "country music is not what it used to be" anthem, but i really think something distinct happened with 9/11.

[52murders]

5 - One In, One Out

On the 1st of January at 12:02 AM, the following took place at The Wash nightclub in Dalston. 

On the roof terrace:

Graham shuddered to the first orgasm he had ever shared with another person and thought that this was going to be the best year ever.

Florence suddenly wondered if she had remembered to take her pill. She was pretty sure she had. Almost definitely.

Paul was one of many people who were pretending they couldn’t see the couple shagging behind the azalea bushes.

Simone was wondering why there weren’t any fireworks.  Weren’t there supposed to be fireworks on New Years Eve? Where were the fireworks?

Fergus was considering throwing Simone off the roof if she didn’t shut up about fireworks.

Tammy was having her last cigarette before quitting.

Keith was trying to discreetly roll a spliff without attracting too much attention.

Georgina thought Keith looked like a young Jeremy Vine. Apart from the dreadlocks, obviously.

Maria was trying to get people singing and didn’t understand why no one was joining in.

Claudette was one of several people wondering why Maria was singing “How Much is That Doggy In The Window?”

Hadley wanted to go back inside.

Sandeep was wondering who his ex-girlfriend had kissed at midnight.

Tara thought she and Sandeep had a future together.

Harry was wondering who the fuck invited their dad out for New Year’s Eve.

Ron was talking about the pills back in the day and how you just had to take one and you were on one for the rest of the night.

Chas hadn’t felt old until he’d seen the expressions of amused contempt on the faces of those kids as they took the piss out of his brother.

Billy looked at the skyline and wondered what the year ahead would bring.

 On the upper staircase:

Caroline was crying.

Julianne had her arm around Caroline, was rubbing her shoulder and said “there, there” but wasn’t really in the mood to be going through these dramas so early in the evening.

Nicholas stood around awkwardly, wondering what – if anything – he could do.

Genovese was knocking on the office door, so Ken could reset the credit card terminal.

In the office:

Ken was busy racking up lines of coke. 

DJ Dan Diamond was promising himself that he would stop taking crappy bookings in these shitty two-bit clubs.

Chantelle was wondering if Ken expected her to shag DJ Dan Diamond.

Vicki wished she’d been able to get tickets for Ministry.

Pete was fairly sure he’d once had a handjob from DJ Dan Diamond at a festival in Berlin.

 In the stock cupboard:

A mouse was nibbling on a pistachio nut.

 In the first floor bar:

Sam was ignoring his boss’s previous warnings about drug use and necked two pills behind the bar.

Georgia thought that if Sam wanted to keep his job, he should either be more discreet or learn how to share.

Hamish still couldn’t get served, even when there was nobody else standing there.

Chris wasn’t sure whether to say Happy New Year to Pauline or Sabrina, so just stood there with his arms half outstretched to the room in general.

Sabrina was hugging Pauline and telling her that it was going to be their year. THEIR YEAR.

Pauline wished that Sabrina hadn’t eaten so much garlic before coming out.

Freddie was waiting for Sabrina to shut up so he could say Happy New Year to Pauline.

Tim was putting something in Pauline’s drink.

Kenneth wasn’t sure he wanted to hang around with Tim any more.

Michelle was wishing that she had stayed at home.

Tom was wishing that Michelle would take that look off her face and at least pretend to have a good time.

Carol hoped that she and Julius didn’t end up like Tom and Michelle.

Julius felt homesick.

Maxine was sick, but kept her mouth shut and was doing her best to swallow it without anyone noticing.

Jack tried to make a move on Maxine and didn’t understand why she wouldn’t kiss him.

Sharon watched Jack make a fool of himself and knew that she would be the one he went home with at the end of the night.

Andy thought he definitely was in with Sharon.

Penelope suddenly felt a sharp pain under her chin, like she’d been punched by an iron fist. She fell to the floor and was dead before reached it.

Kevin thought that Penelope was just staggering because she was drunk and was about to laugh at her. Then he saw the blood.

Jocasta was about to slap that fucking bitch that was bumping into her.

Coralina wished she’d worn better shoes. That heel was just about to snap.

Patti wasn’t going to be able to take her top back tomorrow. Not with Bacardi spilled down the back and sweat in the pits.

Carl had his hands on the skinny arse of some girl he had been introduced to twice, but whose name he had forgotten.

Jemima wondered if wanting to get off with a black guy - any black guy - was racist.

Callie had never seen what happened to Jemima when she drank and now understood why she generally only had lemonade at their works do’s.

Samson wanted to know why this one wasn’t as much fun as her friend.

Roxanne wondered what the point of wearing makeup and putting on nice clothes when guys went for scruffy old tarts.

Jack thought seventy-five a gram was extortionate, even for New Year’s Eve.

Toby would have given the gear away for free if it meant he could go home and be with Joy and the baby, but Ansell needed his money and wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Sandra watched the deal go down and reminded herself that she was off-duty.

Bea was only pretending to be drunk. It was the only way she could justify acting the way she did.

Kayleigh wondered why Bea had to get so wankered every time they went out.

 On the lower staircase:

Kyle was explaining this theory about a universal consciousness and how we are all different vibrational frequencies of the same energy.

Sharon had no fucking idea what this guy was on about.

Pauline was just pleased that she had found somewhere to sit down. 

Derek had surreptitiously bombed a load of speed and wanted to head back to the dancefloor.

Rose made a joke about ants in the pants, then blushed furiously for no discernible reason.

Luke had no idea that the woman he was snogging would be his wife by this time next year.

Cora was glad she had brought mints and condoms out with her.

Dave skipped down the stairs two at a time, keen to get back to the serious business of strutting his stuff.

 In the gents toilet:

Bill was completely missing the target and pissing all over his shoes.

Kamal couldn’t go.

Wendall was thinking that if he didn’t pull tonight, he might try being gay for a bit.

Nigel was remembering the time he ate a urinal cake for a bet and had to go and have his stomach pumped. Why didn’t he have nights like that any more?

David didn’t notice that there was blood in his piss, but could feel the stinging sensation.

Pete was trying not to be rude as he knocked on the cubicle door, but he was about twelve seconds away from shitting his pants.

Clyde told whoever it was outside knocking to fuck off and die.

Jacques was tapping his arm, trying to find a vein.

Andre hated toilet men and tried not to make eye contact.

Keith smiled as he held out a towel to the guy washing his hands.

Idris waited patiently for his turn and was careful not to make eye contact with anyone or any thing.

In the main room:

DJ Cheddar didn’t care if it made him a sellout - this year he was definitely going to produce a mash-up version of “Auld Lang Syne” and make a fortune.

Cheryl had dropped a contact lens and was weighing up the pros and cons of trying to find it versus spending the rest of the night winking like a pirate.

Liz wished she wasn’t on her period.

Kevin thought Liz smelled funny.

Theresa had dropped six pills and didn’t feel a thing. If she saw that scrawny fucker that had ripped her off, she was going to rip his tits off.

Dreamer was just there for the music. He didn’t hold with this new years shit.

Christos had been dancing for over and hour and hadn’t moved his feet once.

Sami thought house was for poofs and hairdressers, but these girls seemed to be into it, so… 

Hector made the box.

Charlene liked to dance, but preferred it if guys were a bit clumsy. For some reason, she found it reassuring.

Veronica had been saving the last few drops of her vodka and coke for twenty minutes, waiting for someone to buy her a drink.

Bettina wondered why she was getting funny looks.

Lewis didn’t want to stare, but couldn’t help but notice that girl’s dress had gone totally see-through.

Bernard didn’t mind staring at all.

Francis thought they didn’t make tunes like this any more, even though the song had, in fact, only been released three weeks ago.

Indigo would rather have been in Bali.

Karl couldn’t work out what that guy was so upset about.

Frank knew trouble when he saw it and was pushing Karl and Dayton away from the dance floor.

Dayton was pissed off they had to leave. That girl in the see through dress was hot.

Fiona saw the flash above the crowd and thought it was a firecracker.

Ben did his best to aim Stephan’s hand way from the crowd, but couldn’t stop him from pulling the trigger.

Stephen had got the gun from his uncle and would have used it on that pussyhole motherfucker, if Ben hadn’t smacked his hand upwards and sent the shot into the ceiling.

Jason felt his eardrum burst as something loud exploded near his head.

Isaac knew what that pop meant and started running for the door.

Jen wanted to know where the fuck Isaac was going.

Freya didn’t know what the fight was about, but felt certain that her stupid little brother had been the cause of it.

Gemini thought it was typical. You couldn’t go for a dance without stupid men ruining everything.

Inga wanted chips.

Marco was feeling self conscious, but didn’t want anyone to know it.

Heidi was never drinking Jagermeister again.

Delores was considering a round of Aftershocks.

Jacqui thought she might go blonde this year.

Krystof kept one eye on his rucksack, which was in the corner of the room.

 In the ladies toilet:

Kirsty had noticed that one of her pupils was larger than the other and couldn’t stop staring at them.

Petra was wondering if her top made her look too slutty… or not slutty enough.

Christine was systematically washing every square centimeter of her hands while counting to five hundred and fifty five.

Jessie was using her lipstick to write “Cora is a big fat slag” on the cubicle wall.

Verity was wondering whether she could ask the girl in the next cubicle if there was any loo roll in hers.

Kat thought she felt something snap in her nose as she took that last bump.

Gina didn’t like the way Kat was scratching.

Louise had totally emptied her stomach, but still had the dry heaves.

Clair was holding back Louise’s hair and wondering whether putting her in a cab and sending her home alone made her a bad person.

Joe was having his first night out as a woman and apart from a couple of odd looks here and there, was actually starting to have a good time.

In the cloakroom:

Petra realised that she’d forgotten to put any tickets on hangers and was looking intently at items of clothing to see if she could remember to whom they belonged.

Paolo slid an iPhone out of a coat pocket and put it in his bag.

 On the door:

Ansell was telling a pissed student to fuck off home.

Miguel was laughing.

Donald didn’t know why these guards were outside his hall of residence and wouldn’t let him go to his room.

Tania was one minute into the New Year and had already broken her resolution to stop smoking.

Heidi was wishing she’d worn tights. It was freezing out there.

Donna thought that drunk guy went to her university and might be on her Introduction to Economic Theory course.

Marie was trying to get a signal on her phone to send messages to all her friends.

Penny had a signal, but no messages.

[neoraven]

NWA TNA Episodes 2+3, June 2002

Here are my thoughts on the next two weekly PPV episodes of NWA:TNA.

this move won two titles

There's a lengthy recap package of last week's major stuff. Sign spotted- "Heyo I’m Drunko 4:20". Same. Don West is wearing the same Hawaiian shirt as they are not hiding that this is the same taping as last "week". A TNA chant overcomes the announcers until Jarrett kicks us off.

Challenge Match Jeff Jarrett vs Scott Hall w/ Jackie Fargo and Toby Keith

At least some Total Nonstop Action starts in the ring. It's a little blatant that Jarrett, the evil heel, is still playing the hero face role. But whatever. Scott Hall is still trying decently hard here. Southern wrestling crowds, god bless 'em, pop pretty huge when Hall reverses a sleeper into a sleeper. The announcers are selling the exchange of punches at the 5 minute mark like it's trading headbutts at minute 29 of a G1 climax match. K-Krush saves Jarrett from The Edge (not U2), and all hell breaks loose at ringside, including a camera man getting run over by Brian Christopher. Eventually Toby Keith low blows Double J before he can pull off The Stroke (phrasing) and the ref doesn't care.

Scott Hall via Angry American in 7 minutes. *1/2

Cheex w/ The Brown Eyed Girl vs Frank Parker

Cheex' gimmick is weighing over 400 pounds. The announcers tell us about Hall/Christopher vs Jarrett/K-Krush next week, and Alicia returns to ringside to get a wad of money from ring announcer Jeremy Borash for some reason. They also put over next week's tag team title tournament during the finish. This is not good.

Cheex via gravity in 2 minutes.  1/4*

Grudge Match K-Krush vs Brian Christopher w/ Hermie Sadler and Sterling Marlin (NASCAR)

K-Krush does not rap to the ring. I'm ready for Ed Ferrara to leave the announce booth. They're giving us a match worthy of 2001 Sunday Night Heat. The NASCAR fellas crotch poor K-Krush with the middle rope to set up the Hip Hop Drop.  More faces cheating like heels via celebrities.

Brian Christopher via Hip Hop Drop in 5 minutes. *1/2

Announcers again put over the tag match next week, making the previous bits seem even more meaningless. Well, speaking of important things, time for the Lingerie Battle Royal for the title of Miss TNA. The women are all wearing odd scrubs/pajamas over their lingerie. Sign spotted "NWA Nonstop Whoop Ass"

Lingerie Battle Royal

Forgive me for not catching every move and elimination in order. The announcers are saying too many awful things for me to keep up with. Francine gets triple teamed fairly early and dumped leading to Ed Ferrara abandoning the announcer booth to console her. She starts whipping him with his own belt while the cameramen and announcers ignore the rest of the battle royal in the ring. Taylor Vaughn takes it, Francine strips and whips her anyways.

Taylor Vaughn in 5 minutes. ZERO.

Goldylocks is backstage with Apolo. Bobcat and David Young interrupt her chat and argue until Goldylocks 'cuts' the segment.

Apolo vs David Young w/ Bobcat

Apolo's music sounds like generic Carlos Santana, and David Young's is Motley Crue knockoff. Bobcat distracts David Young by flirting with every official at ringside. David Young hits his spinebuster finisher, but takes too long talking to Bobcat before missing a moonsault and falling to Apolo.

Apolo in 5 minutes via F5/stunner. *1/2

These matches are all kind of short, forgettable nothing affairs. I'm still on board for the X Title thing later, but this is very dire. Speaking of dire, Joel Gertner is in the ring talking about the Rainbow Express and homosexuality.

Rainbow Express w/ Joel Gertner vs The Dupps w/ Fluff Dupp - buuuuut The Dupps refruse to come out, lamenting wrestling hippies and "left-wingers", a frantic official convinces Chris Harris and James Storm to team up and run out.

Rainbow Express w/ Joel Gertner vs Chris Harris and James Storm (Not America's Most Wanted)

What a start to the best tag team storyline I can remember for the length of the TNA Asylum years. After some back and forth, Lenny takes control and tags via kiss to Bruce. They keep control beating up Storm with a couple more kiss tags. Chris Harris is able to get his own clever cheating on to break up Lenny's "Tiger Tamer" submission. After a couple traded roll ups for 2, Harris is able to win yet another 5 minute match.

Harris and Storm in 5 minutes via Miscommunication Rollup. **

Ricky The Dragon introduces the champ, Ken Shamrock. The Sinister Minister finally interrupts a really boring promo asking all the "crackers in Huntsville Alabama to shut up" and introduces his Disciples of the New Church. Malice eventually ends up getting Shamrock with the chokeslam, holding on to the choke part until officials swarm the ring. We finally get to hear the New Church theme song, which is really great. At some point I'm going to add a theme song power ranking to these reviews. X Division time.

Double Elimination Round Robin for the X Division Title AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn vs Low Ki vs Psichosis

AJ comes out to a very bad Born in the USA rip-off. It's some kind of Round Robin / double elimination format, and AJ and Psichosis start us off. Styles survives the Guillotine Leg Drop and then quickly hits the Styles Clash for the first fall in about 2 minutes. Lowki speeds into the ring. AJ takes him out in about 3 minutes flat. Jerry Lynn speeds in, pouncing on AJ Styles and hitting a Cradle Piledriver in about 10 seconds. Psichosis enters the ring with a dropkick on poor Jerry Lynn's head. Jerry ends a fun sprint with the cradle piledriver in about 3 minutes. Psichosis is now eliminated. Low Ki and Jerry Lynn start going at it. Don West is calling this the greatest show on earth every other move. Low Ki reverses the cradle piledriver into an armbar, but still gets a gut wrench power bomb. After 4 minutes, Jerry reverses Low Ki's muscle buster finisher into a sick DDT, and cradle piledrives him away. AJ is in the ring, and we're down to two. Styles has to get two falls on Lynn to capture the title and end the match. The young gun is throwing everything at Jerry and getting 2 counts. The Styles Clash finally gets Lynn away after another 4 minutes. Ricky Steamboat rolls in the ring as the final fall begins. They tease a couple double knockout spots before brawling to the outside, including Styles hitting a moonsault reverse DDT from the apron. AJ Styles wriggles out of a spinning vertebreaker, then Lynn hits some kind of powerbomb facebuster for 2. AJ gets out of the cradle piledriver, and survives a brainbuster by Lynn. The last fall is really benefitting from some time to breathe after the early blitz.  Lynn's superplex only gets 2, frustrating the veteran. Lynn goes back up top but AJ is able to fight him off and hit the Spiral Tap, which is odd to see as a higher-tier finisher than the Clash, and it beats Lynn after 10 minutes.

AJ Styles finally eliminates Jerry Lynn via Spiral Tap after 27 minutes to become the new and first X Division champion. ****1/4  Easily the best match in the short history of TNA, and worthy of the double taping main event.

The crowd goes wild, pyro, terrible Born in the USA theme blares, Ricky raises both of their hands. Tenay puts over all the tag team action and Shamrock vs Malice next week at ringside.

EPISODE 3

I lied, we are not actually at the TNA Asylum yet. We are live from the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville for a one night tag team tournament though to crown the tag champions.

Tag Tournament Match Cowboy James Storm and Chris Harris vs The Johnsons w/ Mortimer Plumtree

The announcers put over that the future America's Most Wanted was a last-minute addition last week. We are blessed with a Mortimer Plumtree promo on the way to the ring. Sign spotted: LET'S GO DICK. Also, the announcers are now calling him "Wildcat" Chris Harris. The Johnsons look infinitely better here than their first match. However, the Johnsons suffer a flash pin after the future AMW hits a good crossbody/dropkick combo move in 5 minutes. **  The Johnsons beat up their nerd manager when he tries to spank them after the match.

Scott Hall comes out to a live mic wearing an elementary school t-shirt. Jeff Jarrett interrupts with the zinger "Hey yo my ass!" The NWA President gets sweaty and yells at Jarrett; this heel vs authority storyline never makes sense. K Krush attacks Hall during the confusion unsuccessfully. Goldylocks is with a bloodied Chris Harris in the back.

David Jobber vs Monty Brown

The poor jobber in the ring doesn't get an entrance and also gets a last name drowned out by Monty Brown's entrance as we are introduced to The Alpha Male. He runs through a few impressive power moves in 2 minutes and ends with a fallaway powerbomb. 1/2*

Goldylocks is looking for Jim Miller backstage. The Hot Shots have no idea. Puppet the Psycho Dwarf is angry and not leaving tonight until he makes a midget bleed.

Tag Tournament Match Rainbow Express w/ Joel Gertner vs Buff Bagwell and Apolo

The surprise no one ever wanted: Buff Bagwell. Alicia comes down during the match to get some cash from Ed Ferrara. The Stuff botches a cross body out of the ring awkwardly after a few minutes of boring action. Apolo and Buff hit their finishers, but the latter walks into a superkick that ends it in 7 minutes. *1/2 I think this means there's a rematch from last week for the tag titles. Apolo seemingly abandons Buff after the match, then he whines about being called Marcus since Buff has ruined his career.

Ken Shamrock comes out with a mic and the belt. He gets heavy WHAT chants as he goes over all the challengers he's already concerned with for his title, including the new Monty Brown. Thankfully, the lights cut him off and the Sinister Minister appears in section C3. The lights come back on showing Malice standing over a writhing in pain Ken Shamrock.

Goldylocks is backstage talking to NWA officials and Jerry Lynn about the tag situation, but he shoos them away.

Midget Showcase Match Puppet vs Stone

Sign spotted: Midgets scare me. Puppet issues an open challenge answered by vanilla dork Stone who slowly gets in the ring and takes a few weapons shots. Puppet wins with a TKO on a trash can after 3 minutes, then attacks the ref, the announcer, and Stone some more. Don West offers a high five and gets kendo sticked in the face. *

Francine vs Miss TNA Taylor Vaughn

Francine starts belt whipping Taylor immediately until the ref pulls it away. Taylor steals the belt from the ref and then whips Francine to the ground until the ref tries to take it back, then whips him too. The ref throws out the match before it starts. Zero.

Hermie Sadler comes out for another nothing segment until K-Krush interrupts in a hilarious t-shirt with a huge airbrushed image of his face.  He talks smack until Hermie walks away and unleashes a spear on the entrance ramp. They get pulled apart and K-Krush challenges for next week.

NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match Ken Shamrock (champ) vs Malice

A very sweaty Ken Shamrock saunters to the ring and Malice takes control stomping and beating immediately as the announcers put over that Shamrock is not at 100%. After a slow round of ringside brawling, Shamrock hits his signature moves ending with the belly to belly to pin Malice in 6 minutes and keep the title.

NWA X Division Championship Match AJ Styles (champ) vs David Young w/ Bobcat

Not sure why David Young deserves a title match after losing last week, but oh well. The Bobcat thing is still going on. AJ Styles hits some great stuff, and Young even does a nice middle rope moonsault to the outside that gets a 2 count in the ring. There's another good exploder suplex into the corner for 2. Young mostly keeps control despite some flurries from AJ. After going back and forth, Young spikes a great twisting spinebuster for only two. AJ rebounds from Young's finisher and ends up winning with a second rope Styles Clash in 9 minutes. **1/2. Pretty solid match, but it felt like AJ was in too much trouble in his first defense over a mostly jobber. David Young and Bobcat have more drama in the ring as the latter celebrates the loss.

Gertner and the Rainbow Express celebrate being the Tag Team champs in the back since all the teams are injured.

NWA Tag Team Championship Match The Rainbow Express w/ Joel Gertner vs Jerry Lynn and AJ Styles

Borash announces they must have opponents.  Jerry Lynn spends a lot of time getting worked over by Rainbow Express while AJ sells his immediately previous title defense. The cradle piledriver gets reversed thanks to Gertner, and at long last, AJ Styles gets the hot tag and starts to go wild. Everything breaks down and Lynn hits the cradle piledriver inside and then takes the other tag member outside. AJ Styles hits Spiral Tap as Gertner trips over himself trying to break up the pinfall and they win in 11 minutes. *** Very solid match, setting up a cool simple story and putting AJ Styles even further over as a star and double champ.

Main Event Tag Match Jeff Jarrett and K Krush vs Scott Hall and Brian Christopher

We start almost immediately with a crowd brawl. Hall and Jarrett trade punches in the TNA Girls' Dancer Cages. They eventually circle back to ringside and Hall throws Jarrett across the announcer table. Christopher misses a Hip Hop Drop and after Hall and Jarrett finally return to ringside, it slowly settles back into a tag match. The bad guys isolate Hall for a really long beatdown segment. After an agonizing 10 count, Christopher gets tied up with the ref in the corner and misses a Hall tag attempt. Hall makes it back at long last and Brian pulls his hand and decks Hall. He still cleans house, including a ref bump, as it degrades into a 1v3. He drops K Krush with an Outsider's Edge, but Jarrett gets saved and goes right into the Stroke, plus a Brian leg drop for good measure. Jarrett pins at 12 minutes. *1/4. The turn was good and somewhat saved the idiotic middle of the match, but it still went on way too long.

The bad guys celebrate, with Jeff getting real "You ain't worth a shit!" He takes the dumb trophy from the opening and cracks it over Scott Hall as his stealth face turn continues. Double J continues talking about whooping the whole Titans offensive line as they sell Hall's injuries on a stretcher, with an elbow drop out of the ring added on. He exits after pushing Hall's stretcher off the entrance ramp just for good measure.

[wikitopx]

Venture into the heart of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s second-largest city, for a trip into a glimmering metropolis filled with world-class attractions, vibrant nightlife venues and exclusive shopping destinations that range from upscale to unique.

Home to cosmopolitan delights coupled with Southern hospitality, Tulsa is a dynamic city known for a variety of bustling urban districts, exceptional dining, and unsurpassed love of the arts and one of the largest collections of art deco architecture in the nation. Immerse yourself in the rich cultural legacy of Tulsa’s renowned performing arts venues, and tap your toes in the birthplace of Western Swing while letting the sights and sounds of Tulsa tempt you into enchanting travels around the city.

[toc]

1. The Gathering Place — Tulsa River Parks

Visit the Gathering Place, and discover why USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice named it America's Best New Attraction in 2019! At this Tulsa River Parks destinations, guests can choose from a variety of outdoor explorations, from a walk through the Four Seasons Garden to a kayak adventure at the ONEOK Boathouse.

All ages are sure to have a blast at the Chapman Adventure Playground, with creative structures shaped like animals, castles, and fruits.

The Gathering Place also offers plenty of fitness activities like the SemGroup Sports Courts, skate park, Midland Valley & River Parks Trails, as well as an indoor cafe, outdoor patio and QuikTrip Great Lawn for live entertainment.

Offering diverse recreation for pedestrians, cyclists, fishermen, disc-golfers and more, the full Tulsa River Parks system is an outdoor retreat along the banks of the winding Arkansas River.

Bring your walking shoes for over 26 miles of asphalt trails, or rent a mountain bike, hybrid or tandem bicycle from Tom’s River trail Bicycles and hit the trails while soaking in plenty of suns and fresh air.

Descend into a slice of Oklahoma wilderness without leaving Tulsa by visiting the parks’ Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area, which features 300 acres of dirt trails perfect for hiking, mountain biking or horseback riding. This 300-acre area of heavily-wooded, riverfront property also provides picture-perfect views of the downtown Tulsa skyline.

2. Blue Dome Entertainment District

With nine square blocks filled to the brim with trendy eateries, local pubs, indie boutiques and some of the best nightlife venues around, the Blue Dome Entertainment District is quickly becoming the place to be in Tulsa.

Anchored by the famed Blue Dome, a revitalized 1920s-era Gulf Oil station, this downtown Tulsa district is serving up custom cocktails, stylish food and live entertainment any day of the week, all year long.

Sashay your way into this hub of Tulsa’s nightlife scene, and listen as the hottest local bands turn up the amp and crank up the heat. Treat yourself to a stout Guinness draft at Arnie’s Bar or a rooftop margarita at El Guapo’s Mexican Cantina.

Pair German cuisine with your favorite beer on tap at Fassler Hall, while favorite locales like Juniper Restaurant & Martini Lounge treat customers to lip-smacking entrees, smooth drinks and plenty of creative, Tulsa-grown charm.

Dilly Diner serves up breakfast food favorites, while Andolini's Sliced creates five styles of pizza to satisfy cravings across the board.

3. Utica Square

For an elegant dose of retail therapy, there is no shopping destination more fully equipped to fulfill your desires than Utica Square in Tulsa.

Designed to satisfy the cravings of fashion fanatics and home décor fans everywhere, Utica Square features a wide range of upscale boutiques, specialty shops, and time-honored department stores waiting to deck you out in designer duds, swanky shoes and posh purses.

Let your designer dreams run wild in such industry heavyweights as Saks Fifth Avenue, Ann Taylor, Anthropologie, and Coach. When the weight of filled shopping bags awakens your hunger, travel along the manicured outdoor avenues of Utica Square to one of the square’s exceptional bistros.

Relax with a cup of freshly brewed Topeca coffee at Queenie’s, whet your appetite with stuffed Italian bread and crab cakes at The Wild Fork, or indulge your palate with French cuisine at the Stonehorse Café.

At the end of the day, nothing says relaxation after a long day of shopping quite like a hot stone massage or soothing pedicure at Ihloff Salon & Day Spa.

4. Catch a Live Show

Recognized as home to one of the top 10 music scenes in the nation, Tulsa’s live music and historic entertainment venues know how to put on a show. Nab a ticket to the iconic Cain’s Ballroom and enjoy the energetic sounds of some of the biggest names in music today.

Known as a top performance venue in Tulsa since the 1920s, the historic Cain’s Ballroom has played host to everything from Western swing to rock-n-roll, new wave, and post-punk.

Tulsa’s Brady Theater, a 2,800-seat former vaudeville house, attracts diverse acts such as U2, Eddie Vedder, Deftones, and Tenacious D, while the Tulsa Performing Arts Center interjects a level of sophistication with heart-stirring performances by the Tulsa Ballet, arts groups, and international talent.

Local artists grace the stage at Guthrie Green, while indie artists often stop through at The Vanguard. For everything from major concerts to family ice shows, grab a seat at the colossal BOK Center and hold on tight for a night of unsurpassed live entertainment.

5. Gilcrease Museum

[caption id="attachment_703735" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]  [/caption]

Enter a world filled with American Indian legend, frontier lore and the romance of the American West at the nationally celebrated Gilcrease Museum, only a short 10 minutes from downtown Tulsa, and celebrate the unique American experience with one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of Western art, artifacts, historical manuscripts, antique maps and more.

Visitors to the Gilcrease are encouraged to wander through vast galleries filled with an astonishing 10,000 works of art including 18 of Frederic Remington’s 22 bronze sculptures, large-scale masterpieces of American landscape and an unrivaled anthropology collection.

Discover the fascinating history of the Americas with the aid of interactive collections, and head outdoors to stroll through the museum’s 11 themed gardens.

6. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

Get in on the action at Tulsa’s Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and enjoy the exhilaration of a jackpot-winning slot machine, the thrill of hitting 21 at a blackjack table, or the excitement of pulling a royal flush in front of poker’s greatest players.

Spend time admiring the rock-n-roll memorabilia displayed around the 110,000 sq. ft. casino floor, and celebrate your winnings in style with a sleek VIP suite within the 19-story Hard Rock Hotel tower.

Let your inner rock star shine with a night on the tiles at Riffs, the Hard Rock’s premier nightlife venue. Dance to the sounds of a live band performing on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and enjoy cocktails and drinks with their premium service.

Don’t miss a chance at hitting a hole-in-one on the back nine of the illustrious Cherokee Hills Golf Club located at the casino, and check out a variety of dining options, ranging from homestyle favorites at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill and the Wild Potato Buffet, to fine dining coupled with outstanding views of the Tulsa skyline at McGill’s on 19.

7. Tulsa Zoo

Gather the kids and the rest of the family to visit the highest rated Tulsa Zoo and enjoy African lions, Australian kangaroos, jaguars of South America and Malayan tigers on 84 acres of wildland.

Take a ride around the zoo onboard the popular Safari Train and visit a variety of unforgettable exhibits that include state-of-the-art audio and visual displays, walk-through caves, interactive petting areas, sensory gardens, a recreated Massai village, pre-Colombian ruins and much more.

Don’t leave the Tulsa Zoo without seeing the Giraffe Experience, Chimpanzee Connection, the African penguin exhibit, Lost Kingdom or the Helmerich Sea Lion Cove, which invites visitors to view these playful creatures from an underwater viewing station.

8. Philbrook Museum of Art

Walk onto the lush grounds of the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa for a taste of 1920s refinement and opulence. This renowned art museum is located in the 72-room old Tulsa oil villa, Waite Phillips.

The Philbrook Italianate villa is now considered the preeminent art center of Tulsa and welcomes visitors year-round to view its stunning permanent collections, delightful art exhibits, and flawless garden landscapes.

After touring the art pieces within the museum, step out onto the black terrace to see the symmetrical, living design work of the gardens, inspired by French, English, and Italian designs.

The gardens, which also include dramatic water features, reflecting pools, elaborate wrought-iron niches, and the Westby Sculpture Walk, are scattered across 23 acres only three miles from downtown. Choose free audio tours for an extra treat during your visit.

9. Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium

Let your imagination take you on a journey of epic proportions at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium, where Oklahoma’s rich aerospace heritage is brought to life with vintage airplane displays, interactive exhibits, and a state-of-the-art planetarium.

The 3D, 50-foot planetarium dome will take you from the skies above Tulsa to alien galaxies 70 million light-years away, all while whipping past stars, planets, and asteroids on your voyage skyward and beyond.

Sit in a cockpit of an F-14A Tomcat fighter jet while humming the theme to Top Gun, test your flight skills in the pilot’s seat with realistic simulators, fly a scale airplane through a wind tunnel and maneuver robotic arms like astronauts in space. The possibilities for fun and adventure are endless at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum.

10. Local Shopping Havens

Take home the perfect Oklahoma gift item at one of Tulsa’s well-known specialty shops. Spend time exploring the many businesses at The Boxyard, a shipping crate shopping development, from Okie Dokie, an indie boutique with Tulsa pride tees and Oklahoma-themed gifts, to small-batch ice cream made at Rose Rock Microcreamery.

Travel a short distance to Tulsa’s Brookside District and visit Ida Red General Store for Cain’s Ballroom merchandise, Tulsa t-shirts, postcards, retro candy, and one-of-a-kind Oklahoma items.

Plan your visit to Ida Red’s just right and you’ll be rewarded with live music or a local art event. Found within the Deco District, Okie Crowe whips up batches of handmade soaps, sold among Oklahoma-made jewelry and gourmet MIO foods.

More ideals for you: Top 10 things to do in Tampa

From : https://wikitopx.com/travel/top-10-things-to-do-in-tulsa-703714.html

[earcandy88]

There have been so many great albums out this year.  I put together a list of some of my favorites :)  It's in no particular order. Harry Styles - Harry Styles

Kesha - Rainbow

Kelly Clarkson - The Meaning of Life

Taylor Swift - Reputation

 Gorillaz - Humanz

Kendrick Lemar - DAMN

Willow Smith - 1st

Dreamcar - Dreamcar

Marilyn Manson - Heaven Upside Down

Chris Stapleton - From a Room Vol 1&2

Paramore - After Laughter

The Front Bottoms - Going Grey 

Arcade Fire - Everything Now

Superfruit - Future Friends

Katy Perry - Witness

Oh Wonder - Ultralife

St. Vincent - Masseduction

Lana Del Rey - Lust For Life

Miley Cyrus - Younger Now

The xx - I See You

The Weekend - Starboy

Bruno Mars - 24k Magic

AFI - The Blood Album

Taking Back Sunday - Tidal Wave

Grouplove - Big Mess

Linkin Park - One More Light

Khalid - American Teen

Queens of the Stoneage - Villains

G-Eazy - The Beautiful & Damned

Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile to the Surface

Nine Inch Nails - Add Violence

Kid Rock - Sweet Southern Sugar

Ringo Star - Give More Love

Walk the Moon - What if Nothing

N.E.R.D - No One Ever Really Dies

Adore Delano - Whatever

Eminem - Revival

LCD Soundsystem - American Dream

Various Artists - Tegan & Sara: The Con tribute

Jay-Z - 4:44

ZZ Ward - The Storm

Bill Murray, Jan Volger and Friends - New Worlds

Sharon Needles - Battle Axe

Lorde - Melodrama

Morrissey - Low In High School

The Used - The Canyon

Ron Pope - Work

Sheryl Crow - Be Myself

The Welshly Arms - Legendary EP

Milky Chance - Blossom

AJR - The Click

311 - Mosaic Bjork - Utopia

P!nk - Beautiful Trauma

Conor Oberst - Salutations

Liam Gallagher - As You Were

Mick Jagger - Get a Grip

Roger Waters - Is This The Life We Really Want?

Bob Moses - Days Gone ByRoam - Great Heights & Nosedives

MISSIO - Loner

Brand New - Science Fiction

Toby Keith - The Bus Songs

As It Is - Okay.

U2 - Songs of Experience 

Hiam - Something to Tell You

Jamiroquai - Automation

Tori Amos - Native Invader 

Goldfrapp - Silver Eye

Macklemore - GEMINI

Ibeyi - AshBlonde - Pollinator

Depeche Mode - Spirit

Walker Hayes - boom.

Michael Jackson - Scream

The Foo Fighters - Concrete & Gold

K.Flay - Every Where is Some Where

Alice Cooper - Paranormal

Michelle Branch - Hopeless Romantic

Old Dominion - Happy Endings

Beth Ditto - Fake Sugar

MisterWives - Connect the Dots

Betty Who - The Valley

Tove Lo - BLUE LIPS (Lady Wood Phase II)

Shamir - Revelations

The Vamps - Night & Day and Night & Day (extra tracks) EP

Fever Ray - Plunge

Action Bronson - Blue Chips 7000

The National - Sleep Well Beast

Foster the People - Sacred Hearts Club

Cécile McLorin Salvant - Dreams and Daggers

Ryan Adams - Prisoner

Sir Sly - Astronaut

LANY - LANY

Ed Sheeran - Divide 

Brad Paisley - Love and War

The Killers - Wonderful Wonderful

Lil Peep - Come Over When You’re Sober

New Found Glory - Make Me Sick

Willie Nelson - God’s Problem Child

The Wombats - Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life

Weezer - Pacific Daydream

Beck - Colors

The Flaming Lips - Oczy Mlody

DNCE - DNCE

Temples - Volcano

Spoon - Hot Thoughts 

Drake - More Life

Nelly Furtado - The Ride

Cold War Kids - LA DIVINE

Incubus - 8

LP - Lost On You

The Mountain Goats - Goths

Alt-J - Relaxer

All Time Low - The Last Young Renegade

Portugal. The Man - Woodstock

Imagine Dragons - Evolve

TLC - TLC

Secret Weapons - As the Setting Sun Comes Crashing Down on Me

Jake Bugg - Hearts that Strain

Fergie - Double Dutchess

The Neighborhood - Hard EP

Shania Twain - Now

Sleeping with Sirens - Gossip

Hollywood Undead - Five

Maroon 5 - Red Pill Blues