#we still dance it a lot in my region in France

[charadriusnivosus]

“A Guide to the Four Shapes of Wine Glasses

You don’t need a glass for every region or grape but depending on what and how you drink, there are four standard glass shapes you should consider. The combination of these shapes plus the cost, fragility, washability, and comfort in holding and drinking will be the keys to getting the best wine glass for you.

The White Wine Glass

Shaped like a tulip, this glass has a round bowl and goes straight up before tapering slightly at the top. The bottom of the glass allows you to swirl without spilling, but the real magic of a white wine glass is that it concentrates aromas of the wine at the rim and traps them slightly so we can sniff the (hopefully) delicious things the wine has to offer.

The standard white glass is a bit smaller than the red: Because whites don’t need as much aeration (swirling), they’re smaller. Also, whites are almost always served colder than reds. Pouring smaller quantities into the glass will ensure that what you have in the glass always stays at a cool temperature. This glass type will work for almost all white wines, except for fuller whites like oaked Chardonnay and white blends from the Rhône Valley, for example.

The Burgundy Glass

Shaped a bit like an upside-down mushroom, these glasses have wide bowls and then taper at the top to a narrow rim. The huge bowl allows for tons of swirling. With reds and the fuller whites, you want to introduce a lot of air into the wine. The swirling motion jostles the esters and aldehydes in wines, which are the things that make the juice smell so good. In very aromatic but less mouth-drying tannic reds, you want to concentrate the aromas at the rim of the glass to maximize the intensity of smell compounds your nose can sense. The wider base allows room to swirl (you should never fill these glasses above the bulge in the glass or it’s spill city), but the top ensures that delicate aromas of red Burgundy (Pinot Noir), Beaujolais (Gamay), or Nebbiolo, for instance, aren’t lost.

The Bordeaux Glass

This is a giant version of the tulip shape we find in the white wine glass, although it tapers less at the top. The relatively straight sides of this glass and large bowl allow air to penetrate before, during, and after swirling, allowing harsh tannins to dance with the oxygen and soften up—exactly what you need to enjoy a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bordeaux blend, a Rioja from Spain, or a Syrah from the northern Rhône of France.

The Champagne Flute

This is actually quite a controversial opinion among wine snobs: Flutes are festive, fun, and they do, in fact, help keep the sparkle in your glass for longer. There are some practical issues with these party-perfect glasses: Unless you drink sparkling wine a lot, they tend to gather dust; if you have a beak like mine, that can be an issue for drinking; and—the dork argument—they have no room for swirling. Nevertheless, I love enjoying sparkling out of them and I drink enough of it to have them around. Still, they are optional. A white wine glass works just as well.

What About Universal Wine Glasses?

Try as they might, over and over again, the universal glass always makes one wine or another a loser. They are too narrow for tannic reds and sometimes don’t aerate the wine as much as they should. They are too wide and open for aromatic reds or delicate whites (although they are better for whites than reds most of the time). Regardless of how high-quality the glass, the shape matters too much for these glasses to work for all wine types. My advice: Buy a set of whites and reds (I think Burgundy glasses are more useful than Bordeaux) and leave the universals to people who didn’t read this article.

What About Stemless Wine Glasses?

We did not include any stemless glasses in our tests of the best wine glasses simply because we do not feel they belong in that elevated tier. Because there is no stem, the drinker holds the bowl of the glass in their hand—and that direct contact can possibly increase the temperature of the wine, and that increase in temperature can mess up the flavor of the wine.”

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

Cajun Spice 1989 Cajun / Folk / Zydeco

Well, folks, it looks like our first comp of this new year is taking us on a trip down to southern Louisiana, aka Acadiana, where Cajun music, in some form or fashion, has been a fixture of the region's culture since the latter part of the 1700s. And if you've ever wondered why Cajun people are called Cajuns in the first place, it's because they originally hailed from Acadia—what are now parts of maritime Canada, Québec, and northern Maine—and if you chop off the front 'A' from 'Acadian' and then say the remainder of the word quickly enough, what you'll inevitably end up saying is 'Cajun.' Simple as!

But why the Acadians didn't end up staying in Acadia was because of a terrible war, namely the Seven Years' one, whose resolution saw the French-speaking territory left in the hands of the British. The British then forced the Acadians into exile and a lot of them ended up migrating all the way down south to lower Louisiana, where, despite France having ceded the land to Spain by that point, they were still welcomed anyway.

So the reason why Louisiana has the most French speakers out of any other state in the Union, rather than the states that border the French-speaking provinces of Canada itself, is pretty much because of that period of Acadian migration. Pretty interesting, no?

But now we forge on to more modern times:

Although Cajun music predates Louisiana's admission into the Union, it didn't really gain much in the way of a national traction until the middish-1980s, which was a time that had also seen America writ large develop a fixation with Cajun food as well. And if you're going to really try to enjoy the cuisine, what better ambiance to pair it with than that same culture's music, right?

Which brings us to this little late 80s comp from roots and world music label Rounder Records here, who, in the earlier part of the decade, had really started to develop their own Cajun stable of artists. Rounder had released a few comps that consisted purely of both Cajun music and its sister genre of zydeco before this one, but all of those releases had originated from the 70s, and almost all of them also consisted of only two or three acts each. This 1989 release, on the other hand, Cajun Spice, was the first one from Rounder to be issued since Cajun music had really started to draw interest in the US outside of Louisiana, and the list of musicians on it was far lengthier too.

But now here's the bad news: it took until getting a few songs deep into this comp for me to finally realize, that out of every instrument that I've ever heard in my life, the one that I might have a most visceral dislike for is the accordion. And that might make my German ancestors furiously turn over in their own graves, but there is just something about the type of sound that emanates out of those strange contraptions that feels so extremely lame and corny to me. And I know that I'm probably not alone in feeling this way, but guess what the lead instrument in Cajun music happens to be. Yep, that's right. The accordion! 😩

Now, I'm sure it's one thing to actually go down to Acadiana and immerse yourself in the culture for a night of good fun, which would include getting down to this unique form of folk-dance music that's found a way to keep on existing, but outside of a setting like that, I don't think I wanna hear much in the way of accordion-led music ever again. At the very least, I've definitely had my fill of it for this year alone 😅.

But with all of that said, and despite my personal distaste for this stuff in general, I can still tell that the tunes on this album are very well-made. The musicians are clearly gifted and what they're playing is definitely infectious...if you can find a way to stand it, which I really can't. But if you're way more tolerant of a prominent accordion than I am, or if you already like Cajun music, or if you're just interested in hearing it for the first time, then I definitely recommend this album. AllMusic gave it four and a half out of five stars and I can definitely see why, because all of it is clearly quality stuff.

No highlights.

[ao3bronte]

when chaos reigns [the sirens come to play]

A Merman AU. (Rated T with some suggestive language.) Now on AO3!

[Prologue]

Covid-19 and covert relationships don’t exactly go hand-in-hand these days, but you really shouldn’t be touching anyone’s hands right now anyway.

…that is, unless you don’t belong to the same species.

Can Merpeople catch Covid-19? That’s debatable, but news doesn’t exactly flow freely from the depths of the South China Sea. Though we know very little about Merpeople and their ways of life, we do know that they rarely interact with humans, preferring to tear down their ships and rip apart their dams and levies in revenge for poisoning the oceans and seas with their human fossil fuels. 

But this isn’t a story about environmental politics, or Covid-19 for that matter. This is a story about love and about putting aside differences. In this tale, Marinette discovers that the term ‘scalie’ (ou écailleux, car nous sommes en France) doesn’t always refer to the commonly known adjective to describe fish skin. And Adrien, bless his heart, really does need to put on clothes when he’s not rocking a fish tail despite the fact that he’d much rather be naked (much to Marinette’s mortification). Anyway you slice it, Merpeople and humans simply aren’t supposed to be together — they’ve always been sworn enemies through and through — but no matter what alternate universe we find ourselves in, these two idiots in love will always find each other.

This is, undoubtedly, their story.

[Part 1]

It’s the beginning of March and Tom and Sabine aren’t taking any chances with this whole virus situation. Marinette seems to catch everything — illnesses, hands, the whole nine yards — and they’d already been talking about sending her down to the Cote d’Azur to spend the summer with her grandmother Gina Dupain in order to get away from Paris for a little while. The constant schoolyard bullying from Chloé Bourgeois has dragged Marinette down so many pegs that Sabine is almost relieved to see Macron call off school for the foreseeable future and books both her daughter and her husband a trip to Marseille before the entire country shuts down for good.

Marinette isn’t happy, of course, but what teen would be? Her friends are in Paris! The fashion is in Paris! She doesn’t want to stay in some sleepy little Mediterranean village where nothing ever happens! Do they even have Wi-Fi there?

It’s a valid question. Tom doesn’t actually know, but he chatters enough for the two of them as the high speed train takes them down the rails to the south of France. Marinette’s sulk lightens a little as he pulls pastry after pastry out of his luggage in the hopes of making his daughter smile just a little before dropping her off with his mother — he knows that their relationship is a little strange after Gina’s last visit to Paris but there’s nothing a little quality time together can’t fix. 

Petite Befana is one of those places you find on a postcard. Situated just on the edge of France and Italy, the fishing village’s brightly coloured houses gleam in the sunlight, peppered with lemon trees and winding alleys that seem to almost spill out into the sea. The beaches are craggy and feature small grottos and coves of underground caves that glimmer with seaglass when the sun hits them just right, hiding a pocket sized oasis here and there for the adventurous who like to explore at low tide. Gina likes it here because of the Place du Marché, but Tom often wonders as to the real reason why she’s settled in the quaint harbour after years of Eat, Pray, Loving around the entire planet after divorcing his father.

She’s certainly made friends with every woman in town by the looks of it. Along with her veritable swarm of bar-hopping friends, Tom keeps seeing a woman with pointed features and deep black hair with a violent red streak in it pop up on her Facebook page. They always seem to be in the same jazz club, not that Tom is really paying attention; if his mother wants to spend her golden years drinking negronis and dancing with her girlfriends, that’s up to her.

They disembark the train in Marseilles and take a bus to Toulon, then another bus to Petite Befana. Marinette is passed out and drooling on his shoulder by the end of it so Tom does as he always does and hauls her up like a sack of flour through the thick and winding labyrinths of cobblestone streets towards his mother’s apartment. Gina greets them once he eventually finds the place and, after tucking Marinette into the daybed in the guest bedroom, happily guzzles down the proffered beer on the terrasse overlooking the sea.

“I’ll try to come down as often as I can,” Tom assures Gina, not knowing just how bad of a clusterfuck 2020 was about to become. “I’m sure Marinette will come to appreciate all that Petite Befana has to offer.”

“I’ll take her down to the market tomorrow morning,” Gina assures him, patting her son’s beefy forearms. “There’s an older woman who sells the most beautiful fabrics and I already dusted off my old sewing machine. That should keep her busy.”

“Marinette’s never happier when there’s a project to complete,” Tom responds with relief, downing the rest of his Kronenbourg. “I bet she’ll have an entire closet full of clothes by the time the month is out.”

“And it should only take a month or two for this to blow over.” Gina jabs her thumb towards the television as the news of Covid-19 murmurs in the background amid the waves of the Med on the shore. “And then we’ll be back to normal before you know it!”

(...and we all know how that turned out.)

[Part 2]

Covid-19 affects a lot of people in a lot of different ways. Some feel stir crazy. Others enjoy the alone time. But Marinette? Well, she’s been trapped in the harbours of Petit Befana for three weeks now and our aforementioned heroine is already bored out of her skull. She’s made three dresses, four satchels and twenty two scrunchies with the leftover fabric because what else is there to do down here? Luckily, Covid-19 hasn’t quite affected Petite Befana like it has the other regions of France and Marinette is able to go outside at least...not that she wants to. 

There are more artisanal bakeries and charcuterie shops in Petite Befana than there are nightclubs and high end boutiques, which is odd for a village so beautifully situated on the coast of southeast France. Gina proudly boasts that her new home is often bypassed by the glitz and glam of Monaco; lavish superyachts and the seemingly endless stream of paparazzi prefer the glamour and uberwealth just west of their little village, leaving its sleepy inhabitants mostly alone to sell their goods to the tourists that stop by for a night on their bicycles and scooters. Marked with the Italian influences of its neighbour, Petit Befana truly is the little-known last stop on the famous Cote d’Azur which makes it an inspiring landscape for Marinette to discover…

...for all of four days. 

She’s already so over Covid-19 and, like any teenager, she’s getting more and more annoyed by the day that she can’t hang out with her friends! Why did Maman and Papa send her down here?! All she wants to do is get back to Paris and design! It’s not like there’s anything fun to do here anyway, besides play video games all day in her bedroom; the only places that offer free WiFi are closed and she can only play Animal Crossing for so long before her grandmother insists on making her get some fresh air. 

Ugh! 

Grumbling under her breath, Marinette pulls on her raincoat and stomps down the laneway from the terrasse towards the sidestreet where her grandmother’s 1920’s bastide-style home resides. From the cobbled alley, Marinette watches the colourful array of fishing boats land their day’s catch right up on the harbourfront and heads down despite the storm clouds brewing on the horizon.

“Bonjour!” A group of older men wave as she makes her way down the ancient steps, the pathway shaded by thick palms and cacti. She pauses just long enough to ask who’s winning their game of socially distanced pétanque before continuing her way through the pines towards the gravel and sand beaches that line the shore. 

The seafront is mostly boarded up, much to both Gina’s and Marinette’s disdain. Her grandmother used to spend most of her evenings at the jazz bar La Sirena with her friends, not that Marinette got to meet any of them. The lockdown shuttered pretty much everything the day after she kissed Papa goodbye and settled into her new life for the next month, but with three weeks already stretching into four, Marinette dejectedly wonders if she’ll ever see Paris again.

Passing the last brasserie on the boardwalk, Marinette leaves civilization for the long stretches of barren coastline. There’s all sorts of little inlets and grottos here and there, especially as she gets closer and closer to the Italian border. Unfortunately, it’s only April, which means it’s rainy, generally unpleasant and completely and utterly empty on the beach.

“No one to talk to, nothing to do…” Marinette sighs and tries to kick a piece of driftwood, only to miss it with her foot in true Marinette style. The faux pas — quite literally — sends her screaming and flailing her arms like an octopus on a ceiling fan as she dramatically plummets face first onto the wet, slimy gravel.

She groans and pushes herself up on her hands and knees, wincing as sea-weathered stones dig into her palms and kneecaps. Marinette is, above all, a walking disaster in every sense of the word — sometimes she wonders if the powers that be seek out to deliberately punish her with embarrassing things like this on purpose for their own amusement. 

(ಸ_ಸ … *cough* Zag *cough*)

Marinette whimpers as she wipes chunks of seaweed and brownish foam off her cheeks and chin. At least no one was around to see her fall over — thank god — but she’ll still have to do the laundry when she gets home. She’s covered in muck and little bits of oily slime that are sure to stain if she doesn’t wash it out soon. Marinette grimaces as she tries to shake it off of her hands; humans really have done a number on the seas and oceans...like, why is her front so sticky? She glances at some of the garbage on the shore as she sits on her haunches and wonders if the news has it all wrong. Maybe the merpeople taking potshots at rich people on yachts with old cans and plastic sea trash really do have the moral upper hand…

Marinette, being Marinette, would have continued to stare dazed and confused into space well into the afternoon had it not been for the impossibly shiny something or other sparkling in the grotto straight ahead.

[NEXT PART...]

[tundrainafrica]

Title: Christmas Eve

Summary: Toru goes out at midnight in the dead of winter to experience her first white Christmas and Kyo gets a little worried. 

Part one of my present to @hizashi-yamadas for the Animanga Secret Santa 2020

Link to cross-postings: AO3

Other One Shots:

December 25: Christmas Day (Haru x Rin)

December 26: The Day after Christmas (Arisa x Kureno)

Note: Merry Christmas Elisha and I hope you enjoy! Keep your eyes out for the next installment :D

"You didn't have to stay in, you know."

Toru jumped, once again becoming aware of her surroundings. She had to look back at the clock by the mantle to see how long she had been staring out the window.

"No, I'm happy to stay in!" Toru hoped that saying it out loud would be enough to quell that knot of disappointment in her stomach which only tightened as she looked back at Kyo who was curled up under the kotatsu.

She looked down at Kyo right next to her who was looking more like a cat as he was curled up into a ball under two blankets of the kotatsu. Toru only had to hover her hand lightly over his forehead to feel warmth radiating from it. What alarmed Toru more though was how indifferent he was to her touch.

"Maybe we should see a doctor."

"It's just… really cold…" Kyo answered in between shivers.

Of course it's cold. They were in the northernmost region of Japan in the middle of winter.

It was Momiji who had suggested they spend Christmas in Hokkaido. He first gushed about it one lunch time in late fall and how he hadn't seen one since the last time he'd been to Germany for winter almost a decade ago. When the young blond pitched the plan when he visited their house a week after, Shigure was quick to approve.

Christmases in Tokyo are cold. The trees are bare. The sky is almost always dark, the atmosphere grim. The only things which made the scenery any better were the giant Christmas trees in malls and the Christmas lights that lined the streets.

Tokyo was too near the ocean though to get any snow so early in winter. Having spent every single Christmas in Tokyo, Toru had never experienced a white Christmas in her life. Snow usually came in January or February in Tokyo if they ever got any. They rarely piled up enough though to classify as a white landscape, similar to those she had seen in the figurines at Christmas shops.

Hokkaido was different. The snow piled up by the foot. They were like added decoration, complementing the Christmas lights which shine much brighter against the pure white landscape.

While she kept Kyo company, she entertained herself by watching the colors dance on the roofs, shining for a split second longer than what her eyes had gotten used to watching the Christmas lights on the streets of Tokyo as a child.

Yellow. Green. Red. Blue.

It alternated between the four colors. By the third time, she should have known what to expect. The contrast of the bright lights against the white landscape and the dark night, had only made the colors stand out more. The flashes were brighter and at times, Toru could pick out the small moments where the flashes of red would mix with those of green that had yet to fade.

"I'm sorry for doing something stupid like that, getting sick…" Kyo held the blanket tighter over his mouth. “And now you’re stuck here with me.

Toru noticed a slight blush and wondered if it was from embarrassment at losing to Yuki or the fever that followed being buried in the snow after their fight.

"No! I don't have to be outside every Christmas. Besides it's warm here and if we watch some Christmas specials, we could still get into the atmosphere of Christmas." Toru turned on the television.

“We are now at Odori Park for the Christmas market!”

That’s where Yuki and the others went. Toru thought to herself. She entertained herself by turning her watching TV into a game, challenging herself to maybe find Yuki, Momiji, Shigure or Hatori among the crowd. Do I get bonus points if I find them? Toru thought to herself playfully.

“Looks like a lot of people visiting are couples! Christmas is a time for couples to spread the love after all!” The host walked deeper into the crowd. “Excuse me, may I ask a few questions?”

“Sure!” A girl who looked to be college age answered. Next to her, was a slightly taller, college aged boy.

“Are you locals?”

The girl shook her head. “No, we’re from Chiba.”

“Wow that’s cool! What brings you to Hokkaido?”

The girl looked at the boy next to her and blushed. “It was a surprise actually.”

“It’s our five year anniversary.” The boy chimed in. “And Yuka has never experienced a white christmas.”

“How’s your first white Christmas then?” The reporter turned to Yuka.

“It’s a dream come true.”

The girl’s cheeks turned a little redder, maybe from the biting cold or the questions. As her eyes glimmered when she spoke, Toru guessed it was the latter.

It’s a dream come true. The wonder in her eyes and the words that followed only reminded Toru of herself and another dream she had had decades ago.   

                                   Christmas Eve                                                      

Along Hibiya park, there was an old man who sold figurine parts of a Christmas town, all displayed on a table for everyone to see. Every year since before she could even comprehend the commute to the center of Tokyo, Toru had always rushed to that small shop on the corner of the market with a frazzled Kyoko trailing behind.

At the start of the morning, it was saturated — or rather to Toru, it was complete. A complete replica of the bustling Christmas market in her daydreams and the fairy tales her mother told her about.

The frozen lake with people gliding on top, the children engaging in snowball fights with snow forts twice their size and to the right of it a miniature version of the Christmas market, a more rustic version at least and a snowier version.

It was only a few years after she started to visit the small shop did she start to go back multiple times a day. First, the shoe shop disappeared, then the bakery then the rink.  For a six year old, it was oddly depressing to see the town dwindle into just a few figurines of people walking through. Toru would find herself crying on the way home that night.

Frosty the snowman is gone!

There are no more children playing in the sleds.

How will Santa give the gifts!

It must have been just unintelligible babble to her mother then. On their way home though from the market, as they stepped out of the train and out into the dark streets of their small suburban neighborhood, her mother hugged her tight.

Frosty is fine.

Santa is fine.

Children will still be playing on the sled next year.

Somehow, the conversation had evolved into a little planning. “Let’s go see a Christmas Market like that together Toru! With the frozen like and the snow forts and the sleds.”

They would go through pictures and videos of the towns in Finland, Germany, France, and even in nearby Hokkaido.

“I’ll make sure to save some funds. Maybe we can try for Hokkaido next year?”

Next year never came. There was always something more important than a winter vacation to spend on — electricity, textbooks, hospital bills, house repairs. As Toru grew older she had to forget that dream herself as the reality dawned on her that a single mother and high school dropout was in no position to ever dream of a profound of an experience as travel.

That same dream Toru had forgotten so many years ago made itself known again, manifesting as an ache in her chest and a small tear as she looked out the window the eve of December 24th.

I’ve never had a White Christmas myself. Her mother had mentioned then, as they looked through albums of winter landscapes and Christmas Markets.

Even for just a second. I have to do it. When would she be able to do it again? Life had disappointed her multiple times already. At that moment, it was right in front of her already and Toru was determined to make it come true then.

“Kyo, I’m going to go out for a while if that’s okay?” She went for her coat. “I just need to see something for my mother.”

“Your mother?” Kyo shifted his gaze from the television to her.

“I wanna experience a White Christmas for her.”

“Hey, I’ll come with you.” Kyo offered as he pushed himself out of his comfortable position under the kotatsu.

“You don’t have a coat though,” Toru said looking pointedly at the coat that was still hanging next to the heater to dry. Kyo had soiled his only coat, having been buried in the snow after his fight with Toru.  

“Yeah...” Kyo grimaced

Toru took a peek at her phone while she readied her boots

11:00

“I’ll be back in an hour.” She assured Kyo. Just one white christmas. The next few words were for herself.

Momiji had picked a strategic place to rent a house in Sapporo. The Christmas Market was only a ten minute walk away.

Koibito Park. Lover’s Park. Toru had made sure to google the place before going there. It had a bustling market, not as busy as Odori but enough for Toru to be able to appreciate the festive mood.

As she took in the snow lined roofs, the Christmas lights and the crowds of people bundled up in their own coats, Toru was starting to feel like one of the figurines walking through the Christmas Market in that winter wonderland she’d play with as a kid. Just like what she had imagined, there was a skating rink to the side, a bakery stall,  a cart selling chestnuts and a small German stall selling sausages and spiced wine.

Toru did not need to buy anything, completely satisfied already by the variety of scents — a mixture of cinnamon, apples and bread — wafting through the air. She had closed her eyes for a second as she focused all her senses on that small yet comforting sign that Christmas was nearing.

People were starting to talk about it too. As Toru made her way through the crowds she could hear conversations of Christmas wishes.

What’s your Christmas wish?

Kiss me under the mistletoe? A joke referencing a familiar song Kyoko had sung to her before.

I love you.

Somehow that was what made Toru freeze on the spot. Koibito Park, Lovers Park. Toru found herself looking at the crowd around her.

I’m used to this. I’ve spent new years alone already. This shouldn’t be a big thing. It could have been from instinct but Toru ended up navigating more quickly out of the crowds and into a less saturated part of the market. And to the corner was a little market with a few tiny figurines, all arranged in a little Christmas market.

The six year old in Toru was crying again.

It had been more than a decade since then but Toru found herself walking away farther and farther and into the almost empty back entrance of the market. She quickly wiped away the tears that she had formed and mustered up the biggest smile.

Why am I crying? The atmosphere around the Christmas town is not something you see everyday! You have to enjoy it! Toru scolded herself. As she peeked back around the corner and back at the park, she could not help but put a hand over her stomach, placating the knot that had built up there. Most of the couples were still walking around, some families were carrying sleeping children on their backs --- a sign that it was pretty late already.  

She had spent the past few Christmases in the Soma household over home cooked dinners she had prepared. Years before that, she had spent it with her mother over take out from the nearest fast food chain and Christmas specials.

That was the first time she was counting down alone. She had her white Christmas and she was alone.

From Toru's position behind the park, she could still see some of the Christmas decorations bright across the white landscape. The houses that lined the street had roofs decorated with actual snow.

Just like in the Christmas market figurines she and her mother would admire. Just like in the fairytales her mother would share. Just like in the pictures she and her would look through.  

"Merry Christmas mom," Toru whispered to herself. Admiring the view at least, she remembered why she had decided to make that journey in the first place. "It's a White Christmas."

Toru found herself smiling like she always did, overcompensating for that little something that was missing. Like how the Christmas market wouldn't have even the Christmas market without the people, the view in front of her was not a view without someone to share it with.

Toru looked back at her phone. Ten minutes until midnight. So it wasn't even Christmas yet. Toru made sure to circle around the outskirts of the Christmas market on the way back. She had told herself it was so she wouldn't have a bother to anyone. Deep inside her though, she knew that walking through there would probably make her feel lonelier than she would have been walking along an almost empty street.

The path less taken turned out to be the better choice.

As she made a turn towards the entrance of the park, she made eye contact with those orange eyes she had come to know so well.

"Kyo!"

Kyo was bundled up in a scarf, a beanie and a buttoned down coat that Toru was sure he did not own.

"Merry christmas."

Kyo's scarf was covering much of his lower face. Toru could see though with the way his cheeks rose, the pink in them becoming a little more distinct that he could possibly be smiling.

Either way, she was committed to return his smile with one ten times wider. "Merry Christmas.

As if by magic, the melancholic atmosphere of a while ago dissipated. Toru was finally able to realize the festive mood she had been willing herself to enjoy the past hour.

"Let's go through the market?"

"You're sick though?" Toru put her hand to his forehead.

"It's a cold. I've had worse." Kyo took her hand from its place on his forehead and pulled her into the park. "Besides, it's not everyday you get a white Christmas."

Somehow, the Christmas market started to have a little more color. The lights were a little brighter and being guided through the crowds of people was more exciting than perplexing.

"You want anything to eat?" Kyo asked as soon as they had arrived towards the end of the main path.

Toru's mind was elsewhere. The corner with the stall which sold christmas figurines was almost empty. A few stalls, a few stores and the only human figurines left were a couple on a bench.

Oddly enough, Toru was not fighting back tears. She wasn't lonely. She wasn't empathizing with figurines in an empty Christmas village.

They aren't alone.

"Last one left," The stall owner said.

It was only then did Toru realize she had brought her hand out to touch the figurine. As she looked closer she realized that the boy and the girl were one figurine, molded together and onto the bench below it. "This is so cute!" Toru chimed excitedly, as she ran her hand through the simple yet well placed patterns that made up the lovers on the bench.

"Good thing I prepared a lot of these. It's popular with couples. Christmas is your favorite time after all."

"Our favorite time?" Toru repeated.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Kyo answered the question.

The stall owner grinned. "I hope you're able to have a fun one then. Christmas is a day for lovers."

It had dawned on Toru then, the implications of his statement. She could feel the blood rush to her face, she looked away, completely torn between hiding the truth, consequently lying and correcting him, risking embarrassing him in the process.

"Hey let's go."

Toru realized then that she had spent more than a few minutes pondering that thought a few feet away from the stall.

Kyo guided her back out of the park and as she looked back, she could see the stall owner grinning and waving goodbye.

"Merry Christmas." Kyo pressed the handle of a Christmas bag on her open hand as they made their way out of the park.

Toru peeked inside to see the last remaining Christmas figurine from the stall inside. "This is for me?"

"Who else?"

“You didn’t have to… Really…” Toru tapped at her coat pockets, trying to remember where she had placed her wallet. She started to scramble after a while, her movements a little more chaotic. She dug towards one of the jacket pockets only for it to fall out as she pulled out her hand.

Kyo bent down to get it even before she could move from her spot. “You didn’t have to stay behind either but you did.” He pressed the wallet on her palm. “Besides, you had this goofy smile when you were staring at it. I’d feel bad if I didn’t.”

“I don’t even have a gift yet.” Toru looked away in embarrassment. In fact, she did have the gifts, she had just completely forgotten to take it with her when they were preparing for their trip.

“Just take care of it.” Kyo pulled the scarf further up his face and dug his hands into the coat pocket. “Let’s get back home.” Kyo started to walk a little faster.

Toru found herself trailing behind him. The coat Kyo was wearing started to become a little more recognizable as they reached a part of the streets dotted with more street lights. A blue buttoned down coat that fell too neatly towards the ground, uncharacteristic of Kyo. Toru was aware as well that only one person among them packed an extra winter coat for a two night trip.

“Are you wearing Yuki’s extra coat?”

Kyo didn't look back. “It was the only one I could find at short notice.”

[mithliya]

hiii i hope you're doing great & that germany is treating you well <3 my top genre was dance pop too this year lol. also please please make an effort to stay warm this winter! a lot of people who move from warmer regions have a really tough first winter in a cold country, it happened to me too even though i spent part of my childhood in an even colder place than france lol, i still got really sick my first winter here but not again after that. so yeah take care of yourself! also how has it been learning german & just adjusting to everything new?

-East African anon 💕

EAST AFRICAN ANON WHERE HAVE U BEEEEN 😪😪😪😪 girl my first week in Germany, not even winter yet, and i get a cold from standing outside too long while at a flea market. and then the cold triggered my asthma several days later, and then my asthma got so bad my gf had to call an ambulance 😭 a month & a half later and i finally was able to pay off the ambulance bills i got (bc my insurance said they wouldn’t cover me 🙃 my fault tho) like two hours ago. all this bc i got a bit of a runny nose from being out in the cold!!! now im out here wearing a jacket over a hoodie over a sweater over a tank top and two pants over each other to try to avoid this happening again dhdhshs. my poor girlfriend was so freaked out over seeing me suffer from my asthma that she started worrying that id die bc of COVID being back on the rise in germany.

anyways besides all that drama, living in Germany has been great! i readjusted quite quick and im already used to living in a cold country (again). didn’t think being stuck in Bahrain for two years would’ve made my body so unable to handle cold weather but i was proven wrong there. i live in an area that’s got a lot of MENA people so it wasn’t that hard to get around & now im in level B1.2 in german so i can get around using german. “kann ich mit kreditkarte bezahlen” has been one of my most used german phrases. found out that several banks refuse to open accounts for people from Bahrain which was distressing & complicated things & was really scared going on the S-Bahn without my gf for the first time but overall it all ended up well. i think in a few months ill start missing some of the great foods we can easily enjoy in Bahrain but right now im just having a good time ☺️ i hope ur well & thank u for the advice (even tho i had to learn firsthand 😭)

[some-lists]

10 Documentary Series for the Wanderluster

If you’re sick of being stuck indoors and isolated from the rest of the world, you might find yourself binge watching travel documentaries just like me.

I’ve always loved traveling. I’ve been to a handful of places, but there’s so much more out there. These docu-series will make you want to get off your butt and hop on a plane ASAP. Of course, that’s not really an option in this pandemic, but these shows can offer a nice dose of escapism right in your living room.

These are just a few available to stream that I really loved. (Btw, most of these are about food. Because I love food.)

1. Somebody Feed Phil

I love this show. Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal travels to some of the most beautiful locations around the world to try the best foods. He meets with locals, expats, and world renown chefs who show him the best local dishes and their culture. Phil isn’t the best food critic. Most of his commentary consists of, “Mmm, that’s good!” But his cheery, friendly demeanor makes for easy watching as he casually befriends locals in every international city he visits. Oh, and the theme song is killer.

Watch it on: Netflix

2. Street Food: Asia & Latin America

Get ready to be hungry! Made from the same people behind Chef’s Table, this series takes you to a different country in each episode. Street Food: Asia and Street Food: Latin America are actually listed separately on Netflix. But they are essentially two different seasons of the same show. You’ll meet local street chefs who’ve made their living cooking and selling their best comfort foods on the street. They share their stories of hardship, determination, sacrifice, joys, and successes. Each episode has close ups of every dish that will have you salivating.

Watch it on: Netflix

3. Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted

Season One of this National Geographic series is currently available on Disney Plus. We see chef Gordon Ramsay travel to some remote locations, where he not only learns about their local ingredients, but has to forage and hunt them himself. At the end of each episode, we see him face off with a famous chef from each region. It’s beautifully shot with some really breathtaking views of these amazing landscapes. We see the vast Sacred Valley of Peru, majestic glaciers of New Zealand, and tropical blue waters of Hawaii. Now, if only Disney Plus would release the second season.

Watch it on: Disney Plus

4. Down to Earth with Zac Efron

Down to Earth with Zac Efron is not just a feast for the eyes, but a series that will make you think. Zac Efron travels with his friend, Darin Olien, to learn about various methods of sustainable living. We learn about sustainable energy in Iceland, fresh water in France, and blue zone diets in Italy. They also take the time to explore and enjoy the best leisure activities and cuisine in each country.

Watch it on: Netflix

5. Conan Without Borders

Conan Without Borders is a segment of his talk show that is now available on Netflix (but only the first season). Of course, you can still watch more on YouTube, but those videos are cut into shorter segments. Conan’s buffoonery is put to good use as he travels to learn about other people and their countries. His shtick is the clueless, ignorant American abroad. It’s an honesty that’s rewarding, as he shows these countries in a light few Americans get to see. He’s hilarious in each episode as he accidentally (or not so accidentally) offends, but also learns from the locals in each country.

Watch it on: Netflix, YouTube

6. Travel Man: 48 Hours In...

Travel Man has had 10 seasons, and 7 (ish) of them are on Hulu. It’s a recent discovery for me, so I’m still making my way through the episodes. Richard Ayoade travels to a different city with a different celebrity for 48 hours. They do a lot of the typical things the average tourist would do. It features transportation, checking into a hotel (usually on the higher end), seeing the sites, and exploring different foods. Most of the celebrities who join him are British, so I’m not too familiar with them. It probably works better if you know who they are, but it doesn’t matter. Richard Ayoade’s dry humor makes each trip amusing regardless.

Watch it on: Hulu

7. Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father

British comedian Jack Whitehall takes a belated gap year trip with his 70-something year old father. The stark contrast between their personalities make for a very interesting vacation. We go on a real ride with the two as we get to know them and as they grow from the experience. Jack is full of energy and definitely more open minded of the two, but we can also see why his father gets annoyed with him. He’s a big kid and, at times, spoiled. At first Jack’s father comes across as snobby and ignorant, but we learn to laugh at his biting humor and his efforts to connect with Jack. We also get a bit of a different view of each location. We visit eccentric temples in Thailand, watch trained rats search for mines in Cambodia, check out motocross skiing in Germany, and more.

Watch it on: Netflix

8. Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

Seasons 7 and 8 of the late Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations can currently be viewed on Hulu. If you’re a humanitarian at heart, this one is for you. Anthony Bourdain is after truth. He’s not interested in commercialized tourist traps or filtered Instagram photo ops. He’s after the real place, the real people, and the real history. He visits disadvantaged populations around the world. He meets with locals, journalists, and humanitarians in each country. Their conversations are often about poverty, political corruption, and marginalization. But he also has some lighter missions as well. A trip to Naples in search of the real Italian food experience. A discovery of Croatian culinary greatness. A cook off in Tokyo between the world’s greatest chefs. What we see is not always pretty. Sometimes it’s truly upsetting. But sometimes it’s great too. Either way, it’s the truth. What Anthony Bourdain ultimately does is capture the heart of the people, something traveling tourists often overlook.

Watch it on: Hulu

9. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

I’m not a huge David Chang fan. I’ve only made it through one episode of Ugly Delicious. (It was the curry episode, because I love Indian food.) But I found Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner a much easier watch. It’s a lot more chill. There are only four episodes. (That helps.) He and a celebrity friend tour a different city, try the food, and just chat it up. This series focuses more on location and culture, rather than just the food itself. The personalities of his celebrity guests help provide color and humor to each episode. Kate McKinnon, as always, is a delight.

Watch it on: Netflix

10. Tales By Light

Tales By Light follows photographers around the world as they capture stunning works of art. This is a must see if you love art, especially photography. Watch humpback whales dance under water in Tonga, the colorful Festival of Holi in India, abandoned desert ghost towns of Namibia, and indigenous cultures of Australia. Season 3 is especially sobering. Photographer Simon Lister and UNICEF ambassador Orlando Bloom travel to Bangladesh to capture portraits of children in need. You’ll marvel at the beauty, but also cry for the less fortunate.

Watch it on: Netflix

[rabbitcruiser]

World Music Day

World Music Day is observed on June 21st of each year. There is nothing in the world like the sound of your favourite songs which is coming on. It just gets right into your head, and your body makes you move. It may take you on a journey to a faraway place. Some of your favourite songs may lift us up out of the depression. Everyone enjoys the music, and everyone has the unique taste in them. The music can be a variety of forms, whether it is instrumental or songs, albums and many more. There is a lot of music albums available all around the world, and it is categorised on the different genres and also based on the region where it is composed. It is available in many different languages. The World Music Day celebrates the Music in all its forms, and the impact it has on the world and the human spirit is incredible.

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” – Bob Marley

History Of World Music Day

Music has existed since as long as the humanity has found its voice, and quite possibly before. The idea of World Music Day was conceptualised first in France in 1976 by the American Musician Joel Cohen who has proposed an all-night music celebration to make this world more joyful. The idea was taken up by the French Music and Dance director Maurice Fleuret for Minister of Culture Jack Lang in 1981. It first took place in 1982 in the Paris. From there the festival has become an international phenomenon, which is celebrated on the same day in more than 460 cities in 110 countries which includes Italy, Germany Syria, Egypt, Australia, Morocco, Congo, Vietnam, Cameroon, Colombia, Fiji, Nepal, Chile and Japan. Every culture has it’s own form of music, as unique and distinct of its area as the language and food. In the western world, we are familiar with the scale which is known as the diatonic scale. It should be familiar to anyone who took the music classes or choir in the school. But this is not the only music scale or not even the first music scale. It is the day on which the world celebrates the magical gift of the music.

On this day the amateur and the professional musicians are encouraged to perform the music in the streets. Many independent organisations are organised to make all the genres of music accessible to the public. Two of the caveats were approved by the official Fete de la Musique organisation in Paris. All other concerts should be free to the public, and the performers donate their time for free, This is the real thing which is happening in cities for now as well. Since there was more noise in the public performance, later France forbade them to install the audio hardware in the street.

World Music Day Quotes

“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” –  Victor Hugo

“Music is love, love is music, music is life, and I love my life. Thank you and good night.” – A. J. McLean

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” – Plato

“There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more.” – Lord Byron

“Music is the greatest communication in the world. Even if people don’t understand the language that you’re singing in, they still know good music when they hear it.” – Lou Rawls

“Music is probably the only real magic I have encountered in my life. There’s not some trick involved with it. It’s pure and it’s real. It moves, it heals, it communicates and does all these incredible things.” – Tom Petty

“Singing is my passion, my first love and the secret of my energy. Music to me is like finding my inner self, my soul. It gives me a great joy to see audiences enjoying with me. I have given my heart to singing. When I sing, I can feel romance in everything around me.” – Kailash Kher

Sometimes, being different feels a lot like being alone. But with that being said, being true to that and being true to my standards and my way of doing things in my art and my music, everything that has made me feel very different… in the end, it has made me the happiest. – Lindsey Stirling

“Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” – Berthold Auerbach

“Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman.” – Ludwig van Beethoven

How to Celebrate World Music Day

The best and the easiest way to celebrate the World Music Day is to spend the day listening to all the old favorite music and If you are feeling adventurous just start exploring YouTube for music from different cultures. You can also explore the Finnish and Hungarian, Italian and Mongolian, and then start digging into the folk music. It is easier than to explore the music in these days. You can do it all from the comfort of your own home. You can also pick up the instrument and start adding your voice to the choir and share it with the friends to make the day even more enjoyable.

Source

[tracingavantgardeinfluences]

This is the sound of dancing architecture “I get to corner Ralf Hütter in a cluttered backwater of EMI house, for a conversational nexus in which we poke theories at each other through the language barrier… Frank Zappa said “writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” This is the sound of dancing architecture…“ An interview with Ralf Hütter by Andrew Darlington, 1981 (the taped conversation is written up later). Red man. Stop. Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier. Green man. Go. People respond, regulated by the mechanical switch of coloured lights. Crossing the Pelican towards EMI House it’s easy to submerge in a long droning procession of Kraftwerkian images, pavement thick with lumbering showroom dummies reacting to Pavlovian stimuli, parallel lines of thruways, multi-legged ferroconcrete skyways, gloss-front office-blocks waterfalling from heaven, individuality drowned, starved to extinction, etc, etc. This could get boring. This could be cliché. Ideas prompt unbidden, strategies of sending my cassette recorder on alone to talk to the Kraftwerk answering machine. That’s Kraftwerk, isn’t it? I got news for you. It ain’t. Ralf Hütter (electronics and voice) is neat, polite, talks quietly with Teutonic inflection, and totally lacks visible cybernetic attachments. He’s dressed in regulation black — as per stereotype — slightly shorter than me which makes him five-foot-eight-inches, or perhaps nine, hair razored sharp over temples not to allow traces of decadent side-burns. Shoes are black, but sufficiently scuffed to betray endearingly human imperfections. He walks up and down reading review stats thoughtfully provided by EMI’s press division. Seems it’s a good review in The Times? Strong on technical details… yes? "No. The writer says we play exactly as on the records, which is not so.” He is evidently chagrined by this particular line of criticism, which is an interesting reaction. I file it for reference. But then again he’s just got up and come direct from his hotel. He wants breakfast. Coffee and cakes. An hour or so to talk to me, then down to Oxford for the dauntingly exacting Kraftwerk sound check rituals. The other Kraftwerkers — Florian Schneider (voice and electronics), Karl Bartos and Wolfgang Flür (both electronic percussion) are otherwise occupied. So every vowel must count. I extend a tentative theory. The image Kraftwerk project of modernity, it seems to me, is largely derived from twenties and thirties originals: the Futurist dedication to movement and kinetic energy; the Bauhaus emphasis on clean, strictly functional lines; the Fritz Lang humans-as-social-ciphers thing. Even an album ‘inspired’ by Soviet Constructivist El Lissitzky with all the machine-art connotations that implies. Doesn’t Hütter find this contradictory? “No. In the twenties there was Futurism in Italy, Germany, France. Then in the thirties it stopped, retrograded into Fascism, bourgeois reactionary tendencies, in Germany especially…” And time froze for forty years. Until the Kraftwerk generation merely picked up the discarded threads, carried on where they’d left off. After the war “Germany went through a period with our parents who were so obsessed with getting a little house, a little car, the Volkswagen or Mercedes in front, or both All these very materialistic orientations turning Germany into an American colony, no new idea were really happening. We were like the first generation born after the war, so when we grew up we saw that all around us, and we turned to other things.” Kissing to life a dormant culture asleep four decades? But computers only print out data they’re programmed with, so working on this already grossly over-extended mechanistic principle I aim to penetrate Kraftwerk motivations. The dominant influences on them then were — what? American Rock? “No.” In that case, do Kraftwerk fit into the Rock spectrum? “No. Anti - Rock'n'Roll.” So their music is a separate discipline? “Yes, in a way, even though we play in places like Hammersmith. We are more into environmental music.” So if not Rock, then what? — Berio? Stockhausen? “Yes and no. We listened to that on the radio, it was all around. Especially the older generation of electronic people, the more academic composers — although we are not like that. They seem to be in a category within themselves, and only circulating within their own musical family. They did institutional things — while we are out in the streets. But I think from the sound, yes. From the experimenting with electronics, definitely. The first thing for us was to find a sound of Germany that was of our generation, that was the first records we do. First going into sound, then voices. Then we went further into voices and words, being more and more precise. And for this we were heartily attacked.” He mimics the outrage of his contemporaries — “You can’t do that… Electronics? What are you doing? Kraftwerk? German group — German name? It’s stupid. Music is Anglo-American — it has to be, even when it is in Germany.” The incredulity remains: “Still today, you know. Can you imagine? — German books with English titles, German bands singing English songs. It’s ridiculous!” Of course it is. But didn’t the Beatles do some German-language records at one time? “Sure” shrugs Hütter, friendly beyond all reasonable expectations. “They were even more open than most of the Germans…” I’d anticipated some mutual incomprehensibility interface with his broken English and my David Hockney Yorkshire. You find the phrasing strange? I’ll tell you… when the possibility of doing this interview first cropped up I ransacked my archives and dug out everything on Kraftwerk I could find. Now it occurs to me that each previous press chat-piece, from Creem to Melody Maker, have transposed Herr Hütter’s every utterance into perfect English. Which is not the case. His eloquence is daunting, but it inevitably has very pronounced Germanic cadences. Sometimes he skates around searching for the correct word, other times he uses the right word in the wrong context. When he says “we worked on the next album and the next album, and just so on”, it really emerges as “ve vork on ze next album und ze next, und just zo on”. It might be interesting to write up the whole interview tape with that phonetic accuracy, but it would be difficult to compose and impossible to read. Nevertheless, I’m not going to bland out his individuality by disinfecting his speech peculiarities, or ethnically cleansing his phrases entirely… But now he’s in flight and I’m chasing, trying to nail down details. In my head it’s now turn of the decade — sixties bleeding into the seventies, and this thing is called Krautrock. Oh, wow! Hard metallic grating noises, harder, more metallic, more grating and noisier than Velvet Underground, nihilistic Germanic flirtations with the existential void. Amon Düül II laying down blueprints to be electro-galvanised into a second coming by PiL, Siouxsie & The Banshees and other noise terrorists. Cluster. Faust. Then there is the gratuitous language violence of Can, sound that spreads like virus infection from Floh de Cologne and Neu, and Ash Ra Temple who record an album with acid prophet and genetic outlaw Timothy Leary. Was there a feeling of movement among these bands? A kinship? “No.” One note on the threshold of audibility, shooting down fantasies. “In Germany we have no capital. After the war we don’t have a centre or capital anymore. So instead we have a selection of different regional cultures. We — Kraftwerk — come from industrial Düsseldorf. But Amon Düül II came from Munich, which has a different feeling. Munich is quite relaxed. There’s a lot of landscape around.” Now for me it’s not just some off-the-top-of-the-head peripheral observation, but the corner-stone of my entire musical philosophy that this affable German is effortlessly swotting, and I’m not letting him off lightly. I restate histories carefully. American Rock'n'Roll happened in 1954 — Memphis, Sun Studios. From there it spread in a series of shock waves, reaching and taking on the regional characteristics of each location it hit. By the mid-sixties a distinctive UK variant had come into being, identifiably evolving out of exposure to US vinyl artefacts, but incontrovertibly also home-grown. Surely Krautrock was evidence that Germany had also acquired its own highly individual Rock voice? It seems to me there is a common feeling, a shared voice among these diverse groups. But he’s not buying. You don’t think so? “No. At least not as far as we were concerned.” When they started out they recorded in German-language. „We always record in German” he corrects emphatically. „Then we do — like in films, synchronised versions for English. The original records are all German, but we also do French, and now Japanese versions. We are very into the internationalist part.” Continuing this trans-Europe theme he suddenly suggests „Britain is a very historical society. The Establishment. The hierarchy. We come here and we feel that immediately. On the one hand you have this very modern…” he tails off. Starts again, „it’s a schizophrenic country, a modern people, new music and everything, but on the other hand the… how can I say it, a theatrical establishment.” I retaliate, yes — but surely it could equally be argued that all Europe forms a common cultural unit attempting to survive between the historic power-block forces of the USA and the old Soviet Union? Indeed, to journalist Andy Gill, Kraftwerk’s music is „promoting the virtues of cybernetic cleanliness and European culture against the more sensual, body-orientated nature of most Afro-American derived music” (‘Mojo’s August 1987). Europe shares a common heritage uniting Britain, Germany and France, which are all being subtly subverted by a friendly invasion of American Economic and McCultural influences, movies, records, clothes? Witter himself once said „in Germany, Pop music is a cultural import”. „Yes, I know. Certainly when we came to Birmingham (England) we thought it was similar to Düsseldorf. There’s no question. But in Germany it happens even more though, because here in England at least you notice, you know the language and everything. In Germany they don’t notice, it was just taken over.” I’d always considered the German language to be a defence against foreign influence. It was far easier for mainstream British culture to be accessed, and infiltrated because of a common American-English language. In France, for example, the Government is actively resisting the 'Anglicisation’ of their language through 'Franglaise’, because they rightly see its corruption as the thin end of the wedge. “Maybe. That should be checked. But you, together with the Americans had another situation to start with. After the war, Germany was finished. I’m not saying why or whatever, that’s OK. But when I grew up we used to play around the bomb-fields and the destroyed houses. This was just part of our heritage, part of our software. It was our education and cultural background…” The spectre of Basil Fawlty springs unbidden. Earlier an entirely innocent question about Kraftwerk’s origins had dislodged similar sentiments. He’d spoken of Germany’s Fascist years — “in Germany especially, that’s what I mostly knew about, then all the (artistic / creative) people emigrated, Einstein had to leave, and everybody knows the reasons. And then only after the war — he came back. But I think Germany went through a period, with our parents, who had never had anything. They went through two wars…” Breakfast becomes manifest. Mushroom quiche — no meat — followed by a choice of apricot or apple flan, plus two coffees. I sit opposite him, tape machine on the floor between us picking up air, the windows of EMI House blanding out over the trees of Manchester Square. I’m marshalling scores. So for, not content with winning each verbal exchange hands down, Ralf Hütter has also squashed each of my most cherished illusions about Krautrock. But on the plus side, massive giga-jolts of respect are due here. Long before the world had heard of Bill Gates or William Gibson, when Silicon Valley was still just a valley and mail had yet to acquire its 'e’ pre-fix, Kraftwerk were literally inventing and assembling their own instruments, expanding the technosphere by rewiring the sonic neural net, and defining the luminous futures of what we now know as global electronica. So perhaps it’s time to probe more orthodox histories? It seems to me there are two distinct phases to Kraftwerk’s career. Or perhaps even three. The first five years devoted purely to experimental forays into synchromeshed avant-electronics, producing the batch of albums issued in Britain through Vertigo — Kraftwerk in 1972, Ralf Und Florian the following year, the seminal Autobahn in 1974, and the compilation Exceller 8 in 1975. Then they switch to EMI, settle on a more durable line-up and the subsequent move into more image-conscious material, a zone between song and tactile atmospherics. The third, and current phase, involves a long and lengthening silence.   "No, it wasn’t like that” says Hütter. “It was…” his hand indicates a level plane. 'There was never a break. It was a continual evolution. We had our studios since 1970, so we always worked on the next album, and the next album, and so on. I think Düsseldorf therefore was very good because we brought in other people, painters, poets, so that we associated ourselves with…“ his sometimes faulty English — interfacing with my even more faulty German — breaks down. The words don’t come. So he switches direction. “Also we had some classical training before that [Ralf and Florian met at the Düsseldorf Conservatory], so we were very disciplined.” Others in this original extended family of neo-Expressionist electro-subversives included Conny Plank (who was later to produce stuff for Annie Lennox’ The Tourists, and Ultravox), Thomas Homann and Klaus Dinger (later of Neu), artist Karl Klefisch (responsible for the highly effective Man Machine sleeve), and Emil Schult (who co-composed Trans-Europe Express). In the subsequent personnel file, as well as Hütter, there is Florian Schneider who also operates electronics and sometimes robotic vocals. While across the years of their classic recordings they are set against Karl Bortos and Wolfgang Flür who both manipulate electronic percussion. I ask if they always operate as equal partners. “Everybody has their special function within the group, one which he is good at and likes to do the most.” It was never just Ralf und Florian plus a beatbox rhythm section? “No. It’s just that we started historically all that time ago and worked for four years with about twenty percussionists, and they would never go into electronics, so we had to step over, banging away and things like that. And then Wolfgang came in.” With that sorted out I ask if he enjoyed touring. „Yes, basically, because we don’t do it so often. But we also enjoy working in our studios in Düsseldorf, we shouldn’t tour too much otherwise… we get lost somewhere, maybe! We get too immunised. When you have too much you must shut down because you get too many sounds and visions from that tour. For the first five years we toured always in Germany on the Autobahns — that’s where that album came from. Since 1975 we do other countries as well.” They first toured the USA in March 1975, topping the bill over British Prog-Rockers Greenslade, then — leaving an American Top Thirty hit, they went on to play eight British dates in June set up for them by manager Ira Blacker. How much of that early music was improvised? Was the earlier material 'freer’? Kraftwerk numbered Karl Klaus Roeder on violin and guitar back then, so are the newer compositions more structured? „No. We are going more… now that we play longer, work longer than ten years, we know more and every afternoon when we are in the Concert Hall or somewhere in the studio we just start the machines playing and listen to this and that. Just yesterday we composed new things. Once in Edinburgh we composed a new piece which we even included in that evening’s show. New versions on old ideas. So we are always working because otherwise we should get bored just repeating. And it’s not correct what he (the hostile gig reviewer) was saying — that we play on stage exactly like we sound on the record. That’s complete rubbish. It means people don’t even notice and they don’t listen. They go instead over to the Bar for a drink! We, our music is very basic, the compositions are never complex or never complicated. More sounds — KLINK! KLUNK!! Metallic sound. We go for this sound composition more than music composition. Only now they are thematically more precise than they were before.” After so long within the genre don’t they find electronics restricting? „No, just the opposite.” Words precise with the sharp edge of Teutonic resonance. „We can play anything. The only restrictions we do find are, like in writing, as soon as you have a paper and pen — or a computer or a cassette recorder and a microphone, and you bring ideas, you find the limitation is in what you program rather than what is in the microphone or the cassette. You — as a writer, writing this interview, can’t say that the piece you are writing is not good because the word processor did not pick out the right words for you. It’s the same with us. If we make a bad record it’s because we are not in a good state of mind.” Change of tack. There’s a lot of Kraftwerkian influence around. Much of current electro-Dance seems to be plugged directly into the vaguely 'industrial’ neuro-system that Hütter initially delineated, while dedicated eighties survivalist cults Depeche Mode and Human League also have Kraftwerk DNA in their gene-code. He nods sagely. “There’s a very good feeling in England now. It was all getting so… historical.” Is the same thing happening in Germany now? Is there a good Rock scene there? “No. But New Music (Neu Musik).” Hütter’s opinions on machine technology have been known to inspire hacks of lesser literary integrity to sprees of wild Thesaurus-ransacking adjectival overkill, their vocabularies straining for greater bleakness, more clone-content, 'Bladerunner’ imagery grown bloated and boring through inept repetition. And sure, Kr-art-werk is all geometrical composition, diagonal emphasis, precision honed etc, but their imagery is not entirely without precedent. Deliberately so. Their 'Man-Machine’ album track “Metropolis” obviously references German Fritz Lang’s 1926 proto-SF Expressionist movie. The sleeve also acknowledges the 'inspiration’ of Bauhaus constructivist El Lissitzky. I went on to hazard the connections with German modern classical music bizorro Karlheinz Stockhausen — particularly on Kraftwerk’s Radio-Activity album, where they use the 'musique concrete’ technique of surgical-splicing different sounds together from random areas. Radioland uses drop-in short-wave blips, bursts and static twitterings, Transistor has sharp pre-sample edits, alongside the pure found-sound audio-collage The News. A technique that resurfaces as late as Electric Cafe, where The Telephone Song is made up of 'phone bleeps and telecommunication bloopery. He’s familiar with the input. Immediately snaps back the exact location of the ideas — Kurzwellen, from Stockhausen’s back-catalogue. And what about the aural applications of Brion Gysin/William Burroughs’ literary cut-up experiments? Is there any interaction there? “Maybe” he concedes. “'Soft Machine’, contact with machines. But we are more Germanic.” He pauses, then suggests “we take from everywhere. That’s how we find most of our music. Out of what we find in the street. The Pocket Calculator in the Department Stores.” The music is the message — 'the perfect Pop song for the tribes of the global village’ as Hütter once described it. The medium and the form? “If the music can’t speak for itself then why make music? Then we can be writers directly. If I could speak really everything I want with words then I should be working in literature, in words. But I can’t, I never can say anything really, I can’t even hardly talk to the audience. I don’t know what to say. But when we make music, everything keeps going, it’s just the field we are working in, or if we make videos we are more productive there.” I quote back from an interview he did with Q magazine in July 1991 where he suggests that traditional musical skills are becoming increasingly redundant. “With our computers, this is already taken care of,” he explains. “So we can now spend more time structuring the music. I can play faster than Rubenstein with the computer, so it [instrumental virtuosity] is no longer relevant. It’s getting closer to what music is all about: thinking and hearing.” So technology should be interpreted as a potentially liberating force? “Not necessarily. I don’t always find that. Dehumanising things have to be acknowledged. Maybe if you want to become human, first you have to be a showroom dummy, then a robot, and maybe one day…” An expressive wave. “People tend to overestimate themselves. I would never say I am very human. I still have doubts. I can project myself as a semi-god. I can do that. The tools exist for me to achieve that. But I’d rather be more modest about this, about our real function in this society, in these blocks here,” indicating out through the plate glass, across the square, to the city towers of finance and global commerce beyond. “People overestimate themselves. They think they are important. They think they are human.” I’m out of synchronisation again. Surely, if people have to extricate themselves from the machinery they have created, to become human, then it’s due to the imperfections of the technology — not the people. Machines are intended to serve, if they do otherwise, they malfunction. “Not so. They should not be the new slaves. We are going more for friendship and co-operation with machines. Because then, if we treat them nice, then they treat us nice. You know, there are so many people who go in for machines, who when you come to their homes their telephones are falling to pieces, their music centres don’t function, the television set is ruined. But if you take care of your machines then they will live longer. They have a life of their own. They have their own life-span. They have a certain hour of duration. There are certain micro-electronics which work a thousand hours. Then there is a cassette recorder battery which operates ten or twelve hours.” The mentality you oppose, then, is that of conspicuous consumption, planned obsolescence, the psychology of 'a spoilt child’? “The energy crisis, the whole thing is a result of thinking that everything is there, we just have to use it, take this, and — PTOOOOFFF! — throw it away. But make sure that the neighbours see! This whole attitude of disassociating oneself from machines — humans here and machines over there. When you work so much with machines — as we do — then you know that has to change.” Earlier he’d spoken of growing up 'playing around the bomb-fields and destroyed houses’ in the wake of WWII, so this respect for material possessions is perhaps understandable. But he sees beyond this. He sees machines having the potential to free people physically from unnecessary labour, and culturally to create whole new thinking. “I mean — where is my music without the synthesiser? Where is it?” The music, the intelligence, is in your head. Without that the synth is just….“ "Yes, bringing it about! The catalyst. We are partners. We two can together make good music, if we are attuned to each other.” But you could operate another instrument. The vehicle you use is incidental. You could walk out this building, buy a new synth here in London, and play it just as well as your own equipment in Düsseldorf. “Yes. That is because I have this relationship with this type of thing.” I’m reproducing this exactly as it happens, and still I’m not exactly sure what he’s getting at. Perhaps something is lost in the language gap. Like earlier, he’d said “I would never say I am very human” and I’d accepted it first as role playing — until he’d made it obvious that he equates 'becoming human’ with 'achieving freedom’. Humanity is something that has to be earned. You can’t be robot and human. But this is not a natural conversation. This is on interview. A marketing exercise designed to sell Kraftwerk records by projecting certain consumer-friendly imagery. He is playing games, and this cyber-spiel is what journalists expect from Kraftwerk? But to Ralf Hütter there seems to be more to it than that. He believes what he is saying. At least on one level. Some impenetrable levels of ambiguity are at work concerning this alleged relationship to technology. Baffled, I skate around it. What crafty work is afoot for the future? “For me? For Kraftwerk? Well, certain things that I had to remember and memorise and think about are now programmed and stored. So there’s no restriction that we have to rehearse manually. There’s no physical restriction. I can liberate myself and go into other areas. I function more now as software. I’m not so much into hardware. I’m being much more soft now since I have transferred certain thoughts into hardware. That is why we put those two words together Software/Hardware on the album. Because it is like a combination of the two — Man/ Machine — otherwise it would not be happening. We can play anything. Our type of set-up — and group, the studio, the computers and everything. Anything.” So what’s new in electronics, Ralf? “What we find now is like, a revolution in machines. They are bringing back all the garbage now that has been put into them for the last hundred years and we are facing a second, third and fourth Industrial Revolution. Computers. Nano-electronics. Maybe then we come back into Science Fiction? I don’t know.” Then, on inspiration, “there’s another thing coming out. 'Wet-Ware’, and we function also — in a way, as Wet-Ware.” I’m hit by a sudden techno-blur of off-the-wall ideas, imperfectly understood concepts of some electro-erotic wet ’T’-shirt ritual in the pale blue wash of sterile monitors. What is 'Wet-Ware’, Ralf? Spoken with bated breath. And he explains. Like hardware is machines. Software is the data that is fed into them. “Wet-Ware is anything biochemical. The biological element in the machine!” The programmer? I see. Fade into intimations of cybernetic übermensch conspiracies. So with these limitless vistas of techno-tomorrows, Kraftwerk will continue for some time yet? "Yoh. Yes.” Pause, then the laugh opens up, “… until we fall off the stage!” Auf Wiedersehen, Ralf… Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier…

[useless-catalanfacts]

Hie! As a non spanish person with Catalan friends who get really heated up with the subject and cant explain it thru. Why is that they want to separate from spain? And havent they done like 4 or 5 referendum thingies to gain independence and they've all turned our negative or whatever it is that means we wanna stay? I come in peace and hope not to get shouted at like my friends did to me when I asked. Sincerely, the Tall Friend

I think you’re confusing Catalonia with Quebec or Scotland or some other country. We’ve had 1 independence referendum and yes to independence clearly won it. The pro-independence political parties have also been winning the elections every time since 2012.

Let’s start with the beginning.

What is Catalonia? And what was Catalonia?

Catalonia is a country with its own language (Catalan), culture, and history. It developed in the Middle Ages, when it was an independent country.

As you can see, we have two neighbours: Spain and France. As you will probably know, those are two of the most imperialistic countries in Europe (they colonised Latin America, the Caribbean, parts of Africa, the Philippines, etc).

I will try to explain the historical part as fast as possible so we can get to nowadays, but to understand the situation you need a bit of historical context.

Before going to invade lands far away, the European colonial powers invaded their neighbours and fought other European countries. Catalonia, because of its location and importance in Medieval Mediterranean commerce, was targeted.

In 1469, the Queen of Castilla (Spain) and the King of Catalonia-Aragon got married. This was normal at the time and did not mean that the two countries became one. On the contrary, each country remained independent, just that with the same monarchy. It didn’t really matter for Catalonia because Catalonia was ruled by a Parliament (and the king didn’t really have that much power), but Castilla (Spain) was an absolute monarchy (meaning that the King had all power).

With time, the kings and many Spanish people started to really hate Catalans because they were seen as un-Christian for having other forms of government than the Catholic absolute monarchy. And since Catalonia had its own laws and traditions, those were seen as un-Christian and traitorous. Most of the greatest writers, politicians, nobles, etc of the Spanish Golden Century (1500s-1600s) were openly very Catalanophobic.They said Catalans are “the most miserable creature ever created by God”, “a monstruous abort of politics”, “an illness against the kings”, all Catalans were often called thiefs, or that “it is well known the obstinity and savagery of this people [Catalans], the most criminal of all” (all of these are literal quotes). Catalans were also said to be guilty of spreading Judaism in Spain for whatever reason.

(In fact, even nowadays fascist Spanish people often tell Catalans and Basques to “speak Christian” meaning to speak Spanish instead of our languages).

Spain wanted to force all population to convert to Christianism (at that moment a lot of the population, especially in the south, was Muslim), and to become a Castillian (that is, a Spaniard in the modern sense of the word: speak only Spanish, be Catholic, have an absolute monarchy, celebrate Spanish celebrations, etc). This is the moment when Spain did the expulsion of Jewish and Moorish people and when it started its repression of Catalan, Basque and Romani people.

Castilla (Spain) tried to gain as much power as possible in Catalonia, convinced the upper classes of Catalonia that they had to abandon the Catalan language (which they considered a “peasant’s language” and not evolved enough for finer minds), and so the upper classes started to speak Spanish and try to imitate the Spanish way of doing everything. But practically everyone kept speaking Catalan, and Catalonia remained independent (with its own laws, parliament, insititutions, etc).

Until there was a moment where the Spanish monarchy couldn’t stand that Catalonia has such a different political system. In the year 1714, Spain (Castilla) won the War of Spanish Succession against Catalonia and other territories, and proceeded to invade Catalonia and the other Catalan-speaking territories (Valencia and the Balearic Islands).

Spain teamed up with France, which means they were the two most powerful armies in Europe. Obviously, Catalonia-Aragon lost the war, and was invaded.

The invasion meant that Spain could finally do what they wanted with this land: they banned our language and imposed Spanish, they eliminated our traditional laws, they eliminated our institutions and imposed the Spanish absolute monarchy, they imposed Spanish “gobernadores” (governors) to rule our lands, they burnt down whole towns, they closed our universities, they forbid schools for ever speaking in Catalan or teaching Catalan history, they forbid churches to say mass or teach Catechesis in Catalan, they killed many of those who had fought to defend Catalonia from the Spanish invasion publicly to humiliate them (for example, general Josep Moragues was killed after being dragged alive by a horse through the streets of Barcelona and then killed and his head was displayed as a warning in the entrance to Barcelona for 12 years, even with his widow’s begging), among many other things.

Please, see this post for a list of laws made against the Catalan language between the 16th and 19th centuries. And this post for the laws between 1900 and 2016 (when I made the post, I could say more laws now).

After the invasion of Catalonia, the idea that Catalans must be “Spanishized” and that speaking Catalan makes us inferior spread more and more among Spanish people, as did the general hate against us. This is why Catalonia was often victim of Spanish soldiers’ rape, stealing harvest, etc without facing any consequence, because the Spanish kings and officials allowed it.

France also tried to invade us many times, then Spain invaded back, then France, then Spain... but I won’t get into that because it would make this post unnecessarily long.

The worst moment though, was definitely the fascist dictatorship of Franco (1939-1978).

Fascism in Spain adds Catalans (as well as the other national minorities: Romani people, Basques, Galicians, Asturians, etc) to their list of enemies.

Catalonia was always a progressist place, and in the 1930s a huge part of Catalans was anarchist. Fascism made a coup d’etat which they called “a crusade against the reds”, and Catalans were not only targeted for being Catalan but also for being all seen as “reds” (anarchists and communists) and atheists. The anthem of the fascists (called Cara al sol) said “Catalan, Jew, and renegade [atheist], you’ll pay for what you have done”.

The fascist coup d’etat did not triumph in Catalonia thanks to the resistance of the antifascist unions and the Government of Catalonia, which organised civilians militias. Sadly, in the end the fascists won the war (Spanish Civil War) and established a dictatorship. They killed the president of Catalonia and thousands more people who opposed them. Everyone who defended the right to speak Catalan was tortured and killed. Schools were forbidden from teaching in Catalan or mentioning Catalan history, literature, etc. Catalan teachers were fired and either killed (many teachers were leftists) or forced to go to a rural village far away from their home, and schools in Catalonia were replaced by Spanish fascist teachers or people from the Spanish army. These teachers beat the children if they were heard speaking in Catalan. Schools taught the superiority of Spain and the Spanish language and the glory of the Spanish empire. Children were made to sing the fascist anthem and pray every day before starting class. Some Catalan traditions were banned, such as our traditional dance. Many of our traditional songs were also banned, and people even went to jail in for singing them (for example, la Santa Espina). Every family knows people who were tortured and/or killed by the regime, sometimes for no reason, sometimes for their political beliefs.

The dictator died in 1975 and Spain entered a phase known as the “transition to democracy”. Catalonia was given a bit of self-government (not much) and our language was legalised to use at schools.

Even with this, we have whole generations born and raised under the fascist regime who were brainwashed into hating Catalans, Basques, Jews, atheists, etc. And even in Catalonia, there are still people who are ashamed of being Catalan. For example, the neonazis who murdered Miquel Grau and Guillem Agulló (two Valencian young men who were targeted for being independentists) were not from other parts of Spain.

It is scary, because our country is controlled by another one which is full of people who hate us, and the Spanish governments have always (even nowadays) discriminated Catalonia in front of other regions and actively work against us.

Many people wanted to try to be able to keep our language (which was weakened by the fact that it was persecuted for most of the 20th century) and pass different laws. Spain is very conservative, Catalonia is not. If you look at the maps every time there are elections, you can see the voting results in Spain vs. the voting results in Catalonia and the Basque Country are very different.

So the governments of Catalonia have been asking the Spanish government to have a few more control over our own territory (Spain is very centralist, so most power is in the hands of a central government in Madrid). Spain has always said NO. Please see this previous post with a video that explains all the ways we have tried.

Catalans basically were saying “yes, we will be part of Spain with no problem, as long as we’re allowed to speak our language and have some laws to protect women, poor people, etc”. Every time, we had less demands. We were begging that yes! we wanted to be part of Spain but just these little demands! But they never allowed anything. Spain still has a very imperialist mindset, and see our sole existance as a threat (that’s why you get the Minster of Education Wert saying in parliament that “we must turn Catalan kids into Spanish kids”).

So in front of that, people got tired. More and more people saw that the only way we can truly advance to a more equal and democratic society is if people who live in Catalonia can decide how Catalonia should be run, and not just obey the comands of a government in Madrid that has never had any intention of helping our land prosper, and who have an opposite idea of what the future should be like.

So we asked for an independence referendum. Many times. They always said no. So we said “fuck it, we’ll do it anyway”. So we organised October 1st 2017. Spain declared it illegal, searched for the ballot boxes and voting papers for months, sent thousands of military police to beat up voters and steal the ballot boxes with the votes, etc. The police brutality on that day was shameful, and yet the Spanish government and the King said the policemen were honourable for doing so, and many Spanish people gave them support too and greeted the policemen singing “a por ellos” (go get them).

Please, read more about what happened in October 1st and after it in this post.

Even though the police stole votes, physically stopped people from entering the voting schools, etc. 43% of the people of Catalonia voted (in fact, over 50% voted but their votes were stolen by the police and could not be counted). And 90,2% of the votes were “yes to independence”.

Spain’s response? A democratic country would have found the solution to meet with the Catalan goverment and talk about it, maybe find a middle point, listen to the demands of Catalans... But no. Spain’s response was to jail the politicians who had taken part in the organisation of the referendum as well as the leaders of the main civil organisations, more people arrested, and arbitrary imprisonment in . They also took down websites that talked about the referendum and independence, said we had made up that the police had beaten voters (even though over a thousand people had to be hospitalized just on the day of the referendum as a result of police brutality and there are hundreds of photos and videos), and apply Law 155 in Catalonia (which means that the Catalan institutions are dissolved and Catalonia is ruled directly from Madrid. The party at the Spanish gov in that moment was the far right wing PP, which in Catalonia had only gotten 13% of the votes. That is basically a dictatorship).

And now, every time there is more and more repression. Some people ask us if we are not scared of the arrests, jailings, police brutality, etc. Yes, we it’s scary. But not protesting and remaining under Spanish occupation is even scarier. For mental health, I don’t think I could stand the rest of my life seeing how Spanish media treats us. I don’t want to see my grandmother cry when she watches the news because “it’s like Franco again”. I don’t want to see more of my friends in trials for things they have not done. I don’t want to be temporarily arrested again because a policeman saw me wearing a yellow ribbon (symbol of solidarity with political prisoners) and decided I must be up to something.

tl;dr Spain is a fascist state and we want no part in that.

Catalan people want to be treated as equals and this will never happen in Spain. We want to be able to pass the social laws we have voted for (to welcome refugees, equal pay for women, protect the Earth, abolish monarchy, not have political prisoners, stop evictions, etc) and Spain does not allow us to. The only option is independence.

Please, read this previous post and you’ll see how Spain bans Catalonia from progressive laws, and so how independence will make life much better for all its citizens. And hopefully, more Spanish people will realise that life is happier when we respect each other and work in cooperation for a better future.

[calamity-bean]

Barkskins (2020)

Lately I’ve been posting some gifs and such from a new show based (loosely, my impression is) on the Annie Proulx novel of the same name. I haven’t read the novel and knew very little about the show before I started, but I thought I’d post a bit about my impressions thus far, as of episode 1.04.

So! Barkskins is a period drama set in the late 17th century in what is now Quebec, centered around a remote little French settlement called Wobik. There are multiple plot threads at work, but the initial hook driving the narrative is the suspicious massacre of another nearby settlement. This mystery wraps around the lives of the varied people competing to survive and thrive in this corner of New France.

Short and spoiler-free opinion: I'm enjoying it so far! The tone is fairly dark and gritty, always with an edge of danger and even some hints of a sort of religious/folk horror element at work (we’ll see if that comes to anything meaningful, I suppose). The cast has a lot of talent, and based on what I’ve read, there does appear to have been a serious effort to value and involve indigenous voices throughout the creative process. Moreover, it’s a historical setting that interests me, and I like some of the characters a lot. I suspect that one of the biggest dangers this show runs, giving its fairly wide scope and limited number of episodes, is that it may fail to deliver on / fully develop everything it’s hinting at or touching upon... but we’ll see.

Longer description and opinions, potentially with vague/general spoilers, under the cut.

(there is a lot of focus on trees in this show. you may not have expected that from the name.)

Anyone who follows me would be forgiven for thinking that there are only two characters in this show, because I’ve only been posting the same two over and over. Shockingly, there are, in fact, more. Prominent ones so far include:

A traumatized young girl (Lola Reid) who is apparently one of the only survivors of the aforementioned massacre, yet no one recognizes her as being one of the people at that settlement.

Rene Sel and Charles Duquet (Christian Cooke and James Bloor), indentured servants newly arrived from France.

Claude Trepagnay (David Thewlis), an eccentric but ambitious French settler, and Mari (Kaniehtiio Horn), the underappreciated Wendat woman who lives with him.

Hamish Goames and Yvon Kirkpatrick (Aneurin Barnard and Zahn McClarnon) of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who are investigating the disappearance of a colleague. Goames is British, Yvon Anishinaabe.

Melissande and Delphine (Tallulah Haddon and Lily Sullivan), filles du roi brought from France to become wives of settlers.

Mathilde Geffard (Marcia Gay Harden), a no-nonsense and very observant French innkeeper, along with other townspeople of Wobik.

As you can see, most of the lead characters are white Europeans. Given the history of this era and the premise of the show, colonialism (and the conflicts/violence thereof) is naturally a major and inescapable part of the narrative. I was unsure, going in, how the show was going to handle the portrayal of Native characters and cultures. It’s not a topic I can offer personal insight into, as I’m white and not very educated in the irl history/cultures of this setting anyway, but it is a topic I care about. So I looked online to see what better informed people had to say.

This article by The 1491s’ Migizi Pensoneau discusses his involvement with the show (including his initial skepticism) and highlights the indigenous voices who contributed to Barkskins — including writers, actors, historians, and community leaders and advisors, both in the writing room and on location. In Pensoneau’s words:

“Barkskins” is still historical fiction told for television, involving multiple stakeholders and stories, and made within the studio world. In other words, it’s not perfect. But the Native spaces and Native people depicted were handled with just as much care, time, and investment as every other aspect of the show. Instead of a Hollywood producer shorting Native representation based on profitability, we placed as much control as possible into the hands of the communities depicted. The integrity with which we approached this task tells a better story, and I’m excited for everyone to see indigenous characters and communities portrayed on television in a new way.

Steeve Gros-Louis, director of the Huron-Wendat Sandokwa dance troupe, has also spoken positively about his experience of the show’s approach to his culture. Overall, I would definitely say that the story thus far has been told primarily through the lens of colonists. But there are characters from multiple indigenous cultures of the region, two of whom are leads, and general reactions to the portrayal of these characters/cultures seem positive.

(this shot was SO sepia before i adjusted it, like i did a lot and yet it is still very sepia, fair warning that this show’s indoor scenes often suffer from a chronic case of Everything In History Was Sepia.)

Most of the lead characters are also male, though there are about five prominent women so far. (...Honestly, I’ve watched period dramas with fewer.) Among these, I think an interesting phenomenon the show’s chosen to explore is the filles du roi — young women who’ve traveled from France at the king’s expense specifically to provide wives for the overwhelmingly male population of early settlers. These young women differ in personalities and motives but all seem to be very much alone in the world, and it seems clear that they have chosen this path in hope of better opportunities but are also anxious about how their lives in this “new world” will turn out. The show is closely following the journeys of two of them in particular (ambitious Melissande and shy Delphine, both of whom have secrets), and while it is a bit tiring that women in historical fiction are so often defined by their relation to a man, I appreciate that this storyline is about the wives themselves.

Personally, my two favorite characters so far are the Company men: Goames and Yvon. Goames is very much the sort of character I’m often drawn to, in terms of his manner and apparent worldview: “the implacable sort, rigid in his thoughts and actions,” serious and decent and imo with hints of a storyline challenging his loyalty to his institution, which has in the past been the sort of storyline I very much enjoy. (I uh, would be lying if I said I wasn’t also simply... drawn to Mr. Barnard in general.) Yvon stands out for his dry snark and eloquence and for the bigotry he runs into as a Native man operating within white spheres, which casts a pall over his generally unflappable demeanor, and I have a lot of curiosity about his background. Their partnership is a highlight of the show, imo, and I’m quite interested in where their storyline will go re: their individual character arcs as well as the overall narrative. I’m also particularly fond of Mari and Delphine.

(my BOYS! this is not an actual still from the show but look at Aneurin. look at his silly pose.)

As far as the content goes, I don’t think it’s been too egregious so far, but be advised:

Primary warning is for violence. It’s not overly gory, but there is fighting, blood, bodies, etc. One act of violence I will warn for specifically: in the first episode, a group of Iroquois men are killed (offscreen), and their bodies are displayed hanged and impaled. This is clearly presented as an atrocity, and the bodies are mostly shown from a distance so that they’re small and indistinct, but there are a couple close-up shots.

Also, as I’ve mentioned, characters such as Yvon and Mari do face racist treatment/remarks from white characters.

There has been a nongraphic instance of attempted sexual assault, which was successfully rebuffed.

So... yeah! At time of writing, half the season has aired — it airs Monday evenings on Nat Geo and goes up on Hulu Tuesday afternoon, and they seem to be airing two episodes a week, which is frankly annoying, I’d rather get either a proper savor or a proper binge. The reviews I’m seeing online are mostly positive (I’ve seen at least one trot out the dreaded “It’s the next GoT!” line, which I think is inaccurate re: its tone/focus and also, like, why are people still trying to say that as though it’s a good thing), and there seems to be a small little fandom getting started here on Tumblr. (Not that I’ve really met many of y’all yet. If you’re reading this, hi!) And while Proulx’s novel covers some 300 years — it’s one of those generational sagas, I gather, following characters and their distant descendants — thus far I’ve seen no indication that the show is going to be set up that way. I recall reading something that said they’d basically taken a small part of the novel and massively expanded the characters, etc., so for now, at least, I’m going to assume the show is staying within this one slice of history.

Anyway, though. I’ll admit I’ve not been devoting 100% of my attention to any given ep, as I gotta work on other things while I watch, but so far, it’s intriguing, it’s got a number of actors and characters I like in it, and I appreciate learning that it had input from a variety of indigenous contributors. Overall, I intend to continue seeing where it goes!

[dontbesoevil]

So you want to improve your French and like to learn about things?

Good news for you, French Youtube has a very large number of really good channels of what we call “vulgarisation” (popularisation in English, but it isn’t used as much as the French word really).

I’ll divide them in broad categories and there are more.

Science:

So you like medicine, but also History? Well I have the perfect channel for you. Asclépios is a real life doctor who also likes to do videos about the history of medicine. You can start by this video on the Radium girls for example. Note that most, but not all of his videos have French subs.

There was a channel called “La statistique expliquée à mon chat”, but following disagreement (like big ones) between the illustrator/animator and the statistician doing them it stopped producing content. The statistician, one of the few Belgians on this list, started his own channel. Some of the old videos have been reuploaded and then he also produces other videos which obviously don’t look as good because he is no artist, but still interesting videos about statistics applied to every day situations and the world around us on Chat sceptique.

One of the big French Youtube channel is Dirty Biology. He does, as the title says, mainly biology-related stuff (he did study it and started and stopped a phD in it). His videos are really well-done and thought provoking and I cannot recommend them enough. The videos used to be 5 to 10 min, now it’s more 10 to 20 minutes. He did a recent video in Svalbard about climate change, but also a video about scientific publishing, or the fact that we all have royal blood. Seriously watch it. Most if not all videos have subs in French and Spanish. Some have subs in English, but it’s a hit and miss.

Asking any French person about their favourite science show as a kid and they will answer C’est pas socier. The US have Bill Nye, we have Fred et Jamy. Fred decided with a team a couple of years ago to start a website (with the associated YT channel) to do an updated version of C’est pas sorcier called l’Esprit Sorcier. You can show this to your kids, show this in class. It is well-made and interesting, and really made to be easy to understand. Each show lasts for 25 min and has a YT version and a website interactive version (with the videos shorter). I have linked their show on quantum computers for example. There are sadly no subs.

So I talk about it below, but my favourite channel ever is Arte and they produce a lot of very good cultural and documentary-style. But more recently, they have started a Youtube channel with French Youtubers to talk about interesting topics, called Le Vortex. They do it by season and in season 1, they have among other Dirty Biology (see above), Scilabus and Passé Sauvage (see below) and Pause Process. They talked on agriculture and its development from an archaeological, anthropological, and scientific point of view, but also internet from a more scientific point of view, and also transhumanism because why not, you know. I highly recommend checking all of their videos and apart from the live, they almost all have French subs. The second season has been filmed, but hasn’t been posted yet.

So as mentioned above, Scilabus is part of le Vortex, but she also has her own channel. She is French, but lives in Canada, in Québec where she is a researcher. She takes questions you might ask yourself like Why is there so much air in your crisps packet? or Why does cardboard have undulations? or Is marathon that hard? and just answers them. Some videos have subs, not all, but all are interesting.

And the final science channel is Zeste de Science, ZdS is a channel powered by the CNRS (Conseil National de Recherche Scientifique), basically the body that funds scientific research in France. It is quite neat and they have a couple of different series. The main one is videos of around 5 min where they present a topic like how to model crowds or how to make a little thing of plastic dance disco. It’s entirely based on research produced by CNRS researchers, but in an easy to understand format. They have recently started a series where they present current research projects as if they were action films and it’s very funny. The videos have subs, but not all of them.

History:

French Youtube has a lot of history channel, the biggest of which is Nota Bene. He does a lot of videos with a preference for stories on the WW, medieval kings and leaders around the world and their stupid or epic deaths, but also more recently partnerships with French regions to promote French heritage. He has a lot of videos and several series you can start by (like recently a series on the historical inspirations in Game of Thrones). Just go and have a look to what interests you, there is a lot. Some have subs in several languages, some only in French, it depends. He has also done a series with Arte (keur keur, i love them) on history and video games which I highly recommend. The series is also available in German and with English, Polish, and Spanish subs because Arte. His wife and him have organised a summer festival with Youtubers (both those doing history, and others doing completely different topics) to come and do presentations about historical topics. They are all filmed and posted on his bonus channel. Note that they don’t have subs and the quality differs with some being really good and some I stopped after a few minutes.

Do you like Goodnight stories for Rebel Girls? Well AudeGG a French comedian has a channel where she presents the life of famous women past and present in Virago. The videos are 2-3 minutes long generally and from all around the globe. You can start by the first one on famous French revolutionary Olympe de Gouges. (She has also recently done a partnership with the French tv archives on the history important laws for the rights of women that is also super interesting.) They all have French subs.

Another one of the big History channel is C’est une autre histoire. Manon started her videos when she was still a phD student, she is now Doctor in History (contemporary and ancient, she looked at the representation of Athena in the 19th century if I remember correctly, super interesting stuff). She has videos where she talks about a mythological character and how we represent them (les relookings mythologiques), where she takes a painting and explains what it represents in mythology (or the Bible for a few of them) so that when you see three ladies with an apple each, you know it’s the Three Graces (Tu vois le tableau), where she visits cities and presents nice less known places (Les villes aux détails most of them with Eng subs as well / inspired by Axolot, see below). She recently started short animated videos. Most of her videos have subs in French and in other languages. She also did a vlog during her last year of phD so if you’re thinking of doing a phD, that’s a good series to watch where she talks about the process and all.

We move to the other side of the Atlantic to visit our cousins, the Québecois with history lecturer, Laurent Turcot and his L’Histoire nous le dira. There are lot of videos about European medieval history as well as more modern Canadian and Quebec history. It’s really interesting. There are also a few videos about sex and gender throughout history (the most recent ones were on witches and vaginal art e.g.). He also has a series of videos on the French Revolution (with subs in Portuguese because why not. Sadly no French subs ). In terms of subs, it varies, some have them, some don’t.

To present the next one, I have to plug another one first. This is the Youtube channel for a tv show by the best tv broadcaster in the world (no I do not take criticisms), Arte. Arte is a French-German public broadcaster that has the best programmes and among those, a show that has made a lot of people including myself want to study politics and international relations, Le Dessous des Cartes. The show are only 12 min long and will present a country or an issue using a map. There are only two shows available on the channel at the moment, but type any geopolitical topic or country or area + Le dessous des cartes and you’ll find a show uploaded on Youtube (like “arctique + dessous des cartes” or “religion + dessous des cartes” or “chine + dessous des cartes”). This is a must see.

Anyway so inspired by this, the small channel, L’Histoire par les cartes was created and it does what it says. There are not a lot of videos, they don’t have subs, they are 5-10 min long, but if you’re like me and enjoy a good map, this is neat little channel.

See Le Vortex above, highly recommend, they have both history and science videos.

I mentioned Passé Sauvage above because she was part of Le Vortex, but she also has a channel where she talks about archaeology (her degrees are in it), anthropology, and history. Her videos are of differing quality technically, but the content is always really interesting. For example, that one on Is democracy the best system? She is developing a new project for 2020 called Odyssée sauvage which I’m really excited about and in which she will travel to Greece to compare archaeological vestiges to Greek mythology. Some vids have subs, the majority don’t sadly.

Social Sciences/Humanities:

Manon Bril (from C’est une autre histoire, see above) has a channel with her former university where she presents, one video per month, the conclusion of a peer-reviewed journal articles in social sciences and humanities in an easy to digest format. It’s more serious than some of the others, but really interesting. It’s on Mondes Sociaux.

Do you like linguistics? I love linguistics personally and this channel is the best. It’s called Linguisticae and Monté explains topics as diverse as what was the first language spoken on Earth, why do we say maman and papa in every language, or why the Académie Française is bad. The videos go from 5 min (the mum/dad one), to 20 min (the first language on earth), to 1h30 for the one l’Académie Française). He also did a really good 50 min documentary on the history and the language of Esperanto which I highly recommend (I linked the part 1 because the doc cut in parts as subs in several languages (except English), but there is also a 50 min version, but it’s only available with subs in Esperanto). Or two long videos on Tolkien’s elf languages and GoT’s languages. He has a lot of videos so I’d advise going through and see what interests you.

That one is about economics because we think we know, but we don’t. In Stupid Economics, they take topics that are in the news and explain how the economics behind it works. They recently did a video on the fine the EU gave to Google and even had a follow-up with someone from the Commission to answer people’s questions. They have videos on the economy of attention, Bitcoin, or CETA. The length varies from 3 to 15 min depending on the type of videos. They are all very well-explained and relevant to the world around us. They tend to have subs, but it depends. The older videos have subs, it depends.

Art/Music:

That first channel is more a “check those two videos” because that’s the only thing posted on this channel, but Louvre Ravioli has posted two interesting videos, each on one painting with detailed explanations on what is represented.

NART is channel on art (chocking I know) where she has several series of videos. The first one is called “3 coups de pinceaux” in which she presents a painter in around 4 min so that you know about their style, story and all and you can recognise them. At the end of each episode she does a quiz where you have to recognise which of the four paintings is by the painter of the day. The latest one was on Schiele for exemple. She has a lot of videos on Art + something. Like Art and Manga or is make-up art. She also has a few videos presenting art exhibitions. She studied contemporary art and started her channel by a 3-part series on contemporary art for those of us who need an explanation which I remember finding really interesting. Some vids have subs (even sometimes Eng subs, but not French), but not all.

There are a few music channels on French vulgarisateurs side. You can find them here on the Mediapason channel. The only one I follow is the very neat channel called Scherzando which talks about medieval music. But also how it still is relevant today. Like the Beatles and the Renaissance or how Georges Brassens was maybe a troubadour. The content of the channel is diverse and it’s all very interesting! Some videos have subs, but not all.

Other:

One of the most famous French Youtuber of that category (although he does other things) is Axolot. Patrick Baud loves the strange and the weird. He has series on people or stories that have a strange atmosphere surrounding them for 6-10 min. He has one of the best voices around. Seriously, you will want to listen to it for hours. He also has a series called “étranges escales” where he goes to a city and shows you a different side to it and other places to visit (15-20 min). He published recently a really interesting video on people who “hunt” for planets and how we discover(ed) exoplanets and it’s just so good, highly recommend (30 min).

That isn’t so much about explaining stuff, but I feel like I should still mention it. Le J-Terre is a monthly news live show and debate about climate issues. It is a group effort by the whole French-speaking European community (so French peeps, but also Swiss and Belgian) to really talk about climate change. There are no subs, but it is really interesting. If those topics interest you, everyone involved in this has their channel plugged so you can find them and their all really interesting (Partager, c’est sympa did a series of videos at the COP24 that I highly recommend with French and English subs).

One of the participants to the J-Terre is Professeur Feuillage, made by married couple Mathieu Duméry (a journalist) and Lénie Cherino (a comedian) where they play a professor and his assistant and present (with a lock of dick jokes, innuendoes, and dildos so careful who you share it with) issues related to climate change like Internet pollution, deforestation, or cute things that are actually destroying the environment. Lénie is actually going to take a bigger part in the channel and it will change a bit, but it’s the very beginning of that, so not sure what it’ll look like. The older videos have subs, not the newest ones sadly.

That one isn’t really popularisation per se, but I want to include it here. Vivre Avec is Margot’s channel where they talk about their life with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Recently it has turned a bit more to their plants and their rabbits, but the core of the channel is centred around disability. What is EDS?, what are certain things that people say that really they shouldn’t (the latest video is about people being like “Your life is horrible, it really puts things in perspective” :////). They are videos about symptoms, mobility aids, etc. as well as talking to medicine and nursing students about how to treat patients. All of their videos have French subs.

There are obviously more channels, but those are the ones I follow. If you check the “Channels” tab of most of them, they all have other great recommendations if that isn’t enough for you. Please feel free to add more if you want and come and talk to me about them because I love channels where I can learn stuff.

[rookieforlife]

Hi Sofia! Penny for thoughts on play styles different to european and american? Like east asia and south america? What aspects do you find most exciting/frustrating to watch? And am I generalising too much when I say south america instead of argentina, chile, etc? Also, does the background of the coach have a significant influence on the team's playstyle? Or do they have to adapt e.g. pia for brazillian team?

Hiiii! 🤟🏽 I’m gonna generalize a bit too so I can name the characteristics that I believe correspond to each region, have in mind that these are just a few things that I find similar since every place has its own mark. I’m gonna start with South America. I think our style is heavily influenced by our culture, kids playing in the streets, sometimes without shoes, with no rules, with different balls in diverse superficies. Our game is really really physical, not the american kind of physical. There are more fouls, more acting, rockets outside the box, endless dribbling, and it’s all drama lol, “la pasión sudamericana”, also, the supporters have a big influence in the mentality, it’s part of the game too. The brazilian football ‘jogo bonito’ has its own peculiarity: virtuosity. In addition to all the things I’ve mentioned before, they look like they’re dancing. You see trick after trick. They’re not afraid to show their individual skills and that makes it entertaining. Those things are part of what I find exciting about south american football. Frustrating? the acting. Sometimes it’s a lot and makes no sense. (If you watch Larroquette play, you’ll get what I mean lol we still love her). In women’s football, the ‘reckless’ style that some SA teams have is a consequence of the lack of inversion. I always say that some of our players (at least in Argentina) still have the “potrero” (pictures) stuck in their game. It’s not bad though but we still need to digest the international level, get used to professionalism, and sharpe some aspects, work in the details. 

The background of the coach has a significant influence yeah, everywhere and always, but I think, and this is a personal opinion, that a good coach knows how to combine the qualities and identity of a team with their own vision and style. There’s an adaption fro the players and the coach, it’s mutual.

The european style has always been more organized, they put more emphasis in the technical aspects of the game. There's more distribution of tasks on the field, either in the attack as much as in the defense. There is more awareness of the spaces. And teams depend more on working together and not so much on individualities. That’s the exciting part. The frustrating part could be the slowness to solve a match, to get to the point. The spanish team for example, It’s beautiful to see, smart passes, quick movements, use of spaces, tiki-taka BUT they struggle to score. That’s... frustrating. This is a superficial description though, every country has its own style. France and Spain are pretty different and Italy has a bit of that South American passion for example. I think Europe (in general) learned to combine and incorporate different styles to improve theirs in the last couple of years (men first and therefore women)

The american style would be my less favorite (sorry :( lol), it’s a personal opinion. I enjoy the technical style more, or the tiki-taka, it’s all about aesthetic I guess. I hope Vlatko adds some aspects, i hope he dares to change a bit, shake some things. What I really admire about them is the ability to win, sounds stupid but like it or not, they win. They have the mentality and the strength to get the job done, every fucking time. Run, control the ball, shoot. Run, cross, execute. What I hate is the famous long ball, there’s nothing more boring than that. It’s basic but it works (at least for now). Although, you can see that they are leaving those methods behind.

East Asia... um I’ve only paid attention to Japan :/ they’re definitely organized, you can say that they’re closer to the european style in a way. Young teams with precision, determination, ability to finish plays, a demonstration of teamwork in every aspect, and a creativity that is pure class. But they lack consistency, the idea is right there, they sometimes apply it perfectly and sometimes they get lost. 

(Sorry I wrote so much 😅, everybody is welcome to add their own vision)

[tampon-on-the-sidewalk]

Kaden Watches the 2014 Grand Final

First off, I AM SO STINKIN HAPPY THAT IT ISN’T REGION BLOCKED I legit cried when I saw they uploaded it to the official youtube. This was the first show that I was able to watch live and be on Tumblr during, and it was such a fun, amazing time. I’ve been wanting to watch it in full again but couldn’t find it anywhere, and the DVD is extremely rare. 

All of my thoughts under the cut, enjoy as this American watches the grand final for the third time since it aired. Feel free to watch along! 

Ukraine: I still have this song on my Spotify playlist tbh it’s such a bop. I still love the hamster wheel as a prop and the vocals are pretty on point after the first verse.

Belarus: Hilariously enough I literally JUST listened to this in the car on my way home XD Another iconic song, honestly this whole year was pretty great. The background dancers are a mood. The vocals are pretty great, and it’s just such a silly and fun song. Plus I remember all the memes from this performance XD

Azerbaijan: I don’t remember this song?? But she has such a gorgeous voice omg. not to mention the TRAPEZE. Golly this is such a great performance. Also that dress is absolutely stunning

Iceland: Another absolute bop and meme song that I listened to for years after this. This is just. Such a fun song and the LOVE pose at the end always gets me  

Norway: Why does he look like Kobi Marimi. Okay but real talk it’s a pretty ballad, but that’s really it. Not something I should watch close to bed. But seriously he reminds me SO MUCH of Kobi and I have no clue why. Something in the eyes. 

Side note, I forgot how great the postcards were for this year.

Romania: I prefer Playing With Fire, but this was still very fun. Always a sucker for the 360 piano. 

Armenia: This song was so strange to me when I first heard it, and it still is now. There’s something charming about it though. A simple performance but still really captivating. 

Montenegro: Another song I don’t remember? Love the ice skating and the graphics on the floor. His voice is very rich and I always love when an artist sings in their native tongue.

Poland: I had to skip this one =w=‘’ I could barely stomach it when I first watched it. Too much fanservice and the song is awful. I’ve heard other songs by them and they are so much better.

Greece: This plays on Spotify every so often. I really like it, it’s definitely a great party tune and songs like something you’d hear at an American dance club. It’s definitely a lot of fun. Not to mention I love the raps =w= Also the trampoline is great =w= singing while on a trampoline is super not easy

Austria: MY HEART Okay Conchita stole my heart from the first time watching and I have both albums(PLEASE listen to the newest one). Absolutely stunning as always and just. U g h so many feelings. I’m just a puddle of tears again.

Germany: Another one that I still play all the time, I just love the traditional instruments in this. The vocals live aren’t the best, but seriously heroutfit is a look. Oddly enough something in her face reminds me of a good friend of mine. Honestly this performance really feels.. forced =w=‘ Love the song, not too much of a fan of the live. Also the accordion player lowkey looks like Anna Kendrick mixed with Lena. The ad libbing at the end really didn’t sit well to me.

Sweden: While this song did nothing for me when I first heard it, I revisited this performance a year later when I lived with my parents and became absolutely OBSESSED with this song. I still absolutely love it. listen to that CROWD. Great vocals.All the Sanna wigs in the crowd tho

France: Another fun song,  the one guy reminded me of Weerd Al upon first watching it but now? He actually low key reminds me of Michal Szpak. And Weird Al. This is so fun and in-your-face after Sanna’s performance.

Russia: I’m still so mad that they were booed because they did so well during this. I really loved the performance. I love the balance beam/seesaw as a prop, and the entwined ponytails. Still one of my favourite songs of the year. 

Italy: Ooh, this is a very fun performance? Not too much a fan of the vocals but the music is pretty great. Pretty great performance in terms of Energy. 

Slovenia: yet ANOTHER one of my favourite songs that I still listen to. I love this performance, she does such a great job live. Simple staging, but the lighting effects are great. I’ve listened to it so many times that I’ve choreographed a contemporary routine to it in my head, and I still see it during this XD. Seriously this is such a great performance, I hope this made the top ten.

Finland: I feel like this is a song I should have paid more attention to. I really like it and want to look into more by Softengine. I love the high notes, he does them so wel live and the band has so much energy. This is just. So great. This is definitely a song younger me should have gotten into but I think I’ve only listened to it like, Four times? Legit.

Spain: I don’t remember this song at all =w=‘ I like the rain effect. It’s a pretty song and she has very pretty vibrato and her power notes are incredible, but the song itself isn’t doing anything for me.

Switzerland: Oh my lovely Sebalter. Guess what, yet another song I still love and listen to regularly. I remember all the memes that generated from his performance, too. Did we ever find out if the whistling was live? I still love this performance either way. It’s a lot of fun. Most iconic violin next to Alexander Rybak. 

Hungary: I remember being so mad watching the Jury section live because I really did not like this song XD The shift from the verse to the chorus just didn’t work for me, felt very disconnected. Plus the song it just really darke? I’m seriously surprised this qualified. The dancing is really well done though. 

Malta: I remember everyone calling them Malta and Sons. Not particularly my cup of tea, but still a good performance regardless. I really love their voices. 

Denmark: The Bruno Mars comparisons were endless back in the day. This is still a super fun song and I still can’t BELIEVE the studio version was explicit. That one back up dancer is going so hard and I absolutely love it. The Love flag is so cheesy and perfect.

The Netherlands: so SLEEPY. Good performance sure but not when you’re watching right before bedtime. More good use of the floor screen. I’ve noticed there were a lot of instruments on stage this year? Something that didn’t click back in the day. Also is it bad that I lowkey find Waylon attractive

San Marino: Is it bad I forgot that Valentina did manage to qualify one year. All I can think with that prop is Peacock. Interesting song, I really like her vocals in this. She defo deserved to qualify this year.

United Kingdom: It’s funny that I remembered the name of the song and artist but couldn’t remember the song to save my life. Definitely one of the better UK acts of the decade. 

~I went to bed bc it was obvious I was getting too tired =w= ~

Graham’s “That’s me!’ got me =w= And all the streamers and such

Watching the recap as soon as I wake up and golly is it a wakeup call =w= Seriously the 2014 Grand was one of my favourites minus Poland =w=; 

Took the recap as time to see how many songs from this year I still actively listen to, and that would be 11/26. 

Momoland Interval Act: Okay the staging of this is incredible? I know they had harnesses on just in case but when they stood on top of the ladder my heart started palpatating

 12 Points Interval Act:  Okay this is fun =w= A lot of fun. I’m laughing so hard. 

Museum of Eurovision History clip: I REMEMBERED THIS SEGMENT AND I AM CRYING Those poor kids. Also completely unrelated, I had to carpool to a meeting with a co-worker and found out she was actually born and raised in Sweden and moved to the states when she was 11. She remembers dancing around her room to Diggaloo Diggeley. 

Green Room Interviews: Amazing that they brought all the foods from the contestants favourite places and the fakeout with France.

Emelie De Forest performance: I know people call this the second most overrated winner next to Euphoria but I really like the song still. A very nice performance and those branch wings are incredible. I also really like Rainmaker. I really like how they brought all the contestants on stage to sing and dance with her. 

~I’m gonna miss Jon Ola Sand ; ( 

Jury Votes: I cut in and out bc I have to do laundry but I still remember how excited I was when Conchita won. I forgot that they said the 8 and 10 points as well as their 12 points. I am so MAD that Russia got booed whenever they got the 10 or 12 points.  I also didn’t realize there were only 37 countries this time.

My thoughts on the Top Ten:  Y’all know I’m ecstatic that Austria won, I’m actually kinda surprised by the top ten? But this is just based on the Jury votes right? Either way I’m bitter that Slovenia did so poorly and surprised that Hungary did so well. I would have been content with Sanna winning but I am surprised that The Common Linnets did so well. CONCHITA’S REACTION TO WINNING BREAKS ME EVERY TIME 

All-in-all, this was a great year, and I am so veryvery happy that I was able to watch it again. Thanks for reading!

[tealemon-7]

Ancestry & Belonging

I was thinking about my ancestry today, partially in regard specifically to ancestor/spirit work, and also concerning more general things - what my ancestors would have believed in; what traditions and folklore come from the cultures that they belonged to. My thoughts led to this:

I am lucky in many ways, and unlucky in one small way. I’m of 100% European ancestry, and not only that, but Northwestern European. Information about my ancestors and their beliefs are abundant; their sacred and cultural sites are well-documented and explored; the folklore of the region is popular and can be found everywhere in all sorts of media. If I want to find Scottish faerie tales, I have zero difficulty; if I wish to go further and practice saining or look into the cultural significance of bannock, there are plentiful resources. I could learn Irish if I wanted, or even Old English. If I had the money for travel, there would be no barrier to my returning to the lands of my ancestors and visiting places that were important to them. I can trace my personal genealogy back over four hundred years, thanks to plentiful records kept by the church.

The unfortunate thing is twofold: that my family itself has not passed on any traditions or culture, and that I am the descendant of people who left their homelands to colonize a place they didn’t belong - French voyageurs; Irish immigrants; Dutch and German Mennonites. Now, we are just Canadian, and I feel conflicted about that identity because we attained it through colonization at the expense of the native people. But I have nowhere else to go. It leaves me feeling both stagnant and adrift. I don’t want to connect to the land or the local spirits because I have no claim or connection to it/them, and furthermore, I fear I’ll be justifiably rejected. But the land that my ancestors worshiped and bled on and and were buried in for centuries is inaccessible to me due to finances. Maybe one day I’ll be able to save up enough to travel there, but in the meantime, I struggle with a feeling of disconnect and a lack of any personal family traditions.

I know I have no right to complain. After all, I didn’t lose my culture due to slavery or forced assimilation - my ancestors simply chose not to pass anything on. Still, I can’t help feeling the way that I do. This year, I went to a céilidh for St. Patrick’s Day - basically a gathering, with traditional Celtic music, plenty of dancing, and so on. It was a lot of fun. But I left feeling that I hadn’t quite belonged there, because it wasn’t a culture I’d grown up in. I seem to have a fundamental fear of claiming any culture whatsoever, as though I don’t deserve it (or haven’t somehow earned it). And I don’t think that feeling is entirely inappropriate. I honestly do not think there is any culture I’ll be able to fit into immediately - it would take work, and, most importantly, participation - but it’s very hard to fight the feeling that I simply do not belong anywhere.

I’m hoping that by exploring my ancestry, and perhaps working within it, I’ll slowly begin to find a place for myself, and feel a genuine connection to the people and cultures that I came from. I think that with enough work, that’s a very real possibility.

Just for fun, here are my DNA results from the Ancestry test I took a few years ago:

62% England, Wales, and Northwestern Europe (includes France, Denmark, etc.)

31% Ireland and Scotland

5% Germanic Europe (Germany, Belgium, etc.)

2% Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)

I feel closest to my Irish ancestry, probably because all my mom talks about is how we’re Irish! My great-grandmother was a war bride from Ireland, and apparently she believed in faeries and called herself a ‘bloody heathen’, and I think she sounds pretty rad.

[stopforamoment]

Part Seven: Demonstrations (Series 18, Part 7 of 9)

Series Eighteen: The Conference, Day One (9 Parts) Part Seven: Demonstrations (Series 18, Part 7 of 9) My masterlist is at the end of my bio.

Book: The Royal Romance (After Book Three) Pairing: Bastien Lykel x OC Rinda Parks Word Count: 1,208 Rating: M for Language Author’s Note: Obligatory disclaimer that Pixelberry Studios owns the TRR characters and my pocketbook with those darn diamond scenes. OFC with all of her quirks is all mine. My apologies if Tumblr or I do something stupid when I try to post this. The keep reading link shows up on my laptop but not my phone. Ugh. Thank you @asherella-is-a-dork-3 for always being my sounding board! Thank you @cora-nova @silviasutton1989 @bobasheebaby​ @riseandshinelittleblossom​ for being my thirsty Bastien friends and for still being a part of the journey! Series Summary: This focuses on day one of the conference and Rinda’s interactions as a professional, friend, and girlfriend.

Chapter Summary: We learn a little more about Rinda’s grandpa and events from her life in Wisconsin. This series takes place in the beginning/middle of November, before the French Yellow Vests demonstrations that started November 17, 2018. My thoughts and prayers to everyone who is affected by these events.

Demonstrations

“So Tria, you told me that you only know conversational French and that you learned it from Grandma Lorinda.”

Rinda nodded. “True story. My grandpa was born in France but came to America when he was a child, and his parents encouraged him to assimilate as quickly as possible. He wanted to know more about his homeland and culture, but his parents were adamant that he Americanized as soon as possible. They came when the depression hit France, around 1931, before the U.S. clamped down on its immigration quotas. They wanted to leave a lot of bad memories from their war behind and just have a better life, achieve the American Dream. “Anywho . . . he died when I was pretty young, so Grandma Lorinda was only able to pass along the basics. And even then, she spoke French with a very heavy German accent and it was very dated, from the 1940s. Those are some of the reasons I don’t consider my French to be very good—and why Nadia has so many great stories about my gaffs.”

Nadia gave her friend a warm smile. “Actually, Rinda’s French isn’t as bad as she says it is and she picked up a lot from our trips. It’s just that our trips to France were cross-categorical. It would be a literature class through the English department, an immersion experience through the foreign language department, and a chance to research a historical location for the history class. We would have students read boring academic articles in French, and that’s where Rinda struggled.” Nadia shrugged. “We all struggle with that boring shit, even though part of being an academic is to pretend to love—and understand—that crap.”

“So where would you go, and Nadia, do you still do the tour with students?”

Nadia smiled at Drake. “Château des Milandes. It’s in France’s Aquitaine region, near the Dordogne River.” Nadia laughed. “And before you even ask, it’s about a six-, maybe seven-hour drive from Paris. At one point the château was owned by Josephine Baker, who was a prominent entertainer during the Harlem Renaissance.” Nadia nodded toward Rinda. “That’s Rinda’s main area of study, although she also helped me teach some of the French classics.”  

Rinda nudged Bastien and whispered in his ear. “She did a famous banana dance. True story!” Then she winked, knowing how much he hated bananas.

Nadia arched her brows but turned back to Drake. “She used the château during World War II to hide Jewish refugees and stash weapons for the French Resistance. That’s where the history department focused, and Rinda helped with that too.” Rinda quickly interrupted before Nadia could say anything else. “Yup. I’m a history dork and my grandpa was born in that area. I seriously geeked out in the historical records building whenever we went.”

Drake laughed. “So what did you do, Nadia?”

Nadia waved her hand in the air and assumed an air of ennui.

“I got drunk on wine, ate good food, and spoke French. That was my cultural contribution.” She smirked. “But all of that is over. Too many budget cuts, so I moved back to France. My wife is an American and was reluctant to leave, but it was the best choice we ever made.” She looked at Rinda. “I know things weren’t easy when you left, and I missed you, but you left at the right time. From a professional standpoint, there’s nothing left for you there and everything for you here.” She reached across the table to squeeze Rinda’s hand. “I’m so happy for you.”

“And I’m happy for you and Kathleen.”

The ladies smiled before Nadia turned back to Drake. “Your question about if we do the trip anymore. Since I’m not at the university I won’t do the trip anymore, but I don’t even know if they can do the trip for very much longer because of budget cuts and limited course offerings. And especially this year.”

Rinda nodded. “Jacques called me a few days ago to check if people from the university were still making the trip. A lot will happen between now and January, but he was worried about us. It sounds like there are constant demonstrations in Marseille and although we should be safe by the château he didn’t recommend going into Paris with students. Even during the week.”

Rinda felt the slight change of Bastien’s body posture when she said that, so she continued the conversation. “Nadia, what have you heard?”

Nadia smiled. “Well, you know me and Kathleen. We do plan on joining a gilets jaunes demonstration next Saturday. I want to make a difference without violence and I want to be a part of such a historical movement. I haven’t done anything like that since Act 10.” She sighed. “I’m opposed to Macron, but I’m not an extremist. I want to be supportive, but I’m sure it will go on longer and be more violent than we are prepared to deal with.”

Act 10. One of Scott Walker’s first acts as governor of Wisconsin, the start of the teacher demonization and the beginning of the end of the state’s education system as Rinda knew it. No more collective bargaining for teachers, so thousands of teachers went to the state capitol to protest. Rinda went for one day, on a weekend, to be a part of the experience. She didn’t want to leave her classroom, and even though it was exhilarating to be a part of something so big and so historical, she was afraid the entire time. Many people brought their children so they could experience the history. Perhaps if Henry were older she would have brought him, but it only took one person to destroy a peaceful demonstration. It was always in the back of her mind, and it terrified her.

Jameson went too, for several days. Extra security was needed to protect the protesters, so local departments across the state sent officers to help. Jameson walked the halls while protesters slept, making sure they were safe and their personal belongings were secure. It only took one person to start a chain reaction that would turn a demonstration into an insurrection. There was one day when Jameson had to stand next to piles of protesters’ personal belongings “to guard them.” But Jameson saw the bomb sniffing dogs carefully examine every pile. It only took sick fuck, with one explosive device . . .

It was a lot of overtime pay and they squirreled it away, knowing Rinda’s job security was in question for as long as Walker remained governor. But Rinda was relieved when the demonstrations were over, even though nothing changed and Act 10 still happened. Jameson was home safe with her and Henry.

In Wisconsin they were lucky. But in France? “Nadia, please be safe. You and Kathleen.” She shrugged, her way of trying to physically shake a bad feeling. “When it’s finally over we all need to make a trip to Château des Milandes. Laura too. And this time just wine and good food. No students. I might even limit my geek out in the historical records.”

Bastien smiled as he leaned down to kiss Rinda. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

[rabbitcruiser]

World Music Day

World Music Day is observed on June 21st of each year. There is nothing in the world like the sound of your favourite songs which is coming on. It just gets right into your head, and your body makes you move. It may take you on a journey to a faraway place. Some of your favourite songs may lift us up out of the depression. Everyone enjoys the music, and everyone has the unique taste in them. The music can be a variety of forms, whether it is instrumental or songs, albums and many more. There is a lot of music albums available all around the world, and it is categorised on the different genres and also based on the region where it is composed. It is available in many different languages. The World Music Day celebrates the Music in all its forms, and the impact it has on the world and the human spirit is incredible.

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” – Bob Marley

History Of World Music Day

Music has existed since as long as the humanity has found its voice, and quite possibly before. The idea of World Music Day was conceptualised first in France in 1976 by the American Musician Joel Cohen who has proposed an all-night music celebration to make this world more joyful. The idea was taken up by the French Music and Dance director Maurice Fleuret for Minister of Culture Jack Lang in 1981. It first took place in 1982 in the Paris. From there the festival has become an international phenomenon, which is celebrated on the same day in more than 460 cities in 110 countries which includes Italy, Germany Syria, Egypt, Australia, Morocco, Congo, Vietnam, Cameroon, Colombia, Fiji, Nepal, Chile and Japan. Every culture has it’s own form of music, as unique and distinct of its area as the language and food. In the western world, we are familiar with the scale which is known as the diatonic scale. It should be familiar to anyone who took the music classes or choir in the school. But this is not the only music scale or not even the first music scale. It is the day on which the world celebrates the magical gift of the music.

On this day the amateur and the professional musicians are encouraged to perform the music in the streets. Many independent organisations are organised to make all the genres of music accessible to the public. Two of the caveats were approved by the official Fete de la Musique organisation in Paris. All other concerts should be free to the public, and the performers donate their time for free, This is the real thing which is happening in cities for now as well. Since there was more noise in the public performance, later France forbade them to install the audio hardware in the street.

World Music Day Quotes

“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” –  Victor Hugo

“Music is love, love is music, music is life, and I love my life. Thank you and good night.” – A. J. McLean

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” – Plato

“There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more.” – Lord Byron

“Music is the greatest communication in the world. Even if people don’t understand the language that you’re singing in, they still know good music when they hear it.” – Lou Rawls

“Music is probably the only real magic I have encountered in my life. There’s not some trick involved with it. It’s pure and it’s real. It moves, it heals, it communicates and does all these incredible things.” – Tom Petty

“Singing is my passion, my first love and the secret of my energy. Music to me is like finding my inner self, my soul. It gives me a great joy to see audiences enjoying with me. I have given my heart to singing. When I sing, I can feel romance in everything around me.” – Kailash Kher

Sometimes, being different feels a lot like being alone. But with that being said, being true to that and being true to my standards and my way of doing things in my art and my music, everything that has made me feel very different… in the end, it has made me the happiest. – Lindsey Stirling

“Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” – Berthold Auerbach

“Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman.” – Ludwig van Beethoven

How to Celebrate World Music Day

The best and the easiest way to celebrate the World Music Day is to spend the day listening to all the old favorite music and If you are feeling adventurous just start exploring YouTube for music from different cultures. You can also explore the Finnish and Hungarian, Italian and Mongolian, and then start digging into the folk music. It is easier than to explore the music in these days. You can do it all from the comfort of your own home. You can also pick up the instrument and start adding your voice to the choir and share it with the friends to make the day even more enjoyable.

Source