#when are we going to have another shopping king louie?

[kdramaxoxo]

do a favourite dramas of 2021 list!

Sure thing anon! This year was a strange one (probably because the world was even more on fire than before) and there aren’t a lot of happy fluffy dramas on my list (I feel like less happy fluffy dramas were released, or maybe I was just in a year long mood?)

My Favorite K-Dramas of 2021

Run On (Romance, Slice of Life): I loved this slice of life drama about an athlete, a translator, a painter and a CEO so much that I have already rewatched it. This drama has so much to offer: Interesting and strong characters, a painter I’d die for and unique friendships. Did I mention there’s a legit ACE character? I mean... AMAZING.

Sell Your Haunted House (Fantasy, Crime, Romance?): This was one of my faves of the year! A bada*s goth hottie shaman gets rid of ghosts so that she can sell the houses. She gets a helper who she really does not want to work with but hey, that's what chemistry is made of! I was bummed by the lack of romance but really, it WAS romantic.

The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim (Fantasy, romance, high school): This cute underrated web drama was one of my faves! High school kids (Nam Da Reum all growed up!) come together to solve murders that keep happening at their school. The special effects were highly silly but it’s lower budget so I didn’t care at all. AMAZING SOUNDTRACK and one of the cutest kisses of the year.

The Red Sleeve (Historical, Romance, Melodrama): If you want to know why Lee Junho is my bias, watch this insanely good though tragic historical drama. It’s based on a real love story between a King and his court lady and there is a ton of nuance when it comes to good and evil. It’s not an easy watch, but the acting chops of literally everyone keeps you enthralled (especially if you like saeguks). 

Light On Me (Boy’s Love): I absolutely adored this simple and sweet drama! One of my favorite korean BLs EVER! Because it’s longer than the average Korean BL, it actually has: *cues triumphant music* Character development!

You Make Me Dance (Boy’s Love): A romance between a dancer and his debt collector. It’s got some pretty traditional romance tropes but hey, for 10 minute episodes it was cute!

Beyond Evil (Crime, Mystery): This creepy drama featuring a bunch of morally grey characters follows two cops who are trying to solve a serial killer crime. Yeo Jin Goo and Shin Ha Kyun have the most intense romantic chemistry I’ve seen in a long time. 

Happiness (Horror, Romance, Action): As much as I tried to resist watching this drama (I hate zombies), the gifs won me over and I’m so glad I picked it up. A high school duo fake their marriage to get into some fancy apartments, just before a zombie outbreak. The female lead is a super strong bada*s and her man is 100% dedicated. Sure, some of the plot makes no science sense and the side characters are quite ridiculous, but the mains and their found family makes this totally worth watching. I haven’t even finished it yet but I KNOW it’s going to be one of my faves.

Hometown Cha Cha Cha (Romance, Slice of Life): I understand that there’s a lot of drama around the dating scandal of KSH and I myself have very strong feelings about it. This doesn’t take away from the fact that Hometown was an amazing wholesome drama about a dentist who moves to a small town. In fact KSH isn’t even on my list of favorite things about it: Found Family, Small town setting, Female Friendship, Soft second lead, so many amazing side characters! It would feel like I was lying if this gem didn’t make the list. 

Dali and the Cocky Prince (Rom Com): A funny and sweet romance between an art gallery owner and a wealthy restauranteur. This almost didn’t make my list because the overall plot and side characters were very annoying, but listen: Dali and Moo Hak are ICONIC. Their characters are the kind that stand out as being super unique and their pairing was so adorable! Because of them, it’s worth watching. 

My Roommate is a Gumiho (Rom Com, Romance, Fantasy): I had pretty low expectations for this drama about a Gumiho that wants to become human. But the leading ladies are a GIFT and there’s forced cohabitation which I always find super fun. Lee Dam is one of those characters I could watch forever (she’s hilarious) and the second lead lady was also amazing. This show wasn't flawless but it was super fluffy and fun. Plus the kisses were amazing and I lived for the 2nd couple.

Imitation (Rom Com, Kpop): Cute and silly k-pop drama about a failed idol group making a comeback. It wasn't popular and didn’t break any boundaries,  but I thought it was super cute and really easy to watch. The main couple was adorable.

Flower of Evil (Crime, Romance, Thriller): A psychological thriller centered around a jewelry maker who is running from his past, and his cop wife (power couple alert!)  who doesn’t know his original identity. The chemistry of the couple is amazing and all of the characters are nuanced and interesting. I was on the edge of my seat, AND sobbing! Also, I finally understand Lee Jun Ki stans, he was SO GOOD in this! Apparently I don’t know how TIME WORKS.

J-Drama Honorable Mention:

Kieta Hatsukoi (My Love Mix-Up!): An fluffy love story between a bi panicked boy and the guy he has a crush on. It was a bit cartoony but it’s sweet and fun, and how often do you see a Boy’s Love where the guy crushes on a cool female friend and then realizes he ALSO likes a guy in class? I really appreciated the nuance of that experience plus it’s pretty wholesome and fluffy.

[livefordrama]

TV Show Tag

So I decided to try this since I figured it would be a fun way to learn about people and the different shows/movies they like/don’t like. 

Show I always skipped the intro for: Most Cdrama’s I have watched. At least until the last episode cause so many spoilers.

Show I never skipped the intro for: My Shy Boss. It’s just so artistic and catchy.

Show/movie that makes me happy: I Am Not A Robot. Such a wonderful feel-good drama, highly recommend. 

Show/movie that makes me sad: Northern Limit Line. Let’s just say it put me in a different mental state for three whole days. 

Show/movie that makes me angry: Number Six. I can’t stand that drama, even now my blood is boiling.

Favorite show/movie of all time: A Korean Odyssey. It’s so good, I have seen it so many times.

Least favorite show/movie: Again, Number Six. Fuck that show.

Show/movie with the best romantic relationship: Either I Am Not A Robot, My Shy Boss, or Shopping King Louie. I really can’t decide. 

Show/movie with the worst romantic relationship: To not call out Number Six again, I’d go with Who Are You School: 2015 for sure. The biggest love square disappointment ever. There was just zero chemistry in my opinion and the other option would have been way more fulfilling... and less weird.

Show/movie with the best friendship: Uncanny Counter had THE BEST friendship I have personally ever seen in a show. Literally so pure and cute. We love to see it.

Show/movie with the worst friendship: Love Alarm for sure. I have never been so mad at a supposed “friendship.” Like you find out a character is being abuse and neglected, and you decide to abandon them for romance? Disgusting.

Show/movie that had my favorite trope, or made me realize I had a favorite trope: Mystic Pop-up Bar made me realize that I love the found family trope after so many other found family shows. My favorite dynamic in a show now is found family, and I actively search for it when I look for a new drama.

Show/movie that had a trope I hate: Moonlight Drawn By Clouds. I just really hate the girl is suddenly the lost daughter of this super powerful man and she can’t be with the lover anymore. It pisses me off cause at that point it feels like they ran out of content so they made drama out of nowhere to keep the show going. Nothing against girls, just personally haven’t seen it done with guys yet.

Show/movie I expected to hate but loved: Love Alarm definitely. I hate romance dramas but somehow it grabbed me by the feet and dragged me to the depth of garbage fictional relationships. I say this with so much affection don’t get me wrong. Every relationship in that show is so freaking toxic yet so good when it is fictional.

Show/movie I expected to love but hated/disliked: The Emperor: Master of the Mask. I was so sure I was going to love it that I even bought a subscription to an app I didn’t even use and haven’t used since, but then I was just over it by the end. It was just so annoying and dragged the last twenty episodes. I even finished it the day it renewed for another month so that just made the experience worse. XD

Tag some people: @k-pop-n-drama @withinkandquill

[leekimdramas]

hi! i'm sorry to bother you, but i'm in a drama slump lately and your taste is the same as mine! would you mind recommending some dramas, please? i am watching the king:em for woo do-hwan's face atm and it is not going well haha. i like slightly happier/cuter dramas, but anything will do! thank you so, so much :)

Hii, you’re not bothering at all and I’m just happy to receive a question.

Yeah, the king is not going well for a lot of people including me, so I’ll try to give you something waaay better than the king and hopefully, you’ll get over your slump!

I’m sorry, I’m really bad at writing what the drama is about.

Shopping King Louie

Louie is a rich man but he’s not your typical arrogant chaebol we can see in a lot of dramas. One day he loses his memory and meets Bok Sil (female lead) who just came from the countryside and doesn’t know much about city life.

They are very cute together and it is so fun to see their relationship blossom as they go through life together. The second male lead is a bit... Weird but just ignore him.

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

It is a sweet coming-of-age drama about athletes, Kim Bok Joo is a weightlifter who is not really popular with the boys but it doesn't really matter as she is trying to win the gold medal. The main lead Joon Hyung is a swimmer and who may seem like a jerk at first but is actually a real softie.

This drama was so sweet but at the same time, so funny, how the main leads are bickering at first and the drama even starts with Bok Joo falling in love with someone else and not the main lead.

Sassy Go Go

A short drama about two school group: the smart ones and the dancers. If the smart ones want to get into a good university they need to do something more, so the school decides to make a cheerleading club of course with the dancers in it.

This is the drama where I fell in love with Lee Won Geun’s smile, it is so sweet. The drama is fun to watch and even if it has its moments where you would like to grab the characters’ head and shake it so they can wake up from being an asshole.

Age of Youth

Another drama about university students, friendship and just having a good time but of course with some arguments and mysteries. The girls are very different from each other but they get to live under one roof, so it’s not surprising that they would argue.

Definitely one of my favourite dramas, it has everything I could wish for and when I came to uni I just hoped that I would have this kind of flatmates.

Laughter in Waikiki

This is a comedy-drama, so not a lot of serious things happen. The main characters have a guesthouse but one day a baby appears in their house, so they try to take care of it. That’s how the story unfolds and in every episode, you’ll see some kind of absurd story.

[araminakilla]

Ducktales: Plot theory (Part I)

We are getting closer to Season 3 of Ducktales and since we are still on hiatus, I want to share not only a theory about a Dt villain but also what I think season 4 (if, you know...there is one) is going to be about.

So, Magica de Spell. We all know her, almost everyone loves how evil she is and the powers she had, but something that caught my attention was her amulet that now is part of Lena. According to Webby in The Beagle Birthday Massacre:

Webby: Is that a vintage Sumerian talisman?

Lena: Dunno. Found it at a thrift shop.

It seems that Magica's powers come from Sumerian Magic, even if she knows different types of magic, as she said in Shadow War, The Day of the Ducks:

Magica De Spell: [Magic fires blasts of magic at Louie]  I've never heard of it (a curse Louie made up), and I'm inversed with all magics! Gaelic, Demogorgon, Sumerian!

Louie: Sumerian? You were in that dime a long time. Well, good luck with the curse!

But these are not the only mentions of Sumerians, as in Treasure of the Found Lamp when the ducks are talking about the posible thief of Djinn's lamp:

Scrooge: Yes, the lamp was stolen by a powerful figure!

Webby: Ohh, profoundly powerful! Ooh, like a wicked sorcerer? Or a powerful god, like a Sumerian god, or maybe Greek?!

It's interesting that the Sumerian culture was mentioned many times in the show but hasn't been show. Another theme that was present in both seasons was the Santa Claus incident that makes Scrooge unable to hear his name, much less have a statue of him in his mansion. This problem with Santa Claus is going to be touch in one of the new Season's episodes. So, maybe the Sumerian theme is going to be touch in the future.

But returning to the Sumerian mention in the Lamp episode, Webby also said that the powerful figure could be a wicked sorcerer, which is what happened in the Ducktales movie, with a very powerful and siniester villain: Merlock the Wolf Sorcerer.

Now, this part of the post is going to be about another series, but don't worry because this is connected to the theory.

Some of you have seen a series called "American Gods". For those who don't, it's about the battle of the Old Gods vs the New Gods. The old gods were once powerful deities with many followers and believers but now they have been reduced to roam America with only a bit of the power they had in the past. They can pass as normal humans, only showing their power when necesary, like (spoilers) a character named Wednesday.

Why do I bring up this? Well, this concept, along with the Sumerian theme, it's the core of my theory about this Ducktales movie villain, and the theory is:

Merlock is a powerful Sumerian God fallen in disgrace.

What if this sorcerer wants power not because he is very greedy, but because he craves for the power he once had many years ago?

Imagine this: You are a very respected and adored deity in the pantheon. Your followers are a very advanced and great culture who made many inventions that were the base of modern things. Everything is great until your civilization falls, your people are killed or converted. Strangers from other cultures destroy your temples (in this case Ziggurats) and turn your followers against you. Soon you lose your power and you are reduced to a simple person who is holding on the very few believers you have to continue to exist. Then, something happens. You adquire a powerful talisman that allows you to change form. You feel a bit of the power that was taken from you and seach for more powerful artifacts. Then you find a magic lamp with a Genie in it, what to do next?

Before continuing, let's say this one ex powerful Sumerian God is Sin, the god of the Moon. Yes, the satelite (not a planet, LUNARIS) because as other post pointed out, disasters surrounding the Duck family and the World had to be with the moon (Magica's eclipse, the spear of Selene, the Moonvasion) and Sin was like the Zeus equivalent of Sumerian mythology (a very important god) so why not?

Obviously what Merlock/Sin really wanted was being important and have all of his former powers by making people believe in him again. But the Genie said that it was beyond his power. He could make everyone believe that Sin was a sultan or some king. But a god? That wasn't a wish, but a miracle.

Then Sin wished to very inmortal, so he wouldn't have to depend on people believing in him anymore. After that, he decided that if he couldn't obtain followers, then NO ONE should have them.

So he used the Genie to wipe out other civilizations. He was the real culprit for the sinking of Atlantis, he made the volcano in Pompeii explode and other atrocities that made other gods lose people and their sacred places. And of course the Genie was horrified and guilty for this.

Years pass by and the lamp is stolen by a clever thief know as Collie Baba. Again, Sin lose a portion of magic but this time he won't let the mortals get away with it. He begins with the seach for the lamp, also he makes a new reputation as a wicked sorcerer, even if the thought of pass as a mortal mades him sick and humilliated. People in Europe give him a new name. A combination of Merlin and Warlock: Merlock. Even if the wolf was at first annoyed that some Europeans decided his new name, he became fond of it and later embrace it. One day he dissapeared and everyone thought he died, but he decided to stop making trouble so people won't try to hide the lamp again.

He's just...walking the Earth, trying to find the lamp without being noticed. Hoping for an opportunity to rise and reach godhood again.

Maybe he wants to fight the Greek gods, as they are still prominent in myths. He resents all of them, especially Selene considering she's the godness of the Moon in her culture.

This opportunity will present itself thanks to the current villains of season 3, but that will be explained in another post.

[iwritesometimes]

quarantine q&a

the ever-fabulous @lazaefair​ (AND I’VE JUST SEEN @poemsingreenink​ as well!!!<3) tagged me to complete a little cabin-fever antidote quiz, so HERE WE GO!!

Are you staying home from work/school?

staying home, but still working. technically i’m even working a little extra because i have to be on call on sundays, as we have a lot of work related to coronavirus plaguing my department. however, i get to do all this work in my PJs, from the comfort of my couch, with cats adhered to various parts of my body. so it’s, on average, a thousand times better than the way i usually have to work.

If you’re staying home, who’s there with you?

my little sister and her fiancée, and our collective five cats. guys: we live with so many cats in this house. that’s not a new coronavirus development. it’s just how we live. SO many cats.

Are you a homebody?

extremely - to be honest, i rarely go places anyway, and even then mostly with my family. all my friends are online. but even i, legendary hermit in a metaphorical cave (with wifi), am starting to feel vaguely cabin fevery. i’m going to relish a trip to the grocery store this weekend. i might cry on the vet tech when i go pick up louie’s meds.

An event that you were looking forward to that got cancelled?

my dad and i were supposed to go to NYC to see Keane this weekend. i’m so bummed we’re not going to get a chance to go. he and i rarely do things together just us, and i was hoping to take him to Levain, which is like two blocks from the venue, to try their supposedly amazing cookies. also, KEANE, who i wasn’t sure were ever going to release another album or tour again. THANKS, CORONAVIRUS. also, on a much less petty note, one of my best friends was supposed to get married next month, and now that’s been postponed. i’m glad we’re not going to either event, of course, and it’s the right thing to do. but it still sucks.

What movies have you watched recently? What shows are you watching?

so, EXTREMELY ill-advisedly, my sister made me watch Contagion with her last weekend. DON’T DO THIS. as a palate cleanser, however, we later watched Warcraft, and i loved it, and none of you can judge me. if i had seen that shit at like 10 years old i would have lost my goddamn mind. even at 33 it was pretty great to get to see Lothar as a bumbling moron and Khadgar as his magical twink sidekick. the CGI was eye-searing, the storyline was much more followable than i expected, and the shoulderguards were patently huge. it was a big dumb fun movie.

we then had some more big dumb fun bingeing The Letter for the King, right up until the point in the last episode where two of the male sidekick characters - the warrior and the bard, who had been a little flirty throughout if you squinted - OUT AND OUT KISSED, and we screamed and hyperventilated, and then they dropped an anvil of foreshadowing IMMEDIATELY after and we googled to see their fate. yeah, one of them gets killed like a half hour after that. we stopped watching right where we’d paused it. we’re still utterly furious. it was so much fucking cute fun. goddammit.

i also blitzed The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel recently and enjoyed it overall. i have watched ALL of The Repair Shop that is available to me and if you need a show to put on when you just need a fucking break, i could not recommend it more. i started Black Sails and i’ll probably continue it because everyone says it’s amazing. i tried the first episode of The Untamed and oooo boy, did it make absolutely no sense whatsoever to me and i literally could not tell you a single thing that happened in it. i keep hearing it gets better, so i’m gonna try to soldier through. THE GIFSETS ARE JUST SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL. but lordy that was a rough experience. 

What music are you listening to?

mostly the usual “lofi hiphop study” crap i keep on to work to. i listened through most of Carpenter Brut’s discography yesterday and it was GREAT. listening to Keane, of course - their new album is so sad and frustrating, subject-matter-wise, but OOO THE SONGS ARE REALLY GOOD.

What are you reading?

lol, endless coronavirus messaging for work :’( also, all fifteen (15) fics in the hugh/elnor tag on ao3 FUCK i need to WRITE something for them.

also might fuck around and reread Persuasion for the LONGING.

What are you doing for self-care?

been HYPER limiting my time online/on social media. i’m sorry if i’ve been hard to get hold of, i’m not trying to ignore anyone or disappear. i’m just basically working constantly on wordswordswords about this stupid pandemic and then, when i clock out, playing videogames or watching my sisters play videogames (the Ori games and Hollow Knight have been a balm in these times - even if Hollow Knight is about a spreading infection and the collapse of an unjust society WHOOOOOPS) or daydreaming about nonexistent Star Trek romances and not looking at twitter, the news, discord, or even tumblr too much. i just can’t take it.

so anyway! lol. sorry. it’s late and i need to go to bed, i’ve barely been sleeping. it’s been a weird couple of weeks. i love you all and hope sincerely you’re staying safe out there and looking out for each other. take a walk tomorrow, if you can, or drive around for the fresh air. it’s springtime, the world is still beautiful, we just have to stick it out a few more weeks in our depression caves. THE ONLY WAY OUT IS THROUGH, Y’ALL!!!!!

if the following gorgeous people have any interest in divulging their quarantine agendas and haven’t done so already, i would love to hear from them!!

@northstarfan​ @boba-fettuccine​ @omicheese​ @wolfhalls​ @onyxmoonstone​ @look-and-wonder​ @bebeocho​ @shih-shoulda-had-it​

[superwolfiestar]

Across Another Dimension Ch. 21

They walk through the Donald Beach town. Today, there are many houses and buildings around, so they could say that this area is considered the most populated one on Mushroom Kingdom. There is a hotel district, a shopping district, a food stand district and an event plaza.

"Whoa! This place is amazing!" Huey exclaimed.

"Suddenly, I feel like I wanna shop…" Louie spoke up.

"Gee, this is making me enjoy more our day…" Dewey said.

"Too bad we have more important things to do right now." Scrooge reminded.

This area had elements that are commonly seen in every beach: palm trees, tropical flowers and seashells and starfishes in the sand. There were also some seashells carved into the walls of stone platforms as well as fish fossils and coral fossils.

"Oh, this place is neat." Huey smiled.

"Indeed." Panchito nodded. "It is the perfect place for relaxation in this beach.”

"And speaking of relaxation…" Jose noticed a green duck wearing sunglasses while relaxing on a beach chair at their left. Scrooge walks towards the green duck and playfully removes his sunglasses.

"Hey!" he exclaimed playfully while opening his eyes.

“Lad, quite relaxing.” Scrooge grab him by the arms. “We need to find that Yellow Sharp before King Zeus men beat us.”

They both head to the group are, but he notice someone is missing. “Hey! Where Donald, the other Donald, and Princess Della?” He ask.

“Right here!!!” All head toward the ducks, they all notice that the three of them aren’t wearing their royal gown, instead. They wore a casual attire.

Boy Princess Donald wore white shirt with shirt white sleeves and a collar, a pink skirt, a hot pink belt around his waist. A pink fabric that was tie around his neck. And on his feet, was a pink flat shoes. In his head was a white floppy beach hat with pink ribbon wrap around the hat. In his hand was his parasol. His parasol was pink, a hot pink ruffle on the bottom and on the top, half pink on the middle and half white on the top, a white handle with a heart-shaped.

Princess Della wore a gorgeous yellow vintage dress style. This stretch cotton halter top dress comes in a classic yellow and white pin daisy flower pattern, piped with retro white in a midcentury silhouette. A full circle swing skirt has two front patch pockets, finished with a ruffled flounce at the knee length hem. The adjustable self tie halter neck supports a faux buttoned bodice, nipped at the waist line and boasting smocked back panels for stretch and fit. In her foots was a yellow flat shoes, she tie her short hair into a high ponytail, a beautiful flower of daisy in her hair.

And Donald wore a light blue sailor outfit. This lovely ensemble, was designed with elegance and comfort in mind; the shirt buttons on to the shorts on the front and back to ensure a perfect fit and prevent shirt or shorts from sliding. The bow is pre-tied and detachable so other neckerchiefs or bowties of personal choice can be accomodated. On his head was a matching light blue sailor hat.

Panchito and Jose jaw drop, smirked as it was even better up close. Panchito reached out and pulled on Boy Princess Donald's skirt. "So tell me are you wearing any underwear under there?"

Boy Princess gasp at him as he slapped the hand away. "Stop that!" he said turning bright red. "Of course I am wearing underwear! I'm not that crazy!"

“Quit fooling around! We need to find that Yellow Sharp!” Scrooge told them.

“My Unca right you guys, there’s no time fooling around. We need to find that sharp!”

The gang nodded their head, there’s no time to fooling around. They must find that sharp before King Zeus men do. They walk through the market and they spotted a hug crown over there. Curiosity, they walk over there. They all try to see what’s going on. They went through the crowns until they reach the center. There, they spotted a tall muscular stork with flowing blonde hair. He wears a gold silk tunic, bronze bracelets and sandals.

He was appears to be juggling some heavy wooden boxes. People and tourists were taking pictures of this amazing trick they witnessed. Once he done juggling and give it to the woker gently. People start to applause at him.

A muscular Storkules took a bow as people start throwing money and coins at him. A stork pick up and put it in the old rag bag as the crowns began to leave. He notice and spotted Donald in front of him.

Donald opened his beak to speak, only to be tackled to the ground by a muscular blur.

“Donald!” They all yelped in unison. The muscular blur turned out to be an equally-muscular, toga-wearing stranger who was currently holding Donald closely and intimately to his chest. They watched, a bit helplessly, as the stranger carried Donald and threw him into the air with ease, laughing the entire time.

Sunlight glistened off of the stranger’s blonde hair, making it look as if it was pure gold. “Oh glorious day! May the Faiths sing of your safety, Best friend Donald! Sailor of the Seven Seas! I am very glad that you are okay!” His voice was joyful and had an almost sing-song quality to it. And befitting of his stature, it was very loud.

Donald, head placed between a pair of firm pecs, simply sighed. “Hiya, buddy.”

When Donald was released from the confines of the man’s beefy chest, Boy Princess Donald and Princess Della helped him up. Boy Princess Donald’s grip was tight on his shoulder. “Oh Donald, who is this?” He asked, voice slightly strained.

Donald sighed. “ Guys, this is Storkules. He’s my best friend.”

The man turned around after aquatinting himself with the boys and the old man telling them that he’s glad to see them all healthy and safe, having picked them up as well a bit in a more gentler matter. He gave his full attention to the group of four he did recognize, his figure casting a large shadow over them. “My! Friend Panchito! Friend Jose! Friend Della! And friend….. Donald!?!? Good graces!” An over dramatic gasp escaped Storkules’ beak. “There are two of them!!!”

Donald let out a sight. “Why don’t we get something to eat. I will tell you everything what happen buddy.” Donald pat Storkules on the back. They began heading toward the restaurant.

“So you’re telling me that we are in a strange world of Mushroom World? And there are dimensional version of us in this world isn’t Best friend Donald?” Storkules ask to Donald.

“Yes,” Donald answer back. “That’s correction and we need to find all of the Rainbow Star Crystal Sharps so Professor Gyro, the one in this world, to power up the machine so we can go home.” The sailor duck continued.

“I see,” Storkules rub his chin with his finger. “May I join you best friend Donald? You need someone who can defeat those enemies who dare try to hurt us!” Storkules flex his muscle biceps.

“Sure,” Boy Princess Donald reply with a smile on his face. “You can come with us. But there’s problems. You seen, we need to find a Yellow Sharp. According to the map, it say that the Yellow Sharp is location somewhere in this beach. But we don’t know where it is.”

“I think there someone who can help us. You see, as I was exploring this strange new world. I bump into a woman, she was wearing a shirt turtleneck with two pink sleeves with white lining, a pink pant with pink shoes. I believe her name is Goldie. She is the most incredible explore I met. Come on, I will show you all where she is.”

They all got up and follow Storkules as they all head to Goldie place. Leaving Scrooge McDuck shock.

“Goldie... My Goldie...?”

[sticky-institute]

Travel Diary: Zinefest Christchurch, by Bryce Galloway

I used to go to all of New Zealand’s annual zinefests, but now that there’s six of them (!?!?) I only go to my hometown zinefests - Hamilton/Wellington, and one other, in strict rotation. I’m weird like that, just ask my friends.

Last time I was here (2013) I was in a lonely hotel on the edge of Cathedral Square, telling the assembled locals to go zine, cos it was one of the best cultural vehicles for a city lacking infrastructure. Christchurch (Ōtautahi) was post-quake. Christchurch is still post-quake, just a little less so.

This time round I’m staying with friend, artist, musician and Content Manager at inde radio station RDU - Gemma Syme. I slept on Gemma’s coach, until drunken friends and flatmates woke me with their banter and late-night fry-up. I listened to the drunken Pakeha boys try and argue their iwi (tribal) status with the Māori girls. What, with the sleeping bag over my head, I totally missed that one of the boys in question was friend and zinester Spencer Hall. Once they’d left I got up and checked they’d turned the oven off. Those, “don’t drink and fry” ads, ya know?

I see nobody from Christchurch Zinefest 2013 at the 2017 event. This must be a completely new local zine spasm. However, Christchurch’s ongoing love of the risograph and the influence of designer/art school lecturer Luke Wood are still present, extended by Jane Maloney’s riso press (M/K Press Ltd) and her pre-Zinefest riso-zine workshops.

Christchurch Art Centre are providing this space by virtue of the fact that they have a zinester in their ranks - Louise Sutherland. Otherwise, Alice Bush is the primary organizer of this year’s event.

Louise’s zines precede her. She be the author of the wonderful Coaster Frenzy, here today for just “$1 or swaps”. Alice and I gush our respective roller coaster stories at the Coaster Frenzy author. Alice has the world’s highest rollercoaster under her belt. I have the world’s highest vertical-drop rollercoaster under mine, which is surprising, I HATE heights. I launch into the Dead Kennedy’s rollercoaster disaster anthem Funland at the Beach, and later kick myself for the inappropriateness of that song in the context of post-quake Christchurch!!!

Louise says she feels privileged to have been part of the Christchurch rebuild, “It’s a moment in history. How many of those do we get to share.” Louise contends that Christchurch art and music have benefitted from the quakes; that a formerly closed scene, full of hierarchies, is now open to all players. That’s very ziney. It’s a sentiment echoed in issue two of the riso music journal Cheap Thrills (at Zinefest with editor - Erin Kimber). In the opening article - On the Value of Music - Matt Scobie writes, “I believe these events allowed or encouraged us to break free of the shackles of competitive individualism driven by exchange values and start acknowledging the importance of seeing the Ōtautahi music community as a synergetic whole…”

Hey, there’s Cameron from riso design journal Strips Club. His Strips Club collaborator’s moved to Berlin. Maybe there won’t be another volume of Strips Club. “Awe, do a White Fungus.” I encourage. “Berlin/Chch to their Taiwan/Wellington. Interview White Fungus’s Hanson brothers.” We talk politics, voting patterns, Winston Peters, the “king-maker” in post-election New Zealand. Cameron tells me about the massive Justice Building, that cynically opened for election season photo ops with members of the incumbent National party, closing again for ongoing construction as soon as the polling booths were shut.

I do the stall-holder circuit, it probably takes about an hour to get a reasonable handle on the qualities of the various zines on offer. All the zinesters are doing the same thing; doing the whole circuit before deciding how to spend their budget of $5, $10, or $20. I spend every cent that I make in sales of my own zine - Incredibly Hot Sex with Hideous People. I get all zinesters to sign their work.

There are approximately 20 stall-holders here according to Alice: Asian exchange students have written about racism against their own, David Merritt has his foldout poetry housed in upcycled books and banana box linings, there’s a zine from the Christchurch Women’s Centre, Spencer’s pop-up comics and satirical propaganda commands (Spencer also passes round a folded piece of paper for a comics jam on fictitious FX pedals), there are other inde comics, second hand books, witch zines, potion zines, stickers, handmade jewelry, cassettes, CD-zines, creative writing, sci fi stories, photo zines, travel zines, cat zines, music zines, even a zine about zines.

I sell more zines when I’m not on my stall than when I am there!?!? I’m not surprised, zine shopping is a potentially self-consciousness experience in the extreme. Where else do you examine someone’s art while they examine your face for signs of enjoyment, waiting for you to decide whether their art’s good enough to purchase. Imagine being installed next to your own gallery painting, with your hand out!? But that’s also the best thing about zinefest, you meet ALL the artists.

Bleeeurh! A bit tired and hungover now. Need coffee. The worst busker in the world sits in her wheelchair outside Bunsen Café warbling some churchy dirges over karaoke backing. Too good to be full-o-character, too bad to forgive her genre of choice.

My zinefest neighbor is a scrapbooker from the US, so I’m compelled to ask her if she thinks the scrapbooker kits one finds in art/stationary shops are a rip. Thankfully, she does. She appears to be afloat in NZ, not knowing if her art school back in the US will be restructured out of existence or not. Is looking to find an arts program in New Zealand.  

Cameron of Strip Club packs up early. Bastard! Makes a huge hole in the wee zinefest presence/footprint.

I’m just not acclimatized to this Christchurch cold. They’ve put the Wellington guy in exactly the wrong place, by the draughty doorway. Locals chit chat in tee shirts while I hug myself, jacket zipped, hat pulled tight!?!?

I’m encouraging Louie of Dunedin Zinefest and Alice of Christchurch to get committees of helpers. They’re both currently running their zinefests solo!?!?

Spencer tells me to check out his story about NZ alt rock legend Bruce Russel being the alter-ego of NZ alt rock legend Martin Phillips, as printed in his Lyttelton Rotten Radio zine.

It’s nearly 5 PM. I pack up and make short work of my farewells so that I can catch a bus to the airport and relax knowing I’m in the right place for my flight back to Wellington.

Back home and checking the best of my haul:

Cheap Thrills Issue 2 - an elegant risographed volume of NZ music past and present

Wandering Wolves is a gorgeous riso, the very first zine of Prabha Mallya, made at one of the workshops leading up to zinefest. Poetic mix of tagged animal narrative, poetry, illustration, photo and collage.

Field Notes from The Crescent City – July 2017 “It’s a very efficient and sensible method of burial that ensures you can never ever escape your family, even in death.”

Louise Sutherland’s holiday snaps and memories of New Orleans (including its cemeteries), well enough written and photographed to transcend any photo album limitations

A Most Elusive Species – by Louise Sutherland’s brother Robert. Photo essay of seemingly empty zoo enclosures. A subtle variety to the picture-by-picture approach creating a rewarding sense of narrative.

Burn Out is a pun. Yes, there are cars, but the scars are not the result of spinning tyres but of the sun’s rays peeling the paint off that once proud finish - by Robert Sutherland.

The cutest wee Untitled zine that pitches it’s teensiness against clipped horror narratives from Greek myth.

Cuss Weird cussing birds. Inexplicable.

OX OX OX... a CDR economically clothed in a folded A3. Rockabilly are the first chords, with hints of Ramones and Stooges. Next song is quite different, same vocal stylings but over “Dunedin Sound” meets Fall repetition. In the zine, we’re regaled with some pretty compelling “um and ah” misadventures from the band’s singer. Now they play a kiwified Joy Division cover. Sweeet!

Strawberry Stories runs some loopy narrative logic, or lack thereof. And some nice red spot-colour on the strawberry coloured one, though s/he’s not actually a strawberry eh, s/he’s like a person with a tree growing outta their head!?!?

A Zine Fanzine Beautifully designed and laid out riso about zines. Tightened up my own understanding about the provenance of zines, though changes to conjecture when talking about post internet zines.

Misc - Excellent poems by Arwen Miriama Sommer. “Snow is built of feathers and birds are built of trees”

All About the Sex* The Christchurch Women’s Centre decide to distribute their newsletter at zinefest, so it’s a zine now. An intro to the Woman’s Centre and their weekly discussion forum, plus an intro to the Red Tent movement and editorial about aging women’s identity.

Rotten Radio Zine - Spencer Hall’s good at writing original meandering comedy nonsense about music and culture.

[foreverkpop]

Dramas watched Master list

Dramas I’ve finished

12 Years Promise (2014)

Age of Youth (2016)

Angry Mom (2015)

Another Oh Hae Young (2016)

Beautiful Gong Shim (2016)

Beautiful Minds (2016)

Birth of a Beauty (2014-2015)

Boys Over Flowers (2009)

Bride of the Century (2014)

Cheer Up (2015)

Chief Kim (2017)

City Hunter (2011)

Coffee Prince (2007)

Cunning Single Lady (2014)

D-Day (2015)

Descendants of the Sun (2016)

Dream High (2011)

Dream High 2 (2012)

Emergency Couple (2014)

Ex-Girlfriend Club (2015)

Falling For Innocence (2015)

Fight My Way (2017)

Flower Boy Next Door (2013)

Flower Boy Ramen Shop (2011)

Goblin (2016-2017)

Good doctor (2013)

Healer (2014-2015)

Heartless City (2013)

Heartstrings (2011)

Her legend (2013)

I Hear Your Voice (2013)

I Need Romance (2011)

I Need Romance 2 (2012)

I Need Romance 3 (2014)

I Remember You (2015)

Iljimae: Phantom Thief (2008)

Innocent Man (2012)

Jackpot (2016)

Jealousy Incarnate (2016)

Kill Me, Heal Me (2015)

Last (2015)

Lookout (2017)

Love Rain (2012)

Lucky Romance (2016)

Marriage, Not Dating (2014)

Marry Him If You Dare (2013)

Mary Stayed Out All Night (2010)

Master’s Sun (2012)

Monstar (2013)

Moorim School (2015)

My Father is Strange (2017)

My Shy Boss (2017)

My lovely Sam Soon (2005)

Oh My Ghost (2015)

Oh My Venus (2015-2016)

On the Way to the Airport (2016)

One More Happy Ending (2016)

Pinocchio (2014-2015)

Playful Kiss (2010)

Pretty Man (2013)

Prosecutor Princess (2010)

Radiant Office (2017)

Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People (2017)

Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim (2016-2017)

School 2013 (2012-2013)

School 2015: Who Are You (2015)

Secret Love (2013)

Sensory Couple (2015)

She Was Pretty (2015)

Shopping King Louie (2016)

Shut up! Flower Boy Band (2012)

Signal (2016)

Stars Falling From the Sky (2010)

Supper Daddy Yeol (2015)

Suspicious Partner (2017)

The Greatest Love (2011)

The Heirs (2013)

The Liar and His Lover (2017)

Tomorrow With You (2017)

Twenty Again (2015)

Uncontrollably Fond (2016)

Vampire Detective (2016)

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (2016-2017)

Whisper (2017)

You’re Beautiful (2009)

You’re the Best Lee Soon Shin (2013)

Web dramas

High end crush (2015-2016)

I order you (2015)

Love for generation of youth (2013)

Never die (2015)

Noble my love (2015)

One more time (2016)

Outstanding women (2014)

Page turner (2016)

Prince’s prince (2015)

Splash splash love (2015)

We broke up (2015)

The miracle (2016)

Drama specials

Disqualify laughter (2017)

Do you know taekwondo? (2012)

Individualist Ms. Ji Young (2017)

Jungle fish (2015)

Ma boy (2012)

My Happy Home (2017)

Naked Fireman (2017)

Pinocchio’s nose (2017)

Queen of the Ring (2017)

Romance Full of Life (2017)

Star of the Universe (2017)

When I was the Prettiest (2012)

Currently Watching / Going to Watch

Bride of the Water God (2017) 14/16

My Only Love Song (2017) 14/20

Reunited Worlds (2017) 13/32

Secret Forest (2017) 10/16

Replay 1994 (2013) 9/21

My Little Baby (2015) 7/16

Falsify (2017) 5/32

Save Me (2017) 4/16

Bad Guys (2014) 4/11

Empress Ki (2014) 3/51

Quiz From God (2010) 3/10

Criminal Minds (2017) 2/20

Strongest Deliveryman (2017) 1/16

Man hole (2017) 1/16

Man Deserving of the Name (2017)

Age of Youth 2 (2017)

Hospital Ship (2017)

I will make an update when I have time to organize the rest of the list.

[honeyedmilks]

1-12, 14-19, 27-29, 32. 42 and 54 :D You don't have to answer them all hahaha

assiehfaefa ima answer them all! thank you so much angel!

1: favourite kdrama

let’s say that my current favourites are; the princess’ man, and jealousy incarnate!

2: least favourite kdrama

least favourite… hwarang, strong woman do bong soon, and drinking solo. i just dislike these. but if we’re talking one i like but wouldn’t have at the top of my list… then moon lovers. 

3: first kdrama i watched:

it was boys over flowers!!! wow!!! the memories… the tears… so iconic… i couldn’t watch lee min ho in anything for a long time because go jyun pyo broke my heart!!! 

4: last kdrama i watched: 

i’m currently watching school 2017 (!!!!!!!!!!!! kim tae woon i loveth you) and also watching an oldie drama called the woman who still wants to marry. it’s based around female friendship and i’m at ep 11 and still going!

5: kdrama otp (s):

oh boy so here we go!!! in no particular order, here are some pairings i really do love/ cried over/ had lots of feelings over!!

kim shin and eun tak (i miss my sweet souls) from goblin

lee se ryung and kim seung yoo from the princess’ man

park do kyung and oh hae young from oh hae young again

pyo na ri and lee hwa shin from jealousy incarnate

do min joo and cheong song yi from my love from another star

i’m sure there are more but these are whay come to mind right now! :’)

6: kdrama notp (s)

dugfsfhdsi 

wang so with tragedy and injustice!!!

7: preferred drama genre

honestly it first of all romance, but these days i love a good melodrama! romantic comedies are good too if they’re done well! i do also love a good fantasy… or saeguk, but again it depends on what kind of saeguk… drama’s about friendships… family… they can be really interesting. i’ll be honest and say my least favourite genre are workplace dramas. 

8: first drama i considered my favourite:

ooh… that’s hard… let me think… i think it was reply 1988- until it crushed my pathetic heart into a million pieces.

9: favourite korean actors

ooh… gong yoo (not just because he’s a fantastic actor but he’s also such a lovely awesome guy),

lee joon gi (for his magnificent micro-expressions)

ryu jun yeol (WHEN WILL HE RETURN TO DRAMALAND???!!!)

jo jung suk (you all must see him in jealousy incarnate)

seo in guk 

seo kang joon (he played my love, baek in ho)

 and so ji sub!

10: favourite korean actress (es)

zamn let’s do this then!

gong hyo jin (she is sooo lovely and brilliant!!)

kim go eun (again lovely and brilliant!!!) 

jun ji hyun (who doesn’t love her dramas tho) 

shin min ah (i love all these talented ladies so much it’s not even funny)

yoo in nah

uee

kim hee-ae

kim seul gi 

and lee sung kyung!

11: favourite kdrama cliche

ha! i honestly am such a sucker for the main leads doing sweet things like looking after the female lead when she’s hurt- even if it’s buying her medicine, looking after her when she’s drunk. just thoughtful things in general. and i like it when the female lead does the same for the male lead. like just doing lovely things for the other :( 

i am also a whore for long hidden glances and petty silly jealousy or crushing babbling nonsense (not like scary jealousy tho) and honestly who doesn’t love a good hearts racing, cheeks blushing cliche moment? 

when drama’s do parodies of other famous drama’s idhfud they just take the mick it’s so funny

food, everywhere, yummy ramen, yummy spicy rice cakes… yummy… yumness…

oh and a good crying scene… shed those dramatic tears my boy!!!!

12: least favourite kdrama cliche

wrist grabbing oiadhc’iuafh 

MISUNDERSTANDINGS, like the real ugly kind

noble idiocy is just… it rarely works… please stop making my soul suffer… 

evil mothers ;(((((( 

the dreaded make over

14: boys over flowers or secret garden?

boys over flowers!!!! watching secret garden makes me sightly sick now oahiduhfa the main lead :////// plus bof has lee min ho and his perm and i live for that look

15: weightlifting fairy kim bok joo or cheese in the trap?

now what cruel person… i want to say cheese in the trap just because i love baek in ho so much and it was such a thrill at the start… but i’ll have to go with weightlifting fairy… there’s more pro’s in this drama… like the fact i actually finished it when it was airing… 

16: jealousy incarnate or oh my ghostess?

definitely jealousy incarnate, lee jong suk is really brilliant as lee hwa shin and even though i have to admit that i didn’t watch the side stories, and mostly only the stories of lee hwa shin and pyo nari… it’s still better than oh my ghostess in my opinion. the latter show made me uncomfortable- mostly due to the fact the main lead was falling in love with a mix of two people. it just made me a bit itchy :(( and sad :(( because then the romance is a bit of a mess

17: descendants of the sun or w: two world?

hmm.. i actually did start descendants but dihfiadhf for the life of me could not get past the first two episode, maybe it was the dramatic love song at the end of their first meeting that had me both scratching my head and stifling laughter. but i’ve heard good things about w, and did want to pick it up until i heard the ending went a bit lopsided, so to save myself disappointment, i did not watch it. 

18: moonlight drawn by clouds or legend of the blue sea?

okay so this is tricky… mdbc is critically… probably a better drama but despite it’s flaws i really have to say legend of the blue sea. i watched it the whole way through, and i really love the soundtrack (which im actually listening to as i answer these) and the main characters, and it made me laugh a lot even if i did cry a little over the greatness it could’ve been :((

19: strong woman do bong soon or shopping king louie?

dsuigfiddifdfiv shopping king louie! how cute were booksil and louie ::((( so cute!!

27: favourite kdrama bromance

okay so this is an interesting question… probably the friendship between park do kyung and all his male friends from oh hae young again… their loyalty was heart warming, but grimsie and kim shin from goblin were cute friends too.

28: favourite kdrama friendship

i have a few!

oh hye won and her friend ji soo from secret love affair. i really loved their friendship, how ji soo was a pillar of support for hye won, she was a real friend. 

i really truly love the friendship between the three main female leads in the woman who still wants to marry- it’s so warm. 

oh hae young and her friend in oh hae young again are also very sweet, i’m really glad hae young had a friend she could talk to. 

oh and the friendships between shim cheong and all her cute oddball friends in legend of the blue sea :’((( that was pure stuff right there

and let’s not forget the kids and family on the block in reply 1988, its honestly so lovely :’((

i feel like there’s almost always a sidekick friend in kdrama’s but never are they good friendships that make me feel things :( sometimes the friend is just a prop 

29:  favourite actor/actress duo? (one male, one female)

oooh… this is hard… if this was bollywood it would be easier because i would’ve just said kajol and sharukh khan… but here… lemme think… now that i think about it… i really liked gong hyo jin with so ji sub in the master’s sun. i also really liked park hyun sik and lim ji yeon together in high society. but otherwise… my brain is frazzled!! 

how could i forget minah and namgung min in beautiful gong shim :((( they had such great chemistry 

but lets be real jo jung suk and gong hyo jin in jealousy incarnate were hilarious. 

32: do you watch drama’s with 30 plus episodes?

oh boy oh boy… i think i did watch one? but skipped a load of it to watch one couple… i mean i’ve thought about it? especially with father is strange… but it’s a pretty rare case. i know i’ve started some but couldn’t get through them all :(

42: favourite kdrama kiss scene 

ihfr’iue ye’qewu the kisses in coffee prince… are truly something… 10/10

54: recommend 3 fluffy AF dramas

efrhiptfuohf’rgh let us see… this is hard because kdrama’s don’t like being complete fluff… but the woman who wants to marry is a wild bit of fun :((

my girlfriend is a gumiho is a really nice watch, wouldn’t call it 100% fluff because… i cried a little 

oh and splash splash love is short and sweet without being too silly :’)

and i guess my only love song is a load fluff, you can enjoy its strange antics and not take it too seriously! 

thank you for these lovely questions

send me some asian drama asks!  

[yutende]

Question Tag ~ (*^▽^*)

I was tagged by the awesome @odetonct to do this 40+ questions thingy!

I was also tagged ages ago in two diff question tag games by @spicypancakedoyoung and @leeinpyos (ok i was confused for a sec you changed your url sav!) but imma do this instead cuz this is the longest.. anyways thank you for tagging me loves!! so here we go!!

Are you named after someone: my name’s a mash of some of my relatives’ names

When is the last time you cried : when nct dream got their first win! tears of pride and joy :’)

Do you like your handwriting : yeah i like it sometimes

What is your favorite lunch to eat : beef i guess and also wraps and veggies (yuhhh eat healthy)

Do you have kids : yes! my dream kids are my sons and sometimes winwin too (tho we’re the same age lol)

If you were another person, would you be friends with you : Yesss that’d be cool!!!!

Do you use sarcasm : I don't 

Do you still have your tonsils : yes! I think i need to remove it tho?? But I’m scared ><

Would you bungee jump : sure?

What is your favorite kind of cereal : the chocolate ones except chocochex cuz when it gets all soggy :p

Do you untie your shoes when you take them off : no. I just slip em on and off.. and most of the time i remove the laces altogether and wear my shoes like that

Do you think you’re a strong person : i like to think that i am

What is your favorite ice cream flavour : mint chocolate, cookie dough, uhmm most of the chunky kinds tbh

What is the first thing you notice about people : their nose and eyes.. and height?

Red or pink : both

What is the least favorite physical thing you like about yourself : my limbs lol cause they ain’t flexible

What color pants and shoes are you wearing now : I’m wearing a pair of very comfy green shorts..no shoes but I have my cat socks on

What was the last thing you ate : shin ramyun!!!! with cheese!! Yummm :3

What are you listening to right now : mah girlfriends! red velvet <3

If you were a crayon, what color would you be: RED!

Favorite smell : clean laundry??..cherry blossoms..the ocean..books..coffee.. (ok i sound like a grandma hahaha).. .and the smell of good food!

Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone : my older sister

Favorite sport to watch : soccer and martial arts stuff

Hair color : brown

Eye color : very dark brown

Do you wear contacts : no

Favorite food to eat : PIZZA🍕!!! SUSHI🍣!!! (yeah taeil and i wont match) and BINGSU!!!🍨💕💕

Scary movies or comedy : comedy but thrillers/suspense are okay as long it’s not horror

Last movie you watched : it was on hbo last night so…harry potter for the nth time! 

What color of shirt are you wearing : navy blue with white stripes or the other way around whatever

Summer or winter : WINTER!!! I’m tired of the tropical heat man

Hugs or kisses : HUGSSS 

What book are you currently reading : i read many books at a time cuz i get bored easily  uhmm so i’m currently reading the bell jar, ready player one, and demian (hahaha yes i started this partially bcs of bts)

Who do you miss right now : Kun and Hansol ~ i constantly miss these dorks

What is on your mouse pad : i dont have a mouse pad 

What is the last TV program you watched : Westworld… but if it’s a kdrama: Shopping King Louie

What is the best sound : Dasineun nal chatjima!!!!!! Cmon it’s the best!! but also ocean waves when it hits the shore and the riverflow 

Rolling Stones or The Beatles : the beatles

What is the furthest you have ever traveled? Alaska

Do you have a special talent : i dont think i have one? but i can whistle really well and imitate stitch’s voice! wow 

Where were you born : Manila

People to tag: imma go and tag @chicagoboijohnny @grandpa-ty @vvwin @1aeil and @iloveyu-ta and whoever wants to do it. ~this is optional ofc! hi yahh friends ^^

[backfencemagazine]

An Itinerary for Visiting Disneyland Park With Pre-School Aged Kids

©DISNEY. PHOTO BY EMILY SIMS FOR DISNEY FAMILY

A first-time trip to Disneyland Park with kids is such an exciting event for a family, but there is so much to do and see that it can seem a bit overwhelming when trying to plan for the big day. I go to Disneyland one to two times a week with my four-year-old son and have a pretty good grasp on can’t-miss attractions, entertainment and experiences at the park. I’m excited to share my ideas for the best itinerary for a day at Disneyland for families of preschool-aged kids!

©DISNEY. PHOTO BY EMILY SIMS FOR DISNEY FAMILY

To begin, there are two important things I suggest doing to help the day run as smoothly as possible. First, download the official Disneyland App. The Disneyland App will be the best tool at your fingertips. It has a map of the entire park, attraction wait times, entertainment schedules, character locations and appearance times, restaurants locations, where to shop, a place to link your tickets, and so much more! Secondly, purchase MaxPass for just $ 15 per person! With MaxPass, you can take advantage of booking Fast Passes right on your phone – which is an incredible time-saver. MaxPass also comes with free unlimited downloads of all PhotoPass photos snapped during your magical day – so be sure to stop any Cast Members with a camera and ask for a photo!

©DISNEY. PHOTO BY EMILY SIMS FOR DISNEY FAMILY

To make the most of your visit to Disneyland, I recommend arriving to the main gates about 20-30 minutes before park opening time. Before heading down Main Street U.S.A, my son Reagan and I like to stop in Town Square to meet Mickey Mouse and some of his pals! Snapping photos with a few Disney characters is a fun way to kick off the day, and the Disneyland App makes it so easy to find locations and appearance times for your favorite characters.

©DISNEY. PHOTO BY EMILY SIMS FOR DISNEY FAMILY

After we’ve snapped a few photos with Mickey and his pals, we make our way into Fantasyland where there are lots of fun, family-friendly attractions. Magic at every turn, it’s like stepping into the world of some of the most beloved Disney films! A few of our can’t-miss Fantasyland attractions include Peter Pan’s Flight, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Alice in Wonderland, Storybook Land Canal Boats, the Mad Tea Party, Casey Jr. Circus Train, King Arthur Carrousel, and “it’s a small world.”

©DISNEY. PHOTO BY EMILY SIMS FOR DISNEY FAMILY

Just down the way from Fantasyland is Mickey’s Toontown, where guests can explore the homes of Mickey and his pals! Inside the characters homes, and throughout Downtown Toontown, you’ll find endless interactive experiences for kids. Mickey’s Toontown is also one of my favorite spots to let my son get some physical play-time in (and all that energy out!). Goofy’s Playhouse is typically where we start because he has a slide and play area in his backyard – amazing! And if you’re looking for a mild version of a rollercoaster, hop on Gadget’s Go Coaster – it’s a great beginner’s thrill ride for guests 32 inches and up. Lastly, don’t forget to visit Mickey and Minnie at their houses throughout the day!

©DISNEY. PHOTO BY EMILY SIMS FOR DISNEY FAMILY

My four year old’s current favorite attraction is Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters, so after some Toontown play, and maybe a mid-morning snack, we make our way to Tomorrowland to defeat the Evil Emperor Zurg! A couple of other Tomorrowland favorites include a scenic drive on Autopia (your kiddos can take the wheel!), and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage to explore the depths of the ocean with Nemo and his friends.

Once we’ve explored the land of Tomorrow, we make our way across the hub to Adventureland! The world famous Jungle Cruise is on my son’s top attractions list, so we always make time for it. I’m also a big fan of the Jungle Cruise because it’s a nice rest for the feet and extremely entertaining for kids and adults alike – the skippers will keep you laughing with their witty jokes and clever puns!

©DISNEY. PHOTO BY EMILY SIMS FOR DISNEY FAMILY

Right down the way from the Jungle Cruise is Pirates of the Caribbean, another one of my son’s favorites. There’s nothing like exploring the world of swashbuckling pirates! I personally love this attraction because it feels so nostalgic – the sounds, the smell, the sights…takes me right back to my own childhood memories of Disneyland! Right across the walkway from Pirates of the Caribbean is the beautiful Rivers of America, where guests can take a ride on the Mark Twain Riverboat or Sailing Ship Columbia – very fun for kids and relaxing for parents. And if you’re in need of a spot to let your little explorer get some play time in, take a log raft over to Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island!

In addition to Pirates of the Caribbean in New Orleans Square, we like to ride the fan favorite Haunted Mansion. My four year old likes this attraction, but just a warning, it can be a little spooky for some kids. I always recommend checking out Haunted Mansion Holiday during Halloween Time and the Holiday season at Disneyland, as it’s a little more upbeat and it’s fun to see how Jack Skellington & his friends have decked the halls of the mansion! Before we leave New Orleans Square, we always have to grab some Mickey-shaped beignets from the Mint Julep Bar – one of my favorite treats in the whole park.

©DISNEY. PHOTO BY EMILY SIMS FOR DISNEY FAMILY

Next stop on the must-do’s is Critter Country for one of the most adorable and happy attractions – The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The line queue is notoriously short, and this ride is such a treat for little ones. We really love it. After a ride through the Hundred Acre Wood, we make our way into Pooh Corner for a yummy treat (we recommend a “Tigger Tail” or a Chocolate-Dipped Pineapple Spear!)!

Another can’t-miss attraction that we always make time for at some point in the day (often around nap/rest time) is the Disneyland Railroad. You can’t beat a 20+ minute break for your feet and the views of Disneyland along the route! The train has stations at Town Square on Main Street U.S.A, New Orleans Square, Mickey’s Toontown and Tomorrowland, which makes it so convenient to board at any time and get from land to land. Just remember that strollers must be either parked at the station or folded and carried on the train with you before boarding.

Favorite Entertainment

©DISNEY. PHOTO BY EMILY SIMS FOR DISNEY FAMILY

I am a huge fan of the entertainment at Disneyland, and I’m so glad my son loves it just as much! I think entertainment is the perfect way to break up a day full of attraction hopping. For us, parades and fireworks are always a must. We also really enjoy watching the Disneyland Band, especially during the “Happiest March Along on Earth” with Mickey and his friends at Town Square. Another show at the top of our list is “Mickey and the Magical Map” at the Fantasyland Theatre featuring a few classic songs from favorite Disney films, and appearances from a variety of characters like Mickey Mouse, King Louie, Pocahontas, Mulan, Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, Sebastian, Stitch and Princess Tiana – you won’t be able to help but sing along throughout the entire show! For a tropical, nostalgic adventure, we love Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room in Adventureland (Dole Whips in hand!). And we like to end our day with our favorite show, “Fantasmic!,” which is a nighttime spectacular on the Rivers of America. I recommend either making reservations for a Fantasmic! Dining Package, or grabbing a Fast Pass for the show in the morning before they run out (distribution location is by the Mark Twain Riverboat dock). The Fantasmic! Dining Package or Fast Pass allows guests into a reserved viewing area along the Rivers of America. As mentioned before, the Disneyland App makes it so easy to find entertainment happening throughout the day.

©DISNEY. PHOTO BY EMILY SIMS FOR DISNEY FAMILY

Character Meet and Greets

One other thing I recommend doing, if you’re in need of a break from attractions, is visiting a few characters. We also really love visiting Winnie the Pooh and his friends at “Pooh’s Thotful Spot” in Critter Country, Tinker Bell and her fairy friends at Pixie Hollow, and the princesses at Royal Hall. Royal Hall is great because you can see up to three princesses in one spot – while only having to stand in one line queue! Remember to check the Disneyland App for the list of characters who are available for meet and greets throughout the day.

Disneyland has so much to offer for families of preschoolers! As often as we go, we always find something fun and exciting (and often times new!) to experience. If you’re thinking of a trip to Disneyland Resort, now is the perfect time to plan – and take advantage of a special ticket offer on Disneyland.com! Let the magic and memories begin!

©DISNEY. PHOTO BY EMILY SIMS FOR DISNEY FAMILY

The post An Itinerary for Visiting Disneyland Park With Pre-School Aged Kids appeared first on Disney Family.

Disney Family

[americanahighways]

WoodyFest Day 2

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The Virtual Woody Guthrie Festival continued Saturday July 18. Beginning at noon, the festival resumed with action packed line-up of panels and workshops streaming live and completely free via a plethora of streaming options. First up, there was a songwriting workshop hosted by Ellis Paul, and the invaluable education series went on to include: Appalachia: This Land is Home to Me hosted by Tom Breiding, Folk Collusion hosted by Tim Easton, Woody’s Country hosted by Rik Palieri, Collecting Woody Guthrie hosted by Barry Ollman, This Land is Your Land: A Celebration of 80 Years hosted by Deana McCloud, and lastly, fascinating panels discussing Native Music of Oklahoma presented by Oklahoma Film + Music Office, moderated by Sterlin Harjo & Dr. Hugh Foley |and included Zoom Panelists: Samantha Crain, Jula Harjo, Kylee Robison, Johnny Akeketa, Nokosee Fields, K-OSS, and Kalyn Fay and a second panel, Something to Say: Making Music That Matters presented by Oklahoma Humanities Moderated by Barry Ollman |and featuring panelists, Louie Pérez, Mary Gauthier, & Dr. Sunu Kodumthara. Strategically place between the last two informative panels, the winners of the 2020 Woody Guthrie Songwriting Contest were announced with Randy Lewis Brown taking top honors with his song, “Desoto Parish Nights.” In second place was Sharon Goldman with “Woody & Marjorie” and in third, Daniel Neihoff and his song, “Appalachian Cry.” Congratulations to these songwriters as well as all that entered. I have no doubt we’ll hear more from all of them.

The panels continued on until 7pm when the music schedule took over, with this evening’s host, Jaimee Harris, who nearly immediately hit you right in the feels with her powerful Texas “folk-n-roll” take on the late Jimmy Lafave/Woody Guthrie composition, “Peace Town,” followed by her own “Catch it Now.” What a beautiful start to what was an action packed evening. Next up, Jared Tyler delivered his “A Little Tonight”from his 2017 release, “Dirt on Your Hands” followed by Paul Burch and his take on Guthrie’s “Pretty Boy Floyd”. At the 2019 fest, Betty Soo joined Michael Fracasso for his Crystal Theatre set, but this year, she delivered a simply stunning, stop you in your tracks version of “Deportee.” Betty Soo is currently performing with Rebecca Loebe and Grace Pettis as the trio, Nobody’s Girl, and their album self-titled release should definitely be on your radar. Detroit songwriter Chris Buhalis with “Don’t Kill My Baby and My Son” a song Guthrie wrote about Laura and L.D. Nelson, a black mother and son lynched from a bridge over the Canadian River near Okemah in 1911. Buhalis’ rendition was one that truly resonated.

Next, the legendary Graham Nash who played the festival in Okemah back in 2016 returned, virtually to the festival, contributing “Be Yourself”, the classic sing-a-long “Teach Your Children” and what I believe was a new song, “Stars & Stripes.”  It’s got to be tough to follow a real legend like Nash, but that’s exactly what Crys Matthews did, and did admirably, with a trio of socially charged songs, “Change Makers,” “We Must Be Free” and “Battle Hymn For an Army of Lovers”. Next up, was Massachusetts songwriter and autism activist, Seth Glier, first with, “Coronation,” then “Justice For All” and finally with a bunch of friends joining in via Zoom for “This Land is Your Land.” The multi-talented, Gregory Page followed with Woody’s “Danville Girl” which was just a great version. Oklahoma’s own, Samantha Crain was next with perfect timing, having just released her brilliant new album, “A Small Death.” Crain’s recorded performances here, “Time On Your Side” and “High Horse” were definitely a highlight for me. Tom Breiding followed with a pair of songs addressing the blue-collar union workers, “Now It’s Here” and “This Land Is Home To Me.” Next, and moving down south we had Houstonian Matt Harlan and his timely “Low Pressure” which really impressed me.

Bonnie Whitmore was next, and dropped some wisdom, reciting Woody’s quote, “It’s a folksinger’s job to comfort disturbed people and to disturb comfortable people,” before unleashing her 8-string bass for a brand new song, “Time To Shoot” from her forthcoming album, Last Will & Testament due September 1st. Live from his barn, we had Jacob Tovar delivering memorable takes on “I Felt Love” and “Three Good Reasons (For Leaving Tulsa)” providing a necessary honky-tonk atmosphere. The captivating Branjae returned to WoodyFest, this time with Josh Westbrook on guitar for a great pair of tunes, “Who Knows” and “Everybody Knows”.  Branjae and the band she co-fronts, Count Tutu were a highlight of last year’s festival, so it was great to see her back. If any musician has gotten the whole livestream thing down, it’s BJ Barham. The man’s a workhorse by nature, and has been sharing songs online ever since this damn pandemic coincided with the release of his amazing new American Aquarium album Lamentations. Barham is one of my favorite songwriters presently, and he certainly didn’t disappoint by delivering two of his recent bests. “Me + Mine” (Lamentations) is from the new album, and I personally think it might be the best song he’s written. Of course, his performance of “The World Is On Fire” from 2018’s Things Change was perfectly chosen as well.

Next was Emma’s Revolution featuring Pat Humphries and Sandy O., joined by Grammy Award winning fiddler and Klezmatics member, Lisa Gutkin performing, “Gonna Get Through This World” along with a Zoom screen collective of other musicians. Another Texas songwriter that’s won over the hearts of WoodyFest, is Jamie Lin Wilson, who provided a beautiful version of “Oklahoma Stars” written with Okemah’s own, Evan Felker. Hot on the heels of his album release, “Bloomin’”, the fabulous Josh Okeefe delivered two of the album’s best, “We’re All The Same” and “Son Of The Working Class”. Okeefe was one of the artists I was most looking forward to seeing and talking to at this years fest, but his performances here certainly hit the mark. Fresh from his “Folk Collusion” panel earlier in the day, Tim Easton returned to play two of his best, “Old New Straitsville Blues” and “Don’t Spectate, Participate”. Next, Brennan Leigh brought her smart country flavored storytelling with a great protest song, “Pipeline.” Following Leigh, we had songwriter and activist, Seth Bernard with a cut from his brand new album, “Let Love Light The Way” and “This is the American Earth”, before Raye Zaragoza presented “Fight Like A Girl” and a new song from her upcoming release Warrior.

WoodyFest just wouldn’t seem complete without John Fullbright, and though he’d been featured on the Tuesday night broadcast with a song recorded from 2019’s fest, tonight he was back with a new song, tentatively titled, “Sailors At Sea”, and the wonderful “Fat Man.” It’s got to be hard to follow Fullbright, but if anyone could do it, Glen Hansard certainly could. Now, I’m not sure if Hansard was going to be a performer had the 2020 WoodyFest actually gone forward in Okemah this year. But having been fortunate to see him perform live in 2019, I can only imagine how great of a performance the man would have delivered from the Pastures of Plenty stage. As it was, Hansard gave one of my favorite performances of the evening, with recorded songs from his home in Dublin. “Leave A Light,” a cover of Woody’s “Ramblin’,” and what seemed to be a brand new song capturing the turmoil in our streets. Hansard is one of my favorite music discoveries of the past ten years or so, and I highly recommend diving deep into his catalog of solo songs as well as with the Frames and The Swell Season. His new album, last years, The Wild Willing is nothing short of genius.

Taking us into the evenings home stretch, Mary Gauthier was joined by host, Jaimee Harris for stunning versions of “Make America Great Again” and the perfect story song, “Last of the Hobo Kings.”  Jason Mraz and his ukulele were up next for “Look For the Good,” before moving to the piano for “Make Love,” and lastly, joined by Joel Rafael for an intimate version of his song “Under Our Skin” from Rafael’s 2019 “Rose Avenue.” Finally, Jaimee Harris returned to her hosting duties to close up shop for the evening with a tale of the great Jimmy Lafave and a clip of Lafave and friends closing out the 2014 WoodyFest with “This Land Is Your Land.” Always a perfect choice.

WoodyFest continued its Virtual 2020 Festival for its final day on Sunday July 19th hosted by Terry “Buffalo” Ware, and featuring Carter Sampson, Butch Hancock, The Red Dirt Rangers and more. I’ll detail this final day and recap WoodyFest 2020 in a final piece later this week. Stay tuned!

https://www.woodyfest.com/

A replay of this first night can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8P2ZoMCZ-I

  Show Review: Woody Fest 2020 -- Day 2 @woodyfest @tim_easton @bettysoo @jaimeeharris @thegrahamnash @pbwpa @sethglier @crysmatthews @sjcrain @branjaemusic @bjbarhamtweets @lisagutkin @johnrfullbright @emmasrevolution @marygauthier_ @ellispaulsongs @latterette WoodyFest Day 2 The Virtual Woody Guthrie Festival continued Saturday July 18. Beginning at noon, the festival resumed with action packed line-up of panels and workshops streaming live and completely free via a plethora of streaming options.

[hviral]

Philippine fast food specialist Jollibee hungry to expand in U.S.,

MANILA – Jollibee Foods Corp (JFC.PS), the Philippine fast food specialist known for fried ‘Chickenjoy’ and chopped hotdogs in sweet spaghetti sauce, is doubling down on expansion plans in the United States and China that are likely to include more M&A.

Helped by the purchase of California-based Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in July and having taken full control of Denver-based Smashburger in 2018, it wants to earn 30% of its revenue in the United States in a decade’s time, executives told Reuters.

It is also aiming to lift revenue in China to 30% of overall sales, while the Philippines would fall to 30%.

That would represent a major rejig of revenue streams for Jollibee, which ranks No. 4 among Asia’s listed quick service restaurant firms, and would build upon plans to cut its reliance on its domestic market to 50% of sales in the “medium term”.

Prior to its acquisition of Coffee Bean, the Philippines accounted for 73% of sales while the United States represented 15% and China 12%.

“We want to spread our portfolio and risk,” Jollibee CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong said in an interview. “There’s huge opportunity out there.”

Jollibee, which is valued at $4.8 billion and has 16 brands or franchises to its name, aims to have six brands each in the United States and China, just as it does in the Philippines.

In the U.S. market, it currently has five including its namesake Jollibee restaurant chain and a minority investment in Tortas Frontera, run by Michelin-starred chef Rick Bayless and which offers Mexican-inspired sandwiches at just three outlets in Chicago’s O’Hare airport.

It has three brands in China – the Dunkin Donuts franchise, as well as the Yonghe King noodle and Hong Zhuang Yuan congee restaurant chains.

TRUSTING ONE’S GUT

Jollibee likes to acquire quite small, loss-making firms at low prices and turn them around. It receives business proposals frequently but acquisitions are more often stumbled upon during one of Chairman’s Tony Tan Caktiong long food tasting trips than sought out through bankers.

“Most of the acquisitions resulted from Tan Caktiong eating in a restaurant, liking the food and asking ‘who runs the place?’,” said Erwin Elechicon, former chief of Jollibee’s international operations.

That was the case with Tortas Frontera. Tan, also founder of the company and brother of CEO Tanmantiong, had eaten one of its sandwiches at the airport.

While noting they tend to buy small, Jollibee executives say they are open to any type of acquisition if the food is good.

But they acknowledge their immediate focus is on turning around Smashburger and Coffee Bean – both loss-making and bigger than Jollibee’s usual acquisitions with $210 million spent on Smashburger and Coffee Bean costing $350 million including debt.

Investor concerns that Jollibee is overextended were exacerbated by first-half profit sliding by a third to 2.66 billion pesos ($51 million) due to losses at Smashburger and deliveries problems with its Red Ribbon Bakeshop. Its stock has lost 18% since late July when it announced its purchase of Coffee Bean.

“It would be better for them not to do another acquisition at least of this scale until Smashburger and CBTL become profitable,” said Renzo Louie Candano, analyst at DBP-Daiwa Capital Markets in Manila.

Jollibee believes, however, that it has not overreached. Nor is it concerned that any of its targeted markets are saturated or that it might not be able to compete with the likes of Starbucks (SBUX.O).

“Every restaurant in the Philippines has fried chicken, in Vietnam there are maybe 10 coffee shops on every block. In the midst of all of this competition, there’s always a standout one or two,” said Chief Financial Officer Ysmael Baysa.

“How are you going to do it? Our formula is very simple. Offer the best tasting food at the right price and you’re going to make it.”

He noted that Coffee Bean had a strong presence in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, regions where coffee culture still has a lot of room to grow and that its Highlands Coffee stores in Vietnam logged revenue growth of around 32% last year.

It has also taken on big chains before.

Not long after Jollibee, originally an ice cream parlor, started selling burgers in 1978, friends advised Tan Caktiong and his brothers to quit, warning the imminent arrival of U.S. giant McDonald’s (MCD.N) in Philippines would decimate Jollibee’s six branches.

Undeterred, the firm took on McDonald’s by surrounding each big branch with smaller Jollibee outlets, and measuring the U.S firm’s sales by counting trash outside its branches. Since 1984, Jollibee has outsold McDonald’s domestically.

Outside the Philippines, Jollibee restaurant locations tend to be in areas with large expat Filipino populations. But executives point to its growing popularity with non-Filipinos, particularly in Vietnam, Singapore and Hong Kong.

It also has big plans to expand the Jollibee chain in North America, aiming for 150 U.S. stores and 100 in Canada over five years, up from 37 and 4 respectively.

The post Philippine fast food specialist Jollibee hungry to expand in U.S., appeared first on HviRAL.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2UTHafT

[jamalgreene325-blog]

The paramedics were working on Tyrone when Ms. Tyler arrived back at the building. She busted out in tears, crying, “Oh, Lord Jesus! Oh, Lord!” Then, she pushed past the crowd of people who had gathered around and hurried up and ran to Mrs. Bailey’s building to tell her that her son had been shot.

Prince sped off toward Riverside Drive, where he’d let off Little Man and Tony, and said, “Catch a cab to the crib, and stay there. Watch your asses.”

“Who the hell was that, Prince?” Little Man asked. “My boy is hurt or, maybe worse, dead. What am I going to tell his mom?”

“Nothing! You were not there.”

“Okay, but we don’t leave the homies behind. When we go, we all go. Remember, Prince?” he said, as if he was reminding him of the code of Black Sunday.

“Yeah, I hear you, and I respect that creed, but Tyrone knew there wasn’t no sense in taking the bust. Keep your head up, Little Man. Peace, Tony.”

“Peace, Prince,” Tony said. Then he said, “You know we ride or die.”

Prince drove off and called Supreme at the hospital.

“Peace, Prince. What’s up?”

“Some busters tried to lay me and our little crew in Douglas down!”

“What? Where? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I am good. On the road, checking our other spots. Tell three of the Death Squad to meet me tonight. We have some work to take care of.”

“Do you want me to ride?”

“No, Supreme, you stay there. It’s a red alert. Keep Mr. Big safe from harm, from anyone. You hear me?”

“No doubt.”

“I will call back within two hours. I have to check out where the danger is coming from.”

Prince called Aisha after a few hours and told her what went down and who he suspected. “King Tone from the Bronx and his crew have wanted a piece of Harlem for a while. Now they feel they have their weight up, so they made a move.”

“Are you hurt?” Aisha asked.

“No, not at all, but before the night is over, someone is going to pay in blood for my little soldier.”

“Listen, if you need anything, call me. I am on my way to see Jimmy now.”

“There are two of my personal team in there with Supreme. I will tell him you’re coming.” Aisha giggled. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Then Prince caught on and laughed. “You’re crazy, sister.”

Prince drove over to 143rd Street and Seventh Avenue, checking on Snake and Louie. “Everything good?”

“Yeah, everything is good. What’s up?” Louie wanted to know.

“Nothing. Stay on point. Matter of fact, close up shop in another hour. Spread the word to the crew in Drew Hamilton. Tell Chick I said to take the night off.”

“What’s the deal, Prince? What’s happening?”

“King Tone tried to move in on our spot in Douglas tonight and hit up Little Man’s crew. We’re not laying down for that. I sent a message they can understand loud and clear, but before he can set up, we’re going to pay his spot on Boston Road and 180th a surprise visit. The element of surprise is a muthafucka!”

****

Aisha arrived at the hospital and found a sore Mr. Big, but he was coming around, and he had many questions with no answers.

“Where is Prince?” he yelled at Hakim.

“I am your right-hand man. Why do you want Prince? I have everything under control. Men outside every emergency exit and men in the —”

Aisha interrupted Hakim in the middle of his sentence. “Jimmy, I heard from him already. He is taking care of your business interests as we speak.”

Hakim looked puzzled. He didn’t like being in the dark about anything concerning Mr. Big’s business.

Aisha moved closer to Jimmy and whispered in his ear, “The Death Squad.”

He immediately looked over toward Rae Kwan and Ghost. Something serious was going down, his natural instincts told him. Then he moaned in pain from the gunshot wound. “What was the fuck with that shit, and who were those muthafuckas throwing hot rocks at me that night of all nights? It was the celebration of my new singer. Well, Hakim, what’s going on?”

“Those busters are dead meat talking to their makers,” Hakim said harshly, filled with anger.

“Baby girl, before I was hit, I thought I saw you firing at those birds. Was I right?”

“I couldn’t let them take your head. I had felt something was wrong, and when I saw them moving toward you, I just naturally reacted out of instinct, you might say,” Aisha replied.

Mr. Big turned toward Hakim. “What the fuck was going on with the security outside my club, and what about my new artist? What happened to him? Is he okay?”

“Sure, boss. He’s fine. He made his way out of the chaos in the nick of time, right in the middle of his song. Those birds must have been professionals; they took out the three brothers across the street stationed on the roof.”

“And how the fuck did that happen?” Jimmy wanted to know.

Just then, Supreme busted in. “We have company!”

Bang! Bang!

Two shots rang out and then the sound of security racing down the hall toward the shots.

“Get me the fuck outta here!” Mr. Big yelled. Supreme and Aisha drew their weapons immediately, and so did Hakim. Kareem came in and helped Jimmy into the wheelchair. Ray placed his bulletproof vest on Jimmy. Then they began to find their way out of the situation.

The other patients looked out of their rooms in amazement. It was like a movie being shot. Then the reality of the situation set in and the panic began. The killers had silencers to keep the popping sound down.

“I was prepared for this!” Aisha yelled. She called out to her team, who came into New York.

Two of the females stepped out of the exit with guns blazing in the direction of the shooters.

“This way!” Red yelled as Karen opened up again.

They moved in silence as bullets flew over everything. Bottles were breaking, and the alarm bells were ringing. Asia and Carmen appeared out of nowhere, chopping down two of the shooters dressed in maintenance outfits and scrubs. Another one stepped off the elevator, and Ray sprang into action. He hit the floor, firing. As he rolled on the floor, he caught them both. One in the throat and the other in the chest. They died with their eyes open. One of them looked familiar to Jimmy.

“Let’s move!” Aisha yelled.

“Get me the fuck out of this chair!” Jimmy started hopping down the hall to the exit. The hospital ward smelled like alcohol and medicine. The ward was painted green and white. Blood splashed on the walls and floors as Carmen and Supreme shot their prey. Carmen loved the hunt, the exchange of fire, and so did Supreme. They paused as the shooters approached. Carmen took aim and fired, hitting him in the knee, shattering his knee

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[itsworn]

Hot Rod Builder Roy Brizio Tells Us How to Build For 40 Years

In a Rolling Stone article a few years ago, seminal guitar player Jeff Beck said he almost quit playing guitar to go to work building hot rods at Roy Brizio’s South San Francisco shop. There is almost a cult to the building of cars from Roy Brizio Street Rods. Roy’s been one of the most prolific builders of hot rods ever. In the 40 years he has been in the building business, he’s become the king of the 1932 Ford, but he’s built a lot more than just Deuces. His upbringing with father, Andy, a central figure in the Bay Area’s drag-racing culture, gave young Roy ample time and plenty of examples to educate him in the intricacies of building cars from scratch. With Fremont Drag Strip being where nostalgia drag racing came to be in the early 1980s, it was a perfect time to be Roy and to be building cars in close proximity to the action, which accelerated his prominence and building chops. Since then his output of hot rods has increased, no doubt aided from the publicity around building multiple cars for the likes of Eric Clapton and Neil Young, and he’s had the distinction of winning the Grand National Roadster Show twice. We wanted to find out what the magic was and what it takes to build hot rods for so long, for so many, with such a flourish to each one built.

HRM] Did you think you would be building cars this long?

RB] I didn’t think I could last this long. I really thought that since all of my friends were going to college and getting real jobs that if I could just do this for five years, then I’d go get a real job. But I never would have dreamed I’d be doing this when I was 60.

HRM] What’s a real job?

RB] One that normal people have. I’ve never been normal. I grew up in an abnormal family. We didn’t do what other people did—we went on road trips in hot rods and spent weekends at swap meets, car shows, and drag races. It was all good and fun, and I was a lucky kid to get to do that stuff and am happy I was interested in what my dad was doing. My dad never had to make me do this stuff. I enjoyed doing it and enjoyed his friends, and they spoiled me and stuck me in their Top Fuel dragsters. I’d go to car shows and sit in Ed Roth’s hot rods and George Barris’s cars. I guess because I was a kid that liked cars they took a liking to me.

HRM] What did you think you wanted to do for a living as a kid?

RB] I wanted to be a Top Fuel driver. Most of my early childhood was at the drag races because my dad was the starter at Half Moon Bay Dragstrip and he was really good friends with Jim McLennan, who owned Champion Speed Shop. He always had a dragster, and we were always around drag racing. He and Ted Gotelli had a Top Fuel dragster, so on the weekends we always went to the drag races—every Sunday was either Fremont or Half Moon Bay for probably 8 to 10 years of my life. I thought I wanted to be Don Garlits, Prudhomme, Ivo, all of those guys. Then I got older and got a chance to really sit in a nostalgia dragster. When Prufer and Burnett started nostalgia drag racing, we got involved in it and we built the Champion Speed Shop replica dragster, and old friend Louie Poole had an old dragster we ran, and it scared the hell out of me. Once I got strapped in and the engine fired up and I couldn’t see around the blower, I knew right then that it was not for me. I was never going to be a dragster guy, but it sounded cool.

HRM] How many employees do you have now?

RB] We have 10 employees now, and me makes 11. We’ve had as many as 15, but 10 seems to work well for us right now.

HRM] How many cars would you guess have come out of your shop?

RB] We always have at least 20 projects going—always. I’m sure that someday that number will go down, but we’ve had at least 20 for over 20 years.

HRM] How many cars have come out of you shop over the years?

RB] I’d say 300, but I say that every year, so I don’t know. We are averaging 10 cars a year, and we have been doing that for a long time. September 2017 will be my 40th anniversary in business. Those early years we weren’t cranking out as many cars, but the last 20 years we have been on a roll. Over 200 cars in the last 20 years for sure.

HRM] What’s the secret to being in the business of building hot rods for 40 years?

RB] Me loving what I do, but also being blessed with a lot of great people that give me the opportunity to service them. Also a lot of our customers are repeat customers. I’ve done 10 cars for the Edelbrocks, and we’re doing the 11th car for Eric Clapton. We’ve done 10 for John Mumford, too. I always take care of the customers, not because I think they’ll be coming back, but just to make sure they are taken care of for the one I do for them. Our philosophy for building cars has helped—I never want to go too far out. I have a niche market for building the kind of cars these people want. It looks good, sits right, and you can get in it and drive it. For me, this is what works. I didn’t plan on it happening that way, but that’s how it has worked. I’m not the guy to do a Ridler car or go after the Roadster Show every year. We’re the guys you come to if you want a hot rod you can get in and drive and still put on the floor of the Grand National Roadster Show [GNRS] and be proud of. We won the GNRS twice, and the first time was back when I thought it was important for me to do and it was a dream for me to win. We didn’t win the first time. We came to the show and we didn’t deserve to win. We lost in 1986 to Don Thelan. We redid the car and came back in 1987, and I think we deserved to win. We tried a couple more times over the years. These customers wanted to, but I told them I’d do the cars if they promised they wouldn’t have a problem if they lost. If they had a problem with losing, then I was not their guy. We did it for some nice people and didn’t win, but we did win with John Mumford’s track roadster in 2013. That was a lot of fun, and I was really proud of the guys involved in that build. Steve Davis had so much to do with it—that was his project we took over 25 years later and got to finish. I was so happy the car finally got done and that Steve was such a big part of it.

HRM] Why do you attract the Eric Claptons, Jeff Becks, and Neil Youngs?

RB] Well, Jeff has been a family friend for a long time. He came into my dad’s shop and bought a T-bucket chassis in 1972, took it home, and then we lost contact with him. When I opened my shop in 1977, he reappeared again and we became really dear friends and I still do stuff for him. I just built him another 1932 chassis. Eric Clapton came along through Jimmy Vaughn, who I have been a friend with for years, and he was a friend with Eric and so Eric…

HRM] But this is how it happened; I want to know why it happens?

RB] Eric didn’t know who I was. He came to me because he trusted Jimmy.

HRM] But Jimmy has never had you build a car for him.

RB] No, but we’ve been dear friends, and once we started building them for Eric, he felt comfortable with me and so it continues. Now Neil Young, that was different yet. I was always a fan of his, and my sister and I always listened to his music, and she told me some day he was going to come into my shop. I told her he never would because he doesn’t like hot rods. He’s into original cars. Then one day he broke down about two blocks from my shop. He was doing a video just down the street, and when his car broke down they told him there was an old car shop on the corner. He just walked into my shop with his 1957 Cadillac, and that’s how it started. He had no clue who I was. He never heard of me and didn’t know anything about me. That was nine years ago. We service and take care of cars for him and he’s become a good friend, too. When I called my sister and said she wouldn’t believe who walked into my shop, she said, “Neil Young!” Deb said, “I told you he would some day.”

HRM] If you weren’t building cars, what would you be doing?

RB] I’d be begging for a job at HOT ROD Magazine, but I can’t read or write. Honestly, I don’t think I had a chance to do anything other than cars because they were there, so I never thought of doing anything else. I grew up working in a speed shop—Andy’s Instant Ts and then Champion Speed Shop—so when I say I don’t think we were ever normal, we were as normal as you could be if you grew up around a dragstrip and a hot rod shop.

HRM] What’s been the most difficult project to come out of your shop?

RB] We did that 1937 Cord last year that HOT ROD did a story about, and it was probably the most difficult car we’ve done. The owner was a customer of ours; we had built two other cars for him. He asked me to do the car for him. He was adamant about having a front-wheel-drive, independent-suspension 1937 Cord like they all were, but with a late-model drivetrain. It was such a huge project and I was so busy at the time I told him I couldn’t do it. He was OK with that and took it to another shop. There was a problem and it never got finished. We stayed in touch, and when I asked him once how the Cord was going, he told me he stopped the project. Then he asked me if I would again do it for him. I told him I’d get the car back for him and think about it. It sat in my container for a year. Finally, I went to one of my guys and told him it would be overwhelming for me to run the shop and do this car, but if he would head the project we’ll do it. He was excited about it, and the owner was excited, but it was a huge project and it took us over two years to do it.

HRM] How about Neil Young’s electric 1958 Lincoln, the “LinkVolt”?

RB] Yeah, that was big, but we were not involved in the electronics, which was done at AVL in L.A. They do work for the OEs. The electronics were out of our deal, but yes, this was a big project because it’s hard to see the end. When a guy comes in and says he wants a 1932 Ford roadster, I know the end will be a year from now. We schedule it like we do with each car; we do the chassis and it goes off to the body shop, and when it comes back, we reassemble it and then it is off to Sid Chavers for upholstery, and that’s what we do every day. They are all done on a schedule—all scheduled a year in advance. I make all of my upholstery dates with Sid in November for the following year. I know what I’m building this year, and that’s how we get cars done. When somebody asks me how I get these cars done and how I get shops to work for me, I tell them I pay them, I don’t grind, we all work together. I’m fortunate to have some great body and paint guys to work with; I’ve got a great upholsterer that comes through for me all of the time, but we are on a schedule. They know when they are getting a car, and they do them in the time allotted. We’ve got that formula down, and that’s how we get them done.

HRM] What about a car that looks great when you get it and then you strip it and it’s junk?

RB] When we get a car that’s a Brookville body, we know what we are getting, but if it’s a car that we are not sure about, then it’s not on a schedule. As it get’s closer and I can see what it will take to make it right, then I will schedule it and it goes into our normal scheduling procedure. We strip the original cars early enough that we know where we will be, even if they are a lot worse than we expected.

HRM] Who did you learn the most from professionally?

RB] I was a lucky kid growing up in my dad’s shop and picking up stuff from the guys in his shop. Denny Craig taught me how to tig-weld at my dad’s shop. Partly, I was a pain in the ass because I was asking a lot of questions, so they either loved me or hated me, depending if I was a pain in the ass or not. Lil’ John Buttera was a huge influence in later years and Pete Chapouris helped with business stuff when I would call him. We did a lot of stuff with Pete and Jake’s parts, and still do to this day. I’d go to Dick Magoo and Boyd Coddington, and they would tell me anything because we always got along. I think that Magoo built some of the greatest hot rods ever, and now that I look back at all of the cars he built, I don’t know if he always got credit enough for some of the cool stuff he did. He had a great eye. Those Model A roadsters he did that he dropped the hoods on and the first 1932 Ford he built that I really liked, I’d look at it and couldn’t figure out why it looked so good. Then I found he lowered the hood line, and I borrowed that from then on. I learned to detail my cars from him, too. I’d detail my engines with a spray can or brushing them, and then I looked at Magoo’s engines and the detail. He’d paint the fins on the valve covers, and like the oil pressure sensor—he’d detail those things. He detailed cars so nice, and I knew I needed to make my cars look nicer. I’d never steal from them, but I’d ask questions and they would share with me. I used to spend summers at Dan Woods’ shop in Paramount [California] and he taught me how to arc-weld—he didn’t have a tig-welder, that’s all that he had. This is back when Jake Jacobs and Dan were partners. Grinding things and cutting out parts, that’s what I did. I used to sit in Lil’ John’s garage and just watch him work, and I was so proud to show him stuff I had done, and you didn’t get very many “atta-boys” from John. When I wanted him to see my cars he’d ask, “Did you do the best that you can,” and then I would question myself. He’d always say to do the best that you can and keep doing it. He looked at things differently than everybody else, and he took hot rodding to a different level. Whether you went the billet route or not, everybody stepped up their game and made their cars nicer because of him. No more square edges—they rounded edges off and finessed their cars to be nicer. There was more than one guy, but John, Magoo, and Pete Chapouris were probably the three guys I looked at the most. Pete for simplicity for sure, and that’s how I wanted my cars to be so you could work on them if you broke down—not too sophisticated because, to this day, I want my customers to drive their cars. And hopefully if there is a problem they can fix it or at least get it fixed on the road, instead of having to ship it home in a container because it was too exotic for anyone to fix.

HRM] What do you recommend to a young builder thinking about building cars professionally?

RB] If you have your heart set on it and you’re still young enough, then do what makes you feel good. You’re young enough that if it doesn’t work out you can still get a real job. I look at Billy Ganahl, he started at my shop sweeping the floors, and he’s become one of the most talented guys doing this today. He learned from my guys. I used to tell him to pay attention to what we are all doing. You don’t have to agree with what we are doing, but learn from these guys. I told him not to go into it thinking he knew how to do everything. Go in thinking you love what you are doing and you don’t know how to do anything and you want to learn from them, because all of my guys would show him anything he wanted to know, but if you tell them you know it all, they won’t show you shit. So if you’re a young guy, if you show your enthusiasm, you can go to any of the builders today and ask them for advice and they will tell you to call them, email them, or come back tomorrow when the show’s more quiet and I’ll talk with you. I believe all of the builders out there want to see this continue on and want to help young guys. HOT ROD has gone through many things that have kept people interested, and hot rodding will always be hot rodding because it doesn’t matter what you’re hot rodding—if you’re modifying it, you’re hot rodding it. There’s times I’ve looked at a car and thought it wasn’t a hot rod, but if it’s modified, then it’s a hot rod to the guy that built it. If it’s a Toyota and the guy wants to change the wheels and lower it and put a turbo on it, then it’s a hot rod. What they’re doing with fuel injection and electronics today, the cars are going faster than they’ve ever gone. If you’re a hard worker and can show your employer you are, then you’ll always have a job somewhere building cars. Go for it.

Five Things About Roy Brizio

His shop, Roy Brizio Street Rods, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

He’s the only boy in a family of six children.

His father, Andy, was the starter at Half Moon Bay Drag Strip in the 1950s.

The Jeff Beck song “Roy’s Toy” is a tribute to his friend, Roy Brizio.

Roy’s shop has built more than 300 hot rods over the 40 years he’s been in business.

The post Hot Rod Builder Roy Brizio Tells Us How to Build For 40 Years appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network http://www.hotrod.com/articles/hot-rod-builder-roy-brizio-tells-us-build-40-years/ via IFTTT

[lipwak]

VHS #296

4 Mississippi River of Song shows, a documentary on haunted spots in LA, a doc on the Rocky Horror Show and part 1 of the doc on Quebecois christmas tree sellers in NYC.

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Taste of the Classics - Tropical Sweets - The Swan music: Saint-Saëns: Le Carnaval Des Animaux short footage of a swans

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4 Mississippi River of Songs 1-3 = WNYE=s, #4=MetroArts 13=mono 1 hr each 1999

Music from them: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLk9H9VGew3f3iC_lfMTVsNBV9EqgREY3g

1 - Americans Old and New http://www.pbs.org/riverofsong/artists/e1-home.html narrated by Ani DiFranco some poor video

Chippewa Nation - pow wow Skal Club Spelmanslag - Red Headed Swede Soul Asylum - I Did My Best Babes in Toyland - 22 John Koerner - ?, Sail Away Ladies, Peter Ostroushko plays something Hmong qeej players (Vietnamese) playing while dancing. Sounds of Blackness - I'll Open My Heart to the Lord, I'll Be Ready, Hold On Change is Coming Karl Hartwich - polka, Syl Liebl Manny Lopez - familiar, Jazz Me Blues, Bix Beiderbecke weekend playing Bix’s horn, Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans La Otra Mitad - La Unica Estrella, another Greg Brown - Flat Stuff, Bo Ramsey, Who Woulda Thunk It, Canned Goods

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2 - Midwestern Crossroads (see also #287 for partial)

John Hartford -  on the riverboat Twilight with a calliope, Gentle On My Mind, Miss Ferris, unknown song about the river The Bob Lewis Family Band - at a festival/picnic, Born To Be With You, Don’t Forget To Tell My Savior…, Little Girl of Mine From Tennessee, familiar, Sit At My Father’s Side, familiar St. Charles High Band of Pirates - marching band, Louie Louie Fontella Bass - singing gospel now, Take Jesus For Your Guide, You’re Gonna Mess Up A Good Thing, This Little Light Of Mine, Rescue Me, I Don’t Believe He Brought Me This Far Oliver Sain - at a blues club, Stop Breaking Down, The James Family, Proud Mary, benefit, Ike Turner playing piano Sunshine drum group - Sylvester “Sunshine” Lee, Eugene Redmond, poetry and drumming, To The Drum St Genevieve Missouri -  Guignolée Singers, La Guignolée, Duke Blecher Festus, MO - Bottle Rockets, Cheap Motel, $1000 dollar Car, Get Down River

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3 - Southern Fusion Memphis

See the whole thing here: https://youtu.be/kzYbSaAZvZQ https://youtu.be/XU1Rbb8hBqw https://youtu.be/aPKQRi35cAE https://youtu.be/4qq464CCOdE https://youtu.be/snNe4PKNkos

Boundless Love Quartet (white gospel) - Jesus Hold My Hand, Amazing Grace, Walk Them Golden Stairs Sonny Burgess - playing at a roadhouse, We Want To Boogie, unknown song, where the Silver Moon Club was, Red-headed Woman Memphis community music - black marching band, Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity stepping Rufus Thomas - Beale St, the blues were born black, explains and sings Walking The Dog Memphis Horns - Easley Studios, Ann Peebles - I Hate To See That Evening Sun Go Down, Wayne Jackson, Andrew Love, unknown song, sibling harmonies Rober Lockwood, Jr. -  King Biscuit Blues Festival, How Long, Sweet Home Chicago Levon Helm - Hand Jive, James Cotton, Midnight Ramble, Cripple Creek Jack Johnson - cotton plantations of the delta, Clarksdale, getting his hair curled, plays acoustic gtr blues, unknown song e gtr in club Johnnie Billington - teaches Blues In The Schools, Eagle Flies on Friday, kids answering the words of the song Little Milton - two of his friends, Grits Ain’t Groceries, The Blues Is Alright smaller group - I’ll Be Crossing Over Mississippi Mass Choir - four unknown songs

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4 - Louisiana, Where Music is King

Henry Butler - When The Saints Kenny Bill Stinson - Honky Tonk Blues, Going Down To New Orleans, still spankin' the plank, Taters and Gravy and Chicken Fried Steak Gov. Jimmie Davis - Louisiana Hayride Band, Merle Haggard sings Happy Birthday to him, You Are My Sunshine DL Menard -  Hello Nelda, Christine Balfa, I’m Happy to be a Cajun from Basille, Honky Tonk Blues turned into The Back Door (La Porte d'en Arrière), Leo Abshire Geno Delafose - on the radio, Slims Y K K, Allez Voir Ma Tit Fille, Goodnight Moreau David & Roselyn - Walking To New Orleans, banjo and washboard in Jackson Sq, drummer, I’ll Fly Away, Marie Lavaux Treme Brass Band - Armstrong Park, Lil Liza Jane, James Andrews, When You Go To New Orleans, Uncle Lionel Batist(e) misspelled Soul Rebels -  Brighter Day, Let Your Mind Be Free Eddie Bo - Iko Iko, unknown song, unknown instrumental Henry Butler - Funky Butt, talks about rhythm, Hawkettes - Mardi Gras Mambo, Eddie and Henry play Check Your Bucket (give the drummer some), Henry plays Tipitina Irma Thomas-  The Lions Den, You Can Have My Husband, having a ball traveling around, had nights where she’ll have total recall about the songs, her music is the story of her life, Cry On, she reminds herself of Pearl Bailey, Time Is On My Side Irvan & Alan Perez -  décima, Canary Islanders, unknown songs

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The Haunting of Louisiana A Barbara Sillery Production of an Oak Lea Film 1 hr

Download it here: https://concepcionamn.jimdo.com/2013/02/17/watch-the-haunting-of-louisiana-film/?mobile=1

The Myrtles in St Francisville, ghosts seen lately, Oak Alley, Madewood, Ormond, Chretien Point, Destrehan, Lloyd Hall, Old State Capitol in Baton Rouge, loup garou, French Quarter, NO, Bourbon and St Phillip, Jean Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, Pirate’s Alley, Lafitte’s Guest House, singing monk by St Louis Cathedral, LaLaurie mansion 1140 Royal St, Beauregard Keyes house 1113 Chartres, Ursuline Convent 1110 Chartres, Lanaux mansion 547 Esplanade, O'Flarhety’s Irish Pub Irish Channel, happy medium, Halloween, Fleming Cemetery Bayou  Barataria, Ghostly Galavant at the Cabildo, Charles Foti, Marie Laveau, made voodoo a business, Archbishop Phillip Hannan, guard at St Louis cemetery #1, making space at the tomb, Metarie Cemetery, Josie Arlington.

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Behind The Music: The Rocky Horror Picture Show VH-1 1999 45:00, commercials edited out

Richard O’Brien sings an acoustic version of Time Warp, film has made $150 million, Fredericks of Hollywood Don’t Dream It Be It ad, Rocky Horror demo, stage play in London,  Lou Adler, Britt Ekland told him about it, LA show, Meat Loaf, Carol King went to the show, behind the scenes shots, all the Transylvanians were stoned every day, midnight showings started in April 1976 at the Waverly in NYC, audience participation started slowly, props, when people yell asshole they’re saying I love you - Barry Bostwick, 1978 bloomed, obsessive fans, 15th Anniversary, original starts showed up, Oakley Court castle, the show as foreplay.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0520969/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

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Tree Weeks Christmas tree sellers from Quebec in NYC NY Stories/Metro 1st half hour (see VHS #211 for second half hour)

Ezra Soiferman and Adam Steinman music by La Bottine Souriante

http://www.montrealfilmgroup.com/Tree_Weeks_Gazette_1998.html

various sellers, Charlie Brown tree for $1, bribes, freedom of religion law from 1938 permits sale of trees with no permits!, put tree in taxi, (see part 2)