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rabbitechoes · 7 months ago

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i'm realizing that my analysis for these posts in my month in review series are a lot less in-depth than the albums one, but i'm ok with that. it still motivates me to keep up with new singles even if my writing isn't as strong. anyways, there were some really cool songs this month especially towards the end!! to check out my thoughts on some of the albums, EPs, and mixtapes that came out this month click here!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

"Club classics" | "B2b" - Charli XCX

◇ featured on brat - Charli XCX (not yet released) ◇ genres: futurepop, bubblegum bass

Charli XCX kicked off the month by releasing two singles from her upcoming album brat. I wasn't super impressed with "Von dutch," but I'm loving these tracks a lot more. I just think the ideas presented on these two songs are much more interesting. "Club classics" pays tribute to frequent collaborators A.G. Cook (one of the song's producers) and SOPHIE both lyrically and musically. "B2b" is a lot more rhythmic, but those thumping synth lines keep it within the theme. These tracks have me a bit more excited for the album!

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"86Sentra" - NxWorries

◇ featured on Why Lawd? - NxWorries (not yet released) ◇ genre: west coast hip hop

Knxwledge and Anderson .Paak's project NxWorries is coming back with a new album soon and while I'm not super familiar with the group's work, this is a pretty decent, quick single. It's very lowkey, almost too lowkey, but it's hard to expect a lot from a track that's under two minutes. Hopefully the full record has more fleshed out cuts than this!

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"Eyes Closed" - Imagine Dragons

◇ genres: pop rock, electropop

What do you expect? Did Imagine Dragons get in gear and drop something cool and different? No, of course they didn't. It's the same flavor of bombastic electronic infused, vaguely rock cuts with big arena-ready choruses that feel incredibly empty. Music made for WWE promo videos. To their credit, they are one of the most consistent bands of the modern era ... consistently terrible that is!!! *cue laughter, applause, and fireworks*

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"Dream State" - Kamasi Washington

◇ featured on Fearless Movement - Kamasi Washington (not yet released) ◇ genres: jazz fusion, spiritual jazz

The latest single from Kamasi Washington's upcoming album features flute contributions from André 3000. This might be my favorite single so far. André's flute pairs very well with Washington's saxophone throughout. The song starts slow, as the instruments mingle with one another. Like a feeling out stage, until the drums and bass kick in towards the middle and everything just slides into place perfectly. So excited to hear this full album.

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"Karma" - JoJo Siwa

◇ genres: electropop, dance-pop, gay-pop

I almost feel bad tearing into this new JoJo Siwa single. We all know it's bad. Her silly KISS-adjacent makeup, the interview where she says she wants to make a new thing called "gay-pop" (pop music, definitely not a genre that is rich with queerness already), the "DREAM GUEST ON MY PODCAST" thing, it's been a busy month for her. This single sucks though. Corny and embarrassing. No one is buying this "mean girl" act unless they're like a pre-teen or something. Grow up, JoJo. For real this time.

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"Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other" - Orville Peck & Willie Nelson

◇ featured on Stampede - Orville Peck (not yet released) ◇ genres: contemporary country, singer-songwriter

Orville Peck and Willie Nelson have teamed up for a new version of Ned Sublette's iconic satire on cowboy stereotypes. Despite the song's suggestion that every gay man is inherently effeminate, I've always gotten a kick out of it. This new version is no different. Peck has been one of the shining stars in country music over the last few years and Willie Nelson is Willie Fucking Nelson. I think I prefer Nelson's solo version from 2006, but again, this is a lot of fun. Looking forward to Peck's new album!

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"Good Luck, Babe!" - Chappell Roan

◇ genres: synthpop, pop rock

I had no idea who Chappell Roan was before this month. She was all over my Twitter feed in the days leading up to and following this new single "Good Luck, Babe!" I definitely see what the hype is about. This is one of the most solid synthpop tracks I've heard in a while. Roan's energy is electric too. I feel like she's going to be an even bigger name within the next few years. Definitely need to go back and listen to her last album.

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"Reaching Out" - Beth Gibbons

◇ featured on Lives Outgrown - Beth Gibbons (not yet released) ◇ genres: krautrock, art pop

Another absolutely incredible single from Beth Gibbons before her new record drops next month. This one is a lot more avant-garde than the previous, but it rules so hard. The minimal instrumentation puts the focus on the multi-layered vocals and it's so cool. When the instrumentation ramps up it feels even more earned. Lives Outgrown is still one of my most anticipated albums of the year, even more so after this track.

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"Wanna Be" - GloRilla & Megan Thee Stallion*

◇ featured on Ehhthang Ehhthang - GloRilla ◇ genres: crunk, southern hip hop, trap

I've been aware of GloRilla for a bit now, but I never actually heard one of her songs until now. This rules. "Wanna Be" is a sharp southern hip hop cut from two of the most charismatic artists in that field. Megan definitely has more starpower, at least right now, but they're on an equal playing field here. Both of them just sound ferocious. The beat is a little generic, but the performances carry the song to greatness. I definitely need to give this full album a listen sometime.

*this was written before the lawsuit filed against Megan Thee Stallion.

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"b i g f e e l i n g s" - WILLOW

◇ featured on Empathogen - WILLOW (not yet released) ◇ genres: jazz-rock, jazz pop

Another great new cut from WILLOW that shows her going into a more jazz pop direction!! I know I said last month when writing about "symptom of life" that I was being cautiously optimistic about what she doest next, but hearing this puts me at ease just a bit. Not completely, there will probably be some horrible collab with someone in the near future, but I'm at least extremely looking forward to Empathogen. I loved a lot of her rockier tracks over the last few years, but the singles leading up to this album show an artist at the top of their game thus far.

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"Illusion" - Dua Lipa

◇ featured on Radical Optimism - Dua Lipa (not yet released) ◇ genres: dance-pop, diva house

A lot of my criticisms of the recent Dua Lipa singles unfortunately apply to "Illusion" as well. These are competently crafted pop tracks, but they leave me feeling so hollow. I don't wanna dance, sing along, I'm just so uninvested. She just has barely any presence on these tracks. Radical Optimism is just around the corner and I'm worried that I'm gonna be severely disappointed by it.

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"overseas" - Ken Carson

◇ genres: rage, southern hip hop

I haven't been the biggest Ken Carson fan in recent years, but I heard this new single getting some buzz so I decided to give it a shot. I definitely didn't hate it, but I'm not in love with it either. The beat here is really cool, but Carson just doesn't bring the heat. It's like trying to fit a round peg in a square hole.

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"Espresso" - Sabrina Carpenter

◇ genres: dance-pop, nu-disco

I wish I could say I'm on the Sabrina Carpenter train, but I'm just very underwhelmed by everything I've heard. This is a sleek pop cut with disco leanings, but it's almost like too sleek. Everything down to Carpenter's vocals is just so pristine. I do like the hook though, it's pretty catchy. I just wish there was a bit more punch to it, could've been so much better!!

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"DBZ" - Your Old Droog, Method Man & Denzel Curry

◇ genres: chipmunk soul, drumless, jazz rap, east coast hip hop

We got an all-star cut from Your Old Droog, Method Man, and Denzel Curry with a beat by Madlib. Yeah, this is pretty good. It feels like a cheat code, like yeah of course this rocks. Droog's verse is pretty strong, but out of everyone here I'm the least familiar with his catalogue. Method Man's verse rules, he brings that classic flavor to the track that Lib's beat calls for. Curry rocks this too. Not a gamechanger track or anything, but this is definitely a worthwhile track.

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"David Byrne Does Hard Times" - Paramore & David Byrne

◇ genres: new wave, funk

David Byrne returns the favor to Paramore for their cover of "Burning Down the House" with his own version of the band's smash hit "Hard Times." He strips back the instrumentation just a bit, really the energy on the whole, but it works decently well. The bridge towards the end here is where this song really hits. Also that saxophone throughout is such a nice touch. It's just a fun little cover, doesn't outdo the original, but it's nice to see a legend like Byrne tipping his cap to them.

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"Push Ups" - Drake

◇ genres: hardcore hip hop, trap

Oh lord, the great rap beef of April 2024. I touched on it briefly when I talked about Kendrick Lamar's verse on "Like That" from the Future & Metro Boomin album from last month, but it really ramped up this month. J. Cole had a sheepish, pathetic diss towards Kendrick meanwhile Drake somehow brought way more fire. It's still just funny to see Drake throw stones at anyone considering he has one of the biggest glass houses of all time. He's taking a break from gambling streams to make diss tracks, he's just such a funny character.

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"What Happened to You, Son?" - Belle and Sebastian

◇ genres: jangle pop, twee pop

I was really underwhelmed by Belle and Sebastian's previous album, but I enjoy this single more than anything on that record for sure. It's still got some unremarkable instrumentation and some clunky verses, but it's a fun listen. There's some witty lyrics here and I guess it's nice to hear them still rolling along, but I'll probably just stick with If You're Feeling Sinister.

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"Only One" - Cassandra Jenkins

◇ featured on My Light, My Destroyer - Cassandra Jenkins (not yet released) ◇ genre: sophisti-pop

A few years ago I remember listening to Cassandra Jenkins' last album An Overview on Phenomenal Nature on a whim, I thought it was ok! It hasn't been in my regular rotation, but I was reminded of Jenkins because of this new single and the announcement of her next album. This is a really tasteful track with gorgeous melodies and a vocal performance that sounds heavenly. This new album is certainly on my radar now and I'm definitely gonna go back and listen to her last album again.

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"Starburster" - Fontaines D.C.

◇ featured on Romance - Fontaines D.C. (not yet released) ◇ genre: post-punk

Oh this track fucking rules. Fontaines D.C. have been on my radar for a bit, but I never gave them a listen until now. I definitely need to familiarize myself with their stuff because "Starburster" is amazing. A great mixture of post-punk, rap rock, and dance music. A lot of those sounds feel opposed, but they come together so nicely here. This rules, I'm definitely gonna keep my eye on them leading up to this new album coming up.

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"Wake Up" - Backxwash

◇ genres: hardcore hip hop, industrial hip hop

Backxwash has been making some of the most interesting industrial hip hop and horrorcore of the last few years. This new single "Wake Up" is a great example of that. The production is so atmospheric, making way for her strained, exasperated delivery. It gives the track such a distinct energy. The midway point of the track gives all focus to the fuzzy beat before leading into an insane beat switch. I've never heard her on a beat like this before, but she absolutely kills it. Great track!

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"Right, Wrong or Ready" - Kara Jackson

🥇 BEST SONG OF THE MONTH

◇ genres: singer-songwriter, chamber folk

Kara Jackson dropped a cover of Karen Dalton's "Right, Wrong or Ready" this month and it's absolutely gorgeous. I wasn't aware of the original before this, but I think I prefer this cover to the original. Gorgeous chamber folk instrumentation and Jackson's vocals are, as to be expected, sublime. One of those songs that makes you appreciate just how beautiful music can be. I loved Jackson's last record and I'm hoping we get more new music from her soon, but I'll be bumping this one for a while.

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"Rewilding" - Thurston Moore

◇ genres: slacker rock, noise rock

While I'm a little disappointed this new Thurston Moore single released for Earth Day isn't a detour into experimental hip hop like Kim Gordon's recent music, "Rewilding" is a pretty decent slacker rock cut with some noisier moments. The instrumentation on here leans pretty tame, but it's still a cool listen. I'm not super familiar with Moore's solo work and I'm not sure when or if I'll get around to it. Unfortunately, this single isn't really pushing me to familiarize myself with it.

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"Like I Say (I runaway) - Nilüfer Yanya

◇ genres: indie rock, noise pop

Nilüfer Yanya's 2022 album PAINLESS really took me by surprise. It's been a while since I revisited it, but it was in my rotation a pretty decent amount that year. This return single is really strong. I love the production here, it sounds washed out in the coolest way possible. The melodies are also really strong. I'm hoping we get an album announcement in the coming months, I'll certainly be listening!

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"euphoria" - Kendrick Lamar

◇ genres: trap, hardcore hip hop

Not long after I initially published this post, Kendrick Lamar fired back at Drake's diss in a 6 minute track that has a killer beat switch and Lamar fully embracing being a hater. I have no dog in this fight, but for what it's worth, Kendrick easily looks the best coming out of this. His pen game is on another level, especially when compared to Drake (and Cole too, although his response was so uninteresting he's basically a non-factor at this point). Sometimes his delivery here gets a little too lyrical spiritual miracle, but it's still a fun track.

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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year ago

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It all started with a mouse

For the public domain, time stopped in 1998, when the Sonny Bono Copyright Act froze copyright expirations for 20 years. In 2019, time started again, with a massive crop of works from 1923 returning to the public domain, free for all to use and adapt:

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2019/

No one is better at conveying the power of the public domain than Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle, who run the Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain. For years leading up to 2019, the pair published an annual roundup of what we would have gotten from the public domain in a universe where the 1998 Act never passed. Since 2019, they've switched to celebrating what we're actually getting each year. Last year's was a banger:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/20/free-for-2023/#oy-canada

But while there's been moderate excitement at the publicdomainification of "Yes, We Have No Bananas," AA Milne's "Now We Are Six," and Sherlock Holmes, the main event that everyone's anticipated arrives on January 1, 2024, when Mickey Mouse enters the public domain.

The first appearance of Mickey Mouse was in 1928's Steamboat Willie. Disney was critical to the lobbying efforts that extended copyright in 1976 and again in 1998, so much so that the 1998 Act is sometimes called the Mickey Mouse Protection Act. Disney and its allies were so effective at securing these regulatory gifts that many people doubted that this day would ever come. Surely Disney would secure another retrospective copyright term extension before Jan 1, 2024. I had long arguments with comrades about this – people like Project Gutenberg founder Michael S Hart (RIP) were fatalistically certain the public domain would never come back.

But they were wrong. The public outrage over copyright term extensions came too late to stave off the slow-motion arson of the 1976 and 1998 Acts, but it was sufficient to keep a third extension away from the USA. Canada wasn't so lucky: Justin Trudeau let Trump bully him into taking 20 years' worth of works out of Canada's public domain in the revised NAFTA agreement, making swathes of works by living Canadian authors illegal at the stroke of a pen, in a gift to the distant descendants of long-dead foreign authors.

Now, with Mickey's liberation bare days away, there's a mounting sense of excitement and unease. Will Mickey actually be free? The answer is a resounding YES! (albeit with a few caveats). In a prelude to this year's public domain roundup, Jennifer Jenkins has published a full and delightful guide to The Mouse and IP from Jan 1 on:

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/mickey/

Disney loves the public domain. Its best-loved works, from The Sorcerer's Apprentice to Sleeping Beauty, Pinnocchio to The Little Mermaid, are gorgeous, thoughtful, and lively reworkings of material from the public domain. Disney loves the public domain – we just wish it would share.

Disney loves copyright's other flexibilities, too, like fair use. Walt told the papers that he took his inspiration for Steamboat Willie from Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, making fair use of their performances to imbue Mickey with his mischief and derring do. Disney loves fair use – we just wish it would share.

Disney loves copyright's limitations. Steamboat Willie was inspired by Buster Keaton's silent film Steamboat Bill (titles aren't copyrightable). Disney loves copyright's limitations – we just wish it would share.

As Jenkins writes, Disney's relationship to copyright is wildly contradictory. It's the poster child for the public domain's power as a source of inspiration for worthy (and profitable) new works. It's also the chief villain in the impoverishment and near-extinction of the public domain. Truly, every pirate wants to be an admiral.

Disney's reliance on – and sabotage of – the public domain is ironic. Jenkins compares it to "an oil company relying on solar power to run its rigs." Come January 1, Disney will have to share.

Now, if you've heard anything about this, you've probably been told that Mickey isn't really entering the public domain. Between trademark claims and later copyrightable elements of Mickey's design, Mickey's status will be too complex to understand. That's totally wrong.

Jenkins illustrates the relationship between these three elements in (what else) a Mickey-shaped Venn diagram. Topline: you can use all the elements of Mickey that are present in Steamboat Willie, along with some elements that were added later, provided that you make it clear that your work isn't affiliated with Disney.

Let's unpack that. The copyrightable status of a character used to be vague and complex, but several high-profile cases have brought clarity to the question. The big one is Les Klinger's case against the Arthur Conan Doyle estate over Sherlock Holmes. That case established that when a character appears in both public domain and copyrighted works, the character is in the public domain, and you are "free to copy story elements from the public domain works":

https://freesherlock.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/klinger-order-on-motion-for-summary-judgment-c.pdf

This case was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, who declined to hear it. It's settled law.

So, which parts of Mickey aren't going into the public domain? Elements that came later: white gloves, color. But that doesn't mean you can't add different gloves, or different colorways. The idea of a eyes with pupils is not copyrightable – only the specific eyes that Disney added.

Other later elements that don't qualify for copyright: a squeaky mouse voice, being adorable, doing jaunty dances, etc. These are all generic characteristics of cartoon mice, and they're free for you to use. Jenkins is more cautious on whether you can give your Mickey red shorts. She judges that "a single, bright, primary color for an article of clothing does not meet the copyrightability threshold" but without settled law, you might wanna change the colors.

But what about trademark? For years, Disney has included a clip from Steamboat Willie at the start of each of its films. Many observers characterized this as a bid to create a de facto perpetual copyright, by making Steamboat Willie inescapably associated with products from Disney, weaving an impassable web of trademark tripwires around it.

But trademark doesn't prevent you from using Steamboat Willie. It only prevents you from misleading consumers "into thinking your work is produced or sponsored by Disney." Trademarks don't expire so long as they're in use, but uses that don't create confusion are fair game under trademark.

Copyrights and trademarks can overlap. Mickey Mouse is a copyrighted character, but he's also an indicator that a product or service is associated with Disney. While Mickey's copyright expires in a couple weeks, his trademark doesn't. What happens to an out-of-copyright work that is still a trademark?

Luckily for us, this is also a thoroughly settled case. As in, this question was resolved in a unanimous 2000 Supreme Court ruling, Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox. A live trademark does not extend an expired copyright. As the Supremes said:

[This would] create a species of mutant copyright law that limits the public’s federal right to copy and to use expired copyrights.

This elaborates on the Ninth Circuit's 1996 Maljack Prods v Goodtimes Home Video Corp:

[Trademark][ cannot be used to circumvent copyright law. If material covered by copyright law has passed into the public domain, it cannot then be protected by the Lanham Act without rendering the Copyright Act a nullity.

Despite what you might have heard, there is no ambiguity here. Copyrights can't be extended through trademark. Period. Unanimous Supreme Court Decision. Boom. End of story. Done.

But even so, there are trademark considerations in how you use Steamboat Willie after Jan 1, but these considerations are about protecting the public, not Disney shareholders. Your uses can't be misleading. People who buy or view your Steamboat Willie media or products have to be totally clear that your work comes from you, not Disney.

Avoiding confusion will be very hard for some uses, like plush toys, or short idents at the beginning of feature films. For most uses, though, a prominent disclaimer will suffice. The copyright page for my 2003 debut novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom contains this disclaimer:

This novel is a work of fiction, set in an imagined future. All the characters and events portrayed in this book, including the imagined future of the Magic Kingdom, are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. The Walt Disney Company has not authorized or endorsed this novel.

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250196385/downandoutinthemagickingdom

Here's the Ninth Circuit again:

When a public domain work is copied, along with its title, there is little likelihood of confusion when even the most minimal steps are taken to distinguish the publisher of the original from that of the copy. The public is receiving just what it believes it is receiving—the work with which the title has become associated. The public is not only unharmed, it is unconfused.

Trademark has many exceptions. The First Amendment protects your right to use trademarks in expressive ways, for example, to recreate famous paintings with Barbie dolls:

https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/summaries/mattel-walkingmountain-9thcir2003.pdf

And then there's "nominative use": it's not a trademark violation to use a trademark to accurately describe a trademarked thing. "We fix iPhones" is not a trademark violation. Neither is 'Works with HP printers.' This goes double for "expressive" uses of trademarks in new works of art:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_v._Grimaldi

What about "dilution"? Trademark protects a small number of superbrands from uses that "impair the distinctiveness or harm the reputation of the famous mark, even when there is no consumer confusion." Jenkins says that the Mickey silhouette and the current Mickey character designs might be entitled to protection from dilution, but Steamboat Willie doesn't make the cut.

Jenkins closes with a celebration of the public domain's ability to inspire new works, like Disney's Three Musketeers, Disney's Christmas Carol, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Disney's Around the World in 80 Days, Disney's Alice in Wonderland, Disney's Snow White, Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disney's Sleeping Beauty, Disney's Cinderella, Disney's Little Mermaid, Disney's Pinocchio, Disney's Huck Finn, Disney's Robin Hood, and Disney's Aladdin. These are some of the best-loved films of the past century, and made Disney a leading example of what talented, creative people can do with the public domain.

As of January 1, Disney will start to be an example of what talented, creative people give back to the public domain, joining Dickens, Dumas, Carroll, Verne, de Villeneuve, the Brothers Grimm, Twain, Hugo, Perrault and Collodi.

Public domain day is 17 days away. Creators of all kinds: start your engines!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/15/mouse-liberation-front/#free-mickey

Image: Doo Lee (modified) https://web.law.duke.edu/sites/default/files/images/centers/cspd/pdd2024/mickey/Steamboat-WIllie-Enters-Public-Domain.jpeg

CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

#pluralistic #copyfight #scotus #mickey mouse #public domain #ip #contract #trademark #tm #jennifer jenkins #copyright #disney #nominative use

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batradio · 2 years ago

Video

youtube

#morgan willis #the jenkins house #synthy vibes

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secularbakedgoods · 11 months ago

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i'm seeing a lot of inaccurate posts about what you can and cannot do now that steamboat willie is in public domain, from people who don't understand what copyrights and trademarks actually permit

fortunately, the Duke University School of Law (specifically, their Center for the Study of the Public Domain) has put together a guide on exactly what you can and cannot do with mickey mouse as of 2024:

tl;dr, here's a handy diagram:

#disney #public domain #steamboat willie #mickey mouse

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vibe-stash · 3 months ago

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All the President's Men (1976)

Director: Alan J. Pakula DOP: Gordon Willis Production Design: George Jenkins

#cinematography #film stills #visual storytelling #all the president's men #all the president's men 1976 #alan j pakula #robert redford #dustin hoffman #1970s #70s films #70s cinema #70s vibes #movies based on books

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nycbabyjoey · 1 year ago

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Jinkies!

NSFW 18+ Only

Contains ABDL Content

"Jeepers," Daphne exclaimed as she approached the run-down spooky building. "This place is giving me the willies."

"No one said solving this mystery would be for the faint of heart," Velma replied. "But a series of spooky disappearances in a historically haunted town just before Halloween is nothing we can't handle."

Velma and Daphne stood shoulder to shoulder outside the Mystery Machine with their flashlights armed. Mystery Incorporated had gotten a tip a few days ago about tourists going missing in the Halloween destination town of Yawning Creek, Massachusetts.

"The town gets an influx of tourism around Halloween because of the Legend of Yawning Creek," Velma had explained to the gang.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy quivered. "Is that, like, the story where that scary monster hypnotizes people to walk in the creek where they're, like, never heard from again?!"

"The very same," Velma had responded, ambivalent to Shaggy's usual fright towards any mystery that came across their desks.

It was part of the dynamic that had lead to Mystery Incorporated's overwhelming success rate of solving mysteries over the past couple of years and made them world-renowned crime stoppers. Velma was the brains behind the group, analyzing details, collecting clues, and piecing it all together to unmask the supposed "monster" as just another average person with a grievance. Daphne brought the beauty, which allowed her to get accustomed with people, discover their motives, get kidnapped... only sometimes, and help the crew trap the culprit.

The others contributed as well, but it was Velma and Daphne's strong chemistry that landed the two of them here in front of the abandoned building, following a lead they had picked up from the town historian about the disappearances.

Who could've done it? Was it Mayor Bushwell in an effort to stir even more tourism to Yawning Creek in a sick ploy for reelection? Could it be Sheriff Walker, frustrated at the surge of Halloween mischief that the town's spooky origins attracted? Or maybe even the town historian himself, Old Man Jenkins, sending the girls on a wild goose chase so that they didn't catch on to his scheme to show people the true horrors of the town's capitalized-upon history?

The pair hoped that the answers to where these missing people were could be found here - the abandoned Yawning Creek Daycare Center. It was certainly a peculiar crime scene, Velma thought. But she couldn't afford to leave one stone unturned.

"Let's split up," Daphne suggested.

"Good idea," Velma said. "That way, we can cover more ground. Try not to get kidnapped again."

"Hardy-har," Daphne mocked back.

The two went their separate ways once inside the daycare. Velma went right at the reception area and Daphne turned left.

Velma opened the door to discover a large classroom setting that she suspected could fit nearly twenty students. It was quite a big space for a preschool classroom, fitted with shared tables for all the students, a play area with a chest stuffed full of toys like firetrucks and building blocks, and a reading carpet with shelves of childrens' books behind it. Velma always had an interest in reading, even at that young age. She reminisced about sitting criss-cross applesauce on the carpet and listening to her teacher reading The Rainbow Fish for the class, stopping after each page to show all the pictures.

Velma snapped out of her nostalgic thoughts. It was all very nice, but what did any of this have to do with the missing townspeople? A vengeful mother seeking revenge for the city's decreasing options for childcare? Seems farfetched, Velma figured. I have to look for more clues.

As she made a quick motion to reinspect the classroom, Velma accidentally stumbled on an old-fashioned Farm Animal Noises Wheel, which made a sustained "Mooo!" sound, as she fell to the ground. She caught herself on her two hands and her glasses flew off, sliding across the floor to an unknown destination.

"Oh no, my glasses!" Velma bemoaned. "I can't see a thing without my glasses!"

Velma began crawling on all floors around the Pre-K classroom, attempting to feel out for her spectacles. As she felt around, she grabbed something that felt like a small wooden box. She pulled it close to her face so she could make it out with her poor vision. It was a shape-sorter toy! The one where you had to fit the different shaped pegs in the correct holes. Velma used to love them when she was a tyke! Testing her geometrical knowledge and sharpening her brain was a treat to her at that age.

Velma indulged in her nostalgia by picking up one of the square pegs and placing it in the... wait, which hole did it go in again? Velma sat on the playmat, dumbfounded as she was unable to think of the correct option. She was a genius, after all! After a moment, she tried to jam it through a circle-shaped hole, but it didn't work. She went back to her train of confusion, not noticing as a stream of drool flowed from the side of her mouth onto her bright, orange sweater.

Suddenly, Velma's vision returned as a pair of foreign hands placed her glasses onto her face for her.

"Don't worry," the person said. "You don't have to worry about thinking anymore."

Meanwhile, Daphne searched what appeared to be the infant care area. There were large changing tables and shelves full of fresh diapers. Daphne gagged at the thought of having to change diapers. Gross!

Daphne was not the one to get her hands dirty, literally or metaphorically. Even for Mystery Inc., she wasn't the one collecting clues or putting all the puzzle pieces together; that was Velma. Daphne had the people skills to balance out Velma's analytical mind.

In this abandoned daycare, those skills may not have come in handy as much, Daphne thought to herself. There was no one here and even if they're were toddlers abound, she doubted it would make for rousing conversation.

It was these isolated situations where Daphne usually found herself being kidnapped - a typical damsel in distress. But, Daphne knew she was more than that and so she was sure to be checking every corner for anyone or anything that may be lurking.

She made her way towards a sleeping area where the little ones could be tucked in for naptime. However, a realization hit Daphne - these cribs weren't that little. In fact, they were pretty large! Large enough for Daphne herself to fit in. That must be a clue, Daphne figured. She had found a clue! And not gotten kidnapped! She almost couldn't wait to go share with Velma.

Unfortunately, Daphne celebrated far too early as, all of a sudden, a pair of ropes sprung out from amidst the darkness and wrapped themselves around Daphne's hands and feet, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Eep!" Daphne shouted as she hit the cushioned floor. With a thud, Daphne began to scream, "Velmaahhh-" Her cries for help were cut short by a piece of thick, black tape that came out of nowhere and covered up her mouth.

Daphne thrashed around on the ground while her yells were muffled.

"That's a lovely outfit," a voice said from the darkness, causing Daphne to pause in fear. "But I think it's time for a change."

Daphne's eyes widened as her clothes were magically ripped off her body one by one. First, her iconic long-sleeved purple dress flew forward after tearing at the back. She felt her bra magically unclasp at the back before it flew off into the darkness, followed by her panties. She was left completely exposed by the undressing, which ended with her lime-green scarf being pulled from her neck.

Daphne screamed as the invisible force yanked on her hair, pulling her to an upright sitting position. She tried moving her head around to escape the magic's grasp, but she was helpless as it began tying and knotting her hair. Daphne couldn't make out what it was doing until the pulling stopped and two pigtails fell down on either side of her head.

Suddenly, Daphne found herself laid with her back flat against the floor again as the mysterious force grabbed her feet and pushed them up towards her head, laying her ass bare for anyone who came through the door. She felt as something was slipped under it, but she was unable to lift her head high enough to make out what it was. It felt a little like medical exam table paper on Daphne's butt, but it was thicker. Daphne squealed as her legs were dropped and the rope binding them was undone so that the strange object could be folded up in between her legs. As it was fastened together on either side of her hips, Daphne realized what it was - it was a large diaper!

Finally, the rope that was shackling Daphne's hands and the muzzle that was constricting her mouth fell to the ground. "WHAT THE FU-" Daphne shrieked with tears in her eyes, but as her mouth was open a large pink pacifier flew inside, silencing her once again.

The magic force dragged Daphne by the legs out of the sleeping area and back towards the daycare. Daphne desperately dug her nails into the carpet in an attempt to fight back, but the force was too strong and she wailed as her body was tugged back through the door.

Once she was through the door and the force let go, she turned her body over and immediately spotted Velma. Daphne would have ordinarily been humiliated with her situation - this was certainly the worst kidnapping she had found herself in yet - but she realized Velma was also dressed like a giant baby! Her orange jumper and glasses were missing, leaving her in only a diaper and pigtails. Velma had no pacifier though; in fact, she drooled from her mouth with a vacant expression in her eyes. "Dafdee!" Velma celebrated with her arms raised high in the air at the sight of her friend Daphne.

"Velma?" Daphne managed past her pacifier. "Wha happen'd to-"

Daphne's inquiry was cut short as a figure came out of the darkness behind Velma. "Forn?" Daphne managed.

It was Thorn, the friendly rocker witch from Oakhaven. "Surprised, Daphne?"

"Forn, wha aw you doin'?" Daphne lisped her way through.

Thorn used her magic to pull Daphne's pacifier into her hand at a speed so fast it made an audible pop exiting Daphne's mouth.

"Sorry baby, I didn't quite catch that," Thorn teased. "Try annunciating."

"Thorn!" Daphne yelled in frustration. "Why'd you dress us like babies? We're your friends!"

"Fwiends! Fwiends!" Velma cheered, mindlessly clapping her hands together while bouncing up and down on her padded bottom.

"Friends?" Thorn questioned in disgust. "Ugh, classic Daphne. So sure that everyone must absolutely love you! We did get along long enough to stop The Witch's Ghost, entirely thanks to me! But I'm guessing you don't even remember what you said to me after that, do you?"

Daphne shook her head.

"Really? When I asked to join Mystery, Inc.?" Thorn recalled. "You and Velma laughed in my face, saying that there wasn't room for another girl on the team. You guys boasted about how you had the 'brains' and the 'looks' covered and that I had neither to offer. You told me to go run along and play with my 'little band.'"

Daphne was stunned. "Thorn, that's not how we meant it. You took it the wrong way! Besides, you lead innocent visitors to their demise just because of some stupid vendetta against us?"

Thorn cackled. "Nobody's missing!" she revealed. "See, if you and Velma were as clever as you think you are, you would have investigated to see if anyone had gone missing instead of blindly believing some anonymous tip!"

"That was you?!" Daphne realized, eyes wide. Thorn nodded her head with a grin.

"So now you're going to transform me into some mindless bimbo like her?" Daphne cried, gesturing towards Velma who was unintelligibly making noises with her mouth like "buhbuhbuh" while rolling around on the floor in her diaper.

Thorn laughed again. "Oh Daphne, don't give yourself so much credit. I took away Velma's 'brains', but you - you already have about a grade school reading level. There's barely any 'brains' to take! No, you were the 'looks,' weren't you? Always loving your cute little outfits and believing that being the team slut was actually important to solving mysteries! You'll be in only one outfit from now on - your diaper. My spell makes it so you can't wear anything else. And you won't be able to remove it yourself."

Daphne fumed, both at the accusation that she was stupid and at the prospect of toddling around in thick diapers for the rest of her life! She pulled at the tapes, trying to rip them off to no avail.

"It's not a total loss," Thorn mocked. "You'll still be able to accessorize! They make lots of cute diapers with fairy princesses or unicorns or mermaids on them! We'll see how many men are fawning over you in that getup! I'm sure Fred will find it so hot when you tug on his ascot and ask him to change your stinky diaper!"

Tears ran down Daphne's face. "You can't do this! You ca-" Daphne was once again interrupted by the large pacifier flying into her mouth.

"That's better," Thorn said. "Now, one last spell."

Thorn snapped her fingers and Daphne immediately felt her stomach rumble. She grasped it, clenching every muscle in her body to block what was about to happen. She heard a fart escape Velma's diaper, followed by a giggle. Her counterpart was blissfully content with the spell's effects and didn't fight them, audibly unloading a mess in the backseat of her diaper. Daphne's face turned red from strain, praying to avoid the same fate. But at long last, Daphne couldn't take it and destroyed her diaper, filling it from front to back with liquid mush.

"Oh, how cute!" Thorn derided. "It smells like you babies left me two clues! Now, you two are going to change each others' dirty diapers after a quick game of 'humpies'. Then, I'll bring you two back to Shaggy and Fred where we'll introduce them to the newest member of Mystery, Inc. - me! My crime-solving intuition suspects that there may be a spot for a girl on the team after all. Even if that spot involves changing diapers and warming up bottles for this dynamic diaper duo!"

I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids and your Patreon!

#ab/dl #diaper caption #ab/dl caption #diaper humiliation #ab/dl girl #ab/dl fiction #ab/dl story #ab/dl story time #ab/dl babygirl

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white-cat-of-doom · 8 days ago

Text

A busy day in Beijing today, as the International Tour cast did their first cover run, and then performed a show shortly after.

Jesse Chidera covering Old Deuteronomy, David McIntosh covering Munkustrap, Aaron Jenkins covering Skimbleshanks, Marcus May as Mungojerrie, Reece Darlington-Delaire as Bill Bailey, Jamie Armour covering Mistoffelees, Isabel Moore as Victoria, Hazel Baldwin as Jennyanydots, Daniel Timoney covering Rum Tum Tugger, Deja Linton as Tantomile, Bailey Johnson as Coricopat, Gavin Eden covering Asparagus, Emma Johnson covering Bombalurina, Charles Croysdill as Carbucketty, Lauren Bronwyn-Wood covering Jemima, Nikki Biddington covering Grizabella, Carrie Willis covering Jellylorum, Marco Venturini as Admetus, and Meghan Peploe-Williams covering Demeter.

Emma Johnson and her cover Bombalurina.

Carrie Willis covering Jellylorum.

Gavin Eden with his Bustopher Jones and Gus covers, with Carrie covering Jellylorum.

Jamie Armour covering Quaxo/Mistoffelees.

David McIntosh covering Munkustrap.

Jesse Chidera having fun covering Old Deuteronomy.

Hazel Baldwin as Jennyanydots backstage with cast and covers.

And after these new experiences, there was still a show to do!

Deja Linton as Tantomile, Hazel Baldwin as Jennyanydots, and Alice Oberg as Demeter.

Meghan Peploe-Williams still covering Demeter, with Gabrielle Parker as Jemima.

Marco Venturini as Admetus charms you backstage.

Jesse Chidera back as Rum Tum Tugger.

21 November 2024.

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mariacallous · 1 month ago

Text

On a dead-end road that climbs out of the tiny city of Jenkins, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Eastern Kentucky, there stands a large warehouse with a mint green roof. It shares the road with a few other businesses, but is otherwise surrounded by an expanse of open fields and tree-lined slopes. Inside, the warehouse is stacked high with racks on racks of computers—thousands of them. But none have ever been switched on.

The warehouse is owned by Mohawk Energy, a company cofounded by Kentucky state senator Brandon Smith in 2005, originally to resculpt landscapes disfigured by coal mining. After lying dormant for a period, Mohawk was reincarnated in 2022 when Smith struck a deal with HBTPower, a company then owned by Chinese crypto exchange Huobi, which wanted to use the warehouse for a bitcoin mining operation.

Under the deal, Mohawk promised to fit up its warehouse with the necessary power infrastructure, operate the equipment, and funnel any bitcoin produced to HBT. In return, HBT would pay Mohawk a monthly hosting fee, a cut of its mining revenue, and the associated energy bills.

Smith says he hoped the arrangement would generate tax revenue and create jobs for former coal miners, who could be trained as repair technicians. The coal industry departed Jenkins long ago, the reserves depleted, leaving people in search of work. More than a third now live below the poverty line, per the latest census data. “I liked the idea of going from one type of mining to a new type,” says Smith. “I thought, now in Eastern Kentucky we are going to have our time—we’re going to catch up and play a part in the tech future.”

But after a promising start, the relationship between Mohawk and HBT soured and then fell apart. “Nothing has ever been turned on. It’s a fascinating, almost Willy Wonka–type atmosphere when you walk through,” says Smith. “It has turned into a disaster.”

In November 2023, HBT brought a lawsuit in federal court, alleging that Mohawk had breached its contract on several fronts, including by failing to install the appropriate power infrastructure and secure certain power subsidies, and attempting to sell off the mining equipment. “Ultimately, the source of the current dispute is Mohawk’s basic failure to comply with its obligations, not only in a timely way, but at all in many regards,” says Harout Samra, a specialist in international dispute resolution at law firm DLA Piper and representative for HBT.

Mohawk sued HBT in return, contesting the various alleged breaches and claiming that HBT is delinquent on more than $700,000 in rent, labor, and fit-up costs. The company is also seeking damages relating to the loss of income over the term of the contract and the inability to bring a new tenant into the facility while the equipment remains on-site. “Huobi simply made a bargain it believes now is a bad one, and wants to get out of it without paying the funds it owes,” the filing states.

The legal conflict, which remains unresolved, is just one in a series of fights between Chinese companies and the owners of industrial facilities in the rural US over failed bitcoin mining partnerships. What looked to facility owners in Kentucky like an irresistible opportunity to tap into a new line of business in an otherwise fallow period has turned into a nightmare. They claim to have been saddled with unpaid hosting fees and energy bills worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, with few options for recovering the money. The Chinese parties have been left equally displeased. “HBTPower obviously regrets that this opportunity has ultimately played out the way it has,” says Samra.

The bitcoin mining game—a race between computers to win the right to process a bundle of transactions and claim a crypto reward—is dominated by large corporations that own and operate industrial-scale facilities. But in 2021 and 2022, smaller-scale operations began to proliferate in the US countryside wherever there was available power, including in Kentucky. “A lot of mom-and-pop shops opened up,” says Phil Harvey, CEO at Sabre56, a firm that consults on crypto mining projects and operates its own facilities. “Appalachia has always been a good source of power.”

These small facilities were plugging a gap in the market. A ban on crypto mining in China had left businesses casting about for a new home for their many millions of dollars’ worth of mining equipment. “A lot of wealthy Chinese businesses were affected,” says Harvey. “Every minute these machines are down, they are losing revenue.” Meanwhile, as the price of bitcoin ballooned—and the profitability of mining along with it—mining firms and investor groups began to hoard large quantities of bitcoin mining equipment of their own, says Harvey, without considering where they might deploy it.

In an overheated market, holders of mining equipment jumped into hosting arrangements at short notice with owners of small facilities, some of whom had no prior experience and insufficient expertise, who agreed to install the equipment and run the mining operations on their behalf.

But the haste with which these hosting relationships came together, in the name of striking while bitcoin was hot, says Harvey, set many of the partnerships up for failure. There was limited due diligence conducted by parties on both sides, delays in kitting out facilities and deploying equipment, and disputes over payment terms, he says, among other points of friction. “It's a snowball effect where everyone just ends up getting pissed off with each other,” says Harvey.

Though the American market proved more expensive and bureaucratic than some Chinese businesses expected, says Harvey, problems were also caused by the hubris of facility owners, some of whom found themselves in over their heads. “It’s no joke running a [bitcoin mining] operation of any kind of scale,” he says. “Just because the Chinese are tough to do business with, doesn’t mean they are the ones in the wrong. I would say that blame is equally shared.”

The law firm acting for Mohawk in its dispute with HBT, Anna Whites Law Office, has represented multiple owners of small facilities in Kentucky in similar legal conflicts with Chinese partners. The cases differ from the Mohawk situation, says attorney Anna Whites, founder of the firm, but share a common thread: “We saw a pattern that [companies with ties to China] would ship in machines with uncertain provenance, mine very heavily for three months, then run without paying the bill,” she claims.

Some of the cases settled out of court; Whites is unable to supply the details for reasons of client confidentiality. But others continue to drag on.

Biofuel Mining, a company formerly co-owned by Smith, is involved in legal tangles with two companies that Whites believes to be run out of China: Touzi Tech and VCV Power Gamma. Although both are incorporated in Delaware, per SEC filings, they conduct business in Mandarin and cannot be reached at their listed US addresses, Whites claims. “It's pretty standard for the foreign entities from any country to get a short-term office so that they have less scrutiny from US investors and government agencies,” she says.

In both cases, Biofuel claims, the firms shipped equipment from China to its hosting facility in Eastern Kentucky, then walked away with the bitcoin produced, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid energy bills and hosting fees.

Biofuel reached a settlement with Touzi in early 2022 for $60,000, but despite having handed back the mining equipment, it claims not to have received the sum it is owed under the agreement.

In the still-unresolved spat with VCV, Biofuel received permission from the Martin County Circuit Court in Kentucky to sell off the mining equipment, claims Whites, to recoup a portion of the funds it is owed (she has not confirmed the amount), but she alleges that no damages have yet been awarded. VCV has stopped responding to communications, she claims.

Biofuel has since dissolved, put out of business by the failed hosting ventures. “I literally lost my house—I lost everything. It financially ruined me,” says Wes Hamilton, former Biofuel Mining CEO. “I’m just so frustrated about the whole thing.”

WIRED contacted VCV and Touzi for comment, but did not receive any response.

There are few financial recovery options for companies like Mohawk and Biofuel. The situation is made more difficult, as in the Mohawk case, if they are dealing with so-called special purpose entities. Because they are set up by their parent companies for a single specific business venture, these entities need not be concerned about their long-term ability to operate in the US.

“It certainly can be more difficult to recover damages from a non-US counterparty,” says Kim Havlin, a partner in the global commercial litigation practice at law firm White & Case. “There is certainly a risk that an entity that doesn’t need to be in the US may just ignore the case.”

Even if the Kentucky facility owners win out in court, it could be difficult to collect any damages awarded. “A judgment is essentially a piece of paper. Any judgment needs to be turned into assets or cash in order to be valuable,” says Havlin. If the opposing party refuses to pay up and has no US assets to collect against, sometimes that isn’t possible.

Almost a year after the dispute began, the Mohawk case is stuck in legal limbo. In a setback for Mohawk, the presiding judge recently denied its motion to dismiss HBT’s complaint, on the basis that it had failed to sufficiently back up its argument. The judge also pushed Mohawk’s countersuit into arbitration, a forum for resolving disputes privately instead of in open court. Non-US parties tend to prefer arbitration as a way to “remove a home forum from both sides,” explains Havlin. “You can pick an arbitral seat in neither country as a means of creating a neutral playing field.” A parallel federal court hearing is set for December to consider whether an injunction should be imposed on Mohawk, preventing it from selling off the remaining HBT equipment in its possession.

Smith has given up on the idea of recovering the full amount he claims to be owed. “We’re at the point that it’s almost silly to even be arguing about breaking even,” he says.

In an interview with PBS that aired in September 2023, touting the Mohawk Energy facility, Smith said he hoped to prove that not every business that blew into Jenkins would abandon the area. “I’ve stood at their ribbon cuttings, then watched them leave. I’d like to do something to let people know that not everybody is like that,” he said.

After the relationship with HBT collapsed last year, Smith faces the prospect of Mohawk becoming yet another false start. With the facility inactive, the company has been forced to dismiss the former coal miners brought on as technicians. (It is unclear how many people it employed.)

The Mohawk facility was perhaps never set to revitalize Jenkins in the way Smith hoped, anyway. “I would say that a rural community benefits very little from a bitcoin mining facility. In terms of job creation, it’s minimal in a lot of cases,” says Harvey, the consultant. “It's certainly not the savior to a dwindling community.”

Nonetheless, Smith remains hopeful of salvaging the crypto mining project, with a new partner. “I’m hoping that this gets settled in the way that it should and that somebody comes forward and lets us go through with the vision that we wanted for this region,” he says. “I hope every day that maybe some big company will see that there's a place ready to go in this part of the country.”

Otherwise, Mohawk’s dalliance with bitcoin mining will become a cautionary tale. “It was very hurtful to see these families lose their income. We were one of the biggest payrolls in Jenkins,” says Smith. “It adds insult to injury that I’m sitting here arguing in court.”

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