astrodegeneracy
Degenerate Star Tumbling Department
Herein I dump the jangly bits of stuff I collate and collect and create to turn into more cohesive works later. Feel free to rummage.
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Hitachi DA-P100
Illustration by Akira Terasawa 寺沢彰
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The Heaviside Layer
Or, Cats and the Narrative Parallels of Steve and Cesare
After watching UP and re-listening to the Bigtop Burger soundtrack several times, I'm finally able to put into words while Steve and Cesare are obviously different in terms of personality, presentation, etc., when you consider their stories... they're more similar than you may initially realize.
(Watching the 1998 recording of Cats was also very important here. This will come back later.)
So first of all, what's the first thing that these two have in common, ownership of food trucks aside?
To put it the way Cesare does, they're freaks. They're weird. The only way they are able to fit in with others is by being the head of said themed food trucks, and making the uniforms their employees wear match them.
In other words, they are outsiders.
Even before the narrative begins, Steve and Cesare were shown to be cast aside by others. In "UP", Steve is banished from his home planet because he made a mistake at a crucial time, and the lyrics to Friends In Low Places reveal Cesare "wasn't missed or mourned" after he was killed.
They're both dead to the worlds they once knew.
But then...
"up, up, up, to the heaviside layer" - UP
"I was chosen for a second chance at life" - Friends in Low Places
For those of you unfamiliar with the musical Cats, the Heaviside Layer is the place a single Jellicle cat is chosen to go to at the Jellicle Ball each year to be reborn into a new life. Old Deuteronomy, the role Steve played, is the cat that chooses the one who will go to the Heaviside layer. However, Steve, along with Cesare, is more similar to the cat Old Deut ultimately picks.
I'm talking, of course, about Grizabella.
Grizabella is a former Jellicle cat who tries to rejoin the group, only to be rejected. Act II's opening number, "The Moments of Happiness", is sung by Old Deuteronomy (and was fumbled by poor Steve). It foreshadows Grizabella's last desperate cry for another chance in her big number, "Memory". The other cats accept her, and she is chosen to go to the Heaviside Layer and begin again.
So how does this relate to Steve and Cesare?
Both allude to having a new life, but are followed by their pasts. While Steve is happy with his food truck and his new friends, he is pursued by unknown authorities telling him he doesn't belong and can't belong. Along with being cast out from society millions of years ago, he's now been rejected from doing what he loves twice.
Cesare is almost the inverse. He talks up how he's got new friends (in low places), but he doesn't seem eager to stick around underground, and is vocally relieved that he won't have to be a watcher anymore. Despite being clearly very strange himself, his job is to imprison "freaks and weirdos"- and it might not be a stretch to say he's taken that to heart. Where Steve has no problem standing out, even going out to eat with his employees when they're out of makeup, Cesare insists his own employees make him look less conspicuous whenever he's with them. (Of course, this could be partially because he didn't want Steve to catch on to his plans, but I doubt Steve would have cared, since he had no idea Cesare even wanted to capture him.)
So how can this be resolved? Is there a way to truly begin again?
"Let your memory lead you/Open up, enter in
If you find there the meaning of what happiness is/Then a new life will begin" - The Moments of Happiness
This part in "The Moments of Happiness" is sung not by Old Deut, but a cat in the ensemble named Jemima (and then sung again by the rest of the cats). The lyrics and melody are reprised in Grizabella's song, "Memory". She then adds some more.
"Memory, all alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days/I was beautiful then
I remember a time I knew what happiness was/Let the memory live again...
...Touch me, it's so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory/Of my days in the sun
If you touch me you'll understand what happiness is/Look, a new day has begun" - Memory
"Touch me" has both a literal and figurative meaning here. Throughout the musical, the Jellicle cats are noticeably physically affectionate with one another. They play with other cats while dancing, snuggle, and even greet each other by pressing their hands together. This makes it all the more jarring when the Jellicle cats refuse to touch Grizabella at the beginning- even the curious younger cats are held back from getting too close. It is a visual sign that they do not accept her. After Grizabella sings her song, one of the younger cats reaches out to her and touches her hand. None of the other cats make any attempt to stop her. Then, the Jellicle cats finally show Grizabella the affection they denied her before, letting her finally belong, and of course she becomes the Jellicle choice.
I think, just like Grizabella, what Steve and Cesare need is acceptance and a place to belong. This doesn't mean the whole world needs to say they're okay with clowns, or zombies, or general weird freaks who don't fit in. It doesn't even mean they have to give up the memories of how they got here, be they happy or sad. What they need is to be loved for who they are, and to live without being afraid to do so.
And I think the friends they have are a good place to start.
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initiation song from the finders lodge by Ursula K. Le Guin
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Colani GT2, 1974. Luigi Colani built his first Volkswagen-based GT in 1960, the GT2 was also based on a Beetle but any similarity to the base car was limited to the rear lights. The radically aerodynamic car was kept by Colani himself and he used it to traverse the Indian subcontinent and he continued to develop it. The final version resides in the Colani museum.
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My friend had some comments about delicious in dungeon
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Walter Hancock: Pennsylvania Railroad War Memorial (detail)
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2004
From https://archive.org/details/webshots-freeze-frame
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Random writing tips that my history professor just told during class that are actually helpful
Download all your sources or print them so you can turn off your wifi
Give your phone to someone
Just. WRITE. Writing is analysing, you’ll get more ideas as you write. It doesn’t need to be perfect, for now you can just blurt out words and ideas randomly. You can fix it later.
Create a skeleton/structure before writing.
Stop before you get exhausted. It’s best to stop writing when you still have some energy and inspiration left, this will also motivate you to get started again next time.
Make a to do list
Work in bite sizes. Even if it’s not much, as long as you put some ideas on paper or do some editing.
Simple language =/= boring language, simple language = clear language.
Own your words. If they are not your words, state this clearly in the text, not just in the footnotes.
STOP BEFORE YOU GET EXHAUSTED. Listing it again because it’s easily one of the best tips a teacher has ever given me.
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making art is so fucking hard. wheres that defunctland quote
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An array of abandoned timber cabins - Karelia, Russia
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Chigusa Kitani - Lady in modern dress in the Taishō era (ca. 1912-1926)
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