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poprockrenaissance · 7 months

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"An Open Window Into Another Dimension"

By Kelsey Cap

When I go to see live music, I generally prefer to be as close to the stage as humanly possible. There is something about being able to see the musicians get lost in their uninhibited stank faces, or witness some glitter wink at me from their eyeshadow or outfit that makes a live show that much more engaging and therapeutic. Except one downside to having such an intimate view is that it can be difficult to see the whole band perform depending on how the stage is set up or where you are standing. While seeing Grace Potter perform at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont in September, I was pleasantly surprised when the band came out on stage and I could actually SEE! Like a photograph perfectly framed between the glossy, weathered legs of Grace’s signature Hammond B3 Organ, there was Jordan West in perfect view. Normally she’s the most elusive person to see on the stage, since she’s always towards the back hidden behind a big drum kit. In that moment I found a window… a new perspective. Normally all eyes are on Grace, but this unexpected vision inspired me to take a little detour.

It brought me a lot of joy to be able to actually WATCH Jordan play all night. There still aren’t enough women playing drums and pursuing other male-dominant arts and lines of work, so it has been incredibly refreshing getting to experience a badass and wildly talented female drummer since she started playing with Grace in 2019. It means a lot to me personally because when I was in middle school, I actually wanted to try percussion in music class. To my disappointment, my mother said no to drums stating they would be too big and too loud for our small house.To appease her, I tried the flute and absolutely hated it. After two months, I switched to clarinet and hated that even more. So. Much. Spit. Three months later I quit the school band altogether and now the only instrument I know how to play these days is the tambourine.

When Grace and the band started playing “The Lion the Beast the Beat” and I felt those first few opening drum beats ricochet off my chest, it got me thinking... In some alternate reality, what if my mother had said yes? Could I possibly be the one up there on stage singing and playing drums with Grace? If I actually tried drums first and stuck with it, what would my life be like? Who would I have been friends with? How would being in the school band shape my personality and confidence?

I was friendly with the “band geeks” because at my school most of the misfits stuck together. My close friend group was loving and accepting of me but the majority of them were very academic-oriented and in advanced classes, which resulted in me spending way too much time and energy trying to get perfect grades. Even though it was a struggle, I think it was my way of proving to people (mostly myself) that I was smart. Because whether intentional or not, many people throughout my life have said and done things that insulted my intelligence and made me feel like my ideas and voice didn’t matter. Looking back, I think allowing myself to get a C every now and then would have been good for me… maybe I needed some band geeks to remind me of what living is all about.

To be honest, I don’t think I would have actually stuck with the drums long-term either. But I do think I would have had a blast banging on that shit and probably stuck it out a little bit longer. 20 years later I genuinely understand my Mom’s hesitation. Drums are not for the faint of heart. And despite our mutual love for loud rock music, I realize now that we both get sensory overload easily. I didn’t know that back then… but didn’t she know what a "good kid" I was? I was a rebel at heart, but had too much anxiety to break her rules. I would have only played when I was allowed or when she wasn’t home. God knows my Dad would have been thrilled to have an excuse to soundproof the basement or create a brand new setup at his place! That kind of stuff was fun for him. My father had a soft spot in his soul filled with a deep love and respect for female rockers. He introduced me to many strong, independent women in music, entertainment, sports, and science. And he always encouraged me to follow their lead. Women like Anne Wilson, Stevie Nicks, Carole King, Shirley Muldowny, and Sally Ride are the ones who led me to this show. He was and still is one of my biggest supporters, and I know he would have appreciated this unique vantage point as well. Good thing he was grooving along next to me all weekend in some alternate dimension for VIP angels.

As I snapped back into reality halfway through the song, I put my phone away and started to surrender my body to the beat. It was in that moment of pure, uninhibited emotion that I remembered how painfully beautiful my life has been. And I wouldn’t want it any other way. I choose to believe everything happens for a reason, and if you can’t find a reason, you make one. Maybe my Mom had to say no to me playing drums so Jordan would be the one up there on stage. The world needs a drummer like her. Maybe I lost my unique father to cancer at 19 years old so that I would have something to write about. So that I could find my voice and, in turn, help other humans find theirs.

This is why it is important to allow our children and other loved ones to chase after what calls them and speaks to their soul. Every single tiny detail or decision made throughout our lives could completely change the trajectory of someone else’s life. This is what I think Mother Road is about: duality in life and finding healing within it. We are in control of the narrative of our lives even when we didn’t choose the plotline. And both concepts can exist at the same time. It's the seemingly delusional realization that we are all deeply connected yet completely separate depending on the choices we make, the perspectives we see, and potentially… the dimensions of the universe that we reside in.

And just like that… the song ended, and a piece of deep-seated resentment towards my mother evaporated into the echoes of the screaming crowd. Music is medicine, and so is sharing your story. Never underestimate the power of an open window and a determined woman.

#grace potter #drummer #concert photography

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lmttn · 11 months

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For Later..... Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (2019)

Bought this on the Steam sale for $10. I plan on getting around to it after finishing Gabriel Knight 3 (1999), if I don't start playing it parallel to GK3. I felt like I'd maybe been too mean to the visual novel as a genre in the past and I think I found a new lens through which to give them a fairer chance.

Enclosed: overly long/pretentious/disorganized ramblings about visual novels, adventure games, and video games as a narrative medium.

I think I toiled for a bit too long over the word "novel" in "visual novel." I long dismissed the VN genre as lacking literary merit while completely forgetting that, unlike an actual book, text does not comprise the whole of a VN. There's more to it here: images, sounds, music, possibly player agency, possibly more tactile gameplay segments, etc. Basically I was a huge jerk who was way too far up my own ass. Bad habit.

But admission aside, I still really don't think most video games tell good stories. I don't mean that from like a John Carmack perspective. I'm not a wholesale video game story hater. I don't think video games can't or shouldn't try to tell good stories. It's just that I think they generally don't. Most video games regarded by more mainstream-leaning outlets/influencers as having "good stories" a) don't, and b) do absolutely nothing to flex the unique properties of video games as a narrative medium. The Last of Us (2013), for example, is not only an obvious Hollywood drama pastiche—one that would have been rightly shat on had it been a movie—but its gameplay is so railroaded that it doesn't even have anything to lose by not being a video game. While I don't think the story of TLOU would have been compelling in any medium, nothing about it tells me it had to be a video game.

But then, sometimes (and this is a big fucking sometimes), there's something like Planescape: Torment (1999). Torment really would not have worked as anything other than a video game. Its body of dialogue is too expansive and too nonlinear for anything else to really contain it. You could have made it a choose-your-own-adventure book, but it'd probably be the size of multiple phonebooks. But you wouldn't really want it to be a CYOA book because then you'd lose out on the computer role-playing aspects. Its combat and encounter design leave a lot to be desired, but you get some choices as to how you develop your character (not just narratively, but also in gameplay terms, as you can customize your stats and equipment and change between different character classes), and you get to explore beautiful pre-rendered maps with tons of NPCs to talk to and sidequests to undertake. And thankfully, the mountains of text are worth it. Planescape: Torment has an exceptional story. It's the first name that comes to mind when I think about well-done stories in this medium.

Over the past few days I watched a friend play through The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery [aka Gabriel Knight 2] (1995). As I talked about in my previous post, I played through it last year and it proved to me that I could get into a point-and-click adventure game. Watching my friend play it let me refresh my memory of its story and it had me thinking: "I like this story, but I don't think I would like it if it wasn't in a video game." I think I meant a few different things by that. For starters, its campy FMV presentation is just too charming to lose, and you obviously couldn't get that in a book (ironically, there is a novelization of the game, written by Jane Jensen herself). In addition, it was pretty fun to walk around the environments and click on stuff and hear the protagonists' thoughts on whatever you clicked on.

But most importantly is something I took way too long to realize. As in, I'm just recently consciously thinking about it: I just don't look for these kinds of stories in books or movies. Planescape: Torment is a dark fantasy story, and Gabriel Knight 2 is a supernatural detective story. On the other hand, I almost never read genre fiction. I think my dumb ass really was looking for Pynchon or Cheever in video games. In hindsight, I feel so pretentious. Like, of course I'm not going to find Ingmar Bergman outside the cinema. Of course I'm not going to find Warren Spector outside of video games.

So that's a whole list of clicking points that led to me deciding to give the visual novel another shot. I should just make sure to treat them as adventure games; not as novels. I know that in Japan there is a split between NVL (VNs that feature little to no interaction) and ADV (VNs that tend to have more interactive sections, like puzzles/minigames/quick-time events/etc) titles, but for my own health I'm going to interpret the VN genre as a whole as a subgenre of the much broader "adventure game" category.

And so, this Steam Summer Sale, I bought Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (2019), and now that I've left all that "muh literary merit" bullshit behind me I actually have no expectations going in. Despite its popularity, I know basically nothing about this series. I know you play a defense attorney named Phoenix Wright, I know the first entry placed pretty high on Adventure Gamer's 2011 All-Time Top 100, and I know that almost everyone I know who has played these games is almost fanatically in love with the franchise. I hope I enjoy it as well.

Thank you to anyone who read all the way through this. I probably should've said this at the end of my last post as well, since I think that one's even longer. I didn't really do any editing; this isn't an essay. I'm just using Tumblr as a means to publicly vomit walls of text at my screen. Besides, sometimes it's fun to just spill a bunch of thoughts without any concern for organization.

#backlog #ace attorney #visual novel #adventure games

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nightxlight9 · 3 years

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Inspired from birth ｜ Emptiness that you want to hug

Dialogue with the Bungei Prize-winning author.

Tono Haruka, who received the Akutagawa Prize (1) less than a year after the 2019 Bungei Prize (2), and Sakurai Atsushi, the frontman of BUCK-TICK, who continues to play an active role in music culture after their major debut in 1987 and who this September celebrated 33 years from that day. As if real father and son, as artists of different genres - what do they feel and get from coexistence? That which was not told before; what I always wanted to hear. Here, for the first time, is presented a dialogue that pushes creative boundaries.

ᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠ Resonant feelings

Sakurai: I didn’t think the day would come when we could talk like that. I am very grateful.

Tono: Likewise, thank you very much.

— Sakurai-san, when you read Tono-san’s novel, what impression did it leave on you?

Sakurai: Cultivation shocked me. Not in the sense that I didn’t like it - it is rather akin to art that I like to touch. Regarding the Catastrophe — thanks to the Cultivation I am tempered enough for Tono-sensei’s books; and even though there are a lot of hardcore scenes of sex and violence, it didn't shock me too much. While I was reading, he pulled me in and repulsed me - this both disturbed and soothed. Although it is rather ridiculous to describe my impressions of the novel that way.

Tono: It's hard to share your impressions, isn’t it?

Sakurai: After reading Catastrophe, the emptiness of the protagonist seems to leave an aftertaste. She resonates with the emptiness in me, as if I want to embrace something passionately — but there is nothing to embrace. The feeling was like that. I was the kind of child who started to really get into the festival after it was over. Not having fun in the midst of the fun, but thinking about it when it’s already over. And as I grew up, nothing changed. First and foremost, I come to terms with everything, so [for me] the “emptiness” of Tono-sensei’s novel was refreshing.

Tono: Many people mention the word “emptiness” (решите, что вам больше подходит — “emptiness” или “void”). And the main idea of Catastrophe speaks of “the emptiness of a new era”.

Sakurai: Tono-sensei gives the impression of a composed and calm person, and this is imposing on the main character. It seemed to me that the hero contains not only emptiness, but also a certain composure.

Tono: It’s a bit surprising to hear that Sakurai-san has an emptiness. I have listened to BUCK-TICK since elementary school and I think that this band has more of a well-established dark worldview rather than emptiness. Their world is original, which completely sets them apart from other bands, don’t you think?

Sakurai: Been listening since then, really? Thanks. I am very touched.

Tono: My work couldn’t be called bright either, so maybe [their music] subconsciously influenced me.

Sakurai: Dilettante question, but — The Cultivation and Catastrophe are not about personal experiences, they are a product of the imagination, right?

Tono: Yes, that’s right. I was not describing my own experience, but I designed and took everything from imagination. It is much more interesting to write, thinking about what you yourself have not experienced or what you don’t know about, because you can discover something new for yourself.

Sakurai: That is, before you start working, there is no fully-formed concept, it is formed step by step in the process of writing?

Tono: I sketch out something like a rough draft, but when I start writing, I move away from it, and the result is something completely different. It seems that I am writing it myself, and then suddenly something unexpected appears [in the text], which confuses and complicates everything, but this only makes it more interesting.

Sakurai: Something unexpected — for example?

Tono: In Catastrophe, there is a girl named Irori who gets scared at one point. Before starting the work, I thought about including a child somewhere. But when I was already writing, I surprised myself when, at an unexpected moment, she hid under the bed and watched the hero.

Sakurai: Yes, it happens. Could it be that the story itself is rejecting [the planned] in the process of writing? There are deviations from the original design, and in the end it turns out completely different. These changes are fun, it’s great.

ᅠ Life and art

Sakurai: Although not a first-person novel, do you have the same sudden madness and cruelty as the protagonist, Tono-sensei?

Tono: I think I’m a very decent person. I don’t fight people, I don’t stay up late. In that sense, the main character and I are completely different.

Sakurai: So this madness is purely imaginary?

Tono: It doesn’t really happen. This was not conceived in the characters, and yet from time to time they did things that should not have been done, or found themselves involved in unexpected events due to some minor misunderstandings. So I could, in the heat of the moment, do something rash. I still have some kind of crazy thing in me, and this could have affected the characters.

Sakurai: As I read it, it worried me if you were experiencing what you described, or if you are going to experience it in the near future. It was constantly spinning in my head. Perhaps it bothered [me] from a different point of view, not as a reader.

Tono: There is almost nothing from my life or personal experience in this work. The location of the Catastrophe is Keio University (3), and I also studied there. Is that the issue? I have not participated in such events and do not plan to. *laugh*

Sakurai: Thank goodness. *laugh*

Tono: It’s hard to make a story interesting just by describing how the characters sleep and go about their day, so you have to weave in some twists and turns.

Sakurai: There’s a font of worries in there. Very stimulating. Because of this, when I was already finishing it, it felt a little sad, because I wanted to read on, but it seemed that the end was close.

Tono: Of course, as the saying goes, “This is where everything ends”.

Sakurai: How would you, Tono-sensei, suggest to read [this book]?

Tono: How should I put it... I don’t want to impose on readers [thoughts] like “I wrote with this intent” or “This book needs to be read this way and that way”. I do not want to limit the potential interpretations. I would be happier if they read it on their own, calling it boring if it was boring, or interesting if it was interesting.

Sakurai: It's very courageous.

Tono: If I was debuting as a teenager, it might have been different. But since it happened when I was already 28 years old, I do not take readers’ reactions to heart and am not afraid of it.

Sakurai: II only recently came to this. Probably in my fifties, somewhere around the last three released albums. In my youth, I was still that little tyrant, digging in my heels, so that everything was my way. Now it all seems somewhat extreme. Now I think: “Listen as you like”.

Tono: Do you look up the listeners’ impressions?

Sakurai: I don’t want to worry about [reviews on] social media. Not in the sense of “I don't care,” but in the sense of “I don’t want to worry”. So personally, I am not involved in checking such things.

Tono: Well, I’m checking it. I’m trying to figure out, in general, how people read it. It doesn’t affect how I write, though.

Sakurai: Oh, just to confirm [your thoughts], correct? A sensible approach. Of course, in my case, there should be no paranoia at all. You start taking everything to heart and fears will arise, so it’s better not to get carried away.

Tono: Companies conduct surveys of who use their services, don’t they? It’s kind of like that. If all the experiences are completely different from my expectations, it is worth considering how I write.

Sakurai: A top-notch entrepreneur.

Tono: No, I’m a newbie. *laughter* Not a year has passed since my debut...

Sakurai: A very courageous newbie, from where I am looking.

[At our next meeting, I will already be

the winner of the Akutagawa Prize]

Sakurai: Last December he attended the BUCK-TICK concert in Yoyogi. Even before the Catastrophe was published in the magazine. After the performance, we were able to talk a little in the dressing room, and when he was just about to leave, Tono-sensei said, “By our next meeting, I will win the Akutagawa Prize”.

Tono: Ah, yes, he did. It was probably terribly immodest to say that. But if before you roll the dice you declare that it will come up six, and then it really comes up six, it seems that something amazing just happened, right? I wonder if they will ever say: “Just like he said”?

Sakurai: And the promise was fulfilled. It couldn’t be cooler. He was wearing a mask, so it was difficult for me to see his expression, but I saw that dazzling confidence.

Tono: I often say these things even if I haven’t finished my work yet.

Sakurai: It was the last push, right? Thank you for coming to the concert then.

Tono: How could I not? And the next concert will be the day after tomorrow (September 21*)? I bought a ticket.

Sakurai: Is that true? Wow, I am suddenly nervous.

Tono: Is this the first time you broadcast a concert online without an audience?

Sakurai: We performed without an audience at WOWOW once before, and I had no idea how much tension to expect. And a few days ago we had a film-concert shoot — in a large hall, without an audience. Of course, there was no applause or shouts of joy. After each song there is a complete silence.

Tono: Not very encouraging, right?

Sakurai: Right now I'm trying to get inspired by myself. Even now, during the coronavirus epidemic, there are many things you can get latch on to. I realized that even these days I can be on the same wavelength with the energy of my fans. It was not an ordinary feeling. You also can’t do autograph sessions and meetings with readers right now, correct?

Tono: Yes, there are no autograph sessions yet, and the conversations are taking place online. The Akutagawa and Naoki Awards (4) usually serve a lot of food, but this year there was no such thing, and the number of guests was limited.

Sakurai: Very sorry. Still, it must have been an amazing experience.

Tono: The day after tomorrow the sales of the new album “ABRACADABRA” will start, right? What does it look like finished?

Sakurai: After Tono-sensei debuted as a writer, we exchanged messages with him, and it gave me courage. Or if not courage, then determination to write and juggle words. I think it showed itself in the album. Perhaps I’ve managed to open - more precisely, to throw open the door to a vocabulary that I had not used before.

Tono: It seems to me as well, that you succeeded.

Sakurai: Moreover, now I have the strength to use those words.

Tono: Any desire to write a novel?

Sakurai: No way.

Tono: I would read it even if it was very short.

Sakurai: I think it would take an incredible effort from me.

Tono: You were writing song lyrics originally, correct?

Sakurai: Yes, I’m writing. Music has always been on my mind. Although in elementary school I was often praised for [written] reviews of what I have read.

Tono: It was exactly the opposite for me. I was completely unable to describe these impressions. I couldn’t even set it up.

Sakurai: This is amazing.

Tono: I couldn't understand what kind of impressions they were talking about. No matter what I read, everything seemed to me “Well, okay”, but you can’t call that an impression.

Sakurai: In some interview it was mentioned that you were a member of a band when you were at university.

Tono: It was a copy-band, there isn't much to talk about. But Cultivation has a character who plays drums in a band, so that experience influenced the novel.

Sakurai: I’m even a little happy.

Tono: I did a lot of things, but for the most part I gave it all up quickly, so writing is my longest-running occupation at the moment.

Sakurai: Since when have you been writing?

Tono: I started somewhere after I turned twenty, so it’s about seven or eight years old by now. I thought that being on the other side [of the book] was a completely different matter. Like, shouldn’t I become a creator myself and start giving shape to things? Perhaps BUCK-TICK influenced this in some way from the very beginning.

Sakurai: And then a novel ended up being written.

Tono: Yes.

— Did Sakurai-san know that Tono-san was writing a novel?

Tono: The first time I told him about it was when I won the 2019 Bungei Prize for my debut.

Sakurai: I’ve heard something [about this] since he graduated from university, but was amazed when he suddenly made his debut as a writer. However, I was looking forward to [the release of the book]. What kind of work will it be, could not wait to read it — something like that. And I was amazed a second time when Cultivation came out. How did you feel after finishing work on this novel?

Tono: I gained confidence and I decided that I could make it to the final round. I didn’t know, of course, how it would go in the future, if I would end up regretting it.

Sakurai: And he wrote to me about it.

Tono: Yes, that happened. I wrote “I got to the finals”. It was still cooler to report this after receiving the award.

Sakurai: And the coolness of the statement that “next time I meet I will be the winner of the Akutagawa Prize” then went off the charts.

Tono: This is just the beginning.

Different hobbies, same tastes

— This year BUCK-TICK celebrated 33 years from the date of their debut — without breaking up or changing membership of the group. What is the secret of such longevity?

Sakurai: Patience. Group work requires patience. The others and I, by the way, we often say this. But it seems to me that writers are have it more difficult in terms of moral, because they work alone. You have to evaluate yourself. When you are in a group, there is always someone who will express their opinion.

Tono: Perhaps so.

Sakurai: The writers of the old days appear to us to be some kind of alcoholics and drug addicts, down on their luck, with a ruined life — but now people are different.

Tono: In our era, being a writer, you can support yourself with more than just creativity, so in this sense the profession is more reliable than before. And I don’t drink much at all. And you, Sakurai-san, drink a lot, right?

Sakurai: Yes. I am one of those who seek salvation in alcohol. *laughter*

Tono: By the way, do you still read lots of novels?

Sakurai: Recently I reread Mishima Yukio again (5). And also [books] by Numata Mahokaru-san (6) and Taguchi Randi-san (7).

Tono: You’ve loved Mishima Yukio for the longest time, right?

Sakurai: Yes, quite true. It's not just about books — I’ve watched YouTube videos about Mishima Yukio and Kawabata Yasunari (8), and they really are very interesting people.

Tono: I haven’t read Yukio Mishima at all. My preferences in literature are very different.

Sakurai: What is your favorite writer, Tono-sensei?

Tono: When I was just starting to think about the novel, I had no idea how to write, and started by imitating the prose of Natsume Soseki (9). Have you read it?

Sakurai: I love his Heart very much. But now you probably don’t have time to read.

Tono: Right. But they often say that you need to read more, so I think about it anyway. Sakurai-san, do you study other artists’ music?

Sakurai: I’m a slob, so I’m not really up to date, so to speak. But good things still find their way to me. I can catch it on the radio when I’m driving, or hear it somewhere by accident. The youth of today like Kaze-san Fujii (10), don’t they?

Tono: Wow. A bit surprising.

Sakurai: You probably like something harsher, right?

Tono: I love King Gnu (11). Mentioned this in an interview for the monthly Bungei Shunju (12). Many were surprised that the music favored by young people and the traditional image of the Akutagawa Prize are not related.

Sakurai: King Gnu is great. I bought their CD as well. Just like that, I found out about King Gnu when I accidentally heard them. They have such an interesting lead singer.

Tono: Iguchi Satoru-san is interesting, yes. On Twitter, I would send links to [my] videos to anyone, even to the Pope himself. And when I appeared at Music Station, I stunned everyone with my descent down the stairs.

Sakurai: Showed up wearing sandals, yeah. *laughter* Do you watch a lot of TV?

Tono: From time to time. I saw your collab with Shiina Ringo-san at Music Station. “Elopers” is a great song, very powerful.

Sakurai: Really? I am very happy.

You can't lie to yourself

Sakurai: Has the third work been written yet?

Tono: Yes. The events transpire in an institution that raises people with supernatural abilities. The main character attents it along with the rest, tries to awaken superpowers in himself, but since he does not possess them, he gets no progress. This is the story I am writing. It will differ from the two previous works in meaning.

Sakurai: Is there a deadline?

Tono: I want to submit it to the editors by early next year. You, Sakurai-san, also have deadlines, right?

Sakurai: I have deadlines, of course. Release and tour dates might be pre-determined and songs should be worked on accordingly. And I will stubbornly work on them until they tell me: “That’s it, you can't put things off any longer”. However, I still try to keep within the appointed time.

Tono: Are there any serious challenges when you work?

Sakurai: It's very difficult to work when I’m drained. If you try to force something out of yourself, you get only lies, and then it turns out that you are insincere with yourself and with others. You can’t lie to yourself. But with a bit of personal experience and imagination, on the other hand, you can make very good progress.

Tono: You have to rewrite everything a lot, right?

Sakurai: Depends on the song. Sometimes I have to rewrite over and over again, and sometimes I write the first word that comes to my mind and everything is ready. Most often, some kind of shape may emerge first. How is it with you, Tono-sensei?

Tono: More often than not, I have one scene at the beginning, and I start writing based on it. At that time, I do not yet know how the story will develop, I have only scattered fragments, and as they are combined and edited, I am finally getting the feeling that the world of of this work is acquiring its finished form. By the way, I had some trouble coming up with a name for Cultivation, and I was given one piece of advice, do you recall?

Sakurai: Ah, yes, but in my opinion, it was not very good...

Tono: When I asked “How do you come up with names?”, You replied, “It should express the essence, but at the same time cover the whole thing. That word would fit the best”.

Sakurai: Wow, I put it remarkably well. And [I said that] to the future Akutagawa Prize winner, such arrogance. *laughter*

Tono: Even though I didn’t really understand how to apply this advice in practice, I still relied on it.

Sakurai: Cool title, isn’t it? Even though I said there were some disturbing moments when I was reading Cultivation for the first time, I think it read very cleanly. For example: “To my delight, I managed to look great. <…> I just wanted to be beautiful” — here, as it seemed to me, the words are very good - fresh and clear, without unnecessary embellishments.

(2020.09.19)

Sakurai Atsushi, musician. Vocalist Buck-Tick. 66 years of birth. New job: 「ABRACADABRA」

Tono Haruka, writer, winner of the Akutagawa and Bungei awards

END

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lacetulle · 4 years

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Hi, love your blog, you're a beacon on Tumblr, and I've found some of my favorites through you. Aka Iris van Herpen and Richard Quinn. Do you ever do plus sized designers? Especially plus size in their sort style? Thank you!

First off, thank you! I love hearing about people finding designers through the blog!

Secondly, I’m going to answer your question and expand on what other anonymous questions have asked in the last couple of days. I’ve mentioned before that I answer questions in the order I receive them and this one was next on the list. However in the last 48 hours I’ve gotten five messages about plus size fashion, so in effort to not make a bunch of repetitive posts, I figured I’d combine a couple answers here. So as a warning, this is going to be a long answer, and you might not care about all of it.

As for your question, Iris van Herpen and Richard Quinn are more avant-garde on the runway compared to other designers, and I personally have not seen any plus sized designers doing what they do. Obviously the fashion industry is so deeply skewed towards thin models, that any designer that showcases plus size models on the runway are typically put in a nice gown or a day dress. That’s how far behind the industry is in making fashion for plus sizes…just to put a plus sized model in a simple dress or gown is groundbreaking. And it’s ridiculous, really. It’s long overdue.

In regards to Iris van Herpen: the great thing is that she does couture. And couture is made to order with the client’s measurements. So there’s no reason why anyone who isn’t a sample size couldn’t wear something from her. That being said, I haven’t seen anyone curvy wearing her designs, but there’s a first time for everything. As for Richard Quinn, he has fun runways and other fun runways that have inclusive models would be Chromat and The Blonds, but they don’t sell every day fashion the way Quinn does. Chromat has always been big on inclusivity, especially on the runway. But the brand is geared towards swimwear, bodysuits, and some sports wear. At times they’ll put out casual wear, but it’s not always guaranteed. The Blonds have started showcasing plus size models, however the brand isn’t mass produced. I grew to know them by seeing the bodysuits they’ve designed for big names in the music industry. I think you have to do custom orders with them. It’s interesting because I’ve noticed they were inclusive, due to the clients attending the shows - they were all shapes and sizes - but it wasn’t until a few seasons ago that they showcased a plus sized model in a show.

(The Blonds Spring 2018, Chromat Spring 2018)

As for specific designers, here’s a small list:

Courtney Noelle is a brand who caters to plus sizes and Courtney has some beautiful designs. She’s not afraid to use color, patterns, or sequins.

Adrianna Papell is a great designer for more dressy styles.

Ashley Nell Tipton won her season of Project Runway and her runway show was made up entirely of plus sized models. Her designs are specifically for plus sized women.

Good American launched in 2016 with inclusivity in mind and they even let you choose what model you’d like to see their pieces on. I believe they launched as a denim company, but have quickly expanded into active wear, as well as jumpsuits and dresses. (Side note: I am by no means a Kardashian fan and I know Good American was co-founded by Khloe. Good American might be the only tie to the Kardashians that I like.)

Savage X Fenty by Rihanna is a fantastic brand for lingerie for people of all sizes. Plus, when she does her shows, she stays true to the brand and makes sure the shows are inclusive. It’s always been refreshing to see.

I find most of what I post from runway shows and collection lookbooks. Christian Siriano, Tadashi Shoji, and Cushnie are the biggest names I know of that regularly showcase plus sizes and I’ve definitely posted them on here during their respective fashion weeks. But of course, these models few and far between in the grand scheme of fashion week, so they get buried in the mix.

Christian Siriano and Tadashi Shoji have been known to design red carpet looks for stars who don’t fit the sample sizes. They’ve both spoken about how they’re happy to take the business from other big name designers that refuse to dress non-sample sized women. Cushnie is one of my favorites for a number of reasons, but I’ve always loved that Carly Cushnie has always been inclusive. She even released a special collection at Target and it still stays true to her brand of designing for people of all sizes. Alexander McQueen and Michael Kors are known for having a plus sized model or two in every show. Tommy Hilfiger has also jumped on the inclusion train as well in the last few years and he’s pretty great at having a number of models rather than having just a token one.

(Cushnie Spring 2019, TOMMYNOW Spring 2019, TOMMYNOW Spring 2019, Alexander McQueen Fall 2020)

Other people have asked me about plus sized gowns/dresses and the biggest names are the ones I mentioned above: Siriano and Shoji. They always have gowns for plus sized women in their shows. These are just a few of my favorites.

(Christian Siriano Spring 2018, Christian Siriano Fall 2018, Tadashi Shoji Fall 2020, Tadashi Shoji Fall 2019)

These websites have great options for plus sized fashion from a variety of brands:

In terms of swimwear, Swimsuits for All is a great source. Ashley Graham even has a swim line through this site.

City Chic has plenty of options ranging from day wear to gowns.

Eloquii was started as line from The Limited and then became a huge independent brand (although Walmart acquired them a few years ago, so so much for independence). They’re great for casual wear to work wear and all that in between.

Saving the best for last is 11 Honoré. They have changed the game in terms of having designer clothing for everyone. They work with brands to provide inclusive sizes. They’ve partnered with Siriano, Kors, Prabal Gurung - all brands who had already dipped their toes in the plus size market. But 11 Honoré is also willing to work with designers who want to integrate their collections into more inclusive sizing but don’t know the best way to go about it. I believe Mara Hoffman went into extended sizing with the help of 11 Honoré. There are some big names on 11 Honoré. Monique Lhuillier, Badgley Mischka, Jason Wu, Carolina Herrera, Marchesa, and Marc Jacobs are just some of the few you can find on the site. I honestly cannot say enough good things about what they’ve done to get designers on the ‘inclusive sizes’ train.

I know this was all a really long read, but while the industry has taken strides towards being more inclusive in sizing and representation on the runways, it still has a long way to go. Hopefully showcasing these designers, websites, and brands are a stepping stone to finding pieces that make you feel good!

#ask me anything

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doomonfilm · 3 years

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Ranking : Martin Scorsese (1942-present)

Of all the places in the world that seem to be hubs for creative energy, New York stands high on my personal list of favorites, and when it comes to iconic New York filmmakers, there aren’t many that can hold a candle to the prolific career of Martin Scorsese. His appreciation for films, art and music blasts off the screen with the same energy as his kinetic cinematography and vibrant editing. Once he established himself as a mainstay in the industry, his list of collaborators evolved into a who’s who of acting legends, both old and new. His career spans just over 50 years, and even his latest film (his 25th in his catalog) went head to head with other contenders for the top awards of the year.

To put it bluntly, there is Martin Scorsese, and then there is a long list of imitators and those influenced by his genius. To rank his films is a true test of logic, patience and decision making, but after a few weeks of catching the 7 or so films I had yet to see, I think I can stand behind this list as my definitive ranking (from least to most favorite) of a director I hold in the highest regard.

25. Gangs of New York (2002) An honest attempt at an epic flick, but at the heart of the matter, I simply don’t care about either side in the battle Scorsese presents us. Set in New York City in the mid 19th Century during the Civil War, we are thrown into a generational battle where the two key figures have different goals... Bill the Butcher stands as antagonist in his fight to maintain power and control, while Amsterdam is our protagonist charged with a mission of revenge. In the end, neither side ends up mattering, very much like my personal experience with this all flourish, no foundation exercise in style.

24. Bringing Out the Dead (1999) Nicolas Cage was gearing up for the run that most people know him for now during the release of Bringing Out the Dead : he was coming off of Golden Globe and Academy Award wins for Leaving Las Vegas, but was quickly leaning towards films of a more exploitation-based style. This film marked a refinement of his wild-man persona, while simultaneously being one of the last high-level actor/director combinations he would be involved in before his mad dash to accept every film and avoid bankruptcy. New York is captured in a mid-transition point between the darkness of the 1970s and 1980s versus the Disney aesthetic of the new millennium, and while heavy on the entertainment factor (as well as visually striking), there is ultimately not enough on this plate to push it higher up the list.

23. The Color of Money (1986) If you had to do a quick gander at the Scorsese list and pick the film that, on paper, screams Hollywood, it’d be hard to argue against The Color of Money taking that top spot. A soft sequel to The Hustler, Scorsese picks up the Fast Eddie story in the 1980s (an era that oozes out of each and every frame of this film), and yet, despite this legendary move, the film is ultimately the Tom Cruise show. Scorsese’s trademark dollying and trucking camera shots work beautifully in the context of this film, but in a story that shines bright, the star of Cruise ultimately outshines all that remains.

22. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) After a few exploitation-based projects, it seemed that Martin Scorsese wanted to provide a slightly different change in perspective, albeit one that still dwells in the darker corners of life. Rather than deal with the streets of New York or crime, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore is a study on broken homes, single parenthood and domestic violence that oscillates between the view of the titular Alice and her young son. Harvey Keitel gives another strong performance as a Scorsese regular, while Ellen Burstyn shines in a transitional role towards more mature performances. Seeing Scorsese camera movements coopted into a more down to Earth story was refreshing.

21. The Departed (2006) Many people would have assumed that The Departed would be higher on a list of Scorsese films based solely on the cast... pairing Leonardo DiCaprio opposite Matt Damon in a tension-filled triangle with Jack Nicholson is a bold combination in its own right, but surrounding this nucleus with Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Corrigan, Anthony Anderson and supporting actors of that ilk creates a rich showcase of talent. Stylistically, everything you need is there too, as Scorsese proved time and again that films of this nature were his wheelhouse. That being said, the story itself, an adaptation of the 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, takes a few liberties in its adaptation that ultimately are to the detriment of the narrative. Kudos to Scorsese for putting this one together, and too bad for him that the choices of William Monahan knocked what could have been a mega-classic way down the list.

20. New York, New York (1977) New York, New York is one of the most unique offerings from the Scorsese canon for a number of reasons. Of all his films, this one is probably the one that can be considered a “style exercise” more than the rest, as it oscillates between obvious sets and real locations before blurring the lines between the two. Long gaps of time are given to fully executed musical numbers (a must when a talent like Liza Minnelli is involved), and traditional methods of songwriting and performance are given their due respect. The exercise portion, however, comes in the newer acting styles that are infused into the old school structure... improvisation and aggressive physicality are used to put a deeper, disturbing red tint on an era often presented through a rose-colored lens. While interesting at times, the nearly three hour run time of the film begins to wear on the limits of the style, which ultimate leaves the film feeling more like a personal indulgence than a statement on changing times. For the iconic title track alone (and the buildup to its release), this film is worth seeing, but in terms of its placement in the realm of other Scorsese films, it may have to grow on me a while to find a higher placement on the list.

19. Boxcar Bertha (1972) Originally, this film was much lower on the list, largely due to its chronological placement between Who’s That Knocking at My Door and Mean Streets seeming odd to me. Upon revisitation, however, it stands clear and present that this film served as an exercise in the process of directing and organizing a shoot. With its period-specific placement, ensemble cast and action sequences, it was bound to be compared to (and ultimately overshadowed by) the formidable Bonnie and Clyde, but Boxcar Bertha has a few key moments in it (including a stellar final action sequence) that places it near the middle of the Scorsese canon, even with it being his second film.

18. Who's That Knocking at My Door? (1967) For all of the refinement that Scorsese found in his second film, his debut film, the stunning Who’s That Knocking at My Door?, stands as testament to the fact that Scorsese brought his many gifts to the table from day one. What started as a student graduate film grew into a speculative project, only to find 25th hour funding that allowed it a festival run and a proper release. The film took many years to complete and release, to the point that keen viewers will notice Harvey Keitel’s boyish, soft good looks morph into the sharper, edgier intense profile we came to recognize in Mean Streets and the films that followed. The energetic cinematography, respect of film as a medium, stellar music choices, defiance of youth, toxic masculinity and realistic look at relationships are all here, making this debut a hidden gem in the Scorsese canon.

17. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Seeing Scorsese retread old stylistic ground (as opposed to infusing his style into newer projects) is an interesting take, and for what my opinion is worth, The Wolf of Wall Street feels like Goodfellas for white collar criminals. In theory (and, in some aspects of the film, in reality), the experiment does work, but ultimately, this film finds its placement in the middle realms simply because we are given infinite sizzle off of what amounts to a very thin steak. Goodfellas works because it is carried by the weight of omerta, but The Wolf of Wall Street focuses on a culture where status comes from self-appointed importance, which ultimately makes for an attempted redemption story for despicable people.

16. The Irishman (2019) Seeing actors the stature of Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino combine forces for a film is always a major event, but until 2019, those combinations have been limited to duos. When Netflix announced its intention to release The Irishman in 2019, people were not only intrigued on Scorsese’s take on the Jimmy Hoffa story, but seeing De Niro, Pesci and Pacino in the same film for the first time. For what it was worth, the trio lived up to all expectations, with the only bittersweet criticism being wishes that the three could have found a way to work together prior to the twilight of their careers. The historical drama is high quality, with Hoffa’s larger than life persona captured perfectly by Pacino, and bolstered by the dramatic chops brought to the table by De Niro and Pesci. The film is a tad on the long side, and the de-aging process tips into the realm of the uncanny valley due to the older actors’ physicality, but for a 25th film 52 years into an illustrious career, The Irishman must be recognized for the triumph that it is.

15. The Aviator (2004) Much like The Wolf of Wall Street, I avoided The Aviator for years simply because I have no interest or fascination with Howard Hughes. I was very much aware of his financial stature, his innovations as an aviator, his rocky love life and his personal demons that plagued him, but for my money’s worth, I was fine without seeing it presented on the big screen. In an effort to cover all the bases for a director I hold in high esteem, however, I made the decision to finally check out The Aviator, and for every element of the film I previously had no interest in, an element was presented that won me over. Cate Blanchett and Adam Dunn put on two of the strongest performances in the entire realm of Scorsese films, and the XF-11 crash sequence is possibly one of the grandest and well executed in any Scorsese film. Leave it to Martin Scorsese to make a powerful film about an individual I care nothing about and nearly crack the top ten with that effort.

14. Hugo (2011) Up to the point of watching Hugo, I knew nothing about it. About halfway through Hugo, I had to stop and look up how the film was received, as it was simply stunning, and sure enough, it was a monster in terms of award nominations and wins. I never would have pegged Scorsese as the type to direct a kid’s film, but in all honesty, that ‘kid’s film’ title is used as a façade for a love letter to film in general, and the groundbreaking work of Georges Méliès specifically. The look of the film is otherworldly, the energy is light, kinetic and infectious, and even a mostly slapstick performance by Sacha Baron Cohen yields surprising emotional depth when given the opportunity to do so. While just missing the top ten, Hugo easily stands as the number one surprise on this list in terms of pre-viewing expectations (of which there where none) versus post-viewing thoughts (of which there are many). Knowing that Hugo exists lets me know that one day, if I have children, and they want to know why I love film so much, I will have a film on the level of Cinema Paradiso to share with them and (hopefully) help foster a love of film they can call their own.

13. Casino (1995) For a time, this film stood as the last work containing the vibrant combination of Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, a trio of high energy creatives known for putting their all into their projects. Casino felt like a spiritual successor to Goodfellas, focusing on a lavish but secretive lifestyle with high stakes and even higher consequences. An instantly iconic movie, Casino felt like the end of an era in regards to gangster fare for Scorsese, opting instead for more challenging projects, adaptations of other books and films, or personal passion projects. It would be nearly 25 years later before Scorsese would touch similar subject matter or work with these actors again, but had Casino been the last of Scorsese’s so-called “gangster” films, I believe the world would have been happy with that.

12. Kundun (1997) To make one religious-based film in a career is a bold move to some, but I am hard-pressed to think of any director that made films on two different religions who didn’t explicitly make religious films. With that in mind, it is incredibly impressive that Martin Scorsese was able to make a film as moving and objective as Kundun after making such a bold take on religion as The Last Temptation of Christ. The film centers around the discovery, growth and eventual escape to India in light of growing aggression from China. In all honesty, I had my doubts as to whether or not the Scorsese style would work for this story, especially in light of the lack of cooperation from Tibet and China, but somehow, Scorsese’s amazing signature camerawork captures the unique spirit and essence surrounding the Dalai Lama. I’d heard of this film for years, but never got around to it until it was time to make this list, but I will almost certainly try to find a copy to own in the near future.

11. The King of Comedy (1982) What an odd left turn in regards of career trajectory for both Scorsese and De Niro. With three collaborations already under their belt (not to mention The Godfather II already being a well-established classic), it would have been easy to imagine the duo putting another notch on the gangster film genre belt. What we are given, however, is the yang to the yin of Taxi Driver : our protagonist is a statement on personal conviction and the trappings of instant stardom, our antagonist is a statement on star fascination and the high costs of celebrity, and our satellite characters directly reflect the toxicity certain fandoms can be capable of. Scorsese sets aside his normal flourish and camera moves for a mixing of film and video mediums, as well as a completely new sense of freedom in regards to the highly improvised nature of the film. Its influence on recent successful films like Joker is undeniable, but I’d argue that Joker lacks the heart, sincerity and realistic bite present in The King of Comedy.

10. After Hours (1985) Of all the “new to me” Scorsese flicks I finally viewed while preparing this list, After Hours stands as my favorite discovery of the bunch. I was marginally familiar with the film, both from my younger days in video stores and from friend recommendations, but for some reason, when Scorsese time arrived, After Hours seemed to never be on the docket. That oversight, however, will now be a thing of the past. This film feels like a personal challenge to Woody Allen in regards to how one should make a New York-based romantic comedy, and I’d be hard pressed to share any shortcomings or failures present in this comedic masterpiece. One of the few films that can be both a product of its era and a timeless classic, and one that should be much more recognized in the Scorsese canon.

9. Shutter Island (2010) Me hesitating or not getting around to Scorsese films seems to be a bit of a common theme here, but there was literally no excuse for me to take this long to get around to Shutter Island. Despite knowing the premise of the story (and even having the ending somewhat spoiled for me), I still found the impact of the final moments just as powerful as I imagine I would have going into this film blind. Some people will likely argue this statement, but in my opinion, this was the best Leonardo DiCaprio performance captured by Martin Scorsese. The asylum setting is wonderfully bleak, and the psychological horrors it infers create a vibrant playground for some of the most stunning visual symbolism that Scorsese has ever committed to film. Don’t be like me if you’ve not gotten around to Shutter Island yet, because it’s a thrill ride more than worth the price of admission, and a rewarding repeat viewer.

8. Mean Streets (1973) Mean Streets may have been Martin Scorsese’s third film, but for many fans, it was the first true indicator of the brilliance that was to come. A true New York film through and through, it not only presented fans with a stronger Harvey Keitel performance than Who’s That Knocking at My Door?, but it introduced the world to the palatable tandem of Scorsese and De Niro that would go on to lead to years and years of iconic performances. The use of altering aspect ratios is something that I wish Scorsese would have continued to use more often, but in all honesty, Mean Streets has style to spare. This the film that I love to recommend when people start ranting and raving about Goodfellas, and more often than not, it impresses those unfamiliar with it just as much.

7. The Age of Innocence (1993) Martin Scorsese’s love of film is widely known and well documented, but The Age of Innocence goes an additional step further by displaying Scorsese’s love of art. The film also is one of the most touching displays of unrequited love that Scorsese has committed to film, a slight alteration from his normal infusion of love stories trying to sustain in the surrounding chaos of gangs, crime, religion and so on. Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder all give standout performances in this masterfully directed film. If Gangs of New York was meant to be the definitive old school New York film in the Scorsese canon, then The Age of Innocence is the unintended definitive New York film from Scorsese, with some European touches thrown in for good measure.

6. Cape Fear (1991) Of the many, many iconic performances that Robert De Niro has given Martin Scorsese, I’d be hard pressed not to put his characterization of Max Cady at the top by a clear margin. Cape Fear was already a classic film adaptation of The Executioners when it was first released in 1957, but De Niro pulled two fast ones with his update : in terms of casting, especially with the aforementioned De Niro, Scorsese brought the harrowing story into a much darker, recent world, therefore increasing the tension by upping the ante for violent retribution, while at the same time, paying direct homage to the original by having Elmer Bernstein adapt the original Bernard Herrmann score. Juliette Lewis also provided a breakout performance in this modern day classic, and possibly the film that provided the most tense debate in terms of placement, as we will get into with the next film.

5. Silence (2016) Despite being one of the most recent Martin Scorsese films, this one’s limited release meant that I missed it during its initial run, and the lack of streaming service placement essentially erased it from my memory. I was certainly intrigued about watching it for this list, and it ended up being the last film viewed. Going into it, it felt like a sort of religious take on Saving Private Ryan, but it didn’t take long for the film to start dealing out much heavier cards in terms of faith, belief systems and cross-cultural contamination. The Last Temptation of Christ showed that Scorsese could find nuance and secular drama from a holy tale, and Kundun showed that he could make a religious icon a relatable human figure struggling to grasp his divine appointment. Silence is the work of a wise, steady hand, however, like some sort of cinematic parable or testament to faith in the face of crippling doubt and danger. Scorsese is certainly still moved by the idea of faith, and he uses Andrew Garfield to display this in some of the most powerful moments that he has ever created or captured for his films. For those who have not seem the film, this placement may feel a bit high, but I would not be surprised if, given time and proper amounts of reflection, it makes its way higher.

4. Raging Bull (1980) The placement of Raging Bull and Cape Fear was the biggest hurdle I was forced to overcome in the creation of this list. Robert De Niro is powerfully captivating in both films, though I would personally give his performance as Max Cady the nod over his embodiment of Jake LaMotta, but when it comes down to the brass tacks of it all, Raging Bull is ultimately the better of the two films. The raw, black and white look of LaMotta’s life already provides a gritty, unflattering portrait of a savage and uncouth man looking for beauty in the world, but that beauty he searches for appears in the boxing sequences with no apologies. The airy look, mainly caught by dynamic slow motion photography, works in tandem with the abrasive first-person views of the combatants, not to mention the direct nature of the combat itself as the viewer is often placed directly in the line of fire. The involvement of the real LaMotta within the film provides a nice button to the superb acting put on display by De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty and the numerous actors used to portray the opponents of LaMotta.

3. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) Call it a trope if you like, but it feels like every great (or aspiring) director has a film in them that is driven by religion in some capacity. The Last Temptation of Christ is unique in this sense because it takes the story of the accusations, betrayal, trial and eventual crucifixion of Jesus and turns it into a deeply faith-based suspense thriller. Many of the familiar beats we know from the Bible are re-contextualized as visions, mystic tests of faith, carnal desires driven by lust, and nihilistic views infringing upon deep indoctrination. Willem Dafoe plays a Jesus that is bitter in his acceptance of his fate, Harvey Keitel plays a wonderfully opportunistic Judas, and Barbara Hershey plays a very modernized version of a woman forced to use her body for survival that is suddenly trapped between necessity and passion. The film hinges on the verge of becoming a soap opera without falling into the trappings that come with such high drama, and the walkup to the film’s amazing final sequence puts you in the emotional passenger's seat while Jesus takes the wheel and steers directly into his fate. A dramatically powerful yet brutally sincere take on an iconic, revered and sensitive subject matter.

2. Goodfellas (1990) Is there any original praise left to bestow upon this movie? To focus on the imperfections of this film is an act of futility, as they are mostly non-existent. Some of Martin Scorsese’s best examples of his iconic camera movement, editing techniques, still frames, writing gleaned from personal experience, soundtrack use, loose historical connections and dark humor are found within the confines of Goodfellas. If you’ve seen in actor in any television show or film that had any connection to the mob prior to Goodfellas or since, it is more than likely that that actor was in Goodfellas, even if only briefly. Using Henry Hill as both an outsider and insider perspective is a brilliant narrative stroke, as he can get close to the top, but can never have it all, making him essentially a fly on the wall bursting with charisma and personality. They highs are as epic as the lows are tragic, and for most people, it is the first film that comes to mind when the name Martin Scorsese is mentioned. This could have very easily been the number one film on my list, but anyone who has been visiting this blog with a keen eye for detail probably figured out my favorite Scorsese film the first time they visited the DOOMonFILM blog.

1. Taxi Driver (1976) Since the day that I started this film blog, there has been one image at the top of the page : Travis Bickle in the porn theater (with his face replaced by my logo) from the iconic Taxi Driver. There’s not a single element that I can put my finger on for this film, but there are certainly a number of elements that do speak to me : the isolation that Travis faces, the journal-like narration that drives the story forward, the hypnotic nature of both Bernard Herrmann score and the repetitive taxi cab shots and the vivid camera movements are all burnt firmly into my brain. Everyone that makes up the main cast for this film kills in their performance, and the ending of the film is not only a brutal one, but an ironic one in regards to where Travis lands in the eyes of those who make up the world of the film. Martin Scorsese has made more amazing films than some directors have made, period (amazing or otherwise), but for my money’s worth, none of them are as powerful or well put together as Taxi Driver.

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daesungindistress · 3 years

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Now that you bring it up past anons, I don't think how I'll ever get over how everything went down. I found kpop through Bigbang right at the 10 year anniversary mark, and learned that I started out at the top. Learning how powerful Bigbang was all those years was euphoric. Buy then it was like watching the fall of an empire, and it's just been cataclysmic. Nothing but scandals a country's worth of immense hatred and a fandom civil war! I'm loyal beyond rationality, but good grief I want to experience good days as a vip for once, because from Last Dance era onward feels like I'm constantly burning 😭😭😭

Sorry I'm dramatic, but every experience is tainted and somebody needs to hit the refresh button QUICKLY

See, this is what happens when I reply to anons in a regular fashion -- you all start talking to each other through me. What do y’all think I am, a VIP conduit 😭

lol I’m just playing. And it’s better than y’all fighting through me, which is one of a few reasons why I’ve stopped responding to OT5 provocations here. But yeah... the fall of an empire... and what a fall it was. First there was SR and Burning Sun starting in late winter and ramping up in spring. When he left, a surprising number of people were sure it spelled the end for BB. Then another YG group lost a member (iKON) because of Burning Sun; Han Seo Hee, though I think we can all agree she’s a snake, claims the handling of Burning Sun and the whistleblower situation re: the chats emboldened her to speak up about her dealings with Hanbin. Of course, this brought her past with TOP from several years prior back to the public’s attention. Great. Then YG lost its founder to similar accusations as SR -- and soon after, its CEO. Then another BB member came under scrutiny, and at that point all I could do was hold my breath, wait out the gunfire, and hope for the best.

2019 was a fun year, huh? All this while fending off OT5s whose modus operandi is turning a blind eye.

Coincidentally, my favorite band ever, who’s been around exactly as long as BB, went independent in 2019 and spent the year working on a war-themed album, which, when completed, was also coincidentally scheduled to be released on the same day BB were set to play the first weekend at Coachella in April 2020 -- though with COVID lockdowns going into effect they were able to fast-track the release date and get their music to fans a week ahead of schedule. A perk of being independent, I guess.

Anyway, in June, around the time things were heating up again with YG and related parties, this group dropped a single called The Evening Hate. And there’s this part in the bridge that I thought summed up the situation surprisingly well:

like cinders it rains

we fall, we fall

an empire in flames

we crawl, we’re crawling out

It’s pretty heavy, so for those who aren’t into that sort of thing there’s a far softer and very pretty alternative version here.

Anyway, in terms of warfare, BB aren’t in the trenches anymore, so where are they? Hiding in the woods or something. Waiting for an opportune moment to reveal themselves and announce their presence again. As a reformed team of four, of course.

The thing is... when it comes to comeback stages, nothing beats Coachella. That was it for them, that was what they needed to pull them onto their feet and propel them back into, what... relevancy? Tragically, it’s gone down in history as a false start. Or really, no start at all. Our starting line keeps getting pushed back, pushed back, pushed back, our flower road walled off until another, kinder spring.

The world is still struggling with COVID, yes, and Korea in particular seems to have its hands full with a third wave that’s proving more severe than the first two. I follow a few kpop news accounts on Twitter and every day is filled with updates on this or that music show, pre-recording, online concert, etc involving a staff member who tested positive for COVID, and suddenly everything’s halted, production put on hold, and all the members of these idol groups are undergoing testing and self-isolating with their agencies announcing the results. Blackpink was supposed to stream an online concert at the end of this month, but unsurprisingly, that too has been postponed. In conclusion, this is no time for BB to attempt to be active. No time for their grand, long-awaited comeback. No time at all.

They will rise again, it’s just a question of when, where, and how.

we are fighting to survive

from the ashes we ignite

we live, we die

we fall, we rise

You know, I had a dream once that BB came back with an album called RESTART, but hey, REFRESH works too.

#no need to apologize for being dramatic #if I'm in the right mood (a writing mood) I bet I can out-dramatic all of you #bigbang #red #ask #anon #I also made a graphic poking fun at the whole 'civil war' thing lol #so it seems you and I are on the same page anon #ps. I hope this makes sense if it's a little disjointed it's probably bc I've had a whole bottle of wine tonight and am a tad tipsy

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nctinfo · 4 years

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[TRANS] Jaehyun’s interview with HIGHCUT January 2020 issue!

It looks like 2019 will be remembered as a special year for Jaehyun. The most meaningful thing, if I were to pick something, was to finish the first tour successfully. I learned a lot, and I have reflected a lot to become more mature on the inside too. Also, for the first time since I debuted, I had some free time which I spent learning what I personally wanted to learn. Of course, at the end of the year, I was very busy preparing for the stages.

Don't you feel more nervous when you have to work by yourself without your team like during a photoshoot or MCing? Rather than being nervous, I tend to put more attention to various things. When I'm MCing alone for <Inkigayo>, I receive a lot of supportive text messages from the members so I don't particularly feel lonely.

Your daily life is like a pictorial. In particular, your airport fashion stands out every time. What makes you decide what to wear on which day? Haha when we're going overseas, I usually wear items that are recommended by the stylists but to make the style match those particular days, we would mix and match the plain clothes accordingly. Recently I'm weirdly drawn to 'All Black'. All black has only one main style?

Your image seems to change depending on the concept or style. When you had black hair, as Czennies called you, you were like a 'Prince' and when you had purple hair you transformed into a 'bad boy'? Haha, first of all, thank you. I think what you just said can be considered a strong side of me. Since having different faces is a good thing. Personally, I think it's fun to change it up from time to time. Stong, hip-hop, warm or nerdy... I like all the concepts.

NCT's music is expanding on to the global stage. In fact, your group has aimed for a global stage since debut so it seems your sense of accomplishment has become greater. Are you satisfied with the current speed? There wasn't any speed that was expected or planned for. So I don't really know if it's fast or slow, but I can feel that it's steadily going up. Whether it's our sense of accomplishment or to see the amount of fans, who come to support us every time we perform, slowly increasing. Little by little, I feel we're gradually progressing.

Although K-Pop is booming in the overseas market, what is NCT's secret that makes the music connect so well? Uhm... at first, we often explained the 'neo' concept. As we went forward, we pushed through with our concept and even when we challenged new things, we felt fearless. For example, today's pictorial concept's keyword is 'universe' which, in some ways, can be difficult [to portray/grasp] but my fear for it has disappeared. So I continue to challenge myself both musically and performance-wise. I think such diverse sides of us makes us interesting [to them].

Does that 'diversity' also apply to Jaehyun? I'm curious as to whether Jaehyun's color changes in every NCT unit. Depending on what each unit emphasizes, I try to give it a slightly different feeling in terms of performance and vocals. So I can be in harmony with every concept. But still, in regards to vocals, I want to continue having my own tone. On the other hand, regardless of what role I will have, in terms of daily life, I think it will be the same all the time haha.

The cover video for Lauv’s ‘I Like Me Better’ surpassed 14m views. It also became the most viewed video on NCT’s YouTube channel. How did you come up with the idea? This is really haha… For a long time, I thought I wanted to showcase a side of me freely singing. I was like, we could film this while touring. Back in the day I would only do covers. Once I had my recording I just wanted to capture the natural traveling image while wandering around. So I personally suggested that to the company. Thankfully the video came out well… Haha. If I get an opportunity I would like to do this again.

Are all the cities that you went to on tour as pretty as they are in the videos? To be honest you’re not aware of these things when touring. I get to go around a little when we do different things, and I think then I try to enjoy these places instead. While touring I went to Europe for the first time. I really liked it. I only saw pretty streets and night view and it still healed me… I thought I wanted to go back there for a trip and just wander to my heart’s content.

Aren’t you into boxing these days? It’s been 3 months now since I started. (You must be jumping rope?) That’s right I do haha. Right now I’m learning a little bit of the technique and my teacher said it [boxing] suits me well and complimented me, so it’s even more fun now I think. I’ve always liked sport and wanted to try boxing at least once in my life and luckily because I had some time I was able to give it a go.

Seems like when boxing somehow both the body and mind go limp… No really, when I finished my first test I had no strength in my hands. When I was holding my phone it wouldn’t stop shaking… Haha. But even then it still felt somewhat refreshing.

Before that what sports were you mainly into? Any ball game. Even back in school I was mostly playing football, basketball, and badminton. (I wonder what position in football you are?) I mostly came out as a midfielder? But to be fair when playing football at school… There isn’t much meaning behind the position haha.

I imagine you must’ve been very popular. Uhm… I was quite a bit among male friends I guess haha.

The fans know every single charm of yours, but the general public seems to refer to you as the ‘Face Genius’ or keep coming up terms like ‘Mom’s Friend’s Son’ a lot (t/n: someone that moms would compare their sons to because he’s so good at everything). But it feels like there is way more that is still unknown, and even more that is yet to be seen. I think so too? Haha. I’m thankful for nicknames like this, but even then please keep an eye on me. Then you will get to know even more sides of me...

Is that the style of ‘The longer you look the prettier it gets’? Haha. What do your old friends say about you? This to be honest.. What people say when they first see me and what my old friends say about me is very different haha. I think the closer I am to someone the more comfortable I get. The more comfortable I am the more I’ll let go?

What's is your strength that keeps you going forward? That's something I felt recently yet again when we completed our tour. I felt "Wah, it's really great that I became an artist". It was the first time we were able to show our own dances, songs and various other things in front of our own fans, on our own stage. I'm able to continue because there are people who support me and watch over me. Personally, the people around me are a huge source of strength to me. Talking and sharing [stories] with people I really like and trust.

Did your family expect their son to become an artist? Probably not…? I actually couldn’t imagine it at all too. Although I liked [performing] to the degree to be on stage during school festivals, I didn't imagine it would become my job. By chance, I got casted in my 3rd year and my parents said "give it a try" and I felt I might regret it too if I didn't give it a try, so I said, "I'll be back [and went to audition]". Since then, I somehow have come here. (Then they must really like it now?) Haha of course. Actually, they are the style to say: just try whatever you want to do.

It’s already been 5 years since your debut. Between debut and now, what’s something that has changed the most? Woaaah clapclapclapclap (suddenly starts clapping) Woah… Really. It doesn’t feel real. I feel like I’m still stuck at that place… I have a lot of thoughts. Something that’s changed would be that I’m not awkward at music shows anymore and I don’t have to bring manager hyung with me when going to a convenience store? Right now I can go to a convenience store on my own haha. Other than that, everything’s the same. My mindset and how I feel.

NCT’s Jaehyun perfectly became Jung Yoonoh’s daily routine. That’s right. But I still get nervous. One of the things I was bothered about the most when I debuted was freezing. The moment I saw the camera I’d tense up so whenever we did any broadcasts or performances I was always bummed so much. Then I was loosing up a little I think. I started letting go bit by bit and did my best without any regrets.

Is there a side to you that you want to protect in the next 10 to 50 years? It's to not take anything for granted. Whether it's the people around me or whatever I'm doing now, I hope to be reminded to be grateful once again before moving on.

With what's left of the winter and new years, if you were to pick something from your bucket list? I haven't gone to a ski resort yet since I debuted... I've always liked going and this time I want to go snowboarding or skiing. I've got so many New Year wishes though? haha. [I want to] practice playing the piano so I can play just by seeing the chords. Try to do all the things I want to do in various ways.

What kind of winter do you wish for people who like you? To people who like me, I wish you a winter in which your body may be cold, but your heart stays cozy and warm. (You’re good at cooking. Something you’d like to make for them?) For everyone I’d make, uhm… Hot chocolate? I think I can get that for everyone haha.

Translation: Alex, Esmee @ FY! NCT (NCTINFO) | Source: HIGHCUT Scan — Do not repost or take out without our permission!

#NCT #jaehyun #t:interview #t:trans #200107 #HIGHCUT #HIGHCUT: January 2020

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beansprouts · 3 years

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Bean’s Eurovision 2021 Top 5!

(aka Bean’s Eurovision 2021 Song Ranking: Part 5)

This is the S-tier for me, and I would be ecstatic if any of the following artists won.

5) Manizha - Russian Woman [Russia]

I genuinely don’t understand how, Russia being the way it is, this pro-LGBT Tajik refugee utter goddess managed to catapult her modern feminist anthem to winning the Russian national competition. Maybe after charming everyone with internet darlings / rave trolls Little Big last year, Russia decided a conventional Eurovision act was for squares? Or maybe Manizha is just that good? Honestly probably a bit of both. This song is a tour de force. If you’re like me you might need multiple listens to be ready for it, because it exists somewhere outside of conventional genre expectations, but I promsie it’s worth it. If it wouldn’t be insulting to Manizha I would suggest it comes from an alternate universe where electronic music is more freeform and you could combine Russian girl-rap with a sick synth guitar (sitar??) drop without it being weird. I feel I need to mention again how good that drop is. It’s not a dubstep-type drop, but when that first beat kicks in you feel the energy, and it makes the subsequent slowdown for the lyrical belts (”Борются, борются Все по кругу борются, да не молятся”) all the more impactful. That her message reduced so many Russian viewers (and a fucking cultural committeeperson) to pearl-clutching only proves how much it’s needed. People hate to see an immigrant woman win. But, have you seen her? She’s fierce and she cannot be shut up <3

4) 10 Years - Daði og Gagnamagnið [Iceland]

If you follow my tumblr you’ve probably seen me reblog stuff about Daði Freyr, because I think he’s delightful and I love everything he does. In the wake of Hatari’s BDSM-with-a-message shaking the world in 2019, Iceland swung in the complete opposite direction in the best possible way by introducing us to Daði Freyr, potentially one of the most wholesome musicians of all time, and his high-school-found-family-turned-band-Gagnamagnið. Their 2020 song Think About things was written as a sort of letter of hope and acceptance to Freyr’s young daughter who’s too young to form opinions. It’s utterly charming and probably would have (deservedly) won last year’s Eurovision if the pandemic hadn’t caused it to be cancelled. 10 Years, in turn, is a love letter to Freyr’s wife, with whom he’s been married a decade. Freyr’s style is both unusual and distinctive: smooth and simple yet irrestibly catchy vocals, funky brass fills, and the gorgeous experimental synths of a self-trained internet hobbyist. His attachment to his old-school 8bit aesthetic makes him not just endearing to my own nerdy biases, but refreshing to a generation of Eurovision viewers tired of the overproduced and inauthentic bombastic power ballads of yesteryear. Freyr is clearly the musical genius of the group (as evidenced by his frequent covers, streams, and other fun experimental breadcrumbs he clearly releases just for the sheer fun of music) but I also love that he’s always surrounded by his buds. That one in the front is his wife :) You can tell they’re friends, you can tell they’re having such fun, and it’s a straight rush of serotonin to me and anyone else who goes buckwild for found family in fiction. I want to play video games with him. 🎵How does it keep getting better????👯‍♂️

3) Discoteque - The Roop [Lithuania]

The Roop’s Discoteque is the ultimate theme song for dancing by yourself in your room. That is it, I have condensed its essence into one sentence for you. It’s really not hard to get the appeal of that. Haven’t we all been trapped in our rooms for the past year? Don’t we all need to be told that “it is ok to dance alone”? I feel like The Roop made the accompanying dance simplistic for other viewers on purpose. Discoteque is for everyone. Discoteque is a sealed package of pure fun, and it’s addressed to everyone who has heard the chorus of this song. Even though everyone is isolated in their own home right now, we can do the dance ourselves, and it is ok to dance alone. Dance alone, dance alone, dance alone.... 🕺

2) SHUM - Go_A [Ukraine]

Songs like SHUM are the reason that Eurovision exists: a blend between Ukrainian folk (heralding the beginning of spring) and utterly banging hard techno. Where the fuck else would I find Ukrainian technofolk? And more importantly, where else would I find one that goes this hard? There’s a reason why in the past week I have seen videos of almost every Eurovision performer dancing to SHUM, and it’s because SHUM is a fucking banger. I’ve already posted that I think I played this song so much my neighbours are getting sick of it, and I’m trying to teach myself the Ukrainian lyrics. It’s not out of effort, really, it’s just because if you like EDM at all you will fall in love with this song and have it in your brain constantly, and next thing you know you’re learning Ukrainian folk tales about the metaphorical resonance of sowing hemp. It’s such a good song purely on a musical level that anything else it could offer is just extreneous, frankly. But we also have Kateryna Pavlenko’s god-tier cyberpunk queen aesthetic, Ihor’s brilliant flute-playing, and a genuinely very punk video of the band visiting Chernobyl to benefit from Go_A too. The band that never stops serving.

1) Dark Side - Blind Channel [Finland]

Ok, look, nobody is surprised to see me simp for the Finnish nu-metal band. But give me a few paragraphs to convince you that they (or at least this song) merit just a bit of simping. As a treat. From the perspective of Eurovision this song came pure out of left field: electronic pop and hard rock in a harmonious marriage the likes of which the music scene hasn’t seen in decades. Apparently they like to use the term “violent pop” to describe themselves. In many ways the feel like a Linkin Park revival, if maybe a bit more energetic: dark, emotionally vulnerable, and the kind of thing you would belt out in the shower on a bad day. It is also technically perfect. Considering the simplicity of the lyrics it’s easy to overlook all of the compositional details at play here, but from the vocal effects to every guitar riff to the drum solo in the bridge to the sheer energy of the performance, everything is both perfectly engineered to be musically effective yet authentically hard rock as fuck. These boys may have the aesthetic of someone who spends their days crawling out of dive bar dumpsters (affectionate) but they are extremely hardworking with their craft and I wasn’t surprised to see the release of their mini-documentary wherein it’s obvious they are working themselves ragged and should probably be getting more sleep. Not to forget, of course, the message of Dark Side. This song is a tribute to the outsider, to feeling lonely, to being emotionally stuck and needing release. It embodies catharsis. Every human out there (even though some may claim not to) know what it’s like to want to stick your middle finger up at everyone. And it’s that often-maligned part of you this band is channeling with this amazing rock song. I want Dark Side to win because I think, after 2020, what we as a society collectively need is to put our middle finger up, take a shot, throw it up and don’t stop.

Previous parts of my ESC 2021 song review: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

#eurovision #esc 2021 #beansprouts commentates #music review #long post #me? be late to my vaccination appointment because i had to get this out before the first semifinal? it's more likely than you think

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rika-kihira · 4 years

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Rika Kihira - Athlete Conditioning Magazine interview

Rika Kihira Interview from Athlete Conditioning Magazine (taken during the off season, before FS Season 2019-2020 )

Q: In the 1st senior season, you got amazing results. The length of time for a program is longer than in the junior era, there is also the addition of one more technical element inside the program. There was also the change of it being a longer season. What kind of thoughts do you have?

R: In September 2018 I won Ondrej Nepela Trophy in Slovakia, my 1st competition of the season, but since Japan Nationals (2nd place) ended until the end of the season in April 2019 I felt really exhausted. Compared to Jr, Sr period of competition is longer. In such a long period of time, it was the first time I kept competing continuously, so I didn’t understand how I should adjust properly to match with the competition, it was really hard to maintain my condition and my motivation. Before Worlds 2019 in March held at Saitama Super Arena, there was some adjustment in order to get myself used to new boots. After Worlds there was also WTT held in April (Japan got 2nd place), I felt like I had used all the strength that was left in me, I never experienced something like this sensation before. But using this experience, I want to try my best in putting forth my energy until the end of this season.

Q: In the middle of such exhausting feelings, it was a surprise that you managed to update SP score into World record score of 83.97 points while attending WTT. So in order to display good performances continuously, it is essential to adjust the condition. What are the things you are paying attention to regarding your meal and sleep?

R: I am calculating the calories in my meals everyday. Nutritional balance is important. Protein is a must, but I also pay attention to eat fruits and vegetables which consist of many vitamins. And then before morning and noon practice I consume carbohydrates. If I don’t eat properly I won’t be able to exert my energy because of the feeling of an empty stomach, that is what my condition will become. About sleep, I am managing it with a smartphone application. I understand the difference in my physical condition during the times I had enough sleep and the times I didn’t, so I use it as a reference. Everyday, I am keeping notes of what I am doing and I came to understand what kind of condition came (from the activity), so managing my condition has also became fun.

Q: So it is important to know things you experienced with your body, like for example, what kind of condition it will be when you do a certain amount of exercise?

R: Indeed. There are times when I can’t do the personal training my trainer gave to me, so on off days I do body care and muscle training by myself. I am adjusting so my condition will not fluctuate by much. I keep it as a habit to maintain a stable condition as possible.

Q: Not only competition, I think you also go to training camp overseas, are there things you pay attention to in your trip where the body condition easily changes?

R: It is cold inside the airplane and it is easy to catch a cold there, so I prepare mask and blanket. Before, I had to compete in a competition when I caught a cold. I thought, I don’t want to experience the same thing twice so from that time onward I am especially careful of that. Inside the plane the air is also dry so it’s easy to get a sore throat, so I am paying attention to drink water frequently. After that, I do light stretching a few times. My senses on the next day are different depending on whether I do it or not, so I am doing all the things I could do.

Q: In order to compete at the top level of the world, working on elements with high difficulty level at practice is a must, but no matter what it is hard to avoid struggling with injury. In order to compete in the season there’s no possibility of long-term total recuperation, there is also the need to do training and injury treatment at the same time. The schedule in off season is also pretty busy with performing in ice shows and training. It is necessary to care for light injuries so it will not turn into worse injury. At the final stage of the last junior season (2017-2018 season), on January 2018 you suffered a bone fracture on your left ring finger, in your senior debut season, in February 2019, while experiencing dislocation in the same place, as Kihira who even managed to get good results, we wonder what kind of care you are doing daily. Mostly we wanted to ask about (Conditioning) and (Self-Care), but normally what kind of self-care are you doing?

R: In order to compete until the end of season, I definitely must not get a heavy injury. Consulting my own body condition, I am going to practice like usual while thinking about the next thing. I must not get injured on the next day by overdoing it. But just by resting the circumstance will end up resulting as me being unable to put forth my strength in competition. So I think it is important to keep a tight line of balance (between the two). On a regular basis while doing stretching, if there was a little bit of pain, I use a small type of ultrasonic theraphy medical equipment to treat it and then go to practice, I am taking care of it.

Q: This medical theraphy equipment, since when you are using it and on what occasion?

R: At the time I had a bone fracture in my left hand, in January 2018, I came to use ultrasonic medical theraphy equipment in order to make recovery time faster on the bone. I heard other athletes are also using it. Not only bones, it can also make the pain from straining loose muscles go away. Especially for the part around the ankle and above. As the effect of fixing the skate boots, after the jumps, it is easy to feel pain after the landings, but it’s painful when I tried to ease the tension by myself, and there is also the possibility of inflicting unnecessary pain, so I am caring for the parts that I feel are painful by using ultrasound medical equipment. I am also using the other one for my knees. They are small and easy to be carried around so it’s convenient. I am using it daily when I feel pain at practice.

Q: Are there ways to refresh your mentality aspect?

R: When I become tired I feel irritated, in that condition challenging and practicing end up losing their meaning so I find things to turn into positive feelings and face the practice. To switch over my feelings I listen to music many times. Before the performance I listen to the music I use for my programs. When I am doing stretching and warm up, during my movements I am relaxing by listening to songs that are not related to my program.

Last season, Kihira, who competed until the end in the first senior season, was rewarded with the 2018 JOC Newcomer Award, succeeding brilliantly in her senior debut. Starting this autumn she will challenge her 2nd senior year. In October she will compete in a 3-team competition, Japan Open, held at the Saitama Super Arena. In the GP Series she will compete in the 2nd competition, Skate Canada, and the 6th competition, NHK Trophy. Her new SP for this season is Breakfast in Baghdag, a song with a rithmical melody. She went to Shae-lynn Bourne who also managed (Seimei) the free skate program performed by Yuzuru hanyu (ANA) at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, where he acquired a gold medal. For the FP she went to Tom Dickson for choreo. Song with mysterious melody (O Virtus Sapientae ). In competition, with hard level of jumps and subtle expressions, she will show an evolving program. Lastly, we asked about her resolution for the future.

Q: In 2019-2020 season, your 2nd senior season, you have stated about challenging quad jumps, but what about conditioning to adjust your presentation?

R: Now there are a lot of ice shows in the weekends where I perform my exhibition program, but Monday to Tuesday I am practicing my new FP program and quad training. Regarding jumps, I am including 3A in ice shows, the percentage of success is improving. I am also adding the quad jump in my training camp in America, and I’m also including it at ice show practices, so I have good confidence. It is still in early condition to include in competitions yet, but overall senses from jumps are better than last season. Both the SP and FP are programs with more difficult presentation than last season, but if I can do the jumps and the presentation properly in practice, I am sure I can improve. In order to get used to new programs, I am doing runthrough with song in practice as much as possible. I came to understand how to match the timing to catch my breath with the song interval, I felt that energy to skate the program thoroughly is improving. That is why, even in the off-season, like now, when I practice for ice shows for 45 minutes practice I put it on four times. And so on, assertively doing runthrough with song while practicing.

Q: Looks like you are doing adjustment very well, I am looking forward to it. Is it what it means by doing preparation from making good use of the experiments from last season?

R: Now I am able to work on various tasks, but if the season is approaching, I must go on while matching my condition with the competition, that is the difficult part. But I think surely I can use my experience from last season, I want to aim to perform the best program in any kind of situation by adjusting. Last season I had good results in early GP Series (winning NHK, IDF, and GPF). This season also, I want to get better points than last year by performing my program properly since the beginning. If I can do that, it will become the motivation to do my best until the end of the season and my confidence. By gaining self-confidence I want to rise to the podium at Worlds Championship in the end.

Q: In the world of ladies figure skating in Japan, Shizuka Arakawa shone brightly in Torino Winter Olympics achieving the gold medal, and various athletes appearing one after another in some numbers. Kihira-senshu, what kind of skater do you aim to be?

R: I want to be a skater who is able to show my best real ability in the biggest competition with a tense atmosphere. Also, not only jumps, but spins, steps and presentation, I want to be a skater who can do all of it.

Q: Lastly, please tell us your goal for the future

R: Winning Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics is a dream I have been thinking on from long time ago. To speak of there are some athletes who (are aiming for the 1st place and managed to rise to the podium), if I set my goal less than achieving the 3rd place medal I might end up with 5th or 6th place, so I have the goal to be the winner at the highest place. However if I end up with injury, only that will turn it into a really difficult goal that cannot be realized. I want to fulfill my own dream.

#rika kihira #season: 2019-2020 #translation #interview #Interviews #translations

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transstudiesarchive · 4 years

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Madi Lou (and trans+ artists, too!)

Playing off the idea of "T4T" (trans seeking trans, typically associated with the terms found on the app Grindr) I wanted to compile a playlist of trans/nonbinary/gender non-conforming artists that are present in a variety of genres and gender expressions/presentations/labels.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/52OZ896qRkAM2oqUwbtd5P?si=OQpd8kqSRnGGKcWe6XLcSw

"Maker - Acoustic” by Anjimile

Anjimile is a “queer and trans songmaker/lover boy with a heart of gold” based in Boston, MA

"Emasculate" by Dorian Electra

Dorian Electra is a gender-fluid pop musician who likes to become a “genderless clown” in their extravagant makeup and campy aesthetics.

"800 db cloud" by 100 gecs (Laura Les)

Laura Les, part of the duo 100 gecs, is a trans woman previously known under her project Osno1 (I felt it personally prevalent to include her song “How to Dress as Human” but could only find the link through Youtube)

"Heartbreaker" by Ah-Mer-Ah-Su

In her 2018 album STAR, Ah-Mer-Ah-Su wanted to tell the story of her black trans identity--a story typically connected to struggle and coping with extreme opposition from society at large. “For me, this album simply means that I’m a black girl with something to say. I have a story, and I’ll tell it through my music.” (billboard, August 2018)

"HRT" by Girls Rituals

Devi McCallion has worked in a number of projects centered under her label blacksquares. Her trans identity is touched on in such projects as Cats Millionaire/Mom, blackdresses, and Girls Rituals.

"Trans Femme Bonding" by Tami T

Originally starting her glittery electronica sound under the name Tami Tamaki, Tami T describes many aspects around the love for/between trans femmes // “So fucking brave, so fucking femme”

"Nonbinary" by Arca

Alejandra Ghersi, better known by her stagename Arca, came out as nonbinary and goes by she/her and it/its pronouns.

"Bitch Pudding" by KC Ortiz

Rising in the Chicago hip-hop scene, KC Ortiz wants to be known that she is no different than any other rapper. “I cringe when headlines say ‘Trans Rapper.’ That ain’t me...The only times that even crosses my mind really is when I think about because I’m trans I gotta be dope.” (Art Music Fashion Life, June 2020)

"Faceshopping" by SOPHIE

Sophie Xeon made her breakthrough in Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides, becoming a known name after producing for artists like Charli XCX. She is very reclusive and has a smaller public image, contrary to her Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2020 appearance. (I have also discussed her imagery/lyricism of this song in 5th Avenue’s podcast--you should give it a listen to hear about other great queer artists!)

"Unkillable" by Katie Dey

“I was born inside this body and I’m stuck there/I’m a storm inside a rotting false construction” (Transition from “solipsisting” into “stuck” on Katie Dey’s debut album Asdfasdf)

"I'm Not 'Supposed' to Be Anything" by She/Her/hers

Emma Grrrl (and the occasional appearance of her friends) describes herself as sad grrrl pop-punk. “When I hear that a trans teenager shared one of my songs with their parents and it helped them to understand their experience, I just can’t imagine anything more validating or fulfilling than that.” (arena, June 2018)

"Gotta Gimme Your Love" by Sateen

Sateen is the band formally made up of the lesbian power couple Miss Sateen and Exquisite. Originally famous and sensationalized as a “hetero drag couple,” Exquisite came out as a trans woman and shifted the projection of their music and relationship into making disco for a new generation.

"TRANSylvania" by Kim Petras

Known famously on German television for medically transitioning in her teens, Kim Petras’ assertation in her identity as a trans woman gave her much of the internet presence and platform to successfully kick off a music career. “I hate the idea of using my identity as a tool...It made me the person I am and that’s a big part of me, but I think music is about your feelings and your fantasies and it goes deeper than your gender or your sexuality.” (billboard, 2018)

"Breakdown" by Torraine Futurum

Making waves in the fashion industry before walking in New York Fashion Week, Torraine Futurum says she aims to “do whatever the fuck I want to do on this Earth -- and it’s going to be excellent.” (them., 2018)

"I Am America" by Shea Diamond

“I knew at a very young age I loved to sing. My voice was effeminate and I remember feeling afraid to sing in the church choir...Desperate to find the financial means to transition to my true gender, I committed a crime in 1999 and was sentenced to 10 years in a men’s prison. I was afraid that I could possibly die in a prison system designed to ensure correctional jobs over human lives...I began writing ‘I Am Her’ as a statement to a world that said I shouldn’t exist.” (TEDxKC, 2018)

"Body and Soul" by teddy<3

Teddy Geiger has known many lives in popular culture from teen idol, romantic lead, to sought after producer. “I didn’t know anyone who was trans...I had very little connection to that, so it wasn’t really until maybe three years ago I started actually painting my nails and going out. Nobody cared if I was femme.” (Rolling Stone, 2018)

"Genderqueer Love Song" by Schmekel

“Schmekel means little penis is Yiddish, and is a play on the fact that all four members were born female but ow identify themselves on the masculine side of the gender spectrum. It’s an appropriate name for a band that started as a laugh.” (New York Times, 2011)

"Queer Kidz" by Ashby and the Occeanns

Ashlynn Barker is a trans/nonbinary musician based out of Chicago. They write songs about trans issues, queer identity, mental health, and video games.

"Cis Girls" by Dyke Drama

Sadie Switchblade of the band G.L.O.S.S. (Girls Living Outside Society’s Shit) came out with this “transparent” side project. “It’s pretty transparent...The songs are either about trans girl problems or dykey lesbionic friendships.” (Pitchfork, 2016)

"Femme Bitch Top" by Tribe 8

“When the trans-dyke neofeminist rabble-rousers known as Tribe 8 make music, not even heaven is safe.” (SF Gate, 2006) The San Francisco LGBT Film Festival entry “Rise Above” is a rock-documentary anomaly I highly recommend taking the time to watch.

"They / Them / Theirs" by Worriers

“You’ve got a word for one, So there’s a word for all. // The smallest things have become Which side are you on? // What if I don’t want something that applies to me? // What if there’s no better word than just not saying anything, anything?” The trio of gender-neutral pronouns

"Gender Nightmare" by Art Projects

“That’s not my face on the license picture // You call my name as it is on paper // As it will still be // When they write me up a eulopy” (Genius Lyrics analysis you want to click in on)

"Male Gynecology" by Shoplifting

A revival of riot-grrrl manifestas, the album Body Stories “brims over with precisely the kind of heartfelt, politically-charged fervor that’s far more likely to save rock. (Pop Matters, 2006)

"Third Gender" by Good Asian Drivers

“Sometimes my gender is chilling out inbetween, but most of the time my gender is FUCK YOU mind your own business!” → Please please please listen to the lyrics of this song, this is a wonderfully politically charged bop carried with heart and bass and punk spit.

"True Trans Soul Rebel" by Against Me!

Laura Les came out with her release of the album Transgender Dysphoria Blues and furthered this message in Against Me!’s album Shape Shift with Me. She was one of the first trans people I saw openly continue to pursue a passion despite previously having works “pre-transition” out in the world.

"If I Were You" by Claud

“Sometimes it’s more important to write from a perspective different from your own in order to touch on important things. People always tell me that I’m brutally honest and I think it’s because I don’t hold back on anything...it’s refreshing to hear something said that you want to say yourself, but just couldn’t.” (Popsugar., 2019)

"If You Knew This Was About You, You'd Deny It" by Wargo

A trans woman solo-acoustic based out of Virginia, Wargo’s sound is directly influenced by the punk scene of the east coast. She likes to call her style “Appalachian Power Pop.”

"I DONT TRUST U ANYMORE" by Left at London

Coming to a place of internet recognition through such vines as “hahaha I do that” Nat Puff’s indie pop project Left at Londed (shorted as /@/) dives into the heart of “what it means to navigate the current political world as a queer person, while still remaining accessible to the general public.” (“About” on /@/ website)

"Body Was Made" by Ezra Furman

“My body was made this particular way // There’s really nothing any old patrician can say // You social police can just get out of my face // My body was made” (Body Was Made music video is a quirky and fun stylistic retelling of these lyrics) Ezra Furman identifies as trans and bisexual and uses he/him and she/her pronouns.

"Complicated" by The Cliks

Lucas Silveira shared that the band’s name derived from two ideas; using The like iconic bands The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and Cliks as a portmanteau of the slang terms clit and dicks. (In The Life interview, 2009)

"Upper West Side" by King Princess

“Although [Mikaela Mullaney Straus] identifies as a genderqueer lesbian, King Princess doesn’t necessarily want her music to be placed in the ‘queer pop’ box.” (MTV, 2019) Who isn’t bored of the heteronormative narrative?

"Make Me Feel" by Janelle Monáe

“I consider myself to be a free-ass motherfucker. I want young girls, young boys, non-binary, gay, straight, queer, queer people who are having a hard time dealing with their sexuality, dealing with feeling ostracized or bullied for just being their unique selves, to know that I see you.” (NewNowNext, February 2020)

"body cast" by Dua Saleh

A Sudanese refugee, Dua Saleh nurtured their love for poetry in the beginnings of their Minneapolis music career. They came out as nonbinary while in their second year at Augsburg University but have said “I always been on gay shit.” (them., May 2020)

"Mercury" by CJ Run

“With a deep understanding of pop sensibility, and enough hooks to last a lifetime, CJ Run’s music is the inner monologue of a black queer 20 something in the 21st century.” (Propelr)

"Dancing With Stranger" by Sam Smith

“When I saw the word non-binary, genderqueer, and I read into it, and I heard these people speaking, I was like, ‘Fuck, that is me.’” (Vanity Fair, March 2019)

"SkindeepSkyhighHeartwide" by Lawrence Rothman

Lawrence Rothman is a gender fluid artist, musician, and producer. Looking into their Google Image results yields the visual evidence of the nine personas Rothman refers to as “alters, each one offering a different lens for their creative use.” (NPR, November 2018)

"Extended Vacation" by Ryan Cassata

Ryan Cassata is the first openly transgender musician to perform at Warped, winning the Ernie Ball Battle of The Bands contest twice (both in 2013 and 2015*). He has spoken out about American Idol attempting to exploit openly transgender people to pander to a broader audience banking on new forms of media “diversity”. *I saw him in Mountain View, California in 2015 and you have no idea how happy a newly out genderqueer 16 year old was to stand on stage behind a proud trans man singing on a bumping stage.

"Let My Baby Stay" by Amandla Stenberg

This entire article is great in explaining why Amandla’s openness on their pronouns outside of this website might have harmed them for the future of their career.

"Dolla in My Titty (Part 1)" by Peppermint

Best known as the 2017 runner up on the ninth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Peppermint made her musical debut in Head Over Heels becoming Broadway’s first out trans woman to play a lead roll.

"Gender Bronoun" by Human Kitten

“What is unstable And what is real // This is a question that i ask myself on a daily basis // Are my emotions genuine Or are they just the result of my neural passages sending my chemicals back and forth” → “Caught i’m between two completely separate identites Who Can’t agree on anything // And i can’t even decide on which one’s me”

"Wow in the Now" by Honeybird

Honeybird is a musician and composer based in Bologna, Italy. Their mission is to listen to intersectional LGBTQ+ community voices and transform the daily struggle into songs.

"I Don't Love You Anymore" by ANHONI

“My closest friends and family use feminine pronouns for me. I have mot mandated the press do one thing or another...I think words are important. To call a person by their chosen gender is to honor their spirit, their life and contributions. ‘He’ is an invisible pronoun for me, it negates me.’” (Flavorwire, November 2014)

"Robert Frost" by Mal Blum

“Now I’m looking at the ground because I don’t want you to leave // I know it’s co-dependent But I think it’s kind of sweet // Out of every person in this city I could ever meet // Leaving feels like losing But I’m learning what I need”

"Dysphoria" by Saint Wellesley

“Binding my chest and biting my tongue Wearing boxers never fixed anyone” → “And this is the last time I’ll allow my ribs to be swollen // And I’ll grow out my hair And pretend I don’t care And maybe my ribs are broken” → “Dysphoria’s a bitch I wanna kick her in a ditch // It’s not fair to wanna itch All of the places that don’t fit”

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johannesviii · 4 years

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Top 10 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2019

The last list, for now. It’s been a wild ride.

Not the best of these lists, but some really refreshing stuff charted that year, and what was good was super good. And also, here’s a barely elligible #1 that nobody seemed to care about for some reason.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

In 2019, my finger was fixed, I dropkicked depression in the garbage bin (with a little help from Eurovision because it was super good and full of hilarious shit), got married, and went on a roadtrip on Vancouver Island (BC, Canada), and that was my first real travel in 13 years. Met a lot of great people, seen amazing places, trees, bears and whales. And planes are also part of the adventure when you’re not used to them (you can watch movies on little screens from your seat now?? I had no idea. I watched so many movies). It was very exciting.

I also saw VNV Nation live in February, for the third time in six years. This time I had enough budget to buy a tshirt. I wasn’t expecting that concert to be even better than the previous two. At that point the new album had only been out for a couple of months and we still knew the lyrics of most of the new songs and Ronan’s face was constantly broadcasting a kind of “...........how” expression (face it guys, we like you. A lot). And they finished with All Of Our Sins and let me tell you, half the club was ready to start a revolution by the time that was over. Super intense.

Ok. 2019 albums! First, let’s talk about some negative things. Coldplay released Everyday Life at the end of the year. It was... uh. It was basically how I stopped loving their new stuff. That’s a very sad conclusion (for now) to this saga. This is exactly what I feared would have happened after Viva La Vida, aka them trying to go back to their earlier sound - except in the meantime we’ve got three fantastic albums with songs full of energy and joy. So I’m not too mad about this, just disappointed.

Within Temptation released Resist, and it wasn’t very good either, but I appreciated the general aesthetic of it. More SF-themed albums in symphonic metal, please. NF released The Search and while I’m still not a fan there’s a song on it that would have been #1 on this list if it had been elligible, so that’s something. And Carly Rae Jepsen released Dedicated and it was super good so why isn’t she getting new hits. Why. It feels unfair. Oh, and Avantasia made Moonglow and that’s the first time I’ve cared about their stuff in like a decade or so. Ghost In The Moon is super good, check it out.

But the big event of the year music-wise, as far as I’m concerned, was the return of two bands I thought we had lost forever. Of course My Chemical Romance reformed, but they don’t have new music yet, so the main event for this post is the return of Tool with Fear Inoculum. It’s not even their best album, but having a pretty good new Tool album in the year of our lord 2019 wasn’t at all something I was counting on. Of course, the hardcore fans are still as insufferable as ever (insert the “you need a pretty high IQ” copypasta here), but it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of it. Come on! Their first album in 13 years! 80 minutes of hypnotic heavy rhythms and weird shit, an album that trolled me when I opened it by playing a music video while I was looking somewhere else (yeah I jumped), and they even managed to land a track for one week on the US hot 100! Again, Tool! On the hot 100! in 2019! Unbelievable. Are we starting to return to the good timeline? I certainly hope so.

Unelligible songs, now. The Search by NF would have topped this list super easily. Might be one of the songs I listened to the most in 2019, actually. Now That I Found You by Carly Rae Jepsen, again, should have been a hit, and I beg you to watch this music video if you’ve never seen it. The 1975 released the super unexpected People, which was still good, and also Frail State of Mind. And most unexpected of all, three artists I didn’t care about at all teamed up and made absolute gold: I Think I’m OKAY, by Machine Gun Kelly, YUNGBLUD and Travis Barker. That would have been the second slot on this list if it had been elligible. Or maybe the first, even? Not sure. I’m just so happy this kind of angry but uplifting music is starting to become popular again. I just love everything about this song.

Here’s a short list of honorable mentions!

Roi (Bilal Hassani) - I don’t like this song a lot, but I do like it, I’m glad it was our song for the ESC 2019, and Bilal is a very nice and endearing person, and everyone who disrespects him on twitter is free to come fight me in the pit, where I’m still waiting with that tambourine from my 1992 list.

Con Calma (Daddy Yankee, Katy Perry, Snow) - You already know I liked the original Informer a lot, so I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t pleased to hear this clone of it on the radio.

Breathin’ (Ariana Grande) - Here’s the usual “if I had better taste this would be higher” honorable mention.

Summer Days (Martin Garrix) - In the absence of any new hit song from Macklemore this will do in a pinch.

Circles (Post Malone) - The fact that everyone seems to adore this and I’m over there saying “it’s ok I guess” probably means I will never love Post Malone nor understand the hype about him, and that’s okay, I can live with that.

High Hopes (Panic! At the Disco) - Still elligible. Still good but too borderline annoying to make the list.

How Do You Sleep (Sam Smith) - This year Sam Smith pulled a Viva La Vida and decided to stop making boring music all of a sudden and I’m LIVING FOR THIS. I certainly hope they continue in that direction.

And now, the list.

10 - La Grenade (Clara Luciani)

US: Not on the list / FR: #55

The only semi-filler on the list. I still like it a lot. Don’t have anything to say about it, though.

9 - Panini (Lil Nas X)

US: #40 / FR: Not on the list

Wasn’t too impressed by this at first and it took a while to grow on me, but the chorus is a nice little earworm, and “hey panini, don’t you be a meanie” has a tendency to pop in my head when I read hateful comments on the internet now. And Lil Nas X is just too endearing to be ignored. We’re so lucky to have someone who became famous so quickly and instantly decided to dress like a Jojo character and have the geekiest music videos possible and still be super nice and humble. We don’t deserve this guy.

8 - Dance Monkey (Tones And I)

US: Not on the list / FR: #6

I’m super glad the US are finally getting on the hype train in 2020 because this is a ton of fun. If the voice was juuuuuust a little less grating this would be even higher. Impossible to get it out of your head and somehow in this case that’s a good thing.

7 - Dancing With a Stranger (Sam Smith & Normani)

US: #14 / FR: Not on the list

As I said in the honorable mentions, Sam Smith pulled a Viva La Vida and decided to stop making boring music all of a sudden and I couldn’t be happier about that. This song is still a bit too calm for my taste most of the time, but when I’m in the right mood, it’s just fantastic.

Again, I hope Sam Smith continues in that direction, because if you had told me a couple of years ago that I would start to like their stuff one day, I would have laughed out loud.

6 - Bad Guy (Billie Eilish)

US: #4 / FR: #16

Duh.

I’m not as enthusiastic about When The Party’s Over as a ton of people are, mostly because, well, it’s a slow emotional song with little to no colour in it and by now you’re already aware I tend to have next to zero interest in that kind of songs. Bad Guy, on the other hand, is half hilarious half scary in equal doses, and even if I’m not super fond of the weird outro, it’s still a fantastic, weird as shit song, and I’m really glad Billie Eilish exists. Can’t wait to see where she goes from there.

I’m super glad this song didn’t come out when I was a teenager myself though. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I would have survived if the musical landscape from 16 years ago had been as depressed as it currently is. Thank god music is slowly getting more energetic again in 2020. Let’s stay on that track.

5 - Hey Look Ma I Made It (Panic! At The Disco)

US: #61 / FR: Not on the list

I follow several music critics on youtube and over the course of 2019, I’ve seen undiluted vitriol and hatred against this song (Spectrum Pulse even made a list of his “worst hit songs” of the decade and put this one at #10! TEN!!). And... I don’t really get where it’s coming from? Maybe I’m too literal-minded to see what the problem is with a sarcastic song saying “look I sold out and now I found success again! And it’s not that great!”. I just think it’s a lot of fun. Thank god Todd put it on his best list, at least we can agree on one thing for once.

It is hilarious that after putting so many Fall Out Boy songs on my lists, the one that I love the most from Panic! is the sellout song. Not sure why this was huge while the even better Say Amen wasn’t, though.

4 - Sunflower (Swae Lee & Post Malone)

US: #2 / FR: Not on the list

I usually don’t get the “chill” songs that tend to be successful these days but this one, unlike most Post Malone songs (bar Circles), has lovely pastel colors and a cloudy texture and it’s a really good vibe. It took several months to grow on me but it sure did.

In about ten years, people will listen to Sunflower and be submerged by nostalgia, mark my words.

3 - Old Town Road (Lil Nas X)

US: #1 / FR: #1 (see, everyone agrees for once)

Everyone on the planet already wrote a thinkpiece about this song and yet I’ve only seen maybe one out of five mentioning, just in passing, that the entire song is based on a Nine Inch Nail track from Ghosts I-IV, superbly re-used to make a weird and insanely catchy country hip hop song out of it. Ghosts has been one of my go-to albums to listen to while I’m painting for about ten years now. I’m saying all this because hearing a track from Ghosts on the radio for months was absolute bliss for me, especially in a new and improved version.

Thank you Lil Nas X for everything you’ve been doing and I wish you a long and successful career. You deserve it. I love this and I love you.

2 - Bury A Friend (Billie Eilish)

US: #73 / FR: Not on the list

Hello again, Billie Eilish.

This song is absolutely terrifying and that was before I even saw the music video. This is the soundtrack of your nightmares right there. I’m not even sure it deserves to be so high on the list, but frankly I’m too terrified to care. Maybe Old Town Road should be higher. I don’t know.

Also you have to know that when I’m super tired I go into echolalia mode and automatically repeat words or entire sentences that my brain considers interesting, like “potiron” (pumpkin) or “dramatique” ; and recently, my brain decided “when we all fall asleep, where do we go?”, sung exactly like it’s sung in this song, was its new favorite sentence. So. Hearing yourself saying that to an empty room while you’re drawing or folding clothes or cleaning plates is not a very pleasant experience, and it makes this song extra scary to me.

And now, here’s the last #1 of the last one of these lists (for now), and I’m glad to announce it closes this series of posts in a super fitting way.

Check this out. It’s so perfect in every way.

1 - Walk Me Home (Pink)

US: #99 / FR: Not on the list

Nobody seemed to care about this song over the course of 2019, and it's barely elligible, and I still have no idea why. The music reviewers I follow only either talked about it super briefly when it came out, or not at all. The rare ones who were making top 100s at the end of the year instead of top 10s usually put it somewhere in the middle of their lists. And yet it’s the elligible song I’ve listened to the most.

If you’ve been reading this series of posts for a while now, you probably already know exactly why it’s here, but here’s a quick recap.

The second album I ever bought in my life was Pink’s Missundaztood in 2002, and I loved her music a lot:

I was still really fond of her stuff in 2007:

Then she started to become less interesting and I basically ignored her apart from a brief blip on my radar in 2017:

Meanwhile, in 2012, fun. made some of the best songs of the entire decade before vanishing instantly, and I’ve been mourning them ever since:

And in the middle of last year, here I am, listening to the radio, and suddenly I hear something that sounds exactly like a fun. song, except I’ve never heard it before and it’s sung by a female singer, and, most importantly, it’s 2019 and fun. broke up more than six years earlier. And I’m like, what’s going on. This is so good. What the hell. What is this.

And I hear it a second time weeks later, and I google it, and I discovered that 1) it was Pink singing this, which made it my favorite Pink song in literally more than ten years, and 2) it was, indeed, written by one of the guys from fun., among other people who’s influence is less obvious.

I guess the main lesson from 2019, between newcomers making great music based on dead trends, old groups reforming, and this song, is that nothing’s gone forever, and things you used to enjoy can come back at the most unexpected time and in the most unexpected form.

There’s always, always gonna be new music to love, and it’s just a question of time.

Quick note

And with this, these lists are over... for now.

I don’t regret making them even if they were a ton of work, because that was super useful for a lot of different reasons.

They helped me get a better understanding of my own life’s chronology. That may sound stupid but I tend to link events to the music I was listening to at the time, and putting all that music in chronological order helped a lot.

I rediscovered a ton of songs I had completely forgotten about, and a lot of new ones. My playlist is much richer now and I’m happy about that.

I also discovered a few artists I knew nothing about.

It forced me to analyse two depressive episodes in my life and just because everything was now in exact chronological order, it accidentally helped me pinpoint what caused both of them. Better and cheaper than therapy. Impressive.

It made me realise how important some bands and artists had been in my life, and I relistened to some of their catalogue while making these lists. For some it was really obvious (Indochine, Placebo, Mylène Farmer, My Chemical Romance among some others), and for some others (Moby, Linkin Park, Mika in particular), it was a real surprise.

It made me realise that Placebo might have been huge in France but weirdly enough not that huge in the UK nor in the US. It’s especially striking when you look at their wikipedia page in English then in French and realise how detailed the French one is compared to the English one. Can’t believe Sleeping With Ghosts was a n°1 album here and basically nowhere else. That was the band where that discrepency was the most obvious but it wasn’t the only one like that. Really puts stuff in perspective.

It also helped me realise how cyclical popular music is. 1) trends tend to die near the end of every decade and the worst year is usually somewhere between the 8th and the 9th year. 2008 and 2018 tend to confirm this. 2) For the same reason, some new & interesting stuff appears at the beginning of every decade, and reaches its high point of quality between the 2nd and 4th year of the decade. 3) Basically I’m saying we’ve now passed the lowest musical quality in recent memory and 2022-2023 will have some exceptional music.

See you in December 2020. I have no doubt there’s a ton of great music coming up in the near future.

#Johannes’ bad not good pretty terrible music lists #music #long post #the last one #I can't believe this is over #I loved making these lists #spider tw #eye contact tw

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chibimyumi · 5 years

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HIGHLIGHTS from RADIOiNEWS with FURUKAWA

Furukawa was invited as special guest to the radio show RadioiNEWS (12/11/2019) wherein he broadcasted live.

The broadcast was 45 minutes long, so I cannot possibly write everything down here, but allow me to share a few highlights with you!

Response to Fan Messages

✬ Extreme Happiness ✬

Q: “Mr. Furukawa, I am incredibly happy to learn you shall reprise your role as Der Tod in ‘Elisabeth 2020′, and I really want to share this happiness. But I am all alone at home, and my husband does not watch any musicals. My daughter who became your fan after ‘Kuroshitsuji’ also can’t find any place at school to let out her happiness. Mr. Furukawa, how do you express your feelings when you are incredibly happy? Or are you the type not to express it?”

Furu: “Ah, right. When I am incredibly happy I try to create a personal space and scream.”

All: *Burst into laughter*

Furu: “For example, nowadays I tend to go into my car and scream in happiness (laughs), so I’d like to ask you to try screaming in a car too.”

✬ Kuroba Mario ✬

Host: “Mr. Kuroba Mario who was announced as member of the new cast today also sent in a voice message!”

Kuroba: “Dear listeners of RADIOiNEWS, and Mr. Yuta, good evening. I am Kuroba Mario. Mr. Yuta, thank you so much taking such perfect care of me during ‘Romeo & Juliette’, I really admire you very much. Ah, that just slipped out of my mouth.

I know it is a bit sudden, but I have become very health oriented. So, Mr.Yuta, you’re super thin, aren’t you? You are thin and pale, I am very worried about you.”

Furu: “Eh!?”

Hosts: *Burst of laughter*

Kuroba: “Mr. Yuta, could you please share what you... do... for your health? Please do your best on the live broadcast! That was Kuroba Mario.”

Furu: “He admires me and therefore he is worried about me, that is quite refreshing. I must say I am a bit shocked.”

Host: *Burst of laughter* “What is the bond you share between you, and how did you meet?”

Furu: “We met during ‘Romeo & Juliette’ wherein he was my co-star. He is also my junior for the musical ‘Prince of Tennis’, but we did not share any productions together, so ‘Romeo & Juliette’ really was our first.

Also, he is such a good boi, and incredibly incredibly handsome. But he never relies on his good looks to achieve things. He is also a very ambitious type of person; he is very young and yet so ambitious, it is very rare. He is my junior, but I look up to him very much.

Well... that said, I also caused him to worry about me (laughs), so I am not sure it’s my place to talk here. But I believe I might be even more health oriented than Mario. I do everything from taking my supplements to drinking Aojiru before meals. Ah, and nose gargling, I nose gargle every day. I stretch before going to bed, as well as taking care of my throat. So please don’t worry about me. But thank you so much for worrying about me. Thank you.”

Economy & Politics

Basic Income Policy

Furukawa went political here! I did not expect it! ÓÒ

He said that he usually listens to political and economic debates in bed, because that tends to make him very sleepy. But once the topic of Basic Income Policy popped up, and it prompted him to think about this issue.

In Japan, members of the government as well as many people claim that this policy cannot be introduced in Japan, but Furukawa wonders why.

Furu: “I don’t quite get why such a basic thing is considered impossible by people. Japan admires Western countries to a certain extent and seems to want to imitate them. However, it appears that the thing Japan admires is the language (’Basic Income Policy’ in Japanese is the English term itself). Of course if nobody wants to act, this policy stays this ‘dream’ the government calls it.

So, we have other countries that did us the courtesy of testing the No-Basic-Income Policy, and it did not quite work. I wonder why Japan must test it for itself.”

Q&A Game!

Now Furukawa was invited to play the Q&A game, where he is given 1 minute to respond to as many questions as possible.

Your hobby? Furu: “Piano.”

Special Skill? Furu: “Dancing.”

Who do you especially admire? Furu: “People who can do things I cannot.”

Expensive things or extravagance you spent money on Furu: “Eeh... an expensive steak and a wallet.”

Your secret? Furu: “I cannot say.”

What type of woman do you like? Furu: “Erm... a person who does not get angry”

What would you tell past-you? Furu: “You. W-work harder!”

A bad habit you keep doing Furu: “T-t-touching my hair?”

What embarrassed you lately? Furu: “I am usually embarrassed when I get praised.”

Your favourite space at home Furu: “My couch”

Though sudden, please say something nice to your listeners Furu: “........ Dom... dun... ah, don’t push yourself so hard...” (You tell yourself to work harder, and tell others not to push themselves? ....you Disney Princess...)

Your best cooking Furu: “I heated the sausages.” (Son... that’s not ‘cooking’.)

The highlight of your fashion today Furu: “The floof in... in... that I misjudged what combines well with what...”

A job you’d like to try Furu: “Eh... a photoshoot abroad.”

TIME UP!

Furu: “I am so sorry, I was just hopeless (laughs).”

After Talk (Parts)

Piano 🎹

Host: “So your hobby is playing the piano? Have you been playing since childhood?”

Furu: “Ah no, I started learning the piano for my role as Mozart (2018). The opportunity to play the piano also popped up lately, so I’ve been studying it.”

Host: “I assume you are really good.”

Furu: “Oh no, I am absolutely hopeless at it. I am painfully aware of the difficulty of playing the piano.”

Admiration✨

Host: “You spoke about admiring people who can do things you cannot.”

Furu: “Yes, people have many talents, and I just cannot help but admire people who can do things I cannot. Lately I have come to really admire my piano instructor. It is something I struggle with so much, and yet my teacher can play the piano like it’s nothing.

Likewise I also admire Mr. Ichimura Masachika who took care of me during ‘Mozart!’. I really admire his spirit towards work, and how he’s so mindful of everything around him.”

Expensive Steak 🥩

Host: “Alright, Mr. Furukawa, I am sorry, but you said that the expensive thing you spent money on lately was an e-e-expensive steak?”

Furu: “Y-yeah, it was a bit expensive? Well, it was actually a normal steak, steak is just expensive. But I just had to answer something, so the steak and the wallet was what popped up in my mind first.”

Host: (Laughs) “You had a steak in a restaurant, I assume? Or did you make it yourself?” (No Mr. Host; Furukawa SOAKED his own steak in warm water. He wouldn’t know what cooking is if it bit him in his behind.)

Furu: “Ah, no, I went to my favourite steak place that uses a point-card system. I frequented that place in the past, and I spent... one or... no, two years to accumulate a whopping 17000 points. But last time I went, a year had already passed, and my points were reset to zero...”

Hosts: *Screech in pain* “What a shame!!”

Furu: “Is it normal that points get reset if you don’t come for a year?”

Host: “Well, it’s a system that wants you to keep coming, right.”

Furu: “I guess I learned the hard way, I will never forget this anymore.”

#Furukawa Yuta #Yun #RADIOiNEWS #Radio #English #translation #Kuroba Mario #Mario Kuroba #Mozart #Elisabeth #TOHO #Kuroshitsuji #Kuromyu #Basic Income Policy #Politics and Economics #Passive aggressive as always

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d6official · 5 years

Text

Day6 Talk Putting Themselves Into New 'The Book of Us: Gravity' EP

It’s been over half a year since Day6released December’s Remember Us, the second half of their Youth album series. Preceded by that June's Shoot Me, the five-member Korean pop band spent the duology exploring topics revolving around the titular theme, but now they’re ready to move on. Today (July 15), the act dropped their new EP The Book of Us: Gravity, a six-track album that spends it time ruminating on ideas of how one interacts with oneself and the world around them, and how each individual writes the story of their own life.

Ahead of the release of The Book of Us: Gravity, bassist-vocalist Young K, who served as sole lyricist on all but one track of the album, and guitarist-vocalist Jae spoke with Billboard over the phone from Seoul to discuss what it meant to them to make their return with such heavy themes even while keeping the overall sound full of enthusiasm and jaunty excitement.

Billboard: How do you guys feel ahead about the album’s release? It’s been seven months since your last new music, and this is your first album of 2019.

Young K: Ever since 2017, because of the Every Day6 project, we were releasing two songs a month. So we were used to putting out albums very frequently, and having shows every time.

Jae: It’s been a while since we had this much time in between our releases, but we definitely want to hype you guys up a little bit because we’ve been gone but we’ve been plotting. We’ve been in the studio, just working out and trying to make an album that’s sufficient for the long term that we’ve been gone. And we’re pretty happy with the byproduct so I think it’s going to be a good album.

You were pushing out content so frequently with the Every Day6 project, so in comparison this must have been a lot more relaxed. Was there any effect on your creative process versus what you were doing then compared to now?

Young K: We were kind of rushed with the time [for Every Day6] but always had to put out our best, so we were, of course, stressed. This time we had more time but that also gave us a different kind of stress because we wanted to give out something we haven’t been giving out and something that could top the ones that we already put out. We’ve been preparing. We actually wrote more than the ones that are being released.

We only picked the songs that are the best. We didn’t, actually. The company did it. [Laughs]

Jae: Yeah, we have a lot of songs. Regarding feeling different from Every Day6, it does and it doesn’t. We always are songwriting, so it’s kind of like Every Day6 but not in that big format. [Laughs] The grind! We had a lot of fun with it. It is stress, but it’s a good kind of stress.

How do you manage that? You’re writing your own music, you’re working on your own stuff, but then you have to deal with the management of JYP Entertainment and what they expect you to put out.

Jae: Being at JYP, there are certain things that they look for in songs and I feel like we’re starting to come to an understanding of what that is. We always try to incorporate those elements into our music as well. But in general, I guess, everyone likes good music so I feel like if it’s something lyrically that you can connect with, that’s an important point. The melody sounding a little bit fresh. I just feel like good music is what makes it.

Listening to it, The Book of Us: Gravity has a bit more of an upbeat style than some of your past releases. What would you say is the inspiration behind this album?

Young K: The one before was the Youth series, so we talked about how people near our age grow up and how they are living. But in this album, we wanted to focus more on human relationships, how they interact with one another. Basically, the inspiration, of course, came from the life that I have been -- we have been living. But also, everyday conversations, how people live, how they talk, the expressions they have on their faces. Basically everything that we experienced in our life could become an inspiration.

The album is called The Book of Us and the single “Time of Our Life” features a lot of literary references. What’s the meaning behind this?

Young K: I guess the book means a life. It’s a story we write down as we live. Our title song “Time of Our Life,” in Korean it means “So That It Becomes One of the Pages” (“한 페이지가 될 수 있게”). So when we put out this song, and when we’re all singing it together at the concerts or when you’re listening to this song, I hope that this song can become one of your pages, a moment in your life, your book. The Book of Us. Everyone.

So the song is both about love and also an inspirational message you want fans to take away, “I want this song to be part of your life”?

Young K: Yeah, exactly.

What do you want people to know about the music video?

Jae: All music videos are different, but I think this one is particularly different because we took a little more of a fun approach to a lot of the scenes. You’ll see us do a lot of fun and silly stuff that we don’t normally do in our music videos, and I think that’ll be a little bit refreshing for the people that have been with us on this journey.

Why is the album subtitled Gravity?

Young K: Out of human relationships, we focused on the beginning. I guess because it’s a new beginning. Gravity means that we’re being pulled towards one another.

Jae: That kind of emotion and anxiety and positive stress that you get when meeting new people, where romantically or not. At the beginning of anything, the beginning of a relationship, whether it’s romantically or with a coworker or with a friend or with someone you’ve just met on the street, it all starts with this Korean word “설레임” (seol-le-im). I don’t know how to explain that.

Young K: It’s not “설레임.”

Jae: Oh, “설렘” (seol-lem). It’s “설렘.” Sorry, “설레임” is an ice cream.

Young K: It’s like the emotion…

Jae: Excitement!

Google says it’s “flutter.”

Young K: I guess flutter could work...

Jae: Basically, our album this time we did want to focus a little bit more on the positive things, at the beginning.

Is Gravity going to be the first of a series, since you’re talking about it being a beginning?

Jae: To be honest, I don’t know if anyone can answer that question. But… I don’t know. Possibly? Maybe, maybe not. I’m not sure. We just like making music.

There are five other tracks on the album. What do you want people to take away from The Book of Us: Gravity as a whole?

Young K: One of the messages that we did want to give out was that, in order to start a healthy relationship with somebody else we feel like we need to know who you are first. You need to know yourself first, so there are some songs giving out that message. For example, there’s a song called “For Me.” In the beginning, the song talks about, “Who are you? I want to get to know you.” But actually, it’s to the person standing in the mirror. From now on, I’m going to get to know you. I’m going to try harder to be closer to you, even though I’ve been next to you longer than anyone in this life. So that’s why it’s called “For Me.” And there’s a song called “Cover.” In Korean, it’s called “포장” (po-jang), which is like “packaging.” Throughout my life, I’ve been covering up who I am to be better, to look better. But as time went by, the cover started to get worn out, and you’re starting to see who I am. I feel like, we feel like, everyone goes through this kind of thinking, the idea that we always need to do something or be someone else in order to be better, to satisfy other people. But who you are inside is more important, I guess.

Do you feel you’ve uncovered what the packaging used to be covering up?

Young K: Yes, and no. Because that’s the song that I co-wrote with [rhythm guitarist-vocalist] Sungjin. We both talked about this idea. It can also happen for everyday life. For example, business. You want to look more professional, or you feel like you need to talk more [using] difficult words. For example, right now. I want to talk more fluently, but I don’t know much vocabulary. And also coming from the idea of “Young K” because I felt like I needed this Young K character to be the person who stands on the stage, and be somebody I’m not. I feel like I made that because I want to become better at my craft, better as a person in general. I want people to see that better, cooler person. I’m working towards that.

You want people to see that person, but does that mean you’re still covering up your self?

Young K: I’m not really covering it up, but at the same time I’m filling up the things that’s inside the packaging. While having this cover, making something that’s inside the cover become better.

Jae: Evolving in the cover.

Jae, what are some songs on the album you particularly feel you put yourself into that you want people to take note of?

Jae: I’m not saying it because it’s our title song but I really appreciate “One Page” [“Time of Our Life”] because it’s interesting. When we’re choosing the songs, there’s a system, right? We had like 15-20 songs we wrote from this album plus other songs we wrote before. We were giving rankings, like top three, that we thought would be a good fit on the album. It was really weird because I never really thought about that song too much after writing it, but after listening to all the songs the next day I would just be thinking about that one song. It was really weird. But it has a weird pull that it has on the listener.

Young K: Gravity!

Jae: Gravity! It was really strange, but I really feel that people will enjoy the song.

Day6 changed up its style a little bit on this album, with a lot brighter sounds and more vibrant synths than some of your prior releases. Was that intentional?

Jae: Definitely. We’re always working towards progressing ourselves, whether it’s towards a change in a different genre, or different sources or different sounds. We’re always looking for change, positive change.

Where do look to inspiration from as you continue to develop as artists?

Jae: I feel like we draw different kinds of inspiration for every song. If you listen to our title and then “How to Love,” they’re both vibrant and they’re both very positive, but they’re different kinds of positive. One's a little groovier, a little bit more of that brass, while the other is a bit more pop rock, punk rock. I guess specifically speaking, when we were writing “Page [Time of Our Life],” I was thinking of a more Fall Out Boy kind of feel would be nice on a song.

Young K: Everyday life would be the biggest inspiration. Basically we wanted to write about how people live their lives, any feelings that they would get from anything.

What do you hope people will feel like when listening to the album?

Jae: We say this a lot, but we really hope that people will vibe with it. Really feel the kind of emotions that we’re putting into it. Like I said previously, something that we work on lyrically is that they’re situations or emotions that you can feel in everyday life. We just want you to live those emotions with us because we’re living it with you.

We’re running out of time, but is there anything else you want people to know about the release of The Book of Us: Gravity or your upcoming world tour that it precedes?

Jae: We’re really sorry that it took so long for us to comeback, but we really wanted to comeback with an album that satisfies our curiosity with music as well as would satisfy everybody else’s.

It’s only been seven months, which is relatively short for musicians outside of the K-pop industry where things are much more fast-paced. But it doesn’t seem that long, especially since you were putting out that much content over the past few years. Do you really feel you need to be sorry?

Jae: I think so. [Laughs.] I think so, because being an artist you have a responsibility to put out music and let people hear the emotions that you feel. Once you take upon this mantle, you kind of accept that. That you’re being very honest and open with your audience. And we are a little bit sorry that we couldn’t express what we were feeling in our everyday lives a little bit faster. But we wanted to get it right. That’s what took a little bit of time. Oh, and for our tour! We’re super excited. Super ready. I hope everyone is ready to have fun and have a good night. When you come to our show, make sure to bring all the stress, all the hardships, all the bad emotions that you’ve been feeling in your everyday life. Bring those, we’re going to settle those.

#day6 #park jaehyung #youngk #t: article #t: interview #190716

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bunkershotgolf · 4 years

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A Walking Game with Walker Trolleys

By ED TRAVIS

There those of us who think of golf is a walking game and shun even the thought of riding the four or more miles of a typical eighteen. There is the question though that without a caddy walking requires carrying a bag of maybe 30 lbs. loaded with clubs, balls, umbrella and all the other paraphernalia we deem necessary.

The obvious solution is a pushcart and there are some good ones but if you are in the market for a pushcart the recently introduced Walker Trolley should be on your short list to check out. It combines the refreshing approach of classic clean lines with advance design features.

Weighing in at 19 lbs. the feature of the Walker Trolley Cape model first catching our attention was the center hub, a patent pending design, allowing the legs to fold on two different axes making pre-round unfolding and post-round folding a breeze. Simple and quick to do the folded Trolley fits in any car trunk.

The body is aluminum with a brightly polished finish framing the wire wheels which boast white sidewall tires. There’s a carryall pocket of waxed canvass attached to the leather wrapped handle for extra golf balls, scorecard, pencil, drinks, etc. while the lower storage area can handle a variety of items including a cooler. And a further example of the thought in the Trolley’s design, engaging and disengaging the parking brake is as simple as stepping on a foot pedal located near the left wheel.

The Walker Trolley price is $399 and all the details plus pre-order information may be found on the Walker Trolley website.

Our interest in the Walker Trolley led us to ask some questions of Brad Payne the Austin-based company’s founder and CEO who has brought a fresh perspective and unique approach to golf pushcarts.

Ed Travis: What was your business background before starting Walker Trolleys?

Brad Payne: I worked on Wall Street doing M&A [Mergers and Acquisitions] after getting my MBA at Northwestern. I spent some time doing corporate development and strategy for a large radio conglomerate in Atlanta, Cumulus Media, which led me to Apple to work in digital advertising. I spent the prior 4 years before Walker Trolleys leading the advertising relationship with NBCU [NBC Universal] for Apple News.

ET: How did you come up with the idea for this type of pushcart?

BP: When I moved to SF, I didn’t know many people so joined a club in the city called Presidio. Most of the members in the Saturday morning games were walkers and were allowed to store their push carts in the bag room. Anyone was able to use one that was not being used, so I sampled about every model in the industry over 4 years. Some were better than others and provided features that were better, but they were all pretty similar. It wasn’t till a trip to Scotland that I realized how these push carts just seemed out of place with the tradition and history of the game. I also had a fond affinity for what Seamus, Jones and MacKenzie were doing in creating products that had some connection to the history of the game while still being modern. I just felt push carts could go that way as well. And I saw what had happened in the baby industry with strollers over the past 20+ years that people were willing to pay for quality and felt that could be applied to golf push carts as well.

ET: Talk a little about the Kickstarter campaign as part of initial funding and how that affected the timing of the startup and moving the company to Austin?

BP: We had always planned to do a Kickstarter in the beginning to introduce the product to the masses. We never expected it to be some groundbreaking fundraising project, but rather a signal to us that there was some market demand for our product and people thought the Walker Trolley was cool. My wife and I had moved to Austin in April of 2019, about 7 months before we launched the Kickstarter. Our move was a combination of professional and personal in order to get out of SF. I decided to add Austin as a part of the logo for our newly adopted city because Austin represents a lot of positive images to people. It’s known as a cool, fun city with great people, nightlife, music, etc. Kind of a rising star in terms of cities in the US…kinda what we want to be in the golf industry. The city is also such a great place for entrepreneurs, especially in CPG…Tito’s, Yeti, Deep Eddy, Kendra Scott…a lot of great brands to come out of Austin.

ET: What are the key features that make it different from other push carts?

BP: I believe the Walker Trolley is different from our competitors because we started from a different place in terms of the product. Our trolley started on the course and we designed for the on-course experience. We wanted to make a trolley that looked cool, with clean sleek lines and classic design features, such as the white-walled tires. And it may sound cliché, but I think creating a great looking product is incredibly important to a lot of people. Maybe some of that is from my time at Apple. It needs to look great and function simply. I believe a lot of other competitors are more focused on creating the smallest folding product and have designed the look and function around these goals and that’s where we are different. I just don’t believe that many people think about how great it is that their trolley fits in a small space in their garage, but rather find a bit more joy about having something really cool in their 3-4 hours out walking the game.

ET: Where is it manufactured?

BP: We have partnered with one of the largest makers of juvenile products in the world. They’re a global firm that makes some of the best high-end baby strollers. We felt they had the experience in making folding objects with wheels at scale at an incredibly high-quality level and fit what our customers would expect.

ET: Presently pre-orders are being taken on the website, when will units begin shipping and are there any options or accessories offered for the Trolley?

BP: I think like every company in the world, we have all been impacted by COVID-19 and Walker Trolleys is no different. We were hoping to begin production in the beginning of April but delays due to the virus have pushed us back to May. Assuming no major issues or delays, we should have product to the states by the back half of June and will begin shipping to customers. And yes, there are accessory options. We are working with a well-known company here in the US to design an upgradeable line of storage accessories…think Hawaiian, camo, tweed, etc. We are very excited to offer these options to our customers and give them the ability to customize their trolleys. We hope in the future to have a really large selection, much like people own multiple head covers and they can swap them out as they feel.

ET: Your business plan appears to be B2C using e-commerce from your website as the distribution channel. Will you develop green grass and/or big box retail outlets, and do you plan to make use of Amazon or other Internet retailers?

BP: We are going to be B2C through our website for the time being. I don’t want to say never, but unlikely we would ever do big box retail. I just don’t think our product is a fit for that model. And I want to be able to control the customer experience from end-to-end. I don’t want to only know my customers if there is an issue or a warranty claim. I get emails all the time and enjoy interacting with them before, during and after their purchase. I have a lot of standing tee times to go out and play with our customers and creating a community is much higher on my priority list for the company.

ET: Are additional products being developed and what are your plans for the future of Walker Trolleys?

BP: We have a few things in the pipeline. A non-folding version of the trolley, the Eden will be coming out after the Cape. Given that most courses are closed now, we’re going to spend a bit more time on development to get it the way we want. There are a few collaborations we are having early discussions on now. Maybe we’ll have some cool things to announce at the show next year. We are a company that makes equipment for walking golfers, so there’s a lot out there we could do.

#EdTravis #golf #new #sports #travel

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