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nelson-riddle-me-this · 3 years

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Film soundtrack: Camelot

I have not seen this film or listened to the album before, so here are my live thoughts as I listen for the 1st time.

01. "Prelude and Overture"

Something about how this begins - it feels like they cut an intro, it just starts and I feel out of the loop. Also, as is usual with Broadway-film adaptations of this era, the orchestrations are larger and a little bite'ier. Pretty strings. Got that 20th Century Fox string sound - but wait, this is a Warners movie -OOOHO WAIT IT'S Alfred Newman conducting [longtime head of the Fox music dept.] heheh so I *am* right. Pretty ballads - "If Ever I Would Leave You". OOH these strings on "If Ever I Would Leave You" are GORGEOUS. And tail out. Beautiful!

02. "I Wonder What The King Is Doing Tonight?"

Richard Harris is a lot friendlier than Richard Burton was in the role of King Arthur on Broadway - and I'm into it. Also, I dig the brighter tempo here - makes it feel like we are indeed on the eve of a momentous occasion (wedding). Okay I wish they'd play with dyamics more - especially on lines like "he's wishing he were in Scottland fishing tonight" or "he's searching high and low for someplace to hide". Missed opportunities for text-painting.

03. "The Simple Joys of Maidenhood"

I can't help compare Vanessa Redgrave to Julie Andrews. Redgrave doesn't have an unpleasant sound, but she's lacking personality. I dig the 'Bolero'y millitaristic snare drum. Much of the joy in Julie's performance is how she mixes surface-level sweetness, and conniving seduction (think Betty White as 'Sue Ann Nivens' on THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW). But Redgrave's performance doesn't seem to be all that thoughtful. Also, not a fan of that ending, it doesn't feel like an ending, "Oh, it's over! That was it?", but perhaps it makes more sense with picture.

04. "Camelot and the Wedding Ceremony"

Nice bassoon. ?harpsichord?? So far this arrangement is the closest to the Broadway. I wish the strings were legato/slurred on "by order Summer lingers through September". Maybe I am too mickey-mouse'y with the text painting I want, but I prefer specificity. I like the pulling back the tempo a bit there. Love these woodwind lines! Oooh love it again, we're pulling the tempo down, dynamics, and slurring. Love it. Build. Build back up! YES! Lovely! OOoh this little Medievel winds passage! And the chorus! Oh those woodwinds are gorgeous. I need to learn more about them - recorders??? At first the singers didn't sound especially English, more American. As I listen more, their pronunciation is pretty English. But perhaps the harmonies are very American - like what you'd hear in a Disney movie or Mancini score of the era - so even sung with appropriate pronunciation they sound American?

05. "C'est Moi"

Frano Nero. Never heard of him. He's fine, but feels like a step-down from Robert Goulet. He lacks that clear strong edge that Goulet has. He's not as commanding. When Goulet praises himself, I buy it. Like he has the confidence and strength to really sell what he's singing. This man isn't selling me. Maybe that's a choice - maybe they want us to see him as a phony who's over-selling himself. But I feel like I still have that with Goulet and it's better because you feel like you're reading beetween the lines a little more - like resisting an extremely good/slick car salesman.

06. "The Lusty Month of May"

Nice opening. Pretty. I love the slower tempo for this - enhances the seductivness. Gorgeous strings. And we accel! Nice! Good ?harpsichord? Now I still don't like her as much as Julie, but Redgrave works better here than in "The Simple Joys of Maidenhood", staightforward lustiness is a little easier. This 3' section is nice, though I wish it were faster - a merry-go-round, but slightly unhinged.

07. "Follow Me and Children's Chorus"

Gorgeous, tinkly. Gorgeous chorus. They're stereo ping-ponging the choirs!!!! It's really effective. Oh and the childrens chorus is so sweet. This is a completely different approach than the OBC, but it works so well. Helps that this is an utterly divine song. Favorite track on the album so far, probably to remain so. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TRACK.

08. "How To Handle A Woman"

Oooh he's upset and we're fast! This works! Even if he's generally warmer than Burton, Harris can still do angry! And pull it back, sweet and intimate. Oooh this whisper'y smolder bit O.o and now we're past the intro. I kind of like Harris better than Burton - his warmth is really an asset for this character. Oh yikes that Merlin line is very sexist :/.

09. "Take Me To The Fair"

The tempo is - not sure if it's even slower, but it's looser, and I don't like that. The precisely on-the-beat phrasing of the OBC (both vocally and instrumentally) communicates that Guenevere has this all planned out, it's an act, it's a trap, she's manipulating these silly men. Oh, the transition from "well, Sir Sagramore" to "you may sit BY me at the ball" is awful - either she just keeps going through it (but in a weird way) or they did a pickup and spliced her in there so she's slightly overlapping. Sorry Alfred Newman, but this is not IT. Who cast Redgrave? Who thought casting a non-singing actress in a role originally played by a remarkably strong actress-singer? I like the little harpsichord section. Worst Redgrave number so far. An insult to the OBC. I promise this is a good song, got listen to the cast album

10. "If Ever I Would Leave You"

Oh, so we're right into it! Nero's lack of boldness as compared to Goulet kind of works here - sweeter and softer for this intimate love song. Lots of this arrangement is just imitative of the vocal - which is nice but can get a little tiresome when it's not really in-the-pocket. Still this man doesn't have the presence that Goulet does. He just doesn't command your attention. Like this string interlude. Different. Flute :) adding ?oboe? under it. Violins. Now violas? I like it. Oh and I think the violins are doing finger tremolos. Great! The new interludes on this album are gorgeous, when the film people really get to go off and do their own thing, it's great. And are we back to the vocal? Yes, this works. Oh these strings are GORGEOUS. I miss the ?timpani? hits of the original, but actually given that Nero is not as powerful a vocalist, letting the strings lead those hits is a good choice.

11. "What Do the Simple Folk Do?"

Oigg Redgrave. Like the harpsichord and very 'royal' woodwinds. And tambourine. Very medieval. Yay, we DO get a whistling section! This is adorable :) I like this. BOOO Vanessa!!! Oh, I like the "their own folk - throne folk" rhyme, don't remember that from the OBC. Oh and Harris can get big and bold too!!! I really love Richard Harris in this. HE HAS THE RANGE. Oh, is that Marni Nixon? Sounds like her. Did you know the film composer Bronislau Kaper gave her her first break? He needed someone to dub ?Virginia O'Brien?'s singing voice for some picture, and looked in vain until some paige at the studio recommended her fellow-paige, Nixon, and the rest is history! I like this ending! Harris really carries this song on his back.

12. "I Loved You Once In Silence"

The guitar is neat, very different from the OBC - though I confess I don't remember this song as much as the others. See this is something Redgrave can do. Her soft kind of weak voice works for something intimate and straightforward like this. Still, I don't like her voice and every once in a while something in her tone feels so amaeturish that it bugs me. Oh dear, only Redgrave and Nero together. :( they just both seem like space-cases. They're not compelling. Perhaps they have screen presence, but they don't have audio presence.

13. "Guenevere"

Oooh love these ?string harmonics?! Eerie. Like this! The studio chorus is great. Some of the strings are too loud - I suspect that's just a mix issue. Oh I love the tambourine on 2 and 4! I love how large this sounds! That ?horn line? kinda steps on the male vocalists there. Oh I really love every spot the tambourine is here, huh! OH YES! BUILD! GLORIOUS!!!! Oh and the bell.... let the bell toll....... yesesssssssssssss........ fade..... Second-favorite track!

14. "Finale Ultimo" [Camelot (Reprise)]

Aww, Dicky Harris is sad :'( but I love the harp here playing the brass/w.w. figures we heard in "Camelot". Nice clarinets. And the guitar. Nice snare rolls. And here's the big finale! Big chorus! Oooh these harmonies have such body. Love hearing them linger. Get soft. BIG AGAIN! BIG DISNEY MOVIE ENDING!!!!!!!!

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Ultimately it's not as tight or well-cast as the original Broadway cast album. Vanessa Redgrave is not a good Guenevere - she lacks the spark, sacharine underhandedness, deliberateness, and vocal chops that Julie Andrews brought to the role; and she doesn't supply anything meaningful in their place. Franco Nero is a watered-down Lancelot and lacks the commanding presence and powerful voice that made Robert Goulet so effective [I did some research and it seems Lancelot's singing voice was dubbed by Gene Merlino]. -2 for them, but +1 for Richard Harris, who brings a warmth to King Arthur that Richard Burton lacks, and yet he is powerful, commanding, even angry when he needs to be. The studio chorus is GORGEOUS and truly one of this album's great strenths. The arrangements/orchestrations are very pretty, though don't always feel as thought-out as the OBC. It's likely a larger orchestra, so I understand that things might not be as tight and you might want to take tempos down for that reason, but it really waters down a few numbers. Ultimately this is an uneven album, the OBC is far better. But at the very least I recommend this version of "Follow Me".

#camelot #camelot 1967 #film score #alfred newman #my apologies for taking so long to respond to this #i really enjoyed listening to this #thank you Zach <3 :D

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koinodancesite · 4 years

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“Toki Wo Koe, Sora Wo Koe”

Coupled with “Password is 0″

Release date: April 16, 2014

Oricon Weekly placement: 1st

B-side: “Password Is 0 (Mori Musume Ver.)”

Members: Ayumi Ishida, Erina Ikuta, Haruka Kudo, Haruna Iikubo, Kanon Suzuki, Masaki Sato, Mizuki Fukumura, Riho Sayashi, Sakura Oda, Sayumi Michishige

“Toki Wo Koe, Sora Wo Koe” loses a little something when the title is written out in its Romanized form. A common play on words found in lyrics of J-pop songs, toki and sora of the title gets assigned kanji characters -- jikuu (時空 or time-space) and uchuu (宇宙 or outer space), respectively -- that don’t naturally express those respective sounds yet represent similar meanings. In its essence, the two forms mean relatively the same thing: “beyond time, beyond the skies,” if translated literally. But the connotation for each is vastly different.

The production establishes a poetic elegance fitting for the more flowery title of “beyond time and space.” A series of chopped-up piano riffs prance around as though in a zero-gravity atmosphere, all neatly flowing into one graceful choreography. The execution is so clean, it understates the meticulousness in which the microscopic sounds are painstakingly spliced together. Especially following the EDM maximalism of “What Is Love,” the fine-point focus of “Toki Wo Koe, Sora Wo Koe” is breathtaking.

That said, the single delivers the epic grandeur promised in the title. “Tomorrow,” “the future,” “the next lifetime”: the idols use loaded words such as those to sing about a star-crossed romance. “Waiting for you from a distant past/ Believing that we can be together again in this lifetime/ I’ll wait for you,” they sing with the last promise accompanied by a seismic synth blast to further communicate the size of its emotional stakes.

Impossibly huge it may feel, “Toki Wo Koe” is also a very delicate ballad. The shards of the piano riffs give the impression as though the track is made of glass, and the idols’ voices, too, sound delivered with care. The song sometimes resembles a prayer with the idols tasking so much hope for the chips to lay out in the way they wish; never mind the more than a few moments during the final stretch where it can easily refer to a more spiritual experience as much as a romantic one. Their voices are colored equally by uncertainty and melancholy as much as devotion, if not more, with their voices barely rising above a sigh in most occasions.

“You’re so precious to me, and I feel the nobility in you,” Morning Musume sing during the final bits of the single. “Toki Wo Koe” ultimately attempts to put that preciousness into words and sound, and the result is one of the most carefully constructed Morning Musume singles.

[7]

#Morning Musume #14 Shou The Message

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whatisdereklisteningto · 5 years

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The week between Xmas and New Year’s 1976, Frank Zappa played 4 sold-out shows at the Palladium in NYC, with a special lineup assembled just for the occasion : FZ and his current touring band (Ray White on guitar/vocals, Eddie Jobson on keyboards/violin, Patrick O’Hearn on bass [often fretless] and Terry Bozzio on drums) bolstered by Ruth Underwood (percussion/synthesizer), Dave Samuels (more percussion) and a five-piece horn section (some of whom were in the Saturday Night Live band at the time and / or were in-demand session musician types) featuring Tom Malone, Lou Marini, Ronnie Cuber, Mike Brecker and Randy Brecker. These shows / this band featured on the Zappa in New York live album, here given deluxe treatment with four discs of additional material and a nice booklet featuring a lot more photos from the concerts by Gail Zappa and informative liner notes by Joe Travers and Jen Jewel Brown, Ruth Underwood, and Ray White.

Disc one contains the 1977 LP mix of Zappa in New York on CD for the first time, which is cool, but the thing about it that annoys me to no end is that it’s the common “censored” version of the album, with “Punky’s Whips” removed (”Titties ‘n Beer” is also slightly shorter and “Punky’s” absence shuffled around the track sequence of the first two sides a bit), rather than replicating the “uncensored” first pressing version. On one hand, it’s possible no one could locate the “uncensored” LP master (it only snuck out on a couple European pressings, and may not exist as such in the Zappa Vault), but on the other hand, Zappa was so annoyed about (as is my understanding) being forced to edit the LP and the fact that it’s not the “real” / intended version of the record... in all seriousness, I feel like “they” (meaning Joe Travers, I guess) could’ve spliced together an “original version replicate / duplicate” master and just lied about it or whatever, I know I would have been happier / less annoyed. But it is what it is.

Discs two, three and four contain “bonus concert performances” in new you-are-there-sounding mixes with none of the overdubs or enthusiastic overuse of Eventide Harmonizer heard on the live album. It wasn’t possible to present all four shows intact, but this is pretty much just as good, with one version of every song played during the run of shows, including a few more spoken introductions from FZ and guest announcer Don Pardo to give you more of the flavor of what the concerts were like. Discs two and three are sequenced kinda like whole concerts. Forgoing highlights, the songs contained are Peaches en Regalia, The Torture Never Stops, The Black Page #2, Punky’s Whips, I Promise Not to Come in Your Mouth, Honey Don’t You Want A Man Like Me?, The Illinois Enema Bandit, Penis Dimension, Montana, America Drinks, Sofa #2, I’m the Slime, Pound For A Brown, The Black Page (Drum Solo), The Black Page #1, Big Leg Emma, The Purple Lagoon (with trumpet, percussion, baritone sax and bass solos [the latter two being unedited versions of ones used on the live album] and a fascinating part where Ruth plays “The Be-Bop Tango” against a spooky 7/4 vamp full of bass harmonics and other percussion interplay), Find Her Finer, Manx Needs Women, Chrissy Puked Twice (aka Titties n’ Beer) and Cruisin’ For Burgers. Disc four feels slightly skimpy track-wise, but it’s kinda like a 45-minute encore that includes an amazing 28-minute version of “Black Napkins” with trumpet, violin, and saxophone solos in addition to a long, expressive guitar solo, plus a different version of “The Purple Lagoon” which contains a really early version of “Any Kind of Pain” in lieu of a bunch of jazz-type soloing, and a crowd-pleasing “Dinah-Moe Humm” finale (at least there’s only one.)

Disc five is an interesting little compilation of “bonus vault content”, containing some of Zappa’s alternate mixes / edits / versions of stuff, sammiched by two solo piano renditions of “The Black Page” (one by Tommy Mars from 1978 and one by Ruth Underwood from a couple years ago.) Between those there’s a different version of “I Promise Not to Come in Your Mouth”, and “Chrissy Puked Twice” and “Cruisin’ For Burgers” are the same full-length performances as on the CD version of Zappa in New York, heard here in non-overdubbed analog mixes from 1977. There’s also an 11-minute version of “Black Napkins” heard in a 1990 mix you could kinda call an outtake from the aforementioned CD version -- some of the beginning and the sax solo was used on You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 6, but this is, thankfully, a more complete (albeit still edited) version entirely from the 1976 concerts. TO MY ANNOYANCE, the last of these Vault cuts is the, quote, “(Unused Version)” of “Punky’s Whips”, which is THE VERY SAME mix and edit of the song that should be on / was “censored” from disc one, but at least it’s on here somewhere.

Anyway, I’ve listened to the entire thing a few times over the last few weekends, and a little bit in the car here and there. It’s pretty good. Also, the box set contains a replica ticket and the disc sleeves and booklet go inside a round tin resembling a manhole cover, which is kinda neat. Thanks for reading this far.

#Frank Zappa #Zappa in New York #CD #box #box set #quintuple #Zappa in New York 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition #Zappa

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brunomcbride828-blog · 5 years

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dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram · 2 years

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Most of the asks you respond to are about politics and power, or one direction 'meta commentary', so I hope this is OK to ask - what do you think of End of the Day, musically? I see on social media (mainly Tiktok) that it's been seized upon by other queer fans and/or by Larries, not only for its implications but for the actual construction of the song. Somehow I find it really jarring, in that it feels like 2-3 songs spliced together, and I just can't get a handle on it!

(end of the day anon 2/2) also, since you mainly talk about H + L's solo music (or non-1D artists on occasion), I'm just curious whether you like any of the 1D albums, musically, or particular songs. Nathan and Nora's podcast has been great for me to rediscover two distinct phases of my life where Four and then MITAM had an absolute chokehold on me.

***********

Of course it's OK to ask about other things anon. Although I definitely feel as qualified to talk about music as other subjects, but I'm happy to talk about them.

I do really like End of the Day, and I don't find the transitions jarring at all. I can see where the queer reading comes from lyrically, but it's not particularly how I understand the song. I like the jumble of different emotions and perspective in the song because of the chorus. There's a combination of hope and resignation that ties together the rest. I think the music does a bit of the same thing. I'm a real sucker for art whose basic message is 'it's difficult and messy, but we have no choice to live'. Having such dissonance works for me (and it might be three songs mashed up, but in a way that works).

I'd be interested in what you say about a queer reading of the music, but I haven't heard those ideas myself.

******

I do really like 1D music, although I haven't written a lot about it (I have written a lot about 1D music videos). I'm not sure my love from them is separable from my love from 1D but that's totally legitimate.

I think Midnight Memories and Four are my favourite 1D albums. I do like MitAM, and I really love individual songs, but a lot of my affection for 1D songs comes from hearing them in context of performances (or background to things happening).

Here are my top five 1D songs (maybe not strictly in order):

Home, Walking in The Wind, Fireproof, No Control, Strong.

#I really love WMYB #and at least 25% of that #is the intensity of my feelings about the WMYB behind the scenes #which it forms the soundtrack to #along with all the other amazing moments #that have that as soundtrack

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anodyne-sunflower · 7 years

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Love me like you do (Part 23)-Balem series

A/N: Here we are. Part 23, geesh. This is the longest fic I’ve ever written lol I really hope you guys have been enjoying this ride, it’s definitely a pleasure to write. No, this isn’t the last chapter lol Anyway, Few notes: Famulus is Titus’ assistant in the movie, she’s a deer splice. Midian is a planet owned by Abrasax industries. I’m not entirely sure what color the moon on his gold collar is, but it looks red orange to me….I’m also not sure if it is a moon or something else, but fuck it. Ummmm other than that. Enjoy.

MOOD MUSIC: Paint it, Black by Ciara

***

The ticking of the grand clock on the ceiling resounded off the walls of his chamber, slowly lulling the Primary into a scene of emptiness. He could gaze all around this lavish room, with its aureate light across the walls, and find nothing short of silence. It had been this way for a long while, devoid of all life but that of his own when he took residence in it. He cherished his time alone, away from those who would seek his power or leech off it. But, for a time now, he found little solace in this empty chamber. Where that pendulum grated on his nerves and did little else but spin him into a frenzy of anger. His fingers curled into the papers on his desk, crumbling them into a mess as he seethed silently. His eyes darted towards the clock on the far wall, glaring deeply at it, as if the very object mocked his self loathing.

He could blame you, every illogical section of his mind wanting so badly to do so. To say that a single woman caused him to break into this pathetic pining individual he was now, but that would be unfair to you. Perhaps you had done what no other could in all his long life, but for that he should and truly was, grateful. He adored you beyond anything else in his world, he would not lie to himself anymore. You were the center of his universe, and he knew that no matter what became of you both, you always would be. It would be fair to say that was precisely what vexed him. The fact that a simple earthling girl, meant to become the very essence of his business, could so easily gain his love. You were beautiful, intelligent, but in the grand scheme of things there wasn’t anything particularly special about you. He had met and bedded many gorgeous women in his lifetime, none as fair as you, but equally capable in a sense to find themselves the holder of his heart. He could pretend that was the case, but deep down he knew exactly why you were the one to make him feel so alive. And the simplest way to explain that, was that you loved him without ever expecting more from him. He wasn’t a man who could change easily, and even though he could see you wished for him to do so on occasion, you never once begged or asked for it. You loved him for everything he was, it was raw and it was real.

Balem looked back again at the doors, conflicted on whether or not to give chase. He had a choice before him, and unlike his usual self, he had no clue as to what to do.

“Forgive me, my lord-”

Mr. Night came rushing into the Primary’s chambers, arms restlessly moving at his sides as he tried to catch his breath. He looked flustered, as if some grand thing had just occurred and he was all too eager to relay the information. Balem, however, was in no mood to entertain the splice this afternoon.

“Mr. Night-” he warned, slouching down into his throne with a sound of discontent. “I am in no mood.”

“Yes, my apologies, Lord Balem. But, I have urgent news.”

Balem rubbed tenderly at his temple, propping his elbow up onto the arm of his throne before waving his free hand for the advisor to continue.

“As commanded, my lord, your fleets have taken residence near Titus’ territories. Most of his ships have been eradicated.”

The Primary glanced up at the information, eyes wide for a minute. He had forgotten in his anger he had made such a request, and it brought little comfort to his distressed heart.

“Titus?”

“Alive, my lord. He’s currently en route to Midian.”

He nodded in response, not surprised Titus had somehow managed to escape the attack. In truth, he wished his younger brother had perished. At long last this rivalry would come to an end. Kalique was manageable, Titus was the wild card. And he was well aware that he would stop at nothing to gain his title.

“How disappointing.” Balem spoke apathetically, laying his hands in his lap and lacing his fingers together. It was an entirely reckless plan on his part, but in the aftermath he may as well find some degree of happiness in it. The less Titus had at his disposal, the better. “Pull back our forces, have Greeghan personally see to the storm gates, and if Titus wishes to speak to me…I want to hear of it.”

The advisor bowed, swiftly turning away and rushing out the door to give the orders. Balem was left to contemplate his next move, thinking just how desperate Titus must be feeling right now. So alone, with nothing but that hideous clipper of his to keep him sane. It brought him joy for a minute, knowing he dealt his message to the scheming little brat of a brother. But, he was aware that his own future was as bleak as Titus’ now. He had likely descended the family into war, and even though victory would surely be his, he would still be left just the same at the end. Empty of all in life, but the riches at his disposal and the power at his hands. He had always been cognizant of this fact, it was hard to ignore when all you lived by was the same values of the entitled code. People like him didn’t get happiness, they only grew rich and old, and in their time they learned one thing: fight for more time. All to get even richer and powerful, until you were the god of everyone and everything and no one could stand in your way. That was his aim, until he met you. He didn’t think it possible to want anything more than the power available to him, to constantly fight tooth and nail for it. Now it all seemed a fruitless endeavor, when at the end he’d find himself still hungry for more. Time was still worth fighting for, but it all meant nothing in the conditional sense. He could forever strive for wealth and power, but he was positive he’d never find anyone like you again.

The Primary gazed back to the exit, heart straining terribly in his chest. He wasn’t sure he’d ever grow accustomed to the feeling, but at the sting of tears in his eyes he rose from his throne. He would not shed a tear, but it was the first time he ever truly felt the pending loss of someone dear to him.

He strode towards the exit of his room, stopping just at the doors and coming to a conclusion. He would not lose you, not ever. You were his, and he would make sure of that. He left his chambers in a rush, walking down the halls and ignoring his staff and soldiers on his way to the servant quarters, where he was sure you’d be. Upon his arrival, the corridor appeared empty, save for one man who was busy cleaning.

“Where is she?”

The servant jumped at the gruff tone, pushing back into the wall when he found the head of the alcazar glaring at him. He had never spoke to Balem before, let alone made eye contact with the intimidating lord. “I-”

“Get out.” The Primary ordered in frustration, already knowing the servant was going to be useless to him. It didn’t take long for the man to listen, and he bowed quickly as he ran out of the area. “Fool…”

Balem looked around the corridor, noting every room and passing them by one by one. He didn’t recognize anything, all of the belongings in them unknown to him. He tried finding you, but it all appeared to be in vain. Until he heard soft humming coming from the showers, a sweet little tune that he had heard once before in the night. When you thought he was asleep, tracing random patterns upon his back and humming out that same song.

He brought his gaze to the shower area, slowly moving towards it and stopping just at the entrance. The servants showers were built into the marbled black walls, each individual area sectioned off by long draping gold curtains for privacy. As soon as he entered, the steam hit him, enveloping him in a warmth and scent that was all too familiar to his senses. It enslaved him, beckoning him forward to the shower it came from. His boots stalked along the water seeping along the floor, the ends of his cape now soaked as he found his way to you. Yet, he couldn’t possibly trouble himself with such a thing, for his mind was hooked on one person.

Balem paused at the end of the showers, standing before the curtain, and reveling in the enchanting silhouette within his line of vision. He was so fond of that bewitching form, every part of him yearning to have it back in his arms where it belonged. The longing had him propelling forward into the shower, hand coming up to shift the curtain aside. His eyes immediately were drawn to you, bathing under the heavy flow of water that came from a long spout above. Your hands worked the soap over your curves, your back turned to him as you ended your humming to extend your face into the stream.

His breath left him in awe, eyes scanning every inch of your bare body. He had never felt desire like this, his heart aching to be with you and body begging to have you. It was a passion that wouldn’t easily fade.

Your hands ran over your thighs, wet hair clinging to your skin as you washed and scrubbed at your body. The shower proved helpful enough, washing away the dirt and grime of the day’s work, yet ridding your heart of the turmoil it felt. If only for a few minutes. You were certain those feelings would return with a vengeance once you finished up. In fact, you were positive they’d haunt you for the rest of your days here. Balem managed to work his way under your skin, nearly controlling every logical part of you. There was so many things to detest about a man like him, and yet you adored him for all he was. That would never change, and you would just make peace with that.

You sighed into the water, closing your eyes as you tilted your head back and appreciated the heat spilling over you. It reminded you of him, his warmth, his caresses, the way he’d lean down and whisper intimate words into your ear. Bathing with him was a heavenly gift, one that you happily shared in numerous times. But, those musings only heightened your sorrow, knowing he didn’t want you anymore. You fancied yourself a strong person, but even heartbreak could tear the strongest people apart.

Balem advanced over the water, unmoved by the droplets seeping into his attire. His focus was primarily on you standing before him, so unaware of your effect on his being. He was so close now, one slip of his hand, and he’d be reaching out to touch you.

You angled your neck to the side, massaging at your shoulder that felt just a tad sore. The heat of the water loosened your muscles, making you moan in comfort at the feeling. As your nails glided along your flushed skin, a soft touch made you freeze. The feeling of fingertips moving up your mid back, and over your shoulder blade causing you to shiver. You knew that touch, but in the back of your mind you warned yourself not to believe it was him. You didn’t dare look back, heart already hammering away within your chest as those fingers walked over your shoulder and affectionately covered your hand. From the corner of your eye, you could see the glint of gold rings, his thumb sweeping over your knuckles in an enamoring way. It captivated your attention, tongue coming out to lick across your lips as you finally brought yourself to turn to him.

His other hand came to rest on your left arm, traversing up your now prickling skin as he pulled you back into his hold. You felt the black gems adorning his shirt prod into your back, his breath ghosting along your cheek as he leaned down.

“Turn around.” He pleaded, nose pressed into your cheek as he inhaled your scent. How he missed this closeness, just feeling you encased in his arms. He was a fool to have let it go before.

You did as he asked, tentatively turning in his grasp until you found yourself gazing into his handsome face. Most would break under the stare of him, finding that distinct barbarity in his gaze too difficult to comprehend or endure. You had felt that once, months ago when he held you to a wall and let that inviting voice of his seduce you. It was the beginning of the end for you then, little did you know his cold, calculating eyes would become such a pleasure for you to look into. All fear aside now, you simply allowed yourself to enjoy them, even as they bore down into you.

“What are you doing?…” It was a weak whisper, conveying the excitement and confusion in your heart. Balem offered no explanation, and without further question he lifted his hand towards you. The water above slid down his palm, cascading over his fingertips as they swept over your cheek. He touched you with such devotion, so unlike his typical callous nature that it made you pause in your thoughts. You couldn’t make sense of his change, but if those green eyes told you anything it was the deep sadness pooling within them. Something he so desperately wished to be unburdened from.

He trailed his thumb down, bringing it to your perfect lips and tracing over them. He relished the warmth of your breath against his fingertip when your mouth parted, a shaky breath leaving you at his attention.

“You have no idea what you’ve done to me.” It was said in despair, his words proving that he was finally at the end of his rope. He could no longer deny what he needed in his world, not when it was standing right in front of him.

You made to speak, eyes welling with tears when he leaned forward to press your foreheads together. There was many things you wanted to say, even some that would convey the struggle he had put you through, but all that was lost when he pushed you both back into the wall.

The water fell upon him, drenching his clothing, and completely flattening his usually slicked back hair. But, Balem only kept his attention upon you, his lips taking your own into a fervid kiss that left you positively breathless. You clung to his shirt, gripping tightly onto his sleeves as he cupped your cheeks. His lips moved slowly over yours, savoring every touch, every noise of pleasure until you begged for air. He would pull away momentarily, letting you recover before fulfilling his desires again. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get enough of you, but he’d resign himself to a fate of trying if it meant having you near.

“Balem…” You gasped into his mouth, simultaneously wanting to bring him closer and push him away. Your heart could only take so much of this, and you only wanted for him to know that. “I can’t…” You moved your face away, his lips brushing over your cheek from the sudden movement. The urge to cry was building, every single heartbreak he caused threatening to spill out. But, you forced yourself to keep those emotions at bay, unwilling to allow him the pleasure of your pain. Not that he ached for it, he would never wish to bring any harm to you.

“Little bird,” Balem kept his lips on your cheek, kissing it softly before moving away. He respected your anger towards him, but he wasn’t willing to part from you yet.

“Don’t.” You begged, an audible whine escaping you at the sound of his pet name. It always caused a mix of emotions to build, making it harder to ignore your desire to be with him. “Please…”

“Y/N…”

His sudden switch made you turn, brows knitting together in shock at the way he said your name. It was a rare sound to witness, and you could count the number of times he actually used it. Only this time it was sincere, as if he was trying to keep you calm in his hold. You glanced up at him, tears rolling down your cheeks when he tilted your chin up. His habitual icy glare replaced by a genuine look of adoration. He didn’t need to smile, he didn’t need to say much else, because you felt it then. An overwhelming tenderness that was displayed in the way he caressed your cheek, brushing off the tears. He ran his fingers through your wet hair, gently tugging you forward and into his arms. Your chin came to rest on his shoulder, eyes wide as you felt him embrace you, your breasts pushing into his chest as he held your head and waist in his hands.

You could’ve broke down then, allowing all your pent up emotions to rush out in a heap of sobs. But, you merely bit down on your lip, letting it quiver between your teeth as he hugged you to him.

Balem didn’t say anything else, he allowed you a moment, waiting until he felt your body still in its silent cries before unhooking his cape from the buckles on his shoulders. He gracefully pulled it around himself, bringing it over your bare body and wrapping you as best he could. He craned one arm around your back and hooked the other under your knees, lifting you protectively into his arms.

The cold cloth made you shake, but you didn’t care too much, your focus trained on the powerful man gazing down at you in his arms. He turned the water off, keeping you snug against him as he took you both to his chambers.

Neither of you cared when you passed others in the hallways, your eyes remained fixed on each other. Trying to disclose the extent of your feelings that had long gone unsaid. It wasn’t until you came upon his chamber doors that he looked away, taking you over the threshold into his room. It was so long ago when you came in here with the intent of fulfilling passions, an action you didn’t believe you’d be partaking in again. But, as he carried you across his chambers towards the large bed, you remembered how much you treasured those intimate meetings.

Balem set you down gently, your feet touching the ground delicately before he began removing his cape from around you. His eyes fixated on your face, one hand coming to tilt your chin up, the other sliding the cape effortlessly off your nude body. It fell in a damp heap on the floor, leaving you to tremble gently in the air of the room. He carefully walked you back, the heels of your feet hitting the edge of his bed, making you look behind to ensure you wouldn’t just fall. But, he held you close, his body heat already rolling off in waves around you. If only you could get him out of his wet clothes, you’d be even more welcoming to his touch.

“Here.” You trailed your hands up his chest, admiring the well made attire of his shirt. You couldn’t even imagine what all that gold and gems cost, but it worked well for the Primary. “Let me.” You traced the intricate patterns of his gold collar, running your fingertip over the bright glow of the red orange half moon. You never realized how detailed the contraption was, but it suited him for some reason. You unlatched the lock on it, opening it up and removing it from his neck. In some odd way, it felt deeply personal, as if he was allowing you the privilege of being this close. It was unlikely that anyone had ever touched, or cared for him in such a way. But, when you pulled that collar off and dropped it casually onto the cape, it was like a new appreciation for one another had developed.

Balem never faltered in his gaze, his expressive eyes now mapping the beauty before him. He pulled his shirt off, your hands quickly coming to explore his body without breaking eye contact. He cherished the lightness of your caress, muscles contracting beneath his smooth skin as you inched your fingers lower. His skin was cold to the touch, the water having clung to his clothing and chilled him to the bone. It increased the sensitivity of his body, a fact he wasn’t complaining over. Not when he had you splaying your hands over his chest and lower abdomen, your arousal clear in his eyes when you bit your lip.

There was an excitement in your actions, both of you journeying your hands and fingers along the other’s body with renewed vigor. It was like exploring something new all over again, the emotions behind your teasing touches and affectionate glances multiplied by the confessions in each of your minds.

“Kiss me.” You couldn’t take the lack of contact much longer, not with him towering over you in all his arousing splendor. As much as you would enjoy the foreplay of undressing the rest of him, your body was eager to be entwined with his.

Balem’s lips curled into a smirk, the love in his eyes now mixing with pure lust at your demand. You had rarely asked anything of him in bed, and when you did it was said in those moments of your rapture, when all else failed you and a simple ‘Don’t stop’ could be heard. How he enjoyed those loose lips of yours, often giving him what he wanted to hear even when you tried to fight it. So your demand would go answered, because he could not deny himself the pleasure of that pretty pout.

He cupped your face, thumb sweeping over your cheekbone as he tilted your head and leaned down. His nose pushed into yours, lovingly bumping together before he gave you what you asked for. His lips barely covered yours, allowing your breaths to mingle together, creating a wave of ecstasy for you both. You wanted to close the distance, but the part of you that enjoyed the sweet torment allowed him the slow dance of his kiss. So you worked at his pants, undoing the clasp that hung just below that V of his abdominal muscles. It only furthered your temptation, heart racing now as you lowered his pants and freed his swollen need for you.

He groaned into your mouth when the tip of his manhood brushed your stomach, leaving a slight trail of precum along your skin. It made you both breakaway from the kiss, cheeks now flushed with desire as you stared at each other. He made quick work of his boots, shoving off his pants the rest of the way before coming back up to admire you. The want was so palpable in the air of the room, and he wasted no more time in lifting you into his arms. He hugged you to him, just enough to get you onto the bed where he gently laid you down beneath him.

It was the chill of his lips that made you sigh out, lower back arching from the bed. Your fingers already tangled into the silk sheets, head tilting to the side in a passionate state.

“Balem…” you whispered sweetly, eyes shutting as he dragged his mouth over your breasts and kissed each one. He paid particular attention to your nipples, delighting in the way they hardened under his administrations.

“I’ve missed you.” He groaned in his pleasure, nuzzling your ribs and smiling when he heard that melodic giggle of yours. “You make me weak, little bird…” he said with such desired acceptance, closing his eyes as he nipped just below your breast. The ticklish sensation made you giggle and moan, body thriving on the attention he offered. His words weren’t lost on you, and though some may have found trouble in them, you just found love. For a man of his stature in the world, knowing you were the only thing he considered a weakness…it made your heart flutter.

“How?” You questioned, fingers running through his hair as he continued his path down your body. You could feel his fiery gaze upon you, knowing he was delivering a warning not to push him too far into this new territory. It only made you smile, a sigh moving passed your lips as he catered to your need.

Balem’s tongue lazily drew a pattern over your navel, licking over the now heated skin and coming to stop at your spread legs. He eyed you from his position, an amused smile on his face when he heard you question his statement. He could explain a number of reasons why you tormented his every thought, but he wasn’t well acquainted with the complexities of love. Some secrets were meant to stay that way, and he could tell how badly you wished to gain them from him.

“Nothing you need be made privy to…” he teased, kissing over your thigh and watching as you writhed around.

You would’ve argued his point, wanting to know why someone like him came to find his weakness in you. Call it arrogance on your part, but what woman wouldn’t like to know every detail about the man she adored. But, your argument fell into a string of moans, his tongue now lapping languidly at your folds and paying particular attention to your clit. He had ached for you, his needs having gone ignored for far too long now. He often dreamt of you being in his arms again, enticing screams of passion falling upon his ears and making him wake up impossibly aroused and angry. Having you here again, moving happily around on his bed and whimpering his name, there wasn’t anything like it.

“Balem!” You pushed at his head, the pleasure rising too high and nearly causing tears to form in your eyes. His tongue and lips had you thrashing around, the only thing keeping you grounded was his hand on your breast, the other holding one thigh away so you wouldn’t completely trap his face between your lovely legs. He heeded your silent request to stop, pulling away with a soft smack of his lips, a string of your cum sticking to them. It was a heavenly sight, especially when he smirked and kissed just above your pubic bone, making you shift in his hold and beg him to come back up.

“No more,” but, your words trailed off into incoherent purrs of bliss. His breath and lips tickling over your stomach and up your chest until he stopped them above your own. He knew what you wanted, what he wanted, and as much as he lived on the foreplay of sex, he couldn’t deny you both any longer.

“Whatever you desire, my beauty.” He cooed, burying his face in the juncture of your neck and shoulder. He meant every word, his entire being now devoted to the endless comforts and affections he could spoil you with. You were his, and he would do anything in his power to keep it that way. He could not afford to lose you again, because life seemed too painful now without you.

He settled himself at your entrance, groaning when his tip pushed into your warmth. Every primal element of his personality begged to take you hard, but he wanted to savor these moments. Just witnessing and perceiving every fine detail until he could map every inch of your body into his mind. From what made that sensual voice of yours moan, to the touches that caused your body to contort in ecstasy within his embrace.

“Ahh…” You held one hand back against the headboard of his bed, bracing yourself as he slowly buried his length within you. Your walls stretched and gave way to him, contracting around his cock and craving for more movement. “Balem, oh god…”

He was fighting his own pleasure, one arm wrapped around you and the other forcefully tangling into the pillow near your head. His breathing had grown ragged, teeth grinding down so he could control the needs he felt. With you moaning away beneath him, nails clawing at his back, he wasn’t sure it was possible to continue this slow ascent into your passions.

“You drive me mad, my little dove.” He chuckled, kissing your neck and moving you to look at him now. Both your eyes were glazed over in lust, each of you wanting to cave into the more wild nature of your relations. But, he took it slow, rolling his hips down and growling out his pleasure.

You held onto him, gliding your palm up his back and lacing your fingers through his hair. He kept his leisurely pace, sliding in and out of you, only heightening the response of your bodies to the thrill of your coupling.

“Faster,” you moaned pleadingly, throwing your head back into the black and gold pillows. He kept brushing over that sensitive spot within you, the slow rhythm of his thrusts only denying you the peak of your bliss. It was frustrating and perfect, his movements only making that pleasure build until you couldn’t fathom the idea of taking anymore. “Don’t stop…”

Balem kissed you eagerly, a grin on his lips when he heard those two pleading words that he was so very fond of. You uttered them against his kiss swollen lips, crying out between his kisses as he increased his speed. He was rocking into you at this point, your body giving into the sinful pleasures of the Primary. Your inner walls clenched down around his length, feeling the pulse of his own arousal with each needy thrust. The both of you drowned in the heat of your passions, your own orgasm approaching at a frenzied beat. The tightening in your abdomen gave way, back snapping off the bed and pressing you flush against Balem. He was groaning heavily into your kiss, trying to keep his climax steady until you were completely satisfied beneath him.

He slowly came down from his high, hips still bucking gently forward to ride out his orgasm. You were writhing weakly under him, body exhausted from his lovemaking. You moaned softly when he pulled out, missing the feeling of his proximity already. But, you took joy in his embrace, wiggling around as he began to pepper kisses across your collarbones, neck, and cheeks. Each one more tender than the last.

“I love you…” you confessed to him, already knowing he had an inkling of your emotions. But, you spoke them anyway, wanting him to be fully aware of just how much he meant to you. It was a dangerous thing, most would say, but you felt it so fiercely in this moment the words could no longer be contained. “I love you.”

Balem paused his trail of kisses, lips barely caressing the skin of your neck when he took in your heartfelt sentiment. He felt your body tense when he said nothing, your fingers restlessly tapping along his back, trying to control your nerves. He wasn’t at a loss for words, he knew exactly what he felt, but your confession was the only thing he wished to focus on, if only for a minute. He had stopped you the very first time you tried, an action he now felt foolish for. Because, nothing in life would ever bring him this sliver of happiness like hearing you give yourself completely to him.

He closed the distance between him and your neck, kissing your pulse gently as he nuzzled just below your jawline. If there was ever a reason to want more time at his disposal, it was to share it with you by his side.

“I am yours.” He whispered so sincerely, moving up to gaze down into your beautiful eyes. He brushed the fallen strands of hair from your face, admiring your features before repeating himself. “I am yours.”

***Midian***

“Lord Titus…?” Famulus cautiously stepped towards him, her ears twitching in vigilance as she awaited his command. Titus merely stared out the windows of his clipper, eyes filled with a fiery resolve to tear Balem apart. His entire fleet, meager as it was, destroyed right in front of his eyes, metal scraps floating in the abyss of space. The shine of the explosions glinted across his pupils, lip twitching at the corner as he attempted to quell the rage building within him. He could have heeded Kalique’s warning, perhaps even let this rivalry between brothers go. Now he could not fathom leaving Balem to rule over everything while he only fell further into nothing.

“Lord Titus, are you-”

“My army, how many left?” He clasped his hands tightly behind his back, gritting away at the anger boiling inside. He could stand and watch his livelihood be taken from him, or he could fight back, and what better way to greet Lord Balem First Primary, than with an army of his own.

“I’m afraid there isn’t much left, my lord. You have two ships left, each well equipped with soldiers and sims, but I’m afraid it wouldn’t do much against-”

“And Kalique? What of hers?”

“I’m not sure she wishes to be involved, Lord Titus. Our communications have gone ignored…” Famulus bowed her head in apology, lifting her eyes only to survey the amount of frustration Titus felt.

Titus sighed, never taking his sights off the ship currently being attacked. He should’ve guessed Kalique would shy away from full on war, it wasn’t her style to get involved in the overall politics of it. Such a shame really, she could’ve proven a great help to him. But, if she wished to abandon him now, then he could forget their original deal.

“Very well. I want you to contact Cygnus-”

“My lord…” His assistant looked down in worry, moving away to hold her arm out towards a container, currently being held in the arms of a soldier. “Cygnus is no longer able to help…your brother…”

The Third Primary glared towards the container, seeing stains of dried blood clinging to the edges. It was no doubt the grisly work of Balem, always wanting to send a message in the most heinous of ways. He didn’t need to peek inside to know the head, quite literally, of Balem’s council was in there.

“I see. Well,” he smiled at Famulus, trying to regain his calm demeanor. “No matter. We will do this without him. He sent me some interesting feedback on this last meeting. Perhaps Balem would like to speak about it. If it is war he wants, then I will give it to him.”

***

A/N: Hope y'all liked! Please give feedback if possible ❤️ I can’t say how many parts are left, but I’m getting towards the end-ish lol. Based off my outline :) so, we shall see! I’m super stoked!

#balem abrasax x reader #balem abrasax #balem #balem x reader #balem x you #balem abrasax x you #jupiter ascending #eddie redmayne #lmlyd

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meathookcinema · 4 years

Text

I often think about my love of cinema, where it began and the influences on it, both film-based and what was going on around me.

I was born in February 1975. My arrival into the world coincides with the day on which Stephen Murphy the BBFC’s secretary first saw a new independent film called The Texas Chain Saw Massacre with a view to providing a certificate for it. It feels apt that my birth coincided with an event connected to such a sordid masterpiece which remains one of my favourite films to this day.

On hearing of a new arrival into the world most people want to hear information that I’ve always thought was a bit random and really boring. Who gives a flying fuck about a baby’s weight? I want to know what was showing at the local cinema.

Thankfully the information I was looking for regarding my own arrival onto this planet was awaiting me in the Central Library in York amongst the archived local newspapers on microfilm.

Film listings for a new future cineaste/exploitation film fan

I’m thrilled to report that when I was born the films being shown were veryyy me! And before you ask, one of them wasn’t The Omen.

There was either the Safari suited, high camp antics of eye-brow raising Roger Moore as 1970’s James Bond in The Man With The Golden Gun or a sex comedy double-bill consisting of Line Up and Lay Down (!) and Nurses on the Job (!!) Both choices I’m more than happy with.

Safari-suit Bond- the pinnacle of camp

A sex comedy double-bill. Another pinnacle of camp. Perfect cinematic choices for my birth.

The cinema these masterpieces were being shown was the Odeon Cinema in Blossom Street in York which remains my favourite cinema of all of the movie houses I’ve been to.

The Odeon was opened on 1st February, 1937. You can see how much of an exquisite building it was by it’s very architecture. A gorgeous building by any standards with it’s distinctive Art Deco form and shape, this was seen on it’s construction as an outstanding addition to the Odeon family.

The Odeon in the late 80’s

The Odeon is situated on one of the main streets in and out of the city and more importantly, it’s on the route that my father would use when driving us home after going to the city centre. I remember driving past this cinema even before I was old enough to start frequenting the place with my family. Driving by I’d see the garish, alluring and beguiling posters outside. Just the posters alone had the power to scare the fuck out of me as a child with the colourful and nightmarish artwork for horror films leaving the deepest imprints in my young and very furtile psyche. It was just one glance of the poster for the double bill of The Incredible Melting Man and U.S. TV movie The Savage Bees that prevented me from sleeping for several nights in a row.

I also distinctly remember seeing the poster for The Fog in 1980 (I must have been five years old) and that really freaking me out. Again, sleepless nights followed.

One of the other things I loved about cinemas in those days was that they didn’t just have amazing posters for the films they were showing but also lobby cards which showed key scenes of the films being shown within. Lobby cards seem to have died a death these days but I always loved them especially when they were for the horror fare of the day. If a poster could invoke fear in me then going up close and peering at some of the horrific and disturbing scenes that took place within these cinematic shockers was also an amazing experience for an over imaginative small child.

One of my earliest memories is of my 5 year old self running to where the posters and lobby cards were outside The Odeon to gaze for the longest time at the artwork for a new film that had just started to play there. That film was called Friday the 13th and it was again, 1980. The lobby cards prompted many questions. Who was the kindly old woman enveloped in the misty woodland? Was the killer a dab hand at archery? Hadn’t the girl in the canoe seen Joe Dante’s Piranha?! I’d never dip my hand so casually in a lake like that…So many thoughts ran through my fevered little brain.

Friday the 13th Lobby Cards. I pored over these for the longest time trying to figure out what they portrayed in the actual film

There was actually a Kentucky Fried Chicken opposite The Odeon and so because of this proximity a unique urban legend came into being. Even though it’s a slight variation on an already well known yarn, the people of York insist that this actually happened. Some say they even know the people involved. It goes like this-

A young couple decide to go to collect KFC and then dash into The Odeon opposite with their greasy meal. The film they are going to see has already started and so they order their food, pay and rush into the cinema to buy their tickets and find their seats. They do this and find that the house lights have already gone down and the place is packed. They somehow manage to find two seats together in the rammed auditorium and start to chow down on their KFC. Because the film has already started the couple can’t see what they are eating and just tuck in regardless. The young woman notices that what she thinks should be a piece of chicken tastes funny. It also doesn’t feel like a leg or breast. Sure, it’s coated in the Colonel’s secret coating but chicken it must definitely aint. With her eyes now started to get used to the darkness of the cinema she sees that in fact what shes been tucking into looks very strange indeed. She decides to take some of the coating off with her fingers and is horrified to see what is concealed underneath- and of which she still has a piece of in her mouth. She has been eating a deep fried rat! She screams, her male companion screams, the audience screams.

The ‘deep friend rat’ is an urban legend that is well-told the world over and can be applied to any fast-food joint but seems to be specific to KFC (much to their chigrin). There was even a case recently whereby someone posted the same story as fact, even with pictures as evidence. But when asked by KFC’s management for further evidence or closer investigation, the story’s perpetrator seemed backwards in coming forward with further details. Social media, the internet and emails are perfect for the further advancement of urban legends in the cyber age.

But I digress. Most of my trips to the cinema during my childhood and teen years were to The Odeon. I loved seeing films in such a venue that was steeped in history and gorgeous to boot. I could almost feel the history of the place as people who had been lucky enough to see some of my favourite films (and that I would have been too young to see at the time of their release) would have delighted in the magic of seeing such cinematic masterpieces as Taxi Driver, Jaws and The Exorcist (fast forward and this would change with The Exorcist as there was a one-off screening and on my 18th birthday (of all days!) It was almost like it was scheduled especially for me! And so in February 1993, even though it had snowed, my friends and I went out on the town and then went to see the film with a packed house (the film was still banned on video in the UK at that time). Whilst the print was in appalling condition and most probably one of the same prints used on the film’s original release in 1974, it had lost none of it’s power. I’ll never forget leaving the cinema, bidding my friends farewell and precariously going to find a taxi whilst wading through snow and trying not to break my neck whilst walking like Bambi over the ice underfoot. Oh, and I remember being really fucking scared because of the film!

In these innocent days of my early childhood a couple of Odeon visits really stick out in my mind for some reason. I think it’s because these films were perfect for kids- even kids who would have no chance of getting into screenings of the horror and exploitation films he’d preferred to have been watching even at a very early age.

One screening I went to when I was 5 years old was for Robert Altman’s Popeye and I absolutely loved it! The perfect casting, the set designs, the songs- the cartoon series I loved so much was effortlessly and almost eerily brought to life.

Another cinematic excursion to the Odeon that I look back on with real fondness was a double bill of a pre-Terminator Arnie and Kirk Douglas in the zany Cactus Jack and the live action kitsch fest Spiderman and the Dragon’s Challenge. This was originally a two-part television special made for American T.V. but was spliced together to make a feature film to be shown theatrically outside the U.S. Hence, how I had the good fortune to be watching it. Spidey was played by Nicholas Hammond, one of the Von Trapp brats from The Sound of Music. The film was so bright and colourful that it was akin to a Pop-Art Warhol print come to life. I seem to remember that Spidey’s webs looked like white rope. Myself and all lovers of cinematic cult fare need this film and the films that preceded it (Spiderman and Spiderman Strikes Back) to be released on Blu ray tout suite.

It was at The Odeon that not only did I fall in love with film as a medium but also the sense of occasion involved in going to see a film. There was the excitement of the snacks on offer, the stench of popcorn meaning only one thing. It was also the trailers for the upcoming films and then the Pearl and Dean advertising for products such as Fry’s Turkish Delight, Westlers hotdogs and Red Mountain coffee. Then it was the wonderfully kitsch and camp ads for local businesses in York such as Indian restaurants and local pubs/nightclubs. The glittering world of York’s nightlife! It seemed so sophisticated. Theres a great sample of similar cinema advertising here. And here is a cinema advert shown locally in the 60’s in Plymouth advertising the local nightspots. It has to be seen to be believed! It’s all about the camp bleach blonde bartender. Something tells me he might be a Friend of Dorothy.

But there was also another cinema in York in those days that I also went to. The ABC cinema was right in the city centre on a street called Piccadilly and whilst it didn’t have the history, grandeur or sense of occasion that The Odeon had, I also went there and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

One of my earliest cinema going experiences here involved my father taking me and my two older brothers to go and see the newly released Superman 2 (which I didn’t like as to my 6 year old eyes the film was too violent- how things would change when it came to my tastes in cinema!) and way too loud. But other than those reservations, I had a great time. My Dad then took us to see executed highwayman Dick Turpin’s grave which is nearby. All in all, a great day.

For more on the curious case of the burial of Dick Turpin, click here. It’s just one more story from the blood-soaked history of York.

Another major source for my burgeoning passion in film was, of course, the television. Whilst I couldn’t get in to see the X certificate films at my local cinemas, there were no restrictions to me seeing any of the films shown on TV, whether they were intended for children or not. Hooray for lax parenting!

I remember vividly the first ever screening of Jaws on UK TV. According to the internet this took place on 8th of October 1981 which means that I was 6 years old when I saw it (it was actually certificated A when it was originally released in 1975 meaning that it wasn’t suitable for children under 11. This was changed to a PG years later, but recently was controversially upgraded to 12A as it was felt that PG was too lenient. Which, I suppose, is a testament to the brilliance of the film). This was a HUGE event and garnered mammoth ratings with 23.25 million viewers tuning in, one of the biggest ratings ever for a film shown on TV.

I also remember similarly huge ratings for the first time Superman: The Movie was shown on UK TV. This was also a pivotal event for not just myself but for most of the population.

Thankfully when I was growing up my father didn’t believe the theory that children watching late night movies that might be violent or disturbing in some way could negatively affect a child and so I was allowed to stay up late and watch the likes of Carrie, The Omen and Dirty Harry when they were shown. I realised that most of my school friends didn’t have parents who were this liberal or maybe just didn’t give a shit as I’d say to them ‘Did you see (insert name of some film usually with an X certificate) last night?!’ to be met with blank stares or a slow, jealous shake of the head.

Not everything that influenced me in those days was film based but still fed into my love of cult cinema and all things fucked up. I was and still am an avid reader. Sometimes I sped through books so fast that my father used to take me to the library more than once a day (really!). It was here that I came across a book that was perfect for a young freak with a taste for the macabre.

Usborne’s Guide to the Supernatural World was a compendium made up of three earlier titles (Vampires, Werewolves and Demons, Haunted Houses, Ghosts and Spectres and Mysterious Powers and Strange Forces) and was pretty much a bible for me from that moment on. It’s one of my favourite books and I still dip into it for pleasure and for life-affirmation purposes.

My knowledge of everything supernatural was expanded immeasurably with this tome as my eyes pored over the gaudy illustrations whilst taking in every detail of the text.

Usborne have just reissued another of their titles, The World of the Unknown: Ghosts which was just as influential in the late 70’s (see- there were other young weirdos just like me!). Let’s hope they see fit to reissue Supernatural World too. Copies are selling for a fortune on the internet. We need a reprint and pronto. It would sell just as well as Ghosts.

But there was something a lot closer to home and all too real that provided a macabre backdrop to my earliest years. The county that I grew up in had it’s own serial killer that was at large with his earliest noted murder (but it’s rumoured that he killed earlier and more than has been publicly recorded) being in the year of my birth and not ending until his capture in 1981. Peter William Sutcliffe aka The Yorkshire Ripper murdered women who were out alone at night. One of my earliest memories was of watching the local news programme Calendar which was presented by Richard Whiteley (later the presenter of student and old person favourite Countdown) who was normally a jolly and happy kind of fellow. I knew something was wrong as on this occasion he wasn’t smiling or jolly but had a grave expression on his face as he stood in front of a board that had numerous women’s faces on it. He explained that yet another women had been added to the list of those poor women who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. This victim was Jacqueline Hill, a Leeds student who was walking from where her bus had dropped her to her student lodgings (a matter of a few yards) but instead met her ghoulish fate.

Because of the Ripper life had to be changed massively. There was an unofficial curfew for women and a feeling of omnipresent dread in the air until his capture. When I grew older and started going out as a teenager I’d always accompany female friends home and make sure they were inside and safe until I left. I never thought why I did this until much later- it had been because I has grown up in the era of the Ripper. It’s strange how life comes full circle. I’m now writing this in Chapeltown in my flat. This area of Leeds was a major hunting ground for Sutcliffe. The murder scenes for at least 4 of his victims are within walking distance of here.

This sense of dread was also all around us in other ways in the late 70’s/early 80’s. This was in the form of Public Information Films which were short adverts made by the government which warned the general population of the dangers of any number of potentially lethal activities as varied as mixing different types of tyre on your car, letting your child talk to strangers, putting down a rug on a freshly polished wooden floor…you name it. My favourite was The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water which was voiced by Donald Pleasance and warned of the dangers of children playing near rivers and lakes and what could happen.

This PIF scared the shit out of me and reminded me of another childhood source of sleepless nights, a paperback of The Lord of the Rings that was knocking around our house resplendent with becloaked soldiers riding nightmarish horses each with glowing red eyes.

I loved the Public Information Films that were specific to Bonfire Night with the dangers of playing with fireworks being another source of trauma for children up and down the country.

Missives from on high of how to prevent catastrophe in your life weren’t just made for the TV screen either. There were plenty of leaflets, posters and literature around at this time that could educate the populace of how to avoid potential disaster.

There was plenty of imagery that I found so attractive as it would appeal to any fan of cult cinema and particularly the horror/slasher genre. The threat of some crime being committed to either you or your property was very real with an unspecified shadowy figure (the best example being depicted in the ‘Watch out! There’s a thief about’ campaign) seen approaching (a great example of this was the two black boots walking on breaking ice in the excellent ‘Neighbourly Nell’ Public Information Film) or running away.

One poster that I used to see on the wall in doctor’s surgeries, chemists and libraries was the design classic of The Pregnant Man.

Another moral panic that I remember vividly from my early childhood concerned the dangers of rabies entering the UK. Cue distressing images of rabid animals attacking children and humans frothing at the mouth due to the disease. And this wasn’t just in print.

And then there was Protect and Survive. This was a campaign regarding what to do if there was a nuclear holocaust. This booklet would be sent to every household if the button had been pushed and certain psychopathic world leaders wanted the ultimate in narcissistic supply. Details on how we were all to hole up in our self-made bomb shelters with only our loved ones and tinned food for company were outlined. There were even details on what to do if someone in your enclosure had passed away and how their body could be disposed of.

And here, for your perverse pleasure, is the full booklet. I’m sure in these times of lockdowns and Coronavirus we can pick up some worthwhile and strangely relevant tips.

The threat of nuclear war was everywhere in the late 70’s and 80’s. To quote those purveyors of style and hair dye Duran Duran from their number 1 single Is There Something I Should Know, ‘You’re about as easy as a nuclear war.’ Just one push of a button and we would be pushed into a dystopic netherworld.

There was even a drama, Threads made about what that post-nuclear holocaust would look like. It wasn’t pretty and remains a powerful, brilliant and extremely difficult to watch masterpiece. I recommend you to find it but proceed with caution.

But back to film. Another rich source of cult film goodness was to be found in our local newspaper, of all places. Film adverts were placed in here by the local cinemas that showed artwork (sometimes different from the posters) that was, in the case of horror and cult films, lurid in nature and again, utterly alluring to me.

As it would happen, other cult movie fans were indulging in the same pleasures with the excellent book Ad Nauseam being released not so long ago- a compendium of newspaper ads advertising the kind of movies I relished seeking out the ads for.

Just as there were newspaper print ads, there were also TV adverts for upcoming and films that were currently playing. Some of these were just as disturbing as the films themselves. I remember seeing a TV spot for The Shining that was possibly the scariest thing I had ever experienced up until that point. On seeing it again, I still feel the same. It’s a terrifying experience.

Whilst all of this quenched my growing passion for cinema and particularly cult cinema, there was an upcoming innovation that would change everything! That was, of course, VIDEO! And such a momentous event deserves a blog entry all of it’s own…

Pamela Voorhees, The Pregnant Man and The Deep Fried Rat: The Pre-Video Years of a Cult Movie Loving Crackpot I often think about my love of cinema, where it began and the influences on it, both film-based and what was going on around me.

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gigsoupmusic · 5 years

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Exclusive GIGsoup Interview: Mikey Mike

On Friday 20th September L.A based singer/ songwriter Mikey Mike met with Gigsoup backstage at his sold out show in London. On the third date of his European tour, fans flooded eagerly into the ‘The Waiting Room’ as the interview commenced. The ‘Doin` Me’ singer had a calm composure as he sipped whiskey from the bottle and nodded his head to the music that bellowed from the other room. His debut album ‘Life On Earth’ was released merely weeks before the tour and received a huge amount of praise from fans worldwide. Mikey Mike is known for his diverse genre splicing which was reflected in the mixed crowd that attended. He was charismatic and genuine during the preparation for the interview and conducted himself almost as though he’d sold out shows in London on numerous occasions. He gave a full hearted answer to each question and one thing that he circled back to a lot was his gratuity toward his fans and the support that they showed. It’s safe to say that Mikey Mike reciprocates the passion his listeners offer him, which is shown in the interview below. Life on earth volume 1 was diverse in genre, is that a testament to the time it took to create, or is the diversity something that’ll be frequent in your music? Yeah, I definitely think it will be frequent; it’s one of those things where I’ve grown up loving so many different types of music. I had pockets where Id only listen to Nirvana and Led Zeppelin, and then I got sick of that and only listened to rap. So I genuinely fell in love with every genre and when I started making music it didn’t feel right to do any of them, I think I took little pieces of all of it. Also, part of it was the amount of time cause it was probably five years ago that I started, and just to get a platform where I could put it out and get people to hear it, we had to wait this long. So naturally in five years the music changed so much, you know, it changes week to week but in five years even more so. A little of it, from what I hear is... it’s almost un-cohesive but not in a bad way. I think my voice, even if it’s a different genre and such, my voice or my spirit kind of pulls that together. So yeah, it never started purposely, just naturally, but it’s definitely something important. There’s even times where I really like something but it all sounds the same colour, the same mix and everything, you can listen to those songs five times and it isn’t any different from the other so I do like bouncing around with it. You say that the album’ Life On Earth’ is a genuine perception of your life on earth and you break that down track by track. Yeah, you have all kinds of different trips in life, sometimes you’re in a more spiritual place and sometimes you go in a more physical or nasty place and the album hopefully goes through that trip. What city has been your favourite so far on this tour? We’ve only done Germany and Sweden, so I’m going to go with Germany because we had a great show. Sweden was tough because I don’t think we have a big market there in terms of people that know the music. In Germany we had people singing all the tunes and – I knew some people there that have been fans. Like, the girl I stayed with, she had covered ‘Doin Me’ on a mandolin two years ago, so when we said we were coming she said ‘oh, you can stay at my place’. So it was cool, it was special in that way that you get to meet these people that have been touched by the music, and then you become friends with them, you know? Like this girl, I lost her cat, I left the window open, the cat escaped and then we were up until 5:00Am looking for the cat, you know, it was crazy. As an artist there must have been times that you felt like quitting, what stopped you? Stopped me from quitting? I think the main reason was that I loved it, the only reason I think I’d have had to quit would have been to make money some other way instead, but somehow I always had these little feelings – anytime I was about to run out of money it was like a gift from God where some cheque from music came in and kept it going. Other than that there’s been no thought about stopping, because I don’t know what else I would do you know? Cause if someone was like ‘you can have lunch at twelve’ I’d be like, ‘I’m not even f*****g hungry man!’ it’d be crazy to have to go back to that. I’m blessed that I get to do this. Ever since I was little I had a belief, there’s always been a little pit, kind of in my stomach that was like ‘I f*****g know I can do this’ and so, I just ran with that. So does that kind of work as advice to someone who’s trying to do what you’re doing too? Yeah I don’t think there’s a grey area, if you want to do it, you’re going to do it and if you don’t give a s**t or you’re half way or quarter the way, you’re not going to do it. You’re either going to do it or not. What was it like to work with Rick Rubin? It was really interesting before I went to his house, I remember reading interviews about Eminem, he was saying that the first time he met Rick; he was sick to his stomach and so nervous. I was like ‘it’s f*****g Eminem and he’s played for a hundred thousand people and this guy was nervous to meet him? I’m gonna take a s**t on his floor in there!’ And then I got up there and I was a little nervous just because he’s one of my heroes in music, and I knew he was the one guy that if I could get my music to, he’d understand the diversity and all that part of it, so, I always wanted to meet him for that reason. I remember knocking on the door and he answered, he was just there f*****g barefoot, he was like ‘oh hey man, what’s going on?’ and I was like ‘Hey, how you doing?’ Immediately all the nerves disappeared because he was so cool, he’s just like the guy you see in all the interviews, there’s no judgement or anything he’s just a person that’s really there, so it was amazing, it was a dream come true. The beauty for me was, at the time I was on the ninety-eight percent line of believing in myself as an artist, not as a producer. But when I played him my music and he goes – ‘you got this, you’re going to do something special, you can do this’ then I was like ‘I have no question, I don’t need any other kind of validation from anybody, I could have the whole world hate it but I like it and Rick likes it, so I’m gonna go f*****g play.’ That was the most powerful part for me, I had ninety-eight percent confidence and when I left I had no questions, Rick Rubin is with me, like, who else do you need in music to believe in you? You toured with Yelawolf in the past; will there be a feature with him sometime? Possibly, possibly, I haven’t talked to him in a while but he took me out on that tour, which I appreciate so much, and he was the man and he was awesome, he was great to us. But he’s kind of got his path, hopefully, sometime down the line. We talked at one point about it but, we’ll see if we can do something cool. How will volume two vary from volume one? I think probably the way I use my voice, I’m probably signing more, and speaking and rapping in pockets. I just find myself with a guitar and I always end up coming out with more melodies, so I’d say maybe more singing but I do want to keep the speaking and the rapping because it keeps it kind of interesting. But I don’t know, some of it is very raw, it’s very much things from my life. Were you shocked by the reception you received in Europe? Yeah, the London thing when they said it had sold out, in about five days or something, we couldn’t believe it, especially when the add came out because it was in Germany, I think it came here a little bit but it didn’t run nearly as long. So I thought if anything, if anywhere would sell out, it was going to be Germany, but it literally came back, like, there’s no mistake it has sold out. So that was like, holy s**t, there’s people here that know it and, it was weird. It was also weird because I didn’t ever get a tonne of messages from people in London saying they loved the music and so on that I remember, but I’d get a lot from Germany so when the tickets went up I just assumed if anything did really well it’d be that. It did good, but here sold out, so I was very surprised. It must be crazy to be making music in L.A, and there’s people overseas loving your music? I mean, I don’t know if I could sell these many tickets in L.A, maybe I could, maybe I couldn’t but it’s crazy to think across the pond, it happened. If you make music that resonates with people, they’ll find you. Yeah I believe that, and it was even amazing that the girl playing right now, her manager, he came down when we were doing sound check, I didn’t know if he was somebody from the distribution company we work with. They told me that he manages the girl that is playing and he happened to be a huge fan of the music and he couldn’t believe it, he was like ‘wow, that’s who we’re opening for?’ which was amazing because it’s just one of the moments that you realise that there’s so many people here that know what you’re doing and you have no idea. Just one random guy happens to manage the artist and it’s weird, it’s trippy you know? Especially people that have come from hours away, it’s so humbling. They’re like ‘thanks for coming’ and I say ‘no, thank you for coming! It’s been so cool. What kind of influence do you think this tour will have on your writing? If it isn’t too early to tell? No, I think I already know, it’s that, I think for me knowing that people from across the world are listening and you had no idea they even exist, it puts that much more power and responsibility in your hands. So even on those days where I’m really f*****g hung-over and just want to sleep, you have to pick up that f*****g guitar and go out there, cause there’s a lot of people listening and you may not even see them, but they’re there. You know, I’d say that that’s the biggest take-away for me. I literally flew eleven hours across the damn world and there’s people there that know it and love it, so yeah, I’ll take that. To a lot of people, your music makes a difference. It’s humbling to me, when people hear it and tell me that it helped them get through a bad time or did whatever, it changes everything. ‘Doing me’ helps a lot of people. Yeah, it’s a hard one to top in a way, it speaks to so many people in a good way and I’m proud of that. It’s funny that it’s that simple too, if you say it in the right way and you say it with conviction people go ‘F***k!’ It’s such a simple phrase just ‘f***k what they say, I’m doing me’ if somebody just said that walking down the street you wouldn’t think nothing of it. It seems obvious but when it comes together in a certain way, it seems to do something, it’s crazy. That’s the last of the questions. Thank you so much, I had a great time.

The Interview. The show: Only a short while after the interview Mikey Mike leisurely strolled through the middle of the crowd on his way toward the stage, stopping for pictures and greeting fans. The moment he stepped on stage the venue was overwhelmed with cheers and applause. People had travelled from far and wide over the UK to attend the show and they were not let down. Mikey Mike put on an electrifying performance which consisted of a lot of crowd interaction, he performed the entirety of his debut album and showcased an unreleased song titled ‘Amazon Prime’ a comedic song with a hip/hop infused with indie feel to it. The crowd screamed Mike’s lyrics back at him on all songs but particularly on tracks such as ‘Cooler’, ‘Yasmin you will never hear this’ and of course ‘Doin` Me.’ After the show he stayed behind to sign posters, shirts and to pose for pictures. After that stayed in the bar upstairs to party with the fans who remained. At the end of the night, for fans that couldn’t get tickets due to the show selling out, he performed one more time outside in the streets of London in the early hours of the morning. Mikey Mike appreciates the support that he’s shown and strives to give it back tenfold. In the years that led up to the debut album there were many complications that slowed the release down. Now, with his first record out, a European tour behind him and the release of the second volume in his sights, he’ll have the ability to take his music to new heights. Given the interactions he has with his fans and the genius that goes into his creations, he’ll have no trouble selling out every show next tour, so be sure to keep a close watch on Mikey Mike, he’s a rising star, and Rick Rubin likes it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMo-TKhW5VY Read the full article

#gigsoup #Mikeymike #RickRubin

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chuckprophet · 4 years

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Warren zanes on The Rubinoos

Warrenzanes

Following

Aug 23, 2019

· 13 min read

Berkeley, California presents . . . .

The Rubinoos, bringing you their new recording . . .

fifty years in the making. . . From Home

In a just universe you would give this bio your full and sustained attention. And in a just universe the story contained herein would be adapted and produced as a PBS American Mastersprogram (four-parts, ideally). Why? Because this bio has in it the story of The Rubinoos, a tale that has all the peaks and valleys of Shakespeare’s best. It’s the story of America’s favorite band (if only America had paid better attention). But it’s not a just universe, and this is not a story that comes to us froma just universe. It couldn’t. There’s no good music in a just universe. They don’t need the good music there. We need it here. That’s why we have the Rubinoos. Music for an unjust universe.

The occasion for this bio is a new album. A remarkablenewRubinoos album. I’m not being paid enough to lie about that (sorry, Yep Roc). I believe From Homeis an event, ifyou know enough to be ready for it. So, before turning to the specifics of this new recording, some set-up is required. Meaning, I want you to know enough to know to be ready for it. But, first, can we linger for a moment on this number? The Rubinoos stayed together fifty years to bring you From Home. How long did your band stay together? I’m referring to your band that recently had a reunion show and told a local newspaper you’d been “six years in the trenches together.” You said,“We’ll always be brothers, like family.” We’ve all said stuff like that. But next to the Rubinoos, our bands met in the morning and broke up that afternoon.

This is something else. Fifty years of pop exploration, of four people singing and playing as one, fusing themselves together. 10,000 hours? In Rubinoos terms, that’s a mere beginning. The Rubinoos adventure began in 1970, at a Berkeley, California middle school. Ronald Reagan, then Governor of California, gave the order to spray tear gas into a crowd of radicals on the UC Berkeley campus. The prevailing winds, blowing in from the Pacific, carried the tear gas onto the playground of that middle school. The future Rubinoos breathed it in. In that moment, they became a part of the fabric of American history. Or something like that.

And then, over fifty years, things including the following took place, listed here in no particular order. The Rubinoos:

1) Appeared on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand

2) Did 56 dates opening for Elvis Costello during the Armed Forcestour (playing encores at 55 of those shows — they were still “figuring it out” during the first show).

3) Appeared multiple times in Tiger Beat.

4) Were at one point produced by Todd Rundgren.

5) Had to sue Avril Lavigne for lifting their song “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” eventually settling out of court.

6) Acted as Jonathan Richman’s backing band, The Modern Lovers, on classics including “The New Teller” and “Government Center.”

7) Completed more than 15 tours of Spain . . . since 2000.

8) Had a top fifty hit in the U.S. covering “I Think We’re Alone Now,” originally by Tommy James and the Shondells.

9) Had a hit in the U.K. with “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.”

10) Recorded the theme for “The Revenge of the Nerds” and lived through the experience, their dignity intact . . . for the most part.

11) Have a band member who made demos for Holland-Dozier-Holland and another who wrote for Modern English.

12) Recorded their second record at The Who’s Rampart Studios, finding themselves frustrated that a singer down the hall was wasting studio time beating up the vocal line, “Whooooo are you? Hoo hoo, hoo hoo,” causing one Rubinoo to say, “When are these old fucks gonna be done so we can record?”

13) Were opening for Jefferson Starship and covering the Archies “Sugar, Sugar” when they were booed off the stage at Winterland (yes, this is on the things-that-went-right list)

14) Responded favorably to Chuck Prophet (the Alan Lomax of San Francisco pop?) when he suggested in 2018 that they record a new album.

14) Actually continued to enjoy one another’s company through five decades.

15) Recorded a live album or two in Japan.

16) I could go on, but I think you get my point.

You can’t get all that done in six years. Obviously. But what made The Rubinoos stay together? What allows that to happen? How does one great band manage to remain in working order when most great bands burst into flames? The answer to the question, I believe, is in the history part of it.

So, again, Ronald Reagan’s tear gas. The stuff came onto the middle school playground. And though one can’t be conclusive about direct effects, after that Tommy Dunbar and Jon Rubin both started having trouble in math class. Frustrated, their teacher would send them into the hallway, an ineffective form of punishment if the idea is to improve a student’s math skills. But it was a good move on the teacher’s part if the real consideration was Bay Area rock and roll. Tommy had been asking people to join groups since he was seven. He was that kid. In the school hallway a bond formed between the two mathematical exiles. And soon enough, Tommy popped the question. They were thirteen, and it was 1970. The Rubinoos came into being. Or something like that.

Tommy’s brother, Robbie, enters the story as soon as it starts. Robbie was in the band Earth Quake (originally Purple Earth Quake). To Tommy and Jon, Robbie was a symbol of possibility. Through his example the younger men could believe that, yes, bands can form, flourish, make records. In fact, with Robbie as a model, Tommy and Jon came to believe that if you form a band, that band should and willdo all of those things. When they eventually landed on American Bandstand, the feeling was less one of pinch me!than it was, “Yes, it makes sense that we’re here.” Raised in left-leaning Berkeley, tear gas in their eyes, this almost casual relationship with commercial glory can be partiallt explained by the fact that American Bandstandand Tiger Beatdidn’t register as heroic activity with the Berkley locals. The Rubinoos enjoyed what came their way, but it wasn’t going to attract the Troyskyite girls back home. But Robbie, that elder brother, did more.

In an act that may have seemed insignificant, Robbie Dunbar gave his younger sibling Tommy the Cruisin’collection. Cruisin’would haunt cut-out bins across the nation for years to come. It was classic rock and roll, year-by-year on nine albums, 1955–1963, with dee jay’s air checks, patter, and vintage ads spliced in. On the 1955 Cruisin’ album you could hear the Penguins “Earth Angel,” The Moonglows “Sincerely,” The Platters “Only You.” Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley were in there, as was Ray Charles. Good stuff. An education. Tommy and Jon spent hours and days pretending to be dee jays, singing along year-by-year. It became an obsession. They thought people harmonized because . . . that’s just what people do. Doo wop shaped their world view. Inadvertently, they found their way to the same kind of experiences that gave both The Beatles and The Beach Boys musical foundations in group vocals. When drummer Donno Spindt joined the band, he brought with him an opera-singing mother who helped the boys find the full natural resources in their lungs and throats. From the start, The Rubinoos had a gift for welcoming teachers, in any form.

This is not to suggest that doo wop and early rock and roll were exclusive interests. They were musical omnivores. They ate everything on their plate and picked things off their neighbor’s. It didn’t matter if it was the DeFranco Family or Hendrix, Toots and the Maytals or the Beach Boys, Frank Zappa or Iggy Pop. They didn’t differentiate, didn’t establish hierarchies of value. They just wanted more. Early on, they felt they were kind of a Prog Rock thing. But also an oldies band. Huh? It was as if they were cloaked in some kind of productive innocence, an openness to the world of music that in the end would give the band the widest possible pasture in which to run naked, musically speaking. It’s a quality they share with a few legendary outfits, including, in different ways, NRBQ, The Band, The Lovin’ Spoonful. But where NRBQ, for instance, would drift between the silly and the serious, The Rubinoos wouldn’t sleep with a song they couldn’t respect in the morning. They loved novelty records like “Purple People Eater” because they were funny, but The Rubinoos ultimately stayed with that same song because they saw it as . . . art! They were incapable of irony.

As Tommy explains, when they started covering the DeFranco’s “Heartbeat is a Lovebeat” they laughed until they found themselves forgetting to laugh, taken away by an honest admiration for the song’s internal order and beauty. Once they gotinside a song, they couldn’t put themselves above it. They maintained their wonder. Similarly, when they first started playing rock and roll classics from the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry, they thought playing the simple rock and roll would be, well, a simplematter. Not so. As Tommy describes, they found it was very difficult to make those songs sound as good as the original recordings. With Cruisin’as their first dunking in the holy waters, the experience of actually playing the songs from Cruisin’gave them their second. They were converted, young missionaries. Put another way, they quit school in ninth grade but were immediately enrolled a school of their own founding. And they always left the door open for visiting faculty, whether Donno’s mother, Robbie, and the others who would come to the door, something to offer.

Earth Quake would soon be a part of the scene forming around local label Berserkley Records. And the Rubinoos would follow. But The Rubinoos, by the time they signed with Berserkley, were in the kind of shape The Beatles were in when they arrived in George Martin’s world: fully fucking formed. A listen to their 1977 debut is all you need to know to grasp this for yourself. The teachings were all in there. If the timeline locates that first album in the punk era, the almost obsessive precision and craft the debut displays puts it somewhere else. Not everyone knew where. They still don’t. New York Rockertook a shot at it, describing it thus: “The best pop album of the decade.”

That first decade of The Rubinoos was crowned two years later with the release of a second masterwork, Back to the Drawing Board. “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” was the single and got a lot of airplay in the U.K. and elsewhere. The track’s co-writer, James Gangwer, had first approached Tommy asking if the young guitar player could tackle the “I Love Lucy” theme song on guitar. Tommy could. As Jon elaborates, it was James Gangwer who advanced The Rubinoos’s R&B and Soul education. The Elvis Costello tour came that same year, and Jon remembers watching Elvis Costello and the Attractions every night, studying them, moved by their power, looking for the lesson. There was a purity in that decade of teachers and students spilling into one another. But how could it last?

When Berserkley Records turned from a label into something much more like a management company for Greg Kihn, The Rubinoos continued to study, not always liking the subject matter. The lessons in that era would be less joyful, often relating to the sad cruelties of business than to music. With occasional respite, the band entered a long period of false starts and fodder for broken hearts. Meaning, they hit some of the stuff that makes bands break up. Yet they didn’t. Yes, they took on different shapes, witnessed some comings and goings of band members. But The Rubinoos didn’t die. There was concern in the Bay Area when Tommy got a driver’s license. “Have you heard? Tommy’s getting his license.” A kind of hush was heard. All over the world.

All of this is to say: there’s another list. And on it are the plot twists that chipped away at the inner workings of the band, including the following:

1) An extended residency in Lake Tahoe, The Rubinoos suddenly a lounge act playing for tourists. And it’s hard to back out of those kind of places without turning to see where you’re going.

2) Rumblings within the band, tremors of dissatisfaction that brought The Rubinoos as close to a break-up as they would come.

3) Bassist Al Chan’s departure, despite his natural fit as a Rubinoo. The worst part? He became an accountant.

4) Donno’s departure. Taking with him a piece of the band’s soul.

5) A move to Los Angeles, a city arguably different from Berkeley.

6) A deal with Warner Bros. and a producer by the name of Todd Rundgren, who at that time thought too little about the act he was producing.

7) Recorded vocals stacked in ways they never needed to be, bringing Jon and Tommy to a place many worlds from doo wop.

8) A Rubinoos quickly dropped by Warner Bros.

9) Less glorious work, including sessions with Kim Fowley on sessions for drag queens.

10) Jobs in wedding bands.

11) A bitter relationship with Beserkley Records that held up publishing and record royalties.

The producer of From Home, Chuck Prophet, was around fourteen years old when he fell for The Rubinoos. They were hissymbol of possibility, his Earth Quake. It took forty years of training for him to be ready to produce The Rubinoos. Over that time, he thought a lot about the band. I had Chuck Prophet on the phone, and he said, “You know Joseph Campbell’s idea of the ‘hero’s journey’? That’s a good frame of reference for understanding The Rubinoos.”

Chuck went on to suggest that the band’s arc echoes the hero’s journey as Campbell has defined it. I was compelled by what Chuck was getting at. After all, in those “missing years,” what really happened to The Rubinoos? If they didn’t break up entirely, what was happening? Chuck believes that Joseph Campbell’s theory of the hero narrative as a cross-cultural phenomena — The Odyssey,Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Star Wars — could be mapped onto The Rubinoos career. They didn’t break up, Chuck suggested, they went into what Campbell thought of as the unknown, the special world, where various trials and temptations and losses and hallucinatory wanderings lead to a heightened stage of consciousness. How interesting, I thought. It gave a framework for the less glorious twists and turns that led from the first records to the present, where they returned, more essentially and profoundly themselves. As I listened, I believed Chuck had something. “What does the band think of this theory?” I asked. Chuck paused. “They think it’s total bullshit,” he said.

As I already knew, The Rubinoos have, for a long time, taken an unconventional view of the markers of success, the American Bandstandstuff. They’re from Berkeley, after all. They didn’t see themselves as lost for forty years. They were touring Japan and Spain, showing up to the gig to find there was always an audience waiting. They loved singing together, were always making music. As Jon Rubin said by phone, “How lucky are we that we are still getting to play together? I enjoy the rehearsals as much as the shows.” Joseph Campbell might have felt a twinge of disappointment in hearing this. No suffering? No magical gift to illuminate the darkness mid-journey? No Yoda or Frodo? Depends who you ask, the interpreters or the participants.

From Homeopens with “Do You Remember?”, which feels a celebration of the return home from the other world, from the wilderness. “I want to tell you a story!” That shouted declaration opens the song, and then takes us through scenes from that first decade of Rubinoo life, when the boys were “singing acapella and getting it all wrong.” It recalls “DiFranco Family B-sides and the one by the Troggs.” For the lover of real group singing and smart pop songwriting, which is the stuff in which The Rubinoos partake, these are heroes returned to us. No, they were never lost to themselves. But I do believe they were lost to us. Our fault, not theirs.

But they’re back. From Homebreathes in the energy and recalls the crackle of the first two records, but with a difference. The Rubinoos have returned . . . slightly wizened? The second cut, “January,” is like a summer song that’s lived through a few break ups and seasons of worry, the harmonies as gorgeous as ever. Yet it’s not that The Rubinoos got serious and no longer live at the old address. They’re not indulging in melancholy or pondering mortality while strumming twelve-string guitars. That’s not the story. Listen to “Honey from the Honeycombs,” a beautiful musical lift that serves as a tribute to a legendary female drummer, Honey Lantree of British group The Honeycombs. Honey’s dead now, but the song resurrects her. For three minutes, it seems she could never age, and the young Rubinoos return with her, staring at their Honeycombs album covers, looking at that drummer, with her beehive hairdo behind the drum kit.

I’m not going to go song-by-song. You have to. But I’ll tell you a few of my very favorites. “Phaedra.” The mythological and art historical references somehow put this song out of time entirely. It’s perfect pop. “How Fast.” A car song that my kids understood immediately. They knew the hook line almost before they heard the song. “How fast does thing go?” A timeless sentiment from the backseat, for boys or men. “Masochist Davey.” “He’s only happy when you make him cry.” C’mon. More likely it’s divorce this time, not just a high school break-up, but The Rubinoos are still the best band to tell that sad bastard’s story. This band has given us a record as good as anything they’ve done. And they’ve showed us great since they were kids. Fifty years of showing up. Four voices falling together as one. It’s as beautiful as this music thing is going to get.

No one gives pop music credit for aging well. But they’re not thinking about greatpop. The Rubinoos prove that angle wrong. The good shit grows deeper. And the good bands, the ones that make it home? The same thing happens to them. Deeper. Not more somber, not more serious, not broken, not less alive. Deeper. I’m inclined to go with New York Rocker on this one: “The best pop album of the decade.” You choose the decade.

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jakobbradshaw-blog · 4 years

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What is Video Editing?

Video editing company is the manipulation and arrangement of video shots. Video modifying is used to shape and present all video information, which includes movies and TV shows, video advertisements, and video essays. Video editing has been dramatically democratized in recent years by using editing software available for personal computers of print design companies. Editing video can be tough and tedious, so numerous technologies have been produced to useful resource human beings in this task. Pen-based total video editing software was developed to present people with a greater intuitive and fast manner to edit video.

Though as soon as the province of expensive machines known as video editors, video enhancing software program is now to be had for non-public computers and brand identity packages. Video modifying includes slicing segments (trimming), re-sequencing clips, and adding transitions and different Special Effects.

Linear video enhancing uses videotape and is edited straightforwardly. Several videos from web design agency are recorded to one single tape inside the order that they will appear.

Non-linear modifying structures (NLE) allow the video to be edited on computer systems with a specialized software program. This manner is not unfavorable to the uncooked video footage and is achieved by way of the usage of packages including DaVinci Resolve, Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Final Cut Pro.

Offline enhancing is the process with the aid of which raw pictures is copied from a source, without affecting the authentic film inventory or videotape. Once the editing is complete, the trustworthy media is then re-assembled in the online modifying level.

Online enhancing is the technique of reassembling the edit to full resolution video after an offline edit has been performed. It is carried out inside the very last stage of video production.

Vision mixing is used when working within live television and video production environments. An imaginative and prescient mixer is used to cut stay feed coming from several cameras in real-time.

Background of Video Editing

Video editing is the procedure of enhancing segments of motion video production photos, special effects and sound recordings in the post-manufacturing method. Motion picture movie increasing is a predecessor to video improving and, in numerous waysides, editing simulates movement picture film editing, in theory, and the usage of linear video enhancing and video editing software on non-linear reinforcing structures (NLE). Using video, a director can speak nonfiction and fictional occasions. Publishing aims to manipulate those events to bring communication in the direction of the original motive or target. It is a visual art.

Early Fifties videotape recorders (VTR) have been so luxurious, and the first-class degradation as a result of copying changed into so high, that a 2-inch Quadruplex videotape turned into edited via visualizing the recorded song with Ferro fluid, slicing it with a razor blade or guillotine cutter, and splicing with video. The pieces of tape to be joined have been painted with an answer of exceptional iron filings suspended in carbon tetra chloride, a poisonous and carcinogenic compound. This "developed" the magnetic tracks, making them seen when considered through a microscope so that they will be aligned in a splicer designed for this task.

Improvements in best and economy, and the invention of the flying erase-head, allowed new video and audio fabric to be recorded over the content material already present on an existing magnetic tape. This was delivered into the linear editing technique. If a scene is towards the start of the videotape needed to be changed in length, all later levels would want to be re-recorded onto the tape in sequence. Also, resources could be played back simultaneously via a vision mixer (video switcher) to create new complex transitions between scenes.

A famous 1970-80s gadget for creating those transitions changed into the U-Metric equipment (named for the U-formed tape path). That machine used two tape players and one tape recorder, and edits had been executed by using automatically having the devices lower back up, and then speed up together simultaneously, so that the edit did not roll or glitch. Later, inside the 1980-90s got here the smaller beta equipment (named for the B-fashioned tape path), and more fabulous sophisticated controllers, several which did the synchronizing electronically.

There changed into a transitional analog period using a couple of source videocassette recorders (VCR) with the Edit Droid the use of LaserDisc players, but present-day NLE structures edit video digitally captured onto a severe wear an analog video or virtual video supply. Content is ingested and recorded natively with the correct codec that the video editing software program uses to process captured photos. High-definition video is becoming extra famous and can be quite edited merely using the same video modifying software program alongside with associated motion graphics programs.

Video clips are arranged on a timeline, track tracks, titles, virtual on-display portraits are added, special effects may be created, and the entire application is "rendered" into a polished video. The video might also then be allotted in a variety of approaches such as DVD, internet streaming, QuickTime Movies, iPod, CD-ROM, or videotape.

Editing Videos from Home

Like a few other technologies, the value of video enhancing has declined over time. The unique 2" Quadruples system cost a lot that many television production facilities could simplest have the funds for a single unit, and editing was an especially involved procedure that required specialized training. In contrast to this, nearly any home computer sold since the 12 months 2000 has the velocity and storage ability to digitize and edit standard-definition television (SDTV). The two essential retail working structures include the necessary video modifying software program - Apple's i Movie and Microsoft's Windows Movie Maker. Additional alternatives exist, commonly as more advanced commercial merchandise. As nicely as that commercial merchandise, there are open assets video-enhancing packages. Automatic video editing products have also emerged, starting up video editing to a broader target market of amateurs and reducing the time it takes to edit videos. These typically exist as media storage services, such as Google with its Google Photos or smaller corporations like Vidify.

#Graphic Design Agency #Web Design Agency #Brand Identity Packages #Video Editing Company

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roxieklem80624-blog · 5 years

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High 10 Mp3 Cutter Apps Download For Android

Renderforest is free on-line video production platform, which helps you create promotional videos, explainer animations, intros, slideshows, particular occasion videos, music visualizations, kinetic typography and more. To merge two music files that you have added to Audacity do the following: Choose one of the tracks with a left-click on and press Ctrl-A afterwards to pick all of it. You may alternatively choose only part of the track. Set the File popup menu to All Recordsdata, and then enter metadata for the merged clip. Mp3 Merger Or Mp3 Joiner or audio joiner is a web based FREE tool to merge or be a part of all of your Audio recordsdata right into a single mp3 file for FREE of price. At this point, re-unite your MP3 recordsdata as seen above and, while you're performed saving, you have to get a bit of music that could be performed with none disadvantage by any multimedia participant. ✓ Merge two mp3 recordsdata and make a fusion track. So when you've got a number of MP3s that you should cut individually and then be a part of together, you'll should edit them right here first after which go back to another tool like MP3Cut and join them collectively. Select the MP3 recordsdata within the checklist, the selected gadgets will show in gray background. Just make it sure that you drag them at the finish of each mp3 track; repeat this steps so as to add extra audio tracks. Merged clip audio ends in mono track audio solely. Mp3 Merger can be utilized for a wide range of purposes. This free MP3 cutter and MP3 joiner helps a large amount of input formats together with MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, FLAC, OGG, APE, AC3, AIFF, MP2, M4A, CDA, VOX, RA, RAM, TTA and rather more as supply codecs. Free download on-line and set up MP3 Joiner on your Home windows, after which observe the step-by-step guide to mix audio information inside minutes. Every day, numerous people spare no effort to hunt a powerful MP3 Joiner with a view to hitch tons of MP3 clips into one for storage or playback or be a part of songs collectively on-line or merge two mp3 recordsdata on-line.

MP3 Cutter for Windows 10 is freeware that permits you to shortly and easily splice MP3 information. In home windows XO I may first have all the story mp3s in movie maker, and then from the index of recent or imported recordsdata copy and paste different particulars. After I check track tracks in MP3, AAC, AC3 and M4A format, this on-line observe merger can acknowledge these information definitely. I take advantage of (another program whose name is just not allowed here - thought-about spam) to merge my MP3 information into one, it also helps me to mix WAV, M4A, WMA, AIFF, FLAC, OGG, and and so forth. These information must be spoken phrase mp3s, not music, or it will not work. Magicode MP3 Cutter is the last passage in our rundown of the easiest on-line mp3 cutters. It supports joining any audio formats like merge MP3, merge WAV, merge M4A, merge FLAC, AAC, WMA, M4B, AC3, VOC, CAF, APE, AIFF, Apple Lossless ALAC, merge mp3 online QCP, AMR, AWB, DTS, AU, RA, OGG, XWM, 3GA and more. You've got two non-compulsory ways to import your MP3 files from the pc to the album of this MP3 audio cutter. And then for FLAC and MP3 codecs the users may request to verify and analyze consequence. MP3 Clipper and Joiner is a free and handy software program to join two MP3 files simply and quickly. I have learn that its doable to combine multiple mp3 information into 1 file utilizing mp3 direct lower WITHOUT transcoding. Although the audio quality generally is a bit staggering for the specialists as you can notice a slight bounce at the merge point, it does a good job for the novice. Magic Audio Joiner is mp3 joiner, audio merger, wav joiner, wma joiner, m4a joiner, ac3 joiner in one! The primary downside is that this program only works with MP3 information. Straightforward to Use - Reduce MP3 music to pieces in few clicks. With it, you possibly can split any bit of audio into as many pieces as you want, or you may merge as many audio recordsdata as you need in no matter order. Notes - I have examined Merge MP3 with many albums and had no issues apart from one specific album the place the merging process froze (no progress within the progress window). With it, you can reduce up any little bit of audio into as many pieces as you want, otherwise you probably can merge as many audio information as you want in irrespective of order. All the online video and audio mergers listed on this article are a hundred% working tools which can combine audio and video easily. It is unfair to confer with these programs as "malware", since they're benign and non-compulsory, and have nothing to do with merge mp3 online MP3. To hitch the audiobook recordsdata, use a program comparable to iTunes, merge mp3 online Free MP3 Joiner or Merge MP3. 40+ Formats Supported - MP3 Cutter helps more than 40 common audio & video codecs. Then you can open your newly merged document that will include all of the PDFs you chose to mix.Choose as much as 5 PDF recordsdata to merge into a single PDF. Supported Formats: FLAC, MP3, OGG. Mp3splt supplies a set of an?open-provide?digital audio splitter?to split mp3, ogg vorbis and FLAC recordsdata with out decoding or recompressing. Mp3 joiner concatenates and combines mp3 audio files from finish to end to play sequentially. - Open the Mp3 Cutter App, click on on the green button positioned on high. Cleans and helps restore 'broken' mp3 files. As soon as this time has elapsed, ASCAP members should register their works via the Online Title Registration system.Filesmerge is one other lightweight online MP3 mixer, which is ready to merging higher than 3 audio tracks collectively. The app helps greater than 300 audio codecs, automatically converting them to mp3 for faster and simpler operation. On the lookout for even a additional superior on-line music editor in a position to dealing with numerous tracks on the same time? You can also merge quite a lot of audio file formats with this software program much the identical. The software joins OGG, WAV, and MP3 recordsdata however splits solely MP3 audio recordsdata.

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themusicenthusiast · 6 years

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Friday, November 17th, 2017 - Zuriel Merek Shines at The Palace Theatre During Breathtaking Performance Celebrating the Release of ‘The Tao Less Traveled’

Zuriel Merek. The violinist became somewhat of renowned figure through being in some notable D-FW-based bands and sharing the stage with some talented vocalists from the area. His ability to improvise (when necessary) helped to make him a highly sought musician; often being a right-hand man, so to speak, in whatever project he was a part of. More recently Merek has gone the solo route, and can be found playing venues all across North Texas, though his show on this particular night was going to be a bit different. After several years spent working on original pieces and recording them, Merek was ready to release his debut album. No longer the right-hand man, he was ready to step out underneath the stage lights as the center of attention, in a way he never had thus far during his lengthy career as a performer. This was no doubt going to be a different show. One not truly suited for the clubs or bars of Deep Ellum or Fort Worth, the neoclassical vein of music that Merek explores requiring something more unique. A place that would make the show less of an event and more of an experience. The Palace Theatre provided just such a setting. Located in the heart of downtown Grapevine, the restored 1940’s era theatre would act as an elegant room that was behooving of the music that would fill its showroom this night. Boasting 400+ seats (including a balcony area), filling it would be a challenge for anyone, even for a monumental occasion such as releasing a record. There really wasn’t much time to speculate just what kind of turnout there would be, though, the opening act, Classically Jazzed, ultimately performing to a nearly full house.

With the exception of the first few rows, there didn’t seem to be an empty seat in the house, proving just what a dedicated following Merek has amassed over the years. The age range was significant, demonstrating what a wide appeal his music has, everyone wanting to come out and share in this milestone moment of his. It began as Merek emerged from the wings and strolled over to the center of stage right, something that seemed to go unnoticed by some of the guests who were still utilizing the intermission, chatting with friends and unaware that anything was about to happen. The chatter was muted by the musician’s violin, as he proceeded to loop much of what he was doing. He would later explain the process for anyone who was unfamiliar. It was a sort of way to bridge the old into the new. This marked Merek’s first time to perform with a band accompanying him, though they were yet to be seen. Everyone was instantly enraptured by the delicate and heavenly sounds as he worked on creating the various parts of “Levity”, the lead track from The Tao Less Traveled. It served as a spectacular opening number that set the tone for the evening, radiating a sense of hope and optimism; and after a couple of minutes, it reached its peak as Merek’s five-piece backing band assumed their spots. “Thank you,” was the violinists’ response to the fanfare that erupted, as he began chatting with the audience, noting how, in a way, he had been preparing for this moment for his whole life. “…Here I am, thirty-three, playing in a Palace!” he exclaimed after acknowledging that he never imagined himself being where he was, playing music for a living. You could see the amazement in his eyes. Excitement coursing through his voice as he uttered those words, a bit shocked and overwhelmed by joy, thanks to the number of people that had turned out. At times, there was a bit of a storyteller’s element to the performance, as Merek discussed the tales behind some of the songs; the spectators listening intently to what he had to say. That included an honest story of teenage angst, Merek describing the latter part of his youth and into early adulthood, as he struggled and challenged some of the beliefs he had grown up with. “…I think that’s something most of us struggle with…” he added, referring to how many people probably do as he had done: battle in silence with where their faith lies, or even lose it altogether. That conversation revolved around Father Jim, whom Merek said had helped him through those times. “Absolution” was dedicated to him. The stirring piece ebbed and flowed magnificently; the musicians finessing the crowd as it went along. At its most intense moments it was absolutely stunning, the band helping transform it into a beast of a song. When Merek used an effects pedal to transform his violin from more of a traditional and classical-esque instrument into something supercharged that rivaled anything that would spew out of a guitar, then Medrick Greely proceed to hammer out the beats. His moves were somewhat standard, though the devastating force that he packed into every beat throughout the show was incredible. It provided a solid backbone to the songs and made them feel livelier; while the keys, manned by John Melton, sounded impeccable on that number and accented the violin splendidly. That flawless performance earned Merek and his group more deafening cheers and applause as they got to what wound up being another explosive number. “Mi Piaci” was where the man of the hour really seemed to get into the zone, settling in to a comfortable confidence as he worked his magic once the track reached its climatic point. Thus ended the first portion of the performance, a formal introduction of everyone on stage with him serving as the dismissal for his band for the time being, as he took on the solo role that he’s more accustomed to. “…No, this isn’t a giant iPod I have down here,” laughed Merek as he explained the looping process, wanting to make certain those unfamiliar with it didn’t think he was relying on tracks or something so basic. It was then, over the course of the next four songs, where things got truly interesting. Interesting because of the process that live looping entails. It’s one thing for a musician or a band to play something and hold peoples’ attention when they’re doing it straight through, though what Merek does is so much more detailed. Not only does he have to keep people entertained by the music, he has to do it while setting up the music. Every song required him to lay a foundation before he ever even got to a point where the covers would be recognizable to the onlookers; the intricate process finding him not just using the bow, but also plucking the strings of his violin. Everyone was unwavering, keeping their eyes glued to the stage, mesmerized by what he was doing. He commanded the audiences’ attention, no one even being able to think of turning away. The string of covers provided a little bit of everything; Merek’s rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” seeming to be the most demanding of the bunch, at least based on the deep exhale he made upon finishing it. It was gorgeous; and once it was done, he elaborated on what an appropriate metaphor looping instruments seemed to be for living life, the gist of it being that no matter how you envision something and how much you plan and prepare for it, it’s bound to transpire somewhat differently, so the best you can do on the fly is just improvise. If there was any improvising this night, Merek played it off masterfully… which would further speak to his chops as an improve musician. The show appeared to be flawless, though. Even when things became slightly more complicated by introducing other performers into the mix. Olivia Cole sung the only song of the set that featured vocals, the duo exuding that wonderous spirit that defines “Pure Imagination”. During the following “spicy Latin song” (it was “Despacito”), Merek was joined by a couple of dancers performing their own Latin-infused dance number, which the music complimented quite well. The visual stimulation made the song all the better, the dancers themselves putting a lot of enthusiasm into their routine. One of the most tender moments of the performance came as Merek set up his final solo number, one he stressed that he always plays. It would be the theme to The Last of the Mohicans, which he informed everyone was the first R rated film he saw. One he saw with his father. Merek then took a moment to stress how much his dad meant to him and how he appreciated that he had never tried to make him fit his mold, stating how grateful he was for that and his encouragement in pursuing music. He dedicated that number to his father. To say it was an enthralling piece feels as if it would be an understatement. The compelling song took everyone on a journey, one that was even different from the rest of the show as a whole. He arguably made it sound even better than the original score, his violin having no trouble capturing the wide range of emotions the song features. The audience loved it so much that everyone in the room wound up on their feet. He had more than earned that standing ovation; the collective clapping drowning out his voice as he tried to use the microphone. “I didn’t know you wanted to go home that bad,” he quipped once the noise had subsided. He wasn’t done just yet, the band rejoining him for the final two songs of this 83-minute long set. “Ardor” was self-described as being one of his favorite pieces from The Tao Less Traveled, and it would serve as the conclusion for the evening. A fascinating blend of experimental elements with rock influences spliced in with Merek’s neoclassical style, it is perhaps the most ambitious and creative track on The Tao Less Traveled. Live, with the band, it was stupendous. Greely and bassist Darryl Bennett held it all together, while the acoustic guitar nicely punctuated the sweeter moments. Alec Wallace was holding that post down; while fellow guitarist Chris Martin emboldened the most intense portions. Those additional instruments ensured “Ardor” was as rich and textured as possible, allowing it to reach its full potential. The song was as dynamic as they come and felt like the ultimate closer, as it reached a triumphant finish, one that once again earned Merek and company a standing ovation. What a transcendental experience. It had been breathtaking, leaving the audience in sheer awe. This wasn’t just a night to celebrate in the labor of love that is Merek’s debut solo record, at least not for the fans and listeners. More than anything, this provided a thorough look at Merrick as a musician in a way that probably no show previously had. His artistry was on full display and it was something to behold. The original cuts wouldn’t have been what they were if not for the talents of Melton, Greely, Bennett, Wallace and Martin, though, the music itself still all sprung from the mind of Merek. Brilliant compositions that can redefine the perceptions that some people have regarding the violin. The traditional sound of that classical instrument is the heart of all of his pieces, though there’s a modern flare that makes them edgy and even raw. When he had the stage to himself, the spectators were able to appreciate his skills in a new way. The effort that goes into the process of creating a live loop is immense, calculative thought being imperative to pulling it off. And Merek made it all look effortless. The performance (the term “show” would be inadequate in describing this) was, indeed, laid out perfectly. The band helped in making a statement and quickly immersed everyone into the soundscapes, while the solo segment allowed for some familiarity. Even the covers had some surprises, though; Merek’s interpretations of them being recognizable yet executed in a manner that is completely unique. After energizing the crowd and then filling them with wonder, they amped it back up for a powerful end, thus bringing it full circle. When it was all said and done, Zuriel Merek had proven that you don’t always need words in order to convey emotions. His songs accomplished that just fine with only the music, enveloping the listener and keeping them spellbound. By doing so, he had solidified his place as one of D-FW’s most stunning musicians. A premier talent. It’s all in the way that Merek presents it, making what he does sound new, or at the very least, refreshing. Hopefully these full band shows will become a little more frequent. Say, a handful of times a year or so. But regardless of the format -- a backing band or solo -- you won’t leave a show of his disappointed. He has plenty of gigs lined up through the end of 2017, including one at Savor Gastropub in Dallas on November 25th. December 2nd will find him at Dodie's Place in Allen; and the 9th he’ll be performing at Hulen Mall in Fort Worth. The Common Table in Dallas will host Merek on the 28th. For a full listing and further details on the events, check out his CALENDAR. And if you attend one, be sure to pick up a copy of The Tao Less Traveled. Set List: *full band* 1) “Levity” 2) “Foundling” 3) “Absolution” 4) “Mi Piaci” *solo* 5) “Hallelujah” (Leonard Cohen cover) 6) “Pure Imagination” (from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory) 7) “Despacito” (Luis Fonsi cover) 8) “The Last of the Mohicans Theme” *full band* 9) “I Will Be There” 10) “Ardor”

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movietvtechgeeks · 7 years

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Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/riverdale-spins-kylie-jenner-megyn-kelly-tupac-lives/

'Riverdale' spins out, Kylie Jenner on Megyn Kelly and Tupac lives

Ever since it premiered on The CW earlier this year, weekly teen drama Riverdale has been gaining a bigger and bigger fan base. Featuring the characters from the long-running comic series Archie Comics, the show puts a notably darker spin on the everyday occurrences in the small town of Riverdale. Inevitably, the show's success has led to TV executives looking for other ways to monetize the teenage TV viewers. According to recent reports from The Hollywood Reporter, The CW is hoping to bring a Sabrina the Teenage Witch spinoff to the small screen in the near future. The entertainment publication reported that Riverdale’s showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacassa is teaming up with the network to develop a screenplay for the show, which is supposedly aiming to be in line with the tone of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist. Evidently, Roberto (with the help of The CW) is looking to put a more mature spin on the comic book story, which was originally written as a light-hearted, humorous comic about a teenage witch. While only a few details have been revealed about the in-development series, The Hollywood Reporter claims that it is being called The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. However, seeing as it is still in the very early stages, it wouldn’t be surprising to see this title change before the show actually hits the air. Stay tuned for more details about The CW’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch spin-off, as well as Riverdale! If you have seen any of the tabloids over the past few weeks, you have probably spotted pictures of young Sofia Richie hanging out with troubled reality star Scott Disick. While they have both claimed to be merely friends, they continue to be photographed in each other’s company a lot these days – inevitably, leading to the continuance of media-driven relationship rumors. This week, tabloid magazine US Weekly reported that Sofia’s blossoming relationship (friendship or otherwise) with Scott has caused for some tension between her and stylist Chloe Bartoli, who has been linked to Scott on several occasions in the past. According to a source close to Sofia, she and Scott “became official over the past week while they were in New York City together.” Subsequently, when Chloe found out about the new development in the duo’s relationship, she was not happy. As you may or may not know, Chloe and Sofia have long been close friends. In fact, one insider says that the two “were the best of friends and were inseparable.” However, now that Sofia is getting close to Scott, the two have been distancing themselves from one another. The same source explained, “After Sofia started hooking up with Scott, Chloe stopped speaking to her. It’s a mess.” While it is tough to say how much truth there is to this particular story, it has been noted that Chloe and Sofia just recently un-followed each other on Instagram. In this day and age, that speaks volumes!

Kylie Jenner bailed on an interview with “Today” host Megyn Kelly, sources told media outlets, because she was spooked by potentially tough questions Kelly could ask.

Kelly’s interview with Kris Jenner and daughters Kim, Kourtney, Khloé and Kendall was taped earlier in the year and aired on Wednesday.

Noticeably absent was youngest sister Kylie, who’d posted images of herself at the studio for the interview back when it was taped.

A source tells us that before Kelly’s questions began, “Kylie bailed,” getting cold feet about facing the interviewer.

“She was all set to do the interview with her sisters, and she arrived at the location, ready to go,” a source said. “Then she bailed at the last minute because she thought the questions were going to be too tough.”

A rep for Kylie did not get back to us.

In her absence, Kendall defended Kylie, citing the 20-year-old’s cosmetics line when asked about any haters the family has.

“My little sister has an insane business . . . Anyone who says they don’t want their kid to be like that . . . is insane to me,” Kendall quipped.

Suge Knight thinks Tupac Shakur may still be alive. The Death Row Records CEO, who was with Shakur when he was shot in September 1996, discussed his belief in the conspiracy theory that the rapper survived the shooting for the upcoming Fox special “Who Shot Biggie and Tupac?” “When Pac died — I mean, if he really did, you know,” Knight, 52, told Soledad O’Brien and Ice-T in a clip released from the show Wednesday. “I mean, when I left that hospital, me and Pac was laughing and joking. So I don’t see how somebody can turn from doing well to doing bad. I’m gonna tell you that with Pac, you never know.” Knight made the revelation over the phone from jail, where he’s awaiting trial on a murder charge stemming from a 2015 incident in which he’s accused of running over two men with his car. Shakur’s East Coast rival, Notorious B.I.G., was shot to death in March 1997. Neither murder has been solved, though some fringe believers insist that Biggie is alive and residing in Greece and that a healthy Shakur is relaxing in Cuba. The full special will air Sunday on Fox. Following a Brooklyn premiere of Fergie’s long-awaited second solo album, some were left wondering if it was inspired by her breakup with Josh Duhamel. Tracks on the new album, titled “Double Dutchess,” include “Save It Till Morning,” “A Little Work,” “Love Is Blind” and “Love Is Pain.” And Fergie admitted, “There’s a lot of my life, and my vulnerable side on the album.” But she insists that the songs, written from the journals she has kept throughout her life, are about many relationships she has had, not just Duhamel, and the videos “amplify” events from her past. Fergie, 42, and Duhamel, 44, announced in September they had separated “earlier this year” after eight years of marriage. She and the “Transformers” star share a 4-year-old son, Axl, who she says is “the sun that we all revolve around,” adding that she is staying strong after the split for him. “Now it is really about taking care of yourself, I have a son, and keeping the balance of life is very important, just checking in with yourself to make sure everything is balanced.” The album is also a “visual experience,” with the singer filming a video for each of the songs Beyoncé-style, which will all drop on Friday, Sept. 22. Of the album she said, “There’s a weird religious tone to the whole thing. I am more spiritual than religious . . . It is also about my relationship with my God, my higher power, my universe, whatever you want to call it, whatever it is, I’ve really had to call upon that throughout the making of this album.” Fergie has been very open about her mistakes and overcoming drug addiction in the past: “Writing the song ‘A Little Work,’ it was all about how everything is a battle with the mind, it is how you change things slowly, little by little, sometimes it is not the easiest way to go, but that’s how we better ourselves. The song is definitely about a battle with myself and my own demons.” The record also includes some killer Fergie upbeat club tracks including “You Already Know” featuring Nicki Minaj and “Hungry” featuring Rick Ross. There’s also the cheeky song “M.I.L.F.$,” accompanied by a video that features Kim Kardashian, Chrissie Teigen, and Amber Valletta. Guests at Tuesday’s Wythe Hotel VIP party for Fergie’s new album included models Alex Lundqvist, Marquita Pring and Precious Lee, Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir and Lady Kitty Spencer, the niece of the late Princess Diana. MSNBC anchor Lawrence O’Donnell has apologized after clips surfaced of him profanely yelling at staffers in between segments of his prime-time program. The clips from O’Donnell’s Aug. 29 show were published online by Mediaite on Wednesday. They show O’Donnell angrily reacting over the wrong sound being fed into his earpiece. He also demands someone put an end to hammering near the studio, calling on staffers to call MSNBC president Phil Griffin, if necessary. O’Donnell’s rant quickly became fodder for memes on social media. One widely-shared video spliced up O’Donnell’s comments about the hammering with the music video for M.C. Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This.” O’Donnell was contrite in a Twitter post Wednesday night, writing: “A better anchorman and a better person would’ve had a better reaction to technical difficulties. I’m sorry.” A 12-year-old singing ventriloquist is getting a $1 million prize and her own Las Vegas show after taking the “America’s Got Talent” crown on the season 12 finale of the NBC reality competition. Darci Lynne Farmer, of Oklahoma City, beat out another youngster, 10-year-old singer Angelica Hale, for the ‘AGT’ title Wednesday by garnering the most votes from viewers. Farmer told media outlets after the show that she was “overcome with joy and luckiness.” Judge Heidi Klum said the girl “is the full package,” adding that “she really touched people’s hearts” and “made people laugh at home.” Farmer is the third ventriloquist to win the competition. Season 2 champ Terry Fator performed a duet with Farmer on the season finale and worked with her on her scripts. Jimmy Kimmel used his late-night platform to continue his assault on the GOP health care bill, firing back at critics including U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy and “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade. The ABC star on Wednesday was following up on his monologue from Tuesday when he said the bill Cassidy is co-sponsoring failed the “Jimmy Kimmel test,” a phrase Cassidy coined in May after Kimmel announced his newborn son underwent heart surgery for a birth defect. The Louisiana Republican said Wednesday morning that Kimmel “does not understand” the bill. Kimmel mocked Cassidy’s claim and called his proposal “the worst health care bill yet.” After Kilmeade labeled Kimmel a “Hollywood elite” pushing politics, Kimmel called Kilmeade “a phony little creep” who Kimmel says previously asked him to write a blurb for his book. Kilmeade disputed some of Kimmel’s account on “Fox & Friends” on Thursday, saying he asked him to be a part of a sports book he wrote in 2003. He added that he hoped Kimmel’s son gets better and told the host: “Continue to do a great job.” Once again, couples in Hollywood have hit quite the rough patch… Over the past few weeks, we have been reporting about several notable splits in Hollywood. Unfortunately, this pattern of break-ups has yet to end, as another longtime couple has reportedly decided to part ways. This week, a source revealed to tabloid publication US Weekly that former OC starlet Rachel Bilson and her longtime beau Hayden Christensen have called it quits. The duo, who have been dating on and off for the past ten years, never got married. However, they do share a young daughter, 2-year-old Briar Rose. The insider told US Weekly, “[Rachel’s] full-time back in L.A. [Hayden’s] in Toronto. They’ve been on the outs for a couple of months.” Rachel and Hayden first met on the set of the action-thriller Jumper. In 2008, about a year after they started dating, Rachel and Hayden announced that they were officially engaged. Unfortunately, just two years later, the couple called off their engagement. Ever since then, they have been romantically linked to each other, despite no longer being engaged. According to US Weekly’s source, who is close to the stars, the couple is “completely, officially done” this time around. In happier news, another Hollywood couple will soon be welcoming their first child into the world together. On Tuesday, former Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul announced that he and his wife Lauren Paul are expecting their first baby. Aaron took to his Instagram page to share a photo of his glowing wife caressing her growing stomach, with a caption that explained, “Hey everyone. Look what I did. Words can’t express how excited I am that this little one has entered out lives. Just thought it was time I would share this beautiful news with you all.” Aaron Paul, Instagram post: Aaron’s wife Lauren also took to her Instagram to address the exciting news. She posted a photo collage of a baby picture of her, a baby picture of Aaron, as well as a sonogram of the little one that is on its way. Lauren Paul, Instagram post: Aaron and Lauren got married back in 2013. While Aaron is busy in the entertainment busy, Lauren keeps busy with philanthropy. In fact, the blonde haired beauty is one of the founders of the Kind Campaign, which aims to bring awareness to bullying and girl-on-girl hate. Now, the loved birds are preparing for the next chapter of their life together. Congratulations to Aaron and Lauren!

Movie TV Tech Geeks News

#Aaron Paul #Featured #Fergie #Jimmy Kimmel #Kylie Jenner #Riverdale #Scott Disick #Suge Knight #Tupac Shakur

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wawerrell · 7 years

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Fruits of the Summer

My grandmother’s clearest memories of childhood revolve around fruit. She and her sisters would arrive at the farmhouse for the summer—“Oh, here are my girls!”—and her grandmother, who read to them by the light of a kerosene lamp, would shower her with attention, love, books, figs, and peaches. True love, she says, is how her grandfather treated her grandmother: he ran the first fresh fig of the season to the house for her. Nana found and married a man who cared as deeply as she did about fresh fruit; Papa was filled with joy when, at the height of the Depression, he got an orange for Christmas.

The king of all fruits is the peach, my favorite taste in the world. Each summer, we buy peaches in the upstate of South Carolina, where the peaches are firm and tasty and full, and I share a peach with my grandmother. For the first peach of the season, Nana injects a particular sense of humor into T.S. Eliot’s famous line: “Do I dare eat a peach?”

(When Billy Collins came to visit Hopkins, he accused the Romantics and their heirs of having taken the humor and the sex out of poetry; Wordsworth, he claimed, focused on the splendor of the grass at the expense of the erection. Collins, as he spoke to our student body, took particular issue with T.S. Eliot: “’Do I dare eat a peach?’” he recited, before pushing his glasses onto his bald head. “What’s your problem, man?”)

This summer, my parents stopped by Dori Sanders’ peach farm by the side of the road in York County, where the history is as ripe as the peaches. Take the Storytelling Rock, for instance, an ancient rock that resembles diverging trees. At fifteen feet tall, the freestanding rock casts a long shadow, in the shade of which Ms. Sanders and her family would trade stories and tales. Sanders’ farm was one of the first and one of the only Black-owned properties in South Carolina. Unlike many Black families after “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman spearheaded the post-Reconstruction State Constitution, her father, a rural elementary schoolteacher, was able to buy the land outright and was not a sharecropper.

In addition to her wonderful cookbooks, Ms. Sanders has written several novels—and her first, Clover, won the Lillian Smith Book Award in 1990. The award is given to a Southern book of high literary merit that touches upon “the problem we all live with” lucidly and with understanding. (Lillian Smith, the prize’s namesake, is one of the essential thinkers in the years leading up to the Civil Rights Movement; her meditations and memories in The Killers of the Dream are among the most beautiful and heartbreaking. Her novel Strange Fruit is similarly bracing and horrific, touching as it does upon the steeped taboos around interracial love.)

Reading her books and eating the peaches from her farm, I think of more than just Eliot and strange fruit. As I slice the fruit and throw away the pit, the finale of Nina Simone’s “Four Women” plays in my head: “What do they call me? My name is Peaches.”

In I Put a Spell on You, Nina Simone discusses the inspiration for “Four Women” as an exploration of the type of self-hatred that needles its way into Pecola Breedlove, the internalized racism of beauty standards and perception: “The women in the song are black, but their skin tones range from light to dark and their ideas of beauty and their own importance are deeply influenced by that. All the song did was to tell what entered the minds of most black women in America when they thought about themselves: their complexions, their hair—straight, kinky, natural, which? And what other women thought of them. Black women didn’t know what the hell they wanted because they were defined by other things they didn’t control, and until they had the confidence to define themselves they’d be stuck in the same mess forever—that was the point the song made.”

“Four Women” is made up of four monologues; the melody is simple and repetitive, and the monologists have distinctive voices, stories, and skin tones. Autobiographically, the song plays a significant role in the arc of Nina’s career; in her fabulous book The Sound of Soul, Phyl Garland lingers on the momentous occasion of this song’s release, noting that it came alongside the singer’s own metamorphosis. Nina, she wrote, “has abandoned the straight-haired image of her supper club days to wear a natural hairstyle.”

At the end of her monologue, each woman asks, “What do they call me?”—making the woman the object, not the subject, and suggesting that these names came from the outside in, reiterating that naming belongs not to the named but to the namer. The first woman to sing is “Aunt Sarah,” perhaps a reference to Mammie and Auntie; she is black and her hair is wooly. Then there’s Saffronia—a name derived from “saffron,” fitting for a High-Yellow daughter of rape. “Sweet Thing,” whose skin is tan and whose hair is fine, explains that she belongs to anyone “who has money to buy.”

Peaches—“My skin is brown, my manner is tough.”—is the fourth and loudest woman to sing. There is something different about her from her very first word: “My,” which she intones with a vicious and determined possessiveness. Throughout the monologue, there is an incredible torrent of anger simmering not beneath but all around. The central Discordia concors, what Dr. Johnson called “the most heterogeneous ideas yoked by violence together,” is the clash between “Peaches” and the overall tone: “I’m awfully bitter these days / because my parents were slaves.”

Jay Z takes the opening chords of “Four Women” for the beat of “The Story of O.J.” and splices “My skin is…” between notes. Like “Four Women,” “The Story of O.J.”—only half-experienced if you just listen; the music video is essential to understanding the motivations behind and messages of the song—starts with childlike simplicity, the unsettling sound of forced cheerfulness that we have come to associate more with the dystopian Bioshock and Fallout than with fond childhood memories. Like the almost-saccharine “Run, Rabbit, Run” in the opening scene of Get Out, the melody does more to alarm us than comfort us.

Jay Z frames his song as an old cartoon: the title screen is a cotton plantation, the characters drawn as actors in blackface—dark, dark skin and light, light lips. Like Disney’s Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, the world seems to dance; buildings lean to and fro, bales of cotton cheerfully hop into the mill to become Klan robes, chained slaves bob up and down like birds on a wire. The first character we see is an adaptation of Nina Simone, portrayed as both an African queen—the proud Mende woman she dressed as in Harlem, for instance—and an anthropomorphic caricature.

The constant refrain lists a variety of pigmentation and class and “race feeling.” Despite their differences—“Light n-, dark n-, faux n-, real n-, rich n-, poor n-, house n-, field n-”—they all share the same fate: “Still a n-.” Images complement the lyrics: militant black power—“still a n-”; Olympic athlete—“still a n-.”

Like Nina’s four women, these disparate types all must reconcile with the fact that there is no running from their own blackness: “My only sin,” as Louis sang, “is in my skin.” Jay Z brings up O.J. Simpson, namesake of the song, early on and only very briefly: “’I’m not Black! I’m O.J.,’” he quotes the infamous football player, before rolling his eyes and saying, “OK.” Like Oedipus, the faster you try to outrun reality, destiny, fate—or drive away in a white Bronco—the faster that fate will find you.

In The Wire, Stringer Bell tries to break out of the world he was born into by attending finance courses at his local community college. He studies real estate and equity; he shares his ideas of legal expansion with a glimmer in his eye. Yet for all of his attempts to outrun his own background, that world outside of his own pushes him back and lynches him with the ropes of his own ambition. You can launder money, but you can’t launder your identity—as the waiter makes painfully clear to D’Angelo in the fancy restaurant.

“Still a n-”—the last line Jay Z raps—are imagined as the dying words of a lynched Jaybo, his cartoon alter ego, while a young white boy, a spectator of and participant in the hanging, smiles for the camera.

The sequence that struck me comes after the first catalogue of “types”: Jaybo eats a watermelon and spits out the seeds the way that Buckwheat or Bojangles may have. The pervasive watermelon stereotype brings to mind Jacqueline Woodson’s beautiful writing—not just in Brown Girl Dreaming but also in her response to Daniel Handler’s horrible joke at the National Book Award ceremony—and, of course, Flannery O’Connor. What Woodson describes—a song “illustrated with caricatures of sleepy-looking black people sitting by trees, grinning and eating watermelon”—is the only background that makes The Grandmother’s joke in A Good Man is Hard to Find a joke: the punchline hinges on a racist assumption that any Black person would eat a watermelon labeled “E.A.T.”

More moving and exhaustive, however, is O’Connor’s short story “The Artificial N-,” in which Mr. Head and his grandson, Nelson, come face-to-face with stereotypes that they did not create, but daily perpetuate. Early in the story, Nelson does not recognize a black man—he cannot puzzle out why his grandfather sees the man as either unique or different; to Nelson, he just appears to be a well-to-do man. After the Black man gets off the train, Mr. Head explains to the man across the aisle that the gentleman was “[Nelson’s] first n-.” After they become lost in the Inferno-like labyrinthine maze of Atlanta—two country bumpkins in the big city without any Virgil to guide them—they encounter the “artificial n”: a lawn-jockey, a representation of absolute human misery in the inhuman and inanimate.

The forced smile, a “watermelon grin,” so to speak, appears unsettling rather than humorous. O’Connor’s use of the passive voice and her literal description of a smile—“He was meant to look happy because his mouth was stretched up at the corners but the chipped eye and the angle he was cocked at gave him a wild look of misery instead.”—combine to produce a heartbreaking rictus of cheerfulness, like the enslaved and transmuted inhabitants of the family estate in Get Out. And, like the opening bars of “The Story of O.J.,” the smile so badly fits the lawn jockey that it alarms and alienates Mr. Head, Nelson, and the reader.

And yet it is this “artificial n-” that brings Mr. Head his first moment of clarity in the story, his first opportunity to receive mercy. In the moment of transfixion, the grandfather and grandson, previously wildly disparate beings, are unified: “The two of them stood there with their necks forward at almost the same angle and their shoulders curved in almost exactly the same way and their hands trembling identically in their pockets. Mr. Head looked like an ancient child and Nelson like a miniature old man.”

Richly, their choreographed movement is modeled unconsciously after the lawn jockey. The lawn jockey, “about Nelson’s size,” “was pitched forward at an unsteady angle”—just the way that grandfather and grandson lean forward. And just as Mr. Head and Nelson chiastically coalesce in age, “it was not possible to tell if the artificial Negro were meant to be young or old; he looked to miserable to be either.” Visually, it as though grandfather and grandson lean forward to meet the “artificial n-,” leaning forward himself, in the middle: a kind of mirror that cuts through appearance and shows things as they really are. In this moment, they reverse roles and become united—as old and young and, for the briefest and most fleeting of moments, even black and white.

Looking at misery incarnate—or at least in plaster—opens Mr. Head to mercy, yet he rejects it and pushes it away. Rather than share with his grandson what he had felt, Mr. Head “heard himself say, ‘They ain’t got enough real ones here. They got to have an artificial one.’” Flannery O’Connor deliberately distances these words from his thoughts; rather than simply “saying,” Mr. Head “hears himself say.”

As the grandfather and grandson step off the train—home again, home again—that mercy comes again to Mr. Head, who cannot deny it or shut it out. Then, under the trees and the sky, Mr. Head “understood that [mercy] grew out of agony, which is not denied to any man and which is given in strange ways to children… He had never thought himself a great sinner before but he saw now that his true depravity had been hidden from him lest it cause him despair… He saw that no sin was too monstrous for him to claim as his own….”

Mr. Head sees suffering in the lawn jockey and in himself; he is given the mercy to see clearly even as the paint washes off of the plaster and the jockey’s eyes crack and become mere vacuums. As Aeschylus wrote, “wisdom / comes alone through suffering,” that “grace comes somehow violent.” The wisdom is, alas, lost on Nelson, who breaks the spell and closes the story—the lawn jockey filed away as merely something he has no need to encounter again. For Mr. Head, the lawn jockey provided him his ticket to heaven: “since God loved in proportion as He forgave, he felt ready at that instant to enter Paradise.”

#4:44 #jayz #nina #nina simone #flannery #literature #watermelon #peaches #art #summer #rap

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