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theimpossiblehologramtree · 3 years

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Making Queen members flower crowns would include

Pairing: Queen members x reader

Word count: (altogether) 1800+

Warnings: some sickening fluff, oh and swearing but that’s a standard, some slightly suggestive themes in john’s (implied sex) but nothing accually happens except a kiss

A/N: Hello you beautiful people! I’m back (don’t get used to that tho lol) I thought of this two years ago when i first saw Bohemian Rhapsody (SO 2 FUCKING YEARS AGO). Freddie’s is gender neutral. I tried to add a “keep reading” button but I’m not sure it works tbh because this hell of a side never cooperates.

Please keep in mind that English is not my first language.

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Gifs aren’t mine. Credits to the owners.

Brian May

You were laying on Brian's lap, the sun hitting your face pleasantly. This week the weather was nice and warm, which was something extremely unusual in England, so the two of you decided to head out to the country and have a little picnic.

After what felt like hours spent in the car ("Brian, for Christ's sake, would you open the bloody window, I can't breathe!" and "Bri, I love you, but if we don't get there in five minutes, I'm going to murder you, I swear") you finally found a nice clearing, where you could relax and forget about the stresses of city life.

Brian put down a blanket on the grass, near a small stream that flew through the forest. He brought the bag with food and drinks (you didn't have a basket, so you had to improvise).

You quickly put some sunscreen on your face and laid down, keeping your head propped on Brian's lap. He put a hat over his face and fell asleep, his chest rising steadily.

After some time (that fucking wasp didn't let you sit in one place), you stood up and noticed many beautiful flowers, growing on a nearby bush. You got lost in picking up the most beautiful ones, admiring each one carefully. When you got enough, you sat back down and started tying the stems together.

Suddenly you got an idea. Careful not to wake him up, you began sticking the flowers in Brian's dark curls.

Your now decorated boyfriend woke up and stretched, not noticing the colourful addition to his hair. This made you chuckle softly, but you decided to see how long it would take him to realize.

+"What is it, babe? Do I have something on my face?"

"No, Bri, I just remembered a funny joke, that's all."

"Oh tell me, then."

"What’s the difference between a lawnmower and an electric guitar?"

"Hm?"

"You can tune a lawnmower!"

You both enjoyed the rest of the day swimming in the stream, sunbathing and eating the snack you brought. And Brian somehow still didn't notice.

Until it was time for you to get home.

You got in the car ("Open the window now, it's like in the oven in here!") and Brian looked into the rear-view mirror.

+"Hey, (Y/N), what the fuck is that? I love it."

Roger Taylor

So honestly it would probably happen during one of his concerts.

You were backstage watching the show, enjoying every second of it. Freddie was in the middle of shouting some (very inappropriate) compliments to Brian's ass, slapping his buttcheeks. The crowd immediately went wild hundreds of fans screamed in unison. You chuckled under your breath, flashing a white smile at your beloved boyfriend Roger and his bandmates. You felt an arm wrap around your shoulders. Surprised, you turned around, your eyes meeting Mary's.

+"What's up, kiddo?" she smirked and patted your back.

"Oh, nothing much. Just Freddie being Freddie," you replied, making both of you erupt with laughter.

Suddenly you felt a familiar feeling form in the pit of your stomach. Out of nowhere, your hands became shaky, your breath shallow and quick. Feeling like you need some fresh air, you excused yourself.

+"Are you sure you're okay, (Y/N)?" Mary watched you carefully, her hand supporting you in case you fainted.

"Yes, Mary, I just need some fresh air. I'm extremely tired, and I haven't eaten anything since this morning" you reassured your friend. "I'm just gonna sit outside for a while."

"Do you want me to come with you?" she asked, still not convinced about your well-being.

"Yes, I wouldn't want to spoil the gig for you. I'll be back before you know it" you squeezed her hand and, after promising her to be careful, you headed outside.

You took a walk alongside the small patch of lawn beside the exit. After taking a couple of deep breaths, you noticed some daisies grow in the green grass. Without thinking much, you sat down and started picking them up and tying their stems together.

Your fingers worked quickly, making a beautiful flower crown, mindlessly.

Meanwhile, on stage, the boys were singing She makes me - a song that reminded Roger of you. He quickly glanced to his right, expecting to see your beautiful figure standing with Mary. But, much to his surprise, he couldn't see you anywhere. It was no secret that his eyesight was shit but, bloody hell, it wasn't that bad. His blue eyes were searching for you, frantically.

When the song ended, he quickly motioned to Freddie to take a quick break, while he went to check up on you. He practically sprinted to Mary, almost knocking down his drumkit and John.

+"You dumb fuck, watch where you're going, Rog!"

Usually, Roger would reply with some snarky comment, but at that moment he really didn't care. When he reached Mary, he didn't even need to ask her about you.

+"She's outside. Needed some fresh air" the girl shooked her head towards the exit.

Roger quickly walked outside, knowing that he couldn't stall the audience for too long. But at the same time, he must have made sure you were all right.

He got out of the building and searched for you. He spotted to sitting on a small patch of grass, holding a pretty flower crown in your hands. His heart ached at this sight.

+"Hello, love" he whispered, kneeling next to you. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I am, Rog" you kissed his cheek. "I just felt a bit off, that's all."

You felt your boyfriend press a kiss to your hair. You smiled at the feeling, leaning into his touch.

You finally placed the finished flower crown on his head, brushing away loose strands of sweaty hair from his face, your hand gently brushing his temple. He took your tiny hands in his and kissed your fingers.

+"Do you wanna go back in there, sweetheart?" he asked sweetly, looking deeply into your eyes.

You nodded and pecked his lips, "Of course, Rog, I wouldn't want to miss any more of your show."

He smiled and lead you inside, placing his hand on the small of your back. You returned to Mary and wished your boyfriend good luck.

Roger kept the flowers on his head throughout the whole gig, sending you a dashing smile and winking at you every now and again.

I just think Roger would look sososo pretty in a flower crown.

John Deacon

It was a lovely afternoon in London. You and your fiancé John decided to take a walk after the whole day in the studio, recording songs.

Taking a walk in a nearby park was a great way to destress and release the tension accumulated during the day. It was something John realized pretty early on in your relationship and took full advantage of it. He loved wandering along the pebbled pathways that swirled around beautiful trees and bushes full of colourful flowers. Being in the presence of nature made him feel at ease and helped him relax.

But the real reason why he enjoyed your walks so much was you. He adored seeing your face light up with joy when you saw a squirrel run up a branch of an old oak or when you spotted a particularly beautiful fish in the small pond. He could watch you pick up fallen leaves for ages and hear you talk to little kids in a playground, showing them the shiny rocks you collected along the way.

To be honest, he always dreamt about starting a family with you and seeing you get along with kids so well only increased that desire.

Often after a walk, he was in the mood™, which, considering his shy nature, always took you by surprise.

Oh man, he just loved taking a walk in the park.

And today was no different.

You were walking hand in hand, admiring the blossoming flowers. Occasionally, you would stop and pick them up, making a small bouquet in the process. White daisies, pink clovers and blue forget-me-nots accumulated with every step you took.

John was telling you about the new idea he had for a song, kissing your cheek every now and again.

Listening to him, you started to fiddle with the flowers, tying them in knots. After a while ("And then, I think, we could include a gong, you know?") you were done with your creation.

You put the flowers on John's head and kissed his temple.

+"What's that, darling?" he asked you, surprised.

"Nothing, but I think you look sensational, my love" you replied, smiling innocently.

You felt John's hand bring you closer to him. He kissed you, entangling his long and incredibly skilled fingers in your hair. The kiss soon turned into more heated one.

+"I'll show you how sensational I really am, pretty girl."

Freddie Mercury

So with Freddie, it was probably at one of his parties.

He invited you along to have a drink with him and his bandmates.

You usually weren't the one for big and loud parties, but he kept asking you and you gave in.

+"Oh okay, Fred, I'll do it," you said after the twentieth time he had asked you.

"Fantastic, (Y/N)!" he exclaimed, loudly clapping his hands. "Just remember to wear a costume."

But you didn't really want to dress up in fancy dresses or costumes from different eras. Calling Mary, you asked her for advice and she told you to just wear some accessories.

So before the party, you went to a small flower shop and bought a small bouquet of purple lilacs. At home, you made a flower crown, hoping that dressing up as a nymph would be enough.

When you got to Freddie's house, you were greeted by a crowd of people in colourful skirts and suits with fashionable patterns. That's when you found Freddie, Roger, Brian and John, chilling on a couch with their dates.

+"Oh, (Y/N), you look marvellous, darling!" exclaimed Freddie dressed as a king, while he stood up to embrace you in a warm hug.

"Thank you, Fred, I made it myself" you smiled shyly.

You got some champagne and joined the conversation.

Suddenly, you felt a pat on your shoulder, and, when you turned around, you saw Freddie holding out a hand to you, asking you to dance with him. You gladly accepted and got up.

+"I really meant it, darling. You do look marvellous tonight" he whispered in your ear.

"Thank you, Freddie, you can have it if you'd like" you sent him a warm smile.

You took off his golden crown and set it aside. Gently taking off the flower crown from your head, you placed it on top of Fred's. He beamed at you and put his own crown on top of your head.

+"Now you rule here, darling."

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benhardyisdaddy · 5 years

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All You Had To Do Was Ask

MASTERLIST

(ooof hello to this smutty fic okay FIRST OFF i apologize in advance cuz i havent wrote a full on smut fic in forever so i feel rusty so im SORRY IF ITS NOT GOOD but i hope u all like it and especially the anon that requested it xoxo also these gifs are how i imagined his face to look when he walks in on y/n sksksk)

Word Count: 2,822

RogerxReader

WARNING: smut, masturbation with an object

Being on tour with the world famous rock band Queen wasn’t as chaotic or crazy as you thought it would be. Yeah, their parties got a little rowdy and the sea of women you’ve had to swim through to get a single drink was insane - it wasn’t nearly as bad as what you had envisioned in your head when your best friend, Roger, invited you.

“We could really use a woman’s touch on tour. Keep our feet on the ground or what not.”

Roger was over at your flat as he lounged on your sofa with a beer in his hand, his feet on your coffee table. You were sitting diagonally from him as you listened to him attempt to persuade you into coming along on a five month tour with the band.

“Five months?” you asked shocked. “Roger, how will I pay bills if I tell my job I’m leaving for five months to go do god-knows-what with you all?”

Roger shook his head and takes a swig from his bottle.

“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll help you with whatever you need.”

You lean forward and push his feet off of your coffee table, causing him to lightly laugh.

“See? Like that! You’ll put us in our place and everything will be perfect. We need you.” he says with giant puppy dog eyes.

You narrow yours and tense your jaw in deep concentration.

“It’ll kind of be like a holiday.” you murmur.

Roger eyes go wide as he smiles and sits up more.

“Yes! Exactly! Look at it like you’re going on a holiday. Just with an awesome famous band.” he teases, throwing you a wink.

You roll your eyes and smile as you think for a moment longer, finally coming to a decision.

“Alright, fine,” you say, causing him to ball up his fists and whisper ‘yes’. “But the moment I feel left out, I’m leaving. Knowing you Roger Taylor, you’ll be busy doing what and who during your free time.”

“I promise,” he says, leaning forward with a big goofy grin on his face. “I promise you’ll have the time of your life.”

And he was, sadly, right. You’ve enjoyed yourself so much these past two months with the boys. Roger’s kept his promise about not leaving you out and you really felt like you were apart of the band. You all were almost to the next city where they’d be staying for a full week. You were almost to your hotel and you were beyond excited. You can finally get to your room and release some steam that’s been bugging you this whole car ride. Your thighs are squeezed together as you watch the boys all laugh and talk about something you weren’t paying attention to.

You look to Roger and admire how he smiles - his tongue slightly pushing between his teeth and then fully licking his lips. You were so sexually frustrated that you began imagining how nice his tongue must feel and how experienced he must be. You’re continuing to stare at him and are so lost in your thoughts, you don’t even realize him looking back at you.

“You alright?” he asks, his brows knitting together.

Oh god, you were biting your lip hard. You shake your head a bit and smile to him.

“Oh, yeah. Just tired.” you lie.

He stares at you a moment longer, a smirk-like smile on his face. If he could read your mind, you’d be screwed. Hopefully by him, you think to yourself. Where were all of these thoughts and feelings coming from? You’ve never thought of Roger that way. Alright, why are you lying to yourself? You’ve been so madly in love with him from the first time you met when you were sixteen. You deny the fact you like him so you wouldn’t be completely devastated when he tells you he doesn’t feel the same. Who cares if you think about your best friend when you touch yourself late at night? It’s not like anybody else needs to know your dirty little secret.

“And here we are!” says John as he looks out the window and up at the hotel.

Hotel? This was more like a condo. It was huge and beautiful. You stare up at it in awe as Roger slides next to you and does the same. You look over to him and admire the way his eyes flutter up and the slight smile on his lips. He looks to you and you quickly look back to the building fast. Roger slightly laughs as the door opens up and out he goes. He reaches his hand out for you to take and helps you out. You all make your way into the building and to the front desk. People stare at you in amazement as they whisper and smile and point at the boys, obviously recognizing them.

Joe checks in to his suite, then Brian, then Freddie, then Roger. Now it’s your turn.

“Last name?” asks the lady.

Her eyes keep darting over to Roger as she blushes and smiles to him. You narrow your eyes and lean forward, making sure your voice brings her back to reality.

“Y/l/n.” you say loudly, causing her to slightly jump.

You can hear Roger hold back a laugh behind you as the lady embarrassingly smiles and types away on the computer.

“I’m so sorry,” she says. “I don’t see you on here for a room. When did you make it?” she asks.

“What?” you ask, shocked. “We made these reservation days ago. Are you sure?”

She types some more on the computer and shakes her head, frowning.

“No, ma’am. I have nothing.”

“Well, then can we just rent a room right now for her?” asks Roger, walking up beside you.

“We’re completely booked, Mr. Taylor. Believe me, if I could, I would.” she says smiling to him.

You exhale and close your eyes, trying to think of something.

“Just bunk with me.” says Roger to you.

You look to him and your heart jumps. The thought about sharing a room with Roger made you feel shaky and light headed.

“Share a room with you?” you ask, your voice barely audible.

“Your room, Mr. Taylor, does have two separate beds in it. Along with a kitchen, bathroom and living area.” she tells him.

Roger looks to you and smugly smiles as he reaches down and grabs your bag.

“Then it’s settled. You’ll stay in mine.”

***

You were really hoping for some alone time and that’s not going to happen now. You couldn’t do what you were going to do, knowing that Roger was right there. You both were in your room as you look around in awe. The suite was large and beautifully decorated. You move past Roger and grab your toiletry bag and head for the bathroom. You close the door and lock it fast. You place your bag on the counter and unzip it. Your heart sinks.

“No!” you say loudly.

“You alright?” asks Roger, knocking on the door.

You jump and force yourself to calm down and laugh.

“Oh, yeah! I’m fine! Just left something back at the hotel.”

“Oh, do you need me to send our driver to get it? What was it?”

“Oops, here it is!” you lie.

It wasn’t there. The one thing you were hoping to see - your vibrator. You couldn’t dare tell Roger that it was missing. How embarrassing. You sulk for a moment longer until you walk back out to the living room and spot Roger inside the bedroom. The lady was right, there were two large beds right next to each other. Great. You pick your bed and slide under the covers, your back facing Roger.

“Going to bed already?” he asks, shocked.

You fake yawn as you speak.

“Yeah, I’m super tired. Night, Rog.”

He stares at you as he frowns.

“Oh. Night, y/n.”

***

The next day was a little better, or at least so you keep telling yourself. You were at rehearsals for the whole day with the boys as they practiced for their set. It was nearing 10pm when they all finally call it quits. Roger walks up to you all sweaty and grinning.

“Sounded amazing.” you tell him.

“You look amazing.” he says a smirk on his face - or until he realizes what he just said.

Your eyebrows go up as Roger stumbles with his words. His face goes red as he attempts to explain what he meant.

“What I mean is that your shirt looks good on you. The shirt is nice. You look nice.”

He closes his eyes and embarrassingly laughs.

“I like your shirt.” he slowly says, causing you to laugh.

“A compliment from the Roger Taylor? If I was any other girl I’d be on my knees by now.” you tease, giggling as you walk away.

Roger’s face goes serious at your words and then he laughs a bit, not knowing if you were serious or not - you were, but he doesn’t need to know that. You all make your way back to the hotel and you were suddenly reminded of your lost vibrator and your certain needs.

“We were all gonna go grab a drink at the lounge area downstairs. You wanna join?” asks Brian to you as you all walk inside.

Bingo! Perfect opportunity for you.

“Oh, I think I’m alright actually. I’m just gonna go read for a bit.”

Roger watches you with a confused look as you begin walking away.

“You sure?” he calls out.

“Yeah! Have fun!”

Finally. You’re all by yourself. You hurry to your room and jump on your bed. You unzip your pants and fling them off, along with your panties. You close your eyes and allow your fingers to slide between your soaked folds. You imagine Roger doing it himself and that helps a lot. You bite your lip as you slide a finger inside and groan.

“Roger,” you whisper out loud, but it doesn’t help.

You need more. You huff as you sit up and look around the room. Your eyes dart across Roger’s half opened bag as his drumstick is poking out. A sudden, crazy idea hits you. You stand up and walk over to it, your fingers picking it up. Roger’s fingers have touched this so many times and you're envious of them. You bite your lip and make your way back to your bed. You lie back down and decide when you’re done, you’ll wash it off. He’ll never know. You slowly bring the thicker part of the stick to your core and gently push it inside. Your back arches as you moan out, imagining Roger once more. It feels so good. You pick up the speed as your other hand works on your sensitive nub. It’s not like your vibrator, but it’s working. You feel yourself getting close.

“Roger,” you whisper out. “Oh, Roger. You feel so good.”

Your speed is picking up fast, when suddenly you hear the floor creak. Your eyes fly open as you remove the drumstick and look up fast. Your cheeks are red hot as you spot Roger standing in the doorway of the room, watching you. You fling the sheets over your lower half and your hearts beating fast. You want the floor to open up and swallow you whole.

“Roger,” you breathe out, embarrassed.

“Are you using my drumstick to… Masturbate with?” he asks, his eyes locked onto it beside you.

You close your eyes and fall back on the bed, covering your face and groaning.

“I’m so sorry! I’m such an idiot! I’m so embarrassed right now! You weren’t supposed to be here!” you cry out.

“You said to not leave you out and I felt like I was, so I came back to hang out with you! Tell me what exactly you’re doing?” he asks fast.

“I forgot-”

You freeze and don’t dare to say anymore, but Roger wasn’t having that.

“You forgot what?” he asks moving closer.

“I forgot my… My vibrator. I needed it so bad and I had nothing and I saw your drumstick and I’m such an idiot! I’m so sorry.”

Roger laughs and continues watching you, his eyes glancing down at your thrown off panties on the floor.

“So, you forget your sex toy and you decide to use my drumstick as one?” he asks, understanding. “All you had to do was ask.”

Your whole body freezes as you slowly look over to him with a confused look on your face.

“Ask you what? To go buy me a sex toy?” you ask, not understanding.

“No,” he says, half laughing. “Ask me to help you.” he says slowly for you to understand.

“For you to sleep with me?” you whisper.

“Is it such a bad idea? You need relief, I need relief. I trust you, you trust me.”

The two of you stare at each other for a moment as you’re in deep thought.

“Roger,” you whisper.

All you can do is nod. Roger’s face lights up as he walks up to you and sits on the side of the bed.

“Yeah?” he asks, making sure.

“Yeah.” you tell him, smiling.

Without waiting, Roger leans forward and kisses you hard. You lean into him as his hand tugs on your hair, making your groan.

“Lay back.” he whispers against you.

You do as he says and before you know it, he’s discarded all of his clothes and is hovering over you. You stare down at his length and bring your hand to pump him a few times. His eyes flutter closed as he jerks a bit at your touch.

“Does this feel weird?” you whisper to him.

“I think it feels amazing.” he teases, smiling.

You laugh and playfully nudge his arm.

“No, I mean this. Us. Right now.”

He looks down at you with a sweet smile on his face before leaning down and kissing you once more.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, so, no. Not to me.”

You’re taken back by what he had just said.

“You have?” you quietly ask him.

“I have.”

All you can do is smile as he kisses you and begins sliding your shirt over your head. His hand goes in between your legs as he rubs you.

“I heard you moaning my name.” he whispers in your ear. “Is that why you’re so wet?”

You close your eyes and nod as you groan.

“Good girl.” he tells you.

He spreads your legs apart even further and places himself at your entrance.

“Are you sure?” he asks you.

“You have no idea how sure I am.” you tell him, your finger grazing his bottom lip.

Roger smiles as he bites his lip and slowly slips inside of you. You both moan out as he slides further in and pauses.

“Better than my drumstick?” he asks, making you laugh.

“Much better.”

Roger slowly slides himself out of you and then slams back inside. You dig your nails into his shoulders as you cry out. He repeats this action several times before bringing his hand down to rub tiny circles on your nub.

“Fuck,” you hiss at the contact.

“Feel good?” he asks.

“Harder!” you cry out.

Roger slams into you while nuzzling his face in the side of your neck.

“You- You feel so good. I don’t think I’m gonna last.” he says fast.

“Fuck, neither am I!” you moan out.

thrustthrustthrustthrust

“Where do you want me?” he asks quickly, his voice shaky.

“I wanna feel you inside me.” you whisper to him.

Roger practically growls by your answer as he picks up his speed and is suddenly crying out your name as his body jerks. He fills you up as you hold him close to you and hit your high as well. You’re both in the world of pure ecstasy as you hold onto one another and don’t want to let go. You’re seeing stars as he whispers against you.

“God, I love you.”

You hold still and open your eyes at his statement. Roger shakes his head, not meaning for that to have slipped out. He backs away and looks at you.

“What did you say?” you whisper.

He almost sadly smiles as he shrugs and repeats himself.

“I… love you. I have since I met you.”

“Roger,” you whisper, cupping his face with your hands. “I love you too.”

His eyes sparkle as he smiles and leans down to kiss you.

“Ya know,” he starts. “I wouldn’t mind watching you again with my drumstick.” he teases.

You lean your head back and laugh loudly, playfully shoving him off of you. Roger laughs and smiles as he watches you grin. The two of you confessed your love and you both have no idea that, a year from now, you’d be re-confessing them during your vows.

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#benhardyisdaddy #roger taylor #rogertaylor #ben!rogertaylor #rogertaylorxy/n #smut #fic #queen #John Deacon #Brian May #all you had to do was ask #benhardy!rogertaylor #roger taylor smut #borhap #roger taylor x you

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burritodetodo · 4 years

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Burrito’s Guide To Survive Coronavirus Quarantine

We got to keep social distance (1 or 2 meters each other) or stay home during coronavirus outbreak so I thought I can share with y’all some things I’m gonna watch or do doing quarantine (this is a very long post, REBLOGS ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!).

BUT FIRST SOME RULES:

Wash your hands: do it for 20 seconds or a while, but ALWAYS do it. It prevents the virus from spreading. If you don’t have sanitizer, water and soap! The cheapest and best ally against the disease.

Buy everything you need: if you can, try to buy stuff so you can stay some days at home. If the place is crowded, go back home and come later when it’s more empty. Same as medicine.

You can go for a walk: stay at home all day can be overwhelming for your mental health, but unless the goverment puts a curfew or gets strict about it you can go walk outside for a while always respecting the 1 or 2 meters from other people and without making contact (chatting) with other people. This ain’t my rule, a CDC professional says. DON’T go visit your friends or to crowded places such as bars, restaurants, shoppings, etc. If you want to buy something, ask for delivery or take away.

If you have coronavirus sympthoms (high fever, diarrhea, cough, feeling tired, breath difficulties) DON’T GO TO THE HOSPITAL YET, CALL TO YOUR PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANISATION OR WHATEVER YOU GOT AND THEY’LL TREAT YOU.

(credits to whoever made this meme)

SO YOUR LIFE IS ON QUARANTINE

Let’s say your boss or your school told you can stay at home. Okay then, you gotta prepare for some days inside *Isolation by John Lennon plays in the distance*. The first thing you think is you have to prepare a batch of series and movies to watch in order to kill some time. I’m gonna recommend you some you can find on VOD or cable, if you don’t have it don’t worry because I got you covered!

Infinity Train: a yet two seasons saga about people who got to face their problems aboard an endless train. The protagonists are joined by creatures who have different nature and help them, or not, to acknowledge their issues and leave the train. It’s on CN, it will continue on HBO Max.

The Owl House: a teen girl who daydream a lot was going to be sent to a down-to-earth camp but then she crosses a portal to the Boiling Isles, a magical world where she is taken care by a powerful Owl witch/saleswoman and her adorable demon. Lots of fantasy, some action scenes and many many puns. It’s on Disney Channel, it’ll be on Disney+ in some weeks.

Primal: Genndy Tartakovsky delighted us with the alliance of a caveman and a dinosaur, two rivals in a wild world who ally after facing a devastating event. It IS brutal and beatiful, has no dialogue and keeps you watching closely. Five final episodes are set to premiere this year. It’s on Adult Swim, maybe on HBO Max.

Tuca and Bertie: for the critics, one of 2019 best shows. For Netflix, a show that had to be cut off because the studio unionized. Two friends in their late 20s face changes in their lives: from living with a boyfriend and plan a life to look a way to stay sober and get a job. Deals with trauma, ptsd, anxiety and more harsh moments very well. In fact, the creator is a vital part of Bojack Horseman! It’s on Netflix.

Aggretsuko: red pandas are cute eh? But what about a antopomorphic red panda who releases her anger and frustrations by singing at a karaoke? This awesome comedy by Sanrio & Netflix is one of anime’s big hits lately. Like T&B, has a good handle of adult problems but not going too deep just to not break the comedy. You can watch it on Netflix.

Regular Show: yeah-uuuuhhhh! Eight seasons, a movie, five Halloween specials and some others. The adventures of a racoon and a blue jay with their co-workers/friends that relies on psychadellia and 80s and 90s nostalgia. It begins good, gets better, then lowers the quality (they were producing the movie at the same time tho, give some credit) and with and after the movie ends awesome. It’s on CN web, dunno if on Hulu (US only) and proably on HBO Max.

Evangelion: it’s a classic at this point, but addictive to me because I end rewatching the series or the final movie many times. A post apocalyptic future where the world has to deal with strange creatures known as the Angels and a boy with lots of traumas has to get on a mecha to save the humankind. All the characters have traumas and issues, the interaction between them or the action makes it worth. The End of Evangelion is a movie that ends the unfinished series. Warning: at some point it becomes very twisted and there are scenes which are too much violent. Viewer disclosure etc. It’s on Netflix worldwide.

Steven Universe & SU Future: this is the tale of the gem boy who ends a galactical tyranny and brings democracy to the universe. A acclaimed show that broke through many topics like gender, identity, ptsd, relationships and many more. Besides it’s got the best scores of the Milky Way and beyond thanks to the talent of Rebecca Sugar, Aivi Tran and Surasshu. And the actors and acrtresses! I don’t forget the movie, a musical that is an introduction to the epilogue: Shippuden Future. The show is available on CN and will be on HBO Max. Worldwide? No news.

Adventure Time: something that began as an innocent boy and a magical dog having adventures in a post apocalyptic world turns into the journey of Finn Metens from childhood to almost adulthood. There is a lot of fantasy and comedy you enjoy, but there are dark moments and serious ones through S6 that find a balance with early seasons form S7 to the finale. It also has great music, memorable moments and colaborations. And guess what? There is going to be a special set to premiere on HBO Max in some weeks! You got plenty of time to catch up or rewatch before that on CN or only (!!) S5 on Netflix.

Final Space: a dude tries to save the universe with their friends, where we can find his love interest, a cat-man and his kitten son, a intersexual alien, an AI then robot that is the best of them, two particular siblings and an annoying bot that prevents insanity that makes you insane. Crazy adventures in space, lots of situations, sadness, an evil smol bean who is a space emperor, a dude who looks for revenge, space deities that can destroy the universe. Is this a lot or info? It is not, because there is more and you can watch it on TBS, Adult Swim and Netflix (the world except US).

Rick and Morty: the most powerful, smartest human in the universe has adventures with his grandson. It’s awesome, but has a very toxic fanbase. Anyway, you can enjoy it on Adult Swim or Netflix (which is up to date!) and the rest of S4 is set someday.

Bojack Horseman: a Hollywood satire about human relationships, fame, traumas with a pour of comedy. Alongside the previous series, the best adult animation of the decade. Sadly cut by Netflix because the studio unionized (see T&B), said by both the creator and Aaron Paul. You can watch the six amazing seasons on that platform.

I’m not an animated movies guy, but here are three I really like and you can watch:

Porco Rosso: a handsome Italian combat aviator turned magically to a pig has a face off with an American pilot hired by pirates to get rid of him before WWII in Fascist Italy. It’s entertaining and, like every Ghibli movie, nice to watch. It’s on Netflix and will be on HBO Max for US.

Lego Batman Movie: Batman is depressed and has to get over it. It’s wacky and has lots of comedy. Plus Will Arnett is top 3 Batman. On Netflix (Latinamerica).

Spiderverse: Oscar winner movie about your friendly neighbour Peter Parker Miles Morales. Miles sees Spiderman die and feels bad after being transfered to a private school. Then a radioactive spider from a Fisk compound bites Miles and he’s Spiderman... among other dimensions’ Spiderpeople: Gwen, Peni, Peter Parker, Noir and Peter Porker. It’s visually amazing. On US it’s on Netflix (I guess), on Latinamerica on HBO.

Some interesting live actions I watched lately

Atlanta: Donald Glover is Earn, a dude who struggles to find a job for her baby girld and sees an opportunity when his cousin, Paper Boi, has a hit and uses him to make his cos famous. Sometimes a comedy, sometimes a social satire with touches of drama. And all protagonists are now big shots, like Zazie Beetz, Brian Tyree Henry or Lakeith Stanfield. There are two seasons and two seasons set for 2021 (2022 possible beacuse of coronavirus). It’s on FX, Hulu (US) and Netflix (world)

Avenue 5: this is brand new. On 2060 space cruises are a thing, and one cruise (the Avenue 5) has an accident that leaves the crew and passangers stranded for years. The captain (Hugh Laurie) has to solve this shit with a bunch of incompetent crew, bosses like Judd (Josh Gad), except one female engeneer who is very smart. Lots of crazy things happen in this series from the creator behind Veep. It’s on HBO (it’s free in the US!).

Peaky Blinders: it has some years but damn it’s epic. A gang from Birmingham makes their way to the top during the late 1910s after the Great War and extends through the 1920s. S5 is right in the ascension of fascism in Britain. ALL THE CAST acts spectacular, names like Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Anna Taylor-Joy and a long etc. But my fave is Paul Anderson, that ultra violent junkie Arthur Shelby is splendid, then is Tommy and aunt Pol, the baddest badass woman in Britain. Blinders is going to have seven seasons, there are two left. You can watch it on BBC or Netflix.

Sex Education: speaking of Britain, excellent teen comedy. Horny, doubtful teenagers going through those hard years. Stories of sex (duh!), abuse situations, abortion, there are gay relationships either, Gillian Anderson! It’s on Netflix, go go go!

Watchmen: despite not having Alan Moore on board, Damien Lindeloff did a tremendous job with the comic. Way better and less misleading than Zack Snyder’s 2009 film, Watchmen is again at the gates of the world’s end (like today) and handles the problem of racism and white supremacy quite well. Just 9 episodes, but worth to watch. On HBO.

CAOS: Sabrina the Teenage Witch is over. Warner and Netflix made a revival of the Archie Comics character and brought her to XXI Century. But gorier, hornier, dark and magical than the nice 90s sitcom. Sabrina Spellman goes from a doubtful teen who has to decide if she has to be a witch or a powerless woman to rule Hell. How she does it? Find out on Netflix! Note: S1 and 2 take some episodes to start properly. Don’t get bored too easy.

There are A LOT MORE to recommend and I make a list: Harley Quinn (DC Universe), OK KO (Hulu -US only-), House MD, Young Justice (DC Universe/Netflix), Ken Burns’ documentaries (Netflix), Titans (DCU), Over The Garden Wall (CN), Seis Manos (Netflix), Thundercats Roar (CN), Easy (Netflix), GLOW (Netflix), Star Trek Discovery (CBS, Netflix) and Picard (CBS, Amazon Prime), etc.

- You named cool shows, but I’m not from the United States or I don’t have a subscription to (insert VOD here) because I can’t afford it

- Glad you asked, I have the answer here

Introducing Stremio. It’s an open source platform where you can watch shows, movies or even live TV on Windows, Linux, Apple or Android. You create an account, install some addons and start looking for what you want to watch.

Stremio is based on torrents, you should install addons from many known torrent sites. So maybe you find an old show, but there aren’t many seeds to watch. And it could be frustraiting, so make sure there are people sharing so you can watch it.

You can download Stremio here and check the FAQs which is very clear.

NOTE: Stremio is note quite “clean” way to watch, but if you do please support the shows you watch by posting, commenting about them, making memes, thanking the creators and crew for their work, buying merchandise if you can. They put a lot to make the shows we love, let’s give ‘em back that love and effort.

You’re tired of the same music, the same movies or need to leave something to make company? There is Vaughn Live, a streaming page where are lots of channels with movies and series on strem (not VOD). For example, there is a channel that streams Adventure Time, other Regular Show, other Sci-Fi shows, another with DBZ and so on. Take in count that if the channel has +70 viewers, the free access is cut and if you want to watch it you have to pay.

En Vaughn también hay canales en español, como Simpsonmanía, Dragon Ball, Futurama, dibujos viejos y muchísimo más. Anyway, go to https://vaughn.live/ and enjoy yourselves!

Y hablando de canales en español, pueden ir a SeriesLan donde está el mayor reservorio conocido de series animadas de entre 1960 a 2010 en español latino. Pueden encontrar tesoros desde Don Gato, los Halcones Galácticos o Street Sharks a Flapjack y Mechas XLR. Otra alternativa para que pasen el rato.

Some interesting facts:

Epic Games releases a free game per week in their store. This week will be two games. You can check in https://www.epicgames.com

Steam has good prices on games and some free ones. There even is the latest Football Manager for free until March 25th. Check on https://store.steampowered.com/

If you’re interested,

I got this playlist I made on Spotify

with songs I liked in more than one year. More than 1200 songs.

And that’s pretty much it! You got resources for a lot of days, 14 initially since that’s the quarantine time in my country. Remember: obey the indications of the Health authorities, this is no time to play the “fuck the goverment” game. We will overcome this pandemy together, helping and caring for each other. That’s why I did this guide, to keep your minds busy in these tough times! Wash your hands, keep social distance, stay at home, go outside if necessary and have some patience please. This has been a PSA.

Stay strong!

Burrito

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rockandrollstorytime · 4 years

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Rock and Roll Storytime #8: The Rolling Stones at Altamont (AKA One of the Worst Concert Disasters of All Time)

The year 1969 had been a hectic one, both for the world in general (with the continuing Vietnam War, the Chappaquiddick incident, and the moon landings) and especially for rock and roll (with the death of Brian Jones, Woodstock, and the Beatles starting to head full-steam down the road that led them to their break-up in April 1970). Capping off this year full of highs and lows, there was Altamont, which has been labelled by many as the death of the 60′s. At the very least, it certainly brought a premature end to the idealism that the youths of that generation held dear.

Lord knows, I will always say that Brian Jones should have had a chance to get back on his feet and I’m super salty that he’s dead, but honestly, I’m glad he missed out on this one.

Before I tell the story of Altamont though, I must ask… Whose bright idea was it to hire the Hell’s Angels as security for a Rolling Stones concert and pay them with $500 of beer?

Well, to answer that question, I’m going to have to begin this story with the ending of another. Truly, the roots of this ill-thought-out decision lies within events that had happened that summer.

I’ve mentioned Brian Jones already, but to give those of you who are new to this the rundown, Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones was the Stones’ first guitarist, and at the start, he was the brains of the band. Seven years, a bunch of internal conflict with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Andrew Loog Oldham, a messy relationship with Anita Pallenberg, drug abuse and alcoholism, two drug trials, and a fuck-ton of stress later, Brian was in a state we’d call “mental exhaustion” (didn’t help that his physical health was shit too). Where in 1966 he was contributing some of the best parts of the Stones’ early music, such as the sitar on “Paint It Black”, in 1969, he’d rarely show up to the studio, and if he did, he would usually be too intoxicated to properly contribute. In fact, on Let It Bleed, he only contributed to two songs: “Midnight Rambler” (congas) and “You’ve Got the Silver” (autoharp).

In June 1969, the Stones decided they wanted to go on tour again, but then, they found out that due to the fact that Brian had twice been convicted of drug possession, it’d be unlikely that he could receive a visa to perform in the U.S.A., if at all. Ultimately, Mick and Keith decided that their best option would be to fire Brian, and so, on June 8, 1969, they went down to Brian’s home, Cotchford Farm, to tell him that he would no longer be with the group. According to those present, Brian had been expecting this, and in the various press releases, it was made to appear as if Brian had left the band on his own terms. His statement read, in part, “I no longer see eye to eye with the others over the discs we are cutting. We no longer communicate musically. The Stones’ music is not to my taste any more. The work of Mick and Keith has progressed at a tangent, at least to my way of thinking. I have a desire to play my own brand of music rather than that of others, no matter how much I appreciate their musical concepts.”

At this point in time, whether Brian was accepting of this turn of events or not is up to conjecture.

In either case, the Stones brought in 20-year-old Mick Taylor (previously of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers) to replace Brian, and at a press conference on June 13, the Stones announced that they would be holding a free concert on July 5 in order to properly introduce their new guitarist.

And then, just three days before the concert was set to take place, Brian drowned in his backyard swimming pool, being just twenty-seven years old. Although the coroner ruled it death by misadventure (which personal research seems to support), theories have long persisted that Brian was, in fact, murdered, but that is, of course, a story for another day.

The Stones in the Park concert quickly became a tribute to Brian Jones, and at the start, Mick read two verses of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Adonais, and as the band launched into “I’m Yours and I’m Hers” by Johnny Winters (one of Brian’s favourite songs), thousands of butterflies were released, though this was against park stipulation, as they were voracious Cabbage White butterflies, and many had died due to the boxes not being properly ventilated.

What’s important to this story about the concert at Hyde Park is that the London chapter of the Hell’s Angels was there providing security that day. It is also important to note that the Grateful Dead (who, incidentally, also had a member of the 27 Club in their line-up) had also hired the Hell’s Angels as security numerous times.

Several months later, the Stones had been having a pretty good run with their American tour, which was able to slightly mitigate some of the shady business practices Allen Klein had subjected them to, but throughout, fans and journalists kept complaining about high ticket prices. If you ask me though, those bitches were lucky. I’d rather be paying three to eight dollars (equivalent to $21.21 to $56.57 in 2019) as opposed to a minimum of $159 that tickets to a Rolling Stones concert now sell for. Not to mention, Woodstock had happened in August that year, and that was a big success, so in Mick Jagger’s 26-year-old, immature, unwise brain, that obviously meant that they should have another free concert like the one at Hyde Park. Really, in his mind, the peace and love movement was only just beginning, so what could go wrong?

As Murphy’s Law will tell you, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”

Oh, and go wrong it did.

The first major problem was that they couldn’t get a venue.

The concert was set for December 6, and their tour manager, Sam Cutler, struggled to get them a venue. He tried San Jose’s State University, but there had been a three-day festival recently, and the city wasn’t exactly in the mood for another batch of hippies storming the city so soon afterward, so that was out of bounds. He then tried gunning for San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, but there was a football game between the Chicago Bears and the San Francisco 49-ers taking place in the same general location, which made use of the venue impractical. He then tried getting Sears Point Raceway on board, but disputes quickly arose over filming distribution rights and an up-front fee of $300,000.

Finally, just two days before the concert was set to take place, the Stones’ management managed to get a hold of Altamont Speedway (it helped that the owner, Dick Carter, apparently offered the venue for free).

As you can imagine, there was a whole shit-ton of problems that arose from that, and Rolling Stone magazine, in its piece on the tragedy, listed the following logistical problems:

“1) Promise a free concert by a popular rock group which rarely appears in this country. Announce the site only four days in advance.

2) Change the location 20 hours before the concert.

3) The new concert site should be as close as possible to a giant freeway.

4) Make sure the grounds are barren, treeless, desolate.

5) Don’t warn neighboring landowners that hundreds of thousands of people are expected. Be unaware of their out-front hostility toward long hair and rock music.

6) Provide one-sixtieth the required toilet facilities to insure that people will use nearby fields, the sides of cars, etc.

7) The stage should be located in an area likely to be completely surrounded by people and their vehicles.

8) Build the stage low enough to be easily hurdled. Don’t secure a clear area between stage and audience.

9) Provide an unreliable barely audible low fidelity sound system.

10) Ask the Hell’s Angels to act as ‘security’ guards.”

Most sane people would have quit while they were ahead, but this is the Rolling Stones we’re talking about. Between Brian Jones having five kids by the age of twenty-three, Mick Jagger allegedly sleeping with over 4,000 women (and don’t get me started on him and David Bowie), Keith Richards’ drug habits and his snorting his dad’s ashes, Bill Wyman dating a teenager while he was in his forties, and Charlie Watts punching Mick Jagger in the face, we are absolutely not dealing with the most sane bunch of individuals on the planet.

And let’s not forget that some idiot decided it’d be a great idea to pay the Hell’s Angels in $500 of beer (the equivalent of $3,535.43 in 2019).

Yeah, if you listened closely to the sounds of the earth in 1969, I can guarantee you, you probably would have heard a barely-cold-in-the-ground Brian Jones spinning in his grave over this stupidity (because he was acting as the band’s manager for a time in their early days before Andrew Oldham came on board).

Let’s also not forget that they hired a particularly notorious batch of Hell’s Angels from Oakland, California, whereas the Grateful Dead found their “security bikers” in Sacramento. Apparently, Grateful Dead manager Rock Scully even tried to warn the Stones about the “real” Hell’s Angels after seeing the footage from Hyde Park, but obviously, they didn’t take whatever warning he tried to give them to heart. The hippies in general had a romanticized image of the Hell’s Angels in their heads, seeing them as “outlaw brothers of the counterculture.”

No points for guessing how that worked out, but let’s continue regardless.

Set to perform that night were Santana, Jefferson Airplane, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, the Grateful Dead, and of course, the Rolling Stones.

They would all be performing on a stage that was just thirty-nine inches off the ground and surrounded on all sides by over 300,000 attendees. Apparently, this had been planned to create a more “intimate” experience.

From what I could tell, waivers were not involved.

For the sake of time, I can’t give you a minute-by-minute analysis of the event, but I can still provide a basic timeline of all that happened.

So, everything went relatively smoothly as Santana performed their set, but it was only downhill from there. As the day progressed, the crowd started fighting each other, and the “security” sure as hell didn’t help matters. At some point, someone knocked over one of the Angel’s motorcycles, which was likely an accident. However, the Angels were already pretty pissy, and plus, rule number one when it comes to the Angels is “Don’t mess with the motorcycles.” So, the Angels, already high thanks to someone spiking the beer with acid, started indiscriminately assaulting audience members they didn’t like with sawed-off pool cues and motorcycle chains, including a guy who was running around naked and someone else who was trying to take pictures of the stage. One woman who called in to a radio station the next day reported that she saw five fistfights, and the Angels were involved in every last one. She tried to intervene, but the people around her warned her not to, fearing for both their safety and hers.

During Jefferson Airplane’s set, Marty Balin was knocked unconscious when he tried to intervene in a fight between the audience members and Hell’s Angels. When Paul Kantner grabbed a mic and sarcastically thanked the Angels, Bill Fritsch grabbed the mic from him and started arguing with him about it. In addition, Denise Jewkes, lead singer of Ace of Cups, was hit in the head with a beer bottle and suffered a skull fracture. Her husband, Noel, had to lead his six-month pregnant wife through the sea of people so she could get medical attention. The Stones later paid her medical expenses. By this point, news of what was going on out front was beginning to seep into the backstage areas and even back to the Stones at their hotel room, but most of the acts decided to press on regardless. However, after hearing about what happened to Marty from Michael Shrieve, the guys from the Grateful Dead decided to book it.

Yeah. Thanks a bunch, assholes.

The crowd did calm down a bit for the Flying Burrito Brothers’ set, because really, who can say no to Gram Parsons? However, that calm was only temporary. When the Stones arrived by helicopter, it wasn’t even ten seconds before someone punched Mick Jagger in the face. Also, Bill Wyman missed the first helicopter out, so the Stones were already going to be late.

And then Mick Jagger decided he wanted to be all dramatic and shit, so the crowds were forced to wait until nightfall for the Stones’ set.

Meanwhile, during Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young’s set, a “stoned out” Angel reportedly stabbed Stephen Stills in the leg whenever he stepped forward to sing, leaving trails of blood running down his leg.

By the time the Stones were anywhere near ready to take the stage, things started to degenerate even further, to the point where the Angels (who already despised Mick’s scrawny, English arse) pretty much forced the Stones to go out on stage regardless of whether they were ready or not, just to prevent a full-scale riot.

It was in that moment Mick knew… he fucked up royally.

As Mick observed the constant fighting between the audience members and Hell’s Angels during the show as he sang “Sympathy for the Devil”, he desperately, defeatedly, pleaded for calm, his usual bravado completely absent for once in his adult life. However, it was clear that the Angels already weren’t going to listen to the flamboyant musician they clearly hated, and tensions had been simmering too long throughout the day, so Mick’s pleas for peace practically went completely unheard.

Mick Taylor later said, “The Hell’s Angels had a lot to do with it. The people that were working with us getting the concert together thought it would be a good idea to have them as a security force. But I got the impression that because they were a security force they were using it as an excuse. They’re just very, very violent people. I think we expected probably something like the Hell’s Angels that were our security force at Hyde Park, but of course they’re not the real Hell’s Angels, they’re completely phony. These guys in California are the real thing — they’re very violent. I had expected a nice sort of peaceful concert. I didn’t expect anything like that in San Francisco because they are so used to having nice things there. That’s where free concerts started, and I thought a society like San Francisco could have done much better. We were on the road when it was being organized, we weren’t involved at all. We would have liked to have been. Perhaps the only thing we needed security for was the Hell’s Angels. I really don’t know what caused it but it just depressed me because it could have been so beautiful that day”

(I feel so sorry for Mick Taylor. The kid was just twenty years old when he saw all this bullshit going down.)

Now, what I’m going to do with this go-around, before I describe what happened next, is tell you a little bit about Meredith Hunter. He was just eighteen when he went to Altamont with his girlfriend, Patti Bredehoft. The only reason he had a gun that day, according to his family, was for self-protection, given that he was basically a young black man with a white girlfriend in a sea of white people, at a time and place where racism was still very much prevalent. Allegedly, the gun didn’t even have any bullets in it; it would just be a last resort to deter anyone giving him trouble. Like most 18-year-olds, he was also a bit naive, and though his girlfriend wanted to leave, he convinced her to stay for the Rolling Stones’ set. At one point, he was already set upon by Hell’s Angels, but that time, it was only a scuffle. What is known is that he was high on methamphetamines, but what isn’t known for sure is his general demeanour. Some said he had a crazy look in his eye, while others said that he seemed calm, though he was upset at the violence.

And then, all hell broke loose.

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As “Under My Thumb” was ending, cameras found an opening into the crowd, into which stumbled Meredith Hunter. He grabbed his gun, a .22 calibre revolver, which was visible to cameras against Patti’s dress. When Alan Passaro saw this, he immediately assumed that Hunter was trying to shoot somebody, and started stabbing him (this was, again, in plain view of a bunch of cameras). Subsequently, he was repeatedly kicked in the head, trying to tell his attackers that he wasn’t trying to kill anybody. However, the Angels were convinced that he was attempting to shoot somebody, and that’s essentially what the narrative became- that a crazed black kid high on meth tried to shoot Mick or one of the other Rolling Stones (which, believe me, I’d be salty about even if I hadn’t read a Rolling Stone article about him).

It was little Mick Taylor who managed to keep things rolling (a bit) by suggesting they play “Brown Sugar”, which had only been recorded the previous Tuesday.

Somehow, after the vicious beating he’d suffered, Meredith was still alive, and a doctor at the scene looked at him and recommended that he get immediate medical attention, or else he’d die. However, the only helicopter at the scene was reserved for the Rolling Stones, and the pilot made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that no one else was allowed on board. Hunter ended up dying of his injuries while they waited for emergency responders.

I don’t quite know how well the situation was explained, but still, dick move on the part of the helicopter pilots.

In addition to Hunter, three other people died, one after falling into a fast-moving irrigation duct while tripping on LSD, and two others were killed in their sleeping bags during a hit-and-run accident. There were also four reported births, one of which occurred during Jefferson Airplane’s set.

The day after the concert, the Stones flew back to London, as the news slowly disseminated throughout the world.

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In 1971, a documentary about the tragedy, Gimme Shelter, was released to the public. However, in the years since, many have argued that is meant to excuse the Stones’ actions and is an apologist piece of media. Still, the footage itself does show a chilling account of what happened that day, if you can ignore that overall narrative (though you really shoudn’t ignore that).

Alan Passaro was later charged with Meredith’s murder, but was acquitted by an all-white jury, who likely either excused the crime due to racism, or just didn’t have the full story.

After Altamont, just about everybody turned on each other. The audience members, many of whom undoubtedly still live with the scars of that fateful night blamed the Hell’s Angels, whereas the Angels laid some of the blame on the audience members, and most of it on the people who hired them, whilst the Stones said they’d never work with the Hell’s Angels again (which, allegedly, almost resulted in some of them trying to assassinate Mick Jagger).

In my honest, humble, not-so-professional opinion, I say the blame should be laid with the Stones’ management, Mick Jagger, the Grateful Dead, and the Hell’s Angels. The concert should have been planned over a matter of months instead of weeks, held in a proper venue, and above all else, not had fucking Hell’s Angels as security guards.

While the Grateful Dead came out of it rather unscathed (mostly because they didn’t play), it’s been said that the Stones lost quite a bit of their edge. It’s easy to say that they grew up a lot because of this event, becoming a lot humbler, and a lot less greedy and risky as a direct result of this. It’s even to a point where people haven’t liked much of what they’ve put out since the 1980’s. Santana and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young declined to have their performances shown in Gimme Shelter, and have since spoken very little about the event. Meanwhile, Alan Passaro drowned in 1985, though the circumstances of his death are suspicious, to say the least. Meanwhile, Meredith Hunter’s family still deals with the trauma of his death, and aside from a $10,000 ($70,708.59) settlement, the Stones never even approached the family to offer their condolences, or even a half-assed explanation (I don’t recommend the latter approach). The Hell’s Angels also had their reputations as dangerous outsiders cemented by this event, given that they’d caused at least 75-90% of the violence that took place that day.

Keith Richards has maintained his “fuck-all” attitude about this through the years, even writing in his 2010 autobiography “In actual fact, if it hadn’t been for the murder, we’d have thought it a very smooth gig by the skin of its fucking teeth.”

There is a reason that many of the dreams of the 60′s died at Altamont, and all the evidence you really need is the footage that was shot that night and the words of the people who saw the fiasco first hand.

Sources: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/remembering-meredith-hunter-the-fan-killed-at-altamont-630260/ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-rolling-stones-disaster-at-altamont-let-it-bleed-71299/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidchiu/2019/12/03/altamont-at-50-the-disastrous-concert-that-brought-the-60s-to-a-crashing-halt/#535871c31941 https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-chaos-of-altamont-and-the-murder-of-meredith-hunter https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-altamont-festival-brings-the-1960s-to-a-violent-end https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/altamont-wasnt-the-end-of-the-60s-it-was-the-start-of-rock-n-roll-disasters https://worldhistoryproject.org/1969/12/6/altamont-free-concert Altamont by Joel Selvin Life by Keith Richards https://allthatsinteresting.com/altamont-speedway-free-concert https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/lifestyle/altamont-rolling-stones-50th-anniversary/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Free_Concert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Meredith_Hunter http://timeisonourside.com/chron1969.html https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/02/01/altamont-free-concert-in-1969/ https://www.ranker.com/list/altamont-free-concert-facts/jen-jeffers http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/On-This-Day–Deaths-at-Rolling-Stones–Altamont-Concert-Shocks-the-Nation.html https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-aow/altamont.php https://westegg.com/inflation/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUlyVSfhgaM https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-rolling-stones/1969/altamont-speedway-tracy-ca-43d6fbb3.html https://slate.com/culture/2018/07/just-a-shot-away-a-history-of-altamont-by-saul-austerlitz-reviewed.html

#mick jagger #keith richards #brian jones #charlie watts #bill wyman #mick taylor #the rolling stones #jefferson airplane #santana #flying burrito brothers #the grateful dead #cw: drugs #cw: death #cw: racism #cw: murder #cw: assault #cw: violence #this concert was such a mess

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kylewritesaboutthings · 4 years

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2016 Shaky Knees Coverage Text - Day 1

The sun came shining through the unshaded window of our Airbnb and the first thought in my aching head was “this is the kind of hangover that a writer should have”. Taking a Thompson-esque approach to my preparations for the first festival coverage assignment of my writing career, I started drinking whiskey well in advance of our 6pm flight to Atlanta. And like Hunter, I made sure to come prepared for the flight, packing nearly half a fifth of Jameson, 3 ounces at a time, in my carry-on bag. You can never rely on the stewardess to keep up if you’re really trying to make the most of your flight. By the time we arrived, the 3am bar around the corner was complete overkill. Oh well, what would HST do? Bleary and beat up, we trudged our way to Chickfila to eat more chicken than any human being should in the hopes of southern fried salvation. The poultry gods were merciful that morning and gave us the strength we needed to get our shit together and head to Shaky Knees music festival. On its 4 th year, the festival’s location has changed every year. I guess Riot Fest isn’t the only group having a hard time holding down a permanent address. This year’s incarnation was hosted in Centennial Park, built for the 1996 summer Olympics and smack in the middle of downtown Atlanta. Our hopes were high for ease of travel given its central location compared to last year’s Central Park set up, but those were dashed as soon as we got close to the festival grounds. Street closures and a serious lack of signage made actually getting into the festival kind of a headache, which was incredibly unfortunate as we were already pretty maxed out in the headache department. Thanks, Jameson. After pinballing back and forth from security guard to security guard in hopes of legitimate directions to the entrance, we walked in the gates just as The Front Bottoms played their first note. A prayer of thanks was muttered to the poultry gods and we headed for the Boulevard stage, which would be our home for most of the weekend. Brian and the boys kicked the set off with Skeleton as we purchased what would be the first of many overpriced tallboys of the weekend. There is something cathartic about seeing The Front Bottoms play outside in the middle of the afternoon, as everyone (band included) fights through their aches and pains both inside and out to sing lyrics about, well, aches and pains. “We were out at the strip clubs last night, that’s why we’re moving slow,” Brian Sella joked mid-set. After watching Mat Uychich drum for a half hour you could have fooled me. TFB have their festival set list well crafted, sprinkling songs from 2015’s ‘Back on Top’ between favorites like Au Revoir, Maps, and Swimming Pool. They’ve had time to practice, already playing Coachella and Boston Calling before hitting Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits later this summer. Inb4 some tru punk dipshit calls them sellouts on their tumblr page of righteousness. They closed with Twin Sized Mattress and all was right with the world.

As Centennial Park isn’t large enough to hold a 5 stage music festival, Shaky Knees took over the neighboring Georgia International Plaza, with a fenced in walkway and bridge connecting the two parts of the ground. Luckily on Friday our planned sets kept us within the Plaza, saving us from the cattle like procession and sketchy bridge crossing to the main stages. Do you remember your elementary school project where you made bridges out of toothpicks and marshmallows? Well the Shaky Knees production team stole your design and made it full size. But more on that later. Baroness took the stage next on the neighboring Piedmont stage, serving up a solid helping of their riff heavy groove metal to their home state crowd. Keeping to the more recent additions of their color themed catalogue, their set consisted mostly of tracks from the newest Purple album as well as the double Yellow/Green. This was one of my first times seeing them since the bus crash that caused some major shakeups in the group due to injuries, the prior being a small club show at Chicago’s Beat Kitchen just before the release of Purple. It could have been the overcrowded shoebox that is the Beat Kitchen or the unfamiliarity with the new material, but it I left that show (early) pining for the crushing Baroness that of the Red and Blue album days. But on this afternoon they tore through their set, embracing their softer approach and crafting a great set that was meant for afternoon head banging. Keeping the afternoon heavy, The Sword kicked off as soon as Baroness’ last note hit, providing a sound track for the downing of beers and general shit shooting. But while Baroness have adapted to their lighter sound, The Sword have come a long way from ‘Age of Winters’…but not in a good way. But it really didn’t matter because following their set Against Me would be taking the stage recently vacated by Baroness.

Stocking up on the previously mentioned overpriced tallboys, we got up nice and close to see Laura Jane and company do what they do best. As many of you know, Against Me shows are a kind of punk rock family reunion. A band so loved and respected for so long, a ticket to see them is a guarantee for arm in arm sing-alongs, hugs, and high fives. This crowd was a little…different. It could be the daytime slot (with The 1975 headlining the stage later in the evening), the festival atmosphere, or the non-punk interest generated by the very public life of Laura Jane but this wasn’t your typical AM! crowd. But before I go about sounding like some bullshit ‘the last album I liked was Reinventing/#sellouts’ journalist prick, it was not a bad thing. There were a lot in the crowd who it was either their first exposure to the band or their first show since Laura came out…and if you’ve seen them play in the last few years you know that this is the best the band has been live and to call their sets energetic is a monumental understatement.

Arriving on the stage with one of the biggest grins I’ve ever seen, Laura dove right into ‘Teenage Anarchist’ which barreled into ‘Pints of Guinness’. The crowd reaction to pints confirmed my suspicion that this was not their usual crowd, with only a handful around us signing along to what is arguably their most well known song. Though unfamiliar, everyone was sucked in to the energy on the stage. Aside from technical ability, Inge and Atom Willard add so much to the bands stage presence while James Bowman has always provided solid vocal support to Laura Jane, who intensity has always been a huge part of the bands live performance. While we all go to shows hoping to hear your favorite songs, the highlight of the afternoon was just the opposite…they played FIVE new tracks from their upcoming release. Already highly anticipated, this sneak preview has it in contention for top 10 of 2016. Get stoked.

Midway through the set, Laura addressed the bands upcoming performance in North Carolina. Unless you’ve lived under a fucking rock for the past few months, you’ve seen the announcement and resulting backlash from the decisions of NC governor Pat McCrory in regards to transgender bathroom laws. “The bathrooms were already unsafe!” sneered Grace, referencing the years of racist and homophobic graffiti seen in truck stops, bars, and venues all over the country. “Fine,” she said, “I’ll piss and shit outside like a dog!” If you’re reading this article, you’ve already seen her onstage response to the North Carolina HB2 bill, burning her birth certificate mid set to cries of “bye gender!” I will always respect the hell out Laura Jane.

I could most compare the comedown following an Against Me set to the post-sex bliss where all you really want to do is smoke a cigarette, maybe grab a drink, and smile about what just happened. One of the best parts of a festival, is that you generally get an awesome soundtrack to do that to. On this particular occasion I had the fortune to be serenated by everyone’s favorite GRAMMY FUCKING AWARD WINNING Swedish satanic priests, the one and only Ghost. If you have any inclination towards metal and heavy music, see Ghost play. If you don’t, see Ghost play. Their symphonic sound and theatrical stage performance, lead by the incredibly charismatic Papa Emeritus, is absolutely captivating and a complete fucking blast. Hanging out near the back, as a day in the sun and about 6 hours of continuous drinking were starting to take their toll, we watched a 5 year old kid, sitting on his dad’s shoulders, throwing up the horns and completely getting down to Ghost as they cranked out jams about topics ranging from the Catholic church to the female orgasm. If I ever have kids, I can only aspire to the coolness that was that particular #raddad.

With the sun starting to set, we resigned to our final purchase of $8 High Life’s and made our way to see The Kills. I’ve seen front woman Allison Mosshart as part of the Dead Weather and can say she is an absolute beast on stage. This set was much of the same, with Mosshart pacing back and forth like a lioness stalking prey as they rolled through over an hour of material from…well…I don’t really remember the specifics of their set. You know the scene in Wayne’s World where Wayne sees Cassandra play for the first time and ‘Dreamweaver’ kicks on? That was me. Completely entranced, it was the perfect way to transition from day to night, with The Kills providing the kind of soundtrack that you can feel in your blood. Looking back, this was the set of the weekend. Hands down. No questions. Though there were other bands closing out the evening, we quickly admitted to the fact that nothing was going to beat what we just saw and we should probably just go drink some cheaper beer and unwind if we had any hope of enjoying the Diet Cig aftershow to come.

After doing just that, we arrived at The Loft at Center Stage, one of the multiple multi-venue complexes that call Atlanta home. While it didn’t have the same feel and soul as the 3 staged Masquerade, I do really appreciate that places like this exist, central locations that can host a variety of music on any given night within a single location. It definitely leads to some great people watching and interesting conversations, though given that Silversun Pickups was headlining the other stage and we were pretty fucking drunk, our main concern was getting through the crowd and inside to see Diet Cigs expectedly short set. Making it in just before they went on, we indulged in a few shots of Jameson and cheaper tallboys because, hell, it always seems like a good idea at the time. The duo of Diet Cig rifled through their set with the fervor of a cartoon mouse on amphetamines, singer Alex Luciano literally bouncing all over the stage during the 25 minutes of their garagey by way of Brooklyn brand of pop punk that is infectious as it is brief, as they were able to play every song in their catalogue during that time.

I don’t remember who was to headline the show, but after stepping (at least) one shot over the line, the conclusion was reached that the only possible thing that could salvage the next morning was to call it a night and once again fill ourselves with as much fried chicken as humanly possible. Luckily, Atlanta is the perfect place for that and the fried chicken gods sang us to sleep in a buttermilk breaded and whiskey soaked haze.

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ginnyzero · 5 years

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Motivations to Write

In my last discussion post, Ideas, Squeaky Toys of Doom, I touched upon a few motivations of why people write. And I guess, it’s the next natural thing to talk about, once one has an idea, there has to be some sort of will to go forward with it, other than tossing it in the bin as useless. As in all things, from going to the grocery to store, to committing a crime, one must have a reason! And if you want to sound sinister (or overly legal) we call it motive!

Before I start meandering, the dictionary describes motive as an inner drive or impulse that causes one to act. A motive is an incentive. It’s the stimulus that gets us out of our chairs (or into them) and doing something. They are the reasons that provide us with the stress to change our ways. (Yes, I said stress. There is positive stress and negative stress, just like there is positive criticism and negative criticism.) Motivations affect us and can be as varied from “I need to eat” to “I have a dream.” Eating is something solid, dreams, are the exact opposite, ephemeral. And having both is important. (I’ll just leave this here.) Motivations are what take you from where you are now, to the future of where you want to be if you want it.

And motivations, these reasons, are as varied and broad and different as the people that come up with them. These are a few I know it. Whether or not the writers you know fall under them may or may not be the case. Just like there is no bad idea, there is no wrong motivation to write. At least, I’m not holding any judgements. And all of these can be combined and used to fuel each other.

Basic Motivations: Money, Fame (Power), Love

Firstly. Let’s get these three fundamental motivations out of the way.

Money, everyone wants to write a book and get rich just like JK Rowling. They want their own house, a swimming pool and a private jet. (Hey, don’t we all want to be rich. No judgement.) Or, you’ve got the other writers, who want to make enough money just to pay their bills and live comfortably. Money is a big motivating factor. The world seems to go around on money and it’s hard to do anything without it. We’ve all got to eat. We need roofs over our heads and as a society we’ve become very dependent on this thing called electricity.

Fame, and I lump fame with power. Writers, just like everyone else, want to be known. They want to be recognized. They want to leave behind a great body of work that people can come back to over and over again. This is a way to become immortal. Fame also brings other perks. Fame can bring television or movie deals. Fame has public appearances and interviews. Fame has people coming to you instead of you going to them. Fame gives you influence and power. Influence and power can change things. Some people like the idea of it.

And love, there are writers that actually just enjoy writing and want to do what they do. They love to come up with ideas, string together plots, hack through scenes and what characters grow and change. I feel, and this is just my feelings and opinions, that all people should love what they do in one way shape or form. And if writing is what makes someone happy and that’s what they like to do above all others, then that love can be a great motivation.

Now, there are five other motivations that I have thought of/remembered and there are probably many more, but these are ones that I see talked about by other writers.

Motivation: “I like this.”

These are the writers who just plain like a concept. I don’t think Louis L’amour and Zane Grey would have wrote so many westerns if they didn’t plain just like them. (Err, that was unintentional, and I’m leaving it. Homophones!) These are writers who will take their idea and just pound it into the ground until you have to wonder if they ever had another idea in their head. Brian Jacques wrote 21 Redwall novels before his death. Mercedes Lackey has written 30 tales in Valdemar (and as far as I know is still writing in that universe.) Jim Butcher is on his 16th Dresden File (of a proposed 28, I think.) And Anne McCaffery’s son has taken up where Anne left off in Pern. And that, ladies and gentlemen is just in science fiction/fantasy. To write that much material for one universe or genre alone takes dedication. Formula writers (by which I mean the structure of their story is the same for every single book/trilogy they write,) genre writers and romance writers can fall under this motivation.

But then there is the opposite.

Motivation: “I don’t like this. I want to see this instead.”

This motivation is often reactionary. This is the cry of disgust from every reader who has thrown a book across the room, got up and went to their computer and sat down and tried to write it better. There are also things that some writers just don’t want to see or write in their novels, so they don’t.

This writing can often be derivative. But you say, what writing isn’t? That’s a real good question. But this motivation uses a lot of things in the public domain such as Jane Austen, Sherlock Holmes, fairy tales and legends. Historical Alternate universe can also fall under this, such as ‘His Majesty’s Dragon,’ by Naomi Novak. In fact, I feel almost anything considered ‘historical’ can be considered this. A ‘I don’t want to see the battles of the war of the roses, I want to know about the love lives of the nobles instead!’

I also find that this motivation can also be used as sort of a research tool. For instance, when a writer likes things from two or three different (but similar potentially or even not) novels, but doesn’t like how any of those novels actually used their ideas. So, the writer takes the ideas they like, combine them into one thing and wah lah, they have their own universe to play in.

“I don’t like this, I want to see this instead,” is a huge motivation in fan works. A huge amount of fan work is either exploring romantic pairings that wouldn’t happen in canon, expounding upon things that weren’t seen in canon or even changing the setting completely and seeing what the characters will do. Continuations, prequels and the children of the main cast are all very common stories that happen in fandom. Given how huge fanfiction.net, mediaminer.org and AO3 are, plus the stuff on journaling sites, private sites (including forums) and tumblr and so on. This is a huge stimulus for people of all ages to write.

Motivation: “I have a story I want to tell.”

The ultimate, “I have something I want to talk about.” By golly, these people have something to say and they’re going to say it, whether you like it or not. They may have a message to get out there.

There is the personal side of this. These are the autobiographies, biographies and ‘based on a true story,’ writers. They’re using their story to spread a message or theme that they think everyone should hear. Which isn’t a bad thing, everyone who writes has a message whether or not they know it. These writers are just more aware of it than others.

Then there is the not as personal aspect of this motivation. These are writers that have a story in their head that they want to tell. And they’ve looked on the shelves and it’s not there, or it’s there in similar form but not how precisely they would do it. They see a void in the market place that they want to fill. Or sometimes, they just have a story in their head trying to get out and they need to get it out so they can move onto something else! There is usually a heavy dose of ‘I like this,’ involved in this type of writing.

Motivation: “I want to help others.”

Ah, the selfless motivation to write or the pretentious one depending on how you look at it.

This can go hand in hand with “I have a story to tell.” These writers hope that by telling their story that they can inspire, help or warn others. Stories about overcoming adversity. Stories about reaching out to others. Stories that show the bad side of life. Or conversely, the stories that show the good side of life. These writers want whoever reads their story to take away something from it, something that will hopefully make the reader a better person.

I have to say that a lot of Christian fictional literature falls under this heading. I’ve read quite a bit of it and not a lot of it has stayed with me, because there isn’t a lot of Christian fictional stories (or at least not when I was reading them) that focused upon walking the life of a Christian. They were usually much more focused upon converting the reader and if you’re a Christian already it feels like they are preaching to the already converted (aka the choir.) Or they were trying to show what a good Christian marriage was with varying degrees of success. Pick one.

And lastly,

Motivation: “I want to feel better.”

This motivation is where writing hits the pure emotional level. This type of writing is cathartic. It releases the feelings inside the writer and gives them a voice. A lot of emotional writing comes from a place of anger and despair. How the writer chooses to translate that anger and despair in their writing is up to them. There are those who will through the guise of writing graphically describe incidents that happened to them so that they can use the characters as a method of coping. They take back their power and control in their writing and use the fictional world as a cipher of the real world to change things. There is also the opposite, those who take that anger or despair and write silly happy things as a way of making themselves feel happier. It’s a way to make themselves laugh while in the undercurrents of the writing they are also often dealing with the deeper issues in their life. In emotional writing, an audience isn’t necessary and may or may not be helpful.

Emotional writing can go along with “I have a story I want to tell,” and “I want to help others.”

Now on the other hand, some people write dark, angry, disturbing stuff because they like writing dark angry disturbing things. And other people write funny silly things, because they like writing funny silly things and they don’t need to feel better. (So, I don’t recommend you call out anyone on the motivations for their writing if you feel it’s coming from an emotional place, because it may not be and you shouldn’t assume anything.)

A lot of these motivations for writing are the same as the motivations for publishing. There is a huge difference between writing something and publishing that something. Just because a writer creates a story, doesn’t mean that they will want to or are going to put it out there in a public manner. That’s their choice and no one should try to take it away from them.

Motivations are tricky things. They can change over time or be joined by other incentives. If you desire to write, there is no wrong reason to do so! They’re your reasons and no one has the right to call them bad ones. It might be because of one of the reasons I posted here or because of others. Whatever the reason is, we writers have to feed those Squeaky Toys of Doom and keep on plugging away.

#writing #motivations #writblr #writeblr #writing advice #writing tips #writing motivations

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seromreven · 5 years

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Oh ok! This is my weird prompt/pair: Cher (when she was calling herself Bonnie Jo Mason) wrote that song about how much she was in love with Ringo (which is a bop). So I would love to read a story when she met Ringo (before she was famous) and he knew about the song and he is awkward and cute with her... I don't know, I can't even write prompts decently. I mean it's a weird pairing. I know... ^^'

well, it is peculiar but i’m always up for a challenge and i’m also desperate to please,

so! i hope this is alright! ♡

1964.

The auditorium was completely empty except for a few stragglers and a band of four mulling around on stage, checking the instruments and goofing off. Ringo was one of them, sitting behind his trusty drum kit and checking out if it was up to snuff.

John and Paul were deep in conversation about one thing or another, Ringo couldn’t tell from where he sat. Probably about songwriting. George was only slightly further away from the duo, holding his guitar while staring at them in silence, wearing a smirk.

They were in Daly City in California. A lovely city, really, if only it weren’t so humid. Ringo didn’t do well in humidity. When they weren’t playing or practising, they all lazed about in the cool waters of the hotel’s swimming pool.

Ringo sighed as he watched the Lennon-McCartney discussion. The spotlight of the stage highlighting them well. Lightening their hair colours, showing off a large mixture of brown. It must be warm under all that light. It was warm from where Ringo sat and he had practically no light.

They had only been arguing for a few minutes by now and he was anxious to start practising. It was the first show of the North American tour and he was eager to get started.

The double doors at the end of the auditorium creaked open and through them stepped out a well-dressed man in a suit and tie. It was their manager Brian Epstein.

Brian came down a narrow path that lead through the rows of chairs towards the stage. It was a determined walk, one with a set goal in mind. He didn’t once stop but turned left by the stage towards the door that lead to multiple hallways, “come along, Richard. Someone’s here to see you.” He said as he passed the boys.

“Ooh, someone’s in trouble,” cooed John as he looked at Ringo with a big smile. Paul had turned to look and lightly slapped John on the shoulder as George yelled out with a smirk, “you’re one to talk.”

Ringo was confused but still stepped off the stage to follow Brian. Was he in trouble? He hadn’t done anything wrong that he was aware of. And Brian didn’t seem mad or even looked the part. They walked through the hall in silence and when they neared the end; they stopped in front of a simple white door. The green room.

Brian said nothing and politely knocked on the wooden door where after he opened it and stepped inside.

In the room, there were two other people. An old and tired looking man wearing a suit and tie. He was standing beside a couch on which sat a young woman who immediately stood up as Ringo entered the room.

She was stunning; with long dark hair, straightened and neat bangs that accentuated her large eyes that were highlighted with thick lines of dark highlighter. She wore dark pants, a light beige long sleeved shirt covered by a fur vest. She looked familiar, but Ringo couldn’t quite determine why.

Brian looked at Ringo, standing so he faced both him and the young woman.

“Richard, this is Cherilyn Sarkisian. You may also know her as Bonnie Jo Mason.”

So that’s where he remembered her from. Last year a single was released, and sadly not to very much success, called ‘Ringo, I love you’. It had caused much jokes and laughter from the other boys on Ringo’s expense. And many had thought that it was a man that sang, to much confusion. Even though it clearly stated the name ‘Bonnie’ on the record. Either way, Ringo was really just flattered by it.

She looked nervous, fidgeting with her fingers, but giggled lightly as she looked at Ringo and said, “you can just call me Cher.”

There was a short moment of silence as Brian and the male stranger went to the other end of the room to ‘give the kids some privacy’ as the stranger had put it with a chuckle.

Ringo was unsure of what to say and the feeling seemed to be mutual as Cher glanced to and from him and her hands. But it was brief and was interrupted when the stranger loudly coughed from his end of the room.

It seemed to start something in Cher who looked at Ringo, “I hope you recovered well from your stay at the hospital in June.”

He nodded ever so slightly, “thank you. I did.”

And then it was a return to silence. It wasn’t for the lack of conversation nor did he feel particularly uncomfortable. It was just… sudden, with the back thought of the other boys probably waiting for him always in mind.

She was pretty, which could be factored into it. Not that he was any awkward with women. Just hesitant, at first. But if the song was any indication; he knew what she thought of him.

“I’m… sorry if I interrupted anything,” she looked at him with dark brown eyes, “I weren’t aware that I was going to meet you before a few moments I got here.” It was followed by several giggles, her deep voice sounding graceful.

“Oh, it’s alright,” he found it easy to join in on her laughter and joined with chuckles of his own.

“So, what… What are you doing in Daly? Do you live here?” He asked tentatively. She was terribly cute so, admittedly, he had trouble leading the conversation.

”Oh, no. I’m playing at a venue further in town with my boyfriend Sonny. My friend just decided to take a small detour.”

Oh. A boyfriend. Of course. Not that he was thinking of trying anything but that tidbit of information still felt like a small shove. He glanced over to Brian and noticed that he was starting to make his way back over to them and Ringo felt the rush of a deadline and quickly blurted out;

”I liked the song!”

He winced at the volume and mentally cursed at himself as it seemed she was taken by surprise.

”I mean… The song… R-Ringo, I Love You. It wasn’t that bad.”

She smiled slightly with an even slighter nod.

”Not that bad?” she quoted him, and he realized it wasn’t much of a compliment. Brian was nearing, together with the man he still didn’t know the name of.

He nodded, ”it was good.”

Wait, was it narcissistic to think so? Huh.

”Now then, Richard. Let’s get you back out to the boys, ” Brian said as he came nearer and placed a hand on Ringo’s shoulder. ”Ms Sarkisian, you’re more than welcome to watch,” Brian offered.

She shook her head. ”I would love to but I have my own practising to get to, ” she politely smiled and glanced to Ringo.

”It was nice to meet you, ” she reached out a hand that Ringo was quick to shake but halfway through turned her hand to place a light peck on its back. Her slender hand was soft to the touch and smelled of aloe vera. Handsoap, possible.

He was gently pulled out the room as he kept looking over his shoulder to, not stare but, look at Cher.

He returned to the auditorium where soft guitar strumming was overheard and he felt his heart flutter at the comfort it brought him.

The playing stalled as he nearing the stage and he heard a short whistle but couldn’t get himself to pay attention as he still thought of the dark-haired young woman, Cher.

#anonymous #ask #request #the beatles #ringo starr #cher #bonnie jo mason #beatles fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #didn't write as much as i wanted to during the week #turns out there's less hours in the day than what i want it to have #and the i got suck yesterday and was sick the entire way home yay #idk idk idk #also a slight correction for anon; cher didn't write the song #a group of four men did including phil spector #who's worked with a lot of musicians including the beatles #he's btw in jail currently for murder which i just found out #yowsa

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recoverymatters · 6 years

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(tagging with 🌹)Hi... I don't know where to start. Um, I don't really have anyone in my life. My parents are abusive, I don't really have friends. My sibling has a family and kids and is busy and far. I feel really dysphoric all the time and I wish I could be out as a trans guy but I'm afraid I'll get kicked out from my parents' house. I'm 20 and I still feel like a kid. I've been hearing it gets better for so long and I'm just so tired.

(ask continued) I don’t feel suicidal anymore and I haven’t self-harmed in 4 or so years but every time my mother yells at me I get the urge again. I wanna get into fights again. I just feel so useless. Anxious and dysphoric and depressed all the time. Knowing I’ll never make it as an actor because I don’t pass as male. No motivation to do anything. Scared of getting anything less than an A. I’m an honours student but all my works are late now and I get anxiety about it all. I feel like such a damn mess.

Hi lovely,

Thank you for reaching out to me!

I am so sorry you don’t have anyone in your life right now that you can trust, rely on or receive support from. Life is hard enough, let alone without anybody by your side. Please know that you are not alone. You have me and a fantastic, accepting community here on Tumblr who all care about you and are all rooting for you. You will never be alone in this universe, we are all on your side.

It’s very hard when you have a sibling that lives far away and is busy a lot of the time. I wonder if you would be able to arrange a skype call or facetime call with your sibling? It’s not easy, however, even a 10-minute call or text with them can make a world of difference. You never know, it may re-kindle that sibling bond and help you both to maintain that relationship.

No wonder you’re feeling dysphoric and exhausted all of the time. You live in an environment with people that aren’t accepting of who you are. That is not your fault. I promise, there is nothing wrong with being who you are. You are perfect, irreplaceable and valuable. I am very sorry that you are not able to come out as a trans guy without feeling afraid of being kicked out of your parent’s house. That is a difficult situation to be in and I understand your concerns. Whilst I want you to be able to come out and feel free to be exactly who you are, you need to do what is best for you right now. Which may mean waiting a few years to come out when you are in a safe and secure environment to reduce the risk of being kicked out and having nowhere to live. Your safety is a priority. You say your parents are abusive, if you ever feel that you are at risk, please please please reach out. Reach out to a teacher, colleague, doctor or other trusted person who can direct you to the right support and even help you to find a safe place to live. Again, this is very tough. But, living with abusive parents is not good for your health and wellbeing and I want you to be around people who lift you up, support you and care for you.

Feeling like a kid is very common, I promise you. I feel this a lot too. This world can be a tough and scary place to live in and the ample responsibility that comes with being an adult can be too hard to bear sometimes. It can be us feel like we’re children in a big, scary adult world. It’s hard to have everything figured out and to know what to do, but honestly, it’s okay. It’s okay not to have everything figured out or in place yet, to not know where you’re going in life. It’s hard, it’s scary, you may still feel like a kid sometimes, but you’ll get there. Step by step.

I won’t tell you it gets better, but, it gets easier. There are days when you’re gonna think to yourself, yes, I’ve dealt with this before. I CAN cope and I will get through.

Well done for not self-harming in 4 years. That is truly, truly amazing and I am so proud of you!! ❤️I have just answered a question based on self-harm alternatives. Please check this out and whenever your mother yells please have a look at the alternative and fight the urge to self-harm. You have done amazingly well and I want you to know that whenever you feel low or your mother does yell, it doesn’t mean that you aren’t loved or aren’t appreciated in this world. I appreciate you and I commend you for staying so strong for so long.

If you start to experience suicidal thoughts again, please go to your local emergency department or A&E. Reach out to a suicide hotline, speak to me, speak to an online counseller such as 7cups. Use the StayAlive app. Please don’t struggle on your own, you deserve to be alive and well.

I know its hard, but getting back into fights is not going to do you any good. It may be useful for you to express your feelings differently instead of getting into fights. Such as a boxing class, running, swimming, karate, art or dancing. These are a safer alternative to fighting and can help you to release some of the strong emotions you’re feeling.

Useless you may feel, useless you are not. There are things that you do every day to help yourself, to help others, to help this earth that you may not even realise. You’re an honours student who is working his butt off and trying his best to get through considering all of these circumstances, how amazing is that?

Anxiety, dysphoria and depression are all signs you may be experiencing difficulties with your mental health and it might help to get some therapy, counselling or medication to help you with that. It may not be a cure or help completely, but it might help you to focus better, feel a little more relaxed and it would be great for you to have someone to talk to.

When you’re dealing with these things all of the time it can be hard for you to do daily tasks and make it more difficult for you to concentrate. So, please DO NOT blame yourself for your works being late. You cannot manage so many things all at once and you are not any less of a person because of this. Getting A’s does not define who you are and getting any less does not mean you’re not an incredibly talented and smart student. It means that the exam/education systems put so much pressure on young people these days that they feel getting any less than an A is a failure. It isn’t. Your grades do not define you. Please try and not be so hard on yourself. If you get a B that’s great! If you get a C that’s amazing! If you get a D, E, F, G, that’s fine too! YOU and your health are far more important.

Your motivation will come back, it won’t always be this hard. Please hold on.

Please do not ever give up on your dreams. YOU CAN MAKE IT AS AN ACTOR. You may not get there on your first try, heck, you may not get there on your 10th. DO NOT GIVE UP. Being a trans male does not mean that you can never make it as an actor. You know why? Because your talent and your skills are not any less than that of a ‘regular actor’. There are people out there who do discriminate and do not understand. Screw them. You keep trying until you find the people who are accepting and are thrilled to have you on board. Becuase they are out there, and they are just waiting for you to stand up and show who you are and provide the world with your talent, your amazing gift and your light.

Some transgender actors who are absolutely rocking it right now and showing the world that it doesn’t matter who or what you are, YOU ARE JUST AS TALENTED AS ANYONE ELSE AND DESERVE THE CHANCE AND OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE IT AS AN ACTOR:

1. Daniela Vega

2. Harmony Santana

3. Alexandra Billings

4. Trace Lysette

5. Ian Harvie

6. Brian Michael Smith

7. Laverne Cox

8. Elliot Fletcher

9. Indya Moore

10. Mya Taylor

Please believe in yourself and your dreams. YOU CAN DO IT. I promise you. Never give up on who you are and everything you want to achieve. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that it isn’t possible or you cannot do it.

You’re going to message me in 10 years and say. I MADE IT. I made it. I faced the judgement, I faced the hardship and I still followed my dreams and I have made it. I am a successful actor who made it through and is now inspiring others to come out and share their story.

I believe in you.

Here are some links that may help you:

http://www.allabouttrans.org.uk/support-organisations/

https://www.lgbthealth.org.uk/services-support/transition-support/

https://www.transgender.support/

https://www.stonewall.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/come-out-trans-equality

https://www.7cups.com/

You are never alone, keep fighting. You’re brave, your courageous and you’re going to make it. I promise you.

I wish you all the best that the world can offer you. You deserve so much happiness, love and magic.

All the best 🌟

Thanks

RecoveryMatters

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omgchickmik · 3 years

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story

My story.

one of my earliest memories was playing with my favorite toy horses. Big Girl, Joe, Jane and Jim. I was playing them with my sister and I think my grandma had gotten me them. There was just something about horses that I absolutely had to have. Growing up was spent in the pool, riding bikes with my best friend Niki, swimming at grandma and grandpa’s, tree house adventues with my sister Kristi and Niki and playing and playing with Barbies, Maple Town and of course horses.

I was a bit of a stinker if I didn’t want to do something, I DID NOT WANT TO DO SOMETHING. Like dance. Fuck dance. So I would sneak over to grandma’s house (mom and dad would freak like you would wtf is my child!?) and I would be at grandma’s and be like grandma will tell you that dance sucks and I shouldn’t do it. Grandma and grandpa always had my back.

The biggest best thing evvver was taking horse back riding lessons. I started when I was in pre school and it was the best thing evvver. I would watch any tv show, westerns, Mr. Ed anything that had horses in it just to watch horses. My sister took lessons with me but soon it was just me taking lessons.

I remember the first time I fell off, I was cantering and froze when the trainer asked to slow the horse down. around and around i went faster and faster then the horse cut down the middle I fell but my leg was still in the striupp so i got dragged a little bit till the horse came to the trainer and stopped. My mom flipped. but i was like ok, i get back on now. That’s what jim from man from snowy river said. not shaken up at all.

I wondered why there was a blimp in my mom taking me to lessons and my grandparents. Bc apparently after that my mom was like i am not taking you riding anymore and of course in came grandma and grandpa to take me to lessons. I remember i would blow kisses to them everytime i passed them by in the ring :).

All i wanted was a horse. my mom said when i was 10 i could get one. so when i turned 10 and didnt have a horse of my own i was a bit upset. and durning this time my family decided to move to west palm beach, about an hour away from where i was. but all my best friends were there and grandma and grandpa i coulnd’t believe this shit! and no one asked me! sooo i hid, threw out checks i thought were going to the house, what a brat i was. and made a fuss when it came to moving.

we did move and i found a best friend there, jackie, she had not 1 horse but 3!! the coolest person ever. we hung out all the time, playing barbies, horses, pretending to be horses, being tom boys, swimming having the best time. then i started taking riding lessons and the cooolest thing i started showing horses! my dream come true! and so was jackie!

soon we got a call from her mom i wanna say who said go to this barn and try out this horse. so we did. his name is sinful and we became bessst friends. first we leased him and showed him then turning 11 my dad, grandpa and a neighbor built me a barn! and sinful came to stay at our house i had a horse!! We did all the compeitions and won so many as well. we did western, english, jumping but i would say our favorite was trail rides and trail rides with jackie.

in middle school jackie and i had different classes and i didn’t have that many friends. i took to another favorite thing of mine. movies. i would watch, the lion king, twister and the cable guy. enter jim carrey. i wanted to be jim carrey., i would dress up like ace ventura nearly every friday for ace ventura fridays. i was not cool but jackie accepted this and contuned being my best friend.

in high school i took drama and was introduced agaikn to chorus something i did in elementary school. and the chorus kids took me in and introduced me to broadway.

i thought broadway was trash but they took me to see rent and i reconsidered. i was then deciding i wanted to be maureen in rent and needed to go to nyc stat!

i got accepted into amda and as my parents tried to convince me not to go i went and made some incredible friends and actually learned how to dance. all the while i was there i was still missing sinful and horses. so when i came home to go to fau - i was not happy about - i made a point to get back into horses and started competing in the jumpers with alfonso.

the coolest horse show is called wef. and i wanted more than anything to ride in wef. i got a job to pay for lessons and by the 4 years i finally got to show in jumpers at wef! while at fau i met some amazing people and roomed with one my best friends smisek who introduced me to alternative music and a person who just loves music and i wanted to love music as much as she did.

so we went to some shows together and saw eric hucthinson. during this time my sister was making a album of her own and performing something i never thought one could just do. and while at amda i started making up songs for people but didn’t think anything of it. till i saw eric and he was funny and also made up songs. so smiske and i went to open mics and as a grad present my dad got me a keyboard that i took to nyc.

moving back to nyc i went to auditions for theater but didn’t care and came home and said i was going to pursue a career in songwriting and they were actually excited, which surprised me.

i went to see eric play and asked him after hwo to get a start as a songwriter and he suggested, playing open mics. so i did.

i met a boy who turned out to be a shit and wrote songs about him, then met a very nice producer and he recorded and helped me put together my songs. and i finally had something to offer and started playing out.

my mom says you never know if you dont ask. so i asked this one artist if i could open for them. they said yes. then i wrote to eric asking the same thing. then i saw him in person randomly at a bar and talked to him and after that he wrote me back saying to look out for dates. i did. and then he reached out to me to open for him.

i did a fucking great job on that show! and he asked me to open for him again. during this time i was working at a riding barn in the bronx and had to yell to talk to students and compete with all the other trainers talking, so my voice was upset. needless to say at the next show my voice bombed and cracked in multiple spots and i felt like a complete failiure.

i went home and decieded to change my voice teacher and found ron. and i decided to leave my teaching job and try to get a job at soulcycle.

while working at soulcycle i was working with ron on finding my voice. i got signed to this silly college label and released my first full length album with dave and did a kickstarter to help get a little bit more money to finish it.

playing a show for one of the pre kickstarter shows i met brian. i wasn;t that into him at first, as his friends introduced him as a douche. but when he came to another show, brought people and hung out at karaoke later i began to get into him.

we started dating and then we fell in love!

i got to open for dweezil zappa bc my dad had entered me into this submission to open for him. after soundcheck he asked if i would be interested in joining his band and going on tour. i thought he was crazy. but he was serisous.

he sent me about 40 songs to learn and i went to la to rehearse, ron and i worked over time. i got to go on my first tour! it was so cool! i had a bottom bunk and would make sure i prioritixed my voice when it came to the tour and go lots of sleep. we played amazing places like red rocks and also got to to europe for the first time and went to finland and even norway! the band is incredible and made me feel so good and happy to be with them. i wanted to be able to pursue my own music so i didn’t continue in their band but i hope one day they ask me to sing with them again.

back in nyc i was at soulcycle and they were kind of poops to me. but i started a musical sketch team called misc. filled with amazing funny peoeple and we make up funny sketches with music and my good friend pete plays all the music for us! but that started bc the magnet theater would never let me into their musucial improv teams so i created my own.

brian and i got married on a rooftop in bk and it was amazing! so perfect! we did so many of the crafts and all of the flowers. we got this cute dog finn and cat hiccup!

i then thought it would be fun to move down to nc to be and spend time with my family and sinful! so we moved here last oct and have been since. its been fun to have a yard, dishwasher, dryer and washer! I now teach my own spin classes and i get to see sinful everyday and try to make him the happiest pony ever! finn loves going to the barn too! and it’s been fun spending time with my nephews and niece. i hope i help them feel better about somethings like school they don’t really like. i also helped kim move out of mom and dads house and into her own and aj into his apt which was so cute. and now i am finally learning and developing the business side of my music and all my little side hustles. i feel really happy and grateful.

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man-creates-dinosaurs · 6 years

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As promised back in July when the first trailer for THE SHAPE OF WATER (Dir. Guillermo del Toro) dropped my hope for some time now has been to put together a series of posts dealing with this film leading up to its release which I have now come to understand will be Dec. 8th in NYC/LA and most likely Dec. 15th everywhere else. I wanted to do this because as I asserted in my original post, SHAPE is clearly a homage to Universal Studio’s classic monster movie THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954, Dir. Jack Arnold) which, though perhaps not widely recognized as such, is a work of paleo-fiction as its entire premise revolves around a paleontological expedition to the Amazon to look for fossils after a single skeletal humanoid forelimb dating to the Devonian period is found. Of course once our explorers reach the fabled Black Lagoon they quickly discover more than just fossils.

Since that time writer/director Guillermo del Toro has openly confirmed that CREATURE was, in fact, the principal inspiration for SHAPE based largely on his rather unorthodox reaction to viewing the film when he was six…

LAT: Going back to the beginning, what was the initial germ of this movie?

GDT: I’ve had this movie in my head since I was 6, not as a story but as an idea. When I saw the creature swimming under Julie Adams [in 1954’s “Creature From the Black Lagoon”], I thought three things: I thought, “Hubba-hubba.” I thought, “This is the most poetic thing I’ll ever see.” I was overwhelmed by the beauty. And the third thing I thought is, “I hope they end up together.”

LAT: I kind of doubt that’s what most 6-year-olds were thinking.

GDT: No, I’m a weird one. [Source]

Now my original intention was to put together a kind of historical overview of the literary and cinematic elements which both connect Universal’s CREATURE to del Toro’s SHAPE as well as those which predate CREATURE. Alas once I actually began researching the matter I quickly realized that I had resigned myself to an abyss of unfathomable depth which I have neither the time nor resources to adequately explore at this current phase. This does not mean that I am abandoning my original plan however. Instead what will follow from this point forth will be a highly abridged, limited and non-comprehensive overview of this subject. In other words, I’m going to be leaving a lot of stuff out and I’m going to be doing so intentionally. Nevertheless I feel strongly that what I do have to present will still be of interest to followers of this blog. We’re going to be churning the depths, plunging back in time to locate the very origins of the creature at the heart of THE SHAPE OF WATER.

TAKING SHAPE: PALEONTOLOGICAL ORIGINS When thinking about where to begin with a series dealing with the history of amphibious humanoids the first thought which crossed my mind was that we would need to start with the mermen and mermaids of myth and legend. This would take us back to the very beginnings of human civilization as depictions of mermen can be found carved on the stone walls of the Assyrian city of Dur-Sharrukin which dates back as far as 706 BCE. However upon further consideration it occurred to me that such a trip back to hoary antiquity seemed entirely unnecessary. Why? Because the amphibious humanoids featured in both del Toro’s THE SHAPE OF WATER and Universal’s THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON are not mermen. They’re Gill-men.

Now before anyone says anything I am well aware that everyone from Guillermo del Toro on down has been calling the creature in SHAPE a merman. That’s fine. I’m not about to fault anyone for the use of familiar nomenclature, especially when trying to sale/explain a concept as admittedly offbeat as the one which comprises the narrative core of SHAPE. That said I am going to make a distinction here, because while mermen/mermaids are certainly kith and kin to gill-men/gill-women they are nevertheless not the same. This is not merely an issue of semantics but rather one of taxonomy. There are a number of fundamental differences between mermen and gill-men and the first, and perhaps most important, is present right in their very names.

Gill-men have gills. Mermen don’t.

Naturally a lack of gills on your average fairy-tale merman/mermaid should raise the serious question of how exactly it is possible for such a creature to live under the water. But before one starts to concoct wild and elaborate theories about the respirational capabilities of Disney’s Ariel, perhaps we should acknowledge the most simple and straightforward answer to such a query: magic. Yes, magic. And what this tells us is that mermen and mermaids are the providence of fantasy. Their very existence, from their lack of gills to the fact that they are literally half-a-person and half-a-fish stuck together in the middle, is the product of a complete and unadulterated imagination unconcerned with questions of biological probability. To question how it is that a merman/mermaid is able to breath underwater is to utterly miss the point of such a creature.

So then what of our gill-man? The presence of gills, not to mention the fact that gill-men tend to be imagined not as fish-human chimeras but rather as more fully integrated creatures with scales and fins covering their whole body, tells us that they are not to be understood as a product of imaginative magical whimsy. The gill-man is a creature of science-fiction, not fantasy. The gills are there to help us suspend our disbelief and concede that – just maybe – such a being is possible and could exist in our world alongside us.

This also means that the gill-man is of a much more recent vintage then the merman, being the product of a modern scientifically minded age. More specifically I would argue that the notion of a gill-man could not exist prior to the advent of the science of paleontology during the latter half of the 18th-Century and the beginning of the 19th-Century in Western Europe.

In 1798, French zoologist George Cuvier – remembered today as the “Father of Paleontology” – formulates what will become known as the Principle of the Correlation of Parts, which states that all organs in an animal’s body are deeply interdependent and never mismatched. This is an important argument for the future of paleontology as it explains why it is possible for a paleontologist to extrapolate what an animal may have looked like in life even while working form only a handful of fragmented bones. The Principle of the Correlation of Parts tells us that certain types of bones will only ever belong to certain animals, thereby negating the possibility of creatures with mismatched parts; such as the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle or the head of a horse and the body of a fish. Because of this Cuvier likewise declares that mythological chimeras such as mermen/mermaids are scientifically untenable in principal.

However as science historian Brian Regal has argued, even while men like Cuvier were busy banishing mythological monsters back to the mists from which they came, the rise of Darwinian evolutionary theory helped to give birth to brand new ones. Fantasy fusions of man and beast like the merman might not exist, but scientists like Charles Lyell said there were ‘Missing Links’ out there, creatures which represented the transitional stage between man and animal. Today such transitional fossils are generally understood to be of a human-simian nature but this was not always the case.

The year 1844 saw the publication of what might be described as the first ‘best-selling’ book for a popular audience on the subject of paleontology: Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation (1st Ed. Oct. ‘44) by Robert Chambers. Chambers was not a paleontologist – or any kind of scientist – but rather a journalist with a strong interest in science, specifically geology and evolutionary theory. This is not intended as a slight against Chambers. Science has always needed popularizers who are capable of making complex ideas accessible to the public and paleontology has been fortunate enough to have a quite a few such as John Noble Wilford [The Riddle of the Dinosaur, 1985] and Brian Switek [My Beloved Brontosaurus, 2013]. Chambers, in this regard, was the first great popularizer of paleontology. However Chambers didn’t always get everything right. Case in point: Just a decade prior to the publication of Vestiges, paleontologists had discovered a set of fossilized track ways in Lower Triassic sandstone in Thuringia, Germany. These tracks bared an uncanny semblance to human handprints or possibly primate footprints and the initially thinking among many scientists was that they were just that. As a result the track maker was dubbed Chirotherium (“hand-beast”) and presumed to possibly be amongst our oldest ancestors. Then two years before the publication of Vestiges, British paleontologist Richard Owen – the man who coined the word “Dinosaur” – suggested that the tracks were made not by a primitive primate – which by all accounts had not yet evolved by the time of the Triassic – but rather by a labyrinthodont amphibian.[1] As a result of what can only be assumed to be a serve case of misunderstanding Chambers, apparently thinking about the Chirotherium tracks and the two conflicting interpretations of them, put forth the, in hindsight, admittedly bizarre suggestion in Vestiges that mankind had evolved from an extinct species of giant amphibian.

This then is the paleontological origin of our modern-day gill-man. A missing link between the sea and land. Between fish and mankind. And while such a creature never really existed the underlying assertion is not untenable. After all, as paleontologist Neil Shubin taught us back in 2008 with his highly publicized book on the history of human evolution, we all have an ‘Inner Fish.’ IMAGE: Elisa (Sally Hawkins) meets THE SHAPE OF WATER’s gill-man (Doug Jones) with his gills prominently displayed. _________________________________________

[1] To this day paleontologists have yet to identify the actual track maker, but most now suspect that it was some sort of primitive archosaur.

#the shape of water #guillermo del toro #the creature from the black lagoon #merman #gill-man #mermaid #palentology #brian regal #neil shubin #evolution #paleo-fiction

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cynergy-laughter · 7 years

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The Great Margarescue

The Fish

By: Brendon Cetinkaya (@cynergy-laughter) Word Count: 2102

You have been trekking through this new part of the maze for what seemed like 40 minutes before you lean on the wall and pant. You felt like you were walking on pins and needles, you look down and notice that your shoes were getting scuffed up and pretty dirty. God, and they were new shoes too… You feel chills going down your spine as you feel yourself being watched and that is never a good sign. You stood up straight and kept on walking further, soon you could see a small figure up ahead, leaning on the wall. You froze in your tracks as the figure turns his head to you, showing dark soulless eyes. As you took a step closer, you realize it was Chris, and got scared. You didn’t know what to make of why Chris was waiting for you.

“... Because I wanna show you something. Come with me.” Chris said as he crossed his arms, walking ahead. You were getting sick of the Christiansens being able to read your mind, but you reluctantly follow the kid deeper into the maze. There were many twists and turns, but luckily you were following close behind Chris, who was walking pretty fast for a boy of his leg length.

“... So, you and your siblings… What are you guys?” You decided to break the ice, in an attempt to to better understand. But, you got as much out of Chris as you ever did in the past. So you decided to be quiet, until…

“We are basically demons.” He said, much to your surprise, “My brother and sister, they feed off of fear, which is why they try to freak you out before trying to eat you.”

“... What do you feed off of?” He asked, being leery of him.

“... That is for me to know, and you to find out.” He said, looking back at him as he keeps walking. You scoot a bit more away from him as you keep following, wondering where it would end, but then you both stop in front of another door, but this one had a fish insignia on it. You instantly thought of-

“Brian.” Chris finished your thought, “And watch your language.” You grumbled under your breath.

“So they are all here…” You look down at Chris, who stared up at the insignia.

“Go in, but you should know, this one is very heavy. Jospeh prides himself on this one.”

“Where exactly is Joseph?” You ask, tilting your head, but you suddenly saw the insignia glow a very bright teal. You open the door and went inside. But behind you, Chris gives a smirk, his blonde hair swooped over his hollow, dark left eye.

You open your eyes as you found yourself in the forest of the lake where you, Amanda, Daisy, and Brian went on the fishing trip. You walk down the path and pick up speed, calling out Brian’s name. You hope that Brian wasn’t in harm’s way, even though he is a competitive thorn in your side. You keep on running down the pathway to finally see a moonlit view of the lake. Out on the middle of the lake was a small boat, sitting in it was Brian, he was fishing and around the lake were groups of tents that had lamps lighting up the banks. Suddenly, some of the lamps start going out, and then some more, Brian looked up at the sudden lack of light.

“Well, it seems like his punishment has started.” Chris’s voice said behind you to which you jump behind him.

“What the?!” You jumped back, and almost fell into the water. “How did you get in here?!”

“You need to watch, not just fish are in the water.” Chris said, smirking.

You look at the water and notice some bubbles floating to the top, and started to go toward the boat. As whatever made those bubbles slowly advanced toward Brian, the lights on the banks extinguished more and more. Soon, you couldn’t even see the tents anymore if the moon wasn’t out. The bubbles increased in number and size as whatever made them rose to the surface. But, suddenly, giant squid tentacles rose from the water and tried to grab and wrap around Brian.

“A-Ah! Someone! Squid! Help!” Brian cried out to the shore.

“Shut up! There’s no squid in the lake, stop lying!” A voice cried out over Brian’s panic.

“Why don’t you kill the squid and brag all about it tomorrow?” Another snarkyt voice called out to which there was laughter going around.

“I mean it! Please! ACK! Get off of me! HELP!” Brain had tentacles wrap around his ankles, wrists and began to pull the boat a part.

“Dad, just stop!” Daisy’s voice called out, to which Brian stopped and looked over to where their tent was. “Your bragging about everything, your one-uping, it’s not gonna get you liked! We’re all sick of your constant competition.”

“Daisy… I didn’t know you felt that way… You know I don’t do it on purpose...”

“Well, it feels like it, and I’m not some prize that you can show off to others! So just stop it! The “Squid” can be your new daughter if you can’t!”

You couldn’t see Brian’s face, but your eyes are overflowing with tears. You learned something about Brian that you didn’t even know, you only went on his second date, but this had made you realize the truth. But your realization was cut short as you see the boat break and Brain being pulled into the lake with a yelp.

“NO!” You yell out, but Chris is chuckling.

“His pain makes me laugh, all of his competition just to be liked and admired, whatever happened to being honest?”

You look at Chris with shameful anger.

“What is wrong with you? We have to help him!”

“Why? Isn’t this what you wanted? Brian to be at his most vulnerable so you can stick it to him, to win against him at something. I always thought you were someone who wanted to take Brian down a peg, or ten.” Chris said, putting the blame on you, “If you think about it, it’s your fault.”

“What?” You blink and your eyes squint in distaste.

“Think about it, you’re just like those other people on the shore, not really seeing or even taking time to figure out why he does the things that he does. So you grow to despise him, even hate him.”

“I don’t hate him, he’s just a pain in the ass sometimes.” You try to justify, but then you realize what an ass you’ve really been.

“Yeah, let it sink in, and feel the pain in yourself, feel the guilt, anguish, and angst that you hold in the pit of your stomach and your heart… and season in it.” Chris said, licking his lips.

You were holding your head but then you heard the word “season” and you looked up slowly. “So that’s what you feed on, pain and anguish?”

“And cowardice. Nothing tastes better than a coward.”

You straightened up and were about to slap Chris, but then stop yourself, you don’t hit kids, you ruin their rep.

“Well, I guess I gotta fish Brian out of the lake.” You say, starting your puns.

“... What?” Chris really looked taken back.

“I reel-y don’t want him to die, so I gotta hook him up and get him back.” You said, taking your shirt and shoes off.

“... Oh god, you’re really doing this?” Chris asked, in utter disgust, he was a child with a ‘father’ who liked puns after all.

“I didn’t wanna be a salmon in feel pain like everyone, so I took the oppor-tuna-ty to fish up some courage, I don’t wanna be shellfish and not share the puns with you.” You were on a roll. A sashimi roll.

“GAH! Why did you have to think of that last one?! Make it stop!” Chris is holding his head and screaming out.

“Well shrimp, I gotta save that lovable ginger. If I die, tell Amanda I love her, and good luck in college. Well, later, crabby pants.” You say as you take out the knife and jump into the lake. When you jumped in, you left yourself sink, and paddled yourself to where Brian had been dragged under. You open your eyes and saw crystal clearly in the moonlit lake. You see Brian struggling against the giant squid as it tried to drown him. You swim over fast, holding tight onto your breath. It is weird to be underwater and try to use the knife, but if it works, you would certainly be glad to save Brian from himself. You got close enough and tried to cut at the squid, it connected, and some blood spilt out of the now angered Squid. You kept on cutting at the creature and tried to get Brian out of its grip. As you tried to get him free, one of the tentacles made its way toward you, you pushed up fast to make it back to the surface, get some air, and dive back down to finish the squid off. Your heart stopped when you see Brian let out his breath all at once and just stop fighting. You were frightened, but angry as you plunged your knife into the squid’s head, making it flail and swim away when you pulled the knife out, releasing ink. You swam over to Brian and pulled him up. You both come out of the lake, and onto the shore, and you pull Brian onto the shore and proceed to try and wake him up.

“Brian! Brian! Wake up, please!” You call out, then you put your ear onto his heart and didn’t hear a beat. “Oh no, you don’t! You’re not gonna go out that easily!” You tear up as you begin CPR on him. Chest compressions in the rhythm of Staying Alive, and then the kiss of life. Nothing. More chest compressions and another kiss of life. You keep it up, and eventually notice that the lake began to grow dark. “No! Brian! Please, you have to fight on! No one hates you! Sure you can come off as a bit intimidating, and proud, but you are just proud of being the father of an amazing girl like Daisy!” You say, tears flowing down from your eyes, your lips quivering as you keep up the CPR. “Please, Daisy needs you… I need you… I need you to help me loosen up and not feel so threatened and inadequate next to good people… no… good dads like you…” You catch yourself saying as you did one last kiss of life before you just stayed in the kiss, crying and just lowering your head to rest on his chest to bawl your eyes out. The darkness crept over Brian’s cold, wet body and began to enclose him, and you as well. Behind you, Chris crept up close behind you both, licking his lips hungrily as he closed in on his meal.

“Please… don’t give up…” You whisper as you kept crying, but then, you heard a thump of the heart, and then you heard a cough. You look up to see Brian coughing, and then he jerk forward and cough out water which blew Chris and the darkness out of the room. And yes, Brian’s projections had become a room again. The spell was broken and you panted, holding your heart, but then ran over to Brian and hugged him close. “Oh my god! You’re alive!”

Brian was genuinely surprised at your hug, but then wrapped his arms around you back. “... Why? Why did you save me?” Brian asked.

“Because you are one of the many people that I care about, I’ve grown close to you and the other dads, and you all don’t deserve to be in this place…” You say, letting go of Brian. “Even if you do make my blood boil with the desire to finally beat you at something.”

Brian blinked and looked around. “Oh god… this place…” Brian looked down and frowned. “I hoped I’d never see this place again…”

“Wait, what do you mean, again?” You asked, raising an eyebrow. Suddenly the Rose crystal began to shine with a ruby red light.

“W-Well… I-” Brian was cut short by being teleported out of the underground, leaving behind a teal-colored crystal shaped like a fish, you sense there was gonna be a pattern here…”

“No! Brian! What did you mean?!” You call out, before revealing that you were now alone.

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studiobowesart · 6 years

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Music, Time and Long-Term Thinking: Brian Eno Expands the Vocabulary of Human Feeling

Brian Eno’s creative activities defy categorization. Widely known as a musician and producer, Eno has expanded the frontiers of audio and visual art for decades, and posited new ways of approaching creativity in general. He is a thinker and speaker, activist and eccentric. He formulated the idea of the Big Here and Long Now—a central conceptual underpinning of The Long Now Foundation, which he helped found with Stewart Brand and Danny Hillis in 01996. Eno’s artistic career has often dealt closely with concepts of time, scale, and, as he puts it in the liner notes to Apollo“expanding the vocabulary of human feeling.”

Ambient and Generative Art

Brian Eno coined the term ‘ambient music’ to describe a kind of music meant to influence an ambience without necessarily demanding the listener’s full attention. The notes accompanying his 01978 album Ambient 1: Music for Airports differentiate it from the commercial music produced specifically for background listening by companies such as Muzak, Inc. in the mid-01900s. Eno explains that ambient music should enhance — not blanket — an environment’s acoustic and atmospheric characteristics, to calming and thought-inducing effect. It has to accommodate various levels of listening engagement, and therefore “must be as ignorable as it is interesting” (Eno 296).

Ambient music can have a timeless quality to it. The absence of a traditional structure of musical development withholds a clear beginning or end or middle, tapping into a sense of deeper, slower processes. It lets you “settle into time a little bit,” as Eno said in the first of Long Now’s SALT talks. As TimeMagazine writes, “the theme of time, foreshortened or elongated, is a defining feature of Eno’s musical and visual adventures. But it takes a long lens, pointing back, to bring into focus the ways in which his influence has seeped into the mainstream.”

Eno’s use of the term ‘ambient’ was, however, a product of a long process of musical development. He had been thinking specifically about this kind of music for several years already, and the influence of minimalist artists such as Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Philip Glass had long shaped his musical ideas and techniques. He also drew on many other genres, including Krautrockbands such as Tangerine Dream and Can, whose music was contemporaneous and influential in Eno’s early collaborations with Robert Fripp, e.g. (No Pussyfooting). While their music might not necessarily fall into the genre ‘ambient,’ David Sheppard notes that “Eno and Fripp’s lengthy essays shared with Krautrock a disavowal of verse/chorus orthodoxy and instead relied on an essentially static musical core with only gradual internal harmonic developments” (142). In his autobiography, Eno also points to developments in audio technology as key in the development of the genre, as well as one particularly insightful experience he had while bedridden after an accident:

New sound-shaping and space-making devices appeared on the market weekly (and still do), synthesizers made their clumsy but crucial debut, and people like me just sat at home night after night fiddling around with all this stuff, amazed at what was now possible, immersed in the new sonic worlds we could create.

And immersion was really the point: we were making music to swim in, to float in, to get lost inside.

This became clear to me when I was confined to bed, immobilized by an accident in early 01975. My friend Judy Nylon had visited, and brought with her a record of 17th-century harp music. I asked her to put it on as she left, which she did, but it wasn’t until she’d gone that I realized that the hi-fi was much too quiet and one of the speakers had given up anyway. It was raining hard outside, and I could hardly hear the music above the rain — just the loudest notes, like little crystals, sonic icebergs rising out of the storm. I couldn’t get up and change it, so I just lay there waiting for my next visitor to come and sort it out, and gradually I was seduced by this listening experience. I realized that this was what I wanted music to be — a place, a feeling, an all-around tint to my sonic environment.

It was not long after this realization that Eno released the album Discreet Music, which he considers to be an ambient work, mentioning a conceptual likeness to Erik Satie’s Furniture Music. One of the premises behind its creation was that it would be background for Robert Fripp to play over in concerts, and the title track is about half an hour long — as much time as was available to Eno on one side of a record.

It is also an early example in his discography of what later became another genre closely associated with Eno and with ambient: generative music. In the liner notes — which include the story of the broken speaker epiphany — he writes:

Since I have always preferred making plans to executing them, I have gravitated towards situations and systems that, once set into operation, could create music with little or no intervention on my part.

That is to say, I tend towards the roles of planner and programmer, and then become an audience to the results.

This notion of creating a system that generates an output is an idea that artists had considered previously. In fact, in the 18th century even Mozart and others experimented with a ‘musical dice game’ in which the numerical results of rolling dice ‘generated’ a song. More relevant to Brian Eno’s use of generative systems, however, was the influence of 20th century composers such as John Cage. David Sheppard’s biography of Brian Eno describes how Tom Phillips — a teacher at Ipswich School of Art where Eno studied painting in the mid 01960s — introduced him to the musical avant garde scene with the works of Cage, Cornelius Cardew, and the previously mentioned minimalists Reich, Glass and Riley (Sheppard 35–41). These and other artists exposed Eno to ideas such as aleatory and minimalist music, tape experimentation, and performance or process-based musical concepts.

Eno notes Steve Reich’s influence on his generative music, acknowledging that “indeed a lot of my interest was directly inspired by Steve Reich’s sixties tape pieces such as Come Out) and It’s Gonna Rain” (Eno 332). And looking back on a 01970 performance by the Philip Glass Ensemble at the Royal College of Art, Brian Eno highlights its impact on him:

This was one of the most extraordinary musical experiences of my life — sound made completely physical and as dense as concrete by sheer volume and repetition. For me it was like a viscous bath of pure, thick energy. Though he was at that time described as a minimalist, this was actually one of the most detailed musics I’d ever heard. It was all intricacy and exotic harmonics. (Sheppard 63–64)

The relationship between minimalism and intricacy, in a sense, is what underlies the concept of generative music. The artist designs a system with inputs which, when compared to the plethora of outputs, appear quite simple. Steve Reich’s It’s Gonna Rain is, in fact, simply a single 1.8 second recording of a preacher shouting “It’s gonna rain!” played simultaneously on two tape recorders. Due to the inconsistencies in the two devices’ hardware, however, the recordings play at slightly different speeds, producing over 17 minutes of phasing in which the relationship between the two recordings constantly changes.

Brian Eno has taken this capacity for generative music to create complexity out of simplicity much further. Discreet Music (01975) used a similar approach, but started with recordings of different lengths, used an echo system, and altered timbre over time. The sonic possibilities opened by adding just a few more variables are vast.

This experimental approach to creativity is just one of many that Eno explored, including some non-musical means of prompting unexpected outputs. The same year that Discreet Music was released, he collaborated with painter Peter Schmidt to produce Oblique Strategies: Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas.

The work is a set of cards, each one with an aphorism designed to help people think differently or to approach a problem from a different angle. These include phrases such as “Honour thy error as a hidden intention,” “Work at a different speed,” and “Use an old idea.” Schmidt had created something a few years earlier along the same lines that he called ‘Thoughts Behind the Thoughts.’ There was also inspiration to be drawn from John Cage’s use of the I Ching to direct his musical compositions and George Brecht’s 01963 Water Yam Box. Like a generative system, the Oblique Strategies provides a guiding rule or principle that is specific enough to focus creativity but general enough to yield an unknown outcome, dependent on a multitude of variables interacting within the framework of the strategy.

Three decades later, generative systems remained a central inspiration for Eno and a source of interesting cross-disciplinary collaboration. In 02006, he discussed them with Will Wright, creator of popular video game series The Sims, at a Long Now SALT talk:

Wright observed that science is all about compressing reality to minimal rule sets, but generative creation goes the opposite direction. You look for a combination of the fewest rules that can generate a whole complex world that will always surprise you, yet within a framework that stays recognizable. “It’s not engineering and design,” he said, “so much as it is gardening. You plant seeds. Richard Dawkins says that a willow seed has only about 800K of data in it.” — Stewart Brand

Brian Eno has always been interested in this explosion of possibilities, and has in recent years created generative art that incorporates both audio and visuals. He notes that his work 77 Million Paintings would take about 10,000 years to run through all of its possibilities — at its slowest setting. Long Now produced the North American premiere of 77 Million Paintings at Yerba Buena center for the Arts in 02007, and members were treated to a surprise visit from Mr. Eno who spoke about his work and Long Now.

Eno also designed an art installation for The Interval, Long Now’s cafe-bar-museum venue in San Francisco. “Ambient Painting #1” is the only example of Brian’s generative light work in America, and the only ambient painting of his that is currently on permanent public display anywhere.

Ambient Painting #1, by Brian Eno. Photo by Gary Wilson.

Another generative work called Bloom, created with Peter Chilvers, is available as an app.

Part instrument, part composition and part artwork, Bloom’s innovative controls allow anyone to create elaborate patterns and unique melodies by simply tapping the screen. A generative music player takes over when Bloom is left idle, creating an infinite selection of compositions and their accompanying visualisations. — Generativemusic.com

Eno’s interest in time and scale (among other things) was shared by Long Now co-founder Stewart Brand, and they were in close correspondence in the years leading up to the creation of The Long Now Foundation. Eno’s 01995 diary, published in part in his autobiography, describes that correspondence in its introduction:

My conversation with Stewart Brand is primarily a written one — in the form of e-mail that I routinely save, and which in 1995 alone came to about 100,000 words. Often I discuss things with him in much greater detail than I would write about them for my own benefit in the diary, and occasionally I’ve excerpted from that correspondence. — Eno, ix

Out of Eno’s involvement with the establishment of The Long Now Foundation emerged in his essay “The Big Here and Long Now”, which describes his experiences with small-scale perspectives and the need for larger ones, as well as the artist’s role in social change.

This imaginative process can be seeded and nurtured by artists and designers, for, since the beginning of the 20th century, artists have been moving away from an idea of art as something finished, perfect, definitive and unchanging towards a view of artworks as processes or the seeds for processes — things that exist and change in time, things that are never finished. Sometimes this is quite explicit — as in Walter de Maria’s “Lightning Field,” a huge grid of metal poles designed to attract lightning. Many musical compositions don’t have one form, but change unrepeatingly over time — many of my own pieces and Jem Finer’s Artangel installation “LongPlayer” are like this. Artworks in general are increasingly regarded as seeds — seeds for processes that need a viewer’s (or a whole culture’s) active mind in which to develop. Increasingly working with time, culture-makers see themselves as people who start things, not finish them.

And what is possible in art becomes thinkable in life. We become our new selves first in simulacrum, through style and fashion and art, our deliberate immersions in virtual worlds. Through them we sense what it would be like to be another kind of person with other kinds of values. We rehearse new feelings and sensitivities. We imagine other ways of thinking about our world and its future.

[…] In this, the 21st century, we may need icons more than ever before. Our conversation about time and the future must necessarily be global, so it needs to be inspired and consolidated by images that can transcend language and geography. As artists and culture-makers begin making time, change and continuity their subject-matter, they will legitimise and make emotionally attractive a new and important conversation.

The Chime Generator and January 07003

Brian Eno’s involvement with Long Now began through his discussions with Stewart Brand about time and long-term thinking, and the need for a carefully crafted sonic experience to help The Clock evoke deep time for its visitors posed a challenge Eno was uniquely suited to take on.

From its earliest conception, the imagined visit to the 10,000-Year Clock has had aural experience at its core. One of Danny Hillis’ earliest refrains about The Clock evokes this:

It ticks once a year, bongs once a century, and the cuckoo comes out every millennium. —Danny Hillis

In the years of brainstorming and design that have molded this vision into a tangible object, a much more detailed and complicated picture has come into focus, but sound has remained central; one of the largest components of the 10,000-Year Clock will be its Chime Generator.

Rather than a bong per century, visitors to the Clock will have the opportunity to hear it chime 10 bells in a unique sequence each day at noon. The story of how this came to be is told by Mr. Eno himself in the liner notes of January 07003: Bell Studies for The Clock of the Long Now, a collection of musical experiments he synthesized and recorded in 02003:

When we started thinking about The Clock of the Long Now, we naturally wondered what kind of sound it could make to announce the passage of time. Bells have stood the test of time in their relationship to clocks, and the technology of making them is highly evolved and still evolving. I began reading about bells, discovering the physics of their sounds, and became interested in thinking about what other sorts of bells might exist. My speculations quickly took me out of the bounds of current physical and material possibilities, but I considered some license allowable since the project was conceived in a time scale of thousands of years, and I might therefore imagine bells with quite different physical properties from those we now know (Eno 3).

Bells have a long history of marking time, so their inclusion in The Clock is a natural fit. Throughout this long history, they’ve also commonly been used in churches, meditation halls and yoga studios to offer a resonant ambiance in which to contemplate a connection to something bigger, much as The Clock’s vibrations will help inspire an awareness of one’s place in deep time. Furthermore, bells were central to some early forms of generative music. While learning about their history, Eno found a vast literature on the ways bells had been used in Britain to explore the combinatorial possibilities afforded by following a few simple rules:

Stated briefly, change-ringing is the art (or, to many practitioners, the science) of ringing a given number of bells such that all possible sequences are used without any being repeated. The mathematics of this idea are fairly simple: n bells will yield n! sequences or changes. The ! is not an expression of surprise but the sign for a factorial: a direction to multiply the number by all those lower than it. So 3 bells will yield 3 x 2 x 1 = 6 changes, while 4 bells will yield 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 24 changes. The ! process does become rather surprising as you continue it for higher values of n: 5! = 120, and 6! = 720 — and you watch the number of changes increasing dramatically with the number of bells. — Eno 4

Eno noticed that 10 bells in this context will provide 3,628,800 sequences. Ring one of those each day and you’ll be occupied for almost exactly 10,000 years, the proposed lifespan of The Clock.

Following this line of thinking, he imagined using the patterns played by the bells as a method of encoding the amount of time that had elapsed since The Clock had started ringing them. Writing in 02003, he says:

I wanted to hear the bells of the month of January, 07003 — approximately halfway through the life of the Clock.

I had no idea how to generate this series, but I had a good idea who would.

I wrote to Danny Hillis asking whether he could come up with an algorithm for the job. Yes, he wrote back, and in fact he could come up with an algorithm for generating all the possible algorithms for that job. Not having the storage space for a lot of extra algorithms in my studio, I decided to settle for just the one. — Eno 6

And so, the pattern The Clock’s bells will ring was set. Using a start point (02003 in this case), one can extrapolate the order in which the Bells will ring for a given day in the future. The title track of the album features the synthesized bells played in each of the 31 sequences for the month of January in the year 07003. Other tracks on the album use different algorithms or different bells to explore alternative possibilities; taken together, the album is distinctly “ambient” in Eno’s tradition, but also unique within his work for its minimalism and procedurality.

The procedures guiding the composition are strict enough that they can be written in computer code. A Long Now Member named Sean Burke was kind enough to create a webpage that illustrates how this works. The site allows visitors to enter a future date and receive a MIDI file of the chimes from that day. You can also download the algorithm itself in the form of a Perl script or just grab the MIDI data for all 10,000 years and synthesize your own bells.

If the bell ringing algorithm is a seed, in what soil can it be planted and expected to live its full life? Compact disks, Perl scripts and MIDI files have their uses, of course, but The Clock has to really last in a physical, functional sense for many thousands of years. To serve this purpose, the Chime Generator manifests the algorithm in stainless steel Geneva wheels rotating on bearings of silicon nitride.

Eno’s Chime Generator prototype. Photo by Because We Can

One of the first prototypes for this mechanism resides at The Interval. In its operation, one can see that the Geneva wheels rotate at different intervals because of their varying numbers of slots. Together, the Geneva wheels represent the ringing algorithm and sequentially engage the hammers in all 3.6 million permutations. For this prototype, the hammers strike Tibetan Bowl Gongs to sound the notes, but any type of bell can be used.

The full scale Chime Generator will be vertically suspended in the Clock shaft within the mountain. The Geneva wheels will be about 8 feet in diameter, with the full mechanism standing over seventy feet in height.

The bells for the full scale Chime Generator won’t be Tibetan Bowl Gongs like in the smaller prototype above. Though testing has been done within the Clock chamber to find its resonant frequency, the exact tuning and design of the Clock’s bells will be left until the chamber is finished and most of the Clock is installed in order to maximize their ability to resonate within the space.

Like much of Brian Eno’s work, the chimes in the 10,000-Year Clock draw together far-flung traditions, high and low tech, and science and art to create a meditative experience, unique in a given moment, but expansive in scale and scope. They encourage the listener to live and to be present in the moment, the “now,” but to feel that moment expanding forward and backward through time, literally to experience the “Long Now.”

Written by Austin Brown and Alex Mensing. Edited and updated by Ahmed Kabil.

Works Cited & Where to Learn More

Autobiography

Eno, Brian. A Year With Swollen Appendices: Brian Eno’s Diary.London: Faber and Faber, 01996.

Biography

Sheppard, David. On Some Faraway Beach: The Life and Times of Brian Eno.London: Orion Books, 02008.

Talks

Talk on Generative Music for In Motion Magazine. June 01996.

“The Long Now,” Long Now SALT talk, November 02003.

“Playing With Time,” Long Now SALT talk with Will Wright, June 02006.

Brian Eno speaks in Moscow, 02011. via Austin Kleon.

“The Long Now, Now”, Long Now SALT talk, January 02014.

Articles

“The Big Here and Long Now” by Brian Eno for The Long Now Foundation. 01996.

“Light Years into the Future” by Michael Brunton for Time Magazine. November 02006.

“New Eno Music Gets ‘Generative’” by Noah Shachtman for Wired. October 02001.

New Yorker article on Long Now board member David Eagleman, including an experiment with Brian Eno on time & rhythm perception

01979 interview with Brian Eno by Lester Bangs

History and description of generative music, excerpted from dissertation by Norbert Herber.

“Brian Eno designs Sound and Light Art for The Interval at Long Now” by mikl em for Long Now blog. July 16, 02013.

This is the first of a series of articles, “Music, Time and Long-Term Thinking,” in which we will discuss music and musicians who have engaged various aspects of long-term thinking, both historically and in the contemporary scene.

from The Long Now Blog http://ift.tt/2ikIAgZ

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thesimplyluxuriouslife · 4 years

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266: 10 Activities to Savor Pre-Holidays in November

Here in the states, we may officially wait for the holiday energy to be set free, but by the time November arrives, it can easily begin to feel as though the holidays have begun. Whether that is due in part to marketers and shops shifting from Halloween on October 31st to red and green everything on November 1st, or an earnest desire for the holidays to begin by the public, I cannot quite be sure, but what I do know is that I love the three weeks leading up to Thanksgiving of which I am calling the "pre-holiday" season.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the holiday time between Thanksgiving and New Year's, but during the first third of November (Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November which this year is quite late in the month), I just linger with absolute contentment.

Today I would like to share with you 10 activities or ideas for savoring the pre-season period as the year that is begins to wind down to celebration and festive gathering.

1.Set the mood in your home without pulling out the decorations

From placing simmering spices on the stovetop to fill the house with luscious, warm and citrus as well as spice-filled flavors (check out my simple recipe here) or simply switching the wreath on the front door to an autumn theme (if you have not done so already), protect, yet acknowledge this time of year that is truly meant to be savored after a summer and early fall of harvest as we gear up for the bustle of the holiday season.

2. Put the yard and exterior of the home to bed for the winter

Depending upon where you live and when the temperatures begin to drop, take this time to be outside and winterize the home, tend to the plants that need to be mulched and trim the perennials, as well as plant the new bulbs that will emerge in the spring. Tending to the exterior of your home will enable you to sleep soundly at night during the snowstorms and frigid temperatures knowing all is taken care of so that you can simply enjoy the winter wonderland that appears out the front door.

~Trusted British gardener Monty Don shares a worth-keeping monthly list of what to tend to in the garden during the month of November.

3. Assess your fitness routine and improve now to feel your best during the holidays

When we are conscious of the benefit of a good and regular fitness routine as well as a well-balanced eating regimen, we are more likely to do well during the holidays. Establish or cement what is working well and plan now to figure out how you will maintain your ability to stay active and eat well even if you are traveling or removed from your regular environment.

4. Make a favorite fall dessert or main dish for you and the household just because it's fall.

From Apple Tart Tatin (check out my recipe and video tutorial below) to butternut squash and apples roasted to perfection for a lovely side dish with pork chops. (The image at the top of the post is a favorite fall dessert inspired by Julia Child - look for my adaptation to be shared in season 3 of the cooking show!)

~Quick recipe for roasted butternut squash and apples: Combine cubes of butternut squash and apples on a parchment lined sheet pan, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, toss the squash and apples with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, roast for 25 minutes, remove from the oven and enjoy!

5. Make sure you have something to look forward to just after the holidays wrap up - something simple, low-key and maybe just for yourself.

6. Have fun with fall foliage - arrangements, playing in the leaves, taking photos of unique compositions that catch your eye

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7. Take advantage of weekend sales as businesses clear out inventory for the holiday season.

Currently many business are having sales during our long weekend here in the states, but that is just a start to what is to come. Whether you are beginning to shop for gifts for the holidays or have a list of items you love but are waiting for a sale, be sure to take advantage if the price is right and the item is exactly what you want. As I shared yesterday, I am looking for a fresh holiday wreath for my front door, and was pleased with Williams-Sonoma' 20% off sale.

As well, examine your fall, winter and holiday wardrobe: Do you have what you need? Are there any gaps? The fall collections are about to go on drastic reduction and scooping up your preferred and needed items at great prices will make you and your budget quite happy, not to mention ensure you look your best and feel comfortable going about your day.

8. Forage for the arts and literature and culture you love

On Wednesday of this week I will share a list of books, podcasts, television shows and art exhibits to enjoy during the winter season, but what I love most about these three weeks leading up to the holidays is that I cozy inside my house far more than I would during warmer weather and pull out a book (or two, or three) and let the time pass by. The same happens when I discover a great show or when I toodling about the house or walking the boys while listening to a podcast in which I learn something but lifts my spirits or ensures my day will be better after listening to it by either teaching me something or deepending my understanding on something that matters.

Perhaps why I enjoyed my visit to Portland last weekend so much and stopping (and lingering) at Powell's Independent Book Store was because books and late fall and winter, along with the shorter days means more time to get lost in a book. Of course reading is savoring year-round, but there is all the more reason to further our knowledge and let ideas percolate giving them time to germinate so that they can bloom fully when spring arrives and summer follows.

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9. Get cosy often and lose track of time

At the foundation of these three weeks is time without apology for self-care. Self-care needs to happen year-round and on a regular basis most certainly, but since we know what awaits in the near future, no matter how much we greatly look forward to it, we can enjoy it all the more with a fully rested self.

As 2019 began, the first Petit Plaisir of the year was the book Cosy: The British Art of Comfort by Laura Weir. Released in early November 2018, her timing was not on accident. The cosy/cozy season truly feels as though it begins with November's arrival.

"Cosiness, for me, is radio 4, slow-cooking, everyday Sunday supplement, long breakfasts, long movies, long phone calls, big jumpers, tangled limbs in a bed or sofa. I enjoy those things even more now that I know indulging them doesn't mean I'm missing out on the big party of life happening somewhere outside and that life can be just as wild and precious in the quiet as it is in the noise."

—Laura Weir from her book Cosy: The British Art of Comfort

10. Find time to be with yourself, not just introverts researchs finds

~image via The New York Times~

In a recent New York Times article, research was shared that "valuing solitude doesn’t really hurt your social life, in fact, it might add to it". Why?

With the new and different, wanted and unwanted people you will see and spend time with during the holiday season, there will undoubtedly be swells of emotion, good and perhaps not so good. Knowing how to regulate our emotions will help us navigate what has the potential to be a truly joyous time of year well and most beneficially not only for our own mental health but those around us. And it is with giving ourselves time to be alone that we learn to regulate our emotions.

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is something we have talked about often here on the blog, podcast and in TSLL's 2nd book, and continued research finds that mastering this skill has life enhancing qualities. By giving ourselves time to learn how to monitor our emotions which when we are alone with ourselves and our thoughts expectedly will provide plenty of practice until we learn how to calm the tide and just be present, we give ourselves an awesome gift. Perhaps the best give to give during the holiday season, non? ;)

So cosy up in your favorite spot, turn on a lovely playlist that will wash over you and just do something that you love. At this very moment I am snuggled up with Oscar by my side in my oversized, very well-used chaise armchair, the jazz fills the house and I am watching the many birds dance around the birdfeeder determining who will have the opportunity to snack for a moment. The emotions are certainly swimming about, especially after the week my family has had with the loss of someone truly special to all of us, but because of much practice spending time with myself, I savor such moments and am thankful to have them.

May these three weeks, this "pre-holiday" season prior to the holiday festivities be joy-filled and provide many moments of contentment.