#to be fair i also have a very measured concept of paradise. and i have some gripes
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Doc Loves His Dark Materials
If I were going to regret anything about HDM, it would be that I wasn’t in high school until I read it. If I read it when I was a child, I would have been full-tilt obsessed with it. It was precisely the sort of thing I was always looking for and could never find.
There are a great many YA books that delve into the realm of fantasy, but few of them that inhabit such a fully realized world. Lyra’s world, as it is set up, immediately takes you in, and it manages to almost have an air of urban fantasy, a world that is clearly different from ours, but not so different that it requires a lot of jargon or that it becomes difficult to understand. It is our world, but only off a few clicks.
Daemons are my favorite “personality sorter” of any of the YA books that have them, which is many, because everyone loves to put themselves into boxes while claiming labels are stifling. I also rarely see much discussion about daemons, and I assume this because it’s much more difficult than one’s Hogwarts house or anything like that. Your daemon’s form is intrinsically tied to who you are at your core, and Pullman is utterly unconcerned with overexplaining how they work, and how they are chosen for you, outside of that.
Lyra Belacqua is a fantastic main character in that she has true flaws which are immediately apparent to the reader. It is not that she is plain, and put upon by life, she is not some brooding orphan looking to find herself. She is spoilt, and impetuous, and willfully ignores all the privileges of her life. She is a willful and skilled liar, and there’s a great deal about Lyra that’s not particularly likeable at all, and yet for all that, she feels more fully realized. She is a girl who must come into herself.
And all of this, of course, ties back into the fact that Pullman does not treat his young readers as if they were incapable of handling deeper themes and ideas, or that they can’t read. The narration is often lyrical in quality, the title of the series is cribbed directly from Paradise Lost, and from time to time the book itself quotes poetry. It believes that young readers are capable of higher things. The concepts of grey morality, of desperation, of sacrifice. His Dark Materials is not afraid to question the very wisdom and usefulness of God.
To this end, as I referenced above, Pullman does not feel the need to drill things down to the exact point. It’s actually a lot closer to adult books in this way, that it expects that young readers are also capable of drawing their own conclusions and coming to their own ends. Every time I thought it was going to put too fine a point on something, it would stop, right there.
That is not to say it’s a perfect series, as nothing in life is perfect, and occasionally I roll my eyes at Pullman’s preachiness, but it’s few and far between. Most of the series is a deeply textured, complicated children’s series about maturity, heaven, the difficulties of one’s parents, and also there are witches.
Spoilery below the cut
This is one of my favorite YA series of all time, and might be my favorite if we break it into age groups, being as A Series of Unfortunate Events is clearly meant for a much younger audience. Northern Lights/The Golden Compass (spicy take! The Golden Compass is a better title than the original! It fits with the pattern of The Subtle Knife and the Amber Spyglass, and also with the overarching Series Title of His Dark Materials. Why are you booing me, I’m right.)
I think all YA series want to make their characters’ flaws into eventual strengths, but I don’t think any (that i’ve read) do it quite so well. Lyra’s stubbornness and lying, storytelling, save her ass more than once in a way that doesn’t seem coerced or cheap. I love that eventually she learns how to be less of a liar, and more of a storyteller. That her life can be as interesting as the falsehoods she used to tell, it feels very much like my own experience of becoming and adult and discovering that I had plenty of interesting things to say without telling a lie.
Lee Scoresby is my favorite character of all of them, and I adore him, and his arc is so good, so entrenched with that classic Western sense of just wanting not to be involved, and being unable to stop yourself from getting involved. I was, of course, sad when he died, but there was literally no more fitting end for Lee than what ended up happening, that sense of sacrifice and willingness to die for the sort of idea that a person can hold, that utter loyalty. I still haven’t watched the HBO version partially because I’m not sure I can fucking handle him being played by Lin Manuel Fucking Miranda. Who also played ~the cockney lamplighter~ in the new Mary Poppins because I’m not allowed to enjoy anything.
People are often surprised that I love HDM because it’s intensely anti-religion, and indeed, there are a handful of times that Pullman’s edgy atheist act annoys me. But in fairness, it’s MOSTLY not my religion taking the punishment, in that Pullman, like most Culturally Christian Athiests, assumes all “abrahamic” religions are the same, despite all three of them (or four, if you count protestant as its own thing) being vastly fucking different in approach and belief. So, really, I don’t get hit that much. But also rather than JUST being like “RELIGION MAKES YOU NAUGHTY” which is about as deep as it goes in The Golden Compass, it ends up taking the tack that God is nothing but a powerless old man who WANTS to die, who is being held up only by those who wish to bring war and strife. What a concept! Amazing! Not where I expected it to go at all.
Also the fucking courage to show dissolving into the world as being preferable to some form of eternal life? FUCK ME. I was so absolutely struck by that, as a religious person who, probably 70% of the time, really can’t deal with the concept of an afterlife. It seems so overwhelming to me. I thought the whole thing was done beautifully.
And its not as if he doesn’t punish both the religious and not alike--despite everything, Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel both end up hurling through the abyss because neither of them could every really move from their positions. In bringing down the Voice of God, they also must destroy themselves, built around this idea of upholding god and destroying god in equal measure, they cannot stand without him. I mean shit! You’re not gonna see that in Harry Fucking Potter, which built up the necessity of a hero’s sacrifice only to pull it out of the ass.
The way that Lyra’s parents are both villain and hero, at turns, and how you come around to be like, ‘Wow, you are both assholes” even though they are on opposite sides, is remarkable. How many times how you read YA and it’s been like “oh my long lost and/or dead parent is wonderful!! How I love/miss them!!”? HDM does not fuck around with parents. Lyra’s parents are enemies and completely corrupt weirdos, Will’s mother needs him to take care of her in a way that is NOT made cute, and his father just fucking fucks off and dies the minute Will meets him. It’s a thing I didn’t realize I saw so little of in YA until I saw it here.
I completely expected, braced for, and readied myself for Will and Lyra to end up together, and I was so fucking pleased that they don’t. It’s refreshing to be proven wrong, to have an author not decide that the boy and girl need to get together at the end of it. And it’s remarkably low drama.
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I love The Sims.
Which is why I will never stop being disappointed in TS4.
Lets do some math, and I’m going to keep this mainly between TS3 & TS4. While I did play TS2, there isn’t a lot of information readily available on what the games themselves cost at the time of release. I have some information on that, but I’m not sure if it’s 100% accurate as I was baby when they came out and my mom had to buy them for me. I’ll release it later if anyone is curious.
TS3 launched with a base game priced at $49.99, and throughout it’s lifetime accrued nine stuff packs at $19.99 each, and eleven expansion packs priced at $39.99 a pop. This comes to a total of $669.79.
TS4 launched with a base game price of $59.99 (that price soon dropped to $49.99 because the backlash was immediate), and introduced the new game pack. In total (as of 4/15/2020), TS4 has sixteen stuff packs at $9.99 each, eight expansion packs at $39.99, and eight game packs at $19.99. That comes to a total of $699.67.
That’s not a huge price difference. All in all, it’s about $30 if you want to get the whole, complete collection, so why do I dislike TS4 so vehemently?
Quality.
Let’s compare a few expansion packs just to get a feel for what the difference is.
TS3 launched the “Late Night” expansion at $39.99, and it included:
A new world (Bridgeport) with 82 lots
Fame & reputation systems
Bars & night clubs
Apartments with penthouse suites
Subways
Elevators
Breast & muscle sliders in CAS*
Zodiac signs
A fountain tool*
Height adjustment for wall objects
Groups & bands
Butlers
Vampires!
The mixology skill
2 new traits (shy & star quality)
TS4 launched the “Get Famous” expansion at $39.99, and it included:
A new world (Del Sol Valley) with 11 lots
Fame & reputation systems
Active acting career
Multiple ways to become famous
Music, video station, etc.
And that’s about it.
Now I’ll be the first person to admit that TS3 wasn’t perfect. Although it was a very full game, it struggled in areas of performance. With such large, open worlds, and detailed customization systems, it was pretty buggy for a lot of people, but we’ll talk on that more later.
But what I want to focus on is the disparity between these two packs, as they’re supposed to be mirrors of one another. “Get Famous” is the TS4 version of “Late Night”, so where did all the stuff go?
Well, EA broke it into 3 packs.
To get the full experience of “Late Night” in TS4, or at least something similar, you would need to purchase, “Get Famous”, “City Living”, and “Vampires”. That’s 2 expansion packs, and 1 game pack. So, to replicate the experience of “Late Night” you would need to spend $99.97.
That’s almost $100.
So, for an experience we paid $39.99 previously in the last installment, we’re now being asked to pay $100 for.
Is that fair?
Lets do another expansion pack comparison:
TS3 launched “Ambitions” at $39.99, and it included:
A new world (Twinbrook) with 82 lots
5 new active jobs that take you all around the world your sims inhabit
Firefighter, investigator, ghost hunter, stylist, and architectural designer
Self-employment
Sculptors, inventors, painters, writers, gardeners, and so on can all profit from at home work
Laundry
Tattooing career
New traits (eco-friendly, good observer, weirdo, etc.)
Consignment stores
Inventing
Sculpting
TS4 launched “Get to Work” at $39.99, and it included:
A new world (Magnolia Promenade) with 4 lots
3 new active jobs that take place in one location
Detective, doctor, scientist
Baking & photography skills
Retail lots
Illnesses for sims
Aliens
There’s definitely more crossover here, but “Get to Work” still falls short. $39.99 for a full game and all we get is a world with 4 lots? Even in TS2 “Open for Business” we had more to do.
And, that isn’t to mention the fact that “Get to Work” launched separately from the TS4 “Laundry Day Stuff” pack. So, to get a similar experience to TS3′s “Ambitions” you would need to purchase both “Get to Work” and “Laundry Day Stuff” at a total of $49.98.
One more comparison for good measure.
TS3 launched “Island Paradise” at $39.99, and it included:
A new world (Isla Paradiso) with 118 lots, the most of ANY TS3 expansion
Houseboats that can move anywhere around the island
Resorts that you can either visit, or own, manage & edit
New transportation modes
Boating, skiing, and windsurfing
3 new careers
Lifeguard, resort manager, scuba diver
Diving into fully realized underwater scenes
Sims could also catch fish, explore underwater caves & find sunken treasure
Shark & kraken attacks
Mermaids!
Missions to discover and unlock new islands
Blueprint templates*
TS4 launched “Island Living” at $39.99, and it included:
A new world (Sulani) with 11 lots
Docks & new foundation types
4 new careers
Conservationist, diving, fishing, and lifeguard
Mermaids!
Boats
Missions to clean up the island
2 new traits
In the case of “Island Paradise” vs. “Island Living” there are a quite a few similarities, but the disparity remains. Thankfully, this time around EA didn’t break “Island Living” into multiple packs, but imagine if in a few months we get a resort style pack? Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past EA.
In these pack comparisons, I hope I’ve highlighted some of the issues between what should have been pretty similar packs.
And, to clarify, I’m not saying that EA should have just copy pasted TS3 packs into the TS4 style, but for the amount of money they’re asking, the quality should remain the same. There should be a similar amount of features between each pack, but there isn’t.
With each expansion, it feels like EA is spending less and less time working on the unique gameplay features, and pouring more time into the general aesthetics of the packs. So, while TS4 is the prettiest of all The Sims titles, it’s also the emptiest.
Despite the shiny veneer of a good game with solid graphics, TS4 ultimately lacks depth. It doesn’t feel like a game, but rather a character creator. I spend more time building sims and their homes than I do actually playing out their lives.
All in all, I find that the “life simulation” part of TS4 is severely lacking. It mostly comes down to the little things, which is exemplified whenever I go back and replay TS2. Sims would cuddle their partner in their sleep, burglars were a real and present danger, raccoons would topple your trash can at any given chance, and friends would call all the time to ask if you wanted to go downtown.
It’s been 6 years since TS4 came out, and, from what the dev’s have said, they aren’t planning on pushing out TS5 anytime soon, but let’s dream a little bit about what could be.
In my perfect game, TS5 would include aspects of TS3 and TS2. The open worlds were great, but not many people’s computers were beefy enough to run them. The one thing I will applaud about TS4, is that its made with everyone in mind. We can’t all afford big, gaming computers, a lot of simmers play on their laptops, and we should all be able to play regardless of what type of machine we’re working with.
So, instead of fully open works with 90+ lots, I would like to see open neighborhoods. If we take the open concept of TS3, and combine it with the neighborhood style of TS4, we’d get an open world of about 15-20 lots. That’s nowhere near as big as TS3, but would allow for more fun neighbor interactions, and remove the constant load screens.
I’d also like to see a return of the color wheel. This is also a point of contention, where I understand that excessive customization really dragged down TS3 and made it unplayable for a lot of people. So instead of full customization, relegate it to just colors (instead of different materials like fabric, metal, wood, etc.,) and just CAS.
I think a lot of what gummed up TS4 was the fact that you could customize everything. Hair color, eye color, makeup, clothes, accessories, wallpaper, paint, tiles, flooring, chairs, sofas, decorations, and on and on. Restricting it just to CAS, and in a simple color wheel would give us so much more freedom.
A color wheel in CAS would also solve EA’s issue of diversity. While they’ve given us the ability to create trans and nonbinary sims (which is fantastic!), they’ve been really slow on any progress when it comes to skin tones. A color wheel would allow us to create sims of all colors, and give power to the players to create more realistic and diverse representations of their lives as sims.
The last thing I would really love to see is a return to the little details. Give us more randomness. Genies, walking skeletons, ruins we can explore that aren’t just rabbit holes, more active careers, more opportunities. Don’t be afraid to give us the weird things, we love the weird things! But don’t forget about the little things. Sims sitting in the grass together and chatting, sims leaving flowers at your door after a really great date, sims scooting together to cuddle while watching a movie together on the couch.
Overall, TS5 should just include more more, if that makes sense.
Leave your comments & thoughts below! I’d love to talk to ya’ll about this, its really been brewing for awhile.
*Features included in TS4 base game.
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Expelled from Paradise: Final Thoughts
When the first SRW T PV rolled in, this was the one entry that puzzled me a bit - while all the other long overdue returnees and new entrants were all well known to me one way or another, this is one I’d barely heard of - I’d seen one review video on youtube years before that delivered a verdict of “it’s okay”, and I barely even remembered that. However, interviews with SRW T’s production staff revealed that this one was actually pretty heavily requested in Japan. I couldn’t really get my head around that, this being a 100% 3D-CG anime movie starring a main character in a ridiculous outfit that had her entire ass hanging out and made her look like an xbox gijinka to boot. However, now that I’ve actually seen it I think I understand now - this is a 2014 movie by Gen Urubuchi, a guy who’s had a fairly chequered history with a couple of duds like the recent disappointing netflix godzilla trilogy and the lukewarmly-received mecha anime Aldnoah Zero, but has also knocked it out of the park with other works like Fate Zero and most notably Puella Magi Madoka Magika. I think this one should count amongst his successes, as it elevates itself above its apparent flaws and delivers a story that’s thrilling and interesting in equal measure.
The plot setup is that in the future, a catastrophe known as the Nano Hazard has left the Earth in ruins. To escape the desolation of the ruined Earth, most of humanity now lives on in the form of digitised consciousnesses called Personalities, hosted in a giant server called Deva in orbit above Earth. There, people are free to live in virtual luxury, while the few humans who decided to remain on the surface eke out whatever living they can in the ruins of the old world. However, a hacker known as Frontier Setter has begun breaching Deva’s security to deliver messages about an alleged space travel plan to Deva’s confused citizens. While nobody knows his true identity, Deva’s Central Security council won’t tolerate Frontier Setter’s intrusion, fearing that his true intentions are malign, and in response send their agent Angela Balzac to Earth in a cloned physical body in order to identify and neutralise the threat. There, she rendezvouses with Dingo, a gun for hire who knows the lay of the land on Earth, and sets out on a mission to track down the threat to Deva’s safety.
It’s quite an interesting premise right out of the gate - the concept of digitised personalities isn’t exactly new to sci-fi but I think it was captured in a fairly novel way here. Seeing as it’s a short movie at around an hour and three quarters, it’s difficult to talk about the plot without spoiling it too much, but I thought it was pretty well paced and had its fair share of interesting ideas. My initial impression before watching was that it was a fanservice movie meant for the lowest common denominator, but it had some surprisingly intelligent things to say, even waxing philosophic at points. I’m not saying that it’s a deep galaxy brain story either, but it’s definitely not dumb schlock. Of course, however, the whole reason it’s in SRW T is because of its action and it doesn’t disappoint with that either - while mecha aren’t super prominent until the last half hour or so, that last half-hour is a thrilling rollercoaster ride featuring some really impressively realised mecha combat. In short, whether you like your sci-fi stories loud and exciting or a little more slow-paced and pensive, you’ll probably find something you like in here.
I thought the movie’s characters were pretty good too. While Angela’s outfit is a lot to get past, I thought she was a well-realised protagonist with an equally well-realised character arc, mostly centred around her struggling to come to grips with life in a physical body on Earth having existed purely as data up until that point. A lot of that comes across her interactions with Dingo, who I thought was a really great character - he’s a cocksure and clever rogue who’s out to make a quick buck first and foremost, which is a personality that clashes with Angela’s more by-the-books, results-driven approach in entertaining ways. The real stand-out, however, turned out to be Frontier Setter, for reasons that would be spoilery to go into.
As far as presentation goes, it’d be very understandable for you to see that this is 100% 3D, for both human characters and mecha, and assume instantly that this would look like shit. 99% of the time you’d be absolutely right. However, not this time - clearly this movie’s budget was enough for the 3D CG work to actually look good - and not just passable either, I mean really good. There are times it looks rough, most notably in the movie’s opening scene. However, the rest of the time you can barely even tell that it’s been done solely with computers. It’s backed up by solid visual design - while I do have to once again point out that Angela’s outfit is a glaring exception to the rule (seriously, the lead character designer deserves a slap for it) it’s otherwise superb. Whether it’s the cyberspace inside Deva, or the strangely beautiful desolation of Earth, the environments are really well realised. The real star of the show is the mecha combat however, with the high-tech New Arhan exosuit leading the way. The battles at the end of the movie look fantastic, with superbly choreographed action scenes featuring some of the genre’s trademark flourishes and just a highly mobile, high-intensity, carnage-filled approach in general. It turns the movie’s final act into a huge thrill ride. When Demo D reviewed this movie on youtube, he said that he “felt the hype.” I concur completely.
Overall, I’d strongly encourage anybody who hasn’t seen it to check it out - while there are aspects to it that would be red flags elsewhere, I’d still urge everybody to give it a chance. Perhaps the fact that it was just a short movie with snazzy visuals has me slightly hoodwinked, but out of everything I’ve watched so far for the first time in preparation for SRW T, this is probably my favourite, beating out Rayearth by a whisker - something I really wasn’t anticipating.
As for SRW T, I do think that they’ll have to use some creative license to make it work in the larger plot - I think certain events will have to go down very differently, and they’ll also probably have to push the story past the point where it ends in the movie. However, I’m still looking forward to its contribution to the story - I think the presence of some of its plot aspects will make the world of SRW T a lot more interesting, plus I think there’s room for them to intermesh with a variety of the other stories that’ll be around, from Gun X Sword to Votoms, or even Might Gaine and Gaogaigar. I definitely think from a gameplay perspective the inclusion was warranted, as the New Arhan is going to have a variety of strong and exciting attacks it’ll be able to pull off.
And with that out of the way, there’s only one series left to watch (well, two if you count the OVA) and that’s Aura Battler Dunbine. I’ve heard mixed things about it and don’t really know what to expect, but I’ll be finding out next.
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Jennifer Kelly: Riffing on the margins
Every year, picking favorites seems more like an exercise in futility. You listen to a small subset of the available music, because it’s what people send you, it’s what comes on when you tune into WFMU, it’s what your friends write about or post on Now Playing, etc. and no human being can listen to everything or even a good portion of it. Then because of the way you’re wired and what you eat and who you know and a thousand other essentially random factors, you like what you like out of that small subset. I, personally, have never felt more out of the mainstream or less influential than this year. (Not that I was ever very on the pulse of what’s popular, but still…)
So anyway, with that caveat, music was as important as ever in my life, and maybe more so, because of the continual flood of unbelievable, awful, comically evil events on the world stage. We somehow seem to have elected Voldemort as president, a sex-abusing, corrupt, traitorous idiot, who will not shut up even for an instant, despite having a vocabulary of approximately 20 words. So turn it up, drown it out, take it away…the music remained very good this year, even when nothing else did.
It was a year when Michael Chapman made one of his best records ever, 50 years into his career, and backed by a brash young collection of guitar slingers and new jack folk dudes – two of whom (Steve Gunn and James Elkington) came out with their own excellent records as well. It was a year when a fractious, not entirely comfortable collaboration between West African traditionalists and French punk rockers pretty much owned my stereo, when Mark Lanegan guested on a haunting album by Tinawaren and also turned in his own soul-stirring rock album. I might have listened to less straight up guitar banging this year than usual, but if you have to pick a couple, you could do a lot worse than Xeta’s Husker Du-ish The Tower or feedtime’s back-from-the-hiatus Gas. More fantastic albums from Protomartyr and the Sleaford Mods, not surprising, but welcome anyway, and the wonderfully mordant, rueful and very Irish outing from Seamus Fogarty, which no one else seemed to pick up on, but I loved.
My two favorite songs this year will not appear on anyone else’s songs of the year lists, but whatever, next time you’re feeling wistful, check out Jack Cooper’s “Memphis, Lancashire” or hone in on the mesmerizing instrumental break (that’s Chicago free-jazz cellist Tomeka Reid) on James Elkington’s “Wading the Vapors.” I could also listen to Lanegan’s “Emperor” any day, all day, despite or maybe because it kinda reminds of Iggy’s “The Passenger.”
Reissues feel a little like cheating, because who the hell would reissue them if they weren’t already great, but still, a few of them measurably enhanced my life. I spent months on Cherry Red’s Fall singles collection and another very happy week or so talking about them with my Dusted pals. And discovering Jackie Shane — both for the quality of the music and the amazing story of her life — was unquestionably a highlight of this fall.
So with that, and out of the three hundred or so new albums that I listened to this year at least a couple times, and the maybe 100 that I played on repeat enough to have much of an opinion, here are the ones that moved me the most.
Michael Chapman — 50 (Paradise of Bachelors)
50 by Michael Chapman
I said in Blurt: Now in his 70s, Chapman sings with some authority about all the things you give up for a life in music – a settled abode (“Sometimes You Just Drive”), a late-model vehicle (“Spanish Incident”), a working relationship (“Falling from Grace”) and cold hard wherewithal (“Money Troubles”). And yet, surrounded by younger and contemporary peers, in a translucent mesh of jangling, tangling guitar/bass/banjo tones, he makes a case for the difficult path he’s chosen. “You know I don’t scare easy… but I do get scared,” he rasps on the superlative “That Time of the Night” (last heard covered by Lucinda Williams on the Oh Michael What Have You Done? tribute album and before that on 2008’s Time Past and Passing). The lilt in the line pulls the tune out of the darkness, the massed guitars and hushed group vocals bring shivering into the light.
Group Doueh & Cheveu — Dakhla Sahara Session (Born Bad)
From my Dusted review: This is not the kind of collaboration where you have to untangle who does what. The focus shifts from one band to another within the space of the song, and each comes out of the fray more or less as he or she went in. Cheveu’s members make no attempt to bend to the West African aesthetic, and Group Doueh plays from their rep book right over whatever punk mayhem Cheveu has put on offer. There’s a great deal of tension in these tunes, as two very different sets of musicians block out space for themselves. And yet, it’s a wonderful thing, feistier and more belligerent than most cross-cultural meetings. “Tout Droit,” the CD’s most exhilarating cut, sets up a rousing, shout-chanted Cheveu chorus, punctuated by grunts and “huhs,” then cuts it to ribbons with ravaging flourishes of guitar, ebullient forays of singing. The two bands are doing entirely different things, at the same exact time, and it works like a motherfucker.
Mark Lanegan Band — Gargoyle (Heavenly)
I celebrated my long-term affair with Mark Lanegan’s voice in this review at Dusted: Mark Lanegan can sound like a voice from the crypt, his hollowed out, deep-black whisper almost too low to hear properly, a whisper like Leonard Cohen if he’d recently been to hell, a whisper that could frighten children into eating their vegetables. In Gargoyle, though, he uses this whisper sparingly; the hairs on my arm rise to it just once, during “Nocturne” and for the rest of the time, the one-time Screaming Trees’ front man sticks to melody. Gargoyle is a singing record, a tuneful record, a densely, headily arranged record that surrounds Lanegan’s gothic reveries in soft glowing light. There’s almost no negative space in these ten songs. All are filled, end to end, with enveloping textures and sustained sounds.
Xetas — The Tower (12XU)
The Tower by XETAS
Hail, hail, rock and roll, say I in Dusted. Xetas, out of Austin, make an unholy racket, a noisy, feedback blurred firehose spray of sound that does not quite obscure a tendency towards tunefulness. The hooks bristle with barbed wire abrasion, putting this band more in line with Hüsker Dü than the Wipers, but they’re in there, glinting out of a cyclone of broken glass and diesel smoke. So, also, a kind of positivity radiates intermittently through the rage and turmoil of this band’s attack. The Tower, Xetas’ second, vibrates with the brash, brave defiance of 99%-ers who have been beaten down, but aren’t quite finished yet.
Jack Cooper — Sandgrown (Trouble in Mind)
Sandgrown by Jack Cooper
Bill Meyer and I both wanted to cover this one, and then we each did a “no, you go ahead” kind of thing and neither one of us ended up reviewing it for Dusted, but I wrote about it for Blurt thusly: These shimmering songs are full of ellipses, the spaces between guitar notes clouded over with wistful nostalgia for Jack Cooper’s lost seaside childhood. Cooper has gotten a fair amount of ink lately for his quietly subversive, acoustic dueling guitar duo Ultimate Painting (with Veronica Falls’ James Hoare), also rather luminously introspective, but Sandgrown is more personal, with the smell of salt air, the sting of sea breezes, the sharp sense of loss and change running through every track.
Sleaford Mods — English Tapas (Rough Trade)
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Back into the Sleaford Mods fold with this one, the words again appearing in Dusted: Key Markets and the follow-up EP T.C.R., to me, sounded a little thin, as if the concept of Sleaford Mods, whatever it was, had already been fully explored, the meat pried out, the beginnings of self-parody creeping in. English Tapas reverses this trend. It returns to the sly humor, the hypnotic barking aggression, the occasional whiffs of wistful tune-ish-ness slipped in between robotic beats of Divide and Exit and maybe does it one better.
James Elkington—Wintres Woma (Paradise of Bachelors)
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Wintres Woma by James Elkington
I listened between the lines at Dusted: James Elkington, once of Zincs and now the go-to guitar guy for any number of indie icons (but most prominently, Jeff Tweedy and Richard Thompson), has an effortless skill in this latest solo album, the kind of picking prowess that dissolves like smoke into mood and atmosphere. He is a very good player, a lovely relaxed singer (in the vein of Bert Jansch) and an eccentric writer, whose songs borrow liberally from British folk tradition, but veer into unexpected directions. But if you want to know what’s mesmerizing about this slow burning beauty of an album, listen to the intervals, where Elkington dreams jazz-inflected fever reveries with a set of musicians that includes bassist Nick Macri, drummer Tim Daisy, and, most remarkably, violinist Macie Stewart and improv-jazz cellist Tomeka Reid.
Seamus Fogarty—The Curious Hand (Domino)
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I fell in love with this album the first time I heard the line in “Mexico” about getting reamed out by the boss for a smoke break. I also reviewed an album that doesn’t really exist (it was revised between promo and release) at Dusted: Seamus Fogarty makes shaggy songs, rumpled as if they’d been slept in rough, and plaintive at their core but with a shrugging, wry, what-are-ya-gonna-do sense of humor. Though mostly acoustic, leaning heavily on strummed guitar with some lovely melancholy fiddle, viola and maybe cello for accents, his songs also incorporate electronics and evocative field recordings.
Protomartyr—Relatives in Descent (Domino)
Relatives In Descent by Protomartyr
Four great albums in a row, who else is doing this? My Dusted review: Protomartyr ruminates on the nature of knowing in its fourth full-length album, tangling knotty intellectual conundrums over an obliterating roar. Backed again by a Detroit post-punk freight-train clamor — Greg Ahee on guitar, drummer Alex Leonard, bassist Scott Davidson — Joe Casey, the band’s rumple-suited, bile-spitting nerve center, finds a free-associative space for rant-poems about consciousness, memory, free will and the refracted shards of current events.
Feedtime—Gas (In the Red)
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Naturally, I root for the old guys, again from Dusted: You might expect some throat clearing, some tentative beginnings, in a band that had taken off the previous generation, but no, from the opener, “Any Good Thing,” you hear the same noisy slide-bent guitar riffs, the same rough and furious rhythms, the same growling, monster-voiced vocal attack as ever. feedtime might have gone out for a pack of cigarettes, slipped back in casually and ramped up to eleven.
Loved these, too.
Julie Byrne—Not Even Happiness (BaDaBing)
Jaimie Branch — Fly or Die (International Anthem)
Joseph Childress—Rebirths (Empty Cellar)
Heron Oblivion—The Chapel (self-release)
Tinariwen—Elwan (Anti-)
Stef Chura — Messes (Urinal Cake)
Feral Ohms—S-T (Silver Current)
Pere Ubu—20 Years in a Montana Missile Silo (Cherry Red)
Upper Wilds—Upper Wilds (Thrill Jockey)
Melkbelly—Nothing Valley (Wax Nine)
Kelley Stoltz — Que Aura (Castle Face)
The Clientele—The Age of Miracles (Merge)
Algiers — The Underside of Power (Matador)
Avey Tare — Eucalyptus (Domino)
Golden Boys—Better than Good Times (12XU)
Gunn-Truscinski Duo—Bay Head (Three-Lobed)
Contributors—ST (Monofonus Press)
Mark Eitzel—Hey Mr. Ferryman (Merge)
Reissues/Comps
The Fall—A Sides and B Sides (Cherry Red)
Jackie Shane—Any Other Way (Numero Group)
V/A—Ote Maloya (Strut)
I really like books, too, so here are my favorite reads from last year as well.
George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo
Hamid Moshin, Exit West
The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert
Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere
An American Sickness, Elizabeth Rosenthal
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, Desmond Matthew
#yearend 2017#jennifer kelly#michael chapman#group doueh#cheveu#mark lanegan#xetas#jack cooper#sleaford mods#james elkington#seamus fogarty#protomartyr#feedtime#the fall#jackie shane
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Aubrey Stauffer
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What’s right? Watch 5 films that explore the concept of social justice
Social justice is a topic we know well at the NFB. It’s a topic that lends itself well to the documentary form, and as a result has formed the backbone of many a film.
There are so many facets to explore in the relationship between individuals and society; in the distribution of wealth, opportunity, and social privilege. It is through this exploration that we can examine, and perhaps come to some agreement, on what is fair and just in these regards.
At the heart of it, I think that’s what these 5 films aim to do – offer us an opportunity to examine these issues and draw some conclusions about what it means to live in a fair and just society.
Payback
This feature doc from 2011 was based on Margaret Atwood’s bestsellng book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth. The book, in turn, was based on a series of Massey Lectures that Atwood gave in 5 different Canadian cities back in 2008. The subject was debt, but from a very different perspective.
We tend to think of debt in financial measures – that which is derived from borrowing and lending. And while the latter remains true, debt isn’t always a financial construct. This film looks also looks at the psychological, theological, literary, and ecological aspects of debt, as well.
Payback is an exploration of the relationship between debtors and creditors, both traditional and non-traditional. It seeks to uncover how debt affects relationships, societies, governments, and life and the planet itself. It does this by looking at specific stories, bringing us right into the heart of what it means to owe and be owed. From the wealth of Conrad Black to the near-slave conditions of the tomato field workers in southern Florida, we see it all.
It is the perfect film to kick off the topic of social justice.
oehttps://https://ift.tt/2N9XEwu
Wal-Town the Film
Talk about your crazy road trip. In this feature-length doc, six students based out of Quebec embark on a cross-country mission to visit 36 of the 200 Walmart stores. Why? To raise awareness about their business practices, and how it affects cities across Canada.
Joining the activists is, obviously, a film crew, but also – just for fun – a wacky gonzo journalist. Not quite Dr. Gonzo gonzo, but pretty entertaining nonetheless. He was researching a story on Walmart that he’d pitched to a publication when he came upon the Wal-Town crew (that’s what the students call themselves). He gave them a call and asked if he could ride along.
While he works on his story, we see the students working hard toward their goal. According to them, their aim is to take culture back from the giant multi-national corporations. They’re worried about “being consumers at the risk of being citizens.” It’s a social justice mission at its finest.
They kick off their journey by visiting the only unionized store in Canada, so we actually do get to see both sides. It’s a fascinating and entertaining film, no matter which side of the conversation you fall on.
oehttps://https://ift.tt/2vP2B5N
The Downtown Project
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I sat down to watch this film. The description we have on the site paints it as a film about a seedy social housing complex that sits at the centre of Montreal’s downtown core. I was expecting social justice style activism in petitioning for better living conditions. But it only takes a few minutes of watching the film to realize that the residents don’t view their home in this way at all.
Les Habitations Jeanne-Mance is, or was at the time of filming in 2011, the largest social housing complex in Quebec. Its population is made up of 1700 residents, the majority of which are immigrants. As one resident says, it’s like living in the United Nations. Of those 1700, about 500 are youth 18 and under. After listening to just one of those kid’s stories, you realize that some of them see their home as paradise on earth, compared to where they’ve come from.
The film is a real wake-up call. This is a community of people who, for the most part, are truly grateful for what they have. It’s a stark look at the contrast between the privileged middle and upper classes vs. the lower-class minorities. The average yearly income for residents at the complex is $12,000 per year. Think about that for a moment.
This is a small film with a lot of heart. The stories will touch you and open your eyes. In French with English subtitles.
oehttps://https://ift.tt/2LZwc7r
Au Chic Resto Pop
Watching a film about hungry children living right in your own city is enough to make anyone’s stomach churn. It is so difficult to wrap my head around the dire situation that some of these families are in. As I shop for groceries, snack between meals, have meals, there are kids who go days without food.
Filmmaker Tahani Rached attacks the issue of hunger head on with this engaging, and oddly hopeful, feature-length doc. It focuses on an organization, Le Chic Resto Pop, which recycles discarded food to feed the hungry for a buck a meal.
We get to see all facets of the Resto Pop, from the staff that works there to the people it serves. We’re privy to how they attempt to balance the business side with the social cause they’re serving. And how important it is to understand that they’re not a charity, but a community practicing self-sufficiency. And all of it set to a great soundtrack.
Rached is no stranger to social justice issues. One look at the films we have online and you’ll see it’s a common theme in her work. This film is no exception. French with English subtitles.
oehttps://https://ift.tt/2vP2dnR
VTR: St-Jacques
This short film forms part of a collective body of work known as the Challenge for Change project. Challenge for Change was an initiative that made use of newly-available portable video equipment to get right into the heart of community and social justice issues, with the goal of empowering Canadians to help themselves.
The program ran from 1967 to 1980, and is one of the NFB’s most well-known, and controversial, endeavours. This film was made in 1969, so pretty early on. The objective as to stimulate social action in a poor Montreal neighbourhood, by taking a camera and microphone right up to community members and having them talk about their issues.
Rather than being forgotten, or left on the sidelines, these people were finally being given a voice, and a platform to speak. As a result, they learned that the could be active participants in their own lives. It’s a great look at the power of community video. In French and English, with English subtitles.
oehttps://https://ift.tt/2no0bXT
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Shocking news stories linking into the exposing idea.
Our one idea of addressing different topics that society don’t usually like. I thought that this would be an interesting way to do research and gather my research on the uncensored news article out there. I was surprised to find a range of different ones from https://smartblogger.com/outrageous-headlines/
1) HOW TO QUIT YOUR JOB, MOVE TO PARADISE AND GET PAID TO CHANGE THE WORLD – JON MORROW
If you’ve followed Jon for some time, you’ll already be familiar with this headline, taken from his breakthrough post on Problogger. And when you really break it down, it’s one hell of an outrageous claim – that you can “quit your job, move to paradise and get paid to change the world.” You mean someone will actually pay me to do that? For anyone unhappy – or even just a little restless – in their current job, this headline dangles an irresistible carrot. You must click on this headline because you must know how such a thing can be true.
2) HOW SPENDING $162,301.42 ON CLOTHES MADE ME $692,500 – NEIL PATEL
First, the idea that anyone can spend so much money on clothes is outrageous, even obscene. What sort of person could justify spending so much (and not be too ashamed to admit it?) Secondly, you can’t help but wonder: how is it even possible to make money by spending money on clothes? Let alone over 300% in profit. It seems too incredible to believe. And that’s exactly why you must click to find out more.
3) CAUTION: STOP MASTURBATING WITH YOUR MONEY – ASHLEY AMBIRGE
Wow – that word really hits you between the eyes, doesn’t it? After all, when was the last time you read a headline with the word masturbation? But it’s not just a cheap shock tactic. The author used it to create intrigue for her post. What does it actually mean to masturbate with your money? Does she mean it literally? And that’s why this headline is so outrageous. It combines potentially shocking language with an intriguing concept, and the result is almost impossible to ignore.
4) HOW I’M GOING TO LOSE ALL MY CUSTOMERS AND WRECK MY BUSINESS – TIM BROWNSON
If you spend any time at all reading blogs, you’ll have seen more than your fair share of “How to” headlines. But this one is a little different. Rather than helping the reader do something, Tim seems hellbent on sabotaging his own business. And you simply have to know why.
5) 16 UNETHICAL LIFE HACKS YOU WON’T LEARN IN SCHOOL – DAILY PASTIME
It’s the word unethical that makes this headline so outrageous. Most of us are interested in hacks that make our lives easier – but unethical ones? I mean, we should just turn away, right? But the idea of getting an unfair advantage, even if it means being unethical, is too damn appealing. This type of headline works because the shady edges of human experience will always be fascinating to us. (Think about how much we love crime stories.)
6) HOW A SINGLE GUEST POST MAY HAVE GOTTEN AN ENTIRE SITE PENALIZED BY GOOGLE – DANNY SULLIVAN
Early last year, Google’s Matt Cutts caused a storm by declaring guest blogging dead. Well, the dust has settled, and high-quality guest posts are still a great way to promote your blog. Nevertheless, Matt’s declaration highlighted how guest blogging has done the wrong way can cause you problems with Google. (In fact, if you are writing or accepting guest posts on your blog, this headline might trigger sweat-dripping, heart-pounding panic.) But what’s eye-catching outrageous about this headline is the idea that just one guest post can affect an entire site. It seems so unfair, right? That a single misstep could land your site in serious trouble. So, what the hell did Danny do that got his whole site penalised? You have to click to find out so you can avoid the same horrible fate.
7) WHY JAMES CHARTRAND WEARS WOMEN’S UNDERPANTS – JAMES CHARTRAND
A person’s underwear preferences are surely a private matter. So why is this writer revealing his surprising fetish in a headline? And why on earth is he doing it on a popular marketing blog? This is, of course, the famous post revealing that James Chartrand, the “man” behind Men With Pens, is, in fact, a woman. It’s a shocking unmasking. And what a joyfully outrageous way to do it.
8) TWENTYSOMETHING: WHY I REGRET GETTING STRAIGHT A’S IN COLLEGE – JON MORROW
Who on earth would have the gall to say they regret getting straight A’s in college?
*shakes head*
Not only is it a slap in the face to those who work their backsides off, struggle, and can only manage a B average, but you’re also left thinking, “What the hell happened to Jon for him to feel that getting straight A’s was a mistake?”
What does that headline make you think the rest of the post will say?
That you should try to get low grades in school? Or stop taking school so seriously and start slacking off?
Either is pretty outrageous, right? That’s why you have to click.
9) 5 WAYS STORES USE SCIENCE TO TRICK YOU INTO BUYING CRAP – PAUL K. PICKETT
We’ve all been into a store and bought more than we intended, right?
Happens all the time. Nobody to blame but ourselves.
But what’s shocking about this headline is its suggestion that the real reason for this behaviour is not our own lack of self-discipline, but stores’ sneaky use of scientific tricks to manipulate us.
Worse still, they’re using these tricks to make us buy crap – not only stuff we don’t need but stuff that’s also practically worthless.
It’s an outrageous practice – and you’re the victim.
So how can you deny yourself from knowing the truth? You have to click.
10) WHY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE ARE DOUCHEBAGS – NEIL PATEL
Calling anyone a douchebag is a bold and risky move.
Calling out an entire group of people on a public blog is borderline offensive. (Imagine how you’d feel if that group was people of a particular race, gender, or religion.)
But Neil Patel’s target group is successful people.
And sure, some successful people are douchebags. But all successful people? That’s quite an outrageous claim, no?
Many successful people will have worked hard to get where they are. And even if you’re not successful by conventional measures, you’d like to be someday, wouldn’t you?
Neil’s playing a dangerous game here, and we want to watch it play out.
11) HOW FORMAL EDUCATION KILLED THE PASSIONATE CAREER (+ A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR STUDENTS, PARENTS & LIFELONG LEARNERS) – SCOTT DINSMORE
What’s this – a formal attack on the educational system?
Pretty outrageous, right?
Certainly, it’s likely to ruffle a few feathers among people inside – and outside – the system.
But the specific claim is even more outrageous – that formal education is not just incompatible with having a passionate career, but it also has killed off the entire concept.
You’ve just got to find out if Scott’s argument stands up, so you click.
12) CHOOSE TO BE OUTSTANDING (OR CHOOSE TO CONTINUE TO SUCK) – JOHNNY B. TRUANT
This essentially says: unless you choose to be outstanding, you’re choosing to suck.
That’s a provocative statement.
After all, who would actually choose to suck at something? Well, you, according to Johnny.
Because with this headline, there is no middle ground. Johnny is forcing you, right here and right now, to make a decision.
That’s rather outrageous of him, don’t you think?
13) WHY CLEVER POSTS TITLES ARE KILLING YOUR BLOG – GREG NARAYAN
The key to this headline is the word clever.
Cleverness is usually considered a good thing, so the suggestion that it’s killing your blog is somewhat outrageous.
In fact, the real implication is that you might be trying to be a little too clever. And perhaps even a little too pleased with yourself. And that’s difficult to hear.
So, are you guilty of trying to be too clever for your own good?
To find out the answer, you’re forced to click and get the whole story.
14) MARRIAGE ISN’T FOR YOU – SETH ADAM SMITH
BAM!
This headline is a click-magnet for almost everybody. Single people. Married couples. It doesn’t matter – it has the potential to outrage almost anyone.
For starters, it seems to be an attack on the whole institution of marriage. That’s sure to upset a few people, right?
It also presumes to know a lot about the reader. It’s a verbal slap in the face that could cause them to get very defensive.
“How dare you? You don’t know anything about me! How can you possibly say marriage isn’t for me?”
15) WHAT’S SCARIER THAN THE SEX TALK? TALKING ABOUT FOOD & WEIGHT! – PERFECTLY UNPERFECTED
What parent wouldn’t be sweaty-palmed about having the sex talk with their child? In fact, it’s a little outrageous to even mention it in a headline, isn’t it?
But the real shock comes with the idea that a conversation about your child’s weight is even scarier. What does that say about our attitudes toward food and obesity?
16) EYES WIDE SHUT: HERE’S WHY I DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT MY TEENAGER IS REALLY UP TO – LISA BARR
Sounds like irresponsible parenting, doesn’t it? Sticking your head in the sand and ignoring what your teenager is really doing.
As a parent, shouldn’t you want to know what your teenager is up to? Who their friends are? Where they’re going?
Maybe.
But this headline is so outrageous because it taps into a dirty little thought that many parents have – maybe it’s better to not know.
And if they don’t know, their squeaky-clean image of their teenager won’t be tarnished.
17) SEO IS DEAD. LINK BUILDING IS DEAD. YOUR PONY IS DEAD – ANA HOFFMAN
This headline is loaded with outrageousness.
For starters, it has the audacity to declare the entire field of SEO dead. That’s outrageous, even arrogant.
And it bangs a nail in the coffin of link building, perhaps the most treasured tactic in SEO. That’s outrageous too.
But the dead pony reference is the clincher. It adds insult to outrage. (Who wants the image of a dead pony in their head?)
It’s just a crass trick to get your attention, surely. (But it worked, didn’t it?)
If you care about SEO, this headline will probably make you angry, and you’ll want to click it so you can wade into the argument.
18) FAILURE IS AN OPTION – CHASE REEVES
This headline plays on the motivational mantra of “failure is NOT an option.” So by saying the opposite, it almost sounds like Chase is anti-success.
And that’s outrageous, isn’t it? How can success be bad?
I’m sure you’ll admit that it creates curiosity. Maybe the post will even suggest that failure is better than success. What a scandalous idea!
But the only way to find that out is by clicking the headline.
19) HOW GRABBING DRINKS AFTER WORK IS KILLING YOUR BUDGET – GAIL GARDNER
Calling all business professionals who bust their backsides every day in a job they hate for a boss that doesn’t appreciate them.
Grabbing a cold drink at the end of a rough day to soothe your stress and calm your nerves could be a dumb move.
This headline is a kick in the gut for anyone who feels a post-work beer is a well-earned treat.
You’ll want to click to find out if the claim is truly justified.
20) WHAT WEIRD AL YANKOVIC CAN TEACH US ABOUT BLOGGING – KEVIN DUNCAN
Ever heard of Weird Al?
The guy who does parodies of almost anything from celebrities to food?
What makes this headline outrageous is the thought that a wacky performer like Weird Al, who once did a classic parody called “White & Nerdy,” can teach you something about blogging.
It’s almost laughable. But because you can’t help but wonder what the connection is, you know what you have to do to find out.
21) FACEBOOK DOESN’T CARE ABOUT YOUR REACH — AND NEITHER DO USERS – JON LOOMER
If you’re trying to build a following on Facebook, how can you ignore this?
You treasure each new “like” of your Facebook page because it means your reach is expanding.
So to hear that Facebook doesn’t give a damn about your following is a kick in the teeth.
Don’t they want you to be successful on their platform? How can they not care?
22) 10 REASONS MEN SHOULDN’T BE HELPING THEIR WIVES WITH THE HOUSEWORK – AIMEE OGDEN
This headline will certainly be outrageous to some.
If the post is true to the headline, other women may see the author as a traitor to her gender.
If it’s a sarcastic post, it might be seen as baiting men.
So which is it? You’re forced to read the post to find out if she’s being serious or tongue-in-cheek.
23) 5 WAYS WOMEN ARE BETTER BOSSES THAN MEN – BARRY MOLTZ
Nothing like a good debate, right?
But these days the idea that one gender is better at anything than the other is an outrageous statement.
But you’ll click this headline because you want to know why this (male) author feels this way? Will it be a snarky, sarcastic post? Or a feminist view from a male perspective?
And as an exercise in outrageousness, think how you’d feel if a woman wrote this post, not a man. Would it cross the line, or not?
24) HOW FACEBOOK RUINED CHRISTMAS – JAY BAER
No!
Say it ain’t so! First, the Grinch stole Christmas; now Facebook wants to ruin it.
It’s true that Facebook has had some trust issues in recent times. But it’s extreme to suggest they actually ruined Christmas. And kinda funny too.
Even if you’re a Facebook hater, you want to know how the author will back this up.
After all, if Facebook really ruined Christmas, wouldn’t you know about it already?
25) WHY BREAKFAST IS NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY – RICHARD TALENS
You know what this headline is saying?
It’s saying that you’ve been lied to your entire childhood – and adulthood too. Lied to by your parents. By your family doctor. By whoever had the nerve to utter the phrase, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
Nothing but lies. And because this headline is questioning something that you’ve known, or have been told, your whole life, you can’t help but find out whether you were really misled for all this time.
26) 10 REASONS WHY PROM NIGHT IS OVERRATED FOR STUDENTS – ASHLEY REESE
If you ever went to prom, you know how big of a deal it is, right?
You’ve spent months, even years, looking forward to that crowning moment of your high school career. The perfect outfit. The stretch limo. The treasured memories.
So isn’t it outrageous (and a little mean) that someone is trying to undermine those memories in a single blog post?
Or how about if you haven’t attended your prom yet? Being told it’s overrated would suck.
So what’s the deal here? You’ll have to click to find out.
27) YOUR PENIS WON’T FALL OFF AND OTHER THINGS BOYS SHOULD KNOW – RITA TEMPLETON
That got your attention, right?
Seeing the word “penis” in a headline is surprising and maybe shocking – even if it is a mommy blog.
But if you’re a first-time parent of a boy, you’ll wonder, “Is that really an issue? Do they really think that? Plus, what other crazy things do young boys think?”
28) WHY BLOGGING IS A WASTE OF YOUR TIME – RAMSAY TAPLIN
How many hours a week do you spend on your blog?
Ten? Twenty? More?
A headline like this could leave your heart in your throat because it says what some bloggers might secretly fear – that blogging is a waste of their time.
And since the author is a popular blogger, your curiosity is heightened. If this blogger (who is likely more successful than his average reader) is saying this, what has he discovered that you need to know?
29) HOW TO SEE STRAIGHTER BY CROSSING YOUR EYES – DAVID CAIN
Doesn’t this headline seem completely outrageous?
How can do something that many people think could damage your eyesight possibly help you see straighter?
It’s impossible to comprehend – but filled with intrigue. You’re left wondering whether this headline is supposed to be taken literally – or if’s it’s a metaphor – or something else altogether.
But whatever it is, you’re lured into clicking to find out.
30) MY SON IS GETTING AN AMERICAN GIRL DOLL FOR CHRISTMAS – LORI DURON
This headline plays with gender stereotypes.
Traditional thinking says that dolls are for girls, not boys. So why is this author’s son getting one for Christmas?
Is it because he actually wants one for Christmas? Or is his mother enforcing her own progressive agenda to her child?
Both alternatives provoke curiosity or even outrage.
But whatever your views, one question remains.
Just why is this boy getting a doll for Christmas?
31) WHY THE BLOGGING EXPERTS ARE WRONG ABOUT HEADLINES – STAN SMITH
You know that in the blogging world, it’s universally accepted that headlines are one of the most important elements to master.
In fact, most of your blogging heroes will have something to say about headlines.
So suggesting that these heavyweights are totally wrong about such a crucial blogging ingredient is outrageous.
We might think, “Who the hell are you Stan Smith to be saying my heroes are wrong? And, more importantly, what does it mean for me if you’re right?”
32) IT’S ALWAYS YOUR FAULT, SO STOP MAKING EXCUSES – EVAN LUZI
Though this headline is aimed at camera assistants, anyone can tell how effective it is.
You can easily imagine that assistants might be the first to get blamed for almost any problem on a shoot, and you may even transpose this to your own line of work.
The outrageousness comes from being told that it’s ALWAYS your fault, whatever the context.
Can it truly always be your fault? It almost sounds like bullying from the author, doesn’t it?
You’ll have to click to find out.
33) ON THE INSIDE, WE ARE ALL AFRAID OF HAVING AN UGLY BABY – BETHANY RAMOS
This one is dangerously powerful, isn’t it?
After all, what parent-to-be doesn’t hope their baby will be cute as a button?
But suggesting that parents are secretly afraid of having an ugly baby is outrageous.
After all, it paints them as shallow and appearance-conscious – even with their own flesh and blood. Shouldn’t parental love be unconditional?
But if it didn’t contain a seed of truth, would it be as enticing as it is?
34) 10 TYPES OF SEX YOU’LL HAVE ONCE YOU’RE A PARENT – MEGAN ZANDER
Most expectant parents are told that sex disappears from the menu once a new baby arrives.
So it’s outrageous (and maybe a little exciting) to hear that not only will you be having sex after you become a parent – but ten types of it!
Be honest, you’re curious about the types on the list.
35) WHY I’LL ALWAYS PUT MY HUSBAND BEFORE MY KIDS – AMBER DOTY
Mothers should put their kids above all else, right? Even their partners. At least, that’s a common belief.
But this author thinks otherwise – how outrageous! Surely her husband can look after himself?
This headline challenges society’s notions of the family pecking order, and we desperately want to find out why she thinks this way.
36) 21 REASONS TO HATE KIDS – YVETTE CASTER
Doesn’t this one just grab you by the eyeballs? You have to click.
(Assuming you can get past your sense of outrage that is.)
Kids are supposed to be innocent, right? They hardly seem like a fair target for any type of hatred.
But let’s consider just how outrageous this title truly is.
A post that revealed the author hated kids would be somewhat shocking.
A post that tried to reassure us that it’s okay to hate kids would be more shocking.
But this post, which tries to persuade people to hate kids – people who maybe didn’t hate kids before – is downright outrageous.
And secretly you want to know why.
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