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dev-solovey · 7 months

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Reading up on the history of American Idiot (album) and realizing exactly how revolutionary it was and I just have to yell about it for a hot second

So, before they started working on American Idiot, the band was having problems and they were thinking they were going to break up. But for a couple of reasons, they switched directions, most notably because they all felt strongly about the Iraq War and how it was manufactured by greed and warmongering from the Bush administration, which was amplified by the news media. I read a quote from Billie Joe Armstrong where he talked about how the news media was becoming "more of a reality show" than it was news, and he couldn't have been more right. In fact, that problem got worse, and now we're living in an era of rampant misinformation where everything is politicized to a point where just supporting human rights for marginalized people is considered controversial. The song American Idiot came out in 2004, and when Donald Trump first visited the UK at the beginning of his presidency, it was the top played song on every UK radio station, 12 years after it was released. Most things would be culturally irrelevant at that point.

When creating the album American Idiot, a lot of thought went into it - they had a very specific message in mind, and their goal was to send that message to youth. This is because they realized at some point that their fanbase was a bunch of teenagers, and even though they hadn't necessarily intended it that way, they suddenly had a platform with the youth of America and they decided they ought to do something good with it. The drummer, Tré Cool, said something along the lines of "I've never really liked the idea of preaching to kids, but I realized we don't really have a choice at this point." And I love that so much because like, so many people who get rich and famous just become completely out of touch, and when they get a platform, it's very easy to exploit that platform, influence them with terrible ideas, or encourage them to act in terrible ways for self-serving reasons (ex: JK Rowling, Andrew Tate, Dream, Logan Paul, Onision, etc etc). Green Day refused to allow themselves to get to that point. They know the platform they had gave them power and they made an active choice early on to be responsible with it. And a lot of that moral code comes from the fact that they came up in the DIY punk scene in Oakland, which held its members to a very high standard of ethics, a code that they still follow even after they were disowned by that scene when they signed on with a major record label in 1994.

The song American Idiot has a message of "this mass media hysteria is manufactured bullshit, don't fall for it," and it is not subtle about that message. It punches you right in the face. I remember being 12 years old and listening to it and thinking, "yeah, I don't want to be an American idiot." And now, at the age of 28, I am a staunch leftist who is firmly against the atrocities the US government commits, and I feel strongly about stopping misinformation. So I can say with absolute certainty that they succeeded.

I also get like, really upset when people say that American Idiot is the album where they sold out, because that's objectively not true, both for the reasons I've provided above, and also because of the song Wake Me Up When September Ends. Not a lot of people know the story behind this song, but it's actually a song that Billie Joe wrote about the experience of his dad dying of cancer when he was 10 years old. The story, as he tells it, is that when he came home from school, his mom gave him the news, and being (understandably!) upset, started crying, ran to his room and slammed the door. When she knocked on the door to try and talk to him, he shouted "wake me up when September ends!!" in response. It took him decades to be able to write this song, and it shows because it's the perfect grief song, having been played at benefits for 9/11, hurricane Katrina, and so on. The first time I heard that song it reduced me to tears, because you can hear the intense sadness in it. A "sellout" would never write a song like that!! (Side note: maybe stop tweeting at Green Day to wake up every October 1st, it's super tone deaf given the subject matter,,,)

Anyway, I think I'm done being autistic about Green Day (that's a lie, they'll forever be my special interest), so TL;DR:

Thank you, Green Day, for creating a generation of leftists who aren't about the bullshit

#green day #American idiot #wake me up when september ends #billy joe armstrong #tre cool #mike dirnt #iraq war #bush administration #misinformation #i will die on this fucking hill

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is-she-suffering · 2 months

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8 April 2000 -Telegraph Magazine

Disturbed and disturbing, Katie Jane Garside fronted the band Daisy Chainsaw, prophesied the end of the world - and then disappeared. Seven years later she’s back, ready to shock again.

QUEEN ADREENA were on stage for only half an hour or so. The audience at London’s Hammersmith Palais had come to see Bush and the collected youths did not know what to make of this support act. It’s lead singer, Katie Jane Garside, is thin, provocative and confrontational. She has uncut Miss Havisham hair and wears pervy Victorian underwear. Twisting and squirming in the dark, often screaming, often prostrate, often turning her back to the audience, she is a performance artist rather than some chart-lipsticked Everywoman. Sexual in a very weird way, she looks as if she is lap-dancing in a gas-chamber. The blokes stare in disbelief. They shuffle about. Then, as the mike goes between her legs, they jump up and down.

Backstage afterwards the band squash into one of those huddles of Marlboro Lights and flushed analysis. There is a sign saying that CCTV is in operation and anyone taking drugs will be handed over to the police immediately. Orson, the bass guitarist, is wearing a long burgundy evening dress and complaining that his shoulder hurts because he fell off his horse. In Surrey. Very rock'n'roll. An individual wearing a jacket which looks as if it was made out of Wombles turns out to be Katie Jane’s boyfriend. She points to a huge man wearing black lipstick.

“That’s Billy Freedom,” she says. “He’s one of the weirdest people I have ever met.”

The lead guitarist, Crispin Gray, turns up. All eye-shadowed and Glam, Gray is from Islington and both his parents were West End actors. He understands theatre and has worn make-up for years, though not so much when he was signing on because he couldn’t face the hassle in the dole office.

“Quite a lot of girls seem to be attracted to the band and I’m sure it is because of Katie rather than me,” he says modestly. “Most guitar bands are still fronted by tough rock chicks trying to beat men at their own game, but Katie is not trying to be tough and I think girls like that.”

Katie Jane, ripped stocking, long lace bloomers, shoes that she has dyed herself, drinks quite a lot of red wine from the bottle and agrees that yes, she has come a long way since the days that she drilled babies’ heads

She used to shave her head. In 1992 she went around as Daisy Chainsaw, a short-lived, explosive act distinguished by the dramatic theatre of self-battery. In seizure to a megaphonic fuzz of electric guitar, she sang I Feel Insane and other loud angry songs coloured by dervish dancing and props - a doll, red paint, stained wedding dresses, wigs and dead flowers.

Those who went to see her perform in Deptford pubs described a grimy child-woman convulsing to ‘grandcore punk riffs’, and quoted scenes of fury. “I hit Crispin and he beats the shit out of me,” she said at the time. “Once he smashed me against a wall and I played a gig with blood running down my face.”

Daisy Chainsaw were managed by an ex-punk named Jason and they did pretty much as they pleased, turning down Glastonbury, Top of the Pops and advances from Madonna’s label, Maverick. “I think Katie is psychotic,” the bassist once said. “She lives through her emotions rather than her brain.”

She was accused of manufacturing her madness in order to merchandise pain, a useful pop trick subsequently deployed by Alanis Morissette et al. But Alanis is acceptable: she likes lipstick, takes a bath and conforms to the dreadful truth that a haircut can make you happy. Katie Jane is more unfathomable than this; she has no labels.

Pressed to explain herself she came up with a range of disparate theories founded on a basic witchy eccentricity that deviated into an offbeat belief system. She took on everything from white magic to David Icke, the former spokesman of the Green Party who announced that he was the Son of God.

“People can laugh,” she said at the time. “But I always realised the insignificance of role-playing and he gave me the courage to stand up for my convictions.”

In essence, she wanted to break down conditioning and communicate some of the terror and disillusion that we all feel. She enacted ugly sadness. Most of all, though, she was a fatalist. She did not think about where she would be when she was 30 because, she said in 1992, the world was due to end in 1998.

Daisy Chainsaw were not commercial and in 1993 they split up. The world did not end and now Katie is 30. She went away for five years, had a nervous breakdown, and now she’s back.

“I had worked really hard for a long time and given too much away. When I look back, Daisy Chainsaw represented a bottleneck of desperation and that is why it came out in such violence.”

The climate is different now. In 1992 the queens of the scene were L7, Babes in Toyland and Courtney Love’s Hole. They were linked by defiant unprettiness, crashing guitars and a Riot Grrrl wildness. But the backdrop was middle-class. Some of them had been high-school cheerleaders; Courtney Love arrived from suburban America.

The contradictions between the rockstar on stage and the real person who created the image caused insoluble tension, and one which arguably destroyed this genre. L7 disappeared; Hole simply sold out. There are no wild women now. No one dares to be odd or to flout the diktats of traditional beauty because they know it won’t get them on magazine covers. That is why Katie Jane is important. She is difficult to manipulate and difficult to package and thus encourages healthy deviance from the universal definitions of 'normality’.

In 1992, Katie Jane signed on, drove her 'patchwork’ Mini on a ley line from Cornwall to Norfolk, recorded the wind on DAT, mucked about with a musician from Test Department (a cutting-edge industrial band), stayed in a haunted house, did some group therapy, had visions, nearly went mad, but avoided prescription drugs.

“The doctor told me that, emotionally, some people have a football pitch and some people have a rocky landscape. I chose to stay with the rocky landscape. It was what I was born with.”

You have to trust nature, she believes. “I don’t think psychotherapy works. It simply creates a new set of crutches.”

She laughs and tells a story about the afternoon she was sitting in the hollow of a tree and all these blue tits flew around her in a huge flock. Very strange things have always happened to her. “I do hear voices,” she admits. “But it’s not a regular thing.”

Her life is full of entities and strange synchronicity. There is a Zulu warrior that watches out for her - “I have seen his face,” she says. She could be psychic or she could simply be someone who looks at a lot of different ideas, feels everything and understands empathy.

One day, a year or so ago, she was walking down a street in Belsize Park and ran into Crispin Gray. They had not seen or spoken to each other since the Daisy Chainsaw days. He had tried to run the band without her and it had not worked. They needed a singer. “It did not end properly,” he says. “And I knew it wasn’t over.”

Katie Jane re-entered the music business in her own inimitable way. One meeting with a record company executive was staged on Hampstead Heath.

“There is a beautiful undergrowth bit,” she says. “My friend Louise led him to this clearing. Then we stood there and did a cappella. I said nothing and he gave me a big lump of money.”

So now they are back with a manager, an agent and a public relations company. Their name, Queen Adreena, arose from Katie’s dream about a warrior queen. Later, looking in a book by Annie Sprinkle (a porn star/performance artist) she noticed that 'Queen Adrena’ was the name of a legendary Californian dominatrix.

There is a new album, Taxidermy, and a CD-ROM of their new songs played to complement a black and white film made by Martina Hoogland-Ivanow, a 25-year-old photographer/director.

Katie Jane Garside grew up in Salisbury, the child of an army background. When she was 12 her father announced that the family were going to live on a 33ft yacht. The sailed around the world for four years. As teenage girls, Katie Jane and her younger sister, Mel, saw deserted islands, ate meals out of tins and disappeared into the realms of imagination.

Finally, they ended up near Poole where Katie attended a rough state school. She was beaten up for many things, but mostly because she had very small bosoms, a memory which transmuted (as these things do) to become a part of her work.

At 17 she arrived in London, penniless but determined. Then she met Crispin Gray when she answered an advertisement in a music paper, and her professional life, from then on, was about working with him.

The voyage around the world had left her feeling different and displaced. She was left with a love of the ocean, and indeed all places that allow a person to be alone. She is still displaced. When you ask her where she lives she says she doesn’t really know. She has lived in a lot of places. She wanders around in her thrift-store chic, with a battered brown leather suitcase containing all her possessions, her pale flesh bruised from falling around on stage. There is an atmosphere of acceptance around her. She will end up where she ends up.

“You might become a major rock icon,” I say, thinking this would be a good thing.

She smiles. “That would be a funny place to be.”

Jessica Berens

#queen adreena #interview #2000 #taxidermy

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alsjeblieft-zeg · 1 year

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426 of 2022

1. I have a tattoo. 2. I don t like the color red. 3. I love having my picture taken. 4. I love the X-files. 5. I have an online journal. 6. I like citrus fruits. 7. I watch That s So Raven . 8. I want to live in Florida. 9. People who have thousands of friends on Myspace probably don t have that many friends in real life. 10. I have never seen the show Friends . 11. I like watching infomercials. 12. I want to be/have been/am a Hooter s girl. 13. I have more than one tissue box in my room. 14. I like oatmeal. 15. I could always use some new clothes. 16. I d rather be awake at night and sleep through the day. 17. I do my own laundry. 18. I don t have instant messaging. 19. I am using a laptop while taking this survey. 20. I hate feet. 21. I d rather use a calculator for simple math than my head. 22. My name starts with the letter S. (my middle name) 23. I love ice cream. 24. I ve done many things I regret. 25. I often quote movies. 26. I have a boyfriend/girlfriend. (lol) 27. I play The Sims. 28. I ve seen the movie Unbreakable. 29. I am friends with someone I hate. 30. I know all the words to the Fresh Prince theme song. 31. I still watch Disney movies. 32. I ve been to a floor show for the Rocky Horror Picture Show. 33. I own an iPhone. 34. I watch MTV. 35. I am a legend in my own mind. 36. John Mayer is sexy. 37. I type properly. 38. I am emo. 39. I love the movie Napoleon Dynamite. 40. I ve read a Shakespearean play. 41. I am cynical. 42. I love bolding surveys. 43. I bite my nails. 44. I ve fallen asleep in class before. 45. There is a song stuck in my head right now. 46. I have never seen the movie Mean Girls. 47. I love the show Daria . 48. Green is my favorite color. 49. I am controlling. 50. I ve been called a *beep* before. 51. I play an instrument. 52. I love to shop at Hollister/Abercrombie/American Eagle. 53. I ve been to Africa. 54. I m an insomniac. 55. I prefer Coke over Pepsi. 56. I love chain letters. 57. I do not believe in love. 58. I like getting hugs. 59. I am an arrogant person. 60. I m masochistic. 61. I ve been blocked on AIM before. 62. I have red hair. 63. I hate when someone stops liking a band because it s gone mainstream. 64. I like to curse a lot. 65. I ve tasted blood before. 66. I do not live in America. 67. My parents think I m a virgin even though I m not. 68. I have more online friends than offline friends. 69. I know someone with the last name Johnson. 70. I have a TV in my room. 71. I wear contacts. 72. I call my friends hun . 73. People usually get the wrong impression of me. 74. I know someone who is a white supremacist. 75. I have skipped school. 76. I would become a Playboy bunny for $1,000,000. 77. I would try S&M. 78. I m a push-over. 79. I hold grudges. 80. I like President Bush. 81. I have strong opinions about life. 82. I love foreign films. 83. I watch South Park . 84. My cell phone is pink. 85. I am overweight. 86. I ve been left speechless before. 87. I m a procrastinator. 88. I own a Hanson CD. 89. I ve played Truth or Dare. 90. I know all the words to We Didn t Start the Fire by Billy Joel. 91. I have never seen any Lord of the Rings movies. 92. I have ran away from home. 93. I ve kissed a poster of my favorite celebrity. 94. I own more than four pairs of jeans. 95. I have a pet snake. 96. I am afraid of sharks. 97. I am a vegetarian/vegan. 98. I listen to classical music. 99. Cats are better than dogs. 100. I like to stand in the rain. 101. I recycle. 102. I have dyed my hair. 103. I always make sure I don t leave without my cell phone. 104. I own Pokemon trading cards. 105. I straighten my hair a lot. 106. I still watch cartoons. 107. I am religious. 108. I can speak more than one language. 109. I ve worked in food service before. 110. and hated it. 111. I ve written a song. 112. I m craving pizza right now. 113. I hate Christmas music. 114. I am a cheerleader. 115. I don t live in the United States. 116. I am pierced in more than three places. 117. I have braces. 118. I have a digital camera. 119. I have been in a car crash. 120. I hate Wal-Mart. 121. I read tabloids. 122. I am home alone. 123. I am listening to music right now. 124. I know more than five Beatles songs. 125. My birthday is this month. 126. I was drunk last night. 127. I love rap music. 128. I have heard of Regina Spektor. 129. I have read The Odyssey . 130. I m glad this survey is over.

#survey #bolding survey #random survey

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jellyfishloveletterghosts · 4 years

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Bear Piss

So I started some stuff in the the tags for this post, also quoted and linked in the first line, but they got al jumbled and as I was taking them out I started adding more to them so have this dumb Bigfoot au with minimal background info, not to be confused with the other Bigfoot au. No one is bigfoot in this one.

Bear Piss

Billy saying something like this “Whoa there! Have we ruled out aliens yet before jumping to crazy deer theories?” anytime Steve tries to convince him that what he heard in the woods was a deer not Bigfoot. Like Billy does not also have a million alien theories spilling out of his mouth at any moment, like any of his theories alien are otherwise are more believable than he heard a deer bleating in the woods once when he was out taking a drunken stroll because Billy startled it.

Currently he is standing in their living room, covered from head to toe in green and black, camo and grease paint under his giant bush getup. Steve knows the two matching smaller bushes squatting by his legs thinking they are funny are Dustin and Lucas. They two of them are not doing very well at pretending like they are actual bushes as they shake with laughter when Steve tries to get them to back him up on the deer, pretending like they cannot hear him.

Steve spots Peler watching the shaking leaves with interest from the back of the couch kneading one of what used to be Steve’s good sweaters. Steve glares at the cat, he knows he knows he is not supposed to be putting his claws in anything but his scratching post. He goes to move past Billy, heading for the water bottle to give Peler a warning squirt when he catches a whiff on Billy.

He smells terrible, Steve’s face crinkles up in his disgust Peler and his claws all but forgotten as he asks, “What the hell is that?” Steve just barely manages to not pinch his nose closed as he breathes through his moth, it is not better he is pretty sure he can taste it.

“Bear piss, Murry hooked me up said you have to smell like a predator or bigfoot might try and start something.” Billy announces like it is something to be proud of and of course Murry gave Billy bear piss, who the hell else would Billy get bear piss from,.

“I don’t think I like you and Murry being friends.” Steve says not for the first time and it is not like he does not have a good reason for being against it, Murry is always encouraging Billy to do dumb shit, he might as well be one of the kids for all the trouble he causes Steve. Billy just shrugs, the way he always does because they both know Steve is not actually going to ask Billy to stop hanging out with Murry, he is one of the few friends Billy actually has, Steve is stuck with him.

Steve sighs and hopes the smell does not linger once they leave and heads to retrieve his jacket, he has plans of his own, plans that do not involve that terrible smell. At least Lucas is going, Steve is pretty sure Max bribed him into it, in an attempt to keep Billy out of trouble. The only voice of reason who ever goes on these outings. Steve frowns as he spots his jacket by the front door, he could have sworn he left it in the garage this morning when he was putting away groceries.

Steve smells it right before his hand touches his jacket, snatching his hand back like he has been burned before he can touch it, turning to glare sharply at Billy who is trying to sneak out the back door after the kids “You got it on my jacket!”

Billy freezes half way out the sliding glass door “Yeah I know it stinks pretty boy but you have to wear it. Murry thought you might need the protection, being Bigfoot’s type and all.” Billy lies, he had accidently spilled the jar of piss in the garage and Steve‘s jacket was an unfortunate casualty and not the only one. Billy hopes Steve forgets about this before Christmas rolls around. He was also hoping to be out of the house with the kids before Steven noticed so he could blame it on Peler. Steve’s relationship with him is already tempestuous at best, what is one more black mark against him.

Billy knows Steve can’t stay mad at his cat, literally the only one who can get away with ruining Steve’s clothes without a fight. Steve folds like wet paper when Peler gives him those big orange eyes, like one warning squirt is going to teach that cat anything. But Steve has already smelt Billy and his jacket, so Billy decides to just lay into it, it is kind of his specialty, making Steve pissed about something else until he can fix the original mistake.

“What the fuck is Bigfoot’s type Billy?” Steve asks voice high and reedy as his face flushes an unattractive blotchy red, eyes narrowed. He knows, he just knows that whatever is about to come out of Billy’s mouth is going to be stupid and probably rude.

Billy’s wide toothy grin confirms what Steve already knows before Billy even opens his mouth to speak. “You know, tall and hairy.” Billy dodges the first shoe Steve tosses at him “Me and Bigfoot share a lot of kinks apparently, you know I love that about you baby.” He calls laughing because he knows bringing up Steve’s body hair and kinks in front of people, especially the kids, always makes Steve pissed.

Steve has a lot of body hair though and it is thick, and he used to wax year round but after Billy found out, he wanted him to stop, wanted to see all that hair so Steve only wax’s during spring and summer. Steve knows Billy loves it, has gotten off more than once rubbing his dick through Steve’s chest hair but Steve still does not like Billy bringing up how hairy he is in any context that does not involve the two of them alone and naked.

Billy laughs again, blowing a kiss as another shoe flies toward him, Billy gets the glass closed between him and it just in time. Steve glowers as he hears Lucas and Dustin howling with laughter and he locks the sliding door, pulling the curtain closed on Billy’s stupid grinning face. Steve turns on the sprinklers in petty revenge, giving a laugh of his own as those laughs turn to shouts.

#harringrove #Jellyghostfic #Bigfoot Au #a different one #fanficton #st fic

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stonecoldjerseyfox · 4 years

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Jersey on my mind (part 11)

The landscape that passes outside the window of the car shifts in a cavalcade of summer colors; hundreds of shades of green leaves in contrast to the flashing flower beds. Roses, gardenias and bright, yellow marigolds. The vegetation, although it’s a residential area, is exuberant and lush, but meticulously planned. The trees are tall, the bushes are dense and perfectly cut. Mila’s eyes wander over the houses, cars and the flags of red, white and blue. It's a quiet suburb just like the ones at home, but yet so different.

At home, back in Russia, everything is somewhat grey, a concrete block-landscape. In Russia she lives, or lived, in a suburb of Moscow, on the 12th floor of a brick high-rise. If Mila looked out of the kitchen window, filled with houseplants, she could see a square patch of grass, crossed by a diagonal path, with other identical high rises on the left and on the right. Everybody drove Russian cars, nothing like the cars that pass them now. Is she really going to live here, in one of these houses? She doesn't want to. She wants to go home. To the dull complex with flaking blue paint, her small bedroom, home to mama. This is a nightmare, and no matter how much she wants it, she can’t wake up from it.

”Are we there yet?” she says out loud.

”What?” the man in the driver’s seat looks at her in the rearview mirror.

”Home?” Mila tries as fast she can to find suiting words in english instead. ”This? Home?”

The man with the kind eyes says something to her, but Mila doesn’t understand. He smiles at her. If it’s out of pity over her limited vocabulary or if he’s genuinely nice, Mila can’t figure out. She feels vulnerable and fragile. To prevent herself from bursting into tears she looks out the window again. Is she really going to stay in one of these houses? No, this is where the wealthy people live. They are just taking a ride through the neighborhood. At home, in Russia, only the rich can afford to live like this and have two cars on the driveway. The car she rides in is a newly polished Cadillac. It smells brand new and the backseat feels like sitting on a leather couch. Mila caresses the tanned leather. In the rearview mirror she feels the man’s eyes observing her. This is the second time they met, ever. The first time was at the police station two days ago, in the company of two police officers, an interpreter and the social service representative. His name is Joseph Galka. Mila has met his wife too, Ellie. A pretty woman with dimples and honey blonde hair. When they entered the small room at the police station Mila thought they looked nice, very American. They spoke to her through the interpreter, asked her things and seemed very kind. Then they told her that she was going to stay with them for a while at their house, and asked her if that would be okay. Mila hesitated at first. She didn’t want to go with them, or anyone for that matter. They were complete strangers to her. But she knew that it was unreasonable for her to remain at the police station. And she couldn’t go back home even if she wanted to.

Joseph Galka breaks smoothly, the car slows down and he turns left into a concrete driveway. Mila’s eyes widen at the sight of the house. A two story craftsman home with sloping ceiling, a mix of stone, bricks and wood as well as a wooden porch. Joseph Galka turns the key and the car dies, as well as the radio. He steps out of the car, hurries around to the other side and opens the door for her.

”Welcome home.”

”I remember it like it was yesterday. You looked like a frightened nestling.” Ellie smiles at Mila and caresses her cheek with her soft hand. ”No wonder. You had a couple of hard days, hun.”

Mila squeezes Ellie’s hand, meets the kind woman's gaze. It's been a year since Mila stepped inside the front door of The Galka's home for the first time. Earlier in the day, Mila was surprised when she came home from school with a small ’one-year in America’ party for the five of them. Just as that first day, she was met by a small welcome committee consisting of Ellie and the boys, Billy and Adam, and a home made sign that Billy happened to hold upside down. On that first sign, ’welcome’ was written in both English and Russian. This time the sign said ’1 year ago’ and was turned upright.

“You looked like you saw a ghost.” Billy opens his eyes wide and presses his lips tightly together. “Like that. You looked terrified.”

Yeah. Mila clearly remembers how overwhelmed and scared she was that day. It felt as if she was an alien. As if the four complete strangers weren't enough, an old woman and an old man appeared in the hallway out of nowhere, talking gibberish to her and opening their arms, as if they wanted to hug her. It was Ellie’s parents, Ray and Barbara, byt Mila didn’t know that. Precariously, she withdrew, pressing herself against the inside of the front door. Her frightened face, the one Billy imitated, forced the Galka’s to tone down the party a bit.

Ellie offered to take her jacket and then led her into the dining room, where she had prepared a picture perfect key lime pie, chocolate chip cookies and tea. A dog-eared Russian-English dictionary laid on the table between the cake dish and the pie. The interpreter who was supposed to come with Mila, on her first day at the Galka’s, became acutely ill and the social services didn’t succeed in getting a replacement. Mila was on her own.

Her very limited english skills were tested immediately. She hadn't read much english in school in Russia, barely any, but she had seen Titanic a couple of times with her friends at the cinema. In an attempt to break the tension, and to show that she knew at least one english phrase perfectly, Mila opened her mouth and said:

”You want to go to a real party?”

The Galka’s looked at each other, not sure what she said, and why. Ellie’s mother Barbara said something, to which Adam replied something with a small laugh. At that time Mila had no idea what was being said between them, but afterwards she figured out that Barbara wondered ‘what the hell she meant by that’, whereupon Adam asked the others if Mila just quoted Titanic?

”You remember that you quoted Titanic?” Adam chuckles on the opposite side of the table and takes a sip of his Pepsi Cola. ”I’ve never been that shocked in my entire life. It was hilarious!”

”I loved Titanic! It is a good movie.” Mila excuses herself. ”Very popular. All the girls in school loved Leo.”

”How does it sound in Russian?” Billy says. ”That party-line?”

Mila repeats the line in her native language. At the same time, Joe enters the dining room from the kitchen, carrying a key lime pie in his hands, which he puts down on the table. It’s her absolute favorite. The pie is decorated with sizzling sparklers and American and Russian flags. One year has passed since she tasted key lime pie for the first time. One year that she, during that first day at the airport, locked in the small square room, never thought she would survive. And here she is. She has survived. Every trial day. Every panic anxiety attack when she has faced reality, faced what her father did. She survived it all.

Later that night, when she lies in her bed, Mila dials the ten-digit number on her flip phone. She knows it's late, knows very well that international calls are expensive, but she has to. Signals are heard. She focuses her gaze on the ceiling above her, counting the luminous plastic stars. Five signals go through, then…

”Allo?”

”Mama.” Mila struggles to keep calm. ”Hi.”

“Moya malyshka!”

Mila hears how her mother gets up from bed at the other end; that fucking bed squeaked just being looked at. Her father was too greedy to buy them a new one and he was a notorious ‘twist and turner’. Mila closes her eyes, tries to picture the scene inside her head. The apartment with lace curtains, on the 12th floor, where mama lives on her own now, since a year. Over the raspy telephone signal, she hears her mother's faint, sniffing cry. Mila takes a deep breath, prevents herself from crying.

”Mom, don't cry.” she says as encouragingly as she can. ”Did I wake you?”

”Yes. But it’s alright, malyshka.” her mother sniffs. ”I dreamed you were home. In your bed. It was your birthday and I couldn't find the seventeenth candle for your cake.” she lets out a sniffling laughter.

Damn it. Mila starts to sob.

”I want to come home. I want to be with you, mama. I want to come home.”

Her mother says nothing. She’s also crying, a heartbreaking cry. And there’s nothing to be done about it. Nothing they can do. On each side of the globe they sit, alone, crying, missing each other.

Her mother in the apartment complex in Moscow. Mila in her bedroom in the house in Little Silver, New Jersey. As they have done for the past year. A whole year. The only thing Mila can think of, through the tears, is if there will be another year, and then another?

Will she ever go back home?

#daryl fanfiction #daryl x oc #daryl dixon #Jersey on my mind #Daryl Dixon Fanfic #The Walking Dead fanficition #The walking dead fanfic #fanfiction #twd fanfiction #fanfic #twd fanfic #the walking dead fandom

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aktinopterygia · 6 years

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tagged by @amadryades

i tag @itsjoex and @evmorfias

What’s your favorite song(s) to sing/hum? These days they’re songs from the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch (like “Tear Me Down”, “Sugar Daddy”, “The Origin of Love”), Бутылочка by Луна also got stuck in my head, “Apres Moi” by Regina Spektor, a couple of Mitski songs like “Goodbye my Danish Sweetheart” (<--very Ophelia) and “Townie”, “my boy” and “bellyache” by billie eilish.... You know what I’ll just stop.

What’s your favorite flower/tree/plant? Platanus, willows, beech trees, moss (hope it counts), cherry trees, blackberry bushes, wildflowers...

Favorite colors? Dark shades green, black, pastel pink, gold, silver, rich bloody reds.

What do you always doodle? Evergreen coniferous trees are a big go-to for me because I was obsessed with Bob Ross’s show as a child. Also stars with various numbers of points, eyes, cats, foxes...

How do you take your coffee/tea? I Don’t Drink The Coffee. As for tea, I don’t want sugar in it, but I also don’t want it too bitter, so it has to be light and drinkable without sugar.

Favorite candle scent? Don’t know yet

Sunrise or sunset? sunrise, rosy-fingered ( @amadryades I’m keeping yours, honey)

What perfume do you wear? Usually none. Or, if I feel like wearing perfume, i wear whatever’s on my mum’s vanity at the time.

Favorite quote? “I return to the rhythm of water, to the dark song I was in my mother’s belly"

Favorite self care routine(s)? Sun salutations, sticking to my skincare routine, warm showers, napping, doing nothing at all. Oh, also, chocolate.

What color are your eyes? dark brown

What’s your favorite eye color on others? I have a fondness for green, but I also really love dark eyes. Light blue scares me.

Favorite season? Why? The transition from summer to autumn

Cheek, neck, or nose kisses? "Or”???

What does your happy place look like? I’m not sure.

Favorite breed of dog? Jus... large dogs. I tend to really like shepherd dogs.

Do you ever want to be married? if so, what colors would you pick for your wedding theme? I would, but I’d prefer it to be intimate. Just with the people I actually want there. I’ve never thought about colours. I suppose green or blue or white or a combination? Maybe flecks of gold?

Cursive or print? cursive. рукописи не горят.

Favorite weather? Sunny but cool and not too bright. Ideally, it’s sunny and there’s trees around or i’m indoors and there’s curtains. Rain is also lovely if you’re not getting wet/cold.

#tagged

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digging-holes-in-the-river · 6 years

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I’m just going to quote the whole Wikipedia page because it’s super interesting:

The Cutty Wren and its variants like The Hunting of the Wren are traditional English folk songs. The origins and meaning of the song are disputed. It is thought by some to represent the human sacrifice of the Year King, or the symbolic substitute slaughter of the wren as "king of the birds" at the end of the year for similar purposes, and such songs are traditionally sung on Boxing Day (26 December), just after the winter solstice. The 26 December is sometimes called: "St. Stephen's Day" or "Wren Day". These rituals are discussed in The Golden Bough. It is number 236 in the Roud Folk Song Index.

On the other hand, it is also attributed to the English peasants' revolt of 1381, and the wren is supposed to be the young king Richard II, who is killed and fed to the poor. However, there is no strong evidence to connect this song with the Peasants' revolt. This idea seems to have originated in A.L. Lloyd's 1944 book The Singing Englishman.[1] The liner notes to Chumbawamba's album English Rebel Songs 1381–1914 state categorically that the song was written in the fourteenth century. However, the earliest known text is from Herd's "Scots Songs" 1776. The song is given no title, but begins with these words:

Will ze go to the wood? quo' FOZIE MOZIE; Will ze go to the wood? quo' JOHNIE REDNOZIE; Will ze go to the wood? quo' FOSLIN'ene; Will ze go to the wood? quo' brither and kin. What to do there? quo' FOZIE MOZIE; What to do there? quo' JOHNIE REDNOZIE; What to do there? quo' FOSLIN'ene; What to do there? quo' brither and kin. To slay the WREN, quo' FOZIE MOZIE: To slay the WREN, quo' JOHNIE REDNOZIE: To slay the WREN, quo' FOSLIN'ene: To slay the WREN, quo' brither and kin.[2]

There is a version in Welsh, "Hela'r Dryw"; also one in Manx ("Helg Yn Dreain"), published by the Manx Society in 1869.[3] In Orkney a version called "The Brethren Three" (published 1915) describes the song as a lullaby. ("We'll aff tae the wids, says Tosie Mosie"). The often quoted "Milder to Moulder" version first appears in Cecil Sharp's "English Folk Songs" (1920), under the title "Green Bushes".

In the USA the song has undergone considerable evolution, into the song "Billy Barlow", first known in 1916.

In Ireland the hunt generally took place on St Stephen's Day (26 December) and the procession that night, lads dressed in bizarre costumes made of straw and colourful cloth carrying branches from which hung the body of the wren, as they sang:

The wren, the wren, the king of all birds On St Stephen's Day was caught in the furze Although he was little, his power is great So up with the kettle and down with the plate!

On the Isle of Man, up to the end of the eighteenth century, the ceremony was observed on Christmas morning. In Carcassonne (France), in the nineteenth century, it was on the first Sunday in December. The American versions mention a squirrel, rat or other small animal rather than a wren. The Chieftains stage performances have included dancers dressed as Wrenboys, in straw clothes. This has been captured on the album Bells of Dublin, which includes six tracks devoted to the ceremony, singing and dancing.

The Hunting of the Wren is the culmination of the myth of the Wren who kills Cock Robin. On or near the winter solstice the populace hunted and killed the Wren for its supposed misdeed. The custom of killing wrens on 26 December was mostly stamped out in the British Isles by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, according to William S. Walsh in Curiosities of Popular Customs.

#folk songs #the cutty wren #the golden bough

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cultfaction · 5 years

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Cult Movie Essentials: Electra Glide in Blue (1973)

Directed by James William Guercio, Electra Glide in Blue follows Arizona motorcycle cop Officer John Wintergreen (Robert Blake) as he keeps order on the highway with his partner Officer Zipper Davis (Billy “Green” Bush). Wintergreen is an experienced patrolman who is tiring of his current role and longs to be transferred to the Homicide unit.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ql3l9C_qQ4&w=…

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#Billy "Green" Bush #Electra Glide in Blue #Elisha Cook #featured #James William Guercio #Jeannine Riley #Mitchell Ryan #Robert Blake

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charmemepile · 6 years

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Midnight Meming #6 {Parody Past PM #1}: American Idiot / Canadian Idiot

Early into Hutcheon's book "A Theory on Parody", she distinguishes that not all parody must critique the source text, nor must the ideology of the original and parody differ by much. Typically, when we think of parody, we often associate it with satire or at least derision. However, parody is a much more flexible tool than that. For a good example of this principle, let's examine (to get the obvious out of the way) Green Day's "American Idiot" and it's Weird Al parody "Canadian Idiot."

Firstly, let's talk a bit about Green Day. Green Day are a punk band that began (to most people's surprise) in the mid-80s in California. They rose to grand popularity in the 1990s, however, with their seminal work "Dookie" that codified the principles of what would be known as pop punk: a blend of pop techniques with the raw energy of punk. In 2004, they released one of their most popular albums, "American Idiot." The album was driven by a.) the loss of the masters to another proposed album, and b.) the Bush presidency. Lead-man Billie Joe Armstrong has made numerous comments on that time in his life, especially as it relates to the culture confusion and division related to the emerging Iraq War and the new direction of American ideals. Quote Armstrong, "Everybody just sorta feels like they don't know where their future is heading right now, ya know?"

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The titular song and lead single "American Idiot" was the sharpest critique against the state of America on the album. Armstrong harshly attacked national pride in the era of mass surveillance, paranoia, and mass-media consumption. This sense of nationalism as it butted with disenfranchised groups like the LGBT community was also a sore point addressed in the song. Ultimately, the song acts as a sort of call-to-arms against this line of thinking. Hence from the chorus: "I don't want to be an American Idiot."

Enter one Alfred Matthew Yankovic, also known as Weird Al. A musical talent of now over 40 years, Weird Al releases albums upon albums of song parodies, typically of contemporary mainstream pop hits, such as "Bad" or "Fancy." Unlike some other parody aritsts, however, Yankovic has rarely been the one to deride the original work or artist. Yankovic's modus operandi centers on creating a jarring juxtaposition by faithfully recreating the sound and shape of the original with new content (he often also parodies the music video similarly if the song is a single). A famous example would be with "Smells Like Nirvana", which uses "Smell's Like Teen Spirit" as a diagram to playfully joke about grunge's often slurry vocal style. The music video is a delicate reconstruction and twisting of Nirvana's right down to some of the same extras.

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On his 2006 album "Straight Outta Lynwood," Yankovic parodies "American Idiot" as "Canadian Idiot." The juxtaposition is initially played very straight. The sound and form is close to identical, and it begins by listing qualities of Canada he disagrees with, but instead of serious issues like overly patriotic devotion, he focuses on things like pronouncing z as "zed." However, as the song continues, the real intent becomes clear. In the first chorus, one of the traits mocked is that "they leave the house without packin' heat / never even bring their guns to the mall." The use of they and this specific grievance tells us that, unlike in American Idiot where the narrator is a disgruntled member of their target, the narrator here is an American taking pot-shots at a culturally different (and therefore horrible!) nation. In fact, the narrator has to admit to the positive features Canada has over the US, such as socialized health care, low crime rate, anti-polluting efforts, and their largely anti-interventionist approach to affairs. All this causes the narrator to conclude "they're up to something" and pre-emptively attack.

In the parody, Yankovic's target of the joke is amazingly clear: the Americans. Here, Yankovic has chosen to retain the basic concept of the original as well, in fact backing up Armstrong's claims by creating a straw-man that would definitely fit under being an American Idiot. He holds other nations up only to stereotypes, refuses to compromise, and pre-emptively attacks (also a jab at the Iraq War and it's use of "pre-emptive strike" on Iraq). Although "Canadian Idiot" is a biting satire, it choses to not attack the source of parody, but to join in the original with its target. Parody is a versatile tool, limited only by the creativity of the artists.

#midnight meming #parody postulating #video #music

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radiofreejro · 6 years

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BYOV Night 4/19/14 - Tap and Barrel

BYOV Night 4/19/14

* denotes request

The Cars - Hello Again

The Beatles - There's a Place

Squeeze - Another Nail For My Heart*

Young Marble Giants - Credit In the Straight World

Jim Carroll Band - People Who Died

The White Stripes - Icky Thump

Hindu Love Gods - Good Time Tonight

The Contours - Do You Love Me?

Gang of Four - I Love a Man In Uniform*

Prince - Pop Life

Peter Tosh - Till Your Well Runs Dry

Phil Upchurch - You Can't Sit Down Pts 1 & 2

Booker T & The MGs - Soul Limbo

James Brown - Mother Popcorn Pt 2

The Drifters - Up On the Roof

Altered Images - Happy Birthday

Kim Wilde - Kids In America

The Bouncing Souls - These Are the Quotes From Our Favorite 80s Movies

Mission of Burma - This Is Not (A Photograph)

Dinosaur Jr. - Freak Scene

Foo Fighters - Monkeywrench*

The Beach Boys - I Get Around*

Paul Collins Beat - Rock N Roll Girl*

Cheap Trick - Surrender

Yo La Tengo - Tom Courtenay

The Replacements - Left of the Dial

Black Sabbath - The Wizard*

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - She's On It (Beastie Boys)

Beastie Boys - High Plains Drifter

Beck - Beercan*

David Bowie - Diamond Dogs*

The Thermals - i Let It Go*

The Who - The Kids Are Alright

Telekinesis - Empathetic People

Men At Work - Who Can It be Now*

The Beatles - I Am the Walrus*

The Lemon Pipers - Green Tambourine*

Stevie Wonder - Livin' For the City

Meco - Stars Wars Disco*

Yello - Oh Yeah

Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire

The Pogues - The Sunny Side of the Street*

Dead Kennedys - California über Alles*

Wreckless Eric - Veronica

Elvis Costello - Watching the Detectives

Paul McCartney - Uncle Albert*

The Supremes - I Hear a Symphony*

Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World*

Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls*

XTC - Life Begins at the Hop

(This space left blank, I wonder what went there)

Iron Chic - Time Cop

Dead Milkmen - Bitchin' Camaro

After the Fire - Der Kommisar (Falco)

Flight of the Conchords - Business Time

The Police - De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da

The Crystals - Da Doo Ron Ron

Yaz - Nobody's Diary

The Go-Go's - Vacation

The B52s - Planet Claire

The Bouncing Souls - Private Radio

Arlo Guthrie - Alice's Restaurant*

Deer Tick - Bus Stop*

David Bowie - Big Brother*

Deer Tick - Miss K*

X - White Girl

Steve Miller Band - Jet Airliner*

Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Wrote a Song for Everyone

The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Goodbye (Butterfly)*

Chapterhouse - Mesmerise (remix)

Marco Benevento - Going West*

The Smiths - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

Elliott Smith - Twilight

Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm

Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights

Billy Joel - Miami 2017

Bobby Darin - If I Were a Carpenter

Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street

The Supremes - My World Is Empty Without You

Psychedelic Furs - Dumb Waiters

Public Image Ltd - Rise

Eurythmics - Here Comes the Rain

DEVO - Love Without Anger

Talking Heads - Girlfriend Is Better

The Guess Who - These Eyes

Jeff Beck - She's a Woman*

Supertramp - The Logical Song

Dire Straits - Skateaway

The Motels - Suddenly Last Summer

Squeeze - Black Coffee In Bed

DJ Shadow - Stem

Pink Floyd - Remember a Day

Buddy Holly - Everyday

Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly

Neil Diamond - Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon

Elvis Presley - in the Ghetto

#radiofreejro #djlife #BYOV #vinyldj #vinylrecords #bringyourownvinyl #craftbeerandrecords

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