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randomvarious · 1 year

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Today’s mix:

Global Underground 007: New York by Paul Oakenfold 1998 Progressive Trance / Trance / House / Drum n Bass

Alright, so, continuing on with this Global Underground journey today and we've got what's considered to be an all-time classic from one of the world's most famous and legendary DJs, Paul Oakenfold. Oakenfold's done a lot of mixes, held residencies in a bunch of different places, and has dabbled in a panoply of genres throughout his career. He co-produced the Happy Mondays' landmark Madchester / indie dance album, Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches, in 1990, he's toured the world with U2, he helped usher in the acid house boom to London in the late 80s, and then brought Goa trance to a much wider audience in the mid-90s, and he's run his own trance label Perfecto for over three decades now as well. If someone were to ever commission a Mount Rushmore of dance music, it is doubtless that Paul Oakenfold's face would be etched into it. The guy's had such an unparalleled, deep impact on dance's overall development, evolution, and spread, regardless of whether or not you even like his output or think a DJ should be held in such a high regard.

And this superb double-disc mix of Oakenfold's appears to catch him near his pinnacle as dance music's most recognized DJ. It's primarily a foray into contemporary favorites of his from the realms of progressive trance and trance, but he makes room for a little bit of house and even some drum n bass to kick off the second disc too. Plus, like every good DJ should, he more often than not picks songs that had yet to have a light shone upon them by other DJs for their own commercial mixes.

So, the first disc of this mix is far and away the better of the two. Some of the transitions admittedly sound a bit amateurish, hurried, and iffy, but Oakenfold seems primarily concerned with curating a vibe above all else, and he manages to pull it off wonderfully here with a bunch of songs that, in totality, reflect a mood that's both deep and soul piercing. While many DJs reach for the big and sweaty types of high-BPM tunes to pack the peaking moments of their sets, Oakenfold chooses to largely cast those aside and instead opts for a unique blend of dark and moody, midtempo dance stunners. And much like his otherwise less than stellar Perfecto Presents: Another World mix that came out a couple years later, he's able to cultivate a moment of pure, emotional sublimity with his unleashing of Red Jerry's "Longdubbyvocal Mix" of Danish duo Miro's "Paradise," much like he did with Tiësto's "In Search of Sunrise Mix" of Delerium's "Silence." The Tiësto mix is far more known, but the overall gravitas between the two songs and how they're situated in their respective Oakenfold mixes is definitely comparable.

Now, the second disc seems to be much less coherent in its theme and direction, and there's quite a few questionable selections too, but more than half of these tracks are still great, including Junk Project's otherworldly trance tease in "Composure," and German duo CM's "Dream Universe," which molds together a chugging and burbling bassline, fantastic string pads, a middle layer of a sampled drum break, and a *very* high-pitched operatic vocal to top it all off. A really perfect piece of mid-90s trance right there.

So, do yourself a favor and listen to this whole thing. I think the first disc here is the second best disc that I've heard so far in this whole Global Underground series, with the second disc of Nick Warren's Brazil mix still holding the top spot. But as far as consistency goes, I'd say this release is the best of the bunch since both discs are, at the very least, pretty good, which is something I've only been able to say about one other mix so far: John Digweed's Sydney mix from 1998. All these other Global Underground releases that I've given a listen to either have one disc that's at least good and one that's bad, or two discs that aren't very good at all, so this one makes for a bit of an exception. But that could end up changing as I continue to dig further into this series 🤔.

Listen to CD1 here. Listen to CD2 here.

Highlights:

CD1:

Mystica - "Bliss (Mystica Mix)" Jamie Myerson - "Rescue Me" Taste Experience - "Summersault" Solar Stone - "Day By Day (Red Jerry's Smack the Bigot Up Dub)" Life On Mars - "Life In Minds (L.I.M. Alternative Vocal)" The Coffee Boys - "The Touch (Paul's Remix)" E Razor - "Mantra" Lustral - "Everytime (Nalin & Kane Mix)" Miro - "Paradise (Red Jerry's Longdubbyvocal Mix)" Three Drives On a Vinyl - "Greece 2000"

CD2:

Ambrosia - "Inside Your Arms" Talisman+Hudson - "Leaving Planet Earth" Junk Project - "Composure" Albion - "Air" Planet Heaven - "Nautical Bodies" CM - "Dream Universe" BBE - "Deeper Love (Symphonic Paradise)"

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stellocchia · 3 years

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yoo, i trust your recs for fics, so i was wondering if you had any any non sbi-centric fic recs? its not that i hate sbi its just that there're so many that its overwhelming sometimes when i want something different.

Hmmm, I'll see what I got, because most of the fics I read end up being pretty Tommy-centric

Ongoing ones:

The Corruption We Suffer by The_Dragon_Hearted (Techno, Phil, and Tommy are all in the group of characters this fic focuses on, but the fic itself focuses pretty much on everyone if I gotta be honest. It also focuses quite a bit on the New L'Manburg cabinet, Dream, and pretty much everyone involved in the Egg plot. It's really nice)

Returning Stars Bring Meteor Showers by Anonymous (Canon divergent AU, seems to be mostly Dream-centric primeboys. But, like, Dream very much has canon!Dream personality. It's pretty cool)

what’s another night on mars? by funkyraccoon (more Bench Trio-centric fic. I really like Tubbo's characterization in this one and, overall, it's just. It's really good. It's always set on the Dream smp, but there's a bit of canon divergence with Tommy moving in with Bee Duo)

music didn’t have a meaning to me before I met you by barlebee (Other primeboys fic. This one is in a modern AU and Dream is working in his dad's shop while his dad can't. Tommy is just a random kid that really likes discs. The rest of sbi exists there, but they really aren't the focus)

The Unexpectedly Endearing Chronicles of Buzzkill and Amalgamation by miss_match (There's only 3 chapters of this, but the concept is great! It's about Bee Duo being badass villains while also being incredibly dorky, I love it)

It takes all of us by Mozaik (Sort of more external pov? Like, it focuses on the citizens of the smp and how they would have acted during the Exile Arc. So, there's quite a few original characters as you may imagine)

it's close enough to perfect (why does it hurt a little bit?) by Lucigoosey_The_Lightbringer (Again it's a primeboys one, but definitely with more focus on Dream himself and on all the people who want to absolutely destroy the f*cker. Like, this one is not a healthy primeboys dynamic at all just to be clear)

Forged by Truth (or Lack Thereof) by Anonymous (Hmmm, my dearly beloved. Okay, so, this one is a protégé AU, so it does have some focus on Tommy. That's kinda inevitable. But also it has as much if not more on Dream and quite a few others get their time to shine. Also it's just so fricking good and definitely deserves a read. Like, this is definitely one of my top 5 favorite fics of all time. It's really good)

Stream Labs LIVE by A_Non_ymousWriter (Another really good one with a mix focus on a lot of characters. I'd say that Tubbo is perhaps the main character? But honestly, it's kinda hard to say. It's really fricking good though)

6.9 billion outcomes, and somehow we ended up here by TjLockticon (The manhunt gang from the 3 hunters manhunts end up in the dream smp universe and this focuses mostly on how they deal with being there. Definitely Dream-centric)

Completed ones:

Sweet Dragon Child by MollyPollyKinz (Primeboys fluff fic, the rest of sbi is barely mentioned in it and it's from Dream's pov)

VVIP Backstage Passes by AdrianaintheSnow (Ranboo-centric Allium duo crack fic)

This Makes Exile 1000% Funnier by Crazy4abby (Dream-centric crack fic)

repair boy by FizzyOrange (Tubbo angst)

dissonance by shrugofgod (Character study fic on Tubbo)

Yeah... I think that's all I got so far...

#anon ask #fanfic recommendation

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ladyyatexel · 4 years

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Something that’s really getting me about the She-Ra finale is that, for what feels like the first time in my media life, the heterosexual couples were left with the ambiguity the queer ones usually get. They had no full on kisses, they had declarations that people are saying, ‘I thought it felt platonic’ about, and some were kind of not mutually even explicitly expressed.

It just feels like one of the first times we didn’t have to write essays featuring an extensive list of the times they held hands or did everything that is coded romantically had they been a hetero couple. In Star Trek: DS9, where we all spent hours raging that the sweet goodbye exchange of chocolates and cute smiles would be instantly read as romantic if it had been the male/female Riker and Troi duo the show so often trotted out in its prior incarnation, TNG. We don’t have to ask the actors if they ‘played it gay’ or ‘thought there was something more’ or even be terrified or embarrassed to do so.

She-Ra’s last season we got one woman saying, “My wife,” when referring to the partner people were still managing to read as her girlfriend at best, roommate at weirdest. We got ‘I love you,’ and ‘I love you, too’ and a world saving center stage unambiguous Kiss from the main characters after enduring trauma after trauma.

Have I ever watched a queer romantic relationship become canon?? I don’t think like this. I watched Adventure Time, and was I psyched about Marceline and Bubblegum? Yes! But the story hadn’t been about them and a long term complicated relationship, even though they had had that both by word of god decree and the few little snips we got as unaddressed background. We got Marcie and PB by on the fumes of ‘this would be read as a hint if they were two different sexes’ and whoops this kiss is here annnnnnnnnd now it’s from the back and you can’t see the whole thing and we are cutting back to the world ending disaster. They did the same getting by on fumes with Korra and Asami in Legend of Korra. Was I astonished Korra got to have Asami in the end and not Mako? Yeah, because I had never been given that. But I also wasn’t even sure I was given it because it was given as, ‘we can’t give you this directly, we haven’t even been allowed to focus on it or build it up as falling in love, but you can have it be in literally the same shape as the hetero wedding that fades out before it, that’s the best we got’.

I’m so used to us all being ‘already established background’ or ‘developed on the fumes and desperate clinging hopes in the background only to rear a head like Nessie at the 11th hour before vanishing again’ and not several seasons showing obvious connection, obvious distress at being separated and each other’s bad decisions, obvious re connections and longings, jokes and clear joy being together when the worldwide war and abusive parental figure isn’t creeping in all around them.

I wanted that for Pearl or Peridot in Steven Universe, I wanted ‘now here is the story of me falling in love with someone, complete with my obvious crush on them and our progression through those feelings, from start to finish.’ We got close, and that’s in no way ragging on Steven Universe because I love it and it brings me such joy, it was just still that the safest way to go is ‘pre-established relationship’, and not ‘watch these two have complicated feelings that finally get to be an explosive kiss for several seasons’. I”m sure there are essays being drafted as I type this about toxic and problematic left and right, I’m just choosing instead to marvel at a thing that brought me great joy and more feelings about people like me look like in media than I had expected, even with how gay it had been up until this point, which was Pretty Gay.

It’s all the stuff we write in fanfiction, and I mean that in the positive way. not the pseudo insulting derogatory way it’s often trotted out as. What do people make in fanfic? Long stories with lots of emotions and connections and elaborate, ‘here is how these two idiots fall in love’ scenarios. How wild to see it in a show. And be there and important.

So yeah, that kiss hit me like a meteor and a mass extinction event.

(Please don’t yell at me or throw a disc horse, I just want to have some head boggling emotions about a show I really love!)

#she ra spoilers #catradora #she ra season 5 #she ra netflix #she ra dreamworks

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sebeth · 5 years

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Legion Of Super-Heroes #13

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

“State Of The Universe” by Keith Giffen, Tom & Mary Bierbaum, and Al Gordon

The issue opens with the continuation of the Shakespeare – Persuader brawl.

A few children in the pediatric wing of Quarantine worry over Shakespeare. Garridan, the son of Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad, comforts Ivy: “He’s gonna be all right, Ivy. I just know he is. My dad says Legionnaires are real strong. Like they’re real, real hard to kill.”

Garridan is dressed in an adorable version of Colossal Boy’s silver age costume. I wonder if Gim is Garridan’s favorite Legionnaire?

Speaking of Gim, he has arrived at Quarantine and is working with the Science Police to find a way to evacuate patients near the Shakespeare/Persuader brawl.

Gim and Kent unintentionally tag-team the Persauder, causing his capture.

A great introduction for Richard Kent Shakespeare and a nice way to touch in with Garridan, Gim, and the Persuader.

I wouldn’t mind seeing a more of this mature, self-confident, and comfortable in his career Gim.

The Persuader is the second member of the Fatal Five that we have seen in this volume. We’ll see more members later on.

In orbit above Earth: Circe has been called to task by the Dominators – they want damage control, they want results, and they want it now: “When we gave you effective control of Science Police Earth, allowed you to shape Earthgov’s public relations strategy, we expected results. It is time for you to demonstrate that our faith in you was not misplaced…Madame Circe, when you procured the services of Dirk Morgna, you assured us the Earthers would believe anything the ex-Legionnaires told them. We are now holding you to that promise.”

The Darzyl System: Mano, another member of the Fatal Five, reports to Starfinger that the Persuader has failed in his assassination attempt.

Starfinger isn’t happy. It’s not a good day for criminal overlords.

Back to Quarantine.

Science Police Chief Gigi Cusimano credits the Persuader’s arrest to Kent Shakespeare: “If you ask me, the Legion is sorely missed.”

Gigi was a supporting cast member in the Legion’s Baxter series.

Gim offers Kent a lift to Toonar. It’s as close to Winath as Gim can take Kent: “That is, if you’re ready to turn in your scrubs to get back into a Legion uniform.”

“To be honest, I couldn’t get out of here a moment too soon. Once I heard the Legion might re-form, I’ve just been counting the days. Of course, some of the kids out here…it’ll just tear out my heart to leave them. I haven’t even worked up the courage to tell them yet.”

A spying Ivy is devastated to hear Kent’s plans to leave.

An isolated farm on Khundia: a confused Jo deals with an equally bewildered Khund: “You don’t look like a Khund yet you are not a master. You are soft-looking like a Khundish girl, but you have the voice of a man.”

Only a Khund would think Jo, of all people, would have a feminine appearance!

Jo appreciates the wife of the Khund man making a stew for him. The Khunder officer states the stew appreciation is another clear sign of Jo’s brain damage.

Two Dominators, without the trademark head discs, land on the property. Jo uses his ultra-speed to rapidly leave the property: “Bloody liberty! Dominators! I didn’t recognize them without their head discs! A couple of Khund cud-chewers I can handle. But the Dominion? This is getting real weird!”

Jo muses to himself: “Khunds and Dominators together?! Cats and dogs maybe, but Khunds and Dominators? I must be on the Frontier…some world on the fringe of both spheres of influence, maybe? Or maybe U.P. Intelligence is out to lunch, Maybe the Khunds and Dominators aren’t the blood enemies they’re supposed to be. Where the blazes did Roxxas send me?”

For those unfamiliar with the Dominators: Dominators are a caste-defined society. The size of the red dot in the middle of the forehead indicates their status in the society. The bigger the dot, the higher the status. If a Dominator, doesn’t have a dot, he would be the lowest of the low in the society. A dot can be surgically made smaller or scraped off entirely if the Dominator has lost status in his society.

The Toonar Spaceport: Kent remembers his farewell conversation with Ivy. He attempts to reassure her that he loves her and will be back. It doesn’t go well and ends with Ivy stating: “I hope you die on your first mission.”

Children, so dramatic!

Deep space: Laurel curb stomps some Khunds. She deeply regrets not being on Winath during the battle with Roxxas. “If only I’d just stayed on Winath in the first place instead of running back to Zirr every two days to see how Lauren is doing. Baby daughter or no, I can’t ever forget my responsibilities as a Legionnaire.”

Laurel faces the modern dilemma of many women: motherhood vs career.

The Collingwood Inn on Gnogg: The bald head prosthetic Tenzil shoved on Brek’s head during his Earthgov trial is not coming off. Brek is quite put out and wants it off ASAP.

Tenzil: “Well then, I guess there’s only one thing left to try, now hold still!”

“Ow…ow! That’s my hair, you moron!”

“Hey! What’s going on in here?”

“My god! He’s eating that man’s head!”

“It’s okay! It’s okay! I’m a senator!”

“I’m a senator” is Tenzil’s defense for all of his shenanigans.

Winath: Rokk researches options for the new Legion’s headquarters: “There just isn’t enough room on Brande’s planetoid. And we couldn’t risk bringing down an attack on the U.P. Council, so we gotta stay clear of Weber’s World. But by the same token, we sure as heck gotta get off Winath before someone else attacks the plantation”.

Garth interrupts – he and Rokk were supposed to get in a round of links.

“So what’s the big headache? You need a new headquarters? How’s that a problem?”

“Things aren’t so simple anymore, Garth. The Legion doesn’t have the kind of friends it used to.”

“Well, you’ve still got one friend you can count on. Consider your headquarters problem solved.”

“You don’t mean here? We really couldn’t stay.”

“No, no…I’ve got something a little better suited to your needs, Rokk. Trust me.”

Before Garth can reveal the location of the new headquarters, he spies Furrball (Brin) in a hallway: “Hey, look who just wandered in! I guess Kono’s going to be relieved!”

Brin wanders past an arguing Querl and Celeste: “I’m fine! So I have a tendency to glow green. So what? Green’s a lovely color. You should appreciate that more than anyone.”

Kono encounters Brin: “There you are, you big stupid furball! What the Nykx do you think you’re doing, disappearing on us for days like that? I don’t know whether to hug you or kick your stupid butt to Tombor.

Violet overhears Kono’s dressing down of Brin: “She can sure dish it out! Wish I had her brass when I was that age. But I didn’t come down here to admire out latest Firebrand. I’ve been putting this off long enough. It’s time to take care of business.

Violet enters the room and asks Rokk if he “has a sec”. Garth hastily excuses himself.

If you haven’t read the “5 Years Later” series, Rokk and Violet’s home planets, Brall and Imsk, went to war during the five-year gap between the Baxter series and the present series.

Violet voluntarily joined her planet’s military during the war, Rokk was drafted.

Imsk’s military scientists created a doomsday weapon to use against the Braalians. Violet served as the chief of security during the project’s development. Violet protested the actual use of the weapon.

The weapon is deployed. Rokk is onsite at the weapon’s deployment at Venado Bay. The weapon strips Brallians of their native magnetic abilities. It also causes death and dismemberment.

Rokk loses his abilites and is badly injured and deeply traumatized in the immediate aftermath of the weapon’s deployment. Violet is also there – she is deeply appalled at the carnage she witnesses. Violet recognizes Rokk and approaches him.

The badly injured Rokk does not recognize Violet and lashes out, causing her to lose an eye and suffer facial scarring.

Violet is imprisoned by the Imskian military for her protests and refusal to take back her criticism of the weapon and its deployment.

Rokk and Violet both suffer long-term PTSD from the events of Venado Bay and the war in general.

Back to the present day.

The duo awkwardly attempts to start a conversation.

Rokk begins: “Look, Vi, I know you’re upset. And you have every right to be. All those months you spent in prison, protesting Venado Bay, and I didn’t even have the courage to thank you. I don’t know what my problem was. I guess I was afraid you’d never forgive Braal for attacking your planet. Or forgive me for so blindly obeying Braal’s lousy leadership.”

“Rokk, don’t…I’m the one who should be apologizing…I’m the one…who helped kill all those…god.”

“’C’mon, Vi. It’s gonna be okay.”

“I told…I told myself I wasn’t going to fall apart like this…”

“You’re entitled.”

By the end of the conversation, both Rokk and Violet are crying.

One of my favorite moments in the series. Neither Rokk nor Violet magically healed their PTSD or emotional trauma but they’re on the road to healing.

Kathoon: A heavily pregnant Lydda is reading a letter from Rokk: “You know, Lydda, that woman has never forgiven herself for just doing her duty. Did I mention the scar she has over her eye? Vi told me she got it over her eye? Vi told me she got it at Venado Bay. She say’s she’s never having it removed. She never wants to forget what happened there. What she did. It just made me want to keep hugging her until the whole thing disappeared forever. But I guess Venado Bay will never go away. It’ll always be with us. Both of us.”

It’s safe to assume Violet didn’t inform Rokk that he caused the scar. Violet correctly assumed the revelation would only add more guilt to the emotional turmoil caused by Venado Bay.

The “hugging” line adds another dimension to Rokk’s character. Starting with the 5 Year Later series and continuing through the reboot, the three-boot, and the retro-boot, Rokk has been portrayed as the serious, no-nonsense, all business leader of the Legion. It’s nice to see a sweet, comforting side of Rokk.

The letter continues: “Now that we’ve finally nailed Roxxas, I’ve got to get going on the arrangements for Blok’s memorial. Brainy says it’s too soon to make it a double ceremony so we haven’t completely given up hope on Jo yet. But damn, it’s hard to get over Blok. I guess I never realized how important he was to us all until he was gone.”

Rokk ends his letter with “It really is happening. Uniforms, headquarters, roll call. The Legion is officially back.”

Lydda excitedly yells “All right!”

The next few pages consist of a Brande Industries Memo from Marla Latham to Reep Daggle.

Volume 1: Disposition Of Known Universe

Currently the known universe is divided into these political entitites.

1) The Khundish Empire, 32%

2) Independent, unaffiliated, disorganized, 29%

3) United Planets, 24%

4) The Dominion, 9%

The memo states Khunds have conquered Lallor, Sklar, Tsauran, and Rann.

The Dominion is in a state of collapse “as worlds on the fringe continue to achieve independence”.

The memo notes the Dominion’s attempt to enslave the now-decimated Daxamite race and the “alleged secret domination of Earthgov”.

The extent of the Dark Circle remains unknown but may be as large as the Khundish empire.

Volume 2: Growing Threats

1) Mordru

2) Glorith

The memo notes the “destruction of magic at the conclusion of the Mystic Wars have proven totally erroneous. While the greatest known nexus of Magic was destroyed with the old Sorcerers’ World, many known ‘sympathetic points’ remain, most notably Tharn, the new Sorcerers’ World, as well as Orando and Venegar.

Volume 3: The United Planets

1) Current operations include “directing traffic, organizing defense, and enforcing the rules of the Recovery Initiative”

2) Compliance remains low, U.P. membership is still far below pre-Collapse levels

3) U.P. Militia has gained respectability as a barrier to Khundish encroachment

4) The critical blow to the U.P.’s collapse was the secession of Earth

5) The United Planets and the Science Police have relocated to Weber’s World

6) The corruption of Science Police Earth has undermined the credibility of all S.P. agencies

7) Organized crime has flourished.

8) Molock Hanscomb (Starfinger) of Darzyl is the most powerful figure in the underworld.

9) Leland McCauley III has emerged as the richest businessman in the United Planets. Rumors suggest that Leland McCauley IV has wrested control of the business from his father.

Volume 4: Earth

1) “With poverty and paranoia flourishing on Earth in the wake of the Great Collapse, that planet has lapsed into a period of uncharacteristic xenophobia and acquiescence to authoritarian rule. It is now alleged that the population has been manipulated and covertly ruled by the Dominion.”

2) Resistant forces have opposed Earthgov since 2990.

We end with an interlude featuring Glorith and the Time Trapper.

The Trapper informs Glorith of the “timelines that proceeded yours…what you owe me.”

He further reveals that “Mon-El obliterated my form, not my essence. All that was destroyed were my works.”

The Trapper and Glorith are referring to events that took place in issues #4 – 5.

Trapper continues: “I’ve seen how you performed my acts, lived my life to frustrate that poor fool Mordru once again. How you’ve become the new Time Trapper…but understand this, without me you can lose everything.”

Trapper issues the traditional “without me, you will fail but together we can rule the universe” speech.

Glorith rejects the offer, devolves Trapper into protoplasm and absorbs his essence. I don’t feel bad for Trapper as he did the same thing to Glorith in the Silver Age.

Glorith decides now is the perfect time to conquer the universe.

A great issue that wraps up the previous plot lines and sets up future storylines. The issue is a terrific example on how to handle a large cast – we checked in with 14 Legionnaires and 5 sets of villains.

#Legion Of Super-Heroes #Cosmic Boy #Ultra Boy #Lightning Lad #Shrinking Violet #Colossal Boy #Kent Shakespeare #Brainiac 5 #Glorith #Time Trapper #Dominators #Khunds #Starfinger #Timber Wolf #Kono #Celeste Rockfish #Night Girl #Matter-Eater Lad #Polar Boy

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getanattitude · 4 years

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Buzzwords, De-buzzed: 10 Other Ways to Say fireinsidemusic.com

“THE more you dig right into a bit of Ives, the more enjoyment you have from it,” the pianist Jeremy Denk mentioned not too long ago, sitting at a piano inside of a rehearsal Area on the Juilliard University. “It’s like solving a puzzle.”

Then he enthusiastically deconstructed Ives’s “Concord” Sonata, untangling and detailing the themes and motifs embedded within the complex textures of the interesting rating.

Mr. Denk is going to release a disc, “Jeremy Denk Plays Ives” (Think Denk Media), that includes two piano sonatas, an esoteric choice of repertory for the debut solo album. But then, there's nothing generic concerning this adventurous musician. His vivacious intellect is manifest both equally in his playing and on his blog site, Assume Denk, an outlet for astute musical observations and witty musings, whether a lament about inedible meatballs or simply a spoof job interview with Sarah Palin.

Mr. Denk will reveal his more mainstream qualifications when he performs Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. one with Charles Dutoit and also the Philadelphia Orchestra commencing on Thursday on the Kimmel Centre in Philadelphia and on Oct. 12 at Carnegie Hall.

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Mr. Denk argues which the Ives sonatas, composed early during the twentieth century, are mistakenly categorized as avant-garde works instead of “epic Intimate sonatas with Lisztian thematic transformations.” On the relaxed listener, the audio that Mr. Denk describes while in the CD booklet as “brilliant, ingenious, tender, edgy, wild, unique, witty, haunting” can unquestionably audio avant-garde. Ives, who built his residing in the coverage enterprise, integrated jazz, riffs on Beethoven and American hymns, marches and people songs into his daringly experimental piano sonatas, full of polytonality, thematic layering and rhythmic complexity.

“It’s so splendidly in-your-face,” Mr. Denk said, demonstrating a very maniacal passage while in the “Concord” Sonata. “It’s also pretty astonishingly unsightly. There is a thing maddening about his sense of humor. Ives is continually thumbing his nose at you in a method.”

But Mr. Denk suggests that Ives’s tenderness, which he illuminates superbly In this particular recording, is underappreciated. “Ives is frequently about things recalled,” he said, “or Recollections or visions fetched from some difficult position.”

He played the harmonically misty passages in the next movement with the “Concord,” where by Ives directs that a bit of wood be pressed over the higher keys to produce a cluster chord. “It doesn’t sense gimmicky at all to me,” Mr. Denk explained. “It’s all blues in The underside. Ives knew the way to use Those people tiny clichéd bits of Americana in a means that all of a sudden will get your intestine. You can’t believe how touching it's.”

Mr. Denk, forty, has been passionate about Ives because his undergraduate days at Oberlin in Ohio, where he carried a double big in piano functionality and chemistry. “My overall double diploma knowledge was to some degree of the continuous freakout of 1 type of A different,” he claimed.

He had been a “really nerdy high school scholar” by using a constrained social existence, he stated. “Ever considering the fact that I had been a kid I planned to head to Oberlin and preferred the liberal arts. Certainly I really get rigorous satisfaction outside of drawing connections between parts and poems and literature and concepts.”

Mr. Denk explained himself to be a “practice maniac,” but his horizons have prolonged considerably beyond the apply area since Oberlin. When nibbling a massive bit of chocolate cream pie at an Upper West Facet diner near the condominium he has rented due to the fact about 1999, Mr. Denk referred to his blog, contacting it “an surprisingly excellent outlet to release tensions of one form or Yet another.” He claimed it had drawn new listeners to his concerts. An avid reader of liberal political weblogs, Mr. Denk desires of creating a classical music Model of Wonkette, he reported, but that might be not easy to do devoid of offending individuals. And he attempts to steer clear of offending persons, he extra, while he did not long ago write-up a rant about plan notes.

Mr. Denk, who phone calls himself “an actual Francophile,” is gentle-spoken but intense, his dialogue peppered with references to numerous “obsessions”: espresso, Ives, Bach, Proust, Baudelaire and Emerson.

He went off on “a Balzac mania” a number of years in the past, he claimed.

“That was a perilous time, and almost everything in everyday life seemed drawn outside of a Balzac novel,” he extra. “I misplaced about three decades of my lifetime to Proust. I’m guaranteed it improved anything, including my playing.

“Sooner or later my supervisor was like, ‘Dude, You should deal with your occupation and receiving your stuff together.’ ” At that point, Mr. Denk claimed, “I had been bringing Proust to conferences.” He extra: “I’m unsure I really experienced a occupation route. I had been just undertaking my Odd issue, which most likely gave the impression of a disastrous nonroute to a lot of the individuals that have been viewing around me. I don't forget some exasperated conferences with my management, Nevertheless they were incredibly affected person and faithful, which I’m insanely grateful for.”

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Mr. Denk grew up in Las Cruces, N.M., amongst two brothers, a son of audio-loving nonmusician parents. His father, who's got a doctorate in chemistry, has actually been (at diverse occasions) a Roman Catholic monk plus a director of Laptop or computer science at New Mexico Point out College.

Mr. Denk continues to be hooked on the chili peppers of Las Cruces, he said, seemingly only fifty percent joking: “The red and the green and The full spirituality of chili peppers. It’s nonetheless a large part of my everyday living. When I go house I go to this true dive and obsess in excess of their eco-friendly meat burrito.”

When not on tour, Mr. Denk spends time with his boyfriend, Patrick Posey, a saxophonist as well as director of orchestral things to do and preparing at Juilliard, wherever Mr. Denk been given his doctorate, researching with Herbert Stessin. Mr. Stessin recollects owning been impressed by “the maturity and intensity” of Mr. Denk’s participating in and remembers him as “an extraordinary university student who absorbed things pretty promptly.”

Mr. Denk said he “was in class permanently” until finally “at some time I made a decision to believe in my own instincts.” Now he teaches double-diploma undergraduates for the Bard Higher education Conservatory of Music. The pianist Allegra Chapman, who researched with him, explained he was “worried about quite a bit greater than the notes about the web site, constantly mentioning literary and historic references.”

“Now I attempt to technique songs within a more holistic viewpoint,” she additional. “He is incredibly passionate. He used to bounce around the area and bounce about and wave his arms. It was really enjoyable. He tried to get me to think about the music that has a sense of humor.”

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This blend of passion, humor and intellect, so vibrant in both equally Mr. Denk’s enjoying and his creating, is what distinguishes him, according to the violinist Joshua Bell. The 2 have already been normal duo companions because 2004, when they carried out with the Spoleto Competition United states.

“You obtain the mental musicians or people that have on their coronary heart on their own sleeve without having a number of musical imagined,” Mr. Bell reported, “but Jeremy manages to accomplish each, Which’s great. Now we have lots of arguments in rehearsal, and that is the fun component at the same time. The very fact we don’t generally see eye to eye keeps issues clean and would make me problem anything I do.”

Mr. Bell, whose options of repertory are generally additional regular than those of his much more adventurous colleague, mentioned he wasn’t normally an Ives enthusiast: “Having a good deal of contemporary tunes I’m somewhat cautious. Despite Ives, right up until I read Jeremy. He just delivers it alive. He has this sort of a terrific creativity, and nothing at all is done randomly.”

Ives’s piano sonatas, Mr. Denk mentioned, “are in a way like animals that don’t wish to be tamed.”

“Each individual efficiency needs to be so distinct,” he included, a person purpose he was to begin with hesitant to file them. Like Bach, he said, Ives leaves quite a bit to the performer’s creativeness.

A wonderful interpretation of your “Goldberg” Variants at Symphony Area in 2008 discovered Mr. Denk’s profound affinity with Bach. Mr. Denk will complete the do the job and Books one and 2 of Ligeti’s Études at Zankel Corridor on Feb. sixteen.

To keep the “Goldberg” Variations fresh, Mr. Denk is incorporating new fingerings, he stated, “to reactivate the link involving my brain and my fingers After i’m enjoying it.”

“I believe it’s an actual magical put If you have the muscle mass memory,” he extra, “even so the Mind is ahead from the fingers.”

Switching the fingerings is one method to avoid routine, he explained. “I get real pleasure from producing in a very fantastic fingering. It is actually like relearning the piece, and it tends to make you not acquire any Observe as a right.”

The musical philosophy Mr. Denk relates to Bach, Ives and other repertory is probably best summed up in that website submit on system notes: “I’ve never been a major enthusiast of your ‘Picture how revolutionary this piece was when it absolutely was composed’ college of inspiration. For my dollars, it ought to be innovative now. (And it's.) Whatever else the composer might have meant, he or she didn’t want you to definitely Believe, ‘Boy, that have to happen to be interesting back again then.’ The most basic compositional intent, the absolute ur-intent, is that you Enjoy it now, you enable it to be take place now.”

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thewidowstanton · 7 years

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Tessa Blackman, hand-to-hand and acrobalance artist, Josh & Tess, Living Room Circus

American circus artist Tessa Blackman – who is from Chicago – trained as a dancer from the age of five. She specialised in classical ballet at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and also did tap, jazz and contemporary. She went on train at Chicago’s Second City and has also studied holistic energy and worked with InVision, a school of psychic abilities.

In 2016 she graduated from the National Centre for Circus Arts in London with her hand-to-hand partner Joshua Frazer. As Josh & Tess, their acts are an enticing fusion of ballet and circus. They are members of Living Room Circus and appear in its show The Penguin and I from 29 June – 2 July at The Dairy at Springhill Farm, in Forest Row, Sussex. It runs again on 25 July at Jacksons Lane in London, and the duo appear in Simple Cypher’s Cypher Stories on 26 July at the same venue during its Postcards 2017 season. Tessa chats to Liz Arratoon.

The Widow Stanton: Any there any other performers in your family? Tessa Blackman: Yes. My mum, Suzanne Lek, was a prima ballerina. My great, great uncle was Nicolas Legat, who was a really famous Russian dancer. He was kind of like in the beginning of the whole Vaganova technique. Back in the day there was the Legat School of Ballet and the Royal Ballet and they were kind of rivals. So my mum went there from ten to 18. But then Legat got shut down. She worked for the London Festival Ballet and then moved to Yugoslavia and worked in a company there. She also worked at Pineapple Dance Studio and then actually first brought Pineapple to New York. My dad isn’t a performer but he loves the arts.

Is your mother Russian? No. Our familly line is Russian but she’s actually Welsh… well, it’s all mxed up because my grandparents lived in Holland but when the Nazis invaded they moved to Wales, cos we’re Jewish. My dad is from Chicago, born and bred.

Did you always want to be a dancer? Yes. When I was five my mother was teaching and I said, ‘Please can I come and take some classes with you?’. There was never pressure. She never pushed me to dance but it was kind of, ‘If you’re gonna do it, you’re gonna do it well.’ Then she pushed me pretty hard, but in a good way. It was tough at times and I danced from five years old up until 19. I went to North Carolina School of the Arts boarding school for ballet and yeah, I always wanted to be a dancer. That was my thing.

So why aren’t you a dancer? Yes, exactly. When I was 18, I had a really bad back injury; I had a herniated disc and that was the end of my ballet career. I kind of took about four years out. All the doctors wanted me to have surgery but there was something instinctual in me that told me not to do it, and I said I didn’t want it. I did holistic therapies and everything I could and essentially healed myself over time. During that time I went to art school, started painting, did a lot of energy work…

Did you do acting at Second City? Isn’t it an improv place? Yeah, they have a five-level improvisational programme and I did that for a year right after NCSA.

What made you move on to circus? Basically when I was living in Chicago and doing all these crazy things, I started getting romantically involved with a Circus du Soleil performer, who was a dancer in Dralion. [Laughs] I was like, ‘This is awesome!’. I was going to all his different shows around the States and he took me backstage one day and I got to meet all the performers. I was talking to them and was like, ‘How do you do this? This looks insane!’ They were like: “Well, you can train your muscles just like you train your muscles for dance.” They gave me this conditioning programme that I started doing on my own.

Then because I have a UK passport, I decided that I was gonna buy a one-way ticket and move to England. I did that – it worked with our relationship because he was travelling everywhere too – and I researched where I could take circus classes. I found Circus Space, which the National Centre for Circus Arts was at the time. It said, ‘Degree auditons in four weeks’. So I was like, ‘Maybe I should do this’. [Laughs] I trained for four weeks and I got in, which I still can’t believe. I couldn’t believe it happened because I had only really been physically training hard and getting back into shape since my injury probably for six months prior to the audition. I did a dance performance for my audition piece; I’d never done any circus before, I couldn’t even do a handstand. [Laughs]

This is marvellous, almost like running away with the circus… Yeah, I always describe circus to people as like one of those claw machines at fairgrounds that pick up toys. [Makes a claw hand motion] Circus just sort of picks you up and you’re like, ‘Oh, how did I get here?’. Everyone’s story is just completely different. What made you choose hand-to-hand? I was trying a bunch of disciplines and because I had no gymnastics background I had zero upper-body strength. I found aerial quite challenging. Then I started doing acrobalance and me and Josh paired up and started working together. It was really interesting, because we were similar in size and I was basing him a lot and he was basing me, and I realised that actually hand-to-hand was closer to dance than I thought and it felt really good. And we were dating, so it seems as if my romantic life takes me in the direction of my art forms [laughs]. We just dove into it together and started training and we loved it.

Your degree piece, Bound, was so distinctive and really impressive. How would you describe your style? Where we started is kind of like gender neutrality and not being confined to our genders in the way we express ourselves as artists. So we wanted to bring in a fluid movement quality and not have that be distinctly feminine and bring in a raw quality and not have that just be male; how we can both move in-between that language together and display a woman strongly and maybe display a man femininely.

Since our devised piece we’ve developing a lot with the knotted ropes – Shibari – moving more towards this raw, more aggressive style at the minute. I’m seeing that Shibari is getting more incorporated into circus now, which is really cool [see our interview with Hanna Moisala]; the whole self-suspension thing, having it be an aerial apparatus. We haven’t explored that as much but we’ve been using more the harness work.

Would you agree there has been quite a move to having women as bases? Is there a point to prove? Yeah, absolutely. I think for years we’ve been in that space as women of trying to prove a point, but for me I like to think of it, in respect to the feminist movement, that we’re not trying to be men, it’s more that we’re trying to display our strengths. The difficulty is that people are going: “Oh, you’re just trying to do the man’s job.” But it’s like, ‘No, actually these jobs are equal and we’re trying to show you that we are strong as well, that we are just as strong, we are built to do things like that, too’. It’s like: “Female bases, what’s this?” But it’s super-exciting to see and everyone loves to see it. I think it’s amazing that it’s happening.

How hard is your ‘iron-jaw’ move? [Laughs] I think that like with every circus trick, it’s an illusion to a certain extent; you have the strength but there are ways of making it safe for your body. I would say it’s probably more like a neck hang than it is genuinely from my jaw.

You might be interested in the aerialist Miss La La… but tell us about Josh and why you like working with him? A lot of reasons. We’re basically best friends. We’re not together any more in a relationship so that’s been a difficult transition but the fact is that when you work so close with someone you become best friends. We were living together for three years, we saw each other 24 hours a day so I think my relationship with him is unlike any other I’ve had with anybody. It’s probably one of the most special relationships I’ve had.

The way I kind of describe our creative process sometimes is at times I throw up on the table and then he cleans it up [laughs, a lot]. I’m kind of like, ‘Wah, wah, wah, here it is, this idea, this idea’, and he’s like: “OK, but how can we make that all work and structure it together.” It feels like a good balance.

I’ve always loved adagio and hand-to-hand with the woman in pointe shoes. You support Josh on your shoulders while on pointe. It’s stunning but what does it do to your feet… [Laughs] It requires a lot of training with my legs. The strength isn’t all coming from my ankles, it’s coming from my entire leg, so I have to keep up on my physio with my ankles and then also the strength of my inner thighs and glute muscles so that the whole leg is working to lift the body rather than just my feet.

I’ve never really understood pointe shoes. Is the inside shaped to cushion your foot? Not really. It’s a really close fit but they’re made of papier maché and have wood around the block part. You mostly wear toe pads inside. Most people use cotton or little gels, so sometimes there’s a little bit of foam at the tip of the shoe.

What have you done since graduation? I’ve mostly been working with the Living Room Circus, which is run by Elinor Harvey. She won the Deutsche Bank Business Plan Award in our year at NCCA. We did our first performance together last summer in a yurt in Forest Row in Sussex. We’re coining ourselves right now as an immersive experimental circus company. We mix circus, dance, live music and physical theatre, with an emphasis on audience interaction and involvement. We’re working on The Penguin and I, which Jason Dupree is directing.

Tell us a bit about the show… We’ve been creating a series of scenes that we can then adapt into whatever space we’re going into. For the new show we have this bespoke sofa that we can use in different ways, to balance on, to hang from. We actually got the money to make it from a Kickstarter campaign, which was great. This coming week we are performing in a dairy farm again in Forest Row. We have the scenes all laid out and we’re going to see what we can do with the space. It’s going to be really, really cool. It’s Eli’s home town and it’s kind of like our starting place.

Can you pick out a career highlight or two so far? Right off the bat, I’d say how much Josh and I have travelled so far. We’ve been to Corsica, Israel, Belgium and around the UK, and that alone is pretty awesome and exciting. Then just working with the Living Room Circus has been amazing because it feels just like a circus family. It feels like we’re a bunch of kids making a company, because we haven’t really had that much outside help. We’ve had help funding-wise but yeah, we’ve created this family together and we’re trying to make it work and see what happens.

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The Penguin and I runs from 29 June – 2 July at The Dairy, Springhill Farm, in Forest Row, Sussex and again on 25 July at Jacksons Lane in London. Josh and Tess also appear in Simple Cypher’s Cypher Stories on 26 July at the same venue during its Postcards 2017 season.

Picture credits: Tessa’s headshot, Nizaad Photography; Josh on shoulders/iron jaw, Bertil Nilsson; The Penguin, Miriam Strong

For tickets for The Penguin and I at The Dairy and at Jacksons Lane, and for Cypher Stories. click the links

Twitter: @LRCircus @jacksons_lane @SimpleCypher

Follow @TheWidowStanton on Twitter

Click the links to read our interviews with Simple Cypher’s Kieran Warner and Christopher Thomas

#tessa blackman #joshua frazer #josh and tess #interview #hand-to-hand #living room circus #acrobalance #circus artist #Elinor Harvey #shibari #simple cypher #jacksons lane #the dairy #postcards2017

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drink-n-watch · 4 years

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It might actually finally truly be summer here. I get paid by the adverb! But it really is a rather nice weekend. Sunny and bright but not too hot. The type of weekend that makes you want to just be lazy and not do a ton of paperwork. I have a lot of paperwork to do… I have been putting it off. But I absolutely must get this review out first. Right? Right! How are you doing Crow? Everything good for you?

I am doing mostly fine. It’s getting very summerly here (we’re splitting the adverb bounty, right?). Did you know it takes a week and a half to get the replacement valve that feeds refrigerant into my air conditioner? I just learned that myself. It arrives Thursday. The joys of homeownership…

We are now at episode 8 and going into the final arc. Unless My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Is planning on getting another season, we should be starting off the denouement right about now. Any thoughts before we get started?

I’m really curious to see what you thought about this one. I had fewer notes, but it’s taking a lot longer to process. And poor, poor Mary! I’m glad Maria was… Well, I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves…

Because the school year is nearing the end, Catarina is studying for her exams but she soon decides to take a little break and change things up, by doing some gardening. I was always fairly good at studying and absolutely horrific at gardening. I’m just a notorious plant mass murderer. It was a very upside down notion for me to have Catarina actually choose shovels over books. Like my brain had to adjust.

I grew up on a farm, so I had to make sure fields of plants lived or we had no income. It wasn’t easy, I can tell you! Fortunately, I just had to plow, disc, and cultivate. More experienced folks applied the nitrogen and other dangerous chemicals. Then the plants would not have been the only ones in danger!

In the garden, she runs into Alan and spying on them s from the school windows, Mary gets the wrong idea gets very worried and decides to go interrupt them.

She’s my favorite. I think that’s why I felt so sorry for her even through the after credits scene!

At this point we get the OP. I’m not sure if I’ve ever gotten a chance to mention it but I really like the opening song, for what it is. It’s quite bouncy and puts me in a good mood whenever I hear it. I think it really suits the series quite well. The visuals are fine but not that interesting all things considered, but when you pair them with the music, everything seems to come together so well. It’s sort of a nothing special really but solide and fun OP.

It’s a very uplifting song. Apparently, the artist is named angela, and Crunchyroll did a writeup on her. Very interesting video, by the way!

Fortunately for Mary, Catarina was in fact just going in, and the two meet up right away and go to the student council room to study for a bit. I quite like the squiggly writing they use. It looks a bit like drunken sanskrit. Sirius is there and they exchange a few words. Do you like his voice actor?

You know, I didn’t really give his VA any thought until this episode — and I thought that he’d done a particularly good job. Toshiki Masuda managed to sound friendly and helpful while giving off an ominous vibe!

At this point, the two girls (Mary and Catarina that is) decide to switch over to the library and start heading that way. I just wrote a post on anime libraries so this was very topical for me. On their way the first run into Geordo who decides to invite himself much to the chagrin of Mary. She really is not very good at hiding her emotions and her disappointment at losing her alone time showed on her face perfectly. Geordo teased a bit about it but was generally a very good sport about someone with romantic aspirations trying to spend alone time with his fiance. He’s impressively not jealous which you would think would be a big part of his archetype.

I wonder how this library compared to the ones in your post? About Gerald, though, he’s really surprised me. He has every right (socially speaking) to be upset that everyone’s horning in on his fiancée, but he’s generally been very patient!

Next, the tree of them ran into Keith who immediately decided to join in as well. From there, a series of quick vignettes showed all the main characters in turn decided to tag along, namely Maria, Sophia, Alan and finally Nicol. I really loved how Nicol was basically just a still shot of him without any dialog and the next scene was him walking with the group. That made me giggle. The entire little montage was fun.

The group finally makes it to the library which is surprisingly cozy, or maybe this was an offshoot or something. The room they were in only had one table and it was just big enough for the 8 of them.

Yes, it looked comfortable. But I thought it was awfully suspicious that neither Mary nor Catarina (okay, Mary…) had heard of the library when Sirius mentioned it. I wonder if he knew what was going to happen…

I think it’s at this point that I realized that I would probably like this show more if I was binge watching it. It’s great as is but I do think it loses a bit of its momentum having to wait a week between episodes and the repetitive nature of the narrative stands out more. It’s so light and airy I would probably have blown through an entire season in a day or two and have been left in a good mood for the rest of the week. What do you think Crow?

You know that I look for moments to celebrate, and I love the characters so much that I’ve been trying to ignore it. But, in all honesty, you’re right. As you said, it’s nothing against the show! Catarina’s Baka side is part of its charm. But it might flow more smoothly viewed all at once.

It seems that being part of a group does help Catarina focus on the books, but only for a short while. As she starts to get fidgety the Maries (that’s what I have decided to call the duo of Mary and Maria – it’s sort of a misspelling of both their names so no one can get mad. That makes just perfect sense) Where was I? I got lost in my own parenthesis. Oh yeah, seeing Catarina getting distracted! The Maries figure it’s a good time for a bit of a break. Maria decides to get them some sweets she made while Mary makes the tea. Both of them would make good maids.

No argument here!

Catarina jumps on the occasion to do something else and peruses the shelves next to the table when she spots a specific book that seems to glow for a minute. When Catarina she opens the book out of curiosity it glows a LOT more and we find out her voice stress has an impressive set of lungs on her. I was watching the show with my windows wide open and I’m sure my neighbours got a little worried there.

At this point, everyone in the library disappears, apparently having been sucked into the book, leaving behind the Maries. Maybe this will be their chance to save the day and redeem themselves after doing nothing but almost killing Alan last week!

This was the Bakarina moment for the episode, I think. I mean, if a book went all glowy for you, would you open it right in your own face? Especially if I couldn’t read the title (which I doubt Catarina could read).

Mary garbs the book and starts looking through it. Fortunately, it doesn’t also suck the two of them in for some reason, and they can sort of see what’s happening in the book’s universe through the pictures. Or maybe those are illusions? In any case they cannot seem to directly interact by touching the pictures. I’m not sure why they didn’t try writing something in the book. This whole idea is a little meta, Catarina getting sucked into the universe of a storybook from the universe of an otome she got sucked into….

I love Re:CREATORS. This is almost normal for me! Seriously, though, it is delightfully Inception-like! Or maybe I should say Paprika-like…

For some reason, Catarina is the only one who seems to realize something is amiss. Maybe because she comes from a different world to start off with? The Maries get to briefly watch a scene that seems to be taking place right after Geordo and Catarina’s wedding as the two of them start their first evening as husband and wife. Understandably, Geordo is eager to romance his one true love now that they are legal and after a 15 year courtship (I’m not actually sure how old they are but they seemed older than they are now and they have been engaged for a long time already…) but since for Catarina she was in the library a few minutes ago, it’s a bit of a shock. Nevertheless she doesn’t seem that opposed to it. I was looking through my screencaps of the scene and it ends on her smiling face. A visual I missed when reading the subtitles I guess because though she was a bit more hesitant than that expression seemed to indicate.

The scene gets to be a bit much for Mary and she slams the book shut not wishing to see her beloved Catarina with someone else in a romantic way. The Maries talk over what they have just seen and decide to open the book again not knowing what to do.

Honestly, I felt bad for Mary in this episode. It had to be very difficult to her to have to watch others acting on their romantic desires for Catarina!

I got a similar vibe from Catarina and Geraldo. She seemed more surprised than anything. Maybe from his perspective, his imagination had experienced the wedding ceremony. But she was still fresh from the library, so the scene was a complete surprise to her.

The next time Catarina is at her desk in her room, trying to study, with Keith standing over her shoulder. Except Keith looks a little weird. Like he got lip injections or something. Then he sort of flirts with her and tries to feed her a cookie. Which he immediately succeeds in because Catarina has never said no to a cookie, but before she gets to taste it, the book slams shut agan and Mary is exasperated. We learn that the book feeds on desires and we are actually seeing the characters deepest desires realized.

I laughed at Catarina’s reaction to Keith: “he’s giving off an oddly sexy vibe…”

I have to say, I can see it for Geordo. He is very much in love with his fiance and has worked hard for years to be the proper companion for her. I can see him really looking forward to their wedding night. I also figure he would be the type of guy who sees himself as debonnaire and smooth. But Keith’s scene was a bit baffling to me.

Sure Keith likes Catarin a lot, that’s no secret. And I completely believe that his deepest desire would involve her. But I can’t see him wanting to be a sleazy playboy type. Wouldn’t he have been horrified if not slightly repulsed by that version of him? It seems much more like what we are told game Keith is like rather than what the Keith we have come to know would fantasize about. This felt like they lost sight of the character a bit.

Unless the book is acting more on the characters based on their normal game routes? Nah, that’d be too subtle. I always saw Keith are more earnest and straight forward. I could see him helping her study, and getting closer and closer to her. But doing the who “open wide” thing? I’m with you on this one.

I don’t remember if this is where Alan comes in. His sequence is extremely short. We just see him playing piano next to a standing Catarina before Mary slams the book back shut, obviously not wanting to even think about it. I believe we are meant to understand that Mary also cares about Alan. It bothers her way more when he is with Catarina than when anyone else is and it’s not like Catarina shows him any favour. Think it may have hurt her feelings just a bit that she wasn’t any part at all of Alan’s desires.

Her eyes were completely blank. It’s like that was the last straw for her. I loved how Maria kept trying to comfort Mary. They worked well together in this episode!

The next scene was Sophia’s, and it was rather sweet. I like little dreams. Sophia and Catarina were in a library again but not the same library. This was Sophia’s private library and Catarina was really impressed by the wealth of romance novels available. She even mentioned wanting to live there which stirred up something in Sophia. The latter reacted by pinning Catarina to the wall with her arms on either side, all aggressive boy in a shoujo type. It was pretty funny to watch, especially as Sophia is markedly shorter. I’m not sure if they were going for actually romantic feelings here or a very strong friendship but either way, it was cute. Cute enough for Mary to slam the book shut again.

That library was probably too small to qualify for your list, wasn’t it? I agree that Sophia was just darling in this scene. She loves her time with Catarina, and the idea of the two of them living together with a stocked library seems to be a dream of hers.

Finally, we get Nicol’s fantasy sequence that was my favourite of the bunch. First, it really looked like an old school Sailor Moon episode with Serena fantasizing about Tuxedo Mask. In case that sentence didn’t make it sufficiently clear somehow, it looked amazing! Second, it was hilariously ridiculous. It seems even in his own desires, Nicol is pursued everywhere by a veritable army of swooning fangirls. I like this openly conceited Nicol. Second, he has the imagination to pretty much forgo realism. Unlike the others, his sequence wasn’t something that could happen and it made it all the better!

Leaping off the balcony into a gondola; sweeping Catarina into the air to bound from building to building, then telling her he’d love for her to be in his arms forever with the moon as a backdrop — yeah, he’s the most imaginative!

Mary is starting to get really worried about Catarina and how hungry she must be by now. Staring longingly at the sweets, she mentioned that Catarina hasn’t eaten in a while. At this point, the Maries suddenly remember that the magical book that feeds on people’s desires will let them go if their desires are fulfilled somehow. Unfortunately since they don’t really know what to do about it they decided to just open the book again and check on Catarina’s own desire next.

I really loved their teamwork this episode. Maria also showed that has a shrewd, inquisitive mind. Very cool!

I have to admit, the Maries seemed to believe that sweets were Catarina’s deepest desire (a reasonable guess), but I was sure that she would put them all to shame and they would see a scene with absolutely everyone, themselves included and realize that Catarina’s deepest desire is for everyone to be together and happy.

Catarina’s sequence opens with her walking alone through a grim looking forest and complaining about being hungry when she suddenly chances upon a life sized gingerbread house just like in the Hansel and Gretel fable. Of course, she goes right for it and starts devouring the walls. Soon the house turns into a tornado of candy which a rapidly fattening Catarina more or less vacuums up. The scene goes out of control quickly and the Maries try to shut the book again but something is going wrong as it distorts and bubbles. Suddenly everyone explodes out of the book.

We are told that because the book candy wasn’t real, Catarina couldn’t get full no matter how much she ate, so her desire just kept getting bigger and bigger until the book couldn’t handle it anymore. I’m not sure what they did with the book next but everyone was happy and they had tea and snacks. Too bad the Maries didn’t get a chance to do anything in the end.

I think I’d be at least a bit curious about the book — and why it decided to get my attention! It was interesting that they said it was one of the 7 mysteries of the school. Put me in mind of Yamada and the 7 Witches.

I’m not sure if I’m understanding this right, but if Mary had just let anyone’s scene play out, they would all have been freed from the book right away. Like it’s not really a trap. You get sucked in, it plays out your deepest desire and when it’s fulfilled, it lets you out. That sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. I wish I had a bunch of those books lying around. Last week, Crow and I discussed potential My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Merchandise. I’m saying a fully functional desire book will make them all millionaires. I hope someone is working on that! Oh man, I would spend every second I could in anime worlds… probably watching anime…

My luck, no one would open the book, and I’d be trapped! Bit of a downside, there… But with the appropriate safety equipment, it could be a complete blast. There’re several worlds I wouldn’t mind visiting! As several I’d very much want to avoid…

Does anyone need to open the book?

Finally, the after credits scene showed a broken hearted Mary watching what she believes is her long time fiance betraying her with her best friend and not so secret unrequited love. It stops a bit abruptly so maybe it’s a lead in for the next episode?

I wondered for a moment if it was part of the book fantasy! But it doesn’t look like it. I thought Catarina might be more interested in Nicol! But that moment in the tree seemed so comfortable!

Crow, how did you enjoy episode 8 of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!? Are you looking forward to next week?

Yes, I did. Your earlier comments about some of the situations being repetitive was spot on, but I like the character so much that I’m really looking forward to the next episode. I really don’t want this comfortable, supportive group to change, though I know it has to! It’s just so rare to see a group like that being good to one another!

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! ep 8 – Simple Pleasures It might actually finally truly be summer here. I get paid by the adverb! But it really is a rather nice weekend.

#anime #blonde bishie #comedy #My Next Life as a Villainess #otome #reverse harem #romance

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a-henderson-blog1 · 7 years

Text

Avery Henderson a-henderson Professor Maryann Nyugen Engl1301 13 September 2017 Outline Intro 1. Hello my name is Marc Anthony I would like to make a proposal. My mother is dying and we were raising money for bills when a group of promoters hired me to do production and engineer music events for him . He stole our music and money from shows. Now we have done this for three years . Im being extorted . I need a hitter , hacker , grifter, mastermind and thief. The opportunity and experience would be grand. Whatever I can offer I will help. Job description 1. I would like u to throw a fake club event. Get them to show up ;then get my money backget them to pay you for services .Trick them hiring you buy doing beats for them .hack their accounts .disarm their goons and set them up for the police to arrest. Challenges 1.They are dangerous gangsters they have money and a production team .So they will tell you they will have everything you need. They are armed and conieving , and will steal your workthey have an account in which to invest. Dear K-Dog (Hitter) I would like hire you for a job .My goal is to give you what you need to complete an assignment .I will provide training facilities you will play a melancholy rap duo with Mr. Dollar. I need muscle. Kali training partners are here to help , Disarming techniques will be at your reach. Communication devices will also be provided. Knowing you have military experience , I take as a plus my family was of military background. To fully understand what we are trying to do . You can They have weapons ,and are deceitful. To a man like you with an array of combat , boxing martial arts experience, this job should appeal to you. Taking out targets on covert missions as you put your jacket on, I see will be a piece of cake . Dear Dollar (Hacker) I would like offer a job for you .I need a hacker to steal money from my adversaries. I will provide equipment to produce beats , Promotion , computers for account numbers wiring . Think of every producer and artist that never got paid. I come from very prestigious family of tech savvy family tree. Dear Shatorree (Grifter) May I ask you if you like the arts? Seeing that that you are very intelligent, you must be a fan of the arts. I would like to offer you a position on a team of highly trained personnel . Your beauty along with your talent come in handy on this adventure . Dear Kizzie (Thief) May I ask you a question ?Being you have skill or extraordinary athletic escape capabilities ,I would like to offer you a detailed position and opportunity to work with a team of people who care for the community .This team has love for those who get beat by bullies the underdogs if you will. Picture your self being bullied your whole life. And if you tell someone you die. I’ve heard you can escape almost any situation. That being said life as I know it would change. Being able to escape this terrible dynamic is my dream . You will be equipped with military grade rope , climbing gear , grapples , disguises ,latest tech in construction escape plans maps route Gps systems ,and tools for the job. I need you to steal the hardrives , and computer data .There Are also keys that open their safe where the beats of mine are kept. Given you back ground of having an abusive fiancé , trying to get out of this trap he called a relationship. I would rather me being hit than lied to like he does it’s a fire keg waiting to explode . I feel the same way helping myself to other women while in a relationship , helped me see and accept myself who I was and need to change .There are two sides to every story so I realized I need my own business and to stay out of hers which was with every military veteran there was. I realized I need to escape even though that was the way she expressed herself I had to express myself by walking away and let go. The more I think about being a victim of domestic violence the farther I climb outside the box. You chose the rational route which I admire .Oh yeah there is an asset they have he is very forgetful sometimes he leaves the keys at the end of the hall next to the elevator. I know helping people is the best thing to do .you just do right because it’s right to do right. My life has changed since I’ve been recording for them for 2 years . Their hateful vicious unlovable and unforgiveable but I forgive them and love them anyway. Putting this position in your lap gives me a feeling of being on a tight rope in a circus knowing my girl has my back . there are also check points they put in play to get in we need 6 identity wristband we will need you to confiscate. These wristbands get your or us in and pass security clearances . we all will disguise ourselves as Arabic sampler producers looking for partners looking for investors .I also will have elevator blueprints. Please I ensure all of our safety by setting the fire alarm for an easy escape . Dear Westave (Mastermind) Hello I would like to offer you the opportunity of a life time. To work with professionals that have a keen sense of awareness towards those who suffer from unrest and injustice. Knowing you have a plan for every mission in the book like a disc jockey has songs in his music crates any task that come your way should not be of a hindrance .When you step over people you just step into people’s, lives .That is exactly what has happened . When I look at my mom suffering sometimes I wonder if there is anything thing I can do about it. I had a dream that grave diggers were coming for her .Her grassy valley we carted her on in a wheelchair covered in grassy yet flowery meadow’s , quickly turned to jagged rock .then they showed up and took her . I felt helpless. That is exactly what I feel like when my music is being stolen. My time is short she won’t be her long is what I here in my thought’s ; while making breakfast .Do you know what the promoter told me? He said I got your back whatever’s, happening . I’ve never been paid Given your expertise have you ever hurt so bad you want quit ,but I know you don’t quit you don’t fail. You are a master mind at helping people. Please help me. Making a difference in her life would mean the universe. I have all the accommodations you need knowing you’re a problem solver. Transportation, thinking things through knowledge of blueprints, dynamics, and surveillance planning building on their trust is key. I am willing to be compartmental with all the tools you need. Camoflauge make up the latest technology and military grade equipment. These men and women are ruthless and terrifyingly dangerous . if your ready we are in the great game now and the great game is dreadfully on. No matter what life gives you rolling it off of your back and to keep moving is my motto ,but this time they went to far. I heard your team helps people helping people. May I ask that you help the? time is now . they follow me everywhere I go so there is tight security . my time alone is very limited .Mr. Westave the team we are putting together can surley pull off the job I only ask if give me a chance my mother a chance. I know your brother was in the same situation and you helped him . Do it for him .

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lagroupie · 7 years

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Interview: Niklaus Reichle & Ronny Hunger from La Suisse Primitive

At the beginning of this Summer, I got a message from Niklaus, where he told me about a new project for his label La Suisse Primitive: the Transnational Series. They’re planning on releasing 8 records, each of them with a booklet, in order to “bring together of musicians from different social and cultural contexts across national boundaries”. I was very curious, both about this series and the duo behind them- Niklaus and Ronny, who I sometimes run into when I go to concerts. This is why I came to Zurich for the premiere of this Transnational Series. The first record off this series is shared between Kelley Stoltz from San Francisco, and Augenwasser, aka Elias Raschle from Biel (here in Switzerland). During the premiere, Augenwasser did a great concert at the American Diner where the event takes place (the stage was basically on the bar!).

Tell me more about you guys. How did you get started with the label ?

Niklaus Reichle : At the beginning, La Suisse Primitive was a DJ set, but we had never Dj’d together. After a little while, I had organized some shows and we had the idea of making the first record with Elias from Augenwasser, a single. At the time, I wasn’t working with Ronny yet- I paid him to make the cover. After two or three releases, we thought “why not do this together”?

Ronny Hunger : He asked me first to do the record designs for some singles. After having done three singles, we decided to do it together and to make it more like a concept.

Niklaus: Easier and cheaper! (laughs) From there, we released a lot of records together, often very spontaneously. For example, Kelley Stoltz was in Rorschach for a concert. While we were dining, I asked him if he wanted to do something with us. Then I showed him what we had done before, and he said yes! It often happened like this, very simply. For Tracy Bryant, we had a common friend who told him about us, and he came on his own to our office. It was very spontaneous as well! Whenever we have an idea, we take it and try to make it happen.

Ronny: For me it’s interesting because I organized concerts before in Zurich at Elmo Delmo- and he organized shows there too, but I was away at the time, in Los Angeles. So we didn’t meet each other then, but we got in touch afterwards. We have the same interest in music and making things. So for me it was great to work together with him, we’re really similar in some ways.

[…]

Niklaus: And I mean, it’s easy to release records. You send a few files, and it’s not expensive to the point where you couldn’t do it. The interesting thing for us is to develop things a bit further, or release things when it makes sense. Not just for the sake of releasing.

Ronny: It’s really important for us to push the Swiss music scene forward. We know a lot of bands in Switzerland and for most of them, it’s really hard to put something out. So whenever we hear something and think “wow, it would be really cool to release something”, we do it. I don’t know, it’s not really a big plan- we just do what we like.

How did you get the funding for this?

Niklaus: We have a bit of support from the Region of St-Gallen, and from the town of St-Gallen. But mostly, we just work for it and we don’t care! (laughs) I’m a social scientist, I work at the university of Zurich. Sometimes I’m also in film. And Ronny has his own graphic design studio, that’s his job.

Please tell me more about this first Transnational Series, the record and the booklet. Did the idea come from both of you?

Ronny : We did the booklet together, we actually had a lot to discuss for the artwork. My idea about it is that it’s like a special packaging; I figured it out with a printer so that we can have a 24-pages booklet. There are a lot of stories for every song because we wanted to have a conversation with the bands, to know what the idea was for every song.

Niklaus: It’s unusual; we don’t see any pictures from the bands on the cover, and there is no powerful typography. Usually, when you go to the record store, you have some kind of filter- you look at a record cover and you think, “this could be something I might like”. The cover gives you an information that allows you to choose whether you’re going to like the record or not. However here, you have to make an effort to imagine it. When we look at this record cover, we have no idea what it is. You have to make an effort with the “audio”, but also with the visuals. There will be 8 different releases, and the music will be stylistically different as well. For this release, we gave both musicians the same key-words that they had to take a picture of; for example toilets, an animal, the sky… From these pictures, you can imagine how they are, the way they live and they work.

[…] Niklaus: One other important thing is that if you take the packaging of this disc, it’s never a standard solution. The record was done without the label print, so that there’s nothing (ndlr: to tell which side is which artist). We also chose the paper ourselves, because when you give a record to a pressing plant, they only have standard paper. It’s always the same quality. And here we have the possibility to choose. For instance, the compilation we did a few years ago was purposely printed inside-out. It’s important for us to have a product that somehow resembles what we think it should be- and not just sending some files to a pressing plant that does the whole job.

https://www.lasuisseprimitive.com/

#la suisse primitive #lagroupieenglish #augenwasser #kelley stoltz

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getanattitude · 4 years

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How to Outsmart Your Boss on best beginner piano

“THE more you dig right into a piece of Ives, the greater pleasure you receive from it,” the pianist Jeremy Denk said recently, sitting down at a piano inside of a rehearsal Area on the Juilliard University. “It’s like solving a puzzle.”

Then he enthusiastically deconstructed Ives’s “Concord” Sonata, untangling and conveying the themes and motifs embedded in the complex textures of this interesting rating.

Mr. Denk is about to launch a disc, “Jeremy Denk Performs Ives” (Believe Denk Media), showcasing two piano sonatas, an esoteric decision of repertory for just a debut solo album. But then, there's nothing generic relating to this adventurous musician. His vivacious intellect is manifest the two in his taking part in and on his blog site, Imagine Denk, an outlet for astute musical observations and witty musings, whether a lament about inedible meatballs or simply a spoof interview with Sarah Palin.

Mr. Denk will reveal his much more mainstream qualifications when he performs Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. one with Charles Dutoit and the Philadelphia Orchestra commencing on Thursday within the Kimmel Heart in Philadelphia and on Oct. twelve at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Denk argues which the Ives sonatas, composed early inside the 20th century, are mistakenly categorized as avant-garde works rather then “epic Passionate sonatas with Lisztian thematic transformations.” Towards the casual listener, the music that Mr. Denk describes within the CD booklet as “fantastic, creative, tender, edgy, wild, first, witty, haunting” can definitely audio avant-garde. Ives, who designed his living in the insurance plan organization, integrated jazz, riffs on Beethoven and American hymns, marches and people songs into his daringly experimental piano sonatas, full of polytonality, thematic layering and rhythmic complexity.

“It’s so wonderfully in-your-facial area,” Mr. Denk explained, demonstrating a particularly maniacal passage inside the “Concord” Sonata. “It’s also fairly surprisingly unsightly. There is a thing maddening about his humorousness. Ives is repeatedly thumbing his nose at you in a means.”

But Mr. Denk suggests that Ives’s tenderness, which he illuminates fantastically Within this recording, is underappreciated. “Ives is usually about things recalled,” he claimed, “or Reminiscences or visions fetched outside of some complicated place.”

He performed the harmonically misty passages in the second motion with the “Concord,” exactly where Ives directs that a bit of Wooden be pressed over the higher keys to supply a cluster chord. “It doesn’t truly feel gimmicky in the least to me,” Mr. Denk said. “It’s all blues in the bottom. Ives understood the way to use All those minimal clichéd bits of Americana in a means that suddenly receives your intestine. You could’t consider how touching it is.”

Mr. Denk, 40, has actually been keen about Ives considering that his undergraduate times at Oberlin in Ohio, the place he carried a double significant in piano effectiveness and chemistry. “My entire double degree encounter was considerably of the continuous freakout of 1 type of A different,” he said.

He had been a “definitely nerdy highschool college student” with a confined social daily life, he reported. “At any time given that I had been a kid I wanted to head to Oberlin and required the liberal arts. Definitely I actually get intense enjoyment from drawing connections between parts and poems and literature and ideas.”

Mr. Denk described himself as a “practice maniac,” but his horizons have extended considerably past the observe place considering that Oberlin. Whilst nibbling an unlimited bit of chocolate product pie at an Upper West Facet diner close to the apartment he has rented since all around 1999, Mr. Denk referred to his site, contacting it “an surprisingly superior outlet to release tensions of 1 form or A further.” He said it experienced drawn new listeners to his concert events. An avid reader of liberal political blogs, Mr. Denk goals of creating a classical tunes Model of Wonkette, he mentioned, but that would be challenging to do with no offending persons. And he tries to prevent offending folks, he added, even though he did not long ago write-up a rant about plan notes.

Mr. Denk, who calls himself “an actual Francophile,” is soft-spoken but extreme, his discussion peppered with references to varied “obsessions”: coffee, Ives, Bach, Proust, Baudelaire and Emerson.

He went off on “a Balzac mania” a couple of years ago, he said.

“That was a dangerous time, and every little thing in everyday life seemed drawn outside of a Balzac novel,” he included. “I missing about 3 many years of my everyday living to Proust. I’m positive it transformed anything, which includes my participating in.

“At some point my manager was like, ‘Dude, You must deal with your occupation and getting your things collectively.’ ” At that time, Mr. Denk said, “I had been bringing Proust to conferences.” He additional: “I’m undecided I really had a profession route. I had been just carrying out my Strange point, which almost certainly gave the look of a disastrous nonroute to lots of the individuals who ended up viewing about me. I bear in mind some exasperated conferences with my administration, However they were being really patient and devoted, which I’m insanely grateful for.”

Mr. Denk grew up in Las Cruces, N.M., amongst two brothers, a son of songs-loving nonmusician dad and mom. His father, who has a doctorate in chemistry, continues to be (at unique periods) a Roman Catholic monk in addition to a director of computer science at New Mexico Point out University.

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Mr. Denk stays hooked on the chili peppers of Las Cruces, he claimed, seemingly only half joking: “The purple and also the green and The full spirituality of chili peppers. It’s continue to a massive Element of my daily life. After i go household I visit this real dive and obsess over their eco-friendly meat burrito.”

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When not on tour, Mr. Denk spends time with his boyfriend, Patrick Posey, a saxophonist and the director of orchestral things to do and setting up at Juilliard, wherever Mr. Denk obtained his doctorate, studying with Herbert Stessin. Mr. Stessin remembers getting been impressed by “the maturity and depth” of Mr. Denk’s enjoying and remembers him as “a unprecedented college student who absorbed items quite promptly.”

Mr. Denk claimed he “was at school endlessly” till “at some point I made a decision to belief my own instincts.” Now he teaches double-degree undergraduates at the Bard Higher education Conservatory of Tunes. The pianist Allegra Chapman, who researched with him, reported he was “worried about quite a bit a lot more than the notes to the site, usually citing literary and historical references.”

“Now I make an effort to approach songs inside of a extra holistic perspective,” she additional. “He is incredibly passionate. He accustomed to leap across the home and bounce about and wave his arms. It had been actually enjoyable. He tried to get me to look at the songs with a humorousness.”

This combination of passion, humor and intellect, so lively in both equally Mr. Denk’s participating in and his creating, is exactly what distinguishes him, in accordance with the violinist Joshua Bell. The two are standard duo partners since 2004, whenever they carried out for the Spoleto Competition USA.

“You obtain the mental musicians or people that use their coronary heart on their sleeve with out a great deal of musical believed,” Mr. Bell stated, “but Jeremy manages to accomplish equally, Which’s best. We have plenty of arguments in rehearsal, that's the enjoyable aspect at the same time. The fact we don’t generally see eye to eye keeps factors refreshing and can make me concern all the things I do.”

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Mr. Bell, whose decisions of repertory tend to be more typical than those of his extra adventurous colleague, mentioned he wasn’t usually an Ives fan: “With a good deal of recent music I’m just a little cautious. In spite of Ives, until finally I listened to Jeremy. He just brings it alive. He has this kind of an excellent imagination, and very little is done randomly.”

Ives’s piano sonatas, Mr. Denk said, “are in a means like animals that don’t want to be tamed.”

“Each functionality ought to be so various,” he added, just one explanation he was originally hesitant to document them. Like Bach, he said, Ives leaves lots for the performer’s creativity.

A great interpretation of your “Goldberg” Variations at Symphony Room in 2008 discovered Mr. Denk’s profound affinity with Bach. Mr. Denk will conduct the perform and Textbooks one and a pair of of Ligeti’s Études at Zankel Hall on Feb. sixteen.

To help keep the “Goldberg” Versions contemporary, Mr. Denk is incorporating new fingerings, he claimed, “to reactivate the connection concerning my brain and my fingers Once i’m actively playing it.”

“I believe it’s an actual magical position If you have the muscle memory,” he added, “even so the Mind is forward on the fingers.”

Shifting the fingerings is one way to stay away from schedule, he stated. “I get real enjoyment from creating in a really very good fingering. It's like relearning the piece, and it makes you not take any Notice with no consideration.”

The musical philosophy Mr. Denk applies to Bach, Ives together with other repertory is maybe very best summed up in that blog submit on application notes: “I’ve hardly ever been a huge fan from the ‘Think about how groundbreaking this piece was when it had been published’ faculty of inspiration. For my cash, it ought to be groundbreaking now. (And it really is.) Whatever else the composer might have meant, he / she didn’t want you to definitely Consider, ‘Boy, that must have already been awesome back then.’ The most simple compositional intent, absolutely the ur-intent, is that you Enjoy it now, you enable it to be materialize now.”

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getanattitude · 4 years

Text

15 Weird Hobbies That'll Make You Better at best keyboard for learning piano

“THE more you dig into a bit of Ives, the greater pleasure you will get from it,” the pianist Jeremy Denk reported just lately, sitting at a piano within a rehearsal space for the Juilliard School. “It’s like fixing a puzzle.”

Then he enthusiastically deconstructed Ives’s “Concord” Sonata, untangling and describing the themes and motifs embedded in the complicated textures of this fascinating rating.

Mr. Denk is about to release a disc, “Jeremy Denk Plays Ives” (Assume Denk Media), featuring two piano sonatas, an esoteric selection of repertory for any debut solo album. But then, there's nothing generic concerning this adventurous musician. His vivacious intellect is manifest both equally in his actively playing and on his site, Consider Denk, an outlet for astute musical observations and witty musings, irrespective of whether a lament about inedible meatballs or even a spoof interview with Sarah Palin.

Mr. Denk will show his far more mainstream credentials when he performs Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. one with Charles Dutoit plus the Philadelphia Orchestra commencing on Thursday for the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and on Oct. twelve at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Denk argues that the Ives sonatas, composed early in the twentieth century, are mistakenly categorized as avant-garde performs as an alternative to “epic Passionate sonatas with Lisztian thematic transformations.” To your informal listener, the music that Mr. Denk describes inside the CD booklet as “good, inventive, tender, edgy, wild, primary, witty, haunting” can undoubtedly audio avant-garde. Ives, who built his living in the insurance plan organization, incorporated jazz, riffs on Beethoven and American hymns, marches and folk songs into his daringly experimental piano sonatas, rich in polytonality, thematic layering and rhythmic complexity.

“It’s so beautifully in-your-experience,” Mr. Denk reported, demonstrating a particularly maniacal passage in the “Concord” Sonata. “It’s also fairly incredibly unsightly. There is something maddening about his humorousness. Ives is constantly thumbing his nose at you in a means.”

But Mr. Denk suggests that Ives’s tenderness, which he illuminates beautifully in this recording, is underappreciated. “Ives is often about points recalled,” he reported, “or Recollections or visions fetched from some complicated spot.”

He performed the harmonically misty passages in the second movement from the “Concord,” wherever Ives directs that a piece of wood be pressed over the upper keys to generate a cluster chord. “It doesn’t experience gimmicky in the least to me,” Mr. Denk stated. “It’s all blues in the bottom. Ives realized the best way to use People little clichéd bits of Americana in a method that all of a sudden receives your gut. It is possible to’t consider how touching it really is.”

Mr. Denk, forty, continues to be keen about Ives due to the fact his undergraduate days at Oberlin in Ohio, wherever he carried a double important in piano overall performance and chemistry. “My total double diploma knowledge was to some degree of the constant freakout of one style of An additional,” he explained.

youtube

He had been a “genuinely nerdy high school university student” with a constrained social existence, he stated. “Ever considering that I used to be A child I desired to check out Oberlin and desired the liberal arts. Definitely I really get intense satisfaction out of drawing connections involving pieces and poems and literature and ideas.”

Mr. Denk explained himself for a “practice maniac,” but his horizons have extended much outside of the exercise place because Oberlin. Although nibbling an unlimited piece of chocolate cream pie at an Upper West Facet diner near the condominium he has rented given that around 1999, Mr. Denk referred to his website, calling it “an surprisingly superior outlet to launch tensions of 1 sort or An additional.” He stated it had drawn new listeners to his concert events. An avid reader of liberal political weblogs, Mr. Denk goals of writing a classical audio Variation of Wonkette, he said, but that would be difficult to do without the need of offending men and women. And he attempts to stay clear of offending individuals, he added, however he did not too long ago post a rant about method notes.

Mr. Denk, who calls himself “a true Francophile,” is tender-spoken but rigorous, his dialogue peppered with references to numerous “obsessions”: espresso, Ives, Bach, Proust, Baudelaire and Emerson.

He went off on “a Balzac mania” a few years back, he stated.

youtube

“That was a perilous time, and almost everything in life appeared drawn from a Balzac novel,” he additional. “I shed about three decades of my life to Proust. I’m confident it changed almost everything, which includes my enjoying.

“In the future my manager was like, ‘Dude, You need to center on your career and acquiring your stuff collectively.’ ” At that time, Mr. Denk said, “I had been bringing Proust to meetings.” He added: “I’m not sure I actually experienced a profession route. I had been just doing my weird thing, which most likely appeared like a disastrous nonroute to a lot of the folks who ended up watching more than me. I don't forget some exasperated conferences with my administration, However they had been extremely patient and devoted, which I’m insanely grateful for.”

Mr. Denk grew up in Las Cruces, N.M., considered one of two brothers, a son of songs-loving nonmusician mothers and fathers. His father, who may have a doctorate in chemistry, is (at different instances) a Roman Catholic monk plus a director of Personal computer science at New Mexico State College.

youtube

Mr. Denk remains addicted to the chili peppers of Las Cruces, he stated, seemingly only fifty percent joking: “The red along with the eco-friendly and The full spirituality of chili peppers. It’s even now a big A part of my everyday living. Once i go house I visit this serious dive and obsess more than their green meat burrito.”

When not on tour, Mr. Denk spends time together with his boyfriend, Patrick Posey, a saxophonist as well as director of orchestral functions and scheduling at Juilliard, where Mr. Denk received his doctorate, studying with Herbert Stessin. Mr. Stessin remembers having been amazed by “the maturity and depth” of Mr. Denk’s actively playing and remembers him as “a unprecedented scholar who absorbed items pretty rapidly.”

Mr. Denk said he “was in school eternally” until eventually “in some unspecified time in the future I made a decision to rely on my very own instincts.” Now he teaches double-diploma undergraduates with the Bard School Conservatory of New music. The pianist Allegra Chapman, who examined with him, said he was “concerned with a great deal greater than the notes to the webpage, always bringing up literary and historical references.”

“Now I attempt to method tunes in a additional holistic point of view,” she included. “He is very passionate. He accustomed to leap throughout the room and bounce about and wave his arms. It was genuinely pleasurable. He attempted to get me to think about the new music with a sense of humor.”

This combination of passion, humor and intellect, so vivid in both equally Mr. Denk’s taking part in and his composing, is exactly what distinguishes him, based on the violinist Joshua Bell. The 2 are actually regular duo associates considering the fact that 2004, when they performed at the Spoleto Festival United states.

“You get the intellectual musicians or people that don their heart on their own sleeve with no wide range of musical assumed,” Mr. Bell explained, “but Jeremy manages to accomplish both equally, and that’s best. Now we have an abundance of arguments in rehearsal, that's the pleasurable portion in addition. The fact we don’t usually see eye to eye retains factors refreshing and would make me issue anything I do.”

Mr. Bell, whose choices of repertory tend to be far more regular than Individuals of his much more adventurous colleague, reported he wasn’t normally an Ives supporter: “That has a good deal of recent audio I’m somewhat cautious. Despite Ives, right until I read Jeremy. He just provides it alive. He has these kinds of an awesome imagination, and nothing at all is done randomly.”

Ives’s piano sonatas, Mr. Denk explained, “are in a way like animals that don’t want to be tamed.”

“Just about every functionality should be so various,” he additional, a single explanation he was originally hesitant to report them. Like Bach, he reported, Ives leaves quite a bit towards the performer’s creativity.

A wonderful interpretation of your “Goldberg” Variations at Symphony House in 2008 uncovered Mr. Denk’s profound affinity with Bach. Mr. Denk will complete the perform and Guides one and a pair of of Ligeti’s Études at Zankel Corridor on Feb. sixteen.

To maintain the “Goldberg” Variants fresh new, Mr. Denk is incorporating new fingerings, he reported, “to reactivate the relationship in between my brain and my fingers when I’m playing it.”

“I think it’s an actual magical area When you've got the muscle memory,” he additional, “though the Mind is in advance in the fingers.”

Altering the fingerings is one method to stay clear of routine, he reported. “I get real enjoyment outside of crafting in an extremely excellent fingering. It's like relearning the piece, and it makes you not just take any Observe without any consideration.”

The musical philosophy Mr. Denk relates to Bach, Ives together with other repertory is probably most effective summed up in that site put up on application notes: “I’ve never ever been an enormous admirer on the ‘Think about how revolutionary this piece was when it was prepared’ faculty of inspiration. For my dollars, it ought to be groundbreaking now. (And it is actually.) Whichever else the composer may have intended, he / she didn’t want you to Feel, ‘Boy, that should are already interesting again then.’ The most basic compositional intent, absolutely the ur-intent, is you Enjoy it now, you help it become happen now.”

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getanattitude · 4 years

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What Sports Can Teach Us About fire inside music

“The greater you dig into a bit of Ives, the more pleasure you get from it,” the pianist Jeremy Denk explained a short while ago, sitting down in a piano in the rehearsal Place for the Juilliard University. “It’s like resolving a puzzle.”

Then he enthusiastically deconstructed Ives’s “Concord” Sonata, untangling and detailing the themes and motifs embedded within the intricate textures of the interesting score.

Mr. Denk is about to launch a disc, “Jeremy Denk Performs Ives” (Assume Denk Media), that includes two piano sonatas, an esoteric choice of repertory for just a debut solo album. But then, there's nothing generic concerning this adventurous musician. His vivacious intellect is manifest the two in his actively playing and on his weblog, Think Denk, an outlet for astute musical observations and witty musings, no matter if a lament about inedible meatballs or maybe a spoof job interview with Sarah Palin.

Mr. Denk will reveal his far more mainstream credentials when he performs Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Charles Dutoit as well as Philadelphia Orchestra commencing on Thursday in the Kimmel Heart in Philadelphia and on Oct. twelve at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Denk argues that the Ives sonatas, composed early from the 20th century, are mistakenly categorized as avant-garde performs in lieu of “epic Passionate sonatas with Lisztian thematic transformations.” Towards the informal listener, the audio that Mr. Denk describes during the CD booklet as “amazing, creative, tender, edgy, wild, original, witty, haunting” can absolutely seem avant-garde. Ives, who manufactured his living in the coverage enterprise, integrated jazz, riffs on Beethoven and American hymns, marches and folks songs into his daringly experimental piano sonatas, full of polytonality, thematic layering and rhythmic complexity.

“It’s so splendidly in-your-facial area,” Mr. Denk stated, demonstrating a very maniacal passage within the “Concord” Sonata. “It’s also rather surprisingly ugly. There is something maddening about his sense of humor. Ives is consistently thumbing his nose at you in a way.”

But Mr. Denk implies that Ives’s tenderness, which he illuminates beautifully With this recording, is underappreciated. “Ives is commonly about items recalled,” he reported, “or Recollections or visions fetched out of some complicated spot.”

He performed the harmonically misty passages in the second movement of the “Concord,” exactly where Ives directs that a bit of Wooden be pressed around the upper keys to provide a cluster chord. “It doesn’t come to feel gimmicky in any way to me,” Mr. Denk explained. “It’s all blues in The underside. Ives understood how to use Those people very little clichéd bits of Americana in a method that quickly will get your gut. You are able to’t imagine how touching it's.”

Mr. Denk, 40, has actually been passionate about Ives since his undergraduate times at Oberlin in Ohio, the place he carried a double important in piano functionality and chemistry. “My entire double diploma experience was fairly of a constant freakout of 1 type of A further,” he reported.

He were a “genuinely nerdy high school college student” which has a restricted social lifestyle, he reported. “At any time given that I was a kid I planned to go to Oberlin and required the liberal arts. Definitely I actually get intense enjoyment out of drawing connections involving items and poems and literature and concepts.”

Mr. Denk described himself being a “exercise maniac,” but his horizons have extended significantly outside of the apply room given that Oberlin. Although nibbling an infinite bit of chocolate product pie at an Upper West Facet diner close to the condominium he has rented considering the fact that all over 1999, Mr. Denk referred to his web site, contacting it “an incredibly good outlet to release tensions of 1 variety or Yet another.” He explained it experienced drawn new listeners to his concert events. An avid reader of liberal political weblogs, Mr. Denk dreams of crafting a classical music version of Wonkette, he said, but that would be not easy to do with no offending individuals. And he tries to steer clear of offending persons, he extra, even though he did not too long ago article a rant about software notes.

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Mr. Denk, who calls himself “an actual Francophile,” is tender-spoken but extreme, his conversation peppered with references to numerous “obsessions”: espresso, Ives, Bach, Proust, Baudelaire and Emerson.

He went off on “a Balzac mania” a several years in the past, he explained.

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“That was a perilous time, and every thing in everyday life appeared drawn away from a Balzac novel,” he extra. “I lost about a few decades of my life to Proust. I’m absolutely sure it transformed all the things, such as my enjoying.

“In the future my manager was like, ‘Dude, It's important to target your job and receiving your things alongside one another.’ ” At that point, Mr. Denk said, “I had been bringing Proust to conferences.” He added: “I’m not sure I really had a job route. I used to be just carrying out my Bizarre detail, which possibly gave the look of a disastrous nonroute to a lot of the folks who had been seeing around me. I don't forget some exasperated meetings with my administration, Nonetheless they were quite affected individual and devoted, which I’m insanely grateful for.”

Mr. Denk grew up in Las Cruces, N.M., amongst two brothers, a son of tunes-loving nonmusician mom and dad. His father, who may have a doctorate in chemistry, has long been (at distinct occasions) a Roman Catholic monk plus a director of Laptop or computer science at New Mexico State University.

Mr. Denk stays hooked on the chili peppers of Las Cruces, he explained, seemingly only 50 % joking: “The pink along with the eco-friendly and The entire spirituality of chili peppers. It’s nonetheless a big Component of my lifetime. Once i go dwelling I drop by this genuine dive and obsess over their green meat burrito.”

When not on tour, Mr. Denk spends time along with his boyfriend, Patrick Posey, a saxophonist along with the director of orchestral routines and preparing at Juilliard, wherever Mr. Denk acquired his doctorate, researching with Herbert Stessin. Mr. Stessin recollects possessing been amazed by “the maturity and depth” of Mr. Denk’s playing and remembers him as “a unprecedented student who absorbed factors extremely rapidly.”

Mr. Denk stated he “was at school eternally” right until “at some time I chose to believe in my very own instincts.” Now he teaches double-diploma undergraduates in the Bard College Conservatory of Audio. The pianist Allegra Chapman, who studied with him, said he was “concerned with a great deal over the notes over the site, generally bringing up literary and historical references.”

“Now I try to approach songs within a additional holistic standpoint,” she included. “He may be very passionate. He accustomed to jump across the place and bounce about and wave his arms. It absolutely was actually exciting. He tried to get me to consider the new music having a sense of humor.”

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This blend of passion, humor and intellect, so vivid in each Mr. Denk’s enjoying and his producing, is what distinguishes him, in accordance with the violinist Joshua Bell. The two have been frequent duo companions considering the fact that 2004, once they executed on the Spoleto Competition United states.

“You can get the intellectual musicians or people that use their coronary heart on their own sleeve with no great deal of musical believed,” Mr. Bell claimed, “but Jeremy manages to perform each, and that’s great. We've got loads of arguments in rehearsal, which happens to be the enjoyment component in addition. The very fact we don’t normally see eye to eye retains things refreshing and helps make me question anything I do.”

Mr. Bell, whose possibilities of repertory are usually far more standard than Individuals of his more adventurous colleague, said he wasn’t normally an Ives supporter: “Using a whole lot of modern music I’m a little wary. In spite of Ives, till I heard Jeremy. He just provides it alive. He has this kind of a great imagination, and absolutely nothing is finished randomly.”

Ives’s piano sonatas, Mr. Denk said, “are in a method like animals that don’t wish to be tamed.”

“Each individual effectiveness really should be so different,” he added, just one cause he was originally hesitant to history them. Like Bach, he stated, Ives leaves a whole lot into the performer’s creativeness.

A wonderful interpretation in the “Goldberg” Variations at Symphony Room in 2008 exposed Mr. Denk’s profound affinity with Bach. Mr. Denk will carry out the do the job and Textbooks 1 and a couple of of Ligeti’s Études at Zankel Corridor on Feb. 16.

To maintain the “Goldberg” Variants clean, Mr. Denk is incorporating new fingerings, he claimed, “to reactivate the connection involving my brain and my fingers After i’m taking part in it.”

“I think it’s a real magical put when you have the muscle memory,” he additional, “even so the Mind is forward in the fingers.”

Switching the fingerings is one way to steer clear of regime, he explained. “I get authentic satisfaction away from crafting in a extremely great fingering. It truly is like relearning the piece, and it would make you not choose any Take note without any consideration.”

The musical philosophy Mr. Denk relates to Bach, Ives and various repertory is maybe most effective summed up in that site publish on plan notes: “I’ve hardly ever been an enormous fan from the ‘Imagine how innovative this piece was when it absolutely was composed’ faculty of inspiration. For my revenue, it ought to be innovative now. (And it is.) No matter what else the composer might have intended, he or she didn’t want you to think, ‘Boy, that must are actually cool back again then.’ The most simple compositional intent, the absolute ur-intent, is you play it now, you ensure it is transpire now.”

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