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madseance · 1 year

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I was tagged by @destinyandcoins to list my current top 5 songs. There was no requirement that I go into excruciating detail about my feelings regarding these songs, but also, notably (perhaps for next time!) no specific prohibition against me doing so. Therefore...

"This Woman's Work" by Kate Bush. I am obsessed with, and yet also slightly hate, this song; I think the first line and hook/chorus are great, but I'm iffy on the rest of it. It feels unfinished. It's also very hard to just casually sing to yourself, which tbh is one of my top criteria for songs. Once in a delirium I got the idea to combine it with the good parts of another song I love-hate, "Glycerine" by the band Bush, but so far I haven't quite been able to make it work. Fun fact + opinion: despite it being written for a movie in which Kevin Bacon's wife nearly dies in childbirth, the actual best ever use of "This Woman's Work" was in the series 2 premiere of The Handmaid's Tale, during the execution scene.

"Spooky Scary Skeletons (Undead Tombstone Remix)" by Andrew Gold. Look. I didn't really get to enjoy Halloween this year because I was suffering from a dissertation. I'm not ready to let go of spooky season just yet. And as I've said before, by all rights spooky season should last through Christmas at least—the Victorians (my best bitches) told ghost stories at Christmas! A Christmas Carol is a ghost story! I'm probably going to reread The Woman in Black for Christmas this year. Anyway. This is obviously a goofy-spooky song (and best enjoyed in the form of Tom BetGeorge's Halloween light show), but it also brings me a lot of joy. For properly spooky music, we turn now to:

"Bottom of the River" by Delta Rae. A bitch loves some Southern Gothic! Delta Rae is a very Fleetwood Mac-esque group in that their songs cover a range of styles depending on which band member is featured, and I am partial to Brittany Hölljes's "witch" songs (whose music videos tell an ongoing story). They're apparently working on a musical(!), so look out for that if you enjoy this piece.

"Silver Springs" by Fleetwood Mac. A bitch ALSO loves mess, and it doesn't get messier than Rumours, perhaps best summed up by John Mulaney as "an album written by and for people cheating on each other." (One of many observations of his that aged poorly!) This live performance from The Dance may be the best version of Stevie Nicks' wistful-scornful breakup anthem, in which it is clear Lindsey Buckingham truly will "never break away from the sound of the woman that loved you". I distinctly remember first hearing Stevie do this on VH-1's Storytellers, which she verifiably didn't, but I chalk that up to her being a witch. My memory is fine! Get off of my lawn.

Superliminal soundtrack by Matt Christensen. Yeah, I'm putting a whole album on here; arrest me. I have not personally played Superliminal because I have a decade-old MacBook that would burst into flames if I even thought about it, but I watched a playthrough of it while doing my master's degree and got really emotional about the ending. (Yes, it is a puzzle game.) The soundtrack is my go-to for background work music now, and if you also enjoy it, you can buy it directly here. I also strongly recommend playing the game if you can (or else watching a no-commentary playthrough), though if you're really pressed for time, you can also watch the devs react to a 23-minute speedrun.

I don't know who to tag in these, but if you wanna do it, just do it; the police can't stop you.

#tag games #music #fynn posts

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giannimaldonado · 4 years

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Album Of The Day: Satan Is Watching

When most people born after a certain period of time think of the genre that is “country”, and what it has morphed into in the context of this day and age, a lot of unpleasant images spring to mind. Pretty boy, clean cut, poser rednecks who’ve never seen a farm outside of their music videos, trying to pretend to be another “honest Joe” when they couldn’t be any further from such a thing, making trashy, twangy glam rock mixed with watered down trap music/EDM for white southerners who might have interesting views on those of different races, rolling around in million dollar sports cars while adopting the moniker of “working class”...is probably what your mind immediately begins to conjure up in that brain of yours.

I honestly can’t say that I blame you. Country, or, at least, MAINSTREAM country, has lost its way completely. Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw, and Blake Shelton polluted this once proud, grassroots, amazing genre with pandering, trite garbage aimed at making money off of dumb hicks in the bodies of frat boys whose trucks cost more than your own damn house. Gone are the days when country music was filled to the brim talent, creativity, passion, and heart. Now, this “jock country” has taken its place, having thoroughly fucked country up the ass a few too many times that it has lost its way. For good, perhaps.

Underground country’s usually no better. There’s some exceptions (we’ll get to those soon), but for the most part, it, too, has gone off the rails and destroyed itself completely. It’s often just indie folk or what have you with even more acoustic guitars, though perhaps with more twang, whiny vocals that are trying (and failing) to recreate a stereotypical southern accent, a reliance on cheap gimmicks, sarcasm, and irony to carry their trash because the excrement can’t do that itself, and a musical quality that tries SO hard to imitate the great Mr. Cash, but is little more than a cheap, pale imitation that folks who wear WAY too much flannel and wire rimmed glasses will eat up like it’s the second coming of Joy Division.

No matter how you look at it, country has been thoroughly gentrified for the most part, just like many genres that were previously for a much different variety of people. Like trap music, or blues, or hardcore punk, or black metal. All of the original meaning is gone, driven out by money hungry label executives, clueless and ignorant listeners, and musicians hellbent on half-assing their way to fame and fortune.

It’s a crying shame, it really is.

But fret not, dear reader! There is still a soft, seedy underbelly of the country genre that has taken the long dead (yet forever revered and loved) sound of “outlaw shit”, as Mr. Jennings would put it so eloquently, to its most logical extreme. One that would make Nelson, Cash, Haggard, Coe, and others that might’ve been at the top of their “underground”, “anti-mainstream” game seem rather...accessible. These aforementioned artists and their peers are still greats who, in their primes, were powerhouses that made some of the greatest works the genre would ever produce. But when compared to this particular sound...they just don’t hold up as well. The rawness, the grassroots nature, the down-to-Earth (and sometimes below the Earth) attitude, the simplicity, the honesty, the bluntness, the intimacy, the melancholy...all of it gets turned way up to eleven. It’s dark, it’s mischievous, it’s harsh, it’s gritty, it’s angry, it’s bitter, it’s darkly humorous, it’s lonesome, it’s ornery, and it’s damn sure pretty fucking mean.

Call it whatever you want. “Southern gothic”, “dark country”, “death country”, “gothic country”. It doesn’t matter what name you apply to it. All that matters is that it’s country. Real fucking country. Country meant for the guttersnipes, punks, street urchins, hobos, peasants, and forlorn drifters. This ain’t pretty boy music. This isn’t nice, Christian contemporary that you can play at your local uptight establishment. These aren’t harmless tunes your the posers can get drunk and go mudding to. This is country as it was meant to be. The eptiome of the term “outlaw shit”.

There’s a plethora of wonderful bands in this scene. Sons Of Perdition, Sixteen Horsepower, whatever project Jay Munly’s got going on this time around, The Dead South, the early days of The Devil Makes Three, The Builders And The Butchers, Wovenhand, Ghoultown, Coffinshakers, The Pine Box Boys, and, of course, everyone’s favorite descendant of the Williams family tree. The third one, that is.

But all of those fall short of that truly, truly, TRULY horrific honky-tonk, old-time, folksy, backwoods atmosphere that this duo produces. One that hails from the isolated, empty thickets that lie out in rural Wisconsin. A mentally disturbed pair of “prophets of the country doom”, as they have decided to label themselves. A fine example of those who have gone completely mad, completely sad, and doing so makes them feel very glad. They revel in their craziness, and while no album sounds the same, each one is marred by a couple of recurring themes: humanity is worthy of being sent straight to the fiery depths, these boys are depressed beyond your wildest comprehension, a rebellion against both God and Satan, and a desire to document the lifestyle of society’s forgotten ones, hated ones, and feared ones.

Let me introduce you to Those Poor Bastards.

Fitting name for a couple of enigmatic, largely unknown, extremely obscure pair of men known simply as Lonesome Wyatt (impassioned orations and guitar-based melodies) and The Minister (everything else).

The Minister is completely anonymous, with no one having even seen his face, while all that’s known about Lonesome Wyatt is that he’s from Wisconsin, (probably) lives alone, and is likely of an unsound state of mind.

Why is that all important? Well, go listen to their albums, and then you’ll find out why these little intricacies are vital to the dynamic duo’s imagery, music, and cult status.

While all of their material is quite good in my opinion, today we’re going to look at my favorite album from them, and possibly my favorite album from any country artists EVER! Everyone, please proceed to throw on “Satan Is Watching.”

What you’ll first be met with Lonesome Wyatt letting out a loud, wild, manic screech that almost doesn’t sound...human. It’s not even a word. Just an unhinged howl like Lonesome Wyatt’s been possessed by some sort of demon from the pits of Hell, having taken over the “doomsday preacher boy” to spread the wicked gospel. A hell of a start to an album of any kind, let alone a country album. It’s bold, but it lets you know right off the bat that they aren’t fucking around. This is going to be a rough ride from start to finish, and you’ll be left quaking in your seat once Those Poor Bastards has pierced your mind, heart, and soul with their fiendishly unholy sound. A truly nihilistic piece of art about how this world is foul and wretched, and deserves to burn to a cinder.

But that’s just the first song.

Things only manage to get worse from there. Everything from songs about how Lonesome Wyatt’s a degenerate who revels in just how much filth and squalor he lives in, to songs (well, more like suspiciously suicidal rants) about how life is fucked and there’s just no point in living it anymore, to various “take that!” pieces towards lovers who have wronged him in times that have long since passed, presumably. Typical topics for country artists, but contorted and warped to the point where they sound like miniature horror stories being yelled and hollered by a crazy, top-hat wearing yokel than the struggles and strife that are endured by the common man/downtrodden fellow. Hell, there’s even a Johnny Cash cover! A twisted, perverted, scummy, bone-chilling, haunting, eerie take on the previously wholesome, innocent love song The Man In Black made for June. I can’t exactly look at it the same way, what with these mysterious hooligans having thoroughly butchered it.

Instrumentation is minimalist and simple. Nothing too fancy or technical here. It’s quite self-explanatory. Despite how evil it is, the rhythms are still toe-tappingly catchy. The drums, being pounded upon by the fiery hands of The Minister, provide anything from a nice, plodding beat you can stomp your feet to, all the way to a rowdy raucous of a banger that’ll have you doing some sort of line dance with the living dead. Lonesome Wyatt beats upon his acoustic guitar like it owes him money. Not even really playing it. Just smashing the strings until weird, disgruntled, odd noises come out of it. He also seems to thoroughly shatter his ability to talk without a sore throat, pushing his voice to its very limits. The bass compliments everything very well, providing a creepy, fuzzy, dirge-like texture in the background to keep the menacing tone alive and well.

All in all, while this may not “experimental”, “avant-garde”, or even “progressive”, this is certainly an album that’ll give you the heebie-jeebies, and for a country album, it is most certainly “out there”. It takes the usual country tropes, and either turns them into something out of a David Lynch movie, or subverts/plays with them to fuck with the audience and make them contort their face with confusion...and excitement. A spooky bit of acoustic noise that’ll restore your faith in country music, and remind you that there is still a small resemblance of a spark left within the dying genre.

Please, I highly recommend you check this out.

This has been another installment of “Esoteric Warfare”, and remember...

NOISE, NOT MUSIC!

#gothic country #those poor bastards

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topfygad · 5 years

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Gothic Hotels (and Songs by R.E.M., Part 2) — The Agenda by Tablet Hotels

It’s Halloween, so we’re taking a look at hotels with Gothic architecture, a style synonymous with the mysterious and macabre. Why did we also include songs by R.E.M.? The answer may shock you.

Earlier this year, we wrote about some of our favorite Southern hotels, comparing them to songs from one of our favorite Southern bands, R.E.M. So why write about R.E.M. again? Well, the band actually saw the first story, liked it, and asked if we’d do a part two. Not since Coppola and The Godfather has anyone had such a good reason to make a sequel.

There’s hardly been a better time to talk about “scary” hotels, either. This is Halloween week, of course, and it’s also the week that R.E.M. releases the 25th Anniversary reissue of Monster, their terrifyingly titled ninth studio album. But instead of another list of haunted hotels, we’re focusing on the style of architecture most commonly associated with things that go bump in the night.

Gothic architecture secured its association with the spooky and supernatural in the 18th and 19th centuries, when writers like Horace Walpole, Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelley, and Bram Stoker chose Gothic castles and abbeys as the backdrop for their stories of darkness and death. An entire genre of horrifying literature became known as Gothic fiction, and an entire mode of architecture was never viewed the same again.

R.E.M. has crossed paths with the Gothic label as well — especially during the first half of their career. With a sound driven up from underneath Georgia’s genteel facade, the Athens natives were considered a sort of modern musical counterpart to the Southern Gothic literature of William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor. Sonically and thematically, their music reflects the murky and eccentric spirit of the region, underscoring its postbellum tensions and investigating its idiosyncratic characters.

And so, without further ado, enjoy this selection of thirteen hotels with Gothic architectural elements, paired with some of R.E.M.’s most Southern Gothic songs.

Follow along with our R.E.M. — Southern Gothic playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.

The Qvest

Cologne, Germany

“Wendell Gee” — from Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985

The 19th century obsession with Gothic elements comes through loud and clear in The Qvest. Now a hotel, the 1897 building initially housed Cologne’s archives and a public library. In keeping with the reigning aesthetic in those days, a neo-Gothic influence touched just about every element in the construction: ribbed vaults, lancet windows, hood moulding, tracery, and an overarching verticality all remain visible today. Similarly, all the elements of R.E.M.’s Southern Gothic signature come through in “Wendell Gee,” one of the band’s most under-appreciated pieces of musical mastery, and the final track from their darkest and most overtly South-saturated album.

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1898 The Post

Ghent, Belgium

“Strange Currencies” — from Monster, 1994

“Strange Currencies” might not feel at first like a song with Southern folk roots, but imagine it without Monster’s trademark distorted guitars and you begin to hear the swagger and sway of classic country-blues. It’s the kind of plaintive-yet-hopeful ballad that R.E.M. perfected throughout their career, and it’s paired on this list with 1898 The Post, a hotel that’s equally the shining example of a genre. The old Central Post Office in Ghent was completed at the turn of the last century, and while its neo-Gothic style makes it look much older than that, a brand-new renovation has this beautifully preserved structure ready to host guests in the current century and beyond.

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Bryant Park Hotel

New York City, New York

“Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)” — from Chronic Town, 1982

Starting with the gargoyle on the cover, R.E.M.’s debut EP Chronic Town oozes a dark, peculiar, and highly literary Southern Gothic vibe. And “Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars),” with its calliope intro and images of clandestine railway activity, all but revels in the murky mood. Gargoyles don’t make an appearance on the Bryant Park Hotel, despite its home inside the American Radiator building, a strange and imposing black-gold gothic skyscraper that towers above the midtown park like something out of a comic book — or out of Ghostbusters. Penthouse guests might be safe from that movie’s statues-turned–terror dogs, but the hotel does look down on the New York Public Library, where other ghost-busting scenes were filmed.

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Kruisherenhotel Maastricht

Maastricht, Netherlands

“The One I Love” — from Document, 1987

“This one goes out to the one I love…” — the instantly recognizable first line from R.E.M.’s 1987 hit sets the stage for a song that practically drips with heat and humidity. This song, as much as any other, announced to the world that R.E.M. was a contemporary sonic interpretation of the steamy South found in the plays of Tennessee Williams. Kruisherenhotel Maastricht is another thoroughly modern interpretation, this time of a fifteenth-century Gothic monastery. Designer Henk Vos transformed the original monks’ cloisters into handsome hotel rooms that are anything but ascetic, and even the relatively undisturbed spaces are deeply altered by the introduction of sleek furnishings and bits and bobs by the likes of Le Corbusier, Philippe Starck and Marc Newson.

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Conservatorium Hotel

Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Country Feedback” — from Out of Time, 1991

The Conservatorium is a radical repurposing of Amsterdam’s Sweelinck Conservatorium building — its soaring institutional spaces and ornate century-old neo-Gothic construction transformed into a contemporary design hotel. Offering a focus on pop music alongside more traditional conservatory studies like classical and jazz, there probably was a surprising bit of guitar feedback heard in the Conservatorium during its time as a music school. There’s a bit of feedback heard in “Country Feedback” as well, wandering almost incongruently in between and around more traditional country sounds like pedal steel guitar and organ, adding the right amount of frustration and edge that the song’s cryptic lyrics cry out for.

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Ace Hotel Downtown L.A.

Los Angeles, California

“So. Central Rain” — from Reckoning, 1984

Legend has it that “South Central Rain” refers to massive downpours and flooding in R.E.M.’s home state of Georgia in 1983. The band was apparently out on tour, and wasn’t able to check in on family members because the storms had knocked out the phone lines. Specifically, the legend asserts, they were in Los Angeles, which is the reason for this hotel-song pairing, and not because of L.A.’s South Central neighborhood. For the Gothic connection, look no further than the United Artists building, a 1920s Spanish Gothic Revival tower and theater that is the current home of Ace Hotel Downtown L.A.

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SINA Centurion Palace

Venice, Italy

“Oh My Heart” — from Collapse Into Now, 2011

Michael Stipe wrote “Oh My Heart” about post-Katrina New Orleans. His lyrics can sometimes be impenetrable, but not here. This is very clearly a song about resilience in the face of tragedy and persevering into the future so we can continue to honor the past. There are no New Orleans hotels on this list, but maybe that would’ve been too cute. Instead, we turn to another timeworn city fighting back against Mother Nature and climate change: rising sea levels have led to regular flooding in Venice, the home of Centurion Palace and its postcard-perfect Venetian-Gothic exterior. The former convent is located in one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, which has survived everything from World Wars to the Black Death, and we’re confident it will survive its latest challenge.

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Chicago Athletic Association

Chicago, Illinois

“Oddfellows Local 151” — from Document, 1987

Long before a recent renovation converted it into a stunning boutique hotel, the Chicago Athletic Association was a private club for the city’s (male) movers and shakers. Dating back to the final decade of the 19th century, this Venetian Gothic landmark hosted the kinds of government and business elite that “Oddfellows Local 151” suggests are at least partially responsible for the plight of the characters in the song: the homeless population that was left behind by the political and economic machines of 1980s America. Document was an album filled with fiery passion as R.E.M. found their political footing — no more so than on this, its closing track.

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High Line Hotel

New York City, New York

“Swan Swan H” — from Life’s Rich Pageant, 1986

Chelsea’s High Line Hotel makes its home in an imposing red-brick Collegiate Gothic seminary — and its designers, the local duo Roman and Williams, managed to created an enormously fun hotel in what was an otherwise solemn environment. R.E.M. pulled the same trick, but in the opposite direction, with “Swan Swan H.” At first glance, this song about the Civil War appears to be a celebration of freedom, but as it progresses the true cost of a destructive moment in American history becomes more clear. And while the lyrics reference wooden beams of a presumably different sort, for the purposes of this list, we’ll think about the ornate ceiling of the Hoffman Hall event space, pictured above.

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Le Chateau Frontenac

Quebec City, Canada

“World Leader Pretend” — from Green, 1988

A century-old Gothic Revival castle high on a bluff over the St. Lawrence river, Le Château Frontenac is Québec City’s most famous landmark, and has hosted some of the world’s most famous guests. Musicians, movie stars, and titans of industry have walked its halls, but powerful politicians may have left the greatest influence — suites are themed after heads of state who have stayed at the hotel. According to Michael Stipe, “World Leader Pretend” was the most political song of the band’s career up to that point, and it might continue to be so today. After clashing with Donald Trump over his unauthorized (obviously) use of “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” the band followed up by contributing “World Leader Pretend” to an anti-Trump compilation.

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Chateau Marmont

Los Angeles, California

“Drive” — from Automatic for the People, 1992

The Chateau Marmont was constructed to the specifications of the Loire Chateau Amboise in France, and scattered throughout are certain reminders of the French late Gothic Flamboyant style. But though inspired by France, this particular chateau and its infamous scenes of Hollywood decadence could only exist in Los Angeles. Likewise, “Drive” is a song that could only have come from R.E.M. With an echoey atmosphere as haunted as the hallways of the Chateau, the song drives forward slowly and madly, calling out like a pirate radio station in the middle of the night, seeking to empower the youth through rock and roll.

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St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel

London, England

“Life and How to Live It” — from Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985

In R.E.M.’s hometown of Athens, Georgia, there once lived a man named Brev Mekis. Suffering from schizophrenia, Brev split his house into two totally different apartments, each with its own unique furniture, books, clothing, even pets. To suit his disparate personalities, Brev would periodically switch back and forth between his two lives. After he passed away, discovered inside the house were hundreds of identical copies of a book he had written called: “Life and How to Live It.” The great Gothic structure at St. Pancras has a split personality of its own. On the one hand, it is a lavish, luxurious hotel. On the other, an introduction to a busy, full-functioning rail station. Taken all together, it is the ideal of a grand European railway hotel.

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Borgo dei Conti Resort

Perugia, Italy

“Find the River” — from Automatic for the People, 1992

Borgo dei Conti Resort is a deeply romantic place. Originally built as a fortress in the 13th century, the estate was remade into a noble home some 500 years later. Surrounded by acres of gardens and lawns and parkland, the building is a dramatic example of 19th-century neo-Gothic architecture, still as imposing as ever today. On its sprawling grounds, you’re likely to find some of the herbs and fruits mentioned in “Find the River,” a song that celebrates life specifically because death is always present. Despite the heavy themes, “Find the River” is a gorgeous and uplifting song. It closes out an album full of radio hits, and is equal to or even better than each of those more well-known singles. All of this is coming your way.

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source http://cheaprtravels.com/gothic-hotels-and-songs-by-r-e-m-part-2-the-agenda-by-tablet-hotels/

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vampireadamooc · 5 years

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Vampires exist! A spooky Halloween post

From the Berkeley Blog, by Wadim Strielkowski | OCTOBER 29, 2018

Is everyone looking forward to the forthcoming Halloween? The “All Hallows Evening” is at our doorstep and everyone is preparing for trick-or-treating, brushing off their scary costumes, renting horror movies, carving pumpkins and generally intending to have fun.

Halloween is the holiday that originated from the Celtic rituals in Ireland and the United Kingdom only to be brought by the migrants to the United States to become an event that can now only be compared to Christmas when it comes to its business potential, overall sales, as well as its economic significance. Last year, American consumers spent about $9.1 billion on Halloween festivities. A paper published in 2017 claimed that the share of more “consumer-focused” Halloween products gradually increased over the years in relation to the share of more “traditional” products. And the most popular Halloween activity is wearing a spooky costume.

Vampires and Halloween

One of the most popular Halloween costumes is to dress up as a vampire. For some reason, people just love Dracula and others of his kind. There are many films, comics and popular literature on and about vampires. And you would be probably surprised to find out that vampires can actually exist and their existence does not contradict modern science!

Well, there are plenty blood-sucking animals found in nature, and even humans need to drink the blood from their own spices sometimes to survive. So, why cannot vampires (the creatures from the myths and legends, as we tend to think of them) exist too? Most scientists use simple math to prove that the existence of vampires is not possible. Their line of argumentation is the following: assume that a vampire needs to feed only once a month (we ignore the mortality rate, since it is irrelevant here). When this process occurs, another vampire is created. If the countdown starts in 1600 AD or some other time around that (on the 1st of January 1600 the world’s population was 536 870 911), then by February 1600 there would be two vampires (one who turned a human into vampire to start with and another one who was a human but became a vampire after the encounter with a vampire). In March 1600 there would be four vampires in existence, and in April 1600 – eight vampires. Therefore, some scientists say, each month the number of vampires doubles and after n months there are 2^n vampires which gives us a geometric progression with ratio 2.

As most of you might know, the geometric progression is increases at a very quick pace and if you sit with a pencil and paper and calculate it for our vampires example, you will arrive to the conclusion that after 30 months there would be no humans left – everyone would be turned into a vampire and the humanity would be wiped out by June 1602. Even if human birth rate is included into our calculations, it remains a very small fraction deaths caused by the vampires and would have prolonged the extinction of human race by just one month. Therefore, some scientists conclude, vampires cannot exist, since their existence contradicts the existence of human beings. This logical proof is of a type known “as reductio ad absurdum”, that is, reduction to the absurd.

However, if one starts digging dipper, everything is not that straightforward. Some works of fiction, Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight series”, Charlaine Harris’s “Sookie Stockhouse (Southern Vampire) series”, “True Blood” (TV series) as well as Elizabeth Kostova’s “The Historian”, show the world where vampires peacefully co-exist with humans.

In Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight series” vampires can tolerate the sunlight, interact with humans (even fall in love with them) and drink animals’ blood to survive. Of course, they have to live in secrecy and pretend to be human beings. In “True Blood” TV series, however, a world is shown where vampires and humans live side-by-side and are aware of each other. Vampires can buy synthetic blood of different blood types that is sold in bottles and can be bought in every grocery store, bar or gas station. They cannot walk during daytime, so they usually come out at night. Humans also find use of vampires’ essence – vampires’ blood (called “V”) is a powerful hallucinogenic drug that is sought by humans and traded on the black market (sometimes humans capture vampires with the help of silver chains or harnesses and then kill them by draining their blood). Some humans even seek sex with vampires (vampires are stronger and faster than humans and can provide superb erotic experience). There is a possibility to turn a human being into a vampire, but it takes time and effort.

Let us assume that at the time of the events described in the first book of the series, “Dead Until Dark” (2001), the world’s vampire hypothetical population was around five million (the population of the state of Louisiana in 2001 we arbitrarily use in our calculations). The initial conditions of what I call “a Harris-Meyer-Kostova model” are the following: five million vampires, 6 159 million people, there are organized groups of vampire “drainers”.

Simple calculations yield that the human population will be growing until 2046 when it reaches its peak of 9.6 billion people, whereupon it will be declining until 2065 until it reaches its bottom at 6.12 billion people. This process will repeat itself continuously. The vampire population will be declining until 2023 when it reaches its minimum of 289 thousand vampires, whereupon it will be growing until 2055 until it reaches its peak at 397 million vampires. This process will also repeat itself continuously and we will end up with a cyclical system of human-vampire co-existence.

Under certain conditions, the Harris-Meyer-Kostova model seems plausible and allows for the existence of vampires in our world. Peaceful co-existence of two spices is a reality. However, this symbiosis is very fragile and whenever the growth rate of human population slows down, the blood thirst of vampires accelerates, or vampire drainers become too greedy, the whole system lies in ruins with just one population remaining.

There are more interesting implications to this study: consider for example the organized groups of vampire hunters (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) or superhero vampire hunters (“Blade”). The results seem even more interesting and all clues lead to the one simple fact – vampires might co-habituate with humans and modern science cannot refute their existence! Here, you can download a poster explaining my research on this topic and covering different models of vampires and humans co-existence: Poster Vampires exist

Karl Marx, a vampire hunter

You would be surprised to learn that the works of Karl Marx are full of mentioning of vampires (Marx used the vampire metaphor at least three times in Capital). For example, in one of the cases Marx describes British industry as “vampire-like” which “could but live by sucking blood, and children’s blood too”. Here is another quote:““Capital is dead labour which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labour, and lives the more, the more labour it sucks”. Marx’s colleague and long-time sponsor Frederick Engels also used the vampire metaphor in his works and public addresses. In one of his works entitled The Condition of the Working Class in England, Engels identifies and blames the “vampire property-holding class” as the source of “all the social troubles”.

Marx described vampires’ habits, their greediness and their lounging for blood in such a detail that in many cases it crossed the boundaries of the mere metaphor. Although many researchers perceive Marx’s vampires as metaphoric abstract bourgeois bloodsuckers feeding on working people, his knowledge of vampires is very peculiar. In one particular case, when describing Wallachian peasants performing forced labour for their boyars, Marx refers to one specific “boyar” who was “drunk with victory” and who might have been no one but Wallachian prince Vlad (called “The Impaler”) – or Count Dracula himself!

All this is very interesting because the best-known novel of vampiric genre, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, did not see the daylight until 1897, 14 years after Marx’s death. Surely, one can place the Marx’s metaphor in the wider context of nineteenth-century Gothic horror stories which were abundant these days, and of which Marx was a huge fan. On the other hand, one might assume that some of the vampire legends were true and Marx and his contemporaries were aware of that!

Till the last drop!

My research on vampires and humans co-existence (that has been going on for almost 10 years now) is thoroughly described in a popular science book Till the last drop! by “Emily Welkins (my pen name and pseudonym) that shows how vampires became a part of the popular culture. The book also analyzes all possible models of humans-vampires coexistence using mathematical calculations. For the shorter version of the whole story, you can read a paper entitled “How to Stop a Vampiric Infection? Using Mathematical Modeling to Fight Infectious Diseases” (available here). You can also find more on interesting scientific facts about vampires, werewolves, demons (and other spooky topics) in my blog called “Supernaturaleconomics“.

Have a spooky Halloween!!!

#by Wadim Strielkowski #tags preserved for the comments of the OP

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kidsviral-blog · 6 years

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Appreciate The Horror Genre The Right Way With These 10 Scary Films.

New Post has been published on https://kidsviral.info/appreciate-the-horror-genre-the-right-way-with-these-10-scary-films/

Appreciate The Horror Genre The Right Way With These 10 Scary Films.

Halloween is approaching fast, so it’s time once again to break out the horror flicks! They’re fun any time of year, but they’re especially fun when you curl up with (or hide under) a big blanket with some friends. Or alone…if you dare.

There are so many horror movies and, unfortunately, a lot of them are pretty terrible. Don’t get me wrong, I love a terrible horror movie from time to time. There is something satisfying about laughing at something that was obviously meant to terrify.

But there are only so many horror movie tropes you can see before they start to bore you. Creepy little girls in white nightgowns, flash cuts, jump scares, and oozing black substances get old. With so many sub-par films out there, it can get disappointing when you’re in the mood for a scare.

So we compiled a list of some of the best and scariest movies we’ve ever seen. We’re leaving out a lot of the classics, because you’ve probably heard of them. Instead, we’re including smaller movies and movies that might not be traditional “horror” films, but are creepy anyway.

1.) The Haunting, Robert Wise, 1963

ForgottenFlix

The 1999 sequel never happened. It never happened. Okay? This horror movie is perfect for people squeamish about horror movies, because the scares are in your mind rather than on the screen. You don’t have to wonder when something is going to appear and shock-scare you, but hardened horror veterans can appreciate it, too. It’s a classic story of a group of strangers in a supposedly haunted house looking to do research on the paranormal. And, yes, they find it.

2.) The Innkeepers, Ti West, 2011

BadAssDigest

A hotel with a known ghost legend is about to close. Two ghost hunting employees, alone for the hotel’s last night, are determined to find ghosts before they have to find new jobs. And they do…kind of. This is another film that’s more psychological than just things popping out and shrieking, and it requires thought. Director Ti West stated in interviews that he’s not content to let the audience in on too much. Instead, he makes them come along for the ride without the benefit of figuring out what’s actually going on.

3.) Paranormal Activity, Oren Peli, 2007

Empire

No, wait, hear me out. Ignore that this movie became a franchise with about a billion sequels. The original movie is actually pretty good. It’s a found-footage movie chronicling couple Micah and Katie’s move into a new house and the way they cope when things start…happening. It’s a pretty slow-paced movie, with little in the way of scares or special effects, but what it offers is effective. It’s also an interesting take on the “haunted house” genre, with the people, rather than the space, being haunted. Skip the sequels, though. They’re not worth it.

4.) The Orphanage, J.A. Bayona, 2007

TooScaryToWatch

A couple moves into an old orphanage with the hopes of refurbishing it and making it into a home for disabled children. When they arrive, their young son Simon begins to make friends, in particular a little boy named Tomas. Trouble is, no one can see Tomas. As the movie unfolds, secrets about Tomas, Simon, and the orphanage become unveiled. Though there are horror elements, and the film is chilling and suspenseful, but what carries this one is the compelling story. It’s also produced by Guillermo del Toro, so it’s visually striking as well.

5.) The Conjuring, James Wan, 2013

SciFiNow

A family of seven moves into a picturesque old house. When things start getting creepy, they call in famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Then things get really creepy. This film was shot and styled like a classic 70s horror movie. It has nothing in the way of gore, violence, sex or even swearing, but was given an R rating simply because it’s really scary. It’s also lightyears better than Wan’s Insidious films.

6.) Event Horizon, Paul W.S. Anderson, 1997

Via Joanna Parypinski

The crew of a spaceship discovers a ghost ship off Jupiter that disappeared after generating and entering a manmade black hole. The trouble with creating black holes is you might open up into a dimension of pure chaos, but the rescue crew doesn’t realize this. What follows is the descent into both figurative and literal hell for the crew. This is not a film for children, with a considerable amount of violence and gore. And while it’s scary, the film’s real horror comes from the impending doom, the isolation of space, and each of the crew members’ personal demons.

7.) Jug Face, Chad Crawford Kinkle, 2013

YouTube/hollywoodstreams

This Southern gothic tale is not what you expect. Whatever you expect, you’re probably wrong. The movie centers on a rural, isolated community that worships “the Pit,” a hole in the ground exuding a supernatural force…and demands human sacrifice. Again, whatever you’re thinking now, you’re also wrong. It’s a desolate, ominous, character-driven piece with a mythology of its own.

8.) The Moth Diaries, Mary Harron, 2011

Japan Times

This movie is “horror” in the traditional sense, drawing inspiration from the gothic novels of the 19th century. When a newcomer strikes up a close friendship with her best friend, boarding school student Rebecca struggles with the feeling that something isn’t quite right about this new girl. Or maybe she’s just jealous? Using the classic vampire tale as its foundation, this movie is also an exploration of the friendships of teen girls. It’s an interesting departure from the basic vampire story. Vampire fans should take a look.

9.) Alien, Ridley Scott, 1979

Reddit/BugOverloard

“But wait,” you say, “that’s a sci-fi movie!” Yes, it is, but it’s more science horror than science fiction. It’s described as a “slasher movie in space,” and director Scott knew from the outset that fear was the feeling he wanted to inspire. The crew of a mining ship encounters a strange distress call, and when they investigate, an alien life form sneaks aboard their ship. This is the kind of movie that’s scary because of what you don’t see, and the claustrophobic settings add to the feeling of inescapable doom.

10.) “In Chambers,” Aleksander Nordaas, 2011

YouTube/horrornymphs

This one is a short! Clocking in at only 10 minutes, you can watch this on your lunch break for a spooky afternoon. This short involves nefarious men with medical equipment and a great soundtrack. Explaining any more would give too much away.

So grab that popcorn and turn the lights down. Actually, on better thought, you might want to keep them on for these!

Read more: http://viralnova.com/no-creepy-little-girls-here/

#horror #horror movies #scary #scary movies

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theelectricfilmdiary · 7 years

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The morning of the 23rd December we were up, packed and bidding York farewell as we ventured toward Scotland. The weather was closing in and the winds so high that our shoebox rental car was nearly blown off the road – a road that hugged the gnarly Scottish coastline. Absolutely beautiful but slightly scary.

Our home in Edinburgh was a two storey apartment about ten minutes walk from the city centre. It was freezing when we arrived thanks to the switched off heating and for some reason we were not allowed to use the fireplace which was shit and stole my ideal Christmas Eve plan of sitting in front of a roaring fire with a gin or two. Anyway, we quickly unpacked, set the oil heaters blazing and rugged up on the couch with a bottle of red, yet another cheese platter and a couple of movies. It was raining and cold and the perfect weather to relax and watch a movie.

Saturday was Christmas Eve and we spent it exploring Edinburgh Old Town. There are Gothic style buildings all over the city centre and heaps of these spooky Jack the Ripper style cobbled walkways running between each city block. On top of the hill overlooking it all is Edinburgh Castle. The castle tours were drawing to a close by the time we arrived and we were told that it would be better to revisit on the 27th of December so we had more time to explore the castle and the museums attached to it. For 33 pounds we had to agree… We had planned to get there earlier but on the way were distracted by various gin/whisky stores where we stocked up for Christmas, and two women standing in the street with live owls perched on their arms. My inner Harry Potter nerd came out and we stopped and took a bunch of photos – James got to pat one haha sooo cute. Hunger had also attacked and we stopped for lunch at a French restaurant called Maison Bleue and spent a bit too long lingering in the warmth over our confit turkey and braised ox cheeks rather than exploring the city.

From old town we walked back down the hill to the Christmas Market where a massive carnival has been set up along side the market stalls and pop up bars. A baileys hot chocolate and cinnamon doughnuts…. I know super healthy….kept us cosy while we wandered through what was our last Christmas experience for this year. It was super crowded and after about 30 minutes of admiring the lights we left for the cinema. Rouge One was decent enough – no spoilers here – and from the movies we walked home and settled in for the night.

Christmas Day!!!! We woke at about 9:30am and had a breakfast of pancakes, bacon and eggs accompanied by a highly creative cocktail of gin and Sauvignon Blanc (all we had in the fridge but actually not bad) and sat in front of the computer while we Skyped our families on the other side of the world. Being 12 hours ahead of us they were nearly finished with the days festivities and regaled us with the main events and stories of the coma inducing food and alcohol. It made us miss them all even more. After we wrapped up the family catch ups, we prepared our own christmas lunch of roast chicken and vege and sat down in front of the computer for a cultural injection in the format of Netflix – Die Hard to be exact. The rest of the day was spent in a similar fashion, being that all the local attractions and exhibits were closed until the 27th.

The 26th of December was spent in doors as the weather was still wet and rainy, and while the world threw itself into the mass consumerism of Boxing Day sales, we sat inside and researched the next few days sight-seeing. Bring on the castles, museums and more importantly, the whisky distilleries.

27th December…. way busier than we expected in Edinburgh city. The castle that we had planned to see was packed – tourists were everywhere!! We ended up forgoing the castle tour which was kinda sad as it was our last chance to see it, and heading down to the Scottish National Museum where they had an amazing exhibition on which included works by Monet, Rubens and Rembrandt among numerous other talented artists – it was soo good to see pieces of art that Jim and I spent years studying when we were younger. After a couple of hours in the gallery we stopped for lunch – Italian again – ( i know I have a problem) before we walked to Edinburgh Gin Distillery for a tour. It was just closing up – despite what their sign said so we missed that one too :( haha all in all a pretty uneventful rejection fuelled day.

The 28th made up for it. We hopped in the car at 7am and were on our way to Oban which is located next to the Outer Hebrides. The scenery between Edinburgh and Oban was stunning, huge mountain ranges, deep, dark lochs where the water looks nearly black and finally in Oban the green hillsides overlooking the ocean. Half way to Oban (which is about 3hrs from Edinburgh) we saw castle ruins sitting on an outcrop of land in the middle of a loch (Loch Awe). It turned out to be the Campbell clan Kilchurn Castle ruins which is weirdly cool as my Grandmother was a Campbell! We explored the ruins as much as we could, but access to the inside was closed off for winter. A local Scotsman was trout fishing in the loch and we stopped for a chat (he was half deaf and we couldn’t understand his accent so sign language was a go) before hopping the car bound again for Oban. When we arrived we grabbed fish and chips for lunch (regretfully it was not good) and then stepped into Oban whisky distillery for a tour. The tour was great and we got to see the inside of the distillery that has been used since it was established in 1794 – our favourite part had to be the tasting where we sampled 13yr old cask strength (straight from the cask and undiluted) Oban whisky – it was gorgeous and syrupy and around 55% alcohol. The tour finished up with another taste, this time of their standard 14yr old whisky (40%) accompanied perfectly by glacé ginger. From there we walked around the township a bit more before driving around the coast back toward Edinburgh. Roast veges for dinner :)

On the 29th we packed and then left for breakfast at The Haven where we finally sampled Haggis and black pudding – soooo good! I was concerned about the whole black pudding/blood thing but my worries were gone after the first bite. The coffee at The Haven is worth a mention too – super tasty and served with a jug of fresh cream! After our traditional Scottish breakfast we dropped the rental at the airport and sat at the bar waiting for our flight to Dublin. We arrived in Ireland at about 6pm and spent nearly an hour clearing customs due to our non EU passports, the customs guy at the desk was a bit of a prick too – first one so far. When we finally got through the bullshit clearance process, we grabbed our new wheels (appropriately named ‘Baldric’) and drove on to Dungarvan which is about two hours from Dublin along the southern coast of Ireland. After getting a bit lost, pissed off and then finally finding the place, we greeted our host and then fell into bed…I should fess up to the KFC dinner on the way too… gross.

Doorway to Kilchurn Castle ruins

Christmas morning

Scenery surounding Kilchurn Castle

Street owls

Kilchurn Castle ruins

Edinburgh city christmas market

Street owls

Christmas market doughnuts

Edinburgh City

Scenery on the way to Oban

Christmas market Edinburgh City

Alleyway Edinburgh City

Edinburgh City

Jims new mate

Cheese platter preparation

Christmas beverages

Bay near Oban

Bridge on the way to Oban

Oban Whisky Distillery

Edinburgh City

Alleyway Edinburgh City

Stopping the world in Scotland The morning of the 23rd December we were up, packed and bidding York farewell as we ventured toward Scotland.

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topfygad · 5 years

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Gothic Hotels (and Songs by R.E.M., Part 2) — The Agenda by Tablet Hotels

It’s Halloween, so we’re taking a look at hotels with Gothic architecture, a style synonymous with the mysterious and macabre. Why did we also include songs by R.E.M.? The answer may shock you.

And so, without further ado, enjoy this selection of thirteen hotels with Gothic architectural elements, paired with some of R.E.M.’s most Southern Gothic songs.

Follow along with our R.E.M. — Southern Gothic playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.

The Qvest

Cologne, Germany

“Wendell Gee” — from Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985

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1898 The Post

Ghent, Belgium

“Strange Currencies” — from Monster, 1994

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Bryant Park Hotel

New York City, New York

“Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)” — from Chronic Town, 1982

See More Photos

Kruisherenhotel Maastricht

Maastricht, Netherlands

“The One I Love” — from Document, 1987

See More Photos

Conservatorium Hotel

Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Country Feedback” — from Out of Time, 1991

See More Photos

Ace Hotel Downtown L.A.

Los Angeles, California

“So. Central Rain” — from Reckoning, 1984

See More Photos

SINA Centurion Palace

Venice, Italy

“Oh My Heart” — from Collapse Into Now, 2011

See More Photos

Chicago Athletic Association

Chicago, Illinois

“Oddfellows Local 151” — from Document, 1987

See More Photos

High Line Hotel

New York City, New York

“Swan Swan H” — from Life’s Rich Pageant, 1986

See More Photos

Le Chateau Frontenac

Quebec City, Canada

“World Leader Pretend” — from Green, 1988

See More Photos

Chateau Marmont

Los Angeles, California

“Drive” — from Automatic for the People, 1992

See More Photos

St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel

London, England

“Life and How to Live It” — from Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985

See More Photos

Borgo dei Conti Resort

Perugia, Italy

“Find the River” — from Automatic for the People, 1992

See More Photos

from Cheapr Travels https://ift.tt/2qdR9l4 via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Cheapr Travels

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topfygad · 5 years

Text

Gothic Hotels (and Songs by R.E.M., Part 2) — The Agenda by Tablet Hotels

It’s Halloween, so we’re taking a look at hotels with Gothic architecture, a style synonymous with the mysterious and macabre. Why did we also include songs by R.E.M.? The answer may shock you.

And so, without further ado, enjoy this selection of thirteen hotels with Gothic architectural elements, paired with some of R.E.M.’s most Southern Gothic songs.

Follow along with our R.E.M. — Southern Gothic playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.

The Qvest

Cologne, Germany

“Wendell Gee” — from Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985

See More Photos

1898 The Post

Ghent, Belgium

“Strange Currencies” — from Monster, 1994

See More Photos

Bryant Park Hotel

New York City, New York

“Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)” — from Chronic Town, 1982

See More Photos

Kruisherenhotel Maastricht

Maastricht, Netherlands

“The One I Love” — from Document, 1987

See More Photos

Conservatorium Hotel

Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Country Feedback” — from Out of Time, 1991

See More Photos

Ace Hotel Downtown L.A.

Los Angeles, California

“So. Central Rain” — from Reckoning, 1984

See More Photos

SINA Centurion Palace

Venice, Italy

“Oh My Heart” — from Collapse Into Now, 2011

See More Photos

Chicago Athletic Association

Chicago, Illinois

“Oddfellows Local 151” — from Document, 1987

See More Photos

High Line Hotel

New York City, New York

“Swan Swan H” — from Life’s Rich Pageant, 1986

See More Photos

Le Chateau Frontenac

Quebec City, Canada

“World Leader Pretend” — from Green, 1988

See More Photos

Chateau Marmont

Los Angeles, California

“Drive” — from Automatic for the People, 1992

See More Photos

St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel

London, England

“Life and How to Live It” — from Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985

See More Photos

Borgo dei Conti Resort

Perugia, Italy

“Find the River” — from Automatic for the People, 1992

See More Photos

from Cheapr Travels https://ift.tt/2qdR9l4 via https://ift.tt/2NIqXKN

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