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bzedan · 1 year

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2022 in (media) review

[Image description: A 3x3 grid of Garfield faces, the shadows across his face mimicking a grid of phases of the moon.]

Yes, yes, I do have a lot of monthly playlist music stats to share but also! I want to talk about other great media I enjoyed this year. I was tracking everything much more thoroughly as media review dumps on Patreon (this is before Comradery had locked posts) but that's kind of boring, actually! For both me and for you. So let's just look at the highlights - and graphs, I also have some data visuals, fun!!! That's fun.

This is a long post! I could have split it up but I'm not going to, sorry/not sorry. I like to talk about things I like (and I like to read about things others like, so I enjoy this bit of the year). But remember - there are graphs, so, I think worth it.

Movies

I've not been the best at recording what movies I've watched this year. To be fair to myself I half-watched many and I try to only write down those I watched purposefully. I saw a Tumblr tag game post that was "put your favourite movie this year into tags" but I couldn't pick just one. So here are the top handful of things watched for the first time this year, in no particular order:

Candyman (2021)

This was a great follow-up/sequel/successor to the original, which I love. Bonus nerd points in that Chase has documented some of the work that is seen in the art gallery.

Animal Kingdom (2010)

We started watching TNT's Animal Kingdom show ages back, it's a summer beach read of a show that ends up being about generational trauma and consequences, but is on the top level about heists and family. It ended this year and we finally watched the originating film, it is much the same themes but is less indulgent. Both Ben Mendelsohn and Shawn Hatosy are perfect casts for the character of Pope, and both are some of our favourite actors.

Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

Yes, I did partake in Dracula Dailyand in reading it remembered this film, which I finally watched after kind of wanting to watch it since it came out. I love meta stories! I love the casting! What a weird wonderful tale.

The Northman (2022)

I was hesitant to watch this much the same way I was hesitant to watch Eggers' previous film The Witch because the promotion for it didn't sell it to me. Where The Witch is funny, actually, The Northman is in truth a weird sad revenge tale, not a bombastic war thing. Also: Björk!

Nope (2022)

We got to see this at the drive-in and it is one of those movies that feels made for me, in a way. The creature design (John Dabri interview here)! The way we interact with animals! To look at cosmic horror and be like "I don't like that, thanks."

Bedrooms and Hallways (1998)

Full disclosure I watched this because I was looking into the filmography of a particular actor due to TV show brainrot and it was available on Hoopla. It's such a romp?! It's so very a British late-'90s rom-com with a really smashing cast. And also very much about identity and love and a particular vibe of being basically thirty.

Cyrano (2021)

It's a musical! (watch one of my fave songs here) It's a true-to-book adaptation, which means the ending is S-A-D. The cast is fabulous and I am grateful it finally got on VOD so I could watch it, as I'd been eyeing it since an announcement in 2021.

Favourite rewatches, whether they be something I watch with regularity or those seen for the first time in a decade-plus, in no particular order:

Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Remains gorgeous and tense and sad!

The Langoliers (1995)

I don't care if the monsters are corny I thought they were creepy then and I still do. What a concept! What is time!

Underwater (2020)

This underwater cosmic horror is almost a comfort watch at this point. I love!! Movies that are set in the confines of something in the depths of sea/space.

Willow (1988)

With the new show out, had to rewatch. Others might have been part of the Labyrinth/Legend divide of formative fantasy films but mine was Willow.

Velvet Goldmine (1998)

Another comfort watch, this one with my bff, who hadn't seen it before. It's such a key part of my DNA and it's a crime it is difficult to find.

Cruising (1980)

In looking up the year for this list I have learned it was a book first, so I'll have to look that up. This movie is heavy! I can't remember when I first watched it but I do keep returning to it.

Lathe of Heaven (1980)

This is a really fabulous adaptation of Ursula K. LeGuin's novel, and from public television, no less. I have a strong nostalgia for this story and it's one of those stories that underpin a lot of thought for me, so I rewatched it with Chase this year after he finished the book so we could enjoy it together.

Books

Did you know Storygraph does gorgeous little charts FOR you?! (if you're there I'm bzedan, as I am everywhere). According to Storygraph, I read 57 books this year, which would have been more if I hadn't had a very specific moratorium while reading The Locked Tomb series - Chase was reading them for the first time so I more or less read each book twice while he read them because I read too fast and he was also doing a lot of school reading. But also I sped through a LOT of Animorphs (finished the series) this year, which bulked the number.

I love that Storygraph charts ~moods~ it's such a vibe. Apparently, I read adventurous, emotional, dark and mysterious books the most. All the links for books here go to their Storygraph page, and for series, they link to informative pages.

[Image description: A pie chart of "Moods" of books read. The largest slices are: Adventerous, Emotional, Dark, Mysterious, Reflective. The thinnest slices are: Relaxing and Inspiring.]

This chart is very funny to me. Yes, I read one non-fiction book, it was Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller, and it's great, big recommend.

[Image description: A pie chart of "Fiction/Nonfiction" of books read. Most of the pie is bright pink and labeled "Fiction (98%)." One very tiny slice says "Nonfiction (2%)."]

Storygraph has loads of other fun charts, but we'll have enough of those soon, so let me share my top five books this year that aren't from The Locked Tomb series:

Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto with Megan Backus (Translator)

I’m very grateful a friend recommended this to me, what a sharp and full heart of a book it is. Loss and love and what we make of the two, mixed together with care.

City of Broken Magic Chronicles of Amicae #1 - Mirah Bolender

This entire trilogy, tbh, is CRIMINALLY under-read and represented. Think, magic rat catchers in a city that is straining under the restrictions of class. Found family, a great and fresh magic system, and characters that can be kind of dicks but you love them, the third book's ending made me CRY. And there is NOTHING on AO3 for it and I hate that I will have to make my own cake and eat it. I want several cakes.

The Route of Ice and Salt - José Luis Zárate with Poppy Z. Brite (Contributor), David Bowles (Translator), Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Contributor)

Whew, this is brutal and dark and angry and beautiful. So grateful it was translated into English. I talk about this take on Dracula a bit in this Tumblr post but here's the tl;dr - the sea is queer and haunted and free and it's so easy to be tempted even if you know it is your doom that tempts you.

A Most Wanted Man - John le Carré

This is a downer of a book but a good good thriller nonetheless. We then watched the film adaptation which was also very good and amazingly cast. It's a tense spy thriller! You either dig that or you don't, this one has some very depressing political twists to it.

Record of a Spaceborn Few Wayfarers #3 - Becky Chambers

Basically, everything Becky Chambers writes is gold and will fill you with hope and wonder even as it breaks your heart. Of the Wayfarers series, I think this one is my fave.

I read or finished three big YA or middle-reader (I have trouble distinguishing) series this year:

The Circle Reforged by Tamora Pierce, which continues the Magic Circle series into the pains of teenhood.

Animorphs (link goes to author-approved book downloads)by K.A. Applegate, which I will recommend forever, wow it is such a dark amazing funny, weird and gross series. They're fast reads too.

Making Out (now called The Islanders) which is like '90s high school soap TV, but books. Just candy and the candy I needed at a bad brain time.

In general big recommend of reading some books you loved or missed out on as a kid, they're so fast now to read and there is something comforting even about the sad ones.

I don't track the TV I watch as it tends to be deeply background stuff, or things watched over dinner, but there are some definite standouts. For the first three-quarters of the year, the bulk of my day job involved a lot of awareness of television and what was going on television and what would be going on television and tbh I got a bit sick of it (my job still involves TV awareness but to a far lesser degree, still a bit sick of it)

Anyway, the standouts:

Our Flag Means Death (HBO Max, 2022)

Listen, listen. This was a thrill to my heart to watch. If you follow my chatter at all across platforms then you are aware I fell into the fandom joy for this show. You may well have muted the word on Tumblr due to me. It's a queer show! There's a non-binary Latine character!! There is a definite feeling of a play/the theatre to it due to the folks who made it and I am a sap for that. It's silly AND sad. It's fun. It's about love and identity and it's worth checking out if you haven't.

Kevin Can F**k Himself (AMC, 2021-2022)

I honestly can't think of a series that so perfectly performs its story over two seasons. Yes! A lot of miniseries are a single season, but there is a definite front half and back half to this show's run and that is part of what makes it work.

The concept, as best summarised by the creator in this great interview, "What if you have, like, a sitcom, almost like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, where the characters from Hamlet are on stage with Hamlet, and when they’re off, it’s those two talking to each other. What if it’s like that, but with a sitcom? Where, when the funny husband leaves, it’s suddenly very different, and it’s about the wife, and it looks like Breaking Bad or something?"

Yes! The main characters are grating and not perfect! I don't give a shit. Part of the thesis of this show is you shouldn't have to be an innocent to not be in an abusive relationship. Big CW in this show for gaslighting, btw. Handled well and whew the growth and changes of everybody's relationships across only sixteen episodes is a doozy. If you like dark, give this a try.

Bee and PuppyCat (Netflix, 2022)

I can't remember when I first saw Bee & Puppycat but I backed the hell out of the Kickstarter in 2014 and all of my device sounds are still the ones I got as a reward for doing so. The original run of the show was so weird and so good and so sweet and strange it rewired my DNA. I wanted more! But also I am patient, I know animation is hard and takes ages to make a thing let alone find a way to distribute and that just as it was worth waiting for the original full run to be finished it would be worth the wait for more. And it was! The sixteen "new" (some are remade versions of the original web series) episodes take a story I love and expand it, and don't skimp on the heartbreak or the goofiness. If you have any magical girl soft spots then watch this.

Also here's a list of shows I could go on about: Batwoman, Gordita Chronicles, FBoy Island, The 4400, Julia, Tokyo Vice, Derry Girls, Legendary, What We Do In The Shadows, Harley Quinn, Reservation Dogs, Corporate (rewatch), Rilakkuma & Karou, Gudetama, This Fool, Don't Hug Me I'm Scared.

Music

Okay now: I made a playlist every month this year as a new kind of focus method. In the first bit of the year, I made longer playlists, like 70+ songs, which is around 5-6 hours. This was nice but also it meant it was more difficult to hear the whole playlist over the workday, what with meetings. As the year went on my playlists tightened to like four hours, which is a perfect amount for me. Oh, but numbers:

[Image description: A bar chart of "Number of Songs vs. Month" with the bars in shades of pink-purple. January and April show the highest numbers, with August and December the lowest.]

The average is about 65 songs a playlist and the median is 64 (the mode is 61, so really my gut guess early in putting together these numbers of 60-65 was pretty spot-on). These "shorter" playlists also leave me free in the afternoon to listen to other playlists and albums, after morning focus.

My playlists consisted of 311 artists, across 468 albums and 723 songs.

[Image description: A hollow-centre pie chart of bands titled "QTY." The colours are a gradient of rainbow. The top artists are: Carly Rae Jepsen (11.1%), Britney Spears (8.6%), Boy Jr. (7.5%), Santigold (6.5%), Matt Berry (5%), and Oliver Tree (5%).]

Although initially, I was like "I won't repeat songs," I was also like immediately "but I need this song again." Five songs ended up on three monthly playlists each and 48 songs were on two monthly playlists each.

However! Of those dupes, some were actually originals and covers (well, one is just two covers). But I think those count. Same song, different vibe. I put together a round-up playlist of songs that I had 2+ times on monthly playlists. The dupes are:

'Suspended In Gaffa' - Kate Bush

'Suspended In Gaffa' - deer scout

'Wuthering Heights' - Kate Bush

'Wuthering Heights' - The Puppini Sisters

'How Soon Is Now?' - t.A.T.u.

'How Soon Is Now?' - Snake River Conspiracy

'Dancing In the Dark' - Bruce Springsteen

'Dancing In The Dark' - Hot Chip

They ended up hanging together really well, just added in order of when they were repeated (so, a song played in January and again in March would come before a song played in January and again in April).

Link to the 2022 Monthly Playlist Faves here, and tracklist below:

'Chartreuse' - Boy Jr.

'Warm Blood' - Carly Rae Jepsen

'Meet Me In The Middle' - Boy Jr.

'Coconut' - Harry Nilsson

'Hungry Like the Wolf - 2001 Remaster' - Duran Duran

'Mr. Brightside (Hyperpop Version)' - Boy Jr.

'If I'm Dancing' - Britney Spears

'Safety Dance' - Angel Olsen

'Man On The Moon' - Britney Spears

'These Days' - Nico

'Gloria' - Angel Olsen

'Private Show' - Britney Spears

'Forever Young' - Angel Olsen

'Boogie Feet (feat. Eagles of Death Metal)' - Kesha

'Narcissist, Baby' - Boy Jr.

'Time Escaping' - Big Thief

'Jessie Don't Dance' - Jake Weary

'That's Not My Name' - The Ting Tings

'Suspended In Gaffa' - Kate Bush

'Suspended In Gaffa' - deer scout

'Wuthering Heights' - Kate Bush

'Wuthering Heights' - The Puppini Sisters

'Haunted House' - Sir Babygirl

'Wild Siberia' - Otyken

'Creep City' - Jake Shears

'I Knew You'd Remember' - Michael Yonkers

'Magic Man' - Heart

'Never Get Ahead' - Bobby Conn

'Do The Television' - Jake Shears

'How Soon Is Now?' - t.A.T.u.

'How Soon Is Now?' - Snake River Conspiracy

'No Guilt' - The Waitresses

'Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)' - Ween

'Sister Christian' - Night Ranger

'Kinda Outta Luck' - Medusa

'Time of the Season' - The Zombies

'Chango' - Celia Cruz

'I've Been Waiting (w/ ILoveMakonnen & Fall Out Boy)' - Lil Peep

'To Love Somebody' - Bee Gees

'Good Times Roll' - The Cars

'Facility Girls' - Soft Cell

'Oranges and Lemons' - Book Of Love

'(Don't Fear) The Reaper' - Blue Öyster Cult

'All Night Long (All Night) - Single Version' - Lionel Richie

'Dancing In the Dark' - Bruce Springsteen

'Dancing In The Dark' - Hot Chip

'Oogum Boogum Song' - Brenton Wood

'You're Too Late' - Fantasy

'Lavender' - Oneida

'Parade' - Susumu Hirasawa

'And When I Die' - Peter, Paul and Mary

'Hey Sorry' - Boy Jr.

'Freak Out' - Miya Folick

'A Hit Pop Song From 2016' - Boy Jr.

'No One's There' - Anika

'So Low' - Matt Berry

If you made it this far wow, cheers and thank you! Please chatter to me about what you liked this year!

A version of this post was initially published in public Patreon and Comradery posts on December 31, 2022.

#meche chatters #this is a corsapost from my blog and the formatting is a little fucked and I don’t care!#meche crossposts

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ghost-of-box-five · 4 years

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Thanks for the tag @1taliart-stargayce

1. What do you prefer to be called name-wise?

Ale, just what everyone calls me in real life tbh

2. When is your birthday?

November 22nd, so like last week...ish kind of?

3. Where do you live?

I happen to live in the land of ‘damn I wish my heater worked properly now that it’s getting cold’, also known as Spain

4. Three things you are doing right now?

So I’m preparing to go out and by a new sketchbook cause I’m running out of pages on my practice one, I’m also doing this and also thinking about the stickers I’ll print to add to the cover.

5. Four fandoms that you have piqued your interest?

This is gonna be fun cause they have so little in common

-Transformers: From a young age I’ve loved them robots in disguise, I still love them but I’m not active in the fandom and it’s been a while since last time I drew my ocs or any fanart for that matter, but! I do read the comics and rewatch my fave shows from time to time.

-Wakfu: but in a very weird way as in I started playing the game after rewatching the show and then got too invested in the characters I created there and made a whole story on them, and like recently they’ve announced season four and suddenly I’m having the urge to draw my characters again.

-Phantom of the Opera: From a young age, just like Transformers, young me watched the 2004 film cried a lot and I’ve been a fan of PotO ever since, I was so excited when they streamed the 25th anniversary recording that I got really into it again...

-But then CATS happened! as in I liked Cats before but never got into the fandom or too into it, then the movie came, watched the 1998 version too and here we are now!

6. How has the pandemic been treating you?

Thanfully not too badly!

7. A song you can’t stop listening to right now?

So, cannot name any specific song cause my brain does this thing where it will only allow me to listen to one soundtrack on loop over and over again rahter than one single song. so currently? Hairspray and Cats, the Japanese cast recording of it

8. Recommend a movie

Oh boy, I haven’t watched one in a while actually, so I don’t have any recommendations for you

9. How old are you?

Turned 21 last week...ish

10. School, university, occupation, other?

University, and it’s a ✨struggle✨

11. Do you prefer heat or cold?

Cold, I cannot deal with the heat at all. Cannot sleep at all during the summers, cannot go out without the sun burning me to a crisp, and always am stuck babysitting younger relatives at the pool so not that fun either.

12. Name one fact that others may not know about you?

So I’m extremely shy when meeting others and so appear to be very quiet, but I actually was born with very loud speakers attached to me, but they only work properly when I know you (@/my irl friends and probably online ones i send voice messages to too I’m so sorry about being so loud )

13. Are you shy?

Extremely so, it’s yet another struggle

14. Preferred pronouns?

I go by she/her

15. Biggest pet peeves?

When people touch my things without permission, even more so when they’ve been explicitly told not to do so. It really does get on my nerves.

16. What’s your favourite “-dere” type?

I don’t have a favourite really. Or like I haven’t thought abour this question until this very moment so I don’t have an answer yet

17. Rate your life from 1 to 10?

A solid 6

18. What’s your main blog?

Had another one but rn would say this one!

19. List your side blogs and what they’re used for.

None! but I’m so tempted to do one for Cats either just to post my Cats stuff or maybe an rp blog for my ocs or maybe both? I’m not sure (but the Cats sideblog is a real possibility tbh)

20. Is there something people need to know about you before becoming friends?

I don’t think there is anything you’d need to know? other than maybe if you wanna chat or something just drop a message, I struggle with starting conversations cause I’m awkward as fuck a first, bu soon enough you’ll be having to deal with me sending you doodles at random moments of the day or showing you weird things I found while walking outside.

and Oh! If you message me and I don’t reply...message me again, chances are I was doing something or somehow I thought so hard about my own reply that I actually tricked myself into believing I’ve actually replied :’D

Now for the tags, not anyone in mind rn so if you see this and want to do it, here you go! I’m tagging you!

#ale screams into the void

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scum-belina · 5 years

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Aight, since you're on such a movie binge lately, and since I usually love your recommendations, what are your top 10 movies?

Upon being asked this nearly 48 hours ago, my brain, despite having watched probably 1000 movies of all different genres and from multiple countries was like "the only movies you can remember is shrek 1 2 and 3" but after digging through my memory I THINK I have managed to find some of my top favorites movies. My favorites are defined solely on how much they managed to impact me and inspire me so here we go in no particular order!

1. “The Best Offer” (2013) by Giuseppe Tornatore. This is the most recent film I’ve seen and is by far one of my all-time favorites. It is at least 96% of everything I’ve ever wanted in a movie and I’m still reeling from the borderline perfection of the whole thing. Unsurprisingly I got interested in it bc of the older man/ younger woman thing, but nothing about their relationship development was cliche or shallow, so much so that it pleasantly surprised me, and then threw me through 25000 emotional roller coasters that were also on fire. It’s a drama, romance, comedy, mystery, thriller, and tragedy without being an absolute mess and idk if I will ever get over it I love it so much.

2. “Melancholia” (2011) by Lars Von Trier. A film that portrays severe depression through an apocalyptic metaphor and actually manages to skillfully get away with it. I love this movie as much as I hate it for being so raw and painful yet beautiful at the same time. Everyone in this is great but Kirsten Dunst truly is a formidable actress. This is the only LVT film I’ve fully enjoyed also bc all of his others have too much of a pretentious assholeishness to them and he just tries too damn hard to be edgy and it wastes the entire storyline.

3. “The Phantom Of the Opera” (2004) by Joel Schumacher. A classic in every respect of the word. It’s got the twisted love tale that I’m an eternal sucker for PLUS they burst out into song abt such matters all the time??? LOVES IT. Everyone with even the slightest taste for the dramatic should watch it at least once.

4. “The Red Violin” (1998) By François Girard. I Don’t even know how to describe this film. I just remember it from my childhood bc my dad was fascinated by it and I was too. It has an entirely foreign, mostly Italian cast which makes it somehow feel like even more of an authentic story. It really helped shaped me to realize just how important music and musical instruments are to humanity and how they are another way to express our innermost thoughts and feelings.

5. Moulin Rouge! (2001) by Baz Lurhmann. I will NEVER forget the first time I saw this. I was around 7 or 8 and my parents had rented it from blockbuster, and all 3 of us watched it in awe. Baz Lurhmann is nothing but a genius the way he integrated multiple modern songs into this musical and they FIT. The moulin rouge version of “Roxanne” knocks the original by The Police out of the park, out of the world, and out into another dimension. And then the original songs like “come what may” are all 10/10. It’s theatrical, it’s romantic, it’s funny, it’s tragic. Those are the 4 things that almost always cause me to love a movie. Also Ewan McGregor is absurdly hot in it and HIS SINGING VOICE??? HHHHHOOOOOOO BBBBOOOOOYYYYYYYYY

6. “Phantom Thread” (2017) by Paul Thomas Anderson. I’m not gonna lie, I hopped onto this movie solely bc of the older man/younger woman romance theme that I am always a slut for, but much like The Best Offer it was SO MUCH more like??? This isn’t even about their age it’s about who THEY ARE and their differences yet their love for each other and how can they balance their lives, who THEY ARE without hating one another as much as they love one another??? BOY I LOVE THAT TORTURED LOVE. This movie was almost NOTHING of what I expected from it and I loved every surprise it gave me.

7. “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” (2006) by Tom Tykwer. Idek WHAT to say about this film other than it’s so good!!! It’s so fucked up!!! I’M so fucked up!!! I love it so much!!! You know how me be!!! Love that nasty artsy badness!!! Go watch it and then message me asking me what the fuck is wrong with me!!!

8. “V for Vendetta” (2005) by James McTeigue. I know this movie has been overhyped at times, but it truly is incredible. Both the left and right seem to claim this movie as their own, but my libertarian ass just loves it for its anti-tyranny theme and ofc for the development of Evey and V’s relationship. It’s definitely worth at least one watch.

9. Pirates of the Caribbean (2003-2007 so only the original trilogy bc those are the only ones that really exist and matter ok) by Gore Verbinski. I was around 9-10 when I saw the first potc, and it changed me and inspired me for life. Immediately I found Elizabeth Swann so relatable not just bc we have the same first name, but because she had the same intense desire for freedom and adventure as I had/ still do tbh. She liked the “bad guys” and wanted to be one of them and ultimately became “King” of them without sacrificing her own femininity and OHHH I LOVE THAT. The original potc trilogy has the perfect blend of adventure, fantasy, horror, and romance for me (although I will always wish Elizabeth had ended up with Jack in the end I will DIE for this ship).Mind you, The Mummy (1999) Came EXTREMELY close to taking potc’s place, but the mummy never managed to make a good or even rewatchable trilogy like potc did so potc wins this.

10. This is Spinal Tap (1984) by Rob Reiner. The only complete comedy on this list, I cannot even begin to describe how genius this film is. I have watched it so many times since childhood and I STILL find new jokes in it that I had never noticed before. Anyone who has had even the slightest bit of an interest in music should find this hilarious. The Stonehenge mishap scene alone makes this one of the greatest comedies of all time.

These are some of the few that I’ve been able to come back to mind from memory rn but I’m sure I’ll think of other faves later. but all of these are some definite top faves of mine that impho (in my personal humble/horny opinion) everyone should watch at least once

#i have consumed 3 apples and an entire liter of wine tonight i am unhinged so if i misspell or repeat myself just understand that #in this moment i am eva green in penny dreadful

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soundsof71 · 5 years

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2018 Spotify Wrap

I got tagged by @wholelottaplant, whose impressive wrap of her 2018 Spotify adventures are posted here. I’m very happy to share my results too!

Minutes listening to Spotify: 17,633 minutes, or 12 days, 5 hours, 33 minutes. Less than a tenth of wholelottaplant’s! But I can’t listen to music while I work or read, both of which I do a lot.

First song listened to in 2018: Nocturnal Koreans, by Wire.

youtube

Okay, here’s the thing. I blog about classic rock, and I know an insane amount about it, I love it -- but it’s not that much of what I listen to on a daily basis. I spend most of every year listening to what’s new that year. I just happen to have started this process in 1963, so I picked up a lot of classic rock along the way. LOL

Wire was my most listened-to artist of 2017, spilling over into the beginning of this year, and while their career does indeed stretch back over 40 years, my most listened-to album of 2017 came out in 2017, Wire’s Silver/Lead.

And my most listened-to album of 2016 came out in 2016 (Underworld, Barbara Barbara We Face A Shining Future), my most listened-to album of 2015 came out in 2015 (Bob Mould, Beauty and Ruin), and so on.

Which should tell you some of what you’re in for. Yeah, my two favorite bands are The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, in that order, but after that, it’s Wire and Underworld right behind.

Most Listened-To Artist of 2018: Crowded House.

Ha! A curve already. The thing is, I fucking hated Fleetwood Mac’s previous guitarist. Since 1977, I’ve refused to listen to any of the band’s songs where I could hear his voice, and I have so little regard for him that that’s all I’m going to say about it.

Entirely apart from that, it happens that my favorite guitarist after George Harrison is Neil Finn (yep, Jimi and Jimmy at 3 and 4), whom I first encountered in the late 70s with the Split Enz, and truly fell in love with when he founded Crowded House in 1986. I also adore his voice and his writing, and he’s put on some of the best shows I’ve ever seen -- and managed to do so in 4 consecutive decades for me, a slick trick.

My wife and I met in 1982, were married in 1985, and although we’d both known Neil in Split Enz, and had a massive shared history of mutual faves across the classic rock era, through punk, into New Wave and beyond, Crowded House was the first “new” band we fell in love with after we married, so Neil has been part of our lives in a special way for a very long time.

So the happy news of him joining Fleetwood Mac alongside another guitarist I’m very fond of, Mike Campbell, late of The Heartbreakers, led me to create a Spotify playlist covering 40years of Neil’s career, still pumping out fresh tunes.

Neil Finn: Finn/Tastic, Neil/Tastic

I assume that many of you don’t know him (not nearly enough people do), so here’s a weird little video for a truly lovely song from his first solo album in 1998, “She Will Have Her Way.”

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Most Listened-to Song of 2018: “Hunger”, by Florence + The Machines. Holy shit, I’m INSANE for this. I’ve been on this earth for many a year, and this is kicking my ass like only a few songs have in my entire life.

It starts with “At 17, I started to starve myself”, and ramps up the intensity from there. Few artists have ever played for keeps like Florence Welch, and she leaves it allll out there on this.

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Top Artists of 2018/Top Songs of 2018 I combined these two questions from @wholelottaplant to tell the whole story. Yeah, Crowded House was my top artist, and I’ve listened to a lot of Queen the last few weeks, and I’ve listened to at least one track or another from The Beatles every day since 1964....but like I said, if you want to really know me, you need to know what’s happening in music today.

Here’s a link to my Top 100 Songs of 2018.

As a preview, let me show you my 2018 Top 20:

Florence + The Machine, Hunger

CHVRCHES, Deliverance

Locate S,1, Owe It 2 the Girls

Janelle Monáe, Make Me Feel

Goat Girl, Cracker Drool

Starcrawler, Love's Gone Again

Speedy Ortiz, I'm Blessed

Smerz, Have fun

Belly, Shiny One

Cherry Glazerr, Juicy Socks

The Breeders, Wait in the Car

Our Girl, Our Girl

Liza Anne, I Love You, But I Need Another Year

Shannon and The Clams, Onion

Chaka Khan, Like Sugar

Speedy Ortiz, Lucky 88 (The only artist to appear twice in my Top 20! From my most listened-to album of the year.)

Screaming Females, Agnes Martin

illuminati hotties, Patience

The Orielles, Let Your Dog Tooth Grow

Robyn, Missing U

From my favorite album of 2018:

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And from my favorite hard rock album of the year...well, one of ‘em anyway. 2018 has been a FANTASTIC year for hard rock!!!!

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That’s as many videos as tumblr will let me put in a single post, so I hope you got to my playlist and check this stuff out. It’s really, really good.

I’m going to tease you with an even longer post I’m working on, observing that, of all my years on this dusty wet rock, 2018 gets my vote for best EVER year for new music, and every single artist in my Top 50 is a woman or woman-led band. Details to follow!

The fact is that you’ve got to get to #37 in my Spotify Top 100 Songs to get to a song sung by a dude (”Weather With You” by Crowded House), and down to #44 before you get to a song in the mainstream of Classic Rock (”Goin’ To California” by Led Zeppelin.)

So I ain’t kiddin’. I love classic rock. I still think that 1971 is Classic Rock’s Classic Year. But my god, there’s so much to hear!

Okay, enough for now. I’m having an absolute blast listening to music these days, and Spotify is a huge part of the reason why. If you’ve got a few extra shekels a month, Premium is TOTALLY worth it -- higher than CD quality (enable in Settings), no commercials, download tracks when you don’t want to stream, etc etc.

More important, if you’re on Spotify, LET ME KNOW. Either DM me here, or DM me there. Let’s be mutuals! I’ve got hundreds of playlists to share (don’t worry -- plenty are classic rock!) and I’d love to see what you’re listening to.

And if you’re on Spotify, consider yourself officially tagged by me! Share! How many minutes? Top artists? Top songs? We want to know!

And thanks again to @wholelottaplant for inviting me along on her ride!

#me #text post #long post #essay #spotify #women in rock #crowded house #wire #florence and the machines

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thatiswhy · 5 years

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ALL THE MUSIC ASKS 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

1. Most frequently played song rn

O’Hooley & Tidow - Gentleman Jack

2. Favorite 2000s era song

Nightwish - Ghost love score

3. Go-to sad song

Eeeeeeeehhh… It’s bound to be something by Placebo for purely historical reasons alone, but I don’t think I actually have a song to listen to when sad, not to mention the cause of sadness may vary wildly and thus calls for wildly different songs.

4. Favorite movie soundtrack

Non-compilation? LotR is the only one I really ever listen to by itself.

5. Number one artist/band you wanna see live

Ffhhhhhhh LedZep, Deep Purple, Sabbath et al. circa ‘72. Nightwish in 2004. MCR in 2010. Mary Bergin is still alive, I’m ready whenever she is.

6. Artist you’d love to sit down and have a conversation with

I’m rather convinced most people who make music I like are self-absorbed, pretentious and /or otherwise dicks, but I think there’s a conversation to be had about obscure Silmarillion headcanons with Tuomas Holopainen.

7. Give one controversial music-related opinion

Nick Cave gives me heebie jeebies just looking at him and I can’t stand his music. :(

8. Do you like having physical copies of music?

It’s 2019, I live in a rented flat, and nothing I own has an optical drive, let alone anything more hipstery.

9. Fave 90s era song

I’m sure I’m meant to say something like Everybody or Wannabe, but since Without you I’m nothing came out in 1998 I feel perfectly within my rights to say Pure morning.

10. Go-to happy song

Fireball? That’s what hyperfocus sounds like anyway.

11. Most played playlist

I just usually put my whole library on shuffle and wear a hole into the screen over the skip button. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Specific playlist’s got to be Celtic folk though.

12. A song that you have a very specific memory attached to- explain

Hah. Let’s go with the one time I technically proposed to my high school bff one-sided pal (yea Like That, in retrospect) without actually realising I wasn’t just recommending a nice love song. I remember it so vividly because the night previous I dreamt she got married to her then-crush and I was still inexplicably miserable about it, so told her the dream and I framed it like “haha if I ever got married despite the facts that I’m clearly never gonna lol I’d want to set it to this song whaddaya think?” and wrote out the lyrics to her.

13. Fav 80s era song

Sisters of Mercy, Queen, Iron Maiden, The Cure, AC/DC, Guns ‘N Roses, Springsteen, U2, Warlock, fucking… Depeche Mode and you’re expecting me to pick one song?

14. A song that youd get the lyrics to tattooed on your body

It’s in your reach… Concentrate. was the one I was turning over in my head for years.

15. A good song to blow your car speakers out to

I don’t have a car, it’s nice cycling to Stargazer.

16. A song from your childhood

Does it count if it wasn’t released in my childhood, but nevertheless an integral part of it due to Dad’s vinyls?

17. Artist with the most angelic voice

The friendliest reminder that an angelic voice can and should put the fear of God into you, but at the same time remind you of the infinite beauty of creation.

18. Fav 70s era song

Please refer to my reply to the 80’s question, but more.

19. A song that reminds you of your best friend

Iron Maiden - Rainmaker

20. Songs you use to fall asleep

I don’t do that anymore, but it used to be I could fall asleep to Deathstars and Guano Apes as well as to Enya, so…

21. Song you wanna get laid to

Placebo’s cover of I feel you in particular, but a good chunk of Depeche Mode’s songs put me in mind of intimacy. (In contrast, but not opposed to sex.)

22. A song that’s lyrics are engrained in your mind forever

My head is full of lyrics, I think I could flawlessly lipsynch like 99% of old Nightwish for example.

23. A song you cannot stand

Ketchup song (Asereje).

24. Top 3 most listened to music genre

Classic rock, metal, Celtic folk.

25. Songs you’d fight to

Doesn’t matter, just get Edgar Wright to direct the scene. Also I’m a fucking wuss so I wouldn’t fight.

#anon anon sir

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nedraggett · 5 years

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Thoughts on 2018

No need for me to be fancier than that! And yeah I realize that nobody should be using Tumblr any more but until I figure out a proper revive of my old Wordpress site, this will do for now.

So anyway: I wrote this up for a private email list reflecting on the end of the year in terms of things I especially enjoyed culturally. Well, why not share it?

My year went very well — steady at work and in life, being 47 means more aches and pains but you have to learn to live with it. The state of the world is something else again of course and we need not spend more time on the blazingly obvious. That said, the history bug in me has been constantly intrigued by the slow drip of the investigations (and revelations) and were it all fiction, I’d be thoroughly enthralled instead of quietly apprehensive, of course. November did provide some partial relief on that front so bring on the new year. In terms of my own written work, nothing quite equalled my heart/soul going into last year’s Algiers feature for NPR, but my two big Quietus pieces this year — on Gary Numan’s Dance and Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings — were treats to write, while my presentation on the too-obscure Billy Mackenzie at PopCon was a great experience.

In terms of music this has been one of the most concert-heavy years I’ve spent. Even having moved to SF in 2015 I only did the occasional show every so often — there was so much going on (even in a local scene lots of long-timers say has been irrevocably changed) that I was almost spoiled for choice, and part of me also just wanted to relax most nights. But deaths like Prince’s and Bowie’s among many others served as a reminder that there’s no such thing as forever, and you never know what the last chance will be. More veteran acts than younger ones in the end for me — greatest missed concert regrets this year included serpentwithfeet, Lizzo, Perfume Genius and Emma Ruth Rundle among the younger acts, while being ill when Orbital came through will be a lingering annoyance, still having never seen them live. But the huge amount of shows I did see outweighed that, ranging from big arena stops like Fleetwood Mac to celebratory open-air free shows like Mexican Institute of Sound to small club sets by folks like Kinski, Six Organs of Admittance, Kimbra and many more, including, for the first time in years, a show in the UK, specifically a great performance by Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera. If I absolutely had to grade my top picks among shows, Cruel Diagonals, Johnny Marr, Wye Oak, Peter Brotzmann/Keiji Haino, John Zorn/Terry Riley/Laurie Anderson, Laurie Anderson again separately, Nine Inch Nails, VNV Nation, Jarvis Cocker, Beak and, in terms of no real expectations turning into utter delight and thrills, a brilliant set by Lesley Rankine under her Ruby guise, with Martin Atkins on drums. Best damn combination of righteous ire, hilarious raconteurism and compelling, unique approaches to how performance can work I’d seen in a while. (As for recorded music in general, uh, endless?)

TV, as ever a bit sporadic, with a few things on my to-do list — still need to catch The Terror for sure, and what I saw of The Alienist looked good; I love both books so I need to see how it all worked out, similarly with the just-dropped version of Watership Down. Pose I definitely need to catch up with since it sounds like Ryan Murphy stood out of the way to let the best possible team do the business on it, but my real unexpected delight of a show this year was also Murphy-based, American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. While not down the line perfect, it was absolutely more compelling than not, and in fact at its best was a shuddering combination of amazing music cue choices, a reverse structure that helped undercut any attempt at making Cunanan seem sympathetic or an antihero, and, at its considerable best, a ratcheting up of terror and horror that a friend said was almost Kubrickian, and I would have to agree. And, frankly, Darren Criss really did the business as Cunanan, a controlled and powerful turn. Only a few of us seemed to be following it at the time, but when it scored all those Emmys, then while it was as much a reflection of Murphy’s status, it honestly felt well deserved. Meantime, you’ll pry my addiction to all the RuPaul’s Drag Race incarnations from my cold dead hands but it’s the amazing online series that Trixie Mattel and Katya do, UNHhhh, which remains my comedy highlight of the year, with at least a few jaw-dropping/seize up laughing every episode. (Kudos as well for Brad Jones’s The Cinema Snob, ten years running online and still funny as fuck while digging up all kinds of cinematic horrors.) Also, tying back into music a bit, late recommendation for something you can only see on UK TV/streaming so far, but get yourself a VPN and seek out Bros: After the Screaming Stops, in which the two brothers in the late-80s monster hit pop band Bros (never had any traction here but pretty much owned the entire Commonwealth and beyond) try for a comeback. It’s an unintentionally hilarious and harrowing portrait of two twins who have a LOT of issues, have clearly been through a LOT of therapy, but are still…not quite there. UK friends said it was a combination of Spinal Tap, Alan Partridge and David Brent and they were ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

Movies, less specifically to choose from — I remain an essentially sporadic populist when it comes to what I see in theaters, but I can say for sure that Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse is a hell of a thing and will almost certainly prove to be a real year-zero moment down the line. Possibly the most affecting watch was Bohemian Rhapsody, in that I also saw this in the UK — in Brighton, which besides making me think of the band’s song “Brighton Rock” is also notably the country’s most LGBT-friendly city; those I was with felt the movie’s themes, successes and flaws/elisions deeply, and the constant discussion of it for the next few days was very rewarding. As for books, John Carreyrou’s Bad Blood, delving into Theranos and the amoral duo behind it, was properly enraging and compelling, while Beth Macy’s Dopesick, if not perfect, nonetheless adds to the good literature on the opioid crisis, while as ever indirectly calling into question who’s getting the focus and care now as opposed to in earlier times and places. My favorite music publications as such probably remain the two I most regularly write for, The Quietus and Daily Bandcamp, while Ugly Things is the print publication that I most look forward to with each issue, and am never disappointed.

Podcasts now consist of a lot of my regular cultural engagement, kinda obvious but nonetheless true. Long running faves include My Favorite Murder — Karen and Georgia are an amazing comedy team who have figured out how to reinterpret their anxieties in new ways — The Vanished, which at its best often casts a piercing eye on how official indifference from law enforcement is almost as destructive as their more obvious abuses (recent discovery The Fall Line does this as well, even more explicitly), Karina Longworth’s constantly revelatory Hollywood histories You Must Remember This, Patrick Wyman’s enjoyable history dives on Tides of History, my friend Chris Molanphy’s constantly excellent investigations into music chart history Hit Parade, the great weekly movie chats by MST3K vets Frank Conniff and Trace Beaulieu along with Carolina Hidalgo on Movie Sign With the Mads, and The Age of Napoleon, which really has hit my history wonk sweet spot. New to me this year was It’s Just a Show, a really wonderful episode by episode — but not in exact order — deep dive into every episode of MST3K ever, by two fun and thoughtful Canadian folks, Adam Clarke and Beth Martin. (Adam also cohosts a new podcast, A Part of Our Scare-itage, specifically looking at Canadian horror. It’s not just Cronenberg!). Among the excellent one-off series this year: American Fiasco by Men in Blazers’ Roger Bennett on the failed US World Cup attempt in 1998, Dear Franklin Jones, a story about the narrator’s experience growing up in a California cult and how his parents came to be followers in the first place, and the Boston Globe’s Gladiator, their audio accompaniment to their in-depth story of the life and ultimate fate of Aaron Hernandez. Finally, totally new series this year that quickly got added to my regular listening: American Grift, a casual and chatty look at various scams and schemes, overseen by Oriana Schwindt, The Eurowhat?, a running look at the Eurovision competition throughout the year from the perspective of two American fans, and The Ace Records Podcast, an often engaging series of one-off interviews with various musicians, fans and so forth by UK writer Pete Paphides (I highly recommend the interviews with Jon Savage and Sheila B). Hands down my two favorite totally new podcasts of the year were The Dream, a more formal story of American grifting in general hosted by Jane Marie — this first season’s focus was on multilevel marketing, and Marie and company’s careful way of seemingly backing into the larger story makes it all the more compelling and ultimately infuriating, especially in the current political climate — and the hilarious Race Chasers, a RuPaul’s Drag Race-celebrating podcast by two veterans of the show, Alaska and Willam, loaded with all kinds of fun, behind the scenes stuff, guests and an easy casualness from two pros that strikes the perfect balance between going through things and just shooting the shit. Returning podcast I’m most looking forward to next year: the second season of Cocaine and Rhinestones, hands down. Check out the first season for sure.

And there ya go! Keep fighting all your respective good fights.

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bloodyke · 3 years

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A chibli esque vacation sounds really good actually! I don't really know what my dream vacation would be since there's many places I would like to visit, but I think my first choice would probably be somewhere really cold and peaceful, like Finland during aurora borealis season, I would literally do anything to experience that

My favorite movie was definitely Robots, I remember there was a period of time where I would watch it at least ten times a day without getting tired, as for favorite book I wouldn't know, since i picked up reading as a hobbie after turning twelve😅 My favorite song though was definitely this is me from Camp Rock, I really liked it

Favorite trend: I like the insurgence in wearing oversized clothes in general, I think it was long overdue. Being able to walk anywhere in comfortable clothes is everything that matters in my book honestly

Least favorite trend: definitely people bringing back 2000 fashion too, but not because I think it's ugly (it kinda is but I always viewed 2000 fashion as just people experimenting with clothes as much as they could which I think is pretty fun!) I can't fully put my finger in why I don't like it. It probably has something to do with current make up and beauty trends that clash with this style in a way that feels like people are trying too hard and still not being able to recreate it's essence as it is

New questions!!

Like This: If you could invite three people, living or dead, to a dinner party, who would they be and why?

Shine: What is currently your favorite movie/tv show/book/song?

Also, I never listened to Evanescence, would you like to give me your top three favorite songs?

-uni anon

hello sorry for the late response!! how have you been?

oooh thats a good choice aurora borealis are so breath taking that would be so cool to experience in real life! i also LOVE the cold so itd be a great time all around

i know i saw robots as a kid but for the life of me i literally cannot remember anything about it 😭😭 i remember i liked it but thats about it. what were your favorite parts of the movie? did you have a favorite character?

oooh yeah i agree i love oversized comfy clothes i wear them all the time! its my go-to outfit choice when im not going for a full dramatic all out look!

as for my answers:

hmm this is a hard one i have so many people id love to talk to that its hard to pick just three.... i guess i'd pick carrie fisher because i think shes hilarious and has a lot of good stories, amy lee because shes literally been my icon since i can remember and i desperately want vocal tips from her, and sunmi because i love her personality and i feel we'd have a lot to talk about! plus i feel like all three of them would being a fun energy to the table

my current fave everthing changes every three days 😭😭😭😭 right now im reading the annihilation series which i like (im almost done with the third book) its very very good (the second book was boring tho)! oh ive started listening to boys world and bella dose recently and i like their stuff! and ive been lostening to boa's BETTER album on repeat all month lmaoo its soooo good

ive been listening to evanescence literally since i was born (not even joking here my mom somehow had a copy of origin which is a super rare ep like only 50 copies made rare and that came out a year before i was born) so it would be impossible for me to only pick three of their songs so ill TRY to do my top three songs from each officially released album (so not counting the self titled ep from 1998, sound asleep ep, origin, mystary, the live albums, etc)

Fallen: obviously im picking my immortal its popular for a reason, whisper, and imaginary! honorable mentions to going under, everybody's fool, and hello

The Open Door: lacyrmosa, call me when your sober, sweet sacrifice. honorable mentions to good enough, all that im living for, and lithium

Self Titled: LOST IN PARADISE, my heart is broken, erase this. honorable mentions to oceans, sick, end of the dream

Lost Whispers: missing, breathe no more, last song im wasting on you. honorable mention to if you dont mind

synthesis (technically this isnt an album its a rerecording of old songs with 2 new ones added but im counting it): bring me to life synthesis vers (i like the iconic "original" version but THIS was amy lee's original vision so obviously its superior), ajd then the two new songs imperfection and hi-lo

The Bitter Truth: broken pieces shine, yeah right, feeding the dark. honorable mention to better without you and take cover

#answered #🌌 anon #long post #sorry for writing so much #i just have a Lot of favorite evanescence songs since you know.... they've been in my life since birth lol

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junhoontrash · 3 years

Note

Omg yes!!! Rapper boo is so fun 😊😊

Ohh interesting, what did scoups do that shocked you?? Officially, my bias wrecker is dk, but I be looking at Vernon a lot these days 👀👀

I'm such a sucker for sanas silly/ cute image fjgjsncjx I'm just fond of everything she does 💗💘 Fancy is such a classic!!! Rn my fave twice songs are I can't stop me and alcohol free, which I listen to the most ^^ some of my other fave gg songs are catallena - orange Caramel, goodbye - snsd, and all mine - f(x) 😊

Its about midnight when I'm typing this rn, perfect time for some sleepover questions :))) what are your top 5 fave movies? Have you ever traveled outside your home country? Which idol is closest to your ideal type, and why?

-🍊

Rapper boo really is fun haha, I've also read somewhere that apparently his freestyle technique is actually quite impressive. I'm not able to fully appreciate that because of the language barrier but well, the many talents of Boo... 😩

He didn't have to do anything, and that was the scary part 😂 his presence itself is so intimidating. There was a part where they came down on moving platforms and when S.Coups and Dino's came to our side I couldn't even look at him straight lol (literally had to shield my face with a banner), he just has such an intense aura. I've heard about it from others before, but I didn't expect it to be that "bad" experiencing it in person 😅 I would say that S.Coups differs the most in-person vs on-screen impression-wise, but that's just my experience.

The 2/18 twins aww :'))

Ooh, I also like I Can't Stop Me! Alcohol Free has a really chill sound too (but the choreography's surprisingly complex...) Ahh those are all groups I used to listen to casually ;-;

It's been so long since I've watched any movies but these are the top 5 I can think of right now (in no particular order):

The Holiday

Mulan (1998)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (mostly because of the Niffler)

Confessions

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

What is your favorite film? Do you have a favorite genre or genres you avoid?

Yes, I moved out of the US (my birth country) and lived in Canada for a while before moving to Taiwan. Then I went on to study abroad in the US, Japan, and the UK before moving back. I was also supposed to go to Colombia as an exchange student, but the pandemic happened. Have you ever traveled out of your home country? What is your dream trip?

Oof, that's a hard question since I've never considered it before ;; but if I had to choose... maybe Peniel? He's very observant and straightforward, and the way he giggles at his own jokes is very endearing. What about you?

#caratanonevent3 #personal

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chaeunwoo-archive · 7 years

Text

moonbin | astro

(done with @rockoaroundthechristmastree, @rockytheastroid, @astrofireworks, @jinwoosmile, @ongbins and @jakganim)

MASTERLIST LINK

1998 Jan 26

Cheongju son

Visual 4/6

How to recognise moonbean: smol upper lip, looks like a cat

JUST FUCKIN SHOOK US BY APPEARING WITH BLUE-GREY HAIR WHAT THE HECK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baby: red, crescent moon

Was a child actor/model

liSTEN

BABY MOONBIN

IS MY SHIT !!!!!!

Baby Binnie singing

GROWN UP BIN RECREATING IT

Baby Binnie doing the train song!!

GROWN UP BIN RECREATING THE TRAIN SONG

A full cutie / Baby Bin charming everyone / Bin and Sua playing

Was also in a Samsung CF jesus christ what a cutie

Appeared as Baby Yunho in DBSK’s Balloons

Bet you didn’t know he had a dance practice video too

I love embarrassing Bin videos I need a video of him reacting to this

More embarrassing videos he’s bringing sexy back y’all

Was also in Boys Over Flowers as baby F4

cute-ass nicknames

Resident “pupcat” for looking ‘chic’ when he’s straight faced and being energetic and happy and puppy-like when he smiles

문비글: moon beagle because he gets all excited i love him

“YuNo Moonbin” because Baby Yunho in DBSK’s Balloons

“Jelly boy” because of his one line in Confession (“Hey baby 그 앨 잊어“ = “hey baby, forget about him”) that sounded like “hey baby 겔리줘” (hey baby, give me jelly)

콩 = bean

차은우 덕후 = Cha Eunwoo Maniac

Listen he’s such a big Eunwoo stan

#TeamSoap (Just so you know, arohas didn’t come up with the name ‘Binu’, they came up with it (”Team Soap”) themselves )

explained it by saying 빈 (Bin) + 우 (Woo) = 비누 (Soap)

Roommates

Picked each other in OK!Ready and have been living in the same room ever since

in the recent Night Night show they did Eunwoo said that if he could pick roommates again, he’d still pick Bin

Used to call eunwoo (은우) “eu-noo” (으누) as a cute nickname

“Eu-noo Eu-noo Cha-Eu-Noo!!”

Eunwoo saved Bin on his phone (predebut though, idk how accurate this is rn) as 달콩 (literally translates into moon bean) and fun fact coincidence or not you decide it’s also the second half of 알콩달콩 (lovey dovey) :’)

Jokes aside he’s really Eunwoo’s best friend he’s Eunwoo’s hypeman

Claims Eunwoo is the most beautiful creature on earth

“Is he really human? How can someone that looks like him exist?”

Eunwoo thinks Bin is the most handsome I love supportive friends ;u;

Bin to Sanha during the 600 day broadcast: did i say you can take the meat

Also Bin: feeds Eunwoo “be careful it’s hot”

문초딩: basically saying he has a mind of a nine year old i’m crying i bet he giggles at dick jokes

쿨빈: “cool bin” i mean he’s cool sometimes i guess,,,,,, a nerd,

Also recently pointed out during ASC as the sexiest member in astro so

빈스틸러: “bin stealer” - basically (sf9 taeyang voice) scene steAlerRr

정수리감별사: he can distinguish people by smelling the top of their heads bless him

Has a ridiculously refined sense of olfaction - can literally smell every member apart from one another

Literally suffers every time he’s asked to do this by mcs; has done it on Weekly Idol and Immigration and the latest Special Sunday

문밥: mOON RICE THE CUTEST NICKNAME because he loves to eat bless his soul

loves babies to no end

But so does the whole of astro so

can run real fuckin fast

Got a silver medal in ISAC, got beat out by his buddy Woosung form Snuper only because Woosung’s chest touched the ribbon 0.02 seconds before bless

plays the piano!

Was close to ikon’s Chanwoo and sf9’s Chani and also childhood friends with gfriend’s SinB

THE CUTEST LISTEN he was Chani’s OG “Bin hyung”

Once he met Moonbin in the airport and yelled, “BIN HYUNG!!” and Youngbin got so bitter that Chani called Moonbin “bin hyung” he went on sf9’s vlive a month afterwards to complain and said it was a stab to his heart asjdlhf I love them

Also friends with Seungkwan and Vernon from SVT :’)

LOVES EATING I LOVE THIS SO MUCH

Joined the fantz and “Right since the start I told the company that I hope they don’t interfere when it comes to food.” this bitch im rly cryign ilove him

Steals MJ’s food, and also probably everyone else’s

Videos of him eating is my passion

Apparently used to make pancakes really often predebut with Astro :’)

Claims to not really like bread but has an entire vlive of him eating bread with rocko

Apparently hates red bean, egg yolks and tofu and chocolate and fish

Still tried to drink the chocolate drink jinjin(?) won from nimdle even though he hates chocolate what is this boy doing

Actually eats so much omg my fave Bin concept is Bin eating

Literally gets fed by EVERYONE ALL THE TIME (peep nimdle broadcast and also his actual CEO getting their manager to buy him [and Eunwoo] food every 10 flippin minutes)

Gets a free pass to do anything anywhere on a vlive??? Gets meat to hold a BBQ party

Holds his own muk-bang broadcasts, on days where he “can’t eat much” still eats for one meal 2 servings of kbbq, a bowl of rice, a large bowl of stew and finishes off with a large bowl of naengmyeon. son,

sleeps a lot

Literally though sanha and jinjin posted a twitter video of them trying to wake bin up it doesn’t work it apparently only works when eunwoo gets him to wake up

Sleeps through sanha and jinjin prodding him but wakes up when eunwoo starts talking in a vlive

Bin said in the harper’s bazaar interview that he doesn’t wake up when the manager calls him to get up but his eyes naturally open when he hears Eunwoo sighing (creds to @astrotranslations)

Bin’s mom even sent in a concern to hello counsellor bc he wouldn’t stop sleeping and couldn’t wake up so really… eunwoo = magic?

Sister is YG trainee Moon Su-Ah

Not sure if she’s still in that disgusting man’s dungeon or if she’s switched companies, pls pray 4 her

She’s a year younger than him and appeared on Unpretty Rapstar

Once Bin went on in the audience wow he was so handsome in that episode bless up

Cannot deal with doing aegyo for the life of him, but is actually super duper naturally adorable

KNOWS he’s cute, in his friggin line play profile he says he’s ASTRO’s cutie so there’s that

Tried to out-aegyo himself once what a fuckin cutie

Loves the dinosaur claw

Oddly talented at using the claw machine even though he said he was horrible but Hyuksoo called him out on it

Showed us a forehead Once during the Growl collab stage with KNK and Snuper (bless their souls pls support the Holy Trinity I’m not saying this collab stage turned me into a Moonbin/Sangil stan but it 100% did)

SWEATER PAWS

His dedication to the sweater paws is incredible

Soft voice, cute voice, slightly grainy

It’s so distinctive you can tell it’s his voice during songs

Says dumb things sometimes

“MY NAME IS MOONBEAN”

“I ANOTHER GIRL LIKE”

”YOU GO HOME”

Once upon a time, a barista - he attempted to make a heart in a latte but made a carrot lookin thing instead (but he tried his darndest)

For context he worked in the fantagio cafe when he was a trainee to make pocket money and to get to interact with people

Was then asked to make a latte heart but failed asjdhflaskj he’s so pure, Pls tell him it looks like a heart ;; all he wants is validation

Makes cute high pitched squealing noises when laughing/embarrassed

Apparently had Crazy Sexy Cool written for him as a solo track djfaslhdkjfahlsdkf a fullass blessing

Mouth corners curve up up up and into his cheeks when he smiles his eyes disappear it’s the cutest thing my heart stops every single time

Stops my heart when he’s not smiling too

Would do anything to see him smile

GRUMPY AS HECK WHEN HE WAKES UP

Pouts immediately it’s so cute my heart is weak he’s exactly like a cat

Trained the longest out of all of ASTRO, at least under Fantagio

Is called “ancient” in some DDOCA hashtags because he and rocko trained under fantagio for 7 years

Is the longest running member of the Fantagio fam, not counting the CEO

Apparently called Manager Moon what a pure bean

Listen we were just talking about this the other day but in 40 years we’re going to wonder about what happened to astro then we’ll google fantagio and something will pop up and it’ll say something like “Moonbin, previously part of idol group Astro, now CEO of Fantagio”

Is a BTS stan smdh

Knows the choreo to literally all of BTS’s songs, including I Need U and DNA smdh

Introduced to Jungkook by Seungjun (now KNK, previously a Bighit trainee)

Got a (literal) shout out too? At Gayo Daejun

Made friends with him and exchanged contact info and has been messaging him :’)

A GOOD PHOTOGRAPHER

Took some predebut photos and also took pictures for the spring up and summer vibes PCs !!!

Photographer name: 달콩작가 (moon bean photographer) :’)

#astro #moonbin #dont be fooled vivi wrote all of this i an eunwoo stan

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theseadagiodays · 4 years

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April 13, 2020

Interstices

Definition: an intervening time or space

Synonym: Aperture - an opening or gap

Gap - a space or pause between two things

Pause - a suspension of movement or activity

Space - a continuous area or expanse which is free and available

Whether our rhythms have slowed or accelerated in this moment, we all currently sit at an interstices. A place in time between what came before and what comes next. An uncomfortable spot for most of us, because humans habitually seek certainty. But this time is also an opening, an opportunity where we can be free to explore new ways of being. A time to suspend old habits, and invite shifts in perspective. In some schools of Buddishm, they have a term for such in-between times. “Bardo is an intermediate, transitional, or liminal state between death andrebirth. A state of great potential for liberation, since transcendental insight may arise with the direct experience of reality” Wikipedia

But most of us resist making space in our schedules because it gives too much room to look at the bold truth of our lives. Like the clear expanse of a mirror, this time is revealing much that we need to remember, but also much that we don’t want to see. The decreased GHG’s from limited transport have clarified our skies and caused animals to rapidly return where humans had previously dominated. The gardens we’d neglected are being tenderly tilled. And the friends we’d forgotten for decades are reaching out to reminisce. But the work that does not feed our souls, or the incessant self-deprecating thoughts, or the spouse who irritates us (speaking generally of course), or the wallpaper we regret having bought, all glare us in the face daily and force us to reflect on our real priorities and desires. However, all at once, this can be too much for us to take in.

I remember a Vancouver talk, on my birthday in 1998, where the Tibetan monk, Chogyam Trungpa said it amazed him “how much North Americans busied their lives so as not to know themselves”. If this is true, it strikes me that in order to assuage our fears about looking at the skeletons in our own empty closets, perhaps we can try to look at space entirely differently.

In music, space or silence can be incredibly potent. Violinist, Isaac Stern describes music itself as “that little bit between each note—the silences which give the music form.” One of my favorite composers, Arvo Part is a master of silence. The pauses in many of his halting melodies require the listener to become an active participant - to fill the space with their own interpretations, just as we can do during this time. His Psalom for strings is a mesmerizing example of such writing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-Ssbik_dmY

Visual artists have also created substantive beauty from negative space. The images below play with absence and presence, illustrating that our perception can entirely shape what we choose to see. Similarly, if we can stretch our understanding of what is currently missing from our lives to recognize the space this allows for other things to present themselves, it may fortify our patience and acceptance with the way things are.

But if none of this brings solace during challenging times, and we still need to cling to hope, we can remember that, invariably, after rest always comes activity. Bamboo is a prime example of this, as noted in this proverb about the slow but mighty grower, “the first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps, the third year it leaps.”

So, if we emerge from COVID anything like North America emerged from the 1918 flu epidemic, maybe we can finally look forward to an era where flapper dresses come back. I know that I’d personally find the next Roaring Twenties a welcomed resurgence.

April 14, 2020

Finding Stillness in Uncertainty

For hours last Tuesday, in a persistent drizzle and strong wind, I wandered my neighborhood aimlessly with a broken umbrella, mourning the shut restaurants, scared faces, and unhugged friends I hadn’t seen in weeks.

But today, the air is still and warm, and the scent of pregnant magnolias saturate my senses while I bathe in birdsong.

Photo by my friend Cheryl’s 12-year-old son, Noah

Such is the mercurial nature of life in this pandemic. Still, as best I can, I try to walk my talk. Be the master of my own attitude. Contribute where I can. Live mindfully and gratefully. But some days this is much harder than others. However lately, Vancouver’s unseasonable summer weather has made this infinitely easier. As someone who suffers from seasonal effective disorder, and who’s had a love/hate affair with my rainy though lush city, it makes me realize how important it is to find conditions condusive for optimal living. With the improved weather and a large park right behind my home, I am enticed to greet each morning with a slow, present-minded walk. A moving meditation.

I have also been grateful for the opportunity to lead weekly guided meditations for my husband’s work team. His colleagues are front-line workers of a different sort. They run our local transit system which is still critically needed by those who must continue to work in public settings, or who do not have the privilege of their own vehicle. But with covid-fear and enforced social distancing measures, Translink is losing $3 million a day in ridership fees. So, they are under enormous stress to adjust their service plans, make difficult decisions about lay-offs, and continue to try and plan for a very uncertain future. However, it heartens me to know that people who find themselves even more work-burdened during this crisis still recognize the need to slow down, even for brief moments, in order to be more productive later. So, I thought I’d share a recording of one of these sessions, which people can follow at home. It is less than 15 minutes long, just short enough to carve out of any day but still possible to dramatically alter your nervous system.

https://youtu.be/x2fjRvBB6x0

And finally, this poem by Martha Postelwaite speaks to the gifts stillness can bring.

Do not try to save the whole world or do anything grandiose. Instead, create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there patiently, until the song that is your life falls into your own cupped hands and you recognize and greet it. Only then will you know how to give yourself to this world so worth of rescue. - Martha Postlewaite

April 15, 2020

Timely Artists’ Responses

I am normally a minimal social media user. However, ironically, my Facebook and Instagram feeds have been my saving grace during this period. This is probably helped by the fact that, over the years, rather than racing to accumulate friends, I have mostly only followed those people in my life who I trust to direct me to moments of grace and beauty. Consequently, many of the links in this blog have come from my own community of thoughtful, kindness-oriented, arts-minded friends and family to whom I’m hugely grateful.

Some of my friends are the actual creators of these daily doses of inspiration. Like my Toronto-based buddy, Lorne Bridgman (https://lornebridgman.com), whose in-demand work has graced the covers of En Route (Air Canada’s in-flight magazine), Monocle, and Travel & Leisure. (A coup for us, since way back in 1997, we were probably the only people who ever landed him as a wedding photographer). Fittingly, his stirring nighttime images of abandoned playgrounds during the pandemic tell a very powerful story.

I have been keeping my own mental ledger of these “never before corona” scenes (like our yellow-taped playgrounds) which I observe every day. The most striking of these I captured with my iphone just yesterday. These four beachcombers appear to be metred-out models of social distancing with their perfectly proportioned pose.

Artists the world round are similarly documenting this time through a variety of expressive mediums. Below, are a few of the most creative that I’ve discovered so far.

The New York Times delivers again, with 17 Artists Capture a Surreal NY from their Windows

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/16/nyregion/coronavirus-nyc-illustrators-window.html?action=click&module=Editors%20Picks&pgtype=Homepage

Katherine Lam, Queens, NY

Or this Beijing-based British map artist, who instead of his elaborate filligried-illustrations of sprawling urban areas, now maps what’s between his four walls.

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/gareth-fuller-maps-coronavirus-quarantine/index.html

Globally, graphic designers have also used their talents to advocate, provoke, or amuse: https://www.dezeen.com/2020/03/18/coronavirus-covid-19-graphic-design-illustration/?fbclid=IwAR3bUYBwSkCtlj_yhlDkvUtGOFBDBJGMYXiDl3do74Gqm4JdHbkxTET48H8

Oliver Jeffers, beloved Irish children’s author and illustrator

And for 80’s kids like me, this new release, No Time to Love Like Now, from an old fave, REM’s Michael Stype, sends a sparsely-layered musical message from his home studio that feels highly appropriate for the times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=MYgpEcXf2S4&feature=emb_logo

Finally, as I’ve stretched my social-media muscles, I confess that I’ve even ventured to Twitter and Tik Tok at times. Most of us over-30 have probably been oblivious to the phenomena of social-media influencers, like the 15-year-old "reigning queen of TikTok", Charli D’Amelio, whose whether-you-like-it-or-not, down-to-earth appeal and smooth moves have charmed 48 million followers! But, as vacuous as many of her make-up tutorials have been, she is now using her reach for good with her originally choreographed Distance Dance which, for everyone who posts their own #distancedance video, will trigger Proctor & Gamble to donate to one of a variety of non-profits feeding those most vulnerable and hit hard by the virus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS6913bBVek

April 16, 2020

Home Cooking

I truly believe that we all have an “inner artist” if we just find ways to tap it. But it saddens me to hear how quickly many people say they have “no talent”. Creativity is not magic. It’s what humans have harnessed since time immorial to survive, adapt, and thrive. Creativity also increases exponentially when there are constraints on our resources. The elegance of a haiku is a pure example of this. Limited to just 5, 7, & 5 syllables per line, this simple container lends itself to essential and beautiful nuggets of expression accessible to all. Here’s a timely one from the #quarantinehaikus project that I mentioned earlier:

I’m in quarantine But all my ideas are not. This month, they happen.

Similarly, another creative pursuit that has most given humans a window into their own creativity is the culinary arts. Sure, for some their adventures as gourmands consist of little more than ramen, canned tuna, a boiled egg and Dijon mustard for a pantry version of Julia Child’s Salad Nicoise. But quarantined living is certainly inspiring more imagination in the kitchen than usual. Though this expression may be overused, “necessity is the mother of invention” has perhaps never been more universally true. However, if you’re trying to limit your grocery trips to once per week, and your mind happens to draw a blank when you open your cupboard, here are dozens of recipes that you can try with what you might likely already have on hand:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/topics/self-quarantine-recipes

My own constant culinary muse is my great friend, Belkis, whose Instagram page, Epicurious Travelista (below) is a visual and delectable treat. Most of her images include recipes. And while they might look elaborate, and sometimes indeed they are (this is a woman unafraid of churning her own butter, or making her own tortillas from scratch), her resourceful Honduran roots influence many exquisite meals that she makes from only a few simple ingredients. So, for those wanting to spread their chef’s wings a bit wider, you can check out her page here:

https://www.instagram.com/epicurious_travelista/

April 15, 2020

Zoom Masters

Of course, Zoom has been the victor and the enemy in this digitally-dependent time, both allowing multi-generational families to share seders, while at the same time stealing private details from citizens. But one can not deny that the extent to which people have exploited this format for good has been inspiring. I’m biased towards the musical collaborations that the format has spawned. But don’t be fooled. This technology, designed for one-speaker-at-a-time, does not render performances like the one below, easily. Each frame has to be recorded separately (with consistent click tracks, to keep everyone in time), and then carefully edited together in post-production. These are highly stylized efforts. And this one takes it to another level with its choreographic complexity. So, while I wish everyone to have a weekend where they can Get Down, Stay Down, here’s a treat to enjoy:

https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/8/21213608/coronavirus-zoom-music-video-thao-and-the-get-down-stay-down?fbclid=IwAR3PIGg8lcGMLgQrJGISDcjrRbcy3eQG2XI-sqbc-BOGs5f8s5PNRPf54H4

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savagegardenforever · 5 years

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Darren's Diaries

These are Darren's Diaries from the first tour (Future of Earthly Delites/To the Moon And Back) from 1998.

There are six entries - 4th July, 7th July, 12th July, 20th July, 15th August and 8th September.

4th July

Well here I am sitting on a tour bus. It's a twelve sleeper and there are 8 of us...Daniel and I...our band...and our tour manager. We have completed over 50 shows since the start of this tour in Australia in January. Finally we are in America. For the next two months we will be playing 40 shows in the States and Canada. It is going to be an incredible experience. Exciting and Exhausting I'm sure.

So far we started production rehearsals in Rockford Illinois. Our first show was in Chicago for the B96 radio show with Boyz to Men and Mariah Carey. Minneapolis was next. We then travelled into Canada for two incredible shows in Saskatoon then Edmonton. As I type this we are headed for Calgury. The Canadian audiences have been really cool. Very into the music and very LOUD!!

Our band are playing really well together. I am very proud to be on the stage with them every night. We have Anna Maria Laspina and Nicole McIntyre on backing vocals. Karl Lewis on Drums. Ben Carey on Guitars and Lee Novak on Bass. I have included some pictures of us during hot and sweaty production rehearsals. You'll also find the new stage clothes provided by Diesel and on my fave pics ever...Me with fans after the Minneapolis gig.

Sharing a tour bus together is kinda strange. It's like...HUGE...with two loungerooms with tables and videos and soundsystems etc...then there is a little kitchen where we all make cups of tea and sandwhiches after gigs. It's almost like the Brady Bunch on Tour. Our beds have little T.V's in them and little curtains to block out the rabble. It's actually a lot more comfortable than I thought it would be. Let me get back to you on that in a few weeks though!

7th July

So now I'm on my way from Seattle to Portland. Still on the bus...I swear it's like the Partridge Family. I took a little family shot to demonstrate how pathetic and domesticated we have all become. Andy our bus driver is very cool...he makes me vegetarian meals sometimes... and puts up with our table manners.

The Vancouver show was probably one of the tightest shows we have played ever...good crowd...and we were really on it. It's so funny...I just read a report from Edmontone where the reviewer thought that maybe I lip synch my vocals because...in his words..."Hayes hits some unnaturally high notes.."!!! I think that is so ironic. I mean...I have good nights...and bad nights. Sometimes I sing up a storm...and other nights it's not quite what I want it to be. To have someone think it's all on tape is kind of an indirect compliment. I guess it means I sang well!! I'll tell you...last night in Seattle...I was WISHING my vocals were on tape...I was so tired. But the crowd seemed to get into it and by half way through I was in my own little world.

Playing live is definately something we are proud of. I personally have a big problem with 'artists' who mime...or lip synch...or whatever you wanna call it. I believe that seeing a band live is warts and all. If I hit a bum note...then so be it...that is what you pay for. If I hit a brilliant note...then that's fantastic. That's what makes some nights INCREDIBLE...and others not so. You never know. Also I figure if you want to listen to the cd...stay home. Coming out to see a band live is all about living in the moment.

So after the Portland show we get a much needed day off...before we start the San Fransisco, L.A , Vegas leg. Viva Las Vegas Baby.

Outta here...

12th July

Before anything happens I gotta tell you that playing in Red Rocks...Colorado was the most incredible experience for me. The setting was like something from heaven..the weather was incredible. It actually rained the entire show but the 7000 plus crowd stayed to the end... It was so magical. The thunder and lightning in that historical venue...and the crowd. It made me very emotional.

I kept thinking of U2's "Under a blood red sky" live album...recorded there. It was just the same as it looked all those years ago when I sat in my lounge room watching the video...looking at my heros. To play there...was a VERY big deal for me.

I'm in San Antonio Texas writing this...in my hotel room. Just came back from a fantastic show here. What a cool crowd. I really dig this town. It looks NOTHING like the rest of Texas... Last night we went out and had fantastic Mexican food and drank Starbucks while walking along the riverbank in the middle of the city...with all cafe's and restaurants along the river edge. It was incredible...the night was windy and the temperature was not as hot as it apparently has been. I thought in this email I would include some more personal photos of the band and our crew...There is this beautiful man from Texas called Chuck...who has been married for 25 years. Chuck is a sound/monitor engineer on our tour. His daughter Victoria has these adorable little twins Joseph and Jacob...so I managed to get a cuddle of the babies before our show in San Antonio tonite. Boy did I get clucky. It was Nicole's birthday today...it's Daniel's on Wednesday...so we have kind of been celebrating for a few days now. Nicole and Anna (our backing singers) are dear friends of mine...and we have a blast.

We get along really well with Sneaky Pete...the production assistant. He is evil...in the funniest way. His assistant Laurie is THE BIGGEST SWEETHEART. I included a picture of me hugging her because she is my lifeline.

She is in charge of all sorts of things...but for me..her main job is making sure the dressing rooms are set up...wardrobe and costumes are set out and laundered...candles are lit...music is playing...holdiays are booked and roses sent to family members. Basically she is my mom on the road...and she is incredible. Her attention to detail makes coming into the dressing room such a pleasure..everything from my after shave to the kind of tea I drink...she is aware of..and makes sure it is all in order.

I also included a picture of Daniel playing with his new Keyboard backstage with Lindsay...one of our other fave people. Linds is a guitar tech on this tour...but really he is an awesome drummer...who last worked with Pearl Jam doing drum tech for them. Just the sweetest person.

Who else can I tell you about?? Motley our lighting designer is a little yoda...he is so spiritual and deep..and a dear friend. Collin Ellis mixes our sound...and is a very nice bloke!!

Crash...our sound engineer on stage..(does in ear monitors...) told me tonite that the reason I get soo tired is that I need to 'take more exercise.' Hahaha... I work out 5 or 6 days a week...two hours a day...as well as doing the show!! The entire band just cracked up laughing at him. Oh well...he was only trying to help. He is very funny...and oh..also good at his job.

I am getting excited because we are about to have three days off!! Whoo hoo!! I mean...I love the tour...but I have been working on this album for 2 and a half years...and touring it since January. We are all very tired...and looking forward to the rest. When we start up again we will be HALF WAY... That is pretty cool.

Last night I couldn't sleep because I was dreaming up the name...the front cover and the artwork for our new album. All we need now is the music!! Haha...

I am rambling...but it's late...and life is really good. God bless.

Darren

20th July

Hey...welcome back to the tour. We have missed you. Let me take you now to a very sacred place. This is my bed in the tour bus. I call it my 'monkey bunk'...don't ask me why...it's kinda private...! But that's what I call it... Actually I have become quite fond of it. To the point that I am finding it hard to sleep in regular beds now. I am used to the constant rocking of the highway. There is a little T.V in there...but I rarely watch it. By the time my head hits the pillow...I am out! It is actually very soothing...and I am someone who finds sleeping very difficult.

We have had a ball on tour with our new support...Billy Myers.

Billy Myers is just FANTASTIC. She is very talented...as are her band. Billy is also VERY VERY funny. Here is a picture of her and I in my dressing room about two seconds before our show in Miami. This was the day of our manager...Rebecca's birthday. We got her all sorts of nice presents and this huge cake. Here is a picture of my face in the cake.

Long Story! I am commonly known as 'tabu' in the band because I kind of...well...I just take things to the extreme in terms of practical jokes and goofing about. Usually with birthday cakes I end of throwing them all over people...and sticking them to walls etc. You know...normal things like that. So this time the band got me first...Laurie..our production GODDESS pushed my face into it when I was PRETENDING to take a big bite. GRRRR!! Florida was hot and steamy...and reminded me very much of Australia. Played some great shows...although something really stupid happened in Fort Lauderdale. For some bizarre reason..security allowed five audience members to run onto the stage during Truly Madly Deeply. But I don't mean just running up to say hello. They kind of scared the hell out of all of us...and ruined a beautiful moment in the song. We virtually didn't end the show...because they just wouldn't leave the stage. So we all learned a valuable lesson in security. I had my eyes closed as I sang the last notes of the last song of the night...and felt the stair case rumble...and when I looked up there were three people on the stage with me. It just made no sense to me...I tried to talk to the girl...even say hi...but she was screaming...while her boyfriend spent his time telling aggressively informing anyone who would listen that he had every right to be there on stage because he won an after show pass.!!! THIS WAS DURING THE SHOW!!! I look back now and kinda laugh it off but in the moment...I really felt that the incident ruined to mood for the rest of the audience. I didn't really get to say goodbye to the crowd...we just had to leave.

I spent my few days off in New York while the rest of the band travelled to Myrtle Beach and apparently had a blast. I keep missing the really good unexpected fun times. Apparently the break in New Orleans was wild as well. There will be news about this in the next fanzine I believe.

Delaware...Harrington was such a bizarre experience. We played at the State Fair. This was a 4 hour drive from New York...in the middle of nowhere... A great show with a really enthusiastic audience. Afterwards we went to the local TGI Friday's restaurant and everyone who had a cell phone was informed that the band were there...so we spent our evening binge eating while locals watched in horror. Our visit to the local bowling alley was hilarious. I of course...the king of cool (really just a cover for my lack of physical ability in sports) refused to play. For 'fashion reasons' I said. But I don't think anyone believed me. I took a photo of their shoes.

Daniel refused to let me photograph his involvement in this activity...but let's just say...at bowling...HE RULES. He beat the pants off everyone.

Here is my reaction to bowling... my thrilled to be bowling face.

And this is really what we have been reduced to. Bowling. Oh yeah...we also play pictionary a lot. All jokes aside...we have had such a wonderful time so far...it's already August ...and the tour has only 4 weeks to go. I think we are all going to be very sad when it ends. We have just spent so much time together...we really do feel like family.

We have met so many wonderful fans...been treated like royalty and we want to thank you so much for coming out to see us play live. More soon I guess!

15th August

I am once again sitting at the desk in the kitchen of our tour bus. We are travelling from Missouri to Illinois. Can you believe that we have performed 30 shows already on the North American leg of this tour? We have only 9 more shows left and then the tour is officially over. We started in Australia in January...then on to New Zealand...Asia... Including Japan and India...Europe...and finally America. I think when it winds up we will have played almost 80 shows. That's a pretty good feeling you know...I had no idea I would have the stamina to get through...and yet here we are looking at the end of the tour...and really the end of this album.

Here are a couple of shots from our show tonight in Missouri. It's such a long way from where it all started.

It's funny you know... with this site I have tried really hard to document all sorts of experiences...and not just the musical ones. Yesterday in Indianapolis I decided that real life was just a little too normal...so I invented a drama so that I could write about it...and photograph it...and present it to you...(How sad is that!!)

To cut a long story short... Nicky and I decided to 'steal' a golf cart from the Indianapolis state fair officials. Well...we didn't really 'steal' it..we kinda just borrowed it and deceived a few people into thinking that our backstage passes were really licenses to drive a golf buggy. Here is a picture of our initial Evil plan...

It was so funny. Our crew and the security at the venue didn't know what was happening. I actually took the buggy INTO the arena...where all the fans were taking their seats for Billie Myers (BY THE WAY..BIG APOLOGY FOR SPELLING HER NAME WRONG LAST UPDATE...!!!) So anyway...Nikky and I were spinning and flying around the arena...some of the audience recognized me and started chasing the golf buggy. Although fun...golf carts are NOT good escape vehicles. I managed to get away by fooling the security guard that 'everything was in order'.

The cart was returned with lots of apologies and no feelings hurt.

Lots has happened since I last wrote. I never really told you about the band's new obsession with Golf did I?? It kind of stems from Dan...but everyone...excluding me...has been getting into it. Anna and I generally work out...like A LOT...which can be exhausting when on tour because you sweat so much on stage as well...but it has been an adventure just trying to find gyms in every town we go to... But we have been pretty successful so far.

Today I went crazy recording items in our dressing room. Don't ask me why...but here are snapshots of shoes...and sunglasses. Lets face it...in Savage Garden...these are very important elements of our success...(joke!!)

It's weird...I just figured I would have LOVED to have seen stupid photos of Michael Jackson's wardrobe when I was like...a kid...so I figured...for those of you out there who enjoy the small details... this is for you.

We really have had such fun with Billie Myers. Her band are very talented...and friendly. Billie herself is incredible. Such an artist. I watched her performing 'Tell Me' and 'Kiss the Rain' yesterday in Indianapolis and I was very moved. She ran all over the stage...climbed EVERYTHING...and ended up at the back of the auditorium with the audience...still singing. I will be very sad to say goodbye because I have learned a lot just being around her. Beautiful soul. True performer.

Here is another pic of Billie and I just before the Missouri show.

Our shows have been wonderful lately. The crowds have just been getting better and better. Some of the small towns have been incredible experiences. We played a HUGE show in Bethlehem P.A. It was part of their MusikFest festival...and it was one of the largest shows they have had there. Truly magical.

Soon we head to New York...(DUH...my fave city) for a few days as we are involved in a private SECRET event that will be revealed to you in due time. But I am very much looking forward to being there...

I will keep you updated.

Darren

8th September

It's over. 8 months and 85 shows later here we are on a plane back to real life. I am so exhausted as I type this...and really unsure as to how it all feels. I am going to go back for you...a few weeks to catch up on everything that lead up to this final moment of reflection. I remember telling you in my last update that we were in New York for a "secret" gig...well I can tell you now it was for the Elite Modelling agency Look competition...and we performed at this club in Manhattan called Life. It is one of those velvet rope deals...and to be honest...I had never been in until that night.

We performed a very short set in front of a room full of beautiful women..and famous people. Jerry Seinfeld was there... Apparently he offered to meet us when we had sold 12 million albums as opposed to the 8 million that we actually have. Haha. Thanks for the homework Mr. Seinfeld. Afterwards he hung out in the same foofy area with us...smoking cigars, flanked by burly security guards. Anna said hi. I was too busy working out how to sell 4 more million albums.

Our set was GREAT...some people say one of the best we have played because of it's simplicity and audacity. We just PLAYED...didn't really give a damn...and it paid off. We headed off ... back to the rest of the tour...but soon ended up back in planet Manhattan (that's what Motley our lighting designer calls it...as it is like no other place on earth) after our Boston gig (very pretty btw...nice venue) to play the Beacon Theatre. What an experience THAT was.

Madonna attended. Rod Stewart was there with wife and kids. We were sold out. Need I say there was a little tension in the air. But it turned out to be such a powerful show...such an energy to it. Probably because of the whole Madonna vibe. Thing is...Billie Myers had heard me singing "Ray of Light" at soundcheck...and told Madonna and friends that we do it well. The day of our show we get a phone call from executives asking where in our show it is performed as Madonna is possibly coming along to have a look. Of course we freaked out...of course we immediately added it to our show even though we have never performed it as a band!!

So Madonna did attend...and from all accounts...was standing and grooving with the rest of them...and had a smile on her face... What more can you say? Very VERY surreal moment...performing in front of someone who inspired me to be here. Did someone say OH MY GOD???

So the next day was our end of tour party...even though we had two more shows to do...where better to celebrate than NYC? It was in this place called Lot 61 in Chelsea...and we had a blast. It was actually very emotional and I think that is when it really hit me that this was all coming to a close.

The next day we left for Cleveland...had a great show...and then prepared for our last gig in Kentucky. All sorts of mad and weird stuff went on that day. Last shows are traditionally weird anyway...as everyone feels kinda depressed but exhausted and practical jokes are happening everywhere.

Some of the craziness?? Billie Myers appeared on stage during our All Around Me routine on the shoulders of our road crew dressed in her best Scary Spice outfit screaming SPICE UP YOUR LIFE. She then proceeded to spray us with Silly String (that shaving cream gunk...) Very funny!! We almost couldn't do the song.

Members of our band were seen doing all sorts of weird things...like kissing each other...wearing each other's costumes...and hamming it up. We managed to drag every crew member on stage or under a spotlight during the band intro...and someone painted the words WE'LL MISS YOU on the drum riser.

During the encore...we sang ONE OF US...and got a bit choked up as I dedicated it to Chuck...our sound assistant who's Grandchild is going in for an operation soon. I asked the crowd to say a prayer for him and that's when it really hit me that the tour was over. Not just the tour either...but this album...this stage of our lives. Like graduating from High School this felt like a real ending...and the beginning of a future somewhere out there.

After the show...we all ended up on Billie's bus...disco dancing and acting like complete morons. Had a blast.

I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to each and every one of you...for giving us this incredible experience...for listening to the music...for understanding it...for coming out in droves to see our circus when it came to your town. This is a thank you to you...the fans of the music...and our colleagues...the Savage Garden Band...and Crew...It has been the most humbling experience to have know you...I feel like a better man for having been through this all with you.

This is a farewell of sorts...for a long time. We have to take some much needed rest...get our thoughts together and try and remember what real life is about for a little while. Before you know it...we will be in the studio...working on more magic. Until then...we are going to go away until we have something thoughtful to say.

Thanks for the memories. See you in THE FUTURE.....

Darren

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